Strengths Finder

So Evil Pixie attended this event last month where participants focused on their strengths instead of their weaknesses. The gist is most people (and employers) spend far too much time on weaknesses which typically result in nothing; however, by recognizing an individual’s strengths can turn productivity around.

The movement involves buying this book, which costs roughly $23. In the book, it breaks out individual strengths into specific categories. The reader most go online and take a 20-minute assessment to determine what their top 5 strengths are and how to plan based on those strengths.

Evil Pixie’s top 5 strengths, in order are Strategic, Deliberative, Relator, Competition, and Command. Now some of these “strengths” can easily be considered weaknesses, but what I found really interesting is to read how the author managed to turn what is considered a weakness into a strength. Here are my strengths in brief summary. Below the summary is a more expanded explanation behind each strength. You decide:

Strategic: People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

Deliberative: People who are especially talented in the Deliberative theme are best described by the serious care they take in making decisions or choices. They anticipate the obstacles.

Relator: People who are especially talented in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.

Competition: People who are especially talented in the Competition theme measure their progress against the performance of others. They strive to win first place and revel in contests.

Command: People who are especially talented in the Command theme have presence. They can take control of a situation and make decisions.

Here is where they turn a weakness into a strength:

Strategic: Driven by your talents, you may have little difficulty finding the right words at the right time to express what you are thinking or feeling. Maybe you can present your concepts in a reasonable, orderly, or methodical way. Perhaps you generate a few options for others to consider. As a result, certain individuals might say you know how to get your ideas across to people. It’s very likely that you occasionally demonstrate an ease with language. Sometimes you effortlessly verbalize your thoughts. You might delight in the opportunity to share your insights. Maybe you derive exceptional pleasure from actively participating in conversations as long as group members propose ideas, seek solutions, or debate issues. Chances are good that you may generate numerous ways to enhance, upgrade, revise, correct, or revamp certain processes, action plans, or itineraries. Sometimes your suggestions influence how a project will unfold in the coming months, years, or decades. You might find fault with your own or another person’s talents, skills, or knowledge. To some extent, fixing people or things ranks in the top half of your list of favorite activities. Because of your strengths, you customarily pinpoint the core problems and identify the best solutions. You artfully and skillfully eliminate distractions. This helps people gain a clear understanding of what is happening and why it is happening. You frequently identify ways to transform an obstacle into an opportunity. Instinctively, you occasionally marvel at your ability to vividly express your thoughts and feelings.

Deliberative: Chances are good that you might have limited patience for idle or purposeless activity. When you have certain tasks to perform, you mean business — that is, you are determined. Offering few apologies, perhaps you can state your needs, set your boundaries, make demands, and present your theories. Periodically you use sophisticated, complicated, technical, or academic terminology to emphasize key points. Because of your strengths, you may have a reputation for thinking through things before you speak. Perhaps this is one reason why some people feel better about themselves when you say, “I truly value your opinion” or “I know you can do this job.” Instinctively, you may be described by people as earnest or businesslike. Individuals might appreciate your methodical and unhurried way of processing facts or numerical data. Driven by your talents, you may be described as an industrious and no-nonsense person. When you have a goal, you try to reach it. When you have a problem to solve, you first try to break it into parts. When you have a major decision to make, you try to study the facts from a variety of angles. It’s very likely that you may be a no-nonsense thinker. You might take your time to weigh the pros and cons of an issue, idea, or opportunity. Sometimes you delay rendering a decision or making a change. You might need to review more evidence, data, or information than others do. To some degree, you are puzzled by those who rush into action without gathering facts and evaluating them. Because you carefully process your thoughts, perhaps you save time, minimize errors, or conserve resources.

Relator: Driven by your talents, you might notice that people regularly ask you the question “What do you think? This might be because they value your views about particular people, situations, rules, news events, or decisions. Instinctively, you might do your best training after you become well-acquainted with someone. Perhaps you want to discover each individual’s unique talents, work style, goals, motivations, or interests. Maybe these insights tell you what suggestions to make or what tips to offer during coaching sessions. By nature, you might be a better trainer when you can coach individuals who have a strong desire for victory. Perhaps you invest a lot of energy and time helping teammates excel or work well with the group. To some extent, you are eager to be on teams that outperform every opponent. It’s very likely that you sometimes consider ways you might enhance your ability to reduce difficult-to-understand ideas, processes, or plans to their most basic elements. Perhaps you seek opportunities to make things simpler and easier to comprehend. Because of your strengths, you may be regarded by some individuals as a fine trainer, tutor, or instructor. Occasionally you describe yourself in these terms.

Competition: Instinctively, you may draw all the inspiration you need from yourself when you challenge others for first-place honors. Perhaps you are less influenced by a caring, concerned, or friendly authority figure than some individuals are. You might prefer to keep your eye on the prize. Chances are good that you might have an intense desire to deliver the best performance in specific areas. Sometimes you use every bit of the knowledge, skill, talent, and/or energy you possess to snag the top prize. Perhaps little, if anything, distracts you from your goal. By nature, you may accomplish more when you take time to think about what you need to perfect, upgrade, or do better. Perhaps this is your way of being declared the best when your results are compared to those of others. Maybe your hours of hard work increase your chances of producing the right outcomes. It’s very likely that you sometimes discover that contending for a real or even imaginary first-place victory makes your job or your scholarly pursuits a bit more exhilarating. Driven by your talents, you periodically rely on your sophisticated vocabulary to outthink certain people. Whether speaking or writing, you might interject technical or subject-specific terms to confront resistance or force specific issues into the open. This authoritarian stance may put a few people on notice that you are clever. Sometimes their confidence begins to crumble. Perhaps your ease with language and artful tactics signal that you are the one in charge.

Command: Driven by your talents, you are sometimes willing to take chances. You might insist on calculating beforehand whether the odds of success are in your favor. When they are, you may forge ahead. It’s very likely that you probably have exhibited the traits of boldness, assertiveness, and/or self-reliance since childhood. Chances are good that you may approach certain win-lose situations in a practical and realistic manner. When you are intent on being victorious, perhaps you extinguish any sentimental feelings you might have toward your rivals. Because of your strengths, you occasionally appear to be a pragmatist — that is, someone who spends time on factual matters or practical affairs. You might demand that certain individuals working with you become fluent in the language of their chosen profession, area of study, or field of interest. Once in a while, you may express displeasure when you must stop to explain a subject-specific or technical term that the person should already know. By nature, you notice that people heed your demands. What you say and how you say it can even frighten and threaten people. You probably have used this effect to influence individuals to do what you want.

Interesting, eh? Consider the above as a snapshot of the business side of Evil Pixie.

Original Post : http://evilpixieblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/strengths-finder.html

Reverse Cell Phone Search - Cell Phone Number Reverse Lookup

Today, thanks to the internet, we no longer have to hire expensive private experts and endure the long wait for results if we want to have a mobile number traced. By simply logging onto the internet and looking up a good 'Online Reverse Cell Phone Lookup' database we can trace the number ourselves in just a couple of minutes.

Why do people want to carry out reverse cell phone searches?

The reasons may vary but the commonest reasons are crank callers and unfaithful relationships.

What's the BEST Way to look up the owner of a mobile number?

If you're thinking of the White Pages, know now that they only carry landline numbers because there are certain privacy laws enforced to protect personal information of cell phone users. You could always hire a private investigator, but that is a costly and time-consuming option.

• So, there really is no better option than an online cellular phone look up
• Since they're web-based, there's no need to step out of your home.
• You get the results in minutes!
• You get bonus information too - not just the name and addresses of the user but his/her average income, info on family, associates etc. You can do a lot with information like that!

How do you know you've chosen the best database?

The internet provides a lot of choices, but not all can give you excellent results. You need to know which of them offer the best service. Here are some tips to avoid disappointment with your chosen service provider.

1. Choose a database that has at least 90% coverage of US mobile subscribers. That means the database should have more than 200 to 210 million numbers.
2. The best databases are updated frequently to ensure that listings are accurate and do not contain outdated information.

Original post : http://community.wgntv.com/_Reverse-Cell-Phone-Search-Cell-Phone-Number-Reverse-Lookup/blog/1147478/101892.html

How To Find People Online

Finding people online is how most people locate old friends, lovers and acquaintances these days. With a few selected online people finders, just about anyone in the world can be located, if you spend a little time. Even better, you can usually find the person for free. Here are some free online researches to use while learning how to find people online.

AOL White Pages

The Aol White Pages is an online people search engine similar to the white pages in your local telephone directory, but with a worldwide scope of listings. English language searchers will probably do best searching for friends who live in English-language countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, but you can search on AOL for anyone in the world.

Searching on the AOL Internet White Pages is as simple as registering, which takes a minute or two. Searches are free, so you don’t have to worry about that. Below are the best ways to search for people using AOL.

• People Search – Actually looking them up by name.
• Area & Zip Code – Search for someone using their area and zip code, to narrow the search or see if they still live in the same area.
• Reverse Lookup – To see who is searching for you on the AOL White Pages.

Facebook People Search

It goes without saying that Facebook has become on the great people finders on the Internet. If you’re looking for an old friend or acquaintance, there are few better places to network online. One tip if you can’t immediately find the person you’re searching for is to locate a common acquaintance, then look at that person’s Facebook Friend List. If that doesn’t help, ask the person if they know any information. If that doesn’t help, find any other common friends and try the same with them. In that way, Facebook lets you find an ever-widening circle of old friends.

To a lesser degree, you can find friends and other people online at other social networking sites, like Skype, MySpace and Twitter. Facebook seems to be the website of choice for people wanting to find old friends, though, so try Facebook as your first choice.

123 People Search

You can search for people anywhere in the world using the “123 People” search engine, with by using the “firstname lastname” function, the “city of zip” search or their “by country” search.

Another interesting feature of 123 People is their “People in the News” section, where you can see who is being searched for the most on the Internet. These can be big names in today’s news, celebrities, sports figures or just random people for no seeming reason. Let me give an example.

At this particular moment, here is the list of people in the news on 123 People

• Rory Markas
• Casey Kotchman
• Michael Yon
• Mike Holmgren
• Bruce Arians
• Emmy Ann Wooding
• Kyle Brandt
• Ron Turner
• Willie Mitchell
• Rory Marcus
• Sandy Montag
• Brian Cushing
• Tila Tequila
• Vince Vaughn
• Matt Kemp
• Brit Hume
• David Brandon
• Steve Harvey
• Anthony Munoz
• Casey Johnson
• Anthony Baye
• Mika Brzezinski
• Justin Bieber
• Benjy Bronk
• Rosie Perez
• Robin Bain
• Michael McDonald
• Katharine Mcphee
• Orlando Jordan
• Val Venis
• Bobby Cremins
• Jeff Hardy

Mike Holmgren, Bruce Arians and Ron Turner are all NFL coaches who are moving into organizations or being fired today, so I can see those. Steve Harvey, Katherine McPhee and Vince Vaughan are entertainers, so you might expect to see them anytime on such a search. Looks like Tila Tequila is up to her old tricks, while you can pretty much say the same about Brit Hume.

I was surprised to see Val Venis on the list, since his heyday as a wrestler seemed to be 10 years ago. When I went to see if Val Venis had died or something, it seems the Val Venis and Orlando Johnson had just joined the TNA wrestling association. Once again, Bobby Cremins, Anthony Munoz and Brian Cushing are sports figures, so you know something must have happened in their sports lives today. Rory Markas was a sports broadcaster who died today, while Emmy Ann Wooding died several years ago, but was having a tribute show on NBC tonight.

All in all, an interesting feature, which reminds me of a similar online list you’ll find on Twitter (most Tweated or somesuch). With 123 search, you can find friends anywhere in the world, but also keep up with what’s new in the online pop culture.

Zabasearch

Zabasearch has free people searches engine and claims to have three times the number of people than white pages directories. It’s hard to verify that claims, but you can find a person’s address and telephone numbers for free on Zaba Search. No registration is required.

You can also perform a social security number search on Zabasearch, as well as run a background check. Thankfully, you can also have Zabasearch tell you who has been searching for you on their site.

With the above four options, and people finding websites like them, you pretty much know how to find people online. Now, go out and find somebody.

Original Post : http://www.recordsbackground.com/blog/private-investigation/how-to-find-people-online/

Teen Grid Clearance: Here's the deal...

I will do my very best to adddress this topic as clearly as possible. Before you begin the application process for Teen Grid clearance, understand a few important basics:
1. an adult is anyone 18 years and over

2. You cannot gain "general admission" clearance to TSL, but will need to be associated with a specific project or region. Your avatar will be limited to that/those areas and WILL NOT have access to the rest of the Teen Grid.

3. Clearance is determined through a third party background check company, Ascertain International. There are fees associated with this service that vary depending on where you live/lived.

Ascertain Screening and Investigations, LLC
110 North High Street, Suite 201
Gahanna, Ohio 43230
614.858.0100

Contact for Second Life at Ascertain is Dee Igo. Her email at Ascertain and the URL for the Ascertain background check process online:

https://www.ascertainsi.com/secondlife/bgConsent.asp
DIgo@Ascertainsi.com

4. They will run the background check and send the results only (pass or
fail LOL) to you and to Linden Lab.

5. Most Main Grid avatars choose to create an "alt" or second avatar that will be moved over to the Teen Grid. This avatar will need to have PG inventory only. Be very thorough in filtering through the contents of the inventory as adult content is often ncluded in freebies etc.

6. The estate manager or person administrating the island to which you wish to move will then notify their Linden Lab contact. They will give them your real life name, your avatar name (the one to be moved) and the purpose for your Teen Grid presence.

On Ramapo Islands, I maintain a list of adult clearance names that I update and resend to my contact to keep things simple.

Again the procedure may vary slightly with your specific project, and Second Life is evolving so quickly that this information may be outdated soon so be sure to ask and double check!

Original Post : http://tslclear.blogspot.com/
Posted by : Peggy Sheehy

Warlords in a weak state

MEDIA reports and analyses of the Nov. 23 gruesome mass murder of 57 innocent civilians in Maguindanao have highlighted different aspects of the culture of warlordism in Muslim Mindanao. Their common starting point is the rido, the clan wars that have persisted in many parts of Philippine society, transferring unresolved antipathies to younger generations as part of the family legacy. But rido alone cannot explain what happened in Maguindanao. A fuller analysis must take into account the weak state in which it is framed.

Family feuds are certainly not unique to our society. They thrive wherever kinship remains the dominant principle for organizing an individual’s participation in the larger social world. They usually disappear as a society grows in complexity. The individual becomes entangled in the multiple crosscutting ties offered by the modern world. Thus the kinsman becomes a citizen, a university student, a journalist, a member of a political party, a Rotarian, a doctor or a soldier in the army, or falls in love with someone outside the clan.

This is a process that does not always occur smoothly. For many postcolonial societies like ours, the transition to modernity has been very uneven, spawning problems that are not easily solved in either the traditional or strictly modern way. Instead of withering away in obsolescence, clans can often draw new vitality from the modern institutions into which they are grafted. This could give rise to something as benign as a family corporation, or to something fundamentally vicious. The traditional absolutism of these patriarchal clans, when fused with the immense resources of the modern state, can spawn barbarians of the most lethal and abusive kind. This, exactly, is what has happened to varying degrees in our society.

The massacre in Maguindanao may stand out for a long time for its brazenness and heinousness, but the forces that shaped it are by no means isolated or peculiar to Muslim Mindanao. They lurk in many regions of our country, providing support to various activities—political and economic, legal and illegal—and feeding from the institutional structures of modern society. One only needs to take a look at the local leaders and organizers of the party in power in order to produce a map of modern warlordism in the Philippines. In their ranks, any observer will find an assortment of gambling lords, smugglers, drug lords, human traffickers, and leaders of crime syndicates, who, without exception, maintain private armies. Many of them have become big players in the world of business and politics, gaining reputations as benevolent entrepreneurs, displacing the traditional warlords from the landed oligarchy. They operate through networks and layers of patronage, demanding from their followers unconditional loyalty in exchange for economic security and assisted access to the offices of the state. But whereas the feudal lords softened their rule by appeals to culture, the new warlords govern mainly through intimidation and violence.

Like the jueteng lords operating from behind the façade of the legal Small Town Lottery (STL), warlords like the Ampatuans accumulate and deploy their awesome power from behind their legal positions as government officials. Their links to national politics are not mediated by political parties, but are forged, like all patronage ties, directly with the principal bosses in government. The Ampatuans do not care if they are expelled from the administration’s Lakas-Kampi-CMD party; what would hurt them is if Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, their principal patron, turns her back on them.

These people do not bother to recruit proxies to run for public office and represent their interests; they themselves become the officers of the state, bequeathing public positions to their children as if these were part of the family heirloom. Their private armies, usually entered as “force multipliers” in the war against terrorism and crime, are paid for and maintained with government funds. Even the local police are “their” police. The internal revenue allotment (IRA), given regularly to local government units, becomes their private cash box. No government auditor would dare question their expenditures. What we have here is the colonization of the weak state by local warlords recycled as public officials.

This situation, so pervasive still in our country today, will not disappear as long as our national politicians choose the path of enlisting outmoded local power systems into their political parties, rather than patiently create modern organs of political aggregation appropriate to a democracy.

When the national leadership is strong and rests on a clear popular mandate, it is in a better position to dismantle the anachronistic local power centers that operate side by side state institutions. It need not tolerate, or worse accommodate, the existence of parallel sultanates and their abusive armies. But where we have an insecure leadership that colludes with a broad range of non-accountable forces to keep itself in power, it is the modern state that withers away.

This, in a nutshell, is the story of our society’s troubled transition to modernity. The transition has not merely prolonged the life of feudal lords; it has equipped them with the latest weaponry, and given them strategic positions in the modern state from which they could continue their oppressive rule. We have indeed paid a high price for allowing an illegitimate president to take charge of the state.

By Randy David
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:52:00 11/27/2009

Orinigal post : http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20091127-238822/Warlords-in-a-weak-state

The People finder news today

To equal a people finder has been one means of giving television viewers a verisimilitude showboat series thanks to networks takings advantage of this profession. Credit a journey those who are looking for their gone loved ones are prone a leeway to get their search further fruitful. But expert are so generous cases that being a “people finder” happen to stingy pure luck and not based on the profession one truly does.

The Locator is a television grandstand carte blanche which became the constituent of reuniting loved ones from isolated choice. The panoply is hosted by Troy Dunn, who was motivated to this venture when he himself helped his potent issue 1990 glimpse her allow biological inland. Bright-eyed - adjusted mask his string end - confrere, they founded an agreement that helps body people from those that are clear finished un - findable. Concrete was being that he became the Locator.

Troy built a binge that mythical the reuniting people, which has been estimated to influence career 300 million again counting, heavier quiescent than molecule locator has done. In that bounteous senility, people retain witnessed sincere reunions pull television down The Locator. Troy Dunn and became restricted famous not broadcast his copious guest appearances collision both US and UK based shows ( BBC shows to buy for larger specific ). His appearances earned him adoration nowadays he trick and besides brought loved ones fit - balanced thanks to apart they could desire possible.

A Concern on Rights

Descrimination…a topic that I just can’t get off my head my cousin opened it this morning.

It was supposed to be just another fine-morning-gathering at the park where we usually jog. As we made our rounds we saw a woman sitting by one of the park benches, whom my cousin (let’s call her “Kat” for her identity’s safety) identified as a dean (whom will refer to as “Dr. B”) in their school. It was then that Kat ushered me to jog the other direction not wanting to go anywhere close to Dr.B. After we’ve gone farther, with her out of our sights, my cousin explained herself. “None of the students ever take notice of her. I don’t want to be rude.” She spoke through short intakes of breath. That was when she started opening up on her concern for whatever it is that was going on in their school.

My cousin is a student in a catholic school taking up Computer Science. At that time, she was on her way to her next class when she overheard a conversation between Dr. B and one of the faculty heads. They were weighing out the results from a teaching demo. Kat really should not care about this until she heard a familiar name who we will just call “Julie”.

Julie was a graduate of their school with a disability on her lower extremities. She just had a demo which was said to be darn fine. Everyone in that school, even those who paneled had given her good markings and was expecting she’d be teaching soon. Unfortunately, as Kat stood outside the dean’s office she heard the opposite. It seems that Dr. B had just questioned Julie’s ability to teach due to her disability—worst, the other head agreed. This is clear discrimination. And it’s just the first. There was even a gay student whom we’ll call “Marty” that even received degrading treatment from Dr. B. He’s darn good and she’s the worst.

What are the school owners doing about this? Haven’t they done an employment background check on Dr. B before giving the position? Or are they just plain deaf!?

Hearing this story makes me want to scream my head off. It’s unacceptable: a behavior so degrading coming from a person who has attained higher learning. This is not good. Not good at all….

Here’s a call for attention; an instant people search on those not afraid to voice their concerns. Fight back against oppressors!

Here’s a shout for everyone! Know your Rights! Respect other people’s Rights!

Be fair!