of the future that relies upon computerized applications for most routine work will have to be a friendly system that can be used by individuals with a minimum of training and no previous computing experience. A discussion of the computer-assisted aids to ofice work that have evolved at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center provides a preview of the possibilities for future ofice systems bas...

virtual water adds a new dimension to crop trades and provides a new way of thinking about water scarcity. a systematic analysis of virtual water flows requires integration of all critical drivers of virtual water flows under a single consistent framework. the aim of this study was to assess virtual water flows related to trades of grain crops (wheat, corn, rice, and coarse cereals) and their i...

High-quality virtual audio scene rendering is a must for emerging virtual and augmented reality applications, for perceptual user interfaces, and sonification of data. Personalization of HRTF is necessary in applications where perceptual realism and correct elevation perception is critical. We describe algorithms for creation of virtual auditory spaces by rendering cues that arise from anatomic...

The vision of ubiquitous computing projects a multitude of computers surrounding people. The ubiquitous environment is to support people in their everyday life in an inconspicuous and unobtrusive way. This requires that information of the person and her preferences, liking, and habits are available in the ubiquitous system. Since mobility is in the nature of people the system has to ensure that...

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have completed an estimate of the direct spending and revenue effects of an amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 4872, the Reconciliation Act of 2010. The amendment discussed in this letter (hereafter called “the reconciliation proposal”) is the one that was made public on March 18, 2010, as ...

Helioseismology has allowed us to infer the rotation in the greater part of the solar interior with high precision and resolution. The results show interesting conflicts with earlier theoretical expectations, indicating that the the Sun is host to complex dynamical phenomena, so far hardly understood. This has important consequences for our ideas about the evolution of stellar rotation, as well...

Lean Construction (LC) is under the spotlight to improve the overall performance of civil construction projects in England. A strategic target of public clients is to effectively extend the current LC efforts, which have been mainly led by large companies to date, across small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper presents a summary of the initial findings of a research effort aimed at un...

Against a background of the low engagement of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in e-business this paper investigates the application service provider (ASP) perspective. Conducting qualitative case studies based of SMEs using hosted applications and service providers the research highlights the opportunity for ‘one to many’ service delivery to aggregations of SMEs promoted by trusted thi...

Since small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play a vital role within many major economies throughout the world, their ability to successfully adopt and utilize the Internet and electronic commerce is of prime importance in ensuring their stability and future survival. This paper highlights some of the important issues identified by SME managers relating to the adoption of Internet related techn...