Business

Forex

2008-11-29T11:03:00.003-08:00

welcome to all my visitors in my website

The foreign exchange (currency, forex or FX) Market is where currency trading takes place. FX transactions typically involve one party purchasing a quantity of one currency in exchange for paying a quantity of another. The FX market is one of the largest and most liquid financial markets in the world, and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, corporations, governments, and other institutions. The average daily volume in the global forex and related markets is continuously growing. Traditional turnover was reported to be over US$ 3.2 trillion in April 2007 by the Bank for International Settlement. [1] Since then, the market has continued to grow. According to Euromoney's annual FX Poll, volumes grew a further 41% between 2007 and 2008.

Market participants

Unlike a stock market, where all participants have access to the same prices, the forex market is divided into levels of access. At the top is the inter-bank market, which is made up of the largest investment banking firms. Within the inter-bank market, spreads, which are the difference between the bid and ask prices, are razor sharp and usually unavailable, and not known to players outside the inner circle. The difference between the bid and ask prices widens (from 0-1 pip to 1-2 pips for some currencies such as the EUR). This is due to volume. If a trader can guarantee large numbers of transactions for large amounts, they can demand a smaller difference between the bid and ask price, which is referred to as a better spread. The levels of access that make up the forex market are determined by the size of the “line” (the amount of money with which they are trading). The top-tier inter-bank market accounts for 53% of all transactions. After that there are usually smaller investment banks, followed by large multi-national corporations (which need to hedge risk and pay employees in different countries), large hedge funds, and even some of the retail forex-metal market makers. According to Galati and Melvin, “Pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, and other institutional investors have played an increasingly important role in financial markets in general, and in FX markets in particular, since the early 2000s.” (2004) In addition, he notes, “Hedge funds have grown markedly over the 2001–2004 period in terms of both number and overall size” Central banks also participate in the forex market to align currencies to their economic needs.

Banks

The interbank market caters for both the majority of commercial turnover and large amounts of speculative trading every day. A large bank may trade billions of dollars daily. Some of this trading is undertaken on behalf of customers, but much is conducted by proprietary desks, trading for the bank's own account.

Until recently, foreign exchange brokers did large amounts of business, facilitating interbank trading and matching anonymous counterparts for small fees. Today, however, much of this business has moved on to more efficient electronic systems. The broker squawk box lets traders listen in on ongoing interbank trading and is heard in most trading rooms, but turnover is noticeably smaller than just a few years ago.

Commercial companiesAn important part of this market comes from the financial activities of companies seeking foreign exchange to pay for goods or services. Commercial companies often trade fairly small amounts compared to those of banks or speculators, and their trades often have little short term impact on market rates. Nevertheless, trade flows are an important factor in the long-term direction of a currency's exchange rate. Some multinational companies can have an unpredictable impact when very large positions are covered due to exposures that are not widely known by other market participants.

Central banksNational central banks play an important role in the foreign exchange markets. They try to control the money supply, inflation, and/or interest rates and often have official or unofficial target rates for their currencies. They can use their often substantial foreign exchange reserves to stabilize the market. Milton Friedman argued that the best stabilization strategy would be for central banks to buy when the exchange rate is too low, and to sell when the rate is too high — that is, to trade for a profit based on their more precise information. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of central bank "stabilizing speculation" is doubtful because central banks do not go bankrupt if they make large losses, like other traders would, and there is no convincing evidence that they do make a profit trading.

The mere expectation or rumor of central bank intervention might be enough to stabilize a currency, but aggressive intervention might be used several times each year in countries with a dirty float currency regime. Central banks do not always achieve their objectives. The combined resources of the market can easily overwhelm any central bank.[5] Several scenarios of this nature were seen in the 1992–93 ERM collapse, and in more recent times in Southeast Asia. Hedge fundsHedge funds have gained a reputation for aggressive currency speculation since 1996. They control billions of dollars of equity and may borrow billions more, and thus may overwhelm intervention by central banks to support almost any currency, if the economic fundamentals are in the hedge funds' favor.

Investment management firmsInvestment management firms (who typically manage large accounts on behalf of customers such as pension funds and endowments) use the foreign exchange market to facilitate transactions in foreign securities. For example, an investment manager bearing an international equity portfolio needs to purchase and sell several pairs of foreign currencies to pay for foreign securities purchases.

Some investment management firms also have more speculative specialist currency overlay operations, which manage clients' currency exposures with the aim of generating profits as well as limiting risk. Whilst the number of this type of specialist firms is quite small, many have a large value of assets under management (AUM), and hence can generate large trades. Retail forex brokersThere are two types of retail brokers offering the opportunity for speculative trading: retail forex brokers and market makers. Retail traders (individuals) are a small fraction of this market and may only participate indirectly through brokers or banks. Retail forex brokers, while largely controlled and regulated by the CFTC and NFA might be subject to forex scams[6] [7]. At present, the NFA and CFTC are imposing stricter requirements, particularly in relation to the amount of Net Capitalization required of its members. As a result many of the smaller, and perhaps questionable brokers are now gone. It is not widely understood that retail brokers and market makers typically trade against their clients and frequently take the other side of their trades. This can often create a potential conflict of interest and give rise to some of the unpleasant experiences some traders have had. A move toward NDD (No Dealing Desk) and STP (Straight Through Processing) has helped to resolve some of these concerns and restore trader confidence, but caution is still advised in ensuring that all is as it is presented.

OtherNon-bank foreign exchange companies offer currency exchange and international payments to private individuals and companies. These are also known as Foreign Exchange Brokers but are distinct from Forex Brokers as they do not offer speculative trading but currency exchange with payments. i.e. there is usually a physical delivery of currency to a bank account.

It is estimated that in the UK, 14% of currency transfers/payments are made via Foreign Exchange Companies[8]. These companies' selling point is usually that they will offer better exchange rates or cheaper payments than the customer's bank. These companies differ from Money Transfer/Remittance Companies in that they generally offer higher-value services. Money Transfer/Remittance Companies perform high-volume low-value transfers generally by economic migrants back to their home country. In 2007, the Aite Group estimated that there were $369 billion of remittances (an increase of 8% on the previous year). The four largest markets (India, China, Mexico and the Philippines) receive $95 billion. The largest and best known provider is Western Union with 345,000 agents globally. Trading characteristics
Factors affecting currency tradingSee also: Exchange rates Although exchange rates are affected by many factors, in the end, currency prices are a result of supply and demand forces. The world's currency markets can be viewed as a huge melting pot: in a large and ever-changing mix of current events, supply and demand factors are constantly shifting, and the price of one currency in relation to another shifts accordingly. No other market encompasses (and distills) as much of what is going on in the world at any given time as foreign exchange. Supply and demand for any given currency, and thus its value, are not influenced by any single element, but rather by several. These elements generally fall into three categories: economic factors, political conditions and market psychology.

Economic factorsThese include economic policy, disseminated by government agencies and central banks, economic conditions, generally revealed through economic reports, and other economic indicators.

Economic policy comprises government fiscal policy (budget/spending practices) and monetary policy (the means by which a government's central bank influences the supply and "cost" of money, which is reflected by the level of interest rates). Economic conditions include: Government budget deficits or surpluses: The market usually reacts negatively to widening government budget deficits, and positively to narrowing budget deficits. The impact is reflected in the value of a country's currency.

Balance of trade levels and trends: The trade flow between countries illustrates the demand for goods and services, which in turn indicates demand for a country's currency to conduct trade. Surpluses and deficits in trade of goods and services reflect the competitiveness of a nation's economy. For example, trade deficits may have a negative impact on a nation's currency. Inflation levels and trends: Typically, a currency will lose value if there is a high level of inflation in the country or if inflation levels are perceived to be rising. This is because inflation erodes purchasing power, thus demand, for that particular currency. However, a currency may sometimes strengthen when inflation rises because of expectations that the central bank will raise short-term interest rates to combat rising inflation.

Economic growth and health: Reports such as gross domestic product (GDP), employment levels, retail sales, capacity utilization and others, detail the levels of a country's economic growth and health. Generally, the more healthy and robust a country's economy, the better its currency will perform, and the more demand for it there will be. Political conditionsInternal, regional, and international political conditions and events can have a profound effect on currency markets.

For instance, political upheaval and instability can have a negative impact on a nation's economy. The rise of a political faction that is perceived to be fiscally responsible can have the opposite effect. Also, events in one country in a region may spur positive or negative interest in a neighboring country and, in the process, affect its currency. Market psychologyMarket psychology and trader perceptions influence the foreign exchange market in a variety of ways:
Flights to quality:

Unsettling international events can lead to a "flight to quality," with investors seeking a "safe haven". There will be a greater demand, thus a higher price, for currencies perceived as stronger over their relatively weaker counterparts. The Swiss franc has been a traditional safe haven during times of political or economic uncertainty.[9] Long-term trends: Currency markets often move in visible long-term trends. Although currencies do not have an annual growing season like physical commodities, business cycles do make themselves felt. Cycle analysis looks at longer-term price trends that may rise from economic or political trends. [10]

"Buy the rumor, sell the fact:" This market truism can apply to many currency situations. It is the tendency for the price of a currency to reflect the impact of a particular action before it occurs and, when the anticipated event comes to pass, react in exactly the opposite direction. This may also be referred to as a market being "oversold" or "overbought".[11] To buy the rumor or sell the fact can also be an example of the cognitive bias known as anchoring, when investors focus too much on the relevance of outside events to currency prices. Economic numbers: While economic numbers can certainly reflect economic policy, some reports and numbers take on a talisman-like effect: the number itself becomes important to market psychology and may have an immediate impact on short-term market moves. "What to watch" can change over time. In recent years, for example, money supply, employment, trade balance figures and inflation numbers have all taken turns in the spotlight. Technical trading considerations: As in other markets, the accumulated price movements in a currency pair such as EUR/USD can form apparent patterns that traders may attempt to use. Many traders study price charts in order to identify such patterns. [12] Algorithmic trading in forexElectronic trading is growing in the FX market, and algorithmic trading is becoming much more common. According to financial consultancy Celent estimates, by 2008 up to 25% of all trades by volume will be executed using algorithm, up from about 18% in 2005.

Source from : Wikipedia

Finance

2008-11-29T11:03:00.001-08:00

The field of finance refers to the concepts of time, money and risk and how they are interrelated. Banks are the main facilitators of funding through the provision of credit, although private equity, mutual funds, hedge funds, and other organizations have become important. Financial assets, known as investments, are financially managed with careful attention to financial risk management to control financial risk. Financial instruments allow many forms of securitized assets to be traded on securities exchanges such as stock exchanges, including debt such as bonds as well as equity in publicly-traded corporations.

An entity whose income exceeds its expenditure can lend or invest the excess income. On the other hand, an entity whose income is less than its expenditure can raise capital by borrowing or selling equity claims, decreasing its expenses, or increasing its income. The lender can find a borrower, a financial intermediary such as a bank, or buy notes or bonds in the bond market. The lender receives interest, the borrower pays a higher interest than the lender receives, and the financial intermediary pockets the difference.

A bank aggregates the activities of many borrowers and lenders. A bank accepts deposits from lenders, on which it pays the interest. The bank then lends these deposits to borrowers. Banks allow borrowers and lenders, of different sizes, to coordinate their activity. Banks are thus compensators of money flows in space.

A specific example of corporate finance is the sale of stock by a company to institutional investors like investment banks, who in turn generally sell it to the public. The stock gives whoever owns it part ownership in that company. If you buy one share of XYZ Inc, and they have 100 shares outstanding (held by investors), you are 1/100 owner of that company. Of course, in return for the stock, the company receives cash, which it uses to expand its business in a process called "equity financing". Equity financing mixed with the sale of bonds (or any other debt financing) is called the company's capital structure.

Finance is used by individuals (personal finance), by governments (public finance), by businesses (corporate finance), as well as by a wide variety of organizations including schools and non-profit organizations. In general, the goals of each of the above activities are achieved through the use of appropriate financial instruments, with consideration to their institutional setting.

Finance is one of the most important aspects of business management. Without proper financial planning a new enterprise is unlikely to be successful. Managing money (a liquid asset) is essential to ensure a secure future, both for the individual and an organization.

Corporate financeMain article: Corporate financeManagerial or corporate finance is the task of providing the funds for a corporation's activities. For small business, this is referred to as SME finance. It generally involves balancing risk and profitability, while attempting to maximize an entity's wealth and the value of its stock.

Long term funds are provided by ownership equity and long-term credit, often in the form of bonds. The balance between these forms the company's capital structure. Short-term funding or working capital is mostly provided by banks extending a line of credit.

Another business decision concerning finance is investment, or fund management. An investment is an acquisition of an asset in the hope that it will maintain or increase its value. In investment management – in choosing a portfolio – one has to decide what, how much and when to invest. To do this, a company must:

Identify relevant objectives and constraints: institution or individual goals, time horizon, risk aversion and tax considerations; Identify the appropriate strategy: active v. passive – hedging strategy Measure the portfolio performance Financial management is duplicate with the financial function of the Accounting profession. However, financial accounting is more concerned with the reporting of historical financial information, while the financial decision is directed toward the future of the firm.

Personal financeMain article:

Personal financeQuestions in personal finance revolve around
How much money will be needed by an individual (or by a family), and when? Where will this money come from, and how? How can people protect themselves against unforeseen personal events, as well as those in the external economy? How can family assets best be transferred across generations (bequests and inheritance)? How does tax policy (tax subsidies or penalties) affect personal financial decisions? How does credit affect an individual's financial standing? How can one plan for a secure financial future in an environment of economic instability? Personal financial decisions may involve paying for education, financing durable goods such as real estate and cars, buying insurance, e.g. health and property insurance, investing and saving for retirement.

Personal financial

decisions may also involve paying for a loan.

Capital budget

This concerns fixed asset requirements for the next five years and how these will be financed.
Cash budgetWorking capital requirements of a business should be monitored at all times to ensure that there are sufficient funds available to meet short-term expenses.

The cash budget is basically a detailed plan that shows all expected sources and uses of cash. The cash budget has the following six main sections:

1. Beginning Cash Balance - contains the last period's closing cash balance.
2. Cash collections - includes all expected cash receipts (all sources of cash for the period considered, mainly sales)
3. Cash disbursements - lists all planned cash outflows for the period, excluding interest payments on short-term loans, which appear in the financing section. All expenses that do not affect cash flow are excluded from this list (e.g. depreciation, amortisation, etc)
4. Cash excess or deficiency - a function of the cash needs and cash available. Cash needs are determined by the total cash disbursements plus the minimum cash balance required by company policy. If total cash available is less than cash needs, a deficiency exists.
5. Financing - discloses the planned borrowings and repayments, including interest.
6. Ending Cash balance - simply reveals the planned ending cash balance.

Source from : Wikipedia

Back to Home

Loan

2008-11-29T11:02:00.002-08:00

A loan is a type of debt. This article focuses exclusively on monetary loans, although, in practice, any material object might be lent. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower.

The borrower initially does receive an amount of money from the lender, which they pay back, usually but not always in regular installments, to the lender. This service is generally provided at a cost, referred to as interest on the debt. A loan is of the annuity type if the amount paid periodically (for paying off and interest together) is fixed.

A borrower may be subject to certain restrictions known as loan covenants under the terms of the loan.

Acting as a provider of loans is one of the principal tasks for financial institutions. For other institutions, issuing of debt contracts such as bonds is a typical source of funding.

Legally, a loan is a contractual promise of a debtor to repay a sum of money in exchange for the promise of a creditor to give another sum of money.

Secured

A secured loan is a loan in which the borrower pledges some asset (e.g. a car or property) as collateral for the loan.

A mortgage loan is a very common type of debt instrument, used by many individuals to purchase housing. In this arrangement, the money is used to purchase the property. The financial institution, however, is given security — a lien on the title to the house — until the mortgage is paid off in full. If the borrower defaults on the loan, the bank would have the legal right to repossess the house and sell it, to recover sums owing to it.

In some instances, a loan taken out to purchase a new or used car may be secured by the car, in much the same way as a mortgage is secured by housing. The duration of the loan period is considerably shorter — often corresponding to the useful life of the car. There are two types of auto loans, direct and indirect. A direct auto loan is where a bank gives the loan directly to a consumer. An indirect auto loan is where a car dealership acts as an intermediary between the bank or financial institution and the consumer.

A type of loan especially used in limited partnership agreements is the recourse note.
A stock hedge loan is a special type of securities lending whereby the stock of a borrower is hedged by the lender against loss, using options or other hedging strategies to reduce lender risk.

Unsecured

Unsecured loans are monetary loans that are not secured against the borrowers assets. These may be available from financial institutions under many different guises or marketing packages:

Source from : Wikipedia

Back to Home

University

2008-11-29T11:02:00.001-08:00

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education. The word university is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, roughly meaning "community of teachers and scholars

Early historyFurther information: List of oldest universities in continuous operation Representation of a university class in the 1350sThe original Latin word "universitas", first used in time of renewed interest in Classical Greek and Roman tradition, tried to reflect this feature of the Academy of Plato (established 385 BC). The term "academia" is sometimes extended to a number of educational institutions of non-Western antiquity, including China, India and Persia:

Academies such as Shang Hsiang, and later Taixue and Guozijian, succeeded by the medieval Academies of Classical Learning Taxila[2] in Gandhara and the Buddhist Nalanda University

in Bihar, India (5th century BC) The Sassanid Academy of Gundishapur was founded in the 5th century in Persia/Iran. The University of Constantinople, founded as an institution of higher learning in 425 and reorganized as a corporation of students in 849 by the regent Bardas of emperor Michael III, is considered by some to be the earliest institution of higher learning with some of the characteristics we associate today with a university (research and teaching, auto-administration, academic independence, et cetera). If a university is defined as "an institution of higher learning" then it is preceded by several others, including the Academy that it was founded to compete with and eventually replaced. If the original meaning of the word is considered "a corporation of students" then this could be the first example of such an institution.

If the definition of a university is assumed to mean an institution of higher education and research which issues academic degrees at all levels (bachelor, master and doctorate) like in the modern sense of the word, then the medieval Madrasahs known as Jami'ah ("university" in Arabic) founded in the 9th century would be the first examples of such an institution.[5][6] The University of Al Karaouine in Fez, Morocco is thus recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest degree-granting university in the world with its founding in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri. Also in the 9th century, Bimaristan medical schools were founded in the medieval Islamic world, where medical degrees and diplomas were issued to students of Islamic medicine who were qualified to be a practicing Doctor of Medicine.[6][8] Al-Azhar University, founded in Cairo, Egypt in 975, was a Jami'ah university which offered a variety of post-graduate degrees (Ijazah), and had individual faculties for a theological seminary, Islamic law and jurisprudence, Arabic grammar, Islamic astronomy, early Islamic philosophy, and logic in Islamic philosophy.

Organization The University of Sydney is Australia's oldest university.Although each institution is differently organized, nearly all universities have a board of trustees; a president, chancellor, or rector; at least one vice president, vice-chancellor, or vice-rector; and deans of various divisions. Universities are generally divided into a number of academic departments, schools or faculties. Public university systems are ruled over by government-run higher education boards. They review financial requests and budget proposals and then allocate funds for each university in the system. They also approve new programs of instruction and cancel or make changes in existing programs. In addition, they plan for the further coordinated growth and development of the various institutions of higher education in the state or country. However, many public universities in the world have a considerable degree of financial, research and pedagogical autonomy. Private universities are privately funded and generally have a broader independence from state policies.

Classification Brooks Hall, home of the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, USAcross the world there are very differing standards of legal definition of the term "university" and formal accreditation of institutions. For example, there is no legal definition of the term in the United States[citation needed] although the term is used in classification schemes such as that used by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In the United Kingdom, however, an institution can only use the term if it has been granted by the Privy Council, under the terms of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992.

In many regions of the world, a university is any institution of higher education and research which grants autonomously a range of academic degrees in several fields, from bachelor's degrees to doctorate degrees, including masters' degrees, as well as honoris causa degrees and agrégation/habilitation diplomas in the places where these are used.[citation needed] Independently performed research conducted by universities includes both fundamental research and applied research.

Source from : Wikipedia

Back to Home

York University

2008-11-29T11:01:00.002-08:00

More than 4,000 rare books and the intellectual property collection of Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut are donated to York... From YFile - Nov 28 2008

Aerosol expert to give this year's Harold I. Schiff LectureDouglas Worsnop, VP & director of the Center for Aerosol and Cloud Chemistry, will look at aerosols and the environment...From YFile - Nov 27 2008

Alumnus wins Governor General's Literary Award for PoetryAt just 28 years old, Jacob Scheier has claimed the GG Award for Poetry for his debut collection More To Keep Us Warm...From YFile - Nov 26 2008

Symposium launches art exhibit by York Professor Nina LevittThree fine arts professors discuss the connection between history and various art forms at an upcoming symposium...From YFile - Nov 25 2008

Nursing the wounds of oppressionProfessor Merle Jacobs explores racialization as a lived experience in her book Women’s Work: Racism and Trauma...From YFile - Nov 24 2008

Source from : Wikipedia

Back to Home

Online University

2008-11-29T11:01:00.001-08:00

Why Online University

Who Should Opt For The Online Route?
If attending a university program has become tough for you due to a full-time job and other commitments then online universities can help you immensely. An online university degree offered by the online universities is as good and legitimate as compared to a traditional one. The good thing about online university degree is that you can organize your study on the basis of your schedule.

With online university degree, you decide your own timetable. Even better, it’s totally up to you where you want to study. In some cases, classroom environment can intimidate some students. These kinds of students prefer studying in their own room in peace rather than in the presence of thirty odd other students and teachers.

Getting Online University Degree

When you are sure in your mind that you want to go for an online university degree, it is quite important that you take a number of factors into consideration. To start with, make sure that the online university you have chosen is accredited. If that is not the case, your online university degree will be of no use. Find below name of few universities that are accredited to give online university degree.
* Southern Christian University
* University of Phoenix
* Walden University
* DeVry University
* Kaplan University
Before opting for any online university degree program, make sure that it matches your requirement. There are number of online universities that provide students with real-time instruction through World Wide Web. In other words, you can listen to a lecture in an online university degree program, as is the case with attending a conventional classroom lecture. Before enrolling in any online degree program, review the syllabus of the course.
Fees structure is also quite an important factor in the online university degree. Before enrolling, see how much money you are going to spend during the course, including university taxes and books. Most of the online universities provide books and course material for free. If the online university you have chosen is not offering you all this, it is recommended that you stay away from that particular university. You can ask previous students regarding the hidden taxes that university charges to their students.
Online University Degree Advantages:
Find below some of the advantages associated with online university degree:
·First and foremost, you can attend classes in online university degree program on the basis of your convenience.
·You can access all the study material of your course through the Internet. It also includes all the administrative aspects.
·As soon as you finish your assignments, you will get the degree. In an ideal scenario, you can get the online university degree in a matter of two or three years.
·You can get online bachelor degree quickly at online universities as compared to conventional bachelor degree program.
·Online university degree program offers your more flexibility as compared to conventional bachelor degree program.
·Online degrees offered by accredited online universities are recognized all around the world.
Best Online University
One of the most convenient ways to further your education while keeping a job and home is registering for an online degree. With online courses you will have interactive classes via the net, will receive course work online, have an advisor who will guide you 24/7, and you can at your own convenience complete assignments from home.
There are many online universities, and many of them have unique advantages. But which will be the Best Online University for me? With online universities sprouting up everywhere it becomes difficult to determine which schools offer the best package for which individuals. To assist you there we have taken three criteria; marketability, usability, and class quality.
Marketability:There is little question that among online universities, which university carries the best reputation. Employers consistently regard the students coming out of reputed universities as prepared for the job market and as a result, a degree from a reputed university, more than any other online university, confers marketability. There are hundreds of small universities spread throughout the country which offers very less online programs and as a result they are not that much confers marketability.
Usability:Students consistently report good experiences with the guided notes of online universities. As it has replaced the tedious classroom chat room and malfunctioning web cams of old. Students like to prefer using online systems which have been perfected for many years.
Class Quality:Students consistently report quality teaching in every department. There are universities like Phoenix which offers wide array of class choices.
There are many online universities which are reputed. Some of them are University of Phoenix Online, Colorado Online Technical University, Devry Online University, Boston Online University and Kaplan Online University.
University of Phoenix Online:The University of Phoenix Online is the most widely recognized online university in the world. But beyond job opportunities, Phoenix also excels above most of its competitors with respect to teaching.
Colorado Online Technical University:Colorado Technical University is suitable for high school graduates and adult working class professionals. Their convenient online and on ground classes will help adults build their schedules around their profession. At Colorado Technical University you will gain inspiration and an increased desire for gaining more education throughout your life time.
Devry Online University:Devry University is one of the oldest and most widely recognized online universities. DeVry students have the unique opportunity to choose to take courses online or opt to take some in live physical classrooms. The school is uniquely able to provide many students with employment as they proceed through their education.
Boston Online University:An online degree from Boston University represents achievement of a high academic standard. At Boston University Online, you can earn your degree during the hours and in the location that work best for youwithout settling for anything less than the resources and distinction of a great university.
Kaplan Online University:Kaplan University focuses on adding a human touch to the high technology of learning online. The flexibility and dynamic interaction of online education at Kaplan University also allows for innovative learning opportunities.
There are many good universities out there. But according to your needs and requirements in your education, you must have to choose the best online university.
Join Accredited Online University Degree Programs
You might be concerned about affording an education through an accredited online college or University. engineering online universities online degrees from accredited universities online college universities bilkent university online academic . Even the basic college experience has been changed dramatically, favoring more elements of an accredited online university than ever before. True Any four year college or university that is accredited to grant an online bachelors degree may do so. Each accredited college and university listed provide a variety of online master's degree and online MBA programs in many specialized areas. Rather than investigating "accreditted online college degrees," look into the opportunities available through the nation's largest accredited university. WGU is the only online accredited university and online college in the U.S.
Join thousands of students who attend class online and earn your accredited degree through Tsinghua University's online mba degrees. Earning an accredited Tsinghua University graduate degree through their online MBA degrees will contribute to your success and give your career a boost. Earn your degree from an accredited online university. It is a common mistake to search for "online accredited degree programs" when seeking an accredited university.
Founded in 1993, JIU is the first regionally accredited online university providing quality education for busy adults. Founded in 1993, JIU is the first regionally accredited online university providing quality education for busy adults. Founded in 1993, JIUô is the first regionally accredited online university providing quality education for busy adults. Click here to find out more. Founded in 1993, JIU is the first regionally accredited online university providing quality education for busy adults. Founded in 1993, JIU is the first regionally accredited online university providing quality education for busy adults.
CNU is a nationally accredited online distance learning university designed for technical and business professionals. an accredited online university is the fastest growing form of learning today, and its applications are spreading into even the most technical of fields. Perhaps the most important benefit of distance learning through an accredited online university is the ability to communicate and tap into Global business networks. Get your business career in high gear with independent, online study at this accredited university. Join thousands of students who attend class online and earn your accredited degree through Tsinghua Universitys online mba degrees.
Earning an accredited Tsinghua University graduate degree through their online MBA degrees will contribute to your success and give your career a boost. Each accredited college and university listed provide a variety of online master's degree and online MBA programs in many specialized areas. The rising popularity of an accredited online university is not without its criticism and potential drawbacks. There is also some criticism about the ability to regulate an accredited online university, and fears about cheating to obtain degrees without earning them.
Find an accredited online school or university, and jump start your career today! When people start looking for more information about accredited online university, you'll be in a position to meet their needs. Queries regarding accreditationBefore opting in for a regular/online university it is very important to check if the university is accredited or not. So make sure you check if the online university is accredited by a recognized body before opting for one. Get your IT career in high gear with independent, online study at this accredited university.
So you can safely end your search for an accredited online university here. It is a common mistake to search for "online accredited degree programs" when seeking an accredited university. Even worse, some schools use terms that give the appearance of being an accredited online university when, in fact, they are not. Founded in 1993, JIUô is the first regionally accredited online university providing quality education for busy adults. Click here to find out more.
Programs with real-world curriculum are taught by scholar/practitioners at Capella University, an accredited online university. If you are a busy working adult on a tight income, independent study at this highly accredited online university is for you! Even the basic college experience has been changed dramatically, favoring more elements of an accredited online university than ever before. An accredited online university increases the opportunities available to executives to realize their education-related goals. Rather than investigating "accreditted online college degrees," look into the opportunities available through the nation's largest accredited university.
Its long-term goal is to create an fully accredited online university. * Please note that accredited-online-university.com is not responsible for the validity or opinions expressed by any outside links. engineering online universities online degrees from accredited universities online college universities bilkent university online academic . Now you can understand why there's a growing interest in accredited online university.

Source from : Wikipedia

Back to Home

Ashwork University

2008-11-29T11:00:00.004-08:00

Education encompasses both the teaching and learning of knowledge, proper conduct, and technical competency. It thus focuses on the cultivation of skills, trades or professions, as well as mental, moral and aesthetic development.[1] Formal education consists of systematic instruction, teaching and training by professional teachers. This consists of the application of pedagogy and the development of curricula. In a liberal education tradition, teachers draw on many different disciplines for their lessons, including psychology, philosophy, linguistics, biology, and sociology. Teachers in specialized professions such as astrophysics, law, or zoology may teach only in a narrow area, usually as professors at institutions of higher learning. There is much specialist instruction in fields of trade for those who want specific skills, such as required to be a pilot, for example. Finally, there is an array of educational opportunity in the informal sphere- for this reason; society subsidizes institutions such as museums and libraries. Informal education also includes knowledge and skills learned and refined during the course of life, including education that comes from experience in practicing a profession. The right to education has been described as a fundamental human right: since 1952, Article 2 of the first Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights obliges all signatory parties to guarantee the right to education. At world level, the United Nations' International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966 guarantees this right under its Article.

Higher education Main article: Higher education

The University of Cambridge is an institute of higher learning. Higher education, also called tertiary, third stage, or post secondary education, is the non-compulsory educational level that follows the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school, or gymnasium[citation needed]. Tertiary education is normally taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as vocational education and training. Colleges and universities are the main institutions that provide tertiary education. Collectively, these are sometimes known as tertiary institutions. Tertiary education generally results in the receipt of certificates, diplomas, or academic degrees. Higher education includes teaching, research and social services activities of universities, and within the realm of teaching, it includes both the undergraduate level (sometimes referred to as tertiary education) and the graduate (or postgraduate) level (sometimes referred to as graduate school). Higher education in that country generally involves work towards a degree-level or foundation degree qualification. In most developed countries a high proportion of the population (up to 50%) now enter higher education at some time in their lives. Higher education is therefore very important to national economies, both as a significant industry in its own right, and as a source of trained and educated personnel for the rest of the economy.

Alternative education :
Main article: Alternative education Alternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, is a broad term that may be used to refer to all forms of education outside of traditional education (for all age groups and levels of education). This may include not only forms of education designed for students with special needs (ranging from teenage pregnancy to intellectual disability), but also forms of education designed for a general audience and employing alternative educational philosophies and methods. Alternatives of the latter type are often the result of education reform and are rooted in various philosophies that are commonly fundamentally different from those of traditional compulsory education. While some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientations, others are more informal associations of teachers and students dissatisfied with certain aspects of traditional education[citation needed]. These alternatives, which include charter schools, alternative schools, independent schools, and home-based learning vary widely, but often emphasize the value of small class size, close relationships between students and teachers, and a sense of community.

Indigenous education
Increasingly, the inclusion of indigenous models of education (methods and content) as an alternative within the scope of formal and non-formal education systems, has come to represent a significant factor contributing to the success of those members of indigenous communities who choose to access these systems, both as students/learners and as teachers/instructors. As an educational method, the inclusion of indigenous ways of knowing, learning, instructing, teaching and training, has been viewed by many critical and postmodern scholars as important for ensuring that students/learners and teachers/instructors (whether indigenous or non-indigenous) are able to benefit from education in a culturally sensitive manner that draws upon, utilizes, promotes and enhances awareness of indigenous traditions. For indigenous students/learners and teachers/instructors, the inclusion of these methods often enhances educational effectiveness, success and learning outcomes by providing education that adheres to their own inherent perspectives, experiences and worldview. For non-indigenous students/learners and teachers/instructors, education using such methods often has the effect of raising awareness of the individual traditions and collective experience of surrounding indigenous communities and peoples, thereby promoting greater respect for and appreciation of the cultural realities of these communities and peoples. In terms of educational content, the inclusion of indigenous knowledge, traditions, perspectives, worldviews and conceptions within curricula, instructional materials and textbooks/coursebooks has been shown to have largely the same effects as the inclusion of indigenous methods in education. Indigenous students/learners and teachers/instructors benefit from enhanced academic effectiveness, success and learning outcomes, while non-indigenous students/learners and teachers/instructors often have greater awareness, respect, and appreciation for indigenous communities and peoples in consequence of the content that is shared during the course of educational pursuits. A prime example of how indigenous methods and content can be used to promote the above outcomes is demonstrated within higher education in Canada. Due to certain jurisdictions' focus on enhancing academic success for Aboriginal learners and promoting the values of multiculturalism in society, the inclusion of indigenous methods and content in education is often seen as an important obligation and duty of both governmental and educational authorities.

Emotional/Human education
As academic education is more and more the norm and standard, companies and individuals are looking less at normal education as to what is deemed a good solid educated person/worker. Most well-educated and successful entrepreneurs have high communication skills with humanistic and warm "emotional intelligence". In certain places, especially in the United States, the term alternative may largely refer to forms of education catering to "at risk" students, as it is, for example, in this definition drafted by the Massachusetts Department of Education.

Source from : Wikipedia

Back to Home

Keiser University

2008-11-29T11:00:00.003-08:00

Academics
Bachelor's degreesKeiser University in Tallahassee offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in Accounting and Business Administration with concentrations in Management, Human Resources Management, International Business and Marketing. Criminal Justice, Health Services Administration, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing,

Associate degreesKeiser offers Associate degrees in Accounting, Baking and Pastry, Business Administration, Culinary Arts, Criminal Justice, Computer Graphics and Computer Design, Paralegal Studies, Computer Networking and Security Management, Radiologic Technology, Medical Assisting, Health Services Administration and Nursing.

Library servicesThe Keiser University library is a collection of Computer assisted resources including: InfoTrac, ProQuest Direct, E-Library, Westlaw, and many other resources available over the Internet. The library supports the students, faculty and their programs by providing the following:

Reference materials in legal, medical, business, computers, and general areas

Back to Home

Phonix University

2008-11-29T11:00:00.001-08:00

Looking for campus or online university-level programs that are convenient yet high quality? University of Phoenix provides nearby campus locations, online degree programs and flexible scheduling for working students. Our campus and online degree programs cover fields such as business and management, communications, criminal justice and security, education, general studies, nursing and health care, human services, psychology, and technology. Whether you attend class on campus or online, University of Phoenix enables you to earn your college degree without putting your life on hold.

Degree Programs

From associate's to doctoral, our degree programs are designed to provide working students with knowledge they can use. Our programs blend academic theory with practical application.

Campus Locations

Nearly 200 locations across the United States, as well as internationally. Our campuses, learning centers and student resource centers are available for students who go to class on campus or online.

Financial Information

University of Phoenix is committed to accessible education, even during the national financial crisis. Explore the financial resources page for support and advice.

Back to Home

University Degree

2008-11-29T10:59:00.002-08:00

Academic degree
A degree is any of a wide range of status levels conferred by institutions of higher education, such as universities, normally as the result of successfully completing a program of study.
Examples of degreesSome examples of specific degrees follow each general term. For more information, see the article about the general term.

Associate's degrees: AA (Associate in Arts), AS (Associate in Science), AAS (Associate in Applied Science), AGS (Associate in General Studies) Bachelor's degrees: AB or BA, BFA, BSc or ScB or BS or SB, BBus, BSBA, BPE, B.Math, BSW, BVSc, B.Eng, BBA Master's degrees: MA, MFA, MS or MSc, MCM, M.Div., MPIA, MPS, MAS, MMus, MSSc, MBA, MPA, MHA, M.Ed or EdM, M.Eng, M.J, M.Des Licentiate degrees: LDS, JCL, LP Specialist degrees: Ed.S., SSP, SClP Logistician's degree: CPL Engineer's degrees: Ch.E., C.E., E.E., Env.E., I.E., Mech.E., Nucl.E., Sys.E. Professional Doctoral degrees:DMD or DDM, DDS, BM BS, ND, D.C., OD, DVM, V.M.D, M.Div., M.D.[5], D.O., Au.D., PharmD[6], J.D., D.C., P.Th.D., D.Th.P., EdD, D.P.M., DProf (UK) Research Doctoral degrees: J.C.D., Drs, Ph.D., EngD, DTech, DBA, DPA, DHA, DPS, D.D., D.Min., D.Th. or Th.D., J.S.D. or S.J.D. or LL.D., DPM, DSc or ScD, DSocSci, M.D.[7], DSW Abbreviations for degrees can place the level either before or after the faculty or discipline, depending on the institution. For example, DSc and ScD both stand for the (higher) doctorate in science. Various other abbreviations also vary between institutions, for instance BS and BSc both stand for 'Bachelor of Science'.

There are various conventions for indicating degrees and diplomas after one's name. In some cultures it is usual to give only the highest degree. In others, it is usual to give the full sequence, in some cases giving abbreviations also for the discipline, the institution, and (where it applies) the level of honours. In another variation, a 'rule of subsumption' often shortens the list and may obscure the chronology evident from a full listing. Thus 'MSc BA' means that the degrees conferred were - in chronological order - BSc, BA, MSc. The subsumption rule reflects the principle that a person of a given high status does not separately belong to the lower status.

For member institutions of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, there is a standard list of abbreviations, but in practice many variations are used. Most notable is the use of the Latin abbreviations 'Oxon.' and 'Cantab.' for the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, in spite of these having been superseded by (little used) English 'Oxf.' and 'Camb.' Other Latin abbreviations include St And. for the University of St Andrews, Exon. for the University of Exeter, Dunelm. for Durham University, Ebor. for the University of York and Cantuar. for the University of Kent (formerly the "University of Kent at Canterbury"). Confusion results from the widespread use of 'SA' for the University of South Australia (instead of S.Aust.) because 'SA' was officially assigned to the University of South Africa. For universities of different commonwealth countries sharing the same name, such as York University in Canada and the University of York in the UK, a convention has been adopted where a country abbreviation is included with the letters and university name. In this example, 'York (Can.)' and 'York (UK)' is commonly used to denote degrees conferred by their respective universities.

The doubling of letters in LL.B., LL.M., LL.D. is because these degrees are in laws, not law. The doubled letter indicates the Latin plural (genitive case) legum as opposed to the singular (genitive case) legis. Abbreviations for the degrees in surgery Ch. B. and Ch. M. are from Latin chiruguriae and often indicate a university system patterned after Scottish models. The combination of M.B. with Ch. B. arose from a need to graduate the students at the time of year allocated to graduation rituals, but the legal inability to confer the M.B. before they had been properly approved by professional regulatory bodies. Thus the Ch. B. was conferred first, and the M.B. was conferred later, after registration, and without ceremony. In recent times the two have come to be conferred together and are widely (mis)understood to constitute a single degree.

Some degrees are awarded jure dignitatis. That is, a person who has demonstrated the appropriate qualities to be given a particular office may be awarded the degree by virtue of the office held. It is another kind of earned—but not strictly academic—degree.

Degree systems by regions

North and South America
BrazilUndergraduate students in Brazilian universities normally graduate either with a Bacharel degree (equivalent to an American B.S. or B.A.) or with a professional degree (roughly modeled on the old German Diplom).

Bacharel degrees are awarded in most fields of study in the arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics, or natural sciences and normally take four years to complete (a bachelor's degree in Law requires an extra fifth year to be obtained). Professional degrees are awarded in state-regulated professions such as architecture, engineering, psychology, pharmacy, dental medicine, veterinary medicine, or human medicine and are named after the profession itself, i.e. one graduates with a degree of Engenheiro (engineer), Arquiteto (architect), or Médico (physician/surgeon) for example. Professional degrees are generally regarded as being of higher social standing than a Bacharel degree and are considered more academically demanding. A typical course of study leading to a first professional degree in Brazil normally takes five years of full-time study to complete, with the exception of the human medicine course which requires six years.

In addition to the standard Bacharel and professional degrees, Brazilian universities also offer the Licenciatura degree, available for students who want to qualify as school teachers. Licenciatura courses exist mostly in mathematics, humanities, and natural sciences. Although Licenciatura courses also last 4 years, they are nonetheless considered to be of lower standing than a Bacharelado course. A lower degree of Tecnólogo (Technologist) is also available in technology-related fields and can be normally obtained in three years only.

Admission as an undergraduate student in most top public or private universities in Brazil requires that the applicant pass a competitive entrance examination known as Vestibular. Contrary to what happens in the United States, candidates must declare their intended university major when they register for the Vestibular. Although it is theoretically possible to switch majors afterwards (in a process known within the universities as transferência interna), that is actually quite rare in Brazil. Undergraduate curricula tend to be more rigid than in the United States and there is little room to take classes outside one's major.

Individuals who hold either a Bacharel degree, a professional diploma or Licenciatura are eligible for admission into graduate courses leading to advanced master's or doctor's degrees. Criteria for admission into master's and doctor's programs vary in Brazil. Some universities require that candidates take entrance exams; others make admission decisions based solely on undergraduate transcripts, letters of recommendation, and possibly oral interviews. In most cases however, especially for the doctorate, the candidate is required to submit a research plan and one faculty member must agree to serve as his/her supervisor before the candidate can be admitted into the program; The exception are the Natural Sciences post-graduate programs, that accepts students with very broad and/or vague research prospects (sometimes the prospect is given in promptu during the interview), preferring to let the students define their study program and advisor in the course of the first year of studies.

Master's degrees normally take two years to obtain and are classified into academic master's degrees or professional master's degrees. Requirements for an academic master's degree normally include taking a minimum number of advanced graduate classes (typically between five and eight) and submitting a research thesis which is examined orally by a panel of at least two examiners (three is the preferred number), sometimes including one external member who must be from another university or research institute; The emphasis of the thesis must be in its clarity and ease of understanding by future students, not in its originality. Professional master's degrees on the other hand normally involve taking a larger number of classes, and, in the case of engineering programs in particular, often completing a project as an intern in an engineering company and submitting a final project report. The most relevant difference to the international scenario is that, due to restrictive production goals set by government agencies, in most universities a Master degree is not only considered inferior to a Doctor degree but a pre-requisite for the admission in a Doctorate program.

Master's titles in Brazil normally include an explicit reference to the field of study in which they were awarded, e.g. one graduates with a degree of Mestre em Engenharia (Master of Engineering), Mestre em Economia (Master of Economics), and so on. The generic title Mestre em Ciências (Master of Sciences) is used sometimes though, especially in the natural sciences (physics, biology, chemistry, etc.). The word profissional is normally added to the title to distinguish it from an academic master's degree, e.g. Mestre Profissional em Engenharia Aeronáutica (Professional Master in Aeronautical Engineering).

Doctor's degrees on the other hand normally take four additional years of full-time study to complete and are of a higher standing than a master's degree; With very few exceptions (namely, people with outstanding accomplishments in research), a Master degree or equivalent is required for admission in a Doctorate Program. Requirements for obtaining a doctor's degree include taking additional advanced courses, passing an oral qualifying exam, and submitting a longer doctoral dissertation which must represent a significant original contribution to knowledge in the field to which the dissertation topic is related. That contrasts with master's theses, which, in addition to being usually shorter than doctoral dissertations, are not required to include creation of new knowledge or revision/reinterpretation of older views/theories. The doctoral dissertation is examined in a final oral exam before a panel of at least two members (in the state of São Paulo the preferred number is five, while the other regions prefer three members), usually including one or two external examiners from another university or research institute.

Conventions for naming doctoral degrees follow similar rules to those used for master's degree, i.e. an explicit reference to the field of study is normally included in the title itself, e.g. Doutor em Engenharia (Doctor of Engineering), Doutor em Direito (Doctor of Laws), Doutor em Economia (Doctor of Economics), etc., although a generic title like Doutor em Ciências (Doctor of Sciences) may be occasionally used.

Finally, a small number of Brazilian universities, most notably the public universities in the state of São Paulo still award the title of Livre-Docente (free docent), which is of higher standing than a doctorate and is obtained, similar to the German Habilitation, by the submission of a second (original or cumulative) thesis and approval in a Livre-Docência examination that includes giving a public lecture before a panel of full professors.

ColombiaIn Colombia, the system of degrees is a bit similar to the U.S. model. After completing their high school, or "bachillerato", students (called "bachilleres") can take one of two options. The first is called a "Profesional", which is similar to a Bachelor's Degree requiring from nine to eleven semesters of study according to the program chosen. The other option is called a "Técnico"; this degree only three years of study and prepares the student for technical or mechanical labors, similar to the associate's degree given in the U.S.

After this, students, now called "profesionales" or "técnicos", can opt for higher degrees. Formal education after the Bachelor's degree is the Master's degree with the title of "Magíster", and Doctorate's degree known as "Doctorado". The Master's degree has a normal duration of two years.

More commonly students prefer to take an specialization's degree, "Especialización", after their bachelor's degree rather than the more formal Master and Doctorate paths. This program is very popular in the country, because it requires only one year to complete and because the student only acquires the technical knowledge, without the bulk of the theoretical subjects.
A similar situation in Colombia, when compared to the U.S. system, is that the students may go directly to the "Doctorado" without having to take the "Master" or "Especialización".

ChileIn Chile, the system in a nutshell is as follows: Quite similar to the case described for Colombia, students may opt to be "Profesionales"(Professionals) or "Técnicos"(Technicians). After completion of high school, students may follow professional or technical studies at Universities or Technical schools. Only Universities and the Academies of the Armed Forces can give Academic Degrees. In general, traditional professions require an Academic Degree, but there are many professions that not require the degree because they were conceived as strictly "professional" not academic. The degrees are as follows:

"Licenciado" it is similar to the Bachelor, but to get it is necessary to complete at least eight semesters of study on the subjects which are part of the Mayor. This degree is enough to continue developing an academic career, however, to get a professional title -which is not academic, but allows you to get a professional practice, you have to continue one or two additional years of study. (For example to be an engineer it is necessary to study four years to get a Licentiate in Engineering Sciences, and two additional years to get a Professional Title and become an engineer. Sometimes it is possible to take additional subjects and get a "Magister" degree besides the professional title.)

"Magister" is the equivalent to the Master degree in English speaking countries.
"Doctorado" is the equivalent to the Doctorate or Phd. There is no separate classification for Professional Doctorates.

In particular, the engineering profession may be complicated for the foreigner since there is two types of engineers: those who got an Academic Degree such as Civil Engineers or Armed Forced Politechnical Engineers, and those who are "Ingenieros en Ejecución" (Professional Engineers) which are considered technicians more focused to apply the engineering, and completed only four years of study. They are not able, by law, to authorise plans or drawings like engineers with a degree or architects.

United StatesIn the United States, since the late 1800s, the threefold degree system of bachelor, master and doctor has been in place, but follows a slightly different pattern of study from the European equivalents.

In the United States, most standard academic programs are based on the four-year bachelor's degree (most often Bachelor of Arts, B.A., or Bachelor of Science, B.S.), a one- or two-year master's degree (most often Master of Arts, M.A., or Master of Science, M.S.; either of these programs might be as much as three years in length) and a further one or two years of coursework and research, culminating in comprehensive examinations in one or more fields, plus perhaps some teaching experience, and then the writing of a dissertation for the doctorate (most often doctor of philosophy, Ph.D. or other types such as Ed.D., Psy.D., Th.D.) for a total of ten or more years from starting the bachelor's degree (which is usually begun around age 18) to the awarding of the doctorate. This timetable is only approximate, however, as students in accelerated programs can sometimes earn a bachelor's degree in three years or, on the other hand, a particular dissertation project might take four or more years to complete. In addition, a graduate may wait an indeterminate time between degrees before candidacy in the next level, or even an additional degree at a level already completed. Therefore, there is no time-limit on the accumulation of academic degrees.

Some schools—mostly junior colleges and community colleges, but some four-year schools as well—offer an associate's degree for two full years of study, often in pre-professional areas. This may stand alone, or sometimes be used as credit toward completion of the four-year bachelor's degree.

In the United States, there is also another class of degrees called "First Professional degree." These degree programs are designed for professional practice in various fields rather than academic scholarship. Most professional degree programs require a prior bachelor's degree for admission (a notable exception being the PharmD program), and so represent at least about five total years of study and as many as seven or eight.

Some fields such as fine art, architecture, or divinity have chosen to name their first professional degree after the bachelor's a "master's degree" (e.g., M.F.A., M.Div.) because most of these degrees require at least the completion of a bachelor's degree while the professional degrees in medicine (the M.D.) and law (the J.D.) are doctorates.[8] There is currently some debate in the architectural community to rename the degree to a "doctorate" in the manner that was done for the law degree decades ago.[1] It is important to recognize that first-professional degrees in these fields are different than research-oriented degrees and comparisons to the Ph.D. are problematic.

Asia and Oceania
Australia

In some countries, such as Australia, a diploma is a specific academic award in addition to that of Bachelor/Master's/Doctorate. Diplomas are usually signified by a stole rather than an academic hood, the latter being used only for those of graduate status. A person with a diploma is termed a diplomate.

Australia has several different kinds of diplomas: Diplomas, Advanced Diplomas, Graduate Diplomas and Postgraduate Diplomas. The system is not without anomalies, due largely to the different traditions of individual institutions which the Australian Qualifications Framework aims to regularise. A Diploma is usually equivalent to the first year of a Bachelor's degree, although a few have been similar to Bachelor of Arts degrees and permit direct admission to graduate programs.

An Australian

Advanced Diploma is usually considered lower than a Bachelor degree, but may qualify its holder for advanced placement in a Bachelor program, direct admission to a Graduate Diploma course or (albeit rarely) direct admission to a Master's program.

Graduate

Diplomas are always higher than a Bachelor degree, and usually require one year of full-time study. They are often an additional course taken after a standard Bachelor degree to introduce a specialization in a particular field or a new discipline. For example, Australian school teachers often study for a bachelor's degree in Arts or Science, then in an additional year complete requirements for a Graduate Diploma of Education, which qualifies them as school teachers. Some Graduate Diplomas are simply the first two semesters of a three- or four-semester Master's program. (In the past, the Graduate Diploma of Education was called the Diploma of Education.)

Some universities have issued Postgraduate Diplomas, which are always in the same discipline as the undergraduate degree, and generally no different from a Bachelor with Honours degree, which requires one year after a regular Bachelor degree.

Europe

Main articles: Bologna process and European Higher Education AreaIn Europe, degrees are being harmonized through the Bologna process, which is based on the three-level hierarchy of degrees: Bachelor (Licence in France), Master and Doctor. This system is gradually replacing the two-stage system now in use in some countries.

This system is also currently in use in Australia, Belgium, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Serbia and Croatia.

Back to Home

Insurance Companies

2008-11-29T10:59:00.001-08:00

Principles of insurance

Commercially insurable risks typically share seven common characteristics.
A large number of homogeneous exposure units. The vast majority of insurance policies are provided for individual members of very large classes. Automobile insurance, for example, covered about 175 million automobiles in the United States in 2004.[2] The existence of a large number of homogeneous exposure units allows insurers to benefit from the so-called “law of large numbers,” which in effect states that as the number of exposure units increases, the actual results are increasingly likely to become close to expected results. There are exceptions to this criterion. Lloyd's of London is famous for insuring the life or health of actors, actresses and sports figures. Satellite Launch insurance covers events that are infrequent. Large commercial property policies may insure exceptional properties for which there are no ‘homogeneous’ exposure units. Despite failing on this criterion, many exposures like these are generally considered to be insurable. Definite Loss. The event that gives rise to the loss that is subject to insurance should, at least in principle, take place at a known time, in a known place, and from a known cause. The classic example is death of an insured person on a life insurance policy. Fire, automobile accidents, and worker injuries may all easily meet this criterion. Other types of losses may only be definite in theory. Occupational disease, for instance, may involve prolonged exposure to injurious conditions where no specific time, place or cause is identifiable. Ideally, the time, place and cause of a loss should be clear enough that a reasonable person, with sufficient information, could objectively verify all three elements. Accidental Loss. The event that constitutes the trigger of a claim should be fortuitous, or at least outside the control of the beneficiary of the insurance. The loss should be ‘pure,’ in the sense that it results from an event for which there is only the opportunity for cost. Events that contain speculative elements, such as ordinary business risks, are generally not considered insurable. Large Loss. The size of the loss must be meaningful from the perspective of the insured. Insurance premiums need to cover both the expected cost of losses, plus the cost of issuing and administering the policy, adjusting losses, and supplying the capital needed to reasonably assure that the insurer will be able to pay claims. For small losses these latter costs may be several times the size of the expected cost of losses. There is little point in paying such costs unless the protection offered has real value to a buyer. Affordable Premium. If the likelihood of an insured event is so high, or the cost of the event so large, that the resulting premium is large relative to the amount of protection offered, it is not likely that anyone will buy insurance, even if on offer. Further, as the accounting profession formally recognizes in financial accounting standards, the premium cannot be so large that there is not a reasonable chance of a significant loss to the insurer. If there is no such chance of loss, the transaction may have the form of insurance, but not the substance. (See the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board standard number 113) Calculable Loss. There are two elements that must be at least estimable, if not formally calculable: the probability of loss, and the attendant cost. Probability of loss is generally an empirical exercise, while cost has more to do with the ability of a reasonable person in possession of a copy of the insurance policy and a proof of loss associated with a claim presented under that policy to make a reasonably definite and objective evaluation of the amount of the loss recoverable as a result of the claim. Limited risk of catastrophically large losses. The essential risk is often aggregation. If the same event can cause losses to numerous policyholders of the same insurer, the ability of that insurer to issue policies becomes constrained, not by factors surrounding the individual characteristics of a given policyholder, but by the factors surrounding the sum of all policyholders so exposed. Typically, insurers prefer to limit their exposure to a loss from a single event to some small portion of their capital base, on the order of 5 percent. Where the loss can be aggregated, or an individual policy could produce exceptionally large claims, the capital constraint will restrict an insurer's appetite for additional policyholders. The classic example is earthquake insurance, where the ability of an underwriter to issue a new policy depends on the number and size of the policies that it has already underwritten. Wind insurance in hurricane zones, particularly along coast lines, is another example of this phenomenon. In extreme cases, the aggregation can affect the entire industry, since the combined capital of insurers and reinsurers can be small compared to the needs of potential policyholders in areas exposed to aggregation risk. In commercial fire insurance it is possible to find single properties whose total exposed value is well in excess of any individual insurer’s capital constraint. Such properties are generally shared among several insurers, or are insured by a single insurer who syndicates the risk into the reinsurance market.

Back to Home

Insurance Broker

2008-11-29T10:58:00.002-08:00

An insurance broker is an independent insurance agent who works with many insurance companies to find the very best available policies for his or her clients. A typical insurance agent works for one specific company, and chooses from within that company's policies for clients. While an insurance broker is different from the typical agent in this regard, the two are otherwise similar. Both structure policies, settle claims, and usually work on a commission basis.
In most states, both the agent and the insurance broker must be licensed, after having passed an insurance exam. While formal schooling or degrees are not necessarily required to become an agent or an insurance broker, they are helpful. Even if further education is not required for advancement, it definitely creates an advantage for the person who hopes to rise to the administrative level. Advancement and management experience are certainly beneficial for the agent who hopes to become an independent insurance broker. An agent or an insurance broker may also attend seminars and conferences to keep up to date on the latest insurance trends and legislation.

An insurance broker may specialize in one specific type of insurance or deal in many different types, including health, life, auto, home, and other specialized varieties of insurance, including policies for pets. Those that choose to deal in insurance of an investment nature require special training and must also obtain special licenses from the Securities and Exchange Commission or other associations that deal with investments.

Since all types of insurance are in high demand, a necessity in many cases, good agents and brokers are also in high demand. This fact leads some insurance agencies to offer tuition reimbursement for employees to continue their education. Tuition reimbursement may require an agreement to work for that agency for a specific period of time after completing the course of study or obtaining a degree. After the agreed upon time frame, the agent is free to work for other companies or to work for him or herself as an independent agent or an insurance broker.

Back to Home

Life Insurance

2008-11-29T10:58:00.001-08:00

Life insurance or life assurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the insured individual's or individuals' death or other event, such as terminal illness or critical illness. In return, the policy owner agrees to pay a stipulated amount called a premium at regular intervals or in lump sums. There may be designs in some countries where bills and death expenses plus catering for after funeral expenses should be included in Policy Premium. In the United States, the predominant form simply specifies a lump sum to be paid on the insured's demise.

As with most insurance policies, life insurance is a contract between the insurer and the policy owner whereby a benefit is paid to the designated beneficiaries if an insured event occurs which is covered by the policy. To be a life policy the insured event must be based upon the lives of the people named in the policy.

Insured events that may be covered include:
Serious illness Life policies are legal contracts and the terms of the contract describe the limitations of the insured events. Specific exclusions are often written into the contract to limit the liability of the insurer; for example claims relating to suicide, fraud, war, riot and civil commotion.

Life-based contracts tend to fall into two major categories:
Protection policies - designed to provide a benefit in the event of specified event, typically a lump sum payment. A common form of this design is term insurance. Investment policies - where the main objective is to facilitate the growth of capital by regular or single premiums. Common forms (in the US anyway) are whole life, universal life and variable life policies.
Parties to contractThere is a difference between the insured and the policy owner (policy holder), although the owner and the insured are often the same person. For example, if Joe buys a policy on his own life, he is both the owner and the insured. But if Jane, his wife, buys a policy on Joe's life, she is the owner and he is the insured. The policy owner is the guarantee and he or she will be the person who will pay for the policy. The insured is a participant in the contract, but not necessarily a party to it.

The beneficiary receives policy proceeds upon the insured's death. The owner designates the beneficiary, but the beneficiary is not a party to the policy. The owner can change the beneficiary unless the policy has an irrevocable beneficiary designation. With an irrevocable beneficiary, that beneficiary must agree to any beneficiary changes, policy assignments, or cash value borrowing.

In cases where the policy owner is not the insured (also referred to as the cestui qui vit or CQV), insurance companies have sought to limit policy purchases to those with an "insurable interest" in the CQV. For life insurance policies, close family members and business partners will usually be found to have an insurable interest. The "insurable interest" requirement usually demonstrates that the purchaser will actually suffer some kind of loss if the CQV dies. Such a requirement prevents people from benefiting from the purchase of purely speculative policies on people they expect to die. With no insurable interest requirement, the risk that a purchaser would murder the CQV for insurance proceeds would be great. In at least one case, an insurance company which sold a policy to a purchaser with no insurable interest (who later murdered the CQV for the proceeds), was found liable in court for contributing to the wrongful death of the victim (Liberty National Life v. Weldon, 267 Ala.171 (1957)).

Contract terms

Special provisions may apply, such as suicide clauses wherein the policy becomes null if the insured commits suicide within a specified time (usually two years after the purchase date; some states provide a statutory one-year suicide clause). Any misrepresentations by the insured on the application is also grounds for nullification. Most US states specify that the contestability period cannot be longer than two years; only if the insured dies within this period will the insurer have a legal right to contest the claim on the basis of misrepresentation and request additional information before deciding to pay or deny the claim.

The face amount on the policy is the initial amount that the policy will pay at the death of the insured or when the policy matures, although the actual death benefit can provide for greater or lesser than the face amount. The policy matures when the insured dies or reaches a specified age (such as 100 years old).

Costs, insurability, and underwritingThe insurer (the life insurance company) calculates the policy prices with intent to fund claims to be paid and administrative costs, and to make a profit. The cost of insurance is determined using mortality tables calculated by actuaries. Actuaries are professionals who employ actuarial science, which is based in mathematics (primarily probability and statistics). Mortality tables are statistically-based tables showing expected annual mortality rates. It is possible to derive life expectancy estimates from these mortality assumptions. Such estimates can be important in taxation regulation.

The three main variables in a mortality table have been age, gender, and use of tobacco. More recently in the US, preferred class specific tables were introduced. The mortality tables provide a baseline for the cost of insurance. In practice, these mortality tables are used in conjunction with the health and family history of the individual applying for a policy in order to determine premiums and insurability. Mortality tables currently in use by life insurance companies in the United States are individually modified by each company using pooled industry experience studies as a starting point. In the 1980s and 90's the SOA 1975-80 Basic Select & Ultimate tables were the typical reference points, while the 2001 VBT and 2001 CSO tables were published more recently. The newer tables include separate mortality tables for smokers and non-smokers and the CSO tables include separate tables for preferred classes.

Recent US select mortality tables predict that roughly 0.35 in 1,000 non-smoking males aged 25 will die during the first year of coverage after underwriting.[2] Mortality approximately doubles for every extra ten years of age so that the mortality rate in the first year for underwritten non-smoking men is about 2.5 in 1,000 people at age 65.[3] Compare this with the US population male mortality rates of 1.3 per 1,000 at age 25 and 19.3 at age 65 (without regard to health or smoking status).

The mortality of underwritten persons rises much more quickly than the general population. At the end of 10 years the mortality of that 25 year-old, non-smoking male is 0.66/1000/year. Consequently, in a group of one thousand 25 year old males with a $100,000 policy, all of average health, a life insurance company would have to collect approximately $50 a year from each of a large group to cover the relatively few expected claims. (0.35 to 0.66 expected deaths in each year x $100,000 payout per death = $35 per policy). Administrative and sales commissions need to be accounted for in order for this to make business sense. A 10 year policy for a 25 year old non-smoking male person with preferred medical history may get offers as low as $90 per year for a $100,000 policy in the competitive US life insurance market.

The insurance company receives the premiums from the policy owner and invests them to create a pool of money from which it can pay claims and finance the insurance company's operations. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of the money that insurance companies make comes directly from premiums paid, as money gained through investment of premiums can never, in even the most ideal market conditions, vest enough money per year to pay out claims.[citation needed] Rates charged for life insurance increase with the insurer's age because, statistically, people are more likely to die as they get older.

Given that adverse selection can have a negative impact on the insurer's financial situation, the insurer investigates each proposed insured individual unless the policy is below a company-established minimum amount, beginning with the application process. Group Insurance policies are an exception.

This investigation and resulting evaluation of the risk is termed underwriting. Health and lifestyle questions are asked. Certain responses or information received may merit further investigation. Life insurance companies in the United States support the Medical Information Bureau (MIB) [4], which is a clearinghouse of information on persons who have applied for life insurance with participating companies in the last seven years. As part of the application, the insurer receives permission to obtain information from the proposed insured's physicians.

Under

writers will determine the purpose of insurance. The most common is to protect the owner's family or financial interests in the event of the insurer's demise. Other purposes include estate planning or, in the case of cash-value contracts, investment for retirement planning. Bank loans or buy-sell provisions of business agreements are another acceptable purpose.

Life insurance companies are never required by law to underwrite or to provide coverage to anyone, with the exception of Civil Rights Act compliance requirements. Insurance companies alone determine insurability, and some people, for their own health or lifestyle reasons, are deemed uninsurable. The policy can be declined (turned down) or rated.[citation needed] Rating increases the premiums to provide for additional risks relative to the particular insured.[citation needed]

Many companies use four general health categories for those evaluated for a life insurance policy. These categories are Preferred Best, Preferred, Standard, and Tobacco.[citation needed] Preferred Best is reserved only for the healthiest individuals in the general population. This means, for instance, that the proposed insured has no adverse medical history, is not under medication for any condition, and his family (immediate and extended) have no history of early cancer, diabetes, or other conditions.[5] Preferred means that the proposed insured is currently under medication for a medical condition and has a family history of particular illnesses.[citation needed] Most people are in the Standard category.[citation needed] Profession, travel, and lifestyle factor into whether the proposed insured will be granted a policy, and which category the insured falls. For example, a person who would otherwise be classified as Preferred Best may be denied a policy if he or she travels to a high risk country.[citation needed] Underwriting practices can vary from insurer to insurer which provide for more competitive offers in certain circumstances.

Life insurance contracts are written on the basis of utmost good faith. That is, the proposer and the insurer both accept that the other is acting in good faith. This means that the proposer can assume the contract offers what it represents without having to fine comb the small print and the insurer assumes the proposer is being honest when providing details to underwriter.[citation needed]

Death proceeds

Upon the insured's death, the insurer requires acceptable proof of death before it pays the claim. The normal minimum proof required is a death certificate and the insurer's claim form completed, signed (and typically notarized).[citation needed] If the insured's death is suspicious and the policy amount is large, the insurer may investigate the circumstances surrounding the death before deciding whether it has an obligation to pay the claim.

Proceeds from the policy may be paid as a lump sum or as an annuity, which is paid over time in regular recurring payments for either a specified period or for a beneficiary's lifetime.[citation needed]

Insurance vs. assurance

Outside the United States, the specific uses of the terms "insurance" and "assurance" are sometimes confused. In general, in these jurisdictions "insurance" refers to providing cover for an event that might happen (fire, theft, flood, etc.), while "assurance" is the provision of cover for an event that is certain to happen. However, in the United States both forms of coverage are called "insurance", principally due to many companies offering both types of policy, and rather than refer to themselves using both insurance and assurance titles, they instead use just one.

Types of life insuranceLife insurance may be divided into two basic classes – temporary and permanent or following subclasses - term, universal, whole life, variable, variable universal and endowment life insurance.

Temporary (Term)Term life insurance or 'term assurance' provides for life insurance coverage for a specified term of years for a specified premium. The policy does not accumulate cash value. Term is generally considered "pure" insurance, where the premium buys protection in the event of death and nothing else. (See Theory of Decreasing Responsibility and buy term and invest the difference.)

The three key factors to be considered in term insurance are: face amount (protection or death benefit), premium to be paid (cost to the insured), and length of coverage (term).

Various (U.S.) insurance companies sell term insurance with many different combinations of these three parameters. The face amount can remain constant or decline. The term can be for one or more years. The premium can remain level or increase. A common type of term is called annual renewable term. It is a one year policy but the insurance company guarantees it will issue a policy of equal or lesser amount without regard to the insurability of the insured and with a premium set for the insured's age at that time. Another common type of term insurance is mortgage insurance, which is usually a level premium, declining face value policy. The face amount is intended to equal the amount of the mortgage on the policy owner’s residence so the mortgage will be paid if the insured dies.

A policy holder insures his life for a specified term. If he dies before that specified term is up, his estate or named beneficiary(ies) receive(s) a payout. If he does not die before the term is up, he receives nothing. In the past these policies would almost always exclude suicide. However, after a number of court judgments against the industry, payouts do occur on death by suicide (presumably except for in the unlikely case that it can be shown that the suicide was just to benefit from the policy). Generally, if an insured person commits suicide within the first two policy years, the insurer will return the premiums paid. However, a death benefit will usually be paid if the suicide occurs after the two year period.

Permanent

Permanent life insurance is life insurance that remains in force (in-line) until the policy matures (pays out), unless the owner fails to pay the premium when due (the policy expires OR policies lapse). The policy cannot be canceled by the insurer for any reason except fraud in the application, and that cancellation must occur within a period of time defined by law (usually two years). Permanent insurance builds a cash value that reduces the amount at risk to the insurance company and thus the insurance expense over time. This means that a policy with a million dollars face value can be relatively expensive to a 70 year old. The owner can access the money in the cash value by withdrawing money, borrowing the cash value, or surrendering the policy and receiving the surrender value.

The three basic types of permanent insurance are whole life, universal life, and endowment.
Whole life coverageWhole life insurance provides for a level premium, and a cash value table included in the policy guaranteed by the company. The primary advantages of whole life are guaranteed death benefits, guaranteed cash values, fixed and known annual premiums, and mortality and expense charges will not reduce the cash value shown in the policy. The primary disadvantages of whole life are premium inflexibility, and the internal rate of return in the policy may not be competitive with other savings alternatives. Riders are available that can allow one to increase the death benefit by paying additional premium. The death benefit can also be increased through the use of policy dividends. Dividends cannot be guaranteed and may be higher or lower than historical rates over time. Premiums are much higher than term insurance in the short-term, but cumulative premiums are roughly equal if policies are kept in force until average life expectancy.

Cash value can be accessed at any time through policy "loans". Since these loans decrease the death benefit if not paid back, payback is optional. Cash values are not paid to the beneficiary upon the death of the insured; the beneficiary receives the death benefit only. If the dividend option: Paid up additions is elected, dividend cash values will purchase additional death benefit which will increase the death benefit of the policy to the named beneficiary.

Universal life coverage

Universal life insurance (UL) is a relatively new insurance product intended to provide permanent insurance coverage with greater flexibility in premium payment and the potential for a higher internal rate of return. There are several types of universal life insurance policies which include "interest sensitive" (also known as "traditional fixed universal life insurance"), variable universal life insurance, and equity indexed universal life insurance.
A universal life insurance policy includes a cash account. Premiums increase the cash account. Interest is paid within the policy (credited) on the account at a rate specified by the company. This rate may have a guaranteed minimum (for fixed ULs) or no minimum (for variable ULs). Mortality charges and administrative costs are then charged against (reduce) the cash account. The surrender value of the policy is the amount remaining in the cash account less applicable surrender charges, if any.

With all life insurance, there are basically two functions that make it work. There's a mortality function and a cash function. The mortality function would be the classical notion of pooling risk where the premiums paid by everybody else would cover the death benefit for the one or two who will die for a given period of time. The cash function inherent in all life insurance says that if a person is to reach age 95 to 100 (the age varies depending on state and company), then the policy matures and endows the face value of the policy.

Actuarially, it is reasoned that out of a group of 1000 people, if even 10 of them live to age 95, then the mortality function alone will not be able to cover the cash function. So in order to cover the cash function, a minimum rate of investment return on the premiums will be required in the event that a policy matures.

Universal life insurance addresses the perceived disadvantages of whole life. Premiums are flexible. Depending on how interest is credited, the internal rate of return can be higher because it moves with prevailing interest rates (interest-sensitive) or the financial markets (Equity Indexed Universal Life and Variable Universal Life). Mortality costs and administrative charges are known. And cash value may be considered more easily attainable because the owner can discontinue premiums if the cash value allows it. And universal life has a more flexible death benefit because the owner can select one of two death benefit options, Option A and Option B.
Option A pays the face amount at death as it's designed to have the cash value equal the death benefit at maturity (usually at age 95 or 100). With each premium payment, the policy owner is reducing the cost of insurance until the cash value reaches the face amount upon maturity.

Option B pays the face amount plus the cash value, as it's designed to increase the net death benefit as cash values accumulate. Option B offers the benefit of an increasing death benefit every year that the policy stays in force. The drawback to option B is that because the cash value is accumulated "on top of" the death benefit, the cost of insurance never decreases as premium payments are made. Thus, as the insured gets older, the policy owner is faced with an ever increasing cost of insurance (it costs more money to provide the same initial face amount of insurance as the insured gets older).

Both death benefit options - A (level) and B (increasing) - are subject to the same IRS rules and guidelines concerning premium payments and tax-favored treatment of cash values. In order for the policy to keep its tax favored life insurance status, it must stay within a corridor specified by state and federal laws that prevent abuses such as attaching a million dollars in cash value to a two dollar insurance policy. The interesting part about this corridor is that for those people who can make it to age 95-100, this corridor requirement goes away and your cash value can equal exactly the face amount of insurance. If this corridor is ever violated, then the universal life policy will be treated as, and in effect turn into, a Modified Endowment Contract (or more commonly referred to as a MEC).

But universal life has its own disadvantages which stem primarily from this flexibility. The policy lacks the fundamental guarantee that the policy will be in force unless sufficient premiums have been paid and cash values are not guaranteed.

Early universal life policies are sometimes erroneously referred to as self-sustaining policies. In the 1980s, when interest rates were high, the cash value accumulated at a more accelerated rate, and universal life coverage was often sold by agents as a policy that could be self-paying. Many policies did sustain themselves for a prolonged period, but the combination of lower interest rates and an increasing cost of insurance as the insured ages meant that for many policies, the cash option was diminished or depleted.

Interest-

Sensitive Universal Life Insurance An interest sensitive UL policy was the first attempt at creating a flexible premium life insurance policy and was created in the 1980s. Interest-sensitive UL policies guarantee, to some extent, the death proceeds, but not the cash function - thus the flexible premiums and interest returns. If interest rates are high, then the investment returns help reduce the required premiums needed to keep the policy in force. If interest rates are low, then the customer would have to pay additional premiums in order to keep the policy in force. When interest rates are above the minimum required or minimum guaranteed interest rate, then the customer has the flexibility to pay less as investment returns cover the remainder to keep the policy in force.

Equity-Indexed Universal Life Insurance

Equity-Indexed Universal Life Insurance or "EIUL" for short, is a fixed universal life insurance policy that was created in the mid 1990s to address concerns about market volatility and provide an alternative to the low interest rates being offered by interest-sensitive UL policies.
EIULs differ from interest-sensitive UL policies in that they credit interest to the policy's cash values based on the upward movement of a particular stock market index - usually the S&P500. The insurance company can then credit the gains in the stock market according to one of several different crediting methods. The most popular is the "point-to-point" method. When the policy is issued, the insurance company "pegs" the stock market's value. At the anniversary of the policy, the insurance company checks the value of the underlying stock index and credits the cash value with the difference up to a cap (specified by the company).

For example, if a policy owner purchased an EIUL on January, and the insurance company used the S&P500 as the underlying index when crediting interest to policy cash values, and the company set a 12 % cap, the process would work like this:

If the S&P500 was 1,100 in January, the insurance company would record the value of the index. On the anniversary of the policy (the next January), the insurance company would record the new value of the S&P500. If the new value of the index was 1,188, that would represent a gain of 8%. The insurance company would credit the policy cash values with 8% for that year.
If the S&P500 lost value (i.e. the value went from 1,100 to 980), the insurance company would simply record a "0", and the policy would show a year of no growth. The policy owner would not; however, lose any money (principal or interest from a previous year) as a result of a negative return on the S&P500.

Since the insurance company is assuming the risk for any losses, it represents a trade off for the policy owner: The policy owner gets most of the upside potential of the stock market without any of the downside risks associated with an investment in the stock market.

To accomplish this feat, the insurance company uses a precise mix of bonds and index call options.[6] Most of the premium received for this type of policy is used to buy bonds. A small portion of the premium is used to buy stock options (call options) on an underlying stock index. When the value of the stock index rises, the underlying stock option increases by a multiple of 5, 7, or 10. This produces the gains necessary to credit the policy with the "upside potential" of the stock market without actually having the policy owner invest directly in the stock market.
Variable Universal Life Insurance (VUL) is another type of universal life insurance. There are typically no guarantees associated with this type of life insurance policy. The cash account within a VUL is held in the insurer's "separate account" (generally in mutual funds, managed by a fund manager). The policy owner then chooses the investments he or she wishes to invest in. If those investments do well, the insurance company credits the policy's cash values accordingly. If the underlying investments do poorly, the policy owner can lose their cash value. If the investments do poorly enough, it could cause the policy to lapse due to insufficient funds to cover the costs of insurance.

Limited-pay

Another type of permanent insurance is Limited-pay life insurance, in which all the premiums are paid over a specified period after which no additional premiums are due to keep the policy in force. Common limited pay periods include 10-year, 20-year, and paid-up at age 65.

Endowments

Main article: Endowment policyEndowments are policies in which the cash value built up inside the policy, equals the death benefit (face amount) at a certain age. The age this commences is known as the endowment age. Endowments are considerably more expensive (in terms of annual premiums) than either whole life or universal life because the premium paying period is shortened and the endowment date is earlier.

In the United States, the Technical Corrections Act of 1988 tightened the rules on tax shelters (creating modified endowments). These follow tax rules as annuities and IRAs do.
Endowment Insurance is paid out whether the insured lives or dies, after a specific period (e.g. 15 years) or a specific age (e.g. 65).

Accidental deathAccidental death is a limited life insurance that is designed to cover the insured when they pass away due to an accident. Accidents include anything from an injury, but do not typically cover any deaths resulting from health problems or suicide. Because they only cover accidents, these policies are much less expensive than other life insurances.

It is also very commonly offered as "accidental death and dismemberment insurance", also known as an AD&D policy. In an AD&D policy, benefits are available not only for accidental death, but also for loss of limbs or bodily functions such as sight and hearing, etc.

Accidental death and AD&D policies very rarely pay a benefit; either the cause of death is not covered, or the coverage is not maintained after the accident until death occurs. To be aware of what coverage they have, an insured should always review their policy for what it covers and what it excludes. Often, it does not cover an insured who puts themselves at risk in activities such as: parachuting, flying an airplane, professional sports, or involvement in a war (military or not). Also, some insurers will exclude death and injury caused by proximate causes due to (but not limited to) racing on wheels and mountaineering.

Accidental death benefits can also be added to a standard life insurance policy as a rider. If this rider is purchased, the policy will generally pay double the face amount if the insured dies due to an accident. This used to be commonly referred to as a double indemnity coverage. In some cases, some companies may even offer a triple indemnity cover.

Related life insurance products

Riders are modifications to the insurance policy added at the same time the policy is issued. These riders change the basic policy to provide some feature desired by the policy owner. A common rider is accidental death, which used to be commonly referred to as "double indemnity", which pays twice the amount of the policy face value if death results from accidental causes, as if both a full coverage policy and an accidental death policy were in effect on the insured. Another common rider is premium waiver, which waives future premiums if the insured becomes disabled.

Joint life insurance is either a term or permanent policy insuring two or more lives with the proceeds payable on the first death.

Survivorship life or second-to-die life is a whole life policy insuring two lives with the proceeds payable on the second (later) death.

Single premium whole life is a policy with only one premium which is payable at the time the policy is issued.

Modified whole life is a whole life policy that charges smaller premiums for a specified period of time after which the premiums increase for the remainder of the policy.

Group life insurance is term insurance covering a group of people, usually employees of a company or members of a union or association. Individual proof of insurability is not normally a consideration in the underwriting. Rather, the underwriter considers the size and turnover of the group, and the financial strength of the group. Contract provisions will attempt to exclude the possibility of adverse selection. Group life insurance often has a provision that a member exiting the group has the right to buy individual insurance coverage.

Senior and preneed products

Insurance companies have in recent years developed products to offer to niche markets, most notably targeting the senior market to address needs of an aging population. Many companies offer policies tailored to the needs of senior applicants. These are often low to moderate face value whole life insurance policies, to allow a senior citizen purchasing insurance at an older issue age an opportunity to buy affordable insurance. This may also be marketed as final expense insurance, and an agent or company may suggest (but not require) that the policy proceeds could be used for end-of-life expenses.

Preneed (or prepaid) insurance policies are whole life policies that, although available at any age, are usually offered to older applicants as well. This type of insurance is designed specifically to cover funeral expenses when the insured person dies. In many cases, the applicant signs a prefunded funeral arrangement with a funeral home at the time the policy is applied for. The death proceeds are then guaranteed to be directed first to the funeral services provider for payment of services rendered. Most contracts dictate that any excess proceeds will go either to the insured's estate or a designated beneficiary.

These products are sometimes assigned into a trust at the time of issue, or shortly after issue. The policies are irrevocably assigned to the trust, and the trust becomes the owner. Since a whole life policy has a cash value component, and a loan provision, it may be considered an asset; assigning the policy to a trust means that it can no longer be considered an asset for that individual. This can impact an individual's ability to qualify for Medicare or Medicaid.

Back to Home

Insurance Quote

2008-11-29T10:57:00.002-08:00

What information do you collect about me?

We collect information about you to quote and service your insurance policy. This is called "Nonpublic Personal Information" if it identifies you and is not available to the public. Depending on the product, we collect it from some or all of the following sources. We have provided a few examples for each source, but not all may apply to you.

Application Information: You provide this on your application, through your agent or broker, by phone, or online. We may also obtain it from directories and other outside sources. It includes your name, street and e-mail addresses, phone number, driver's license number, Social Security number, date of birth, gender, marital status, type of vehicle, and information about other drivers. Consumer Report Information: We obtain this from consumer reporting agencies. It includes your driving record, claims history with other insurers, and credit report information. The information is kept by the consumer reporting agencies and disclosed by them to others as permitted by law. Transaction Information: This is information about your transactions with us, our affiliates, or others. It includes your insurance coverages, limits and rates, and payment and claims history. It also includes information that we require for billing and payment. Web site information: This information is unique to Internet transactions. It includes the Web site that linked you to ours, your computer operating system, and the pages you viewed on our site. Some Web sites, including ours, may also store "cookies" on your computer. Cookies collect technical data, like your Internet protocol (IP) address, operating system, and session ID. They can also save certain information entered by you.

Back to Home

Insurance Quotes

2008-11-29T10:57:00.001-08:00

We will share information about you only as permitted by law. We will not share your Nonpublic Personal Information with other companies for their marketing purposes without your consent. There is no need to "opt out" or tell us not to do this.

Disclosures include those that we feel are required to provide insurance claims or customer service, prevent fraud, perform research or comply with the law. Recipients include, for example, our family of insurance companies, claims representatives, service providers, consumer reporting agencies, insurance agents and brokers, law enforcement, courts and government agencies. These parties may disclose the information to others as permitted by law. For example, Consumer reporting agencies may disclose Transaction Information received from us to other insurance companies with which you do business.

Where permitted by law, we may also disclose Application or Transaction Information to service providers that help us market our products. These service providers may include financial institutions with which we have joint marketing agreements.

Back to Home

Insurance Policy

2008-11-29T10:56:00.000-08:00

Have You Read the Fine Print in Your Insurance Policy?

A new case from a California Court of Appeal, Westrec Marina Management, Inc. v. Arrowood Indemnity Co., Calif. Court of Appeals (Dist. 2), No. B195047 (2008), illustrates why it's important to pay attention to the terms of your insurance policies.

The case involved Westrec Marina Management, Inc., which took out two successive liability insurance policies with Arrowood Indemnity Co. One policy ran from July 1, 2002, to July 1, 2003, and the other, from July 1, 2003, to July 1, 2004. Each policy covered losses for "claims first made during the policy period and reported within 30 days after the policy expired."
In April 2003, a Westrec employee filed a discrimination complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), and the next day the DFEH notified Westrec and issued the woman a right-to-sue letter. In June 2003, her lawyer sent Westrec a letter, attempting to settle the bias claims rather than sue. Westrec didn't notify Arrowood of the DFEH charge or the settlement letter.

The woman filed a discrimination lawsuit in December 2003. In January 2004, Westrec finally notified Arrowood of the litigation, requesting coverage for Westrec's defense costs. Arrowood denied coverage on the grounds that Westrec didn't notify it of the claim within 30 days after the first policy period ended. According to Arrowood, the June 2003 letter from the woman's lawyer amounted to a claim under the policy terms.

Westrec sued Arrowood for breach of contract, arguing that her lawsuit filing was the "claim," and that Westrec timely notified Arrowood of this claim within the second policy period. Westrec argued that the settlement letter sent by the lawyer in June 2003 wasn't a claim and thus didn't trigger Westrec's duty to notify Arrowood.

The California appeals court sided with Arrowood, finding that the claim commenced, at the very least, in June 2003 when Westrec received the settlement letter. The letter was a claim because it clearly expressed a demand for damages—and the insurance policy defined a claim as, among other things, a written demand for damages. Because Westrec received the letter within the first policy period, it had to notify Arrowood no later than 30 days after the first policy period ended (August 1, 2003). Furthermore, because the lawsuit filed during the second policy period was part of that original claim, Westrec's notification of the lawsuit during the second policy period was untimely.

What to Do

This case shows that it is important to review and understand the terms of your insurance policies so that you ensure timely reporting of claims. A reporting delay will typically result in the insurer denying coverage. Your reporting time limits will differ depending on whether you have a "claims made" or "claims made and reported" policy (like Westrec's policies) or an "occurrence" policy (covering incidents that arise during the policy period regardless of when they are asserted). If you are unsure about when to report an employee complaint, lawsuit, etc., it is best to take the safe route and give it to your insurer, or seek legal advice.

Source form: Blr News. 78967

Back to Home

Chepest Car Insurance

2008-11-29T10:55:00.001-08:00

Cheaper insurance rates; research is key!

Securing cheaper car insurance should not mean the policyholder should walk away with little or no insurance, or even bad insurance. You can't drive a vehicle unless you have auto insurance; it’s the law. Having car insurance and making it a requirement helps keep everyone safe.

One sure way of getting cheaper car insurance woman and man alike should get quotes from multiple insurance companies. Also, having a clear and precise understanding of the benefits, discounts and other contributing factors that determine a consumer’s car insurance premium is key.

Accident forgiveness clause is beneficial to policyholders.
Accident Forgiveness coverage can keep your already cheaper car insurance from being increased to high rates in the event of an at-fault accident and for the replacement of your car. When involved in an at-fault accident, accident forgiveness protects your driving record within the insurance company’s rating system and keeps your car cheaper insurance women and men.Keeping insurance scores high, keeps rates low!

Insurance scoring in relation to cheap auto insurance reflects how potential insured’s that have high insurance scores statistically file less insurance claims, therefore, meaning safe auto cheap insurance premiums. These potential policyholders are perceived to be of less risk to the insurer with cheaper kit car insurance needs.A faultless insurance score represents a policyholder with a lowest risk of filing a claim. There are very few clients who have perfect scores; however, it is possible to have an exceptionally good score. Many scoring factors carefully weighed by one insurance company may be vastly different or not even considered in another. Researching this important scoring system is a sure bet to cheap car insurance.Maintaining a safe driving record proves to be very beneficial!

Some insurance companies offer a five-percent discount to their policyholders provided they have completed an approved accident prevention course such as Defensive Driving. When requesting a low cost auto insurance quote, reporting completion of such a course can be beneficial in securing low cost auto insurance. Defensive driving discounts are rewards given to drivers who have proven they are worth protecting by completing such a course.
car ownership can lower average premiums!

Multiple car discounts are offered to those individuals who personally own two or more vehicles. Most insurance companies will give a policyholder a discount free auto insurance quote if the policyholder requests a multi-car discount rate. Insurance companies will cut the cost of car insurance by 25 percent or more, in some cases when multiple cars are being insured. These discounts can add up to significant savings for car cheaper insurance woman, man and student drivers. Industry analysts recommend getting many or multiple quotes before deciding on an auto insurance policy.

Sources form: xtreemhost, Auto Insurance

Back to Home

Auto Insurance

2008-11-29T10:54:00.004-08:00

Featured Insurance Products

Motorcycle Insurance

We insure scooters too! Great coverage at an affordable price. ID Theft ProtectionProtect your credit and good name. Get the tools you need to prevent ID fraud.

Renters InsuranceGot a computer? How about a flat screen TV? Be sure to protect your belongings. Homeowners Insurance

Owning a home is the American dream. Don't leave your dream unprotected.
Umbrella InsuranceDoes an umbrella policy protect you from rain? Not exactly. Get the facts here. Condo InsuranceLeaky bathtub? Kitchen fire? Can you repair the damage without condo insurance?

Commercial Insurance

Do you own a business? Make sure your vehicle fleet is properly protected. RV InsuranceBefore you hit the open road make sure you've got the protection you need.

ATV Insurance

Keep your ride protected no matter how far off the beaten path you go. Boat InsuranceIt's smooth sailing when you have a boat insurance policy to protect you!

Flood Insurance

Prefer waterfront to water-logged? Flood insurance may be right for you. Overseas InsuranceDown the block or across the pond, we can help you get the coverage you need.

Life Insurance

Life can change in an instant. Is a life insurance policy appropriate for you? Mobile Home InsuranceBig coverage for a small price. See how we can help protect your mobile home.

Back to Home

Find Insurance

2008-11-29T10:54:00.003-08:00

Find Insurance
Choose a Plan
To ensure that everyone has the opportunity to benefit from Methodist Health System, we have partnered with a wide selection of managed care companies. We file claims for all plans in which we participate. These plans include:
Aetna (All Commercial Products)Accountable Health Plan/InterplanBlue Cross/Blue Shield Of Texas (All Commercial Products)Cigna (All Commercial Products)Great West HealthcareHealthsmart/North Texas Healthcare Network (NTHM)Humana (Including Choicecare)Mail Handlers (Through First Health/Coventry)MultiplanPacificare (All Commercial Products)Texas True ChoiceUnited Healthcare (All Commercial Products)
Texas Star Program (Medicaid HMO)
Dallas County:Parkland Community Health Plan Unicare
Tarrant County:Aetna Medicaid
Integrated Care Management (Medicaid ICM)
Evercare
Medicare
Aetna Golden Medicare Aetna Golden ChoiceHumana Gold Plus Secure Horizons (MedicareComplete)
Please note many of the health plans require outpatient radiology and laboratory to utilize a specific provider. Authorization for these services to be performed at Methodist may require a special approval. Please contact the member's health plan network to verify for any service designated networks.

Sources form: methodisthealthsystem organization.

Back to Home

Laptop Computer

2008-11-29T10:54:00.001-08:00

HistoryMain article: History of laptops The Epson HX-20As the personal computer became feasible in the early 1970s, the idea of a portable personal computer followed; in particular, a "personal, portable information manipulator" was envisioned by Alan Kay at Xerox PARC in 1968[6] and described in his 1972 paper as the "Dynabook"

The first commercially available portable computer appeared nine years later, in 1981. The Osborne 1 weighed 23.5 pounds (10.7 kg). It had no battery, a tiny 5" CRT screen and dual 5¼" single-density floppy drives. In the same year the first laptop-sized portable computer, the Epson HX-20, was announced[8]. The Epson had a LCD screen, a rechargeable battery and a calculator-size printer in a 1.6 kg (4 pounds) enclosure.

The first notebook using the clamshell design, utilized today by almost all laptops, appeared in 1982. The $8150 GRiD Compass 1100 was purchased by NASA and the military among others. The Gavilan SC, released in 1983, was the first notebook marketed using the term "laptop".
From 1983 onwards:

Several new input methods were introduced: the touchpad (Gavilan SC, 1983), the pointing stick (IBM ThinkPad 700, 1992) and handwriting recognition (Linus Write-Top[9], 1987). CPUs became designed specifically for laptops (Intel i386SL, 1990), targeting low power consumption, and were augmented with dynamic power management features (Intel SpeedStep and AMD PowerNow!). Displays reached VGA resolution by 1988 (Compaq SLT 286) and 256-color screens by 1993 (PowerBook 165c), progressing quickly to millions of colors and high resolutions. High-capacity hard drives and optical storage (CD-ROM followed by DVD) became available in laptops soon after their introduction to the desktops. Early laptops often had proprietary and incompatible architectures, operating systems and bundled applications.

ClassificationThe general terms "laptop" or "notebook" can be used to refer to a number of classes of small portable computers:[10][11]

By purpose and (approximately) by screen size:

Desktop replacement - emphasizes performance, is less portable, 17" and larger screen; Standard laptop - balances portability and features, 13-15" screen; Subnotebook - emphasizes portability, has less features, 13" or smaller screen. By features:

Budget - a cheap, lower-performance standard-sized laptop; Tablet PC - Has a touch-screen interface, may or may not have a keyboard; Netbook - A cheaper, smaller version of a subnotebook designed mainly for Internet surfing and basic office applications. Rugged - Engineered to operate in tough conditions (strong vibrations, extreme temperatures, wet and dusty environments).

Desktop replacement An Apple 17" MacBook Pro is often used as a desktop replacement.Main article: Desktop replacement computerA desktop replacement computer is a laptop that provides most of the capabilities of a desktop computer, with a similar level of performance. Desktop replacements are usually larger and heavier than standard laptops. They contain more powerful components and numerous ports, and have a 17" or larger display. Because of their bulk, they are not as portable as other laptops and their operation time on batteries is typically shorter.[11]

Some laptops in this class use a limited range of desktop components to provide better performance for the same price at the expense of battery life; in a few of those models, there is no battery at all, and the laptop can only be used when plugged in. These are sometimes called desknotes, a portmanteau of the words "desktop" and "notebook," though the term can also be applied to desktop replacement computers in general.[12]

The names "Media Center Laptops" and "Gaming Laptops" are also used to describe this class of notebooks.[10]

Subnotebook Sony VAIO C1 subnotebook.Main article: SubnotebookA subnotebook, also called an ultraportable by some vendors, is a laptop designed and marketed with an emphasis on portability (small size, low weight and long battery life) that retains the performance of a standard notebook. Subnotebooks are usually smaller and lighter than standard laptops, weighing between 0.8 and 2 kg (2 to 5 pounds)[10]; the battery life can exceed 10 hours[13] when a large battery or an additional battery pack is installed.

To achieve the size and weight reductions, ultraportables use high resolution 13" and smaller screens (down to 6.4"), have relatively few ports, employ expensive components designed for minimal size and best power efficiency, and utilize advanced materials and construction methods. Some subnotebooks achieve a further portability improvement by omitting an optical/removable media drive; in this case they may be paired with a docking station that contains the drive and optionally more ports or an additional battery.

The term "subnotebook" is usually reserved to laptops that run general-purpose desktop operating systems such as Windows, Linux or Mac OS X, rather than specialized software such as Windows CE, Palm OS or Internet Tablet OS.

Netbook An Asus Eee PC netbook.Main article: NetbookA netbook is a small laptop designed for portability and low price, with a performance inferior to that of a standard notebook yet adequate for surfing on the Internet and basic word processing. Netbooks use 10" and smaller screens, weigh 0.6 to 1.2 kg (1.5 to 3 pounds), and are generally powered by a CPU from one of the low-cost families with a high performance-to-power ratio such as Intel Atom, Celeron ULV, or VIA C7 processors.[14]

Netbooks use general-purpose operating systems such as Linux or Windows XP. Some models use small-capacity (4 to 40 Gb) SSD drives instead of the usual HDDs to save weight and battery power.

Rugged LaptopMain article: Rugged computer A Panasonic Toughbook.A rugged (or ruggedized) laptop is designed to reliably operate in harsh usage conditions such as strong vibrations, extreme temperatures and wet or dusty environments. Rugged laptops are usually designed from scratch, rather than adapted from regular consumer laptop models. Rugged notebooks are bulkier, heavier, and much more expensive than regular laptops[15], and thus are seldom seen in regular consumer use.

The design features found in rugged laptops include rubber sheeting under the keyboard keys, sealed port and connector covers, passive cooling, superbright displays easily readable in daylight, cases and frames made of magnesium alloys or have a magnesium alloy rollcage[16] that are much stronger than plastic found in commercial laptops and solid-state storage devices or hard disc drives that are shock mounted to withstand constant vibrations. Rugged laptops are commonly used by public safety services (police, fire and medical emergency), military, utilities, field service technicians, construction, mining and oil drilling personnel. Rugged laptops are usually sold to organizations, rather than individuals, and are rarely marketed via retail channels.

ComponentsMain article: Computer hardware Miniaturization: a comparison of a desktop computer motherboard (ATX form factor) to a motherboard from a 13" laptop (2008 unibody Macbook)The basic components of laptops are similar in function to their desktop counterparts, but are miniaturized, adapted to mobile use, and designed for low power consumption. Because of the additional requirements, laptop components have worse performance than desktop parts of comparable price. Furthermore, the design bounds on power, size, and cooling of laptops limit the maximum performance of laptop parts compared to that of desktop components. [17]
The following list summarizes the differences and distinguishing features of laptop components in comparison to desktop personal computer parts:

Motherboard - laptop motherboards are highly make- and model-specific, and do not conform to a desktop form factor. Unlike a desktop board that usually has several slots for expansion cards (3 to 7 are common), a board for a small, highly integrated laptop may have no expansion slots at all, with all the functionality implemented on the motherboard itself; the only expansion possible in this case is via an external port such as USB. Other boards may have one or more standard or proprietary expansion slots. Several other functions (storage controllers, networking, sound card and external ports) are implemented on the motherboard.[18] Central processing unit (CPU) - Laptop CPUs have advanced power-saving features and produce less heat than desktop processors, but are not as powerful.[19] There is a wide range of CPUs designed for laptops available from Intel (Pentium M, Celeron M, Intel Core and Core 2 Duo), AMD (Athlon, Turion 64, and Sempron), VIA Technologies, Transmeta and others. On the non-x86 architectures, Motorola and IBM produced the chips for the former PowerPC-based Apple laptops (iBook and PowerBook). Some laptops have removable CPUs, although support by the motherboard may be restricted to the specific models.[20] In other laptops the CPU is soldered on the motherboard and is non-replaceable. A SODIMM memory module.Memory (RAM) - SO-DIMM memory modules that are usually found in laptops are about half the size of desktop DIMMs.[18] They may be accessible from the bottom of the laptop for ease of upgrading, or placed in locations not intended for user replacement such as between the keyboard and the motherboard. Expansion cards - A PC Card (formerly PCMCIA) or ExpressCard bay for expansion cards is often present on laptops to allow adding and removing functionality, even when the laptop is powered on. Some subsystems (such as Wi-Fi or a cellular modem) can be implemented as replaceable internal expansion cards, usually accessible under an access cover on the bottom of the laptop. Two popular standards for such cards are MiniPCI and its successor, the PCI Express Mini. [21] Power supply - laptops are powered by an internal rechargeable battery that is charged using an external power supply. The power supply can charge the battery and power the laptop simultaneously; when the battery is fully charged, the laptop continues to run on AC power. The charger adds about 400 grams (1 lb) to the overall "transport weight" of the notebook. Battery - Current laptops utilize lithium ion batteries, with more recent models using the new lithium polymer technology. These two technologies have largely replaced the older nickel metal-hydride batteries. Typical battery life for standard laptops is two to five hours of light-duty use, but may drop to as little as one hour when doing power-intensive tasks. Batteries' performance gradually decreases with time, leading to an eventual replacement in one to five years, depending on the charging and discharging pattern. This large-capacity main battery should not be confused with the much smaller battery nearly all computers use to run the real-time clock and to store the BIOS configuration in the CMOS memory when the computer is off. Video display controller - on standard laptops video controller is usually integrated into the chipset. This tends to limit the use of laptops for gaming and entertainment, two fields which have constantly escalating hardware demands[22]. Higher-end laptops and desktop replacements in particular often come with dedicated graphics processors on the motherboard or as an internal expansion card. These mobile graphics processors are comparable in performance to mainstream desktop graphic accelerator boards.[23] Display - Most modern laptops feature 12 inch (30 cm) or larger color active matrix displays with resolutions of 1024×768 pixels and above. Many current models use screens with higher resolution than typical for desktop PCs (for example, the 1440×900 resolution of a 15" Macbook Pro[24] can be found on 19" widescreen desktop monitors). A size comparison of 3.5" and 2.5" hard disk drivesRemovable media drives - a DVD/CD reader/writer drive is standard. CD drives are becoming rare, while Blu-Ray is not yet common on notebooks[25]. Many ultraportables and netbooks either move the removable media drive into the docking station or exclude it altogether. Internal storage - Hard disks are physically smaller—2.5 inch (60 mm) or 1.8 inch (46 mm) —compared to desktop 3.5 inch (90 mm) drives. Some new laptops (usually ultraportables) employ more expensive, but faster, lighter and power-efficient Flash memory-based SSDs instead. Currently, 160 to 250 Gb sizes are common for laptop hard disks (64 to 128 Gb for SSDs). Input - A pointing stick, touchpad or both are used to control the position of the cursor on the screen, and an integrated keyboard is used for typing. External keyboard and mouse may be connected using USB or PS/2 (if present). Ports - several USB ports, an external monitor port (VGA or DVI), audio in/out, and an Ethernet network port are found on most laptops. Less common are legacy ports such as a PS/2 keyboard/mouse port, serial port or a parallel port. S-video or composite video ports are more common on consumer-oriented notebooks.

Docking stationsA docking station is a relatively bulky laptop accessory that contains multiple ports, expansion slots and bays for fixed or removable drives. A laptop connects and disconnects easily to a docking station, typically through a single large proprietary connector. A port replicator is a simplified docking station that only provides connections from the laptop to input/output ports. Both docking stations and port replicators are intended to be used at a permanent working place (a desk) to offer instant connection to multiple input/output devices and to extend a laptop's capabilities.

Docking stations became a common laptop accessory in the early 1990s. The most common use was in a corporate computing environment where the company had standardized on a common network card and this same card was placed into the docking station. These stations were very large and quite expensive. As the need for additional storage and expansion slots became less critical because of the high integration inside the laptop, the "port replicator" has gained popularity. The port replicator was a cheaper, often passive device that simply mated to the connectors on the back of the notebook and allowed the user to quickly connect his laptop so that his monitor, keyboard, printer and other devices were instantly attached. As higher speed ports such as USB and Firewire became common, the connection of a port replicator to a laptop was accomplished by a small cable connected to one of the USB or FireWire ports on the notebook. Wireless Port Replicators are available as well.

A recent variant of the port replicator is the combined power/display/USB hub cable found in the new Apple Cinema Display[26].

StandardsSome laptop components (optical drives, hard drives, memory and internal expansion cards) are relatively standardized, and it is possible to upgrade or replace them in many laptops as long as the new part is of the same type.[21] Subtle incompatibilities and variations in dimensions, however, are not uncommon.[27] Depending on the manufacturer and model, a laptop may range from having several standard, easily customizable and upgradeable parts to a proprietary design that can't be reconfigured at all.

In general, components other than the four categories listed above are not intended to be replaceable, and thus rarely follow a standard. In particular, motherboards, locations of ports, design and placement of internal components are usually make- and model-specific. Those parts are neither interchangeable with parts from other manufacturers nor upgradeable. If broken or damaged, they must be substituted with an exact replacement part. The users uneducated in the relevant fields are those the most affected by incompatibilities, especially if they attempt to connect their laptops with incompatible hardware or power adapters.

Intel, Asus, Compal, Quanta and other laptop manufacturers have created the Common Building Block standard for laptop parts to address some of the inefficiencies caused by the lack of standards.

Advantages Laptop computers are portable and can be used in many locations (Former Mexican President, Vicente Fox).Portability is usually the first feature mentioned in any comparison of laptops versus desktop PCs[28]. Portability means that a laptop can be used in many places - not only at home and at the office, but also during commuting and flights, in coffee shops, in lecture halls and libraries, at clients' location or at a meeting room, etc. The portability feature offers several distinct advantages:

Getting more done - using a laptop in places where a desktop PC can't be used, and at times that would otherwise be wasted. For example, an office worker tackling his e-mails during a hour-long commute by train, or a student doing her homework at the university coffee shop during a break between lectures.[29] Immediacy - Carrying a laptop means having instant access to various information, personal and work files. Immediacy allows better collaboration between coworkers or students, as a laptop can be flipped open to present a problem or a solution anytime, anywhere. Up-to-date information - If a person has more than one desktop PC, a problem of synchronization arises: changed made on one computer are not automatically propagated to the others. There are ways to resolve this problem, including physical transfer of updated files (using a USB stick or CDs) or using synchronization software over the Internet. However, using a single laptop at both locations avoids the problem entirely, as the files exist in a single location and are always up-to-date. Connectivity - A proliferation of Wi-Fi wireless networks and cellular broadband data services (HSDPA, EVDO and others) combined with a near-ubiquitous support by laptops [30] means that a laptop can have easy Internet and local network connectivity while remaining mobile. Wi-Fi networks and laptop programs are especially widespread at university campuses.[31] Other advantages of laptops include:

Size - laptops are smaller than standard PCs. This is beneficial when space is at a premium, for example in small apartments and student dorms. When not in use, a laptop can be closed and put away. Low power consumption - laptops are several times more power-efficient than desktops. A typical laptop uses 20-90 W, compared to 100-800 W for desktops. This could be particularly beneficial for businesses (which run hundreds of personal computers, multiplying the potential savings) and homes where there is a computer running 24/7 (such as a home media server, print server, etc.) Quiet - laptops are often quieter than desktops, due both to better components (quieter, slower 2.5-inch hard drives) and to less heat production leading to use of fewer and slower cooling fans. Battery - a charged laptop can run several hours in case of a power outage and is not affected by short power interruptions and brownouts. A desktop PC needs a UPS to handle short interruptions, brownouts and spikes; achieving on-battery time of more than 20-30 minutes for a desktop PC requires a large and expensive UPS.

Sources form: wikipedia

Back to Home

IT Company

2008-11-29T10:53:00.004-08:00