Abstract
In this paper, we consider the single machine scheduling problem with linear earliness and quadratic tardiness costs. and no machine idle time. We propose a genetic approach based on a random key alphabet. Several genetic algorithms based on this approach are presented. These versions differ on the generation of the initial population, as well as on the use of local search. The proposed procedures are compared with existing heuristics, as well as with optimal solutions for the smaller instance sizes. The computational results show that the performance of the proposed genetic approach is improved by the addition of a local search procedure, as well as by the insertion of simple heuristic solutions in the initial population. Indeed, the genetic versions that include either or both of these features not only provide significantly better results, but are also much faster. The genetic versions that use local search are clearly superior to the existing heuristics, and the improvement in performance over the best existing procedure increases with both the size and difficulty of the instances. These genetic procedures are also quite close to the optimum, and provided an optimal solution for most of the test instances.

Abstract
The use of the web is quickly spreading to the majority of the society. In many countries the use of the web in government services, education and training, commerce, news, citizenship, health and entertainment is significantly increasing. The web is extremely important for the dissemination of information and the interaction between the various society elements. Due to this, it's essential that the web presents itself accessible to all, including those with any kind of disability. An accessible web may help the handicapped citizens in their interaction with the society. With this in mind, an evaluation of the accessibility levels of the Portuguese websites is, essential, for an assumption on the availability of these websites to all disabled citizens.

Abstract
A method for automatic recognition of road signs identified in digital video images is proposed. The method is based on features extracted from cumulative histograms and supervised classification. The training of the classifier is done with a small number of images (I to 6) from each sign type. A practical experiment with 260 images and 26 different road sign was carried out. The average classification accuracy of the method with the standard settings was found to be 93.6%. The classification accuracy is improved to 96.2% by accepting the sign types ranked 1(st) and 2(nd) by the classifier, and to 97.4% by also accepting the sign type ranked 3(rd). These results indicate that this can be a valuable tool to assist Geographic Information System (GIS) updating process based on Mobile Mapping System (MMS) data.

Abstract
Economic activities are part of everyday life since always. The banking sector has a large dimension that exists for a long time, doing a major contribution to economic growth in Portugal. In this new millennium the advent of Internet has had a significant impact on the banking service that is traditionally offered by banks to customers. With help of the Internet, customers can access its banking services anytime, anywhere, since Internet access is available. This service is called Electronic Banking (EB), being in explosive growth in many countries, transforming the traditional banking practices. With this paper, we intend review, evaluate and characterize the technological solutions of EB in Portugal.

Abstract
Maturity models describe the maturing of the use of information systems in organizations. They are a useful framework to describe an organization's current position as well as a range of possible position in the future in terms of their e-business maturity. The relationship between Information Technology (IT) and e-business maturity is examined. We used a model of c-business maturity, Stages Of Growth for e-business (SOGe) model, to put an organization in a maturity stage. In our survey we presented a set of technologies and we asked to enterprises which of them are implemented, in development, planned or inexistent. We concluded that there is a strongly correlation between IT implementation and the e-business maturity.

Abstract