Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment 2010: An Index and Study by the Economist Intelligence Unit

This report outlines the findings of the Economist Intelligence Unit¿s in-depth analysis of the microfi nance business environment in 54 countries. The index that underlies this report allows countries and regions to be compared across three broad categories: regulatory framework, institutional development and investment climate. The study uses a methodology which was originally developed for Latin America and the Caribbean in 2007 and was employed for the fi rst time on a global basis in 2009. Most of the research for this report was conducted prior to May 2010, although some later developments (up to July) were included where they were particularly signifi cant.Microbusinesses & Microfinance

Boîte à outils du travailleur du Web 2012 (La)

Ce document rassemble et commente brièvement une série d\u27outils très pratiques susceptibles de faciliter la production de contenus sur le web

Dimensionality Reduction Mappings

A wealth of powerful dimensionality reduction methods has been established which can be used for data visualization and preprocessing. These are accompanied by formal evaluation schemes, which allow a quantitative evaluation along general principles and which even lead to further visualization schemes based on these objectives. Most methods, however, provide a mapping of a priorly given finite set of points only, requiring additional steps for out-of-sample extensions. We propose a general view on dimensionality reduction based on the concept of cost functions, and, based on this general principle, extend dimensionality reduction to explicit mappings of the data manifold. This offers simple out-of-sample extensions. Further, it opens a way towards a theory of data visualization taking the perspective of its generalization ability to new data points. We demonstrate the approach based on a simple global linear mapping as well as prototype-based local linear mappings.

Ecological analysis of world trade

Ecological systems have a high level of complexity combined with stability and rich biodiversity. Recently, the analysis of their properties and evolution has been pushed forward on a basis of concept of mutualistic networks that provides a detailed understanding of their features being linked to a high nestedness of these networks. It was shown that the nestedness architecture of mutualistic networks of plants and their pollinators minimizes competition and increases biodiversity. Here, using the United Nations COMTRADE database for years 1962 - 2009, we show that a similar ecological analysis gives a valuable description of the world trade. In fact the countries and trade products are analogous to plants and pollinators, and the whole trade network is characterized by a low nestedness temperature which is typical for the ecological networks. This approach provides new mutualistic features of the world trade highlighting new significance of countries and trade products for the world trade.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures (6 extra figures in Supporting Information

Resensi Buku Kecerdasan Ruhaniyah (Transcendental Intelligence)

Untuk· kebangkitan kembaljIndonesia secara terhormat di panggungsejarah dunia, bangsa ini perlu Merendakembali pendidikan, wiraswasta, hukum,dan peningkatan pelayanan dan mutukesehatan bagi siapa saja yangmemerlukan. Hal ini sejalan denganamanat Proklamasi dan Pembukaan UUD1945 yang antara lain menekankan: ". . .untuk membentuk.suatu pemerintah negaraIndonesia yang melindungi segenap bangsaIndonesia dan seluruh tumpah darahIndonesia dan untuk memajukankesejahteraan umUffi., mencerdaskankehidupan bangsa, dan ikut melaksanakan .ketertiban dunia yang berdasarkankemerdekaan, perdamaian abadi dankeadilan sosial."Setelah lans beredar QuantumLearning dan Revolusi Be/ajar diIndonesia, upaya Toto Tasmara denganbukunya Kecerdasan Rul7aniah(Transcendental Intelligence) me-mpakansuatu terobosan untuk mengikis dominasi.·pemikiran Bamt dalam bidang pendidikan.Apalagi pendidikan Barat sarna 'sekalimenegasikan peranan wahyu, pendidikanyang bennakna hams memadukan perananwahyu dan ilmu sebagai teras utarna aktivitasnya. Penekanan ilm~ ~um, danmengabaikan agama, dapat melahirkansikap nyleneh. Salah satu contohnyadilakukan gadis cerdas dengan IQ 170.Dialah Melissa, gadis cantik dan berbakat.Dia telah pandai menulis serta membacasejak berusia 18 bulan. Sayangnya bakatalami ini membuahkan malapetaka karenaMelissa dididik tanpa mengenal sentuhanagama yang bennakna.Dalam usia 14 tahun dia masukHarlow College, dan ketika berusia I7 tahundia telah belajar di Oxford College. Dilembaga bergengsi ini Melissa belajarekonomi, filsafat serta politik. Semuakejayaan ini diperolehnya karena mudahnyadia mendapatkan niJai A. Ibu.nya, Jane, dannenek Melissa sendiri sangat mernbantunya,walaupun dia termasuk kuper, kurangpergaulan, dan kurang aktif berolah ragaserta hal-hal sejenis l~innya. Melissa benarbenarhidup terasing dari masyarakatsekitarnya. Dia asyik belajar

The diffusion of IP telephony and vendors' commercialisation strategies

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in the Journal of Information Technology. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available at the link below.The Internet telephony (IP telephony) has been presented as a technology that can replace existing fixed-line services and disrupt the telecommunications industry by offering new low-priced services. This study investigates the diffusion of IP telephony in Denmark by focusing on vendors’ commercialisation strategies. The theory of disruptive innovation is introduced to investigate vendors’ perceptions about IP telephony and explore their strategies that affect the diffusion process in the residential market. The analysis is based on interview data collected from the key market players. The study's findings suggest that IP telephony is treated as a sustaining innovation that goes beyond the typical voice transmission and enables provision of advanced services such as video telephony

Cumbria Economic Bulletin - March 2010

The Bulletin is jointly produced by the Centre for Regional Economic Development (CRED), at the University of Cumbria in Carlisle, and the Cumbria Intelligence Observatory (CIO). The aim of the Cumbria Intelligence Observatory (CIO) is to bring together existing research and analysis resources throughout Cumbria, working jointly with partners to provide information and intelligence for Cumbria. The Bulletin is intended to contain data relevant to the County for the benefit of a broad readership, but especially for policy makers, industrialists and academics

MORPH: A Reference Architecture for Configuration and Behaviour Self-Adaptation

An architectural approach to self-adaptive systems involves runtime change of system configuration (i.e., the system's components, their bindings and operational parameters) and behaviour update (i.e., component orchestration). Thus, dynamic reconfiguration and discrete event control theory are at the heart of architectural adaptation. Although controlling configuration and behaviour at runtime has been discussed and applied to architectural adaptation, architectures for self-adaptive systems often compound these two aspects reducing the potential for adaptability. In this paper we propose a reference architecture that allows for coordinated yet transparent and independent adaptation of system configuration and behaviour