a few articles
from the news~peace  
 
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forensics

Automated Forensic Ballistics Pioneer Launches ALIAS -- the Next Generation of Forensic Ballistics -- at International Firearms Working Group
 
 WIESBADEN, GERMANY and BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS -- 10/21/09 -- Led by President and CEO Mike Barrett, the automated forensic ballistics pioneer who brought IBIS to firearms examiners and technicians in the early 90s, Pyramidal Technologies Ltd. is proud to announce the ALIAS Advanced Ballistics Analysis System product launch. The launch takes place today concurrent with the 16th annual European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI) Expert Working Group Firearms and Gunshot Residue (GSR) meeting in Wiesbaden, Germany, where ALIAS is being demonstrated for the first time to international firearms experts.
 
"ALIAS is the next generation in forensic ballistics because it brings a 3D imaging, correlation, visualization and confirmation system that delivers an exponential increase in cartridge data available for analysis," stated Barrett, who was inspired to create ALIAS after attending an IBIS course in 2006.
 
"After a brief retirement, I returned to forensic ballistics as the Firearms Examiner and Firearms Section Technical Lead at the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office," said Barrett. "I went on a course for IBIS, the system I developed in the early 90s. After taking the course, I realized that nothing of significance had happened with IBIS technology in 16 years. At the same time colleagues asked if I could do something, so I assembled an expert team to re-introduce state-of-the-art software, hardware and cartridge scanning technology to law enforcement agencies around the world. The goal of ALIAS is to solve more crimes, convict more criminals and save more lives taken each year as a result of criminal firearms use."  
 
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http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/automated-forensic-ballistics-pioneer-la unches,1007620.shtml
 

 
more on forensics here
see 03.16.09
 
http://www.golocaljamaica.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1222876869
 
 

 
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business science
fr. the Trinidad & Tobago Newsday  
 

Creative Marketing in a Tight Economy
 
Dayner Azzellino, MBA Thursday, October 22 2009
 
Many valuable inventions of the last generation had their genesis in the Great Depression. These include the supermarket, photocopy technology, car radio, chocolate chip cookie and the board game Monopoly. This is a lesson to us as we consider whether to tighten, loosen or simply trash our respective belts.
 
Allow me to introduce a non-typical response to hard times, which is: work with greater creativity and more practical strategy.
 
The fact is in the midst of bad news, there are companies that are profiting in these tight times. Some of it is due to their services’ relevance to market needs, like low cost giants McDonalds and Wal-Mart. It is possible that our own Pennywise stores, wholesale stores or markets may also have influxes of new customers nowadays. My point is people are still consuming; they are simply being cautious and seeking out value for the money they spend.
 
So what strategy does a company employ in these days? While Harvard Business School purports four main types: low cost, differentiation, networking and client relationship, I advocate that the most important for use in our environment is the third and fourth.
 
Networking is a buzzword but let us explore how it can help a company or individual in a constricted consumer environment. Then while we admittedly talk volumes about customer service, how do we use our processes — the day to day activities — to optimise customer satisfaction and “re-patronage”.
 
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http://www.newsday.co.tt/businessday/0,109585.html