SSPU Info Bureau

Stillness is the place where we meet what is essential in us - what lasts and is deeply fulfilling. It is a place of non-disturbance where there is enough space and enough quiet to hear the subtle whispers of intuition and guidance. Stillness is a place where we can rest and feel ourselves fully connected to life.

The vast reservoir of stillness is always waiting. It is only our connection to it that varies.

As humans, we want to live an exceptional life in this very physical, very concrete, world. As spiritual or energetic beings, we have a deep, innate desire to be in clear and constant touch with our true nature. In opening to stillness we achieve both. We unburden ourselves of the limitations - physical, emotional and behavioral - that have interfered with our abilities to enjoy life freely and abundantly. And we find what is essential and true in our nature.

Is it possible to take something as subtle and fragile as our connection to stillness and make it predictable and consistent? Could we, in fact, create a “technology” of stillness to make that connection inevitable and our default way of being in the world? My answer is YES! Absolutely.

In creating a technology of stillness it would be useful to know how we have lost - or at least misplaced - something as natural to our being as the spaciousness of undisturbed flow. What I have observed in myself and hundreds of others is that, in response to stresses experienced throughout our lives (even sometimes in utero), we have become contracted from this natural and complete state of being.

As we let go, therefore, of the patterns and defenses that create and protect this contraction, we will begin to open. The experience is one of de-intensification, of opening the “weave” of the body so that we experience a greater flow of energy. We become more like ourselves. This is literally true for, as we flow more energy, we become less dense and experience more of our true nature - energetic or “spiritual” beings. Happily, the new science in physics and biology support this premise and our experience.

Intervention through the Body
This letting go process occurs easiest and most quickly by going through the body to reduce the contraction there. We found that changing our thinking patterns is slow, tedious, and fraught with the danger of “thinking” ourselves right back into one of our standard perspectives. So, we have focused on a body-centered approach.

As we let go of muscle tension and relax the parts and processes of our bodies, our minds naturally lose their automatic, unproductive, and repetitive thoughts. We create space between stimuli and our responses, lessening the time we spend lost in automatic reflexes. We begin to wake up.

While your core personality will not change (at least not in the early stages of this process), what does change predictably is that you will be less influenced by the fears, compulsions, and filters that distort your true expression. As our body releases its tensions and patterns, our thinking follows. We regain the innocence and pleasure that young children experience in living.

Tools for Opening
In developing a Technology of Stillness we called upon both ancient and modern tools, both simple and complex. Practices of using and watching the breath, for instance, are a time-tested doorway into the reservoir of stillness that awaits us. Mindfulness - the use of attention - brings us into the NOW. Stretching, strength, and body alignment allows energy to move freely.

But these practices cannot quickly overcome the set-in resistance of the body and mind. Culture creates a strong pull to its way of being. Traditional practices take a long time to recalibrate our resonance to the frequencies of stillness. Humans want and need stillness now.

So, we round out the ancient practices with the modern ones, using frequencies to unravel and resolve our contraction efficiently and permanently. One such tool is coupling breath work with actual vibration, added directly into the body. The resulting technique, or Vibrational Release Technique, is the single most efficient path to eliminate stress from the nervous system.

An audio learning program is another high-technology tool we use to re-train the body to the frequencies of lower resistance and higher flow. The audio program uses actual tones and waves to induce deep relaxation and to create greater flow and possibility in the body/mind as old patterns fall away.

o The tones in the program mirror the tones in the physiology, i.e., how tightly the muscles hold on, represented by how many times per second (hz) the muscles fire.

o The waves in the program allow your body/mind to resonate at deeper levels of openness through your built-in “frequency following response.” This automatic response is your tendency to resonate with the predominant frequency around you.

With regular use of the audio program, your body/mind will learn how to let go into and sustain a more open state of being than the culture around you.

A Technology of Stillness
An effective technology must create predictable and consistent results. Yet, to be effective with humans, it must be flexible enough to work with our individual nervous systems, patterning, and readiness for letting go. It cannot force a result. It must simply open the possibility and provide effective support.

The Technology of Stillness is designed for you to stabilize in each new level of stillness so that you are ready to open to the next level. As stillness deepens you can make emotional, mental and physiological changes that you would otherwise not be able to make.

If you are a fan of Blogger (like I am) then you probably love the introduction of hundreds of new Gadgets that you can add to your blog for more functionality. Gadgets (Google’s term for what is more commonly known as widgets) mean that you can add your personality to your blog by showing a list of your favorite movie quotes, or perhaps you could offer your viewers a game of pong? With so many to choose from what are the best Google Gadgets to add to your Blogger Blog?

1. Followers (Find it in Basics) - Followers is kind of like Google’s version of Twitter meets RSS. You can follow people and they can follow you or they can subscribe to your blog anonymously. It’s one of the easiest way’s to get more traffic to your blog (just start following people and they will likely start following you too).

2. HTML/JavaScript (Basics) - Obviously being able to add your own code to your blog page will enhance its functionality exponentially. You can add your own opt-in box to start a mailing list, Add Images and Links very easily to your other pages, and even put in a PayPal button and sell something right from your blog.

3. Countdown (Featured) - Allows you to add a countdown to your blog. You can countdown to your birthday, Christmas, until you launch a new product, anything you like.

4. Feed (Basics) - You can add a feed from your other blogs, your Squidoo lens, or if you are an EzineArticles author you can add a feed from your author page to show your latest articles.

5. AdSense (Basics) - If you want to make some money from your Blog one of the first places to start is by adding AdSense to your page. You will need an account with AdSense first so make sure you write a few posts on your blog before you apply. Then you can just add your AdSense code to the Gadget and can start earning money.

To add Gadgets to your blog just head to your Dashboard and go Layout | Page Elements then click on the Add a Gadget link wherever you would like to place it.

The online world of business is flourishing at a very fast pace nowadays. Not that the number of websites is increasing only, the number of those people who are taking the online world as the true way of doing businesses is also increasing. This virtual world now presents a lot of opportunities as well as a lot of competition to those who are interested. If you want to be a successful online businessman, it is important that you know how to handle the best methods of advertising and promotion online. AdWords are one of the methods to promote your business online very successfully. There are many steps that you need to take in this regard.

Step 1: It is important that you to go for AdWords advertising on the right kind of websites like yahoo and Google. Also, the AdWord advertising hierarchy is very important. Pay attention towards it.

Step 2: The quality of AdWords is very important. The step two that you need to take is to ensure that your AdWords are placed on those pages which are frequently visited. In this way you will start getting traffic through your AdWords. AdSense revenue will increase.

Step 3: AdWords advertising helps you in creating your own ads. The next step is to ensure that the copy carries all the right keywords that you need.

Step 4: Optimize your ads. Optimization ensures more revenue.

Step 5: As now you have the list of the types of pages where your ads should be placed, and your ads are properly optimized for search engines, you must place them on the right places.

All businesses are different; they differ in objectives, work plans, organization, direction, etc., a factor that most of the CRM solution providers already understand nowadays. Nevertheless, an important factor they’ve forgotten is size. There are big, medium, small, tiny companies, and even this classification can be broken into several sub-classifications. This factor creates a problem: all these companies must use the same CRM solution; it doesn’t matter if a company is mega big or minuscule, the solution must be the same.

Microsoft identified this problem and created what’s called a “Choice Model”. Now, if a company’s need for a CRM solution is small or big, they can choose what they believe it’s the best “Choice” for them. Here’s a description of each model that Microsoft provides:

On-Premise

This is the traditional implementation of a CRM solution. The customer buys the CRM software licenses and they implement the software on their own. The software acquisition won’t be enough, as the company will need the necessary hardware to host the CRM applications and the technical support for implementation and maintenance.

Partner Hosted

This is the most flexible model. The implementation, configuration, customization, maintenance and hosting is done by an external provider. Your company doesn’t need to worry about anything, but the exploit your CRM solution to the maximum.

Hybrid

This model could be the best solution for any business. Most companies tend to need a mixture of both the “partner hosted” and “on-premise” solutions, as they would like to have some control over the CRM solution, but not to suffer all the pain from complete implementation.

CRM Online

Would you like your Microsoft Dynamics CRM software to be hosted by the largest software company in the world? Many companies feel safeness with this solution, as trusting Microsoft to implement their own software for you sounds like a good deal.

This model is very similar to the “partner hosted” model. The only difference is that Microsoft will be your hosting company, instead of any other Microsoft partner. Another difference is that Microsoft will not customize the software or review your company’s needs, thus, if you want optimization and efficiency, the “partner hosted” model would be a better choice.

Conclusion

If your company can easily handle all the CRM implementation trouble, take the “on-premise” model. If you don’t want any trouble at all and exploit your CRM solution by getting a full customization of the software by a Microsoft partner, take the “”partner hosted” model. If you want some control over the CRM implementation and avoid unnecessary trouble, try the “hybrid” model. If you want to choose Microsoft as your hosting, choose “CRM online”.

Wireless is the new kid on the block that seems set for greatness. How could it not be, after all, when it offers various degrees of freedom that previously simply did not exist? By avoiding the clutter of wires, and allowing portable notebooks to truly be as portable as they should, wireless technology has found a place in the hearts of even the most jaded computer users.

Mobile broadband is an extension of this newfound freedom. By offering high-speed, broadband, internet access of a wireless nature through portable modems, telephones or other custom devices, it allows, again, for more freedom. Unfortunately this freedom comes with disadvantages too.

Two major advantages of mobile broadband

Firstly, mobile broadband offers unprecedented levels of convenience as far as broadband internet is concerned. All that is needed is the modem, and internet access is readily available, in theory anyway. If coverage is good enough, it would be completely possible to use mobile broadband overseas from any computer terminal you happen to pass by.

Secondly, the complete lack of need for a landline makes for further flexibility. Whether at home, work, or the park, a land line is completely unnecessary. This translates into even less cables dangling around, and even greater portability.

Two major disadvantages of mobile broadband

Firstly, rather unfortunately, the range of reception for most mobile broadband networks seems to be decidedly limited for now. Sometimes the bad reception exists in ‘pockets’ here and there from which connecting to the broadband internet is not possible, but at other times it can be entire areas that are simply not covered. Also worrisome is the fact that when there is a high concentration of users in a particular area utilizing the mobile broadband, it can cause a general slowdown in service.

Secondly, the bandwidth available to mobile broadband customers is generally much smaller than their more conventional cousins. Although this particular limitation would go unnoticed to most casual users, heavier internet users would find it stifling to their activities. Some current mobile broadband providers charge on a per-MB usage basis and this too can end up being costly unless the broadband is used sparingly.

As a verdict, mobile broadband has a vast potential that can be tapped into and taken advantage of, however it remains very much limited as of yet. That said, it should be noted that the same was said of wireless networks at one point in time, not so very long ago, and as such never underestimate what tomorrow may bring.

For the casual user that values mobility and convenience over speed and consistency, mobile broadband is still a pretty attractive option. However for heavy internet users, and others that simply cannot, or do not, wish to handle the reception problems or bandwidth limitations, it may be unwise to sign up to this particular option just yet. Once the kinks are worked out of the execution, mobile broadband really will come into its own as the preferred form of internet access.

Whether you need to close a sale, gather end-user feedback, show progress to your customer, or simply explain how your product works, sooner or later, you will need to demo your software product.

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to perform hundreds of demos to audiences of various sizes. I’ve also had the chance to attend demos hosted by others. The following represent the top 5 tips I’ve learned over the last decade regarding demos.

Manage Your Audience’s Expectations

Have you ever gone to see a movie everyone raved about and walk out totally disappointed? More often than not, moviegoers feel let down not because the picture was bad, but rather because it was worse than they anticipated. It didn’t meet their expectations.

Similarly, if people show up to a demo thinking they’re about to see a finished product, they expect it to be virtually defect-free, aesthetically pleasing, and user-friendly. They wouldn’t be impressed for example with a Web-based application that contains typos or JavaScript errors if they’re under the impression it’s going live in a week. However, if they know beforehand that you’re presenting a throwaway prototype, this same audience will be much more lenient. And they will gladly provide much-needed feedback to help you with your work in progress.

Managing your audience’s expectation is critical to a successful demo. If you want them to walk away from your presentation pleased, make sure you set the right expectations beforehand. Be honest with them. Don’t try to oversell your demo. Just sell it, and try to over deliver.

One Bad Apple Spoils The Whole Bunch

All it takes to screw up a demo is one person. If someone starts negatively critiquing every single widget in your application or constantly interrupts you simply because he/she likes to hear the sound of his/her own voice, your demo will be a disaster. It is your job to ensure that these bad apples don’t show up to your presentation.

Unless you’re hosting a closed-door demo, it’s very hard to control who will attend it. Omitting someone from your invitation list doesn’t guarantee they won’t hear about your demo through word-of-mouth and simply show up.

Here are a couple of ways to trick bad apples into not attending your demo:

• Create a scheduling conflict for those bad apples. Make sure they are busy, or better yet, out of the office when your demo takes place.
• Book two separate demos. Invite the people whose feedback you truly value to the first demo and the bad apples to the second. More often than not, each group will show up to the demo they’re respectively invited to. When it’s time for the second demo, go ahead and give it your best shot, or if you don’t have time, simply cancel it.

I’m well aware that these two tips sound like an excerpt from Scott Adams’s Dilbert And The Way Of The Weasel, but unless you feel comfortable telling your peers, superiors or customers not to show up to your demo, these two options are pretty much all you’re left with.

Do A Practice Run

I attended a demo last week hosted by the CEO of a local start-up. After meeting with him at a trade show, he managed to convince me that his company had developed a technology that could solve one of my client’s needs. I therefore agreed to give him 30 minutes of my time so he could demonstrate his product’s capabilities.

I didn’t need 30 minutes to realize I didn’t want to do business with him. All I needed was 30 seconds.

This guy couldn’t even log in his own Web-based application! He spent the first 10 minutes of the demo looking for a password.

Always do a practice run on the system that you’re going to use during the actual demo. You might know the application like the palm of your hand, but if someone else has access to your demo system, who knows what shape it’s in. They might have removed services, upgraded components or, as was the case with this CEO, changed the user credentials without informing you.

Unless you don’t mind looking like a fool, always do a practice run on your demo system before presenting to your audience.

Pay Attention To Details

The hundreds of demos I’ve performed over the years have taught me that people pay more attention to how the application looks than what it does. You software might be the solution to world-hunger but if a member of your audience notices a typo in your GUI, he/she will point it out!

Readers are especially distracted by readable content – and that’s a fact. Deal with it by carefully reviewing the text on your interface and in your graphics. If you don’t have the time to review and finalize the text, use Lorem Ipsum.

Lorem Ipsum has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, thereby making it look like readable English yet not distracting your readers. I now develop new prototypes strictly with Lorem Ipsum and add actual text when and only when I have time to write content that I know won’t become a subject of discussion at my next demo. I strongly advise you to do the same.

Point Out The (Obvious) Bugs

Software contains bugs. It’s that simple. Anyone who doesn’t agree with that statement clearly hasn’t worked in the software industry for long. Although we sometimes strive for defect-free products, reality is complex systems always contain defects – even when they’re generally available.

Doing a practice run before your demo will allow you to identify and resolve the showstoppers, and using Lorem Ipsum will deal with the nitty-gritty details that would otherwise distract your audience. But what about the other defects attributed to Murphy’s Law?

In the event that an obvious bug does display itself during your demo, point it out!

In all likelihood, your audience will have already noticed the bug. Any attempt to hide it will give them the impression that you’re not being honest. Consequently, they’ll start to wonder what else you’re trying to cover up.

Point out the bug, explain that you have a solution, confidently state that the fix will be implemented by a specific date, and move on. This sincere behavior will reassure your audience that (a) you’re not trying to sweep one under the rug and (b) the defect will be resolved by the time they deploy your system.

I’m not advocating that you go hunting for bugs during your demo. If you can circumvent them by any means, please do so. But if a defect does surface during your presentation, don’t pretend it doesn’t exist. The only person you’ll be kidding is yourself.

Conclusion

There you have it. Five tips for a great software demo.

1. Manage your audience’s expectations
2. Ensure that bad apples don’t ruin the bunch
3. Do a practice run
4. Pay attention to details and use Lorem Ipsum
5. Point out the obvious bugs

Do these 5 tips represent all I’ve learned over the hundreds of demos I’ve hosted? Absolutely not! The hardest part about writing this article was probably limiting it to 5 tips. I could have easily thrown in 5 more tips such as (a) control the situation, and (b) always have a plan B. But the goal wasn’t to point out all the tips that can help you out. Only the very top five!