Obama, seeing hope in Ohio, shifts schedule there (AP)

AP - So much for the full-on 50-state strategy. Call Barack Obama's implementation of national Democrats' coast-to-coast plan "Fifty-State Lite."

Six Sigma is a quality management methodology that follows a data driven approach for reducing waste and improving overall quality of goods manufactured or services rendered. It makes use of statistical tools and techniques that help in identifying exactly what the customer needs and designing sustainable methods to meet those requirements. By implementing Six Sigma, any organization can hope to increase efficiency, increase productivity, and reduce manufacturing costs. By employing statistical methods, companies can look forward to create a near perfect situation wherein the number of defects is reduced to less than 3.4 per million opportunities that exists for such defects to occur. Companies the world over have implemented Six Sigma in their business processes, which has helped them in attaining optimum competence and saving millions of dollars through phenomenal reduction in the amount of waste.

Why Online Training

The success of Six Sigma initiatives depends on a number of factors, one of which is the training imparted to owners and employees. Training is necessary as it allows organizational members to understand the various concepts and implement them in a proper manner. Due to hectic schedules, companies often decide to provide online training, making it easier for employees to select an appropriate time for training based on their work schedule.

Benefits Of Online Training

Employees often find it difficult to manage work schedules and training at the same time. Online training allows them to give priority to their current work obligations and receive training in their free time. Online training helps in better absorption as employees can decide on the number of topics to be covered in a day. Employees can receive online training in the comfort of their homes, which eliminates traveling expenses and time lost while traveling. Online training allows employees to view the entire course list on the screen from where they can select any topic they want to learn. Based on their knowledge, they can skip through topics that they are already aware of and continue with the rest of the topics. This helps them to devote more time to topics that are difficult to understand.

Online training courses offer practical tips related to work issues, which employees can use for learning the practical use of Six Sigma concepts and techniques. Employees can give online tests after completing a topic for assessing their learning quotient. Test results are displayed at the click of a button, allowing employees the freedom to move on to the next topic or study the same topic again if results are unsatisfactory. Employees can take part in online discussions, which allows them to gain different perspectives towards a common problem. Online training is imparted through interactive sessions, which may include audio/video clips, multi-media slide shows, online simulations, quizzes, and tests.

Classification Of Online Training Courses

Online Six Sigma training courses can be broadly classified into four different categories; namely, courses for functional managers, for quality control managers, for senior management, and for business associates. Each training course is designed to meet the specific learning requirements of individuals who work in different positions within an organization. Online courses can also be classified based on the level of training, which may be for Six Sigma Green Belt, Six Sigma Black Belt, or Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Companies can choose any of these levels for its employees depending on organizational requirements.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions - Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Ritchie rocks again with crime romp `RocknRolla' (AP)

AP - Crime just never stops paying for Guy Ritchie.

Many people are attracted to the idea of running an internet business. Start up costs are very low, and almost anybody who can send an email and edit a simple document can get started! And we do hear about big winners, those who get to give up their commutes and bosses, and who get to enjoy running their own business.But the sad truth is that most of the people who attempt to prosper online do not make it that far. I have my own experiences and opinions about why this is so, but lets explore the current state of the internet.

I have been working on the net for about eight years, and I have to admit that the competition is stronger then ever. I base most of my business upon getting good search engine rankings on competitive and profitable search terms. It certainly takes more research to find gems that are not saturated with thousands of other websites. However, those gems still do exist. And just because a lot of other websites are competing for a search term does not mean that those websites are well optimized, and that I still cannot get my page listed far up in the results of the major search engines.

And now, to make up for the increased number of websites that are competing for surfers on the net, there are also a lot more surfers! Almost everybody, from kids to senior citizens, knows how to surf the net. This was not the case at the beginning of the decade when the internet was much less user friendly and reliable, and access was certainly a lot slower!

So many great tools have been published so that a novice can have a pretty good website running in a few minutes, even though I believe that becoming a great webmaster takes years of testing and experience. And just as it does not take any special high tech skills to build a website these days, it also does not take a bundle of money. In fact, the most popular blogging platforms, are free!

It is also easy for webmasters to find website sponsors, Affiliate programs usually have few requirements beyond a website and a quick registration. Thousands of affiliate programs cover almost every topic one could imagine. And all it takes to start making money is signing up and dropping a snip of code on a website!

So this brings us back to the first question. Why do so many internet marketers fail? I lay some of the blame on the hundreds of ebooks and so-called home business opportunities with names like Internet ATM or Easy Web Profits. While I love working online because it lets me run my own show, succeed according to my efforts, and express my creative side, the last thing I would call this business is easy.

I get to choose the projects I will work on, but I always research them before I start. Even so, I have to cut some very interesting websites loose because they did not return the results that I needed in order to keep the lights on around here. But I always have several projects in the works, and I can concentrate on the 30% of my websites that make me a good return. So, what I am saying here, is that I fail about 70% of the time.

I also expect to put in a full day of work. I do not expect to put up a website and have it magically make money. I spend my time promoting my websites, testing my pages, and then tweaking my results until my efforts either bear fruit or I decide to put them on the shelf for that some day when I have more time. I know lots of other internet marketers too, and the ones that really make their living on the net always laugh at the idea that this job does not require any work.

Visit Affiliate Underdog so you can learn to Make Money Online.

http://www.affiliate-underdog.com/affiliate-help