Pigeons fly cell phones into Brazilian prison

Pigeons fly cell phones into Brazilian prison

Yes, you're reading right. Brazilian prisoners are a smart lot, perhaps even more ingenious than their American counter parts.
The following article was translated from the web site http://oglobo.globo.com/sp/mat/2009/04/01/policia-de-sp-investiga-quem-treinou-pombos-correio-para-levar-celular-presidios-755083621.asp
and is an example of the creativity of the people of Brazil.
The Portuguese text is in blue, and the English text appears immediately below.

Polícia de SP investiga quem treinou pombos-correio para levar celular a presídios
São Paulo Police investigate who trained homing pegions to carry cell phones into a military prison.
Publicada em 01/04/2009 às 07h01m
Published on the 1st Of April 2009 at 7:01 am
Fabiano Nunes, Diário de S.Paulo
By Fabiano Nunes, the São Paulo Diary
SÃO PAULO - A Polícia Civil de Sorocaba, a 99 quilômetros de São Paulo, vai investigar quem treinou pombos para levar objetos aos presos da Penitenciária Dr. Danilo Pinheiro, no bairro Jardim Paraná. Na semana passada, duas aves foram capturadas no local carregando partes desmontadas de um celular e um carregador de bateria. A polícia acha que pode ter sido os próprios presos, que treinaram pombos comuns.
SÃO PAULO - The Civil Police of Sorcaba, 99 kilometers from São Paulo, are going to investigate who trained pigeons to carry objects to prisoners of the Dr. Danilo Pinheiro penitentiary, in the sub-urb of Jardim Paraná. Last week, two birds were captured in the locale carrying disassembled parts of a cell phone and a battery charger. The Police think that it could be the prisoners themselves that trained common pigeons.

- Vamos rastrear as ligações para identificar quem fez isso - disse o delegado Celso Soramiglio, do 1 DP de Sorocaba, onde o caso foi registrado.
"We will follow the links to identify who did that," said Senior Police Officer Celso Soramiglio, of 1 DP of Sorocaba, where the event occurred.

Os pombos-correio não viajam para qualquer endereço. Eles sempre seguem o mesmo caminho aprendido: vão do local onde nasceram até onde foram treinados.
The homing pigeons don't just go any where. They always follow the same path that they are taught: they go from the locale that they are release to where they were trained.
(Article continues below.....)

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(....continuation of article)
- Os pombos comuns podem até fazer um serviço de pombo-correio, mas eles vão percorrer uma pequena distância, entre três e quatro quilômetros - explica José Manoel Quintal, criador de pombos-correio.
"The common pigeons can also provide the same service as a homing pigeon, but they will cover a shorter distance, between three and four kilometers," explains José Quintal, a breeder of homing pigeons.

Por isso, a polícia desconfia que os presos usaram pombos que fazem ninhos dentro do presídio para ensiná-los a transportar cargas.
Thus the Police suspect that the prisoners used pigeons that make their nests within the prison grounds to train to transport packages.

- Alguém pode ter saído com a pomba de dentro do presídio e depois colocado o celular para que ela retornasse - afirmou o delegado.
"Someone my have left with a pigeon from inside the prison grounds and afterwards tied a cell phone to it for it to return with," confirmed the senior Police Officer.

O primeiro pombo foi localizado por um agente penitenciário, no dia 25. Ele viu a ave cair em uma residência, na Rua Manoel Monteiro, atrás do presídio. Nela, estava amarrado um saquinho preto com peças de um celular desmontado.
The first pigeon was noticed by an agent of the penitentiary on the 25th(of March of 2009). He saw the bird fall into a residence on Manoel Monteiro Road, behind the prison. To it had been tied a small black bag with pieces of an unassembled cell phone.

- Estava assistindo televisão e dois agentes penitenciários pediram para recolher uma pomba que estava no quintal da minha casa - surpreendeu-se a dona-de-casa, de 31 anos, que não quis se identificar. Segundo ela, os agentes pensavam que o pombo estava sendo usado para transportar drogas.
"I was watching television when two agents of the penitentiary asked to pick up a pigeon that was in the backyard of my house,"surprising the house wife of 31 years who did not want to be identified. According to her, the agents thought that the pigeon was being used to carry drugs.

- Depois viram que dentro do saquinho havia peças de um celular. O pombo não conseguia mais voar por causa do peso - contou.
"They later saw that inside the bag there were parts of a cell phone. The pigeon was unable to fly further because of the weight of the bag," she narrated.

No dia seguinte, outro pombo foi localizado sobrevoando a região. Os agentes, então, fizeram uma armadilha com alimento e conseguiram capturá-lo. A ave transportava um carregador de bateria. As peças foram encaminhadas para perícia no Instituto de Criminalística (IC) de Sorocaba.
The following day, another dove was noticed flying in the region. The agents then set up a trap with food and were able to capture it. The bird was carrying a battery charger. The parts were then taken for reporting purposes to the Institute of Criminal Methods studies of Sorocaba.

Esta não é a primeira vez que um caso desses é registrado nas penitenciárias de São Paulo. Em junho do ano passado, uma mulher foi flagrada com dois pombos dentro de uma caixa, ao sair da Penitenciária de Marília, a 444 quilômetros da capital. As aves carregavam sacos amarrados nas penas, que serviriam para transportar drogas e peças de celular.
This is not the first time that a case of this type has been registered at the penitentiaries of São Paulo. In June last year, on leaving Marília Penitentiary, 444 kilometers from the capital, a woman was caught red handed with two pigeons inside a box.

O criador de pombos-correio acredita que os presos podem ter criado os pombos comuns para fazer esse papel. O pombo-correio sempre volta para seu ninho de origem ou onde ele foi criado desde filhote.
The breeder of homing pigeons believes that the prisoners could have bred common pigeons to do this work. A homing pigeon always returns to its nest of origin or to where it has been bred since being a chick.

Ele explica que uma ave comum pode até fazer o serviço de pombo-correio, mas está muito distante da eficiência e qualidade da que foi treinada.
He explains that the common bird could do the same thing as a homing pigeon, but is no where near as efficient nor is the work as good in quality as one which has been trained.

Quintal conta que "Um pombo-correio pode voar até mil quilômetros em um dia, numa velocidade de 100 km/h", diz o criador. Durante competições ele chegou a enviar um pombo-correio de Brasília (DF) até São Paulo. "Em linha reta dá uma distância de 890 quilômetros. O pombo-correio saiu de lá às 6h e chegou em São Paulo por volta das 18h30", disse o criador, que tem 100 pombos no quintal de sua casa, na Vila Madalena, Zona Oeste de São Paulo. Segundo o criador, seus pombos são usados para entregar bilhetes para namorados. "A maioria é usada para competição", diz.
Quintal says that, "A homing pigeon can fly even 1000 kilometers in a day, at a velocity of 100 kilometers per hours". In competitions he has sent homing pigeons from Brasilia(in the Federal District) up to São Paulo. "In a straight line it's a distance of about 890 kilometers. The homing pigeon left there at 6:00am and arrived in São Paulo at around 6:30pm," says the breeder, who has 100 pigeons in the backyard of his house, in Vila Madalena, the South East Zone of São Paulo. According to the breeder, his pigeons are used to deliver love notes to people dating."Most are used for competition," he says.

Os pombos-correio surgiram de cruzamentos entre raças belgas e inglesas, na segunda metade do século 19, segundo a Federação Paulista de Columbofilia. No início, os pombos era usados para transportar mensagens de natureza militar, administrativa ou comercial.
Homing pigeons came about as the result of breeding Belgian and English breeds in the second half of the 19th century, according to Federação Paulista of Columbofília. In the beginning, the doves were used to transport messages for military, administrative or commercial purposes.

(End of translation)
You can reach me at translate_brazilian_portuguese_to_english@hotmail.com.

Wal-Mart In Brazil

Wal-Mart In Brazil

Yes, you're reading right. Wal-Mart does have a presence in Brazil. In this article, taken from the April 1st 2009 edition of Economia, at the site http://www.diariodepernambuco.com.br/2009/04/01/economia4_0.asp, we see some of Wal-Mart's expansion plans in Brazil.

For the sake of those who are new to this series of blogs, an introduction to the purpose of these series of blogs is given in small print below. If you are a returning visitor, you can skip the small print below and jump to the main article.

Introduction-The American way of life in Brazil
Other than the world's fascination with Brazilian soccer players, Brazil is assumed to by most people to be an underdeveloped 3rd world country. In truth Brazil is South America's largest economy, having advanced industries, and is now considered an emerging economy rivaling China, India and Russia. Not only that, the Brazilian lifestyle has been, unbeknown to most people, a typical western, if not American, in flavor, as we will see.

Brazilians love watching imported television shows and movies translated to their official language, Brazilian Portuguese. Imported television shows have had a significant influence on Brazilian culture. The influence of American TV in Brazil has resulted in Brazilians participating in culture that is considered predominantly American. For example, Brazilian children now participate in Haloween on the same day it is held in the USA. Brazilians also love their Internet. For example, Orkut, a social networking website initially targeting the American audience, now derives over 70% of its traffic from Brazil. All major search engines and social networking groups, including Google, Yahoo, MSN, Youtube, Myspace and Facebook have a presence in Brazil. Instead of using dot com, a sites in Brazil often use a dot com dot br configuration, for example www.google.com.br. Often, instead of using www as a prefix, sites in Brazil will use br, for example, br.myspace.com rather than www.myspace.com.

In these series of blogs, we will try to bring out the Americanisms of life in Brazil. We will translate articles touching the everyday lives of Brazilians and see the similarities to their American counterparts and the common problems they share: buying a car, buying a house, choosing a good school, getting loans for education(get student loan), having to get a bank student loan consolidation, buying life insurance(get cheap life assurance quote online, just like Americans), get auto insurance online, dealing with remortgage problems such as shopping for good rates, getting loans to refinance the home(refinance a home equity loan), difficulties in acknowledging mesothelioma(Brazil is one of the world's largest producers of absestos, and acknowledging that a miner is a potential mesothelioma patient is opposed actively by many trade unions), etc. In short, these series of blogs will try to bring out the American way of life in Brazil that that is not documented well by the main stream media.

The Portuguese text is printed in blue, and the English translation of a phrase appears directly below.

Varejo: Wal-Mart investirá R$ 1,6 bilhão no país
Retail: Wal-Mart will invest R$ 1.6 billion in the country

A crise financeira internacional não afetou, pelo menos até agora, o setor varejista. É o que garante o presidente do Wal-Mart Brasil, Hector Nuñes. "Este ano investiremos R$ 1,6 bilhão no país, sendo R$ 450 milhões no Nordeste. Os investimentos no Brasil independem da crise global. Nossa estada no Brasil é de longo prazo", afirma Nuñes. Segundo ele, a empresa manterá o planejamento feito em agosto de 2008, antes do estouro da crise mundial.
The international financial crisis has not affected, at least until now, the retail sector. It is what the president of Wal-Mart in Brazil, Hector Nuñes, is saying. "This year we will invest R$ 1.6 billion in the country, of which 450 million will be invested in the North East. The investment in Brazil is independent of the global crisis. Our presence in Brazil is long term," Nuñes declared. According to him, the company will stick to the plans in made in August 2008, before the onset of the world crisis.

"A crise não chegou ao nosso setor e também não chegou ao Brasil. O que existe é um período de turbulência e incertezas, mas, comparando com outros países, o Brasil está muito melhor e ainda vai crescer este ano. Me mostre um país emergente ou não que vai crescer este ano?", questionou o presidente do grupo no país.
"The crisis did not affect our sector, nor did it hit Brazil. What there is is a period of turbulence and uncertainty, but, compared to other countries, Brazil's retail sector is much better off and will even grow this year. "

Para ele, o crescimento do PIB esperado para 2009, entre 1,5% e 2%, já aconteceu em outras épocas e o país não estava em crise. "Trabalhamos com um modelo de preços baixos, que favorece a atuação em tempos de turbulência", diz.
For him, the growth of the GDP expected for 2009, between 1.5% and 2% has already happened in the past and the country is not in crisis. "We will work with the model of low prices, that propulsion of business in times of turbulence favors."

Segundo Hector Nuñes, o Wal-Martfaturou US$ 400 bilhões nos Estados Unidos em 2008, 6% a mais que no ano anterior, enquanto no Brasil o crescimento foi de 13,1%, para um faturamento de R$ 17 bilhões. A rede opera com as marcas Bompreço, Hiper Bompreço, Sam's Club, Todo Dia e Maxxi e planeja abrir 90 novas lojas este ano, 30 delas na região nordestina.
According to Hector Nuñes, Wal-Mart raked in U$ 400 billion in the United States in 2008, 6% more that the year before, while in Brazil the growth was 13.1%, for a turnover of R$17 billion. The chain operates under the brand names Bompreço, Hiper Bompreço, Sam's Club, Tod Dia and Maxxi, and plans to open 90 new stores this year, 30 of them in the North East region.

Uma destas deve ser instalada na Região Metropolitana do Recife (RMR), nos próximos três meses, com a bandeira Todo Dia, ou Maxxi, seguindo o modelo já implantado em Rio Doce, Olinda, de Centro da Comunidade (local onde são disponibilizados serviços de emissão de documentos, lan house, clínica médica, banco popular, entre outros).
One of these is likely to be put up in the Metropolitan Region of Recife(RMR) in the next three months, with the brand of either Todo Dia or Maxxi, as per the business model of Centre of the Community, already implemented in Rio Doce, Olinda ( a place where services such as obtaining documents, Internet Cafés, Medical clinics, popular banks, along with other services are offered.)

"Não podemos ainda falar sobre o local da nova loja, por questões de autorizações. O que podemos adiantar é que serão mais dois Centros da Comunidade, um no Recife e outro em Salvador", explica o superintendente Regional Rafael Vasquez.
"We cannot say anything about the location of the new store, for the reason of requiring authorization. What we can offer to say is that there will be two more Centers of the Community, one in Recife and the other in Salvador," explained the regional supritendent Rafael Vasquez.

Desde que adquiriu o Bompreço, há cinco anos, a rede incorporou algumas práticas adotadas na região. Entre elas, a adoção de uma marca popular, com preços mais baixos, inspirada no antigo Balaio - transformado em TodoDia, e que agora deve ser expandida para outros estados. O Wal-Mart também está levando o programa de fidelidade Bomclube para o Sul e o Sudeste. No Nordeste, o programa tem dois milhões de sócios e no Sul, já são 300 mil. No Brasil, a rede Wal-Mart tem 345 lojas e emprega 75 mil pessoas, em 18 estados. Na região Nordeste são 138 lojas (42 em Pernambuco) e 25 mil funcionários.
Since it acquired Bompreço five years ago, the chain has incorporated some of the practices adopted in the region. Among them is the adoption of a popular brand, with significantly lower prices, manifested in the previous Balaio - now renamed TodoDia, and that now are likely to be implemented in other states. Wal-Mart is also taking the Bomclube loyalty program to the South and the South East. In the North East, the program has two million members and in the south there are already 300 thousand. In Brazil, the Wal-Mart chain has 345 stores and employs 75 thousand people, in 18 states,. In the North East Region, there are 138 stores(42 in Pernambuco) and 25 thousand employees.

You can reach me at translate_brazilian_portuguese_to_english@hotmail.com

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Increasing Profitability And Subtle Market Research- Business Tips From Brazil

Increasing Profitability And Subtle Market Research- Business Tips From Brazil

In this blog, there are actually two business tips that are being offered. First is the ability to retain customers by offering credit through the use of a private label card, thus increasing profits. The second, is taking advantage of the customer's spending habits on this private label card to perform market research and understand the customer's habits. These customer habits, stored on an information base, can then be used in future for business planning-potential services to offer, etc, etc.

The original version in Brazilian Portuguese was written by Márcio Marcondes. His contact information is provided at the bottom of the article.

For the sake of those who are new to this series of blogs, an introduction to the purpose of these series of blogs is given in small print below. If you are a returning visitor, you can skip the small print below and jump to the main article.

Introduction-The American way of life in BrazilOther than the world's fascination with Brazilian soccer players, Brazil is assumed to by most people to be an underdeveloped 3rd world country. In truth Brazil is South America's largest economy, having advanced industries, and is now considered an emerging economy rivaling China, India and Russia. Not only that, the Brazilian lifestyle has been, unbeknown to most people, a typical western, if not American, in flavor, as we will see.Brazilians love watching imported television shows and movies translated to their official language, Brazilian Portuguese. Imported television shows have had a significant influence on Brazilian culture. The influence of American TV in Brazil has resulted in Brazilians participating in culture that is considered predominantly American. For example, Brazilian children now participate in Haloween on the same day it is held in the USA. Brazilians also love their Internet. For example, Orkut, a social networking website initially targeting the American audience, now derives over 70% of its traffic from Brazil. All major search engines and social networking groups, including Google, Yahoo, MSN, Youtube, Myspace and Facebook have a presence in Brazil. Instead of using dot com, sites in Brazil often use a dot com dot br configuration, for example http://www.google.com.br/. Often, instead of using www as a prefix, sites in Brazil will use br, for example, br.myspace.com rather than http://www.myspace.com/.In these series of blogs, we will try to bring out the Americanisms of life in Brazil. We will translate articles touching the everyday lives of Brazilians and see the similarities to their American counterparts and the common problems they share: buying a car, buying a house, choosing a good school, getting loans for education(get student loan), having to get a bank student loan consolidation, buying life insurance(get cheap life assurance quote online, just like Americans), get auto insurance online, dealing with remortgage problems such as shopping for good rates, getting loans to refinance the home(refinance a home equity loan), difficulties in acknowledging mesothelioma(Brazil is one of the world's largest producers of absestos, and acknowledging that a miner is a potential mesothelioma patient is opposed actively by many trade unions), etc. In short, these series of blogs will try to bring out the American way of life in Brazil that that is not documented well by the main stream media.

The Portuguese text is printed in blue, and the English translation of a phrase appears directly below.

AUMENTANDO A RENTABILIDADE ATRAVÉS DO MARKETING DE RELACIONAMENTO.
INCREASING PROFITABILITY THROUGH RELATIONSHIP MARKETING.
Através de ferramentas que suportam uma Estratégia de Marketing de Relacionamento, deverá ser criada uma Base de Informações Atualizada, Fidedigna e Padronizada, contendo todos os Contatos e Relacionamentos que ocorreram entre o Comércio e seus Clientes: Quem são, Quais são os Melhores, O que, Quando, Quanto e Onde Compram e Como Pagam.
Through the use of tools that support that support a strategy of Relationship Marketing, an information base that is current, accurate and standardized should be created, containing all contacts and the relationships that occur between the business and your clients: who they are, who are the best, what, when, how much and where they buy and how they pay.

Neste momento passamos a ter dados Reais, que possibilitarão identificar os Anseios, as Necessidades, os Sonhos, etc. dos nossos Melhores Clientes. Baseado no fato de que tempo é o bem mais precioso que todos têm, poderemos descobrir que em uma daquelas três vezes em que o Cliente entra no Ponto de Venda, poderia ser oferecido a ele mais que “Feijão e Arroz, Remédio ou Perfumaria, Azulejo ou Tinta, etc.”. Perceberemos que é possível atender algumas das suas Necessidades ou Sonhos, fornecendo-lhe Serviços.
At this point we start to have real data, which makes it possible to identify the anxieties, the necessities, the dreams, etc, of our best clients. Based on the the fact that time is most precious asset that everyone has, we will be able to discover in a third of the times the client enters a point of sale, the client could be offered more than just "rice and beans, medicine or perfume, ceramic or paint", etc. We will be able to recognize that it is possible to attend to some of the customers necessities or dreams, by offering them customer services.

Nossos Clientes, nossos Pontos de Venda e nossos Colaboradores, são nossos principais ativos. A fortuna ou a derrota está diretamente relacionada com a forma que cuidamos deste Patrimônio. Porém existem ações externas a nossa estrutura, que influenciam diretamente no resultado do negócio, acirrando cada vez mais a Concorrência, o que irá determinar uma redução impositiva de Rentabilidade.
Our clients, our points of sale and our collaborators are our principal activities. Fortune or defeat is directly related to the manner that we take care of these assets. However there exist external forces in our framework that directly influence the result of business, stimulating more and more competition, what is going to determine an imposed reduction of profitability.

Quando somamos: Clientes + Satisfação + Facilidades, passamos a ter um forte instrumento para viabilizar a implantação de um Programa de Relacionamento com Clientes, este Programa necessitará estar suportado por Ferramentas Informatizadas, que deverão estar disponíveis em todos os níveis de Contato e Relacionamento com os Clientes, se integrando naturalmente nas Operações de Venda ou Atendimento, Gerando e Mantendo uma Base de Dados Atualizada, Fidedigna e Padronizada.
When we sum: clients + satisfaction+ease, we start to have a powerful instrument in order to make viable the implementation of a program of relationship with clients; this program will need to be supported by informed tools, that should be available at all levels of contact and relationship with with the clients, integrating naturally with the operations of Sales and Customer Service, through creating and maintaining a base of current, accurate and standardized data.

A partir desta Base, iremos identificar, por exemplo, que um grupo muito grande de Clientes, uns cem mil, teriam uma grande chance de comprar um Seguro Perda de Renda, uma Assinatura de Revista especializada, um Curso para Formação de Enófilos, etc. que seria cobrado através de Pequenas parcelas mensais, em seu Cartão Private Label, podendo este contratar e pagar estes Serviços com muito mais conforto e comodidade, sem gastar mais seu tempo e potencializando a sua presença em nosso estabelecimento.
From this eventually created base of information, we will be able to identify, for example, that a group of a very large number of clients, some 100,000, has a high probability for making purchases of insurance for loss of income, subscription to a specialized magazine, payments for a course in wine making, etc, that will be charged through small monthly installments, on a private label card, the customers being able to contract and pay for these services with a lot more ease and comfort, without spending a lot of their time and having the potential to keep them within our establishment.

Evidentemente não iremos sair montando Seguradoras, Editoras ou Escolas, existem empresas especializadas nestes tipos de Produtos. Podemos realizar um Convênio com uma destas Empresas, terceirizando para elas o gerenciamento da oferta de seus Produtos e o Relacionamento com os Clientes, cobrando em pequeno valor por este Serviço (spread). Desta forma transformaremos Base de Dados em Receita, não necessitando vendê-la diretamente, desconfigurando o nosso objetivo, visto que não somos Empresas de Dados.
Obviously we are not going to put up insurance firms, publishing houses or schools; there are already establishments specialized in these products. We are going to have some kind of pact with these businesses, outsourcing to them the management and offer of their products and the relationship with the clients, paying a small fee for this service (spread). In this manner we will turn our information base into revenue, not requiring to sell it directly, impairing our objective, given that we are not data house businesses.

Estes oitenta centavinhos, por exemplo, a diferença entre aquilo que cobramos dos Clientes e pagamos a Empresa Conveniada, que será faturado mensalmente de cada Cliente, poderá representar uma Receita fixa mensal bastante significativa, muito importante para a Gestão e Rentabilidade do Negócio, dependerá apenas da capacidade de escala que se conseguir atingir.
These mere eighty cents, for example, the difference between what we charge the clients and what we pay on the business arrangement, that will be invoiced monthly for each client, will be able to represent a fixed monthly income that is quite significant, very important for the development of profitability for the business, and will depend only on the capacity of scaling up that you are able to achieve.

Este é só um exemplo de como criar Receitas não Operacionais em nosso Comércio, existem diversos outros, que podem ser utilizados, a partir do Momento que implantamos o Marketing de Relacionamento e conquistamos uma Base de Informações Significativa.
This is only one example of how to create non operational revenue in our business; there are several other examples that could be used, from the point in time that we implement marketing relationships and create a significant information base.

Além destas importantes receitas, quando descobrimos o que os Clientes necessitam e lhe oferecemos, através dos nossos Pontos de Venda, estamos satisfazendo-os e mostrando claramente que o Reconhecemos, que segundo pesquisas realizadas, é o que mais os Consumidores estão cobrando hoje em dia do Varejo.
Apart form this important revenue, when we discover what the clients need and offer it to them, through our points of sale, we are satisfying them and demonstrating clearly that we recognize them, that, according to surveys, is what the consumer is demanding most nowadays in retail business.

O instrumento que normalmente é utilizado para este fim é um Cartão Private Label, seu Cartão, com a sua Marca, Administrado por você, que deverá identificar seus Clientes Especiais, fornecendo-lhes Serviços, como por exemplo: um programa de Crédito pré-aprovado, uma Cobrança voltada ao Cliente especial, que nunca o achacará e sim, prestará um serviço para ajudá-lo a resolver uma situação de imprevisto, possibilitando que ele volte a ter capacidade de consumo através do Crédito que lhe fornecemos.
The instrument that is normally used to achieve this end is a private label card, your card, your brand, administered by you, for example a program of preapproved credit, special pricing offers for the client, that you never put the client down but offer a service to help the client resolve an unforeseen situation, making it possible for the client return to having the capacity to be a consumer through the credit that you offer.

Outro Serviço que poderá ser implantado em seu Cartão Private Label é um Programa de Fidelidade, estimulando-o a se identificar cada vez que realiza uma compra, um pagamento, uma reclamação, um elogio, etc.
Another program that you could implement on your private label card is a loyalty program, creating self recognition on the part of the client each time the client makes a purchase, makes a payment, files a complaint, offers a compliment, etc.

Esta é a única maneira para que seja conquistada uma Base de Dados com as características já citadas (fidedigna, atualizada e padronizada), transferindo para os Clientes a responsabilidade de mantê-la, quando ele exige que seja registrado o seu Cartão em todas as ocasiões, seja para ganhar Pontos no Programa de Fidelidade ou pagar uma compra, utilizando o Crédito que o Comerciante lhe ofereceu.
This is the only way that one will be able to create an information base with the characteristics already cited(accuracy, currency and standardization), transferring to the clients the responsibility of maintaining the information base, when the client demands to be registered into your private label card program, by using the credit that the business person offers the client.

A cada vez que ele realiza uma destas Operações, o Sistema de Gerenciamento do seu Cartão Private irá registrar em uma Base de Dados, todas as informações pertinentes. De acordo com o seu Fluxo de Cadastramento de Clientes, Vendas, etc., rapidamente teremos uma Base bastante significativa, pré-requisito para o Planejamento de novos Serviços a serem oferecidos, com a sua conseqüente venda.
Each time the customer performs any of these actions, the management system of your private label card is going to register all the pertinent information in an information base. Depending on the progress of registration of clients, sales made, etc, we will rapidly have a significant base of data, a prerequisite for the planning of new services to be offered with consequent sales.

Este não é um trabalho fácil, exige Investimentos, Planejamento, Profissionalismo e muitas vezes, meses ou anos de trabalho, até conquistar uma Base significativa de Informações. Todos estes pré-requisitos têm que ser cumprido, pois eles irão gerar Credibilidade ao seu Negócio, item importantíssimo para o sucesso do Projeto.
This is not easy work, it demands investment, planning, professionalism and, often, months or years of work, until you build up a significant information base. All the prerequisites have to be met, because they are going to generate credibility for your business, an extremely important factor for the success of the project.

Márcio Marcondes
Palestrante, Consultor e Diretor de Private Label e Fidelidade da Rentech,
(marcio.marcondes@rentech.com.br)

Márcio Marcondes,
Speaker, consultant and Director for private labeling and loyalty programs at Rentech
(marcio.marcondes@rentech.com.br)

You can reach me at translate_brazilian_portuguese_to_english@hotmail.com

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Potentially useful services
Health & Nutrition	Health Insurance
Buy/Sell property in Brazil	Certify yourself to teach English in Brazil
Web/Internet services & Computer Software

---

The definition of Credit-An intellectual discourse from Brazil.

The definition of Credit-An intellectual discourse from Brazil.
Credit is part-and-parcel of the North American society. Whether a student wants to get a school loan, or get a consolidation school loan, whether someone is shopping for secured loans, whether someone is seeking a personal home owner loan, whether someone who already has a home is looking for a home loan to remortgage, whether someone is looking for a refinance a home equity loan, whether someone is looking for a loan to finance the purchase of a vehicle, your credit history remains the most important criteria in determining whether or not your application for the loan will be successful.

In this blog we look at an intellectual's perspective of the what credit is, its history in Brazil, and the impact on the economy by the various methods of offering credit. In this period of a credit crunch not only in North America, but world wide, there may be some lessons for us.

For the sake of those who are new to this series of blogs, an introduction to the purpose of these series of blogs is given in small print below. If you are a returning visitor, you can skip the small print below and jump to the main article.

Introduction-The American way of life in Brazil
Other than the world's fascination with Brazilian soccer players, Brazil is assumed to by most people to be an underdeveloped 3rd world country. In truth Brazil is South America's largest economy, having advanced industries, and is now considered an emerging economy rivaling China, India and Russia. Not only that, the Brazilian lifestyle has been, unbeknown to most people, a typical western, if not American, in flavor, as we will see.
Brazilians love watching imported television shows and movies translated to their official language, Brazilian Portuguese. Imported television shows have had a significant influence on Brazilian culture. The influence of American TV in Brazil has resulted in Brazilians participating in culture that is considered predominantly American. For example, Brazilian children now participate in Haloween on the same day it is held in the USA. Brazilians also love their Internet. For example, Orkut, a social networking website initially targeting the American audience, now derives over 70% of its traffic from Brazil. All major search engines and social networking groups, including Google, Yahoo, MSN, Youtube, Myspace and Facebook have a presence in Brazil. Instead of using dot com, sites in Brazil often use a dot com dot br configuration, for example http://www.google.com.br/. Often, instead of using www as a prefix, sites in Brazil will use br, for example, br.myspace.com rather than http://www.myspace.com/.
In these series of blogs, we will try to bring out the Americanisms of life in Brazil. We will translate articles touching the everyday lives of Brazilians and see the similarities to their American counterparts and the common problems they share: buying a car, buying a house, choosing a good school, getting loans for education(get student loan), having to get a bank student loan consolidation, buying life insurance(get cheap life assurance quote online, just like Americans), get auto insurance online, dealing with remortgage problems such as shopping for good rates, getting loans to refinance the home(refinance a home equity loan), difficulties in acknowledging mesothelioma(Brazil is one of the world's largest producers of absestos, and acknowledging that a miner is a potential mesothelioma patient is opposed actively by many trade unions), etc. In short, these series of blogs will try to bring out the American way of life in Brazil that that is not documented well by the main stream media.

The original article below was written by Márcio Marcondes and can be found at http://www.varejista.com.br/novo_site/desc_materia.asp?id=18993,.
The Portuguese text is printed in blue, and the English translation of a phrase appears directly below.

Marcio Marcondes
by Marcio Marcondes
Inicialmente vamos analisar a origem da palavra Crédito: É derivada do latim, Creditu, que significa confiança. Agora vamos analisar a história da prática do Crédito pelo Varejo:
First we are going to analyze the origin of the word Credit: It is derived from the Latin word Creditu, which means confidence. Now let's analyze the history of the practice of retail credit.

Voltando às origens do negócio Varejo, lá nos tempos em que nem existia moeda, os negócios eram realizados na base da troca, o Escambo. Desde este tempo o Varejo já praticava o Crédito, onde após uma troca com valores reconhecidamente diferentes, sobrava um saldo para uma das partes, representando um Crédito para quem trocou possuindo a mercadoria de maior valor.
Returning to the origins of retail business, in the days in which there were no coins, business was carried out on the basis of exchange, barter trade. In this period retail already used credit, where after the exchange of goods of values recognizably different, there remained an outstanding balance on the part of one side of the trade, representing credit to the person who exchanged the goods that had the merchandise of greater value.

Após o implemento do conceito de Moeda, passou-se a praticar o Crédito através das Cadernetas, oportunidade em que o Comerciante demonstrava claramente confiança em seus fregueses, gerando um vínculo e fazendo com que sempre voltasse em sua Loja.
After the introduction of the concept on currency in the form of coins, they started to practice credit by using notebooks, an opportunity in which the business person demonstrated unreserved confidence in his clients, creating relationships and ensuring that the clients would always return to the business person's store.

Nesta época já se utilizava um conceito que só agora esta sendo aplicado: o RFV (Recência, Freqüência e Valor). A Recência era garantida pela necessidade do Pagamento, a Freqüência pela comodidade e o Valor pela satisfação gerada pelo Conhecimento que o Comerciante tinha do comportamento de compras do Cliente.
In this period they already used a concept that is only now beginning to be applied, RFV(Recency, Frequency and Value.) Recency is guaranteed by the necessity of payment, frequency by the convenience and value through the satisfaction derived through the knowledge that the business owner had of the buying habits of the client.

Nos tempos modernos, com o crescimento e importância que o negócio Varejo alcançou, foram sendo criadas novas técnicas, sendo uma delas o Crediário. Este negócio passou a ser tão importante, que alguns Comerciantes mais abastados criaram Financeiras, após ter percebido que o Crédito por si só era um grande negócio, podendo ser praticado em grandes volumes, bastando para isto ultrapassar as fronteiras da sua Loja, oferecendo os Serviços a mais e mais Comerciantes.
In modern day, with the increase of the importance that retail business has attained, new techniques have been created, one of them being sold credit. This business became so important that some of the wealthiest business people created financial institutions, after having realized that credit in itself was huge business, which could be carried in large volumes, being sufficiently large to expand the reach of their businesses, offering services to even many other business people.

Porém a adesão a este modelo ainda era modesta, pois as grandes cadeias de Lojas não o utilizavam, optando em operacionalizar o seu próprio crédito, pois isto lhes rendiam um grande volume de Receitas, além de ajudar na fidelização dos Clientes.
However, the adoption of this model was still rather modest, because the biggest business networks did not use this service, opting to create their own credit, because this gave them a lot of revenue, besides helping maintain customer loyalty.

Como todo Empresário que investe em algum negócio tem como meta aumentar o seu valor, estas financeiras encontraram uma nova forma de financiar vendas para o Varejo, mesmo que estes não contratassem o seu produto.
Just as every business person who invests in some business has as an objective to increase its value, these (sold credit) financial institutions found a new way of financing sales through retail, even though the buyers of the sold credit did not purchase their products.

Foi então que foram lançados os Cartões de Crédito, focando o Consumidor, oferecendo vantagens significativas para os que preferissem comprar em Lojas que aceitassem o pagamento em Cartão. Este negócio cresceu rapidamente, ganhando escala internacional, surgindo então as bandeiras de Cartões de Crédito, apoiadas por grandes campanhas de Marketing.
It was then that credit cards were launched, targeting the consumer, offering significant advantages to those who preferred to purchase in stores that would offer payment by credit. This business grew rapidly, gaining international scale, and thus ushering the dawn of the age of credit cards, backed by large scale marketing campaigns.

Como o custo destas operações pulverizadas é muito alto, a saída foi aumentar muito o número de Clientes, além da criação de novos modelos, gerando assim novas receitas, como a cobrança de Taxas de Administração dos Comerciantes, Anuidade para os Usuários, venda de seguros, cobrança de juros maiores que o praticado no mercado, estimular a rolagem das dívidas através da modalidade de Crédito Rotativo, inclusive fornecendo limites que estimulavam claramente o atraso, gerando grandes receitas de Encargos (multa e mora).
As the cost of these operations in small scale is very high, the solution was to increase significantly the number of clients, apart from the creation of new business models, as such generating new revenue; for example the charging of interest on administration services offered by the business person, annuity fees for the user of the card, the sale of insurance, charging interest higher than the market rate, stimulating the state of debt by means of rotative debt, including limits that clearly stimulated delayed repayments, generating a lot of revenue from missed obligations(penalties and late fees.)

Todas estas iniciativas foram bastante significativas, mais ainda existia uma grande parcela de Crédito sendo negociado diretamente pelos Comerciantes. Foi então que nasceu o movimento conhecido como Re-Engenharia, preconizando que as Empresas deveriam dedicar todos os seus esforços ao objetivo final do seu negócio, terceirizando as atividades que não estavam relacionadas ao seu Core Business.
All these initiatives were quite significant, but there still existed a major portion of credit being directly negotiated by the business community. It was then that the concept known as re-engineering was born, proposing that businesses should dedicate all their efforts to their main objective of their business, and outsourcing the activities that were not related to their core business.

Este movimento chegou ao Varejo e identificou que Crédito não era o seu negócio. Várias empresas, principalmente aquelas tocadas por Administradores Profissionais, aderiram ao modelo e terceirizaram suas áreas de crédito. Algumas inclusive viraram financeiras ou de propriedade de uma. No meu ponto de vista, o princípio básico do Varejo passou a ficar comprometido: A Confiança no Freguês.
This concept extended to retail and identified that credit was not their core business. Several businesses, mainly those involving administrative professionals, adhered to the model and outsourced their business units of credit. Some including previously created financial houses or some form of property. In my point of view, the basic principle of retail became compromised: trust of the customer.

Muitas vendas foram perdidas, pois dependiam de Créditos que não foram concedidos, pois este trabalho é realizado de forma fria e o mais automática possível pelas Financeiras, que praticamente utilizam a mesma técnica: a do Credit Escore.
Many businesses collapsed, because they depended on credit that was not granted, because this work is carried out in a cold-hearted manner and the most automated way possible by financial houses all which used practically the same technique: that of credit score.

Cada venda destas, perdidas individualmente, pareciam representar um risco a menos, porém quando este volume passava a ser muito alto, o varejo ficava sem caixa, tendo que recorrer exatamente a este setor financeiro, que o atendia com empréstimos valorizando este fato como parceria. Várias empresas foram à bancarrota, entre 1995 e 2000 foram mais de 120, só no ramo de eletro-eletrônicos.
Each of these sales, lost individually, seemed to represent less risk, however when the volume became large, credit retail remained without any suppliers, having undone exactly the same financial sector that attended to businesses taking advantage of this fact as business partners. Several businesses went bankrupt; between 1995 and 2000, just in the Electrum electronics industry alone, 120 went bankrupt.

As que se mantiveram fiéis às origens do Comércio não só sobreviveram como cresceram e hoje estão posicionadas entre as líderes em seus segmentos, como é o exemplo das Casas Bahia, Lojas Gabryella, Lojas Dadalto, entre outros.
Those that remained faithful to the original principles of retail credit not only survived but also grew and today are positioned among the leaders of their segments, such as the example of Casa Bahia, Lojas Gabryella, Lojas Dadalto, among others.

O Negócio do Varejo não pode ser apenas Comprar e Vender, cada vez mais percebe-se a necessidade do oferecimento de Serviços aos Clientes, potencializando a sua presença nos Pontos de Venda, gerando assim novas Receitas, que são muito importantes para a manutenção da Rentabilidade dos negócios.
The business of retail cannot only be buy and sell; more and more one realizes the need to offer services to the client, using the potential of the client's presence at the points of sale, generating in this manner new revenue, that is very important for the preservation of business retainability.

Com a competitividade acirrada e a carga tributária crescente, Empresas do Setor de Varejo sentem-se obrigadas a buscar estas Receitas, principalmente porque são classificadas como não operacionais. Este é o melhor momento para que retornemos às origens, somando nossa experiência com as tecnologias atualmente disponíveis e focando a operação no Cliente, não apenas na concorrência.
With increased competition and increasing taxes, businesses in the credit retail sector sense an obligation to seek out this source of income, especially because the revenue from this sector is classified as non-business operations. This is the best moment in time for us to return the origins of retail credit, combining our experiences of the past with the available latest technology and focusing on the business operation that is the client, and not only on the competition.

Márcio Marcondes
Palestrante, Consultor e Presidente da Electronic Market Solution
email: marcio@ems-private.com.br

By Márcio Marcondes
Speaker, Consultant and President of The Electronic Market Solution.
email:marcio@ems-private.com.br

You can contact me at translate_brazilian_portuguese_to_english@hotmail.com

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Potentially useful services
Health & Nutrition	Health Insurance
Buy/Sell property in Brazil	Certify yourself to teach English in Brazil
Web/Internet services & Computer Software

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American Company Names "Translated" To Portuguese

American Company Names "Translated" To Portuguese

As indicated in the blog at http://americanbrazil.blogspot.com/2009/03/computer-manufacture-in-brazil-ibm.html, we are adding some tongue-in-cheek and listing some somewhat humorous company names with their possible names as would be translated into Brazilian Portuguese in typical American-style humor.

The format is:
Company Name(English), Possible Portuguese version of name, Description of services

Panda Security
Segurança de Panda
Antivirus Computer Software

SiteSell
SiteQueVenda
Business website development tools

Affiliate Reporting
Relatório de Afiliado
Web commerce management tools

Jump Launch
Solta de lançamento
Web hosting

Easy CGI
CGI Facil
Web hosting

Fat Cow
Vaca Gorda
Web hosting

1&1
Um e Um
Web hosting


Imhosted
EstouServido
Web hosting

HostRocket
Foguete Servidor
Web Hosting

WebHosting Buzz
Zumbido de WebHosting
web hosting

Aplus.net
Amais.net (or Êmais)
Web hosting

Ultra hosting
Super hosting
web hosting

Host Monster
Monstro Servidor
web hosting

Blue Host
Servidor Azul
Web hosting

Fastdomain
Domínio Rápido
Web Hosting

Netfirms Hosting
Netfirms Hosting(neutral)
Web hosting

Good Avocado
O Bom Abacate
Web hosting

Nexx
Nexx(neutral)
Web hosting

Network Solutions
Soluções pra Rede
Web Hosting

Dotster
Dotster(neutral)
Web hosting,domain name registration

Lunar Pages
Páginas da lua
web hosting, domain name registration

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In the next blog we will look at an intellectual discourse on the definition of credit from the point of view of a Brazilian.

You can contact me at translate_brazilian_portuguese_to_english@hotmail.com,.

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Potentially useful services
Health & Nutrition	Health Insurance
Buy/Sell property in Brazil	Certify yourself to teach English in Brazil
Web/Internet services & Computer Software

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Computer Manufacture In Brazil-IBM

Computer Manufacture In Brazil-IBM



America is associated with the computer age. Computer technology is what has set apart the current world generation from previous generations-the ability to use thinking machines, not only industrially-to improve efficiency, but as a tool in medical sciences to perform things such as better diagnostic imaging, x-rays, etc. As a result, we now have record numbers of people living longer, well into their nineties and even more than that.


If one name is more synonymous with computer technology than any other, it is probably IBM. Founded in 1896, it has since expanded its initial base from making business machines to participating in the development of the most sophisticated electronic chips required for complex algorithm processing such as required in the Medical Sciences and military warfare. Most of this research and development has been carried out primarily in the United States.


One fact that is not well known is that the very first IBM manufacturing plant built outside the United States was built in Brazil in 1939. As a matter of fact, IBM has had a business presence in Brazil since 1917. In this article, we will translate a posting by the Museum of Computing And Information Technology in Brazil, MCI, as part of the History of Computing and Computer Manufacture in Brazil. The original article is found at http://www.mci.org.br/fabricante/ibm.html.


For the sake of those who are new to this series of blogs, an introduction to the purpose of these series of blogs is given in small print below. If you are a returning visitor, you can skip the small print below and jump to the main article.

Introduction-The American way of life in Brazil
Other than the world's fascination with Brazilian soccer players, Brazil is assumed to by most people to be an underdeveloped 3rd world country. In truth Brazil is South America's largest economy, having advanced industries, and is now considered an emerging economy rivaling China, India and Russia. Not only that, the Brazilian lifestyle has been, unbeknown to most people, a typical western, if not American, in flavor, as we will see.
Brazilians love watching imported television shows and movies translated to their official language, Brazilian Portuguese. Imported television shows have had a significant influence on Brazilian culture. The influence of American TV in Brazil has resulted in Brazilians participating in culture that is considered predominantly American. For example, Brazilian children now participate in Haloween on the same day it is held in the USA. Brazilians also love their Internet. For example, Orkut, a social networking website initially targeting the American audience, now derives over 70% of its traffic from Brazil. All major search engines and social networking groups, including Google, Yahoo, MSN, Youtube, Myspace and Facebook have a presence in Brazil. Instead of using dot com, sites in Brazil often use a dot com dot br configuration, for example http://www.google.com.br/. Often, instead of using www as a prefix, sites in Brazil will use br, for example, br.myspace.com rather than http://www.myspace.com/.
In these series of blogs, we will try to bring out the Americanisms of life in Brazil. We will translate articles touching the everyday lives of Brazilians and see the similarities to their American counterparts and the common problems they share: buying a car, buying a house, choosing a good school, getting loans for education(get student loan), having to get a bank student loan consolidation, buying life insurance(get cheap life assurance quote online, just like Americans), get auto insurance online, dealing with remortgage problems such as shopping for good rates, getting loans to refinance the home(refinance a home equity loan), difficulties in acknowledging mesothelioma(Brazil is one of the world's largest producers of absestos, and acknowledging that a miner is a potential mesothelioma patient is opposed actively by many trade unions), etc. In short, these series of blogs will try to bring out the American way of life in Brazil that that is not documented well by the main stream media.

The article below illustrates that Brazil, far from being an underdeveloped 3rd world country as portrayed in mainstream media, was the first country outside the United States of America to host one of the behemoths of the computer industry, IBM.
The Portuguese text is printed in blue, and the English translation of a phrase appears directly below.

Museu da Computação e Informática - MCI
www.mci.org.br
The Museum of Computing and Information Technology- MCI
www.mci.org.br

No final do século XIX, nos Estados Unidos. o estatístico Herman Hollerith idealizou uma solução eficiente para o censo de 1890.
At the end of the 19th Century, in the United States, the statistician Herman Hollerith idealized an efficient solution for the census of 1890.

Hollerith concebeu diversas máquinas elétricas para a soma e contagem de dados, oa quais eram representados sob a forma de perfurações adequadamente distribuídas em fita de papel.
Hollerith came up with several electric machines for the purpose of adding and counting data, the machines which were fed with data represented by perforations adequately distributed on paper tape.

Com esse processo, os resultados do censo de 1890 ficou pronto em três anos, economizando vários anos de trabalho.
With this process, the results of the census of 1890 were ready within three years, saving several years of work.


Hollerith patenteou suas inovações logo depois de haver terminado o censo norte-americano e fundou em 1896 a precursora da IBM, a Tabulating Machine Company e introduziu inovações em sua descoberta.
Hollerith patented his inventions soon after having completed the North American census and founded in 1896 the predecessor to IBM, The Tabulating Machine Company, and introduced innovations with his discovery.

Assim, a fita de papel foi substituída por cartões, que viriam a ser o elemento básico das máquinas IBM de processamento de dados durante muitos anos.
In these innovations, the paper tape was substituted for cards, that would come to be the basic element of IBM machines for the processing of data for several years.

Já em 1911, duas outras companhias, a Internacional Time Recording Co., de registradores mecânicos de tempo, e a Computing Scale Co. de instrumentos de aferição de peso, uniram-se a ela, assim, a TMC passou a se chamar Computing Tabulating Recording Company, na qual, em 1914, ingressou Thomas J. Watson. Em fevereiro de 1924 a CTR mudou seu nome para Internacional Business Machines Corporation.
Then in 1911, two other companies, the International Time Recording Company, that built mechanical time registers, and the Computing Scale Company, that built weight inspection instruments, amalgamated with it. As such TMC came to be known as the Computing Tabulating Recording Company, which Thomas J. Watson joined in 1914.

A IBM surgiu no Brasil em 1917, sob a denominação de Computing Tabulating Recording Company, através de um contrato de prestação de serviços com a então Diretoria de Estatística Comercial.
IBM first had a presence in Brazil in 1917, through the Computing Tabulating Recording Company, as a result of a contract for repayment of services rendered with the then Board of Commercial Statistics.

Em 1924 a empresa foi autorizada a operar no Brasil por decreto assinado pelo então presidente Arthur Bernardes.
In 1924 the business was authorized to operate in Brazil by decree signed by then President Arthur Bernardes.

E, em 1931, a Companhia iniciava a montagem e depois a fabricação de relógios industriais, para três anos mais tarde introduzir a comercialização das então revolucionárias máquinas alfabéticas de processamento de dados.
And in 1931, the company started an assembly plant and then a factory for industrial gauges, and three years later introducing the commercialization of the then revolutionary alphabetic data processing machines.

A partir de 1935, passaram a ser fabricados aqui os cartões para perfuração.
From 1935, the perforation cards started to be manufactured here (in Brazil.)

Em 1939 Thomas Watson veio especialmente ao Brasil para inaugurar a primeira fábrica da IBM fora dos Estados Unidos, localizada em Benfica/RJ.
In 1939 Thomas Watson came to Brazil especially to inaugurate the first IBM factory outside of the United States, located in Benfica, Rio de Janeiro.

Esta fábrica foi de vital importância para o mercado brasileiro de processamento de dados, produzindo grande variedade de máquinas de registro unitário, as predecessoras dos computadores, e abrindo caminho para o ingresso de novas tecnologias.
This factory was of vital importance to the Brazilian data processing sector, producing a great variety of unit register machines, the predecessors to computers, and opening the way for the ushering in of new technologies.

Essa evolução veio permitir que, em 1961, a Fábrica de Benfica iniciasse a montagem de computadores da linha 1401.
This evolution came to permit that in 1961 the Benefica Factory started an assembly plant for the 1401 series of computers.

No início da dé de 60 a Companhia já estava registrada como IBM do Brasil - Indústria, Máquinas e Serviços Ltda. Em 1972, as atividades de fabricação foram largamente expandidas. Entrava em operação a Fábrica Sumaré, em São Paulo.
At the beginning of the 1960's the company was already registered as IBM of Brazil - Industry, Machines and Services limited. In 1972, the factory activities were broadly expanded by the Sumaré factory starting operations in São Paulo.

(End of translation)

In the next blog, will add a little humor and list various several computer industry companies, attempting to rename them from their names in English to possible Portuguese equivalent names.

You can contact me at translate_brazilian_portuguese_to_english@hotmail.com,.

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Potentially useful services
Health & Nutrition	Health Insurance
Buy/Sell property in Brazil	Certify yourself to teach English in Brazil
Web/Internet services & Computer Software

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Debt Consolidation Tips from Brazil

Debt consolidation tips from Brazil.
In our previous blogs we have seen that Brazilians, like Americans, share a lifestyle when it comes to getting a cheap car insurance quotation. Just like Americans, many companies offer web sites to allow people to get auto insurance online. In this blog, we look at a problem that Brazilians share with their American counterparts, especially among students who have accumulated student debt-getting consolidation loans or credit card debt consolidation.
For the sake of those who are new to this series of blogs, an introduction to the purpose of these series of blogs is given in small print below. If you are a returning visitor, you can skip the small print below and jump to the main article.

Introduction-The American way of life in Brazil
Other than the world's fascination with Brazilian soccer players, Brazil is assumed to by most people to be an underdeveloped 3rd world country. In truth Brazil is South America's largest economy, having advanced industries, and is now considered an emerging economy rivaling China, India and Russia. Not only that, the Brazilian lifestyle has been, unbeknown to most people, a typical western, if not American, in flavor, as we will see.
Brazilians love watching imported television shows and movies translated to their official language, Brazilian Portuguese. Imported television shows have had a significant influence on Brazilian culture. The influence of American TV in Brazil has resulted in Brazilians participating in culture that is considered predominantly American. For example, Brazilian children now participate in Haloween on the same day it is held in the USA. Brazilians also love their Internet. For example, Orkut, a social networking website initially targeting the American audience, now derives over 70% of its traffic from Brazil. All major search engines and social networking groups, including Google, Yahoo, MSN, Youtube, Myspace and Facebook have a presence in Brazil. Instead of using dot com, sites in Brazil often use a dot com dot br configuration, for example http://www.google.com.br/. Often, instead of using www as a prefix, sites in Brazil will use br, for example, br.myspace.com rather than http://www.myspace.com/.
In these series of blogs, we will try to bring out the Americanisms of life in Brazil. We will translate articles touching the everyday lives of Brazilians and see the similarities to their American counterparts and the common problems they share: buying a car, buying a house, choosing a good school, getting loans for education(get student loan), having to get a bank student loan consolidation, buying life insurance(get cheap life assurance quote online, just like Americans), get auto insurance online, dealing with remortgage problems such as shopping for good rates, getting loans to refinance the home(refinance a home equity loan), difficulties in acknowledging mesothelioma(Brazil is one of the world's largest producers of absestos, and acknowledging that a miner is a potential mesothelioma patient is opposed actively by many trade unions), etc. In short, these series of blogs will try to bring out the American way of life in Brazil that that is not documented well by the main stream media.

The following is a translation of advice given to Brazilians who are considering taking the decision on debt consolidation, on whether to consolidate their debt, in particular, credit card debt. The original article is found at http://www.igf.com.br/aprende/dicas/dicasResp.aspx?dica_Id=1485,. The article is mainly directed to those wishing to consolidate credit card debt and are possibly actively searching for a credit card debt consolidation company.
However the princples offered in the advice are equally applicable to any kind of debt - whether you are looking to get a consolidation school loan, whether you want to get a home loan remortgage and are considering switching banks and transferring your debt, or simply just shopping for consolidations loans for the purpose of debt consolidation, perhaps in your business, etc. It is a good example of the kind of professional advice one can expect in dealing with a problem in a society that has embraced the credit card culture, a problem also quite common in the United States, and demonstrates the similarities of the lifestyles shared by Americans and Brazilians.
The Portuguese text is printed in blue, and the English translation of a phrase appears directly below.

Cartão de crédito - Dívidas: será que vale a pena consolidar suas dívidas?
Credit cards - Debt: is it worth consolidating your debts?
Mais práticos e seguros, os cartões têm garantido espaço na vida das pessoas. Diante de tanta comodidade e da maior facilidade para obtê-los, são cada vez mais comuns os casos de pessoas que acumulam vários cartões.
Practical and secure, credit cards have a guaranteed space in our personal lives. Offered such a commodity and the greatest ease of obtaining them, it is increasingly common the number of people accumulating various cards.

Sem saber administrá-los corretamente, estas pessoas acabam perdendo o controle dos seus gastos e, não raro, acumulam dívidas. Nessas horas, vem a pergunta: será que vale a pena consolidar as dívidas dos vários cartões?
Without knowing how to administer them correctly, these people end up losing control of their expenses and, it's not rare, accumulating debt. In times like these, the question arises: is it worth consolidating the debts from the various credit cards?

Não existe uma resposta única, já que a consolidação pode sim ser vantajosa em alguns casos. Porém, em outros pode acabar piorando ainda mais a situação.
There is no single response to this question, since consolidation can be advantageous in certain cases. However, in other cases one could end up making the situation worse.

Qual o seu objetivo ao consolidar?
What's your objective in consolidating debt?
Antes de consolidar a sua dívida, analise com calma seus objetivos. Sua intenção é reduzir os juros? Reduzir o valor da prestação? Aumentar o prazo de pagamento?
Before you consolidate your debt, in a calm and relaxed atmosphere, analyze your objectives. Is your intention to reduce the interest? Is it to reduce the amount paid on each installment? Is it to get an extension of the period in which you are required to repay the debt?

Se sua intenção é apenas reduzir o valor da prestação, através do alongamento da dívida, é melhor pensar duas vezes. Nos dois casos, você vai acabar gastando ainda mais com juros, de forma que, ao invés de resolver, vai aumentar o seu problema!
If your intention is only to reduce the amount paid per installment by extending the date repayment period, it's better to think twice. In both cases, you will end up spending even more on interest, so that, instead of resolving the problem, will only make it worse!
Por outro lado, se a sua intenção é rolar uma dívida mais cara a juros mais baixos, a transferência de saldo do cartão de crédito não é a opção correta, pois não ataca a raiz do problema - que é o fato de o seu saldo devedor crescer mais rápido do que sua capacidade de pagamento.
On the other hand, if your intention is to move from a more expensive debt to one with lower interest, transferring you outstanding balance on your credit card is not the correct option, because it does not attack the root problem-the fact of your balance due increasing more rapidly than your ability to repay.

Você deve encarar a transferência, ou consolidação, de saldo como uma segunda chance que não pode ser perdida.
You must approach transferring, or consolidation, of balance due as a second chance that must not be misused.
Durante o período de carência a nova administradora está disposta a oferecer juros atrativos para ajudá-lo a resolver suas dificuldades financeiras. Ou seja, ela só deve ser considerada se permitir uma redução dos gastos totais com juros e, conseqüentemente, possibilitar a quitação da dívida.
For a grace period the new debt administrator is willing to offer you attractive interest rates to help you resolve your financial difficulties. That is, the offer should only be considered if it will permit the reduction of your total interest rate expenses, and, consequently, the possibility of the elimination of your debt.

Não perca a sua 2a. chance
Do not not misuse your second chance.

Não existe espaço para novos erros. Se você mantiver os velhos hábitos, e continuar gastando mais do que consegue pagar no cartão e, portanto, elevando todos os meses o saldo devedor, muito provavelmente a instituição pode optar pela adoção de uma taxa ainda mais alta depois do prazo de carência.
There is no room for more errors. If you you continue to maintain old habits, and continue spending more than you can pay on your credit card, and therefore, each month increasing the balance due, it's very probable that the lending institution could opt for the adoption of an interest rate even much higher after the grace period.

Lembre-se que o seu histórico de crédito como um todo está sendo analisado. Mesmo que você não atrase o pagamento do novo cartão, basta que não pague em dia uma outra conta, que os termos do seu cartão podem ser revistos. Daí a importância de você se informar, com antecedência, sobre que situações podem levar a uma revisão das taxas cobradas no seu novo cartão.
Remember that your credit history as a whole is being analysed. Even if you don't delay on your payments on the new card, it's sufficient that you one day skip a payment and the terms of your card could be revised. As such there is the importance of you informing yourself, well in advance, about the scenarios that could lead to a revision of the interest charged on your new credit card.

Qual cartão escolher?
What card should you choose?

Caso tenha decidido consolidar suas dívidas em um único cartão, avalie com cuidado todos os cartões que possui. Pesquise os termos e avalie as condições oferecidas pelos vários bancos emissores.
For the case that you have decided to consolidate your debt into a single card, evaluate with caution all your cards that you possess. Research the terms and evaulate the conditions offered by the various banking institutions.

Sua preferência deve ser pelo cartão que oferece a menor taxa de juro. Porém, verifique antes as condições em que esta taxa é oferecida. Leia o contrato com atenção e esclareça todas as suas dúvidas. Alguns bancos oferecem juros mais baixos apenas por um determinado período de tempo, ou sobre parte do saldo devedor.
Your preference should be a card that offers the least interest rate. However, verify before the conditions under which the interest is offered. Read the contract carefully and identify clearly each of your outstanding debts. Some banks offer much lower interest rates only for a determined period of time, or for part of the outstanding balance.

Nesse caso, pode valer a pena optar por um cartão que oferece uma taxa um pouco maior, mas por um período maior de tempo e sobre todo o saldo devedor. Faça as contas com calma e opte pelo que implicar em menores gastos com juros. Não incorra em mais gastos neste cartão, até que tenha pagado integralmente a sua dívida.
In this case it's worth opting for a card that offers an interest rate slightly higher, but for a greater period of time and for all the outstanding balance. Do your math in a calm and relaxed manner and opt for what it implies in terms of the least expenses on interest. Do not incur further costs on this card, until you have completely paid off your debt.

Cuidados na hora da transferência
Caution at the time of consolidation.

O fato de você estar transferindo o saldo devedor de um cartão para o outro não significa que deva abandonar, por completo, o pagamento das antigas faturas. Enquanto o saldo não for transferido, e isso pode levar algumas semanas, você continua sujeito aos encargos do antigo cartão.
The fact that your are transferring outstanding balance from one card to another does not signifiy that you should completely abandon the payment of your old bills. While the debt is being consolidated, and that could take a few weeks, you continue to be subject to the dues on the old card.

Assim, é recomendável que se esforce, ao menos para pagar o valor mínimo exigido na fatura. Mantenha os pagamentos em dia desta parcela, afinal você não precisa gastar mais do que já deve com multa e juros por atraso, não é?
As such, it is recomended that you make an effort to pay at least the minimum required on your invoice. Keep the payments up to date on this portion of your debt, after all you don't need to spend more than you should on penalties and interest for late payments, should you?

Além disso, se você não mantiver esses pagamentos, a instituição pode achar que a sua situação piorou, o que pode levar a uma revisão dos termos inicialmente oferecidos.
Apart from that, if you do not maintain these payments, the institution(offering you debt consolidation) might think that your situation has worsened, that could lead to a revision of the terms initially offered.

Mesmo que tenha sido notificado da transferência pelo banco emissor do cartão no qual a dívida será consolidada, certifique-se de que isso efetivamente aconteceu.
Even if you have been notified of the consolidation by the banking institution issuing the card that will consolidate your debt, certify this yourself in person that it is indeed the case.
Entre em contato com a central de atendimento dos bancos emissores dos cartões de onde irá transferir saldo e confirme a transferência. Anote o nome das pessoas com quem falou. Peça um extrato final, que confirme a transferência.
Enter into contact with the head office of the banking institution issuing the card and to which the balance due will be consolidated and confirm that the consolidation has been executed. Request a confirmation extract .

Feito isso, cancele o antigo cartão! Não se sujeite à tentação de deixá-lo no fundo da sua gaveta, pois você pode acabar usando-o novamente. Isso sem falar que mantê-lo, provavelmente, significa pagamento de anuidade, e você não tem dinheiro para desperdiçar.
Having done that, cancel your old card! Do succumb to the temptation of leaving it at the bottom of your drawer, because you might end up using it again. That even without mentioning that maintaining it most likely signifies annuity fees to keep it, and you don't have money to throw away.

(End of translation)
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