More Internet InsightsWhite PapersThe 9 Noble Truths of Custom Experience: Website Wisdom for Everyone in the Organization Pro Football Team Improves Connection With Fans Through New Social Networking Site Prime Indian Securities Trading Site Moves to Web 2.0, Achieves Lead Generation Boost “Internet Explorer is prone to a Cross-Zone Scripting vulnerability in its ‘Print Table of Links’ feature,” Raff explained in a post on Milw0rm.com summarizing his proof-of-concept exploit. “This feature allows users to add to a printed Web page an appendix which contains a table of all the links in that Web page.”
According to Raff, an attacker can add a maliciously crafted link to any Web page that accepts user generated content that, under certain circumstances, lets the attacker take control of the user’s machine when he or she tries to print the page.

When it prints a page, Internet Explorer invokes a local resource script to generate any of the HTML to be printed. “This HTML consists of the following elements: Header, webpage body, footer, and if enabled, also the table of links in the Web page,” Raff explains.

Because the script does not validate the URL, an attacker can inject a script that will be executed when the HTML to be printed is generated.

Users of Internet Explorer 7.0 and 8.0b on fully patched Windows XP systems are vulnerable. Users of Windows Vista with User Account Control (UAC) enabled may only be subject to information leakage. Earlier versions of Internet Explorer may also be affected.

Raff said that he alerted Microsoft to the problem on Tuesday and that the company is planning a fix. In the meantime, he advises not using the “Print Table of Links” feature when printing Web pages.

That’s been pretty much replaced by the soft whoosh of the pneumatic hinge on the storm door.

If your storm door still has scalloped edges along the window and an embossed X in the metal below, you might be surprised at what’s out there.

People are paying more attention to details like storm doors, said Daryl Woods, millwork specialist for Lowe’s in Bedford.

“The front door is the focal point of the home,” Woods said. “From the street, that’s where your eyes go. It’s about curb appeal.”

It’s not only aesthetics driving the interest, said Jeffrey Parobechek, an inventory management associate at Home Depot on Cleveland’ hobby collezioni s West Side. He’s heard a lot of interest in upgrading to a more energy-efficient door to help control heating and cooling costs.

People want a thicker, sturdier door that is either vinyl or aluminum over a solid core of wood, foam or fiberglass. They also want one that closes tightly to keep the air conditioning in the house. After all, as Dad would say, “I’m not paying to cool off the front porch.”

Low maintenance matters. Homeowners don’t want the flimsy old metal doors that had rust spots. Woods said retractable roll screens draw a lot of positive attention because homeowners don’t have to deal with swapping out the screen for the glass and storing one while the other is in use.

You can get either a traditional (window on the upper half of the door) or full-view (glass from top to bottom). “I always ask, how computer e hardware nice is your door?” Woods said. People with attractive front doors — especially older homes with wood doors — tend to want full-view.

Tempered glass is being used for security. The glass can be etched with a decorative pattern or beveled, or caned, for added style.

These are the finances for the personal needs. Here the available cash allows you to get the bucks for a number of requirements. Apart form the regular needs like business needs, home improvement, car buying or holiday trips; you can also get the money for debt consolidation. Here you can mush up all your debts through a single loan paid to be with single interest rates.

Anyway, the funding is for all here, for everyone. You may have the collateral or not, the money is for you. You can go for both the secured as well as unsecured options. Security pledged in secured options allows you to have the bucks at much cheap rates because of assurance of the return of the money associated with it. And, the unsecured options let you have the money without pledging any collateral or in simpler terms, there is no risk or headache involved here in these options. Only, in case of the unsecured loans, the interest rate charged will be slightly higher than the normal rates.

There is, again, the online processing available for the bad credit personal loans and this is preferable. Online is the best way to apply simply because you can apply through an easy and small application form and applying is totally free of cost here. Also, there is no paper work or faxing involved online. And, the service is available round the clock. Loans are only clicks away here. Everything has been put in these loans only to make easy the move of bad credit holders.

A poor credit loans is a specialized financial help meant for those borrowers who cannot avail any financial help due to credit problems. Every major bank, financial institutions, lending companies is offering this loan. Along with it, lenders based in the online market are also offering these loans at competitive terms and conditions. With the assistance of these loans, you can easily fulfill the needs like home renovation, purchasing a car, education, wedding or business at relative ease.

Just like other conventional loan, there are two ways of availing it, either in secured or unsecured form. Secured form of the loan can be availed by pledging any property such as home, real estate, etc against the borrowed amount. The amount approved is based on the equity value of collateral and is in the range of £5000-£75000 which can be repaid in a period of 5-25 years.

Unsecured form of the loan is designed to get approved without any collateral. The amount approved under this loan is in the range of £1000-£2500 for repayment period that stretches for 6 months -10 years. Tenants, non homeowners, students are the major beneficiaries of this loan option.

Interest rate for the loan is slightly higher compare to other loans available in the financial market. This is done to cover the risk factor involved. However a thorough research of the market may yield lenders offering competitive rates on the loan.

Poor credit loan helps serves two purposes which is very much essential. It provides you ample finances which enable you to overcome financial hurdles. And secondly by repaying the loan amount you can improve the tattered credit score. However, before availing the loan it is necessary to understand your repayment capability. By doing so, it will help you to avail the required amount and repay it easily without any question of further debts.

A variety of other types of claims and suits may be made against the design professional, such as claims for ordinary negligence, such as automobile liability cases, or slip and falls on the company’s property. There are suits for wrongful employment practices such as discrimination, sexual harassment, or wrongful discharge. Finally, there are suits for commercial disputes over contracts, trade secrets, and patents.

Professional liability claims are unique and distinct from other types of claims because they are made against the professional in relation to the performance of professional services and the specific duties owed by professionals which are not applicable to the public at large. As a result special rules and standards apply to these claims that do not apply to other types of negligence actions.

A claimant may file a claim or suit asserting professional negligence, as a tort, such as negligence or misrepresentation, or may assert the claim as a breach of contract claim or that the design professional was negligent in the performance of its contractual duties.

ELEMENTS OF A CAUSE OF ACTION FOR PROFESSIONAL MALPRACTICE

In the absence of a specific contractual undertaking, the architect or engineer design professional owes legal duties to perform their work in accordance with the standard of practice of their profession.

Generally speaking, in order to prevail on a professional malpractice or professional negligence cause of action, the Plaintiff must assert and establish:

a. what the standard of practice is for the design professional under the circumstances;

b. that the design professional violated the standard of practice, and the way in which the standard of care was violated; and

c. that the Plaintiff suffered damages as a proximate result of the violation of the standard of practice.

STANDARD OF PRACTICE

What does it mean for there to be a standard of practice or a violation of the standard of practice? The standard of practice is the exercise of ordinary skill and care common to the professional under the circumstances. It is not the average performance of all professionals or the best performance of professionals. The standard of practice can relate to any aspect of a design professional’s work, from design to construction administration.

Just because a majority of professionals would do a task a certain way or that the claimant’s expert would do it differently does not mean that the way that the design professional performed the task is wrong or was a violation of the standard of practice.

Professional negligence must be contrasted with ordinary negligence. Professionals, like any other person, can be sued for ordinary negligence for matters not relating to their professional duties and practice. For example, if a person slips and falls on ice on their property of the professional, in the course of driving to or from a construction site, negligently causes a motor vehicle accident, those claims would be ordinary negligence claims where the standard of practice would not be applicable.

The design professional does not guaranty success (unless the design professional contractually or expressly makes a guaranty or warranty), and a bad result does not necessarily constitute a violation of the standard of practice.

Ordinarily, a claimant must present expert testimony to support a claim of professional negligence. There is an exception where the alleged professional negligence is a matter of common knowledge, or if the defendant professional establishes by his/her own testimony the standard of practice and breach.

PROXIMATELY CAUSED DAMAGES

Proximate cause is a legal term that involves elements of forseeability and a close relationship between the conduct alleged to impose liability and the damages.

In the context of claims against design professionals for malpractice, it is often alleged that the design professional should have designed the building or system differently, specified different equipment, or omitted something of significance from the design or specifications.

However, where the alleged damages involve things that should have been provided, but were omitted, or where betterments or improvements should have been specified or designed into the building or system, those may not be proximately caused damages. If the additional work or additional equipment, such as more expensive or sophisticated features or controls, would have been required had the design professional acted properly, then those costs would ordinarily have been incurred by the owner at the time of construction if the professional had not been negligent, and are not proximately caused damages. If the alleged damages involve improvements that make the building or system better or more valuable to the owner, then those betterments may not be proximately caused damages as the owner would benefit from those improvements and would have paid for those betterments.

On the other hand, if the cost of providing those improvements including the cost of the additional equipment or system, or the cost of installation of that additional system or equipment is more than it would have been had the design professional properly designed the system or properly prepared the specifications at the outset of the project, then those additional costs may be recoverable as proximately caused damages. For example, if the price of purchasing the additional HVAC equipment has gone up since the original contract and bidding process, or if it would cost more to install the equipment after the fact because other equipment would have to be remove and reinstalled, then those would be recoverable costs and/or expenses.

BREACH OF CONTRACT VERSUS NEGLIGENCE

Completely apart from the issue of professional malpractice for violating the standard of practice, a design professional may be liable for breach of a specific contractual promise or a specific guaranty or warranty.

However, in the absence of such a contractual undertaking or warranty, to what extent is a design professional liable to a third party under principles of contract or tort?

Historically, Defendants and design professionals were not liable to third parties for property damage or bodily injury, or to other contractors for their economic losses, in the absence of privity of contract, i.e., a direct contractual relationship with the party making the claim.

The principles of privity of contract were eroded over the years both in ordinary negligence cases and in professional liability cases and claims have been allowed in most states against professionals by third parties in spite of the lack of contractual privity.

However, at least in Michigan, recently there has been a movement in the opposite direction limiting the liability of contractors and design professionals to third parties.

The court in Matrix relied upon a Michigan Supreme Court decision in Fultz v Union-Commerce Associates, 470 Mich 460-463 (2004) which held that a third party cannot sue a contractor without having a contractual relationship with the contractor in the absence of proving some duty owed to the claimant independent of the duties undertaken by the contractor under the contract with the owner.

Other states still allow suits by third parties against design professionals in the absence of privity of contract.

Third party Plaintiffs which are not in contractual privity with the design professional may also assert that they are third party beneficiaries of the contract between the design professional and the owner and thus entitled to sue. This approach often does not succeed because a third party beneficiary must establish that the parties to the original contract with the owner intended to benefit the third party.

FRAUD AND MISREPRESENTATION

Claims against design professionals for fraud or misrepresentation are generally considered distinct from ordinary malpractice claims involving breach of the standard of practice. They do not require proof of the standard of practice and violation of the standard of practice, but rather have their own independent elements as follows:

a. a misrepresentation or omission of an important fact;

b. the misrepresentation or omission was made negligently, innocently, or intentionally;

c. the claimant reasonably relied upon the misrepresentation or omission; and

d.the claimant suffered damages as a proximate result of the misrepresentation or omission.

Frequently claimants will assert misrepresentation or omission allegations against design professionals relating to errors or omissions in specifications, or in statements made to the contractors in the course of the bidding process or construction or administration of the contract. In such cases, the third party may not be able to establish the necessary element of reasonable reliance where the design professional’s duty is owed to the owner, not the third party.

Claims for misrepresentation often require a higher level of proof, i.e., proof by clear and convincing evidence.

Misrepresentation claims by third parties may be allowed even where professional liability claims based on breach of contract are not, because they are considered to be a distinct type of claim.

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS/STATUTE OF REPOSE

One of the different rules applicable to professional liability claims is the time period during which a claimant can sue, or the statute of limitations or in some instances a statute of repose. A statute of limitations usually limits a claimants right to sue after a certain number of years after the claim accrues. The accrual date can be the date of the alleged wrongful act, the completion date of a project, the date of the injury or damage, or in some instances, the last day that the professional performed services for its client.

A statute of repose limits the time after which suit can be performed to a certain number of years after a date, often the completion or occupancy of a project or building, without regard to when the injury or damage occurred or could have been discovered. Thus a statute of repose could preclude a suit even though the damages had not occurred or became manifest or discoverable before the deadline.

COMMON CAUSES OF MALPRACTICE CLAIMS

Malpractice claims can arise out of a variety of situations and causes too numerous to relate. However, some of the more common ones are addressed here.

Many malpractice claims arise out of disputes over the scope of work and claims relating to oral agreements or representations. As a result, it is very important for the design professional to document its scope of work and all agreements or understandings, even for small projects and for clients where there is a long term ongoing relationship.

Too often, after an initial proposal or professional services contract for an initial project, and after an ongoing relationship settles in, informalities arise, where formal documentation of the project and scope of work can go by the wayside. If a major loss or claim arises, that prior close or long term relationship may not prevent disagreements over scope of work and duty issues or prevent one party from asserting revisionist history to support their claim. Good documentation is an important measure to prevent malpractice claims and help defeat them when they arise.

Similarly, informal or oral decisions or changes made in the field without the necessary investigation, communication, and documentation can lead to malpractice claims based on ambiguous decisions or change orders, lack of owner consent, or insufficient information.

Failure to address complaints or issues raised by the owner, or contractors, in a timely fashion and respectfully can cause anger and blow out of proportion a manageable issue that could have been solved early at little expense. Complaints over billings or charges that are ignored or blown off can sometimes lead to other claims of poor work or services and snowball into a malpractice suit.

Where delays are caused by unexpected circumstances or conditions, bad weather or supplier issues, claims may be made against the owner for delay damages and extra expenses or result in litigation against the contractor for delayed or uncompleted work, missed deadlines, and poor workmanship. These claims often result in the design professional being brought into the fray and litigation. It is best to identify and address these issues clearly and directly with the owner and contractor and resolve them before the amount of money and time involved becomes critical to either side making litigation

Lenders and investors review hundreds of business plan every year and with every plan, lenders and investors become more cynical because the same mistakes pop up with regular frequency. With so much competition for a limited amount of capital, it is imperative to not make these mistakes.

1. Financials

Unrealistic Financial Projections – Simply saying that you are going to do $100,000 in sales is not enough nor can you simply say there is no way of knowing. Everyone knows there is no way to accurately come up with financial projections over the next three years, especially in a start-up. But, what is required in your plan is that reasonable assumptions are made and supported with research. By incorporating a detailed list of assumptions and how you arrived at your numbers, the lender/investor can judge your analysis and decision making process. If you are projecting to generate high sales outside of industry norms, explaining how you arrived at this conclusion is a must. Lenders and investors have seen many, many plans that claim sales are going through the roof once funded and as a result are very jaded at statements like this. Financial data that is inconsistent with industry averages and overly aggressive sales figures will raise flags. Explain every number.

Confusing Cash with Profits – Revenues do not always equal cash. For example, suppose you make a sale this month for $100 that cost $50 to produce. Assuming your buyer doesn’t pay for 30-60 and even 90 days if dealing with state or federal sources (and assuming they all pay), the effect on your cash flow is significant. Suppliers and employees still have to be paid for their work while you are waiting on payment from the buyer.

While you may not have a significant portion of sales coming from receivables, the timing of cash flows is critical for developing a financial strategy as cash flow is much more important than profits. Profits are an accounting concept while cash is money in the bank. If you don’t believe me try paying your bills with profits.

No Adjustment for Seasonality – All businesses are seasonal to some extent, some more significant than others. Seasonality refers to the percentage of sales that are made in a month. For example, most retailers have huge November and December sales and lousy January and February sales. Did you make enough cash during the good months to cover the slow months to cover salaries, rents and lights?

If You Build It They Will Come – Be careful in assuming once your doors open people will be streaming in to buy. You have a new, relatively unheard of business. This is a time when your business is particularly vulnerable as most of new owner’s cash reserves have typically been used to open the store. If sales projections are off during the first couple of months and you don’t have enough working capital to keep the lights on, you may be quickly going out of business.

Insufficient financial projections – Basic financial projections consist of four elements: Income Statements, Profit & Loss, Balance Sheets, and Cash Flow Statements.

For most businesses a three-year projection is sufficient, but if yours is a capital intensive one and will take longer to show profitability then use five. Actual figures are a must if you can get them and any number in the projections needs to be in the business plan narrative. If you are purchasing an existing business use the historical financials to show support for your sales figures.

No Quotes – Any significant expenses should have a quote accompanied in the appendix, especially for construction or remodeling as this is an area where most entrepreneurs slip as they do it themselves and greatly underestimate the costs.

2. Marketing

Failing to relieve the customer’s pain – Businesses are rewarded to make consumer’s pain go away. Pain can include; my car stopped working, my doggie is sick or my tax returns are too hard to prepare.

If your business plan can’t show how you are relieving the customer’s pain, then the chances for success in the marketplace is extremely limited.

Remember pain equals market opportunity. The greater the pain, the greater number of customer’s with this pain and the better you can relieve the pain equals greater market potential.

One Billion Customers Served – Claiming everyone needs your product/service will send a strong message to the reviewer that you don’t know your market and remove any credibility to your plan. In the good old days the shotgun approach to marketing could work as there were limited channels for advertisement. Today with unlimited outlets and more narrowly defined markets, this approach does not fly.

While it’s true everyone eats, not everyone will eat at your restaurant, nor could you effectively advertise to everyone. By researching the segments that are most likely to use your product/service and showing how your message will get to them will ultimately make your endeavor more successful. Having clearly defined target markets will show you have done your homework and be the cornerstone of a marketing strategy that can succeed.

We have no competition – Use this statement if your want your plan rejected. Every business has competition. While there may not be a direct competitor, meaning one that offers the same or similar product, there is always an indirect competitor.

Saying there is no competition tells the reviewer that you have either not done any market research or there is not a market for your product.

3. Organization

Writing For The Wrong Audience – A plan for a lender should be written differently than one for an investor. Banks are interested in seeing the likelihood that debts be repaid and investors are interested in the upside profit potential. Be sure to write your plan to your audience. For both, keep to the facts, keep it clear and keep it simple. If you don’t feel you have the writing abilities to make your plan shine, then get help.

Poor spelling and grammar – Leaving spelling and grammatical errors in your plan only tells the reviewer that you are not paying attention to details and may not pay enough attention to the business. Use spelling and grammar checkers and let others review your plan to make sure there are no errors.

Too repetitive – Many times, plans will cover the same points over and over. A well-written plan should cover key points only twice: once in the executive summary then again in greater detail in the narrative of the plan.

Remove the Jargon – Using simple language is imperative to getting a technical business funded. Don’t think that by using complex terms that lenders/investors will be so impressed with your knowledge that they will whip open the checkbook. Businesses that can’t be understood don’t get funded. If you can’t explain your business to a sixth grader your chances of funding are in jeopardy.

Investors are really only interested in your technology if it solves a problem that people will pay for, is better than the competition, can be protected through patents and can reasonably go to market without spending a lot of money.

Keep the technical details out of the business plan and in the white papers.

Appearance matters – Make sure your plan looks professional. Use professional printing, binding, keeping fonts consistent and easy to read. The more money being requested means investing more time in making sure your plan will stand out from the crowd. Be careful that you don’t go overboard and give the impression that the plan is all style and no substance.

Length – A long business plan does not make a better business plan. All of the industry and marketing research won’t save a flawed plan. Too many plans have been immediately rejected because they are too long. Lenders and investors favor entrepreneurs who can efficiently demonstrate the ability to efficiently get to the point.

An executive summary should be no more than 1-3 pages. Ideally it should only be one page but some complex plans require more. An ideal business plan is 20-30 pages, including financials. Remember less is more!

Use operating plans, white papers and marketing plans for the in-depth details.

Fluffing – Using phrases like “unmatched in the industry;” “narrow window of opportunity;” or “ground floor” are empty phrases filled with hype. If anything, the cynical reviewer will be turned off by the hype and trash your plan. Stick with laying out the facts – what is the problem, how will you solve the problem, how big is the market, how will consumers buy it and what is your competitive advantage. If the opportunity is there the lender/investor will be able to make the decision for themselves.

Overvaluing the business idea – What gives a business value is not the idea but the execution of the idea. A great idea is a start, but almost everyone has had a great idea at some point in their lives. How you will execute this idea is what sets apart a real business from the dreamers.

4. Execution Mistakes

Waiting too long – Funding a business takes a long time. Expect three months at a minimum after finishing your business plan to get funding. Unless you have sufficient capital, other sources of income and can be funded in-house at a bank, this number may be reduced. Bank financing for business with less than two years of operating history are typically funded through an SBA guarantee, which requires additional time, patience and paperwork. Financing through investors is usually an even longer process as they have a lot of people competing for their money and they tend to do significant due diligence to secure their investment. Waiting until you need the money is a sure way to keep your business from launching.

Unreasonable time lines – Many business owners underestimate the timelines for completing milestones. Its human nature to think we can do things faster than is possible. When getting a business started there will be several tasks you could not have anticipated and the some tasks you think will be easy which will end up taking much longer. It is best to overestimate and finish early, rather than scramble and execute your opening poorly.

Failing to seek outside review – When preparing your plan, be sure that you have at least a few people review it before sending it out. Preferably look for people in your industry or who have a specialization in sales, distribution, etc that could lend a fresh set of eyes and find any flaws in the plan. Being so close to the action can keep you from being objective and this additional scrutiny may save you countless headaches and money down the road.

Perfecting – It can be easy to spend countless hours perfecting your plan and ultimately never launching. Remember, your plan will never be perfect and in practice should be continually updated as you learn more about the business, market and customers. Don’t make your plan an academic practice, finish it and get in front of investors and lenders. Use this feedback to see if your plan really needs the additional perfection.

A pillow’s decorative punch

Decorative pillows can add warmth, texture and dramatic accents to your home interior. Choose bright colors and bold patterns to add life to an otherwise boring couch or lounge chair. Add a colorful floral pattern to your stiff classical furniture to add a dash of the earth’s warmth. Bold patterns always look dramatic against plain fabrics and surfaces.

For every two patterned pillows, throw in a plain pillow to break the pattern. Too much pattern can become tiring on the eye.

Light’s subtle message

Interior lighting can work pure wonders. Whether you want to create atmosphere or attract attention to a piece of artwork or special piece of furniture, the type of lighting effect you choose will make all the difference.

Consider having two lighting options in your home. First, create a lighting design to suit your own practical needs when in the house alone. For example, when you are cleaning or reading you’ll need a large bright central ceiling light. But this isn’t appropriate when you have friends over. As a second lighting option create ‘entertainment lighting’ by choosing subtle small lights that you may hang behind or above furniture or on a side table or in the base of an indoor potted plant.

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Mirrors do two things. They create the illusion of extra space and they reflect scenes. The secret to hanging a mirror is to know just that. In a cramped room a strategically placed mirror could offer you the extra space you thought only remodeling would do. Always hand a mirror opposite things you want to see more of: opposite a piece of artwork, or window, or indoor plant.

Fresh flower power

Fresh flowers (or even good artificial ones) in a room can bring inside all the freshness of the outside world and literally transform a room. Match flowers with the colors of you accessories. Or place them on a table in front of a mirror.

The incandescent radiance of candles

Candles, whether lit or unlit, make the great final touch to your home. Use scented candles in the bathroom and votive candles to add that decorative touch to a formal dinner.

Most of the more useful spy equipment accessories are for cameras. These cameras are often surveillance cameras that can detect intruders and record vandals, helping you better protect your home. This equipment can help you keep your home safe, protecting your most valuable asset, and your valuables (human and otherwise) inside. The different options available to enhance camera performance can only aid your efforts to fortify your home.

One of the best spy equipment accessories for the camera is the illuminator. Illuminators come in various sizes and they are effective up to different ranges. These illuminators usually sit atop the camera, or somewhere nearby, to provide adequate light for the camera to pick up different people that come in its range. This is especially helpful at night, as most illuminators help the camera “see” in the dark what it otherwise would not have been able to distinguish.

Other helpful spy equipment accessories include camera housings. These housings for CCTV cameras protect them from the elements, helping them last longer and protecting your investment in better home security through premises surveillance. Some housing are even equipped with blowers and heaters. These keep the cameras from overheating during the summer and protect them from the bitter cold during the winter.

Other helpful spy equipment accessories include things like videotapes for recorders (long tapes that hold 9 or 10 hours of footage, as opposed to 6 hours) and power supplies and battery packs. Battery packs may even be rechargeable, making it that much easier to make sure your surveillance system always has adequate power to do the job. Additionally, plug and play cables of different lengths can add to the effectiveness of your spy equipment.