HTC Holding October 6th Party In London, New Devices Prepared?

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Just like on October 7, 2010, HTC is holding a press conference followed by a party this year too, on October 6 this time, 2011, in London. What exactly will be revealed is a mystery at the moment but today's HTC event may shed some light on what to expect.

We've seen leaks of the HTC Bass/Runnymede, HTC Rhyme/Bliss and the HTC Vigor. The event could show off any of these devices in their European/Worldwide iteration or could be anything else (like the rumored HTC Beat media player we've seen the other day). With the Radar and Titan already out of the way, it's almost certain that we're expecting Android phone(s) made in Taiwan.

Source: Slashgear
Via: PhoneArena

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"Impostor" Service Dogs - Is Your Business Prepared?

I am an international access consultant and disability advocate. For the past ten years, since first becoming partnered with my own service dog, I have fought for the rights of service dog handlers who experienced illegal access denial (the illegal refusal of an establishment to grant entry to a partnered team).

The common denominator in all access denials is lack of education. Unfortunately, many businesses do not make it a priority to educate their employees in disability rights and sensitivity training; and as a result, suffer very costly lessons for their oversight. An employee's ignorance of access rights does not excuse the denial of those rights, and will not prevent incurring the stiff penalty that violating them carries.

Access denial is a huge, widespread problem throughout the service dog community, and not surprisingly, handlers with invisible disabilities have the most issues with access denial. However, just because you can't see someone's disability, doesn't mean that they don't suffer from it; and all the challenges that it presents. Persons with invisible disabilities cannot be denied the same rights as someone with visible disabilities; education and sensitivity training are key to the prevention of this type of disability discrimination.

For ten years I've been advocating for handlers' rights, mediating in pre-court cases, and educating businesses about disabilities and their rights and responsibilities towards their disabled clientele. I've worked tirelessly to preserve the rights of service dog handlers everywhere, and to promote the wonderful benefits that service dogs provide for their partners with disabilities in order to help foster a more compassionate and accepting attitude towards these incredible canines. My work has opened many doors previously closed to service dog teams, and I am fully committed to opening many more.

Recently, I've gained a new and unexpected clientele-business owners who believe that their establishment had been visited by (and in many cases, damaged by) "impostor" service dogs.

"Impostor" or "fake" service dogs are a growing problem throughout America. This is the canine version of illegally parking in a handicapped parking space. Many people have forgone any type of morality and have obtained vests and attached patches to illegally gain entry to public places with their pet dogs.

As unbelievable as it sounds, some offenders believe that their dog should be allowed to go with them everywhere and can't see the harm in passing off just one dog, others know it is illegal, but do it anyway because they lack any sense of wrongdoing; and still others believe that they are truly justified because they have an emotional disorder and having their pet dog with them eases their symptoms. Many of the latter have notes written by their doctors testifying to the fact that their dog helps to ease symptoms of emotional disorders; and so, they feel fully justified in having their dog in a public place, claiming it to be a service dog.

No matter what the reason, the simple fact of the matter is this: passing off any dog that is not specifically trained as per the Americans with Disability Act, state, and local laws is illegal (a federal offense) and carries federal penalties.

In the case of the emotional support dog, these dogs (while serving a great and positive purpose); are not service dogs. Many people have taken the ADA's version of the law and twisted it to fit their own situation---but they've missed a very important fact: In order to meet the legal requirements needed to earn the title of service dog, the dog must be individually trained as a service dog, and the dog must be specifically trained to do tasks. If a dog does nothing more than accompany a person into an establishment to "keep them focused" or "ease anxiety", they are not in compliance with federal law that specifically requires task training.

It costs $15,000-$20,000.00 to train a service dog. The high cost reflects intensive and high level training that takes hundreds of hours that ensure the dog to be obedient and able to perform its job in a variety of situations. Pet dogs are simply not equipped to deal with many unforeseen public distractions that service dogs have been carefully and meticulously prepared for. Owner-trained service dogs who have not met the same training standards are ill-equipped to deal with such stressors, and oftentimes, their handlers have not been educated in all of the laws and responsibilities that they are required to adhere to. This combination is an accident waiting to happen.

It is infuriating that while most service dog handlers invest the large cost and countless hours to properly train their service dogs, a growing number of impostors are simply mail ordering vests, slapping on patches and claiming their pet dog to be a service dog-then having the audacity to dare anyone to confront them on it; claiming protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the very law that they themselves are in violation of.

In the past week, several "faux" handlers, claiming to have had their "rights" violated by a business or establishment, have contacted me for access representation. Upon closer inspection in each of these cases, the dog in question damaged property (one bit several people), created a disturbance, or defecated and was asked by management to leave. None of these dogs had task training, and none had any formal training of any kind on record. These were pet dogs whose owners decided one day that now they were going to be service dogs, got a little note from their doctor (who is not versed in service dog law), and illegally sited the ADA as protection from eviction from a public place-and then contacted me to advocate for them! Guess what? Doesn't work that way.

Congress is fully aware and outraged at such behavior and is currently working on a bill that tightens the ADA's definition of a service dog and increases the severity of penalties in response to this growing, and potentially dangerous problem.

Pet dogs that have not received the proper socialization, high-level obedience, distraction and task training are apt to misbehave or even bite in high stress environments. Their ill behavior gives real service dogs a bad rap, and service dog handlers are having even more difficulties with access. In addition, business owners who have had experiences with "impostor" service dogs are less than jubilant to see a real service dog come into their establishment, and the business-client relationship is strained.

This is not an article that I could ever have imagined myself writing. I am a staunch advocate for service dog handlers; and have a reputation for my successful access award cases. To imagine myself on the "other side" representing Corporate America against a handler simply boggles my mind---but then, I could never have imagined that people could be so untruthful and so morally corrupt as to take advantage of a law that protects the rights of people with disabilities.

To think that many people are "cheating," by passing off untrained (or barely trained) pets as service dogs when so many handlers are spending incredible amounts of money and taking the time to properly train their service dog to the level of a highly-obedient and task-trained canine, is infuriating. The immorality of this issue propels me to set out on a new mission to right a tremendous wrong that is being played out against real service dog handlers throughout this country; ones who have taken the time and expense to abide by the law and painstakingly trained their dogs (and themselves) to the letter of the law.

For business owners who feel you may have been invaded by an "impostor" service dog, feel free to contact me for consultation and rectification in this matter. You are not expected or required to sit idly by while an untrained and illegal impostor causes your business damage or threatens the smooth running of your establishment.

There are legal steps that can be taken to stop these impostors in their tracks, and assistance in helping you to recoup damages. Current law provides for stiff federal penalties-even for first time offenders; and I'll be more than happy to assist bringing each one to justice on behalf of service dog teams everywhere.

If you are in doubt as to whether a dog is a real service dog, you may legally ask the following:

1. Do you have a documented disability? (Note: you may not ask what the disability is)

2. Is that a trained service dog? If the answer is yes, and you still doubt the validity of the team; you may ask what the dog specifically does for the person with disabilities.

Any properly trained team has been fully versed in the law, knows their rights and responsibilities and will have no issue answering such questions. Alternatively, if a person balks at answering these questions, or becomes unreasonably defensive; you may be dealing with an impostor. You may want to consider phoning the police to intervene.

If the dog enters your establishment and exhibits any type of behavior not expected of a service dog (urinating/defecating, damaging goods, sniffing/bothering other customers, barking, growling, snapping, etc...) you are well within your rights to ask them to leave. If the dog or its equipment is not clean (visibly dirty or emits an unpleasant odor), you are within your rights to ask them to leave. If the handler gives you any trouble; call the state police barracks nearest your location (state patrolmen are trained in the ADA whereas most local policemen are not).

For illegal handlers with "impostor" or "non-task trained" dogs; beware---Uncle Sam, the entire service dog community, and myself are onto you, and we're cracking down.

--Kimberly Carnevale
Canine and Abled, Inc.

About the author: Kimberly Carnevale is an author, disability advocate, and motivational speaker. She is the President and founder of Canine and Abled, Inc. (the award-winning program featured on TV, magazines and her first book). She is invited to speak nationally on service dog law, business service dog education (including policy and procedure revision/implementation), and corporate motivation.

Kimberly presents her award winning educational and character-building assembly to schools, scout troops and other youth organizations throughout the country, and has been published numerous times nationally and internationally as an expert in her field.

Ms. Carnevale is available to advocate for the rights of service dog handlers (who fully meet the requirements of " disabled" and "service dog" as per the ADA), and to businesses who feel they have encountered "impostor" service dogs in their establishment.

Kimberly also consults in service dog training/acquisition and plans to build a training/provision center in the near future. She can be reached through her organization's website: http://www.canineandabled.com

Copyright 2008 by Kimberly Carnevale and Sarah Lynn Communications, L.L.C. All Rights Reserved

About the author: Kimberly is first and foremost a proud, single Mom to four-year-old, Sarah. She is a successful author and motivational speaker. In 1999, Kimberly founded Canine and Abled, Inc., an award-winning program that advocates for service dog handlers and educates about the benefits of service dogs. Her first book, "Canine and Abled, Taking The Dis Out of Disabled" was published in 2004 and details Kimberly's former career as an Olympic hopeful to the founding of the much acclaimed educational program. To contact: http://www.KimberlyCarnevale.com

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Are You Prepared For Your Business?

While you can never have 100% of the details and permutations worked out ahead of time you can have a framework available for dealing with crisis events, a plan for the essential business functions, and contractual arrangements in place for critical requirements for your business, at the very least.

When most people think of Business Continuity Planning1, they consider that if their Information Technology Department has a plan for disaster recovery then they have addressed business continuity. While for many businesses these days IT plays an essential role in supporting the business, your business' actual requirements for continuity are usually much more than just IT.

The recent events in April and May 2010 in Bangkok meant that many businesses, their staff, their customers and the general public experienced disruptions which many had not experienced before.

In reality, only certain physical locations of Bangkok were directly affected, while the vast majority of people in the rest of Bangkok and the country tried to continue with their lives and businesses. However, many found that as Silom and Sathorn were directly affected some businesses in those areas virtually shut down for a 2-3 week period, with some for longer than this. As the business district, the affects of the disruption on these businesses were felt much wider.

For example, one of the smaller retail bank's head office is in the one of the areas most affected by the events of April/May and for security reasons the physical access to the building was very restricted. This meant that their staff could not get access to their office and documents. While the bank's branch IT systems were operating, some business functions such as loans were adversely affected. I am aware of a couple who had to put their house sale on hold for 2 weeks as the loan officer of this retail bank could not get access to the loan documentation he needed in the head office. The purchaser and the purchaser's bank were not affected and were ready to go ahead with the sale and purchase. The delay ended up costing the couple 2 weeks extra in interest because the bank could not complete the transaction on time. The couple is bitter about this bank's lack of business continuity planning regarding access to the head office and the bank's total disregard of the couple's position by charging them interest on the loan for that period, while clearly it was the bank at fault.

So in this example, the bank's IT systems were not affected but the inability to gain physical access to the office and a hard copy of documents meant that certain business functions could not continue. When you undertake a business continuity planning project, the business needs to identify the essential business functions and the period of time before a disruption has a detrimental affect on the business. Usually this high level discussion takes place with the stakeholders and senior executives, who are more aware of the impact of certain consequences, such bad publicity, public embarrassment, lack of communication or no clear communication, legal or regulatory compliance default, etc. Generally these consequences are sometimes hard to quantify into monetary terms but can have a greater effect on the business and its reputation.

In my experience, businesses do not clearly identify their essential business functions, then walkthrough these functions to determine what the requirements to support them are. This is mainly because this takes time and requires very busy senior executives to be involved in the discussions and decision making process. Many businesses are looking for a quick fix to their business continuity issues. The more diverse your business or complex your functions interactions with other parties (i.e. internal and external to the organisation), the more time the business should spent contemplating the business impact analysis2 (BIA) before putting a plan in place.

A number of people have suggested a business continuity plan is like insurance. If you have it, it gives you peace of mind. But you do not really need to use it until you have a crisis and by then it is too late. And if you need to use the plan, it better be up to date and achieve what you want, otherwise it will give you false hope.

I have seen businesses copy another business continuity plan and basically only change the cover, or buy a software application tool which takes a couple hours to produce a business continuity plan. In both of these cases, the plan did not bear close scrutiny from an experienced business continuity professional but were superficial in appearance to get a "tick" from the auditors. However, generally the auditors these days will also ask, "when was the last time you properly tested your business continuity plan?" But the key point is the plan would not have achieved what the business required in a crisis and the impact to the business would not have been minimised.

So a few of my suggestions are:

- to make sure you have a business continuity plan which has been based on a recent business impact analysis

- to check when the last time your business continuity plan was updated. Most plans need some revision each year and should take into account any significant changes in the business, organisational structure, systems, customer services, etc

- to ensure that you have a copy of the business continuity plan in an offsite location should you be unable to enter your primary office location

- to ask when was the last time the business continuity plan or parts of it, such as the disaster recovery plan (DRP3), tested. There should be testing performed at least each year as this helps

familiarise your staff with what is needed to be done and what to expect, and generally also identifies changes that need to be made to the plan which tend to go otherwise unnoticed

- to check whether your plan is comprehensive enough. Most business continuity plans are made up of several plans or sections. For example, you will usually have a plan for crisis management, and health and safety, i.e. dealing with an event, how to assess the crisis, who should be involved, and how to make sure everyone is accounted for and safe. Out of a crisis assessment, it may be decided to invoke the business continuity plan, such as moving to an alterative business location. - An example of this, was that one of my clients had a call centre in a building. An office two floors above had a fire and everyone was evacuated from the building. An immediate crisis assessment determined that it was going to take most of the day for the fire department to extinguish the fire and declare the building safe to reoccupy. Also given the location of the fire, the fire department mentioned potential water damage to the offices of floors directly below. So they determined very quickly to invoke their business continuity plan which included rerouting incoming customer calls to the alternative switch board and sending essential staff to the alternative office location. All other staff were asked to go home and work from home, if required. All key performance indicators (KPIs) for the business were still met. Fortunately the water damage was not that extensive and they were back in the primary location by the end of the following day.

- if you really want peace of mind, then you should ask an experienced business continuity professional to review your business and business continuity plan. It generally takes a third party who is experienced enough to ask the key questions and identify the shortfalls in your plan.

Are you feeling confident that you are prepared? Or should you take some action to prepare before a crisis event?

Legend

1. Business continuity plan or BCP is usually a set of plans which as a minimum address the business requirements for essential business functions in a crisis or disaster situation and the recovery of the functions back to business as usual. The objective being that if the business continues to operate its essential business functions for a definite period under a BCP the impact on the business is minimised and any effects will be tolerable.

2. Business impact analysis (BIA) or sometimes referred to as a business impact assessment, is the exercise of determining how much "pain" or adverse impact can the business sustain and for what period of time; what are the essential business functions; what are the requirements of the essential business functions to keep operating; and when does the business need to be back to operating as business as usual.

3. Disaster recovery plan or DRP is usually a term used for the plan for dealing with a disaster and recovery of IT systems and services. The plan is usually very comprehensive, such as addressing the method of backup and the offsite storage of backup electronic files; storage of key hard copy documents; the recovery of operating systems and supporting software, application software, and data; and covering contractual arrangements, hardware, network and communications, people, support services and secondary operating site (if applicable).

RSM Thailand
http://www.rsmthailand.com/publications/

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