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ToK Presentation by Kaila Lariviere, Julia Engelien, and Jessica Cuttin
Transcript of ToK Presentation by Kaila Lariviere, Julia Engelien, and Jessica Cuttin
14 year old Malala Yousufzai
was shot by the Taliban for the right to an education
Real Life Situation
How are personal beliefs impacted by human sciences and ethical reasoning?
Laws set up by authoritative figures heavily influence moral standards of society due to:
Malala Yousufzai was
shot in the head by the Taliban in northern Pakistan's Swat Valley on October 9, 2012. She was shot for promoting female educational rights.
According to USA Today, the Taliban have threatened to target her again for promoting "Western Thinking."
Though the doctors believe she will fully recover, Malala has become the poster child for women's rights throughout the world.
- Morals & Ethics
Morals and Ethics
The classic question of what is right and what is wrong comes into play when speaking about morals and ethics. What may seem morally ethic to one person may be completely frowned upon in a different culture.
Government and Social Status
Since government holds so much power, it is hard to overthrow their authoritative institutions
Their laws and structures become widely accepted
- Gender Superiority/Inferiority
- Women and Men
- Racial Superiority/Inferiority
- Scramble for Africa
- Aryan Race
Many children inherit their family's religion. Though some children in their adult years chose what religion they want to follow if any; many continue the practice of their family's religion.
*Influences ethical values
-Though some religions have their cons, religion can have positive effects on society (ie. community service, guidelines for what is right and wrong etc)
Basic Facts on Pakistani religion:
*97% Muslim (77%Sunni, 20%Shia)
A country with a strong majority of a certain religion in effect, can play a part in how a country conducts business.
*Creates stratified views throughout the world
* A person's opinion can be easily destroyed
-People agreeing with authority or trusting authority
-This happens when individual ideas line up with those posed by authority
- When an individual believes that authority is correct even if they may not agree
I raise service dogs and I agree with the ideals and standards posed by the administration, so I fully commit myself to the organization.
Many deeply religious people may rely on their religion as the sole leader throughout the world...a leader that is always right and never wrong
If religion is the leader, than the followers become the religion's population
Religion can become an aspect of tradition in many cultures
Then it spirals into a mess (ie. loss of voice)
Therefore, religion in any shape or form can be detrimental to one's own beliefs that we form.
Authority Does Not Affect Personal Beliefs
In America, a majority of citizens share the same ideals as those promised in the constitution such as the freedom of speech or the right to bare arms.
- Successful fear tactics
-Fear is the best persuasion because people want to avoid harm or punishment.
Stalin and the NKVD (his secret police)- it conducted extrajudicial executions, suppressed underground resistance, and other various acts that scared many citizens into supporting Stalin.
Stanley Milgrim's experiment on obedience to authority showed that if someone perceived to have a high position of authority tells you to do something, despite beliefs, a majority of people will do it.
Laws set up by authoritative figures do not heavily influence moral standards of society because:
Spiritual vs Societal Authorities
And their Effects on Beliefs
-Distance Decay refers to the decrease or loss of similarity between two observations as the distance between them increases
-Therefore, as somebody gets geographically further away from the source of authority, their beliefs are less influenced by them.
My parents are against texting while eating, so I refrain. Yet, when I go away without them, I will text and eat because the authoritative figure forbidding me is further away.
Individuals do not let the government dictate their beliefs and morals
- They are usually referred to as the "Radicals" or "Extremists" because they refuse to compromise their individual ideals for those of authority.
Our personal beliefs can be shaped by our cultures
*Malala's personal beliefs strayed from the norm causing external forces (Strict Islamic Followers) (Though authoritative ones) to stop her thinking from spreading through out the rest of the Islamic culture
*Thus, many people are influenced by their culture
Culture can be a source that people turn towards for justifying something as morally good, or morally bad
*A grounds for truth
The librarian and the boom box.
The Radical Republicans during the Civil War were the ones promoting emancipation from the beginning
Although you may try to avoid being influenced by society, you will be affected, to at least some extent, by
and these will shape your beliefs, values, and behavior.
- One's loyalty to his or her own country
- If you are loyal to your country, you decide to obey the country's laws and structures
- These laws and structures you follow shape your beliefs and decisions
Authority Based on Wealth
- Since you will always be inferior to your spiritual leader, you obey their moral laws and adhere to their principles
- Ten Commandments
- The majority of society wins
-Class, wealth, power is materialistic
- Free will
- "The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual's reason and critical analysis." - Dalai Lama
- Spiritual authority and societal authorities may conflict, thus making your personal beliefs superior to both
- 21 Legal Drinking Age
- Martin Luther
- There is no spiritual authority and humanity is the highest "authority" there is
-Atheism - the theory or belief that God does not exist
- The idea that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God
An authoritative figure is an individual cited or appealed to as an expert.
Presidents are regarded as experts in the political field
The Pope is regarded as an expert of biblical knowledge | <urn:uuid:31f4906e-72a2-4279-9723-2389808163c1> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://prezi.com/fkbs6uegxq3g/tok-presentation-by-kaila-lariviere-julia-engelien-and-jessica-cuttin/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281069.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00267-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926181 | 1,414 | 2.34375 | 2 |
For many people, business socialising is a very important aspect of working life – but some people find it quite tricky, especially if English isn’t their first language.
In this special business edition, Neil and Feifei explore basic business socialising language – and find out what to do if you can’t quite remember someone’s name!
Business socialising: Key phrases
Finding out someone’s name:
I think we’ve met before, haven’t we?
You must be…
I can’t quite remember your name.
Of course, how silly of me to forget.
Oh yes, of course, I’m so sorry!
How are things with you?
How are you?
Feifei: Welcome to another episode of 6 Minute English with me, Feifei.
Neil: And me, Neil.
Feifei: And what are we talking about today Neil?
Neil: Well, today’s programme is all about business socialising. And, as we all know, socialising is a very important aspect of working life. Although it doesn’t always go the way we want it to, does it Feifei?
Feifei: If you’re referring to the office New Year party, we said we wouldn’t mention that again…
Neil: OK, I definitely won’t mention the word photocopier… Anyway, Feifei, I’ve been out and about talking to people about embarrassing things that happened to them while they were socialising at work. Have a listen to this!
Man: I was on a business trip abroad and people had quite difficult foreign names. I kept getting the names wrong with the people – so I’d be calling a man by a woman’s name and a woman by a man’s name. It was very embarrassing, but they were very nice about it.
Woman: I always enjoying going to business socialising occasions, such as cocktail parties or conferences. But one of the most embarrassing things is you see somebody you find them familiar, you know you’ve met them before but you can’t remember their names, especially sometimes you get mixed up with where they work and job title, so that’s one thing I find embarrassing.
Feifei: Oh dear. That sounds so embarrassing, poor lady! I’m sure something like that has never happened to you Neil?
Neil: No Feifei, as you well know I never mix business with pleasure any more. Here’s Business Betty to help us find out what that poor lady should have done!
BB: Hello you two! I trust you never find yourself in that situation but if you do, here’s what to do. If you’ve forgotten someone’s name or job title or where you have met them before, don’t panic! The best thing to do is: find out, apologise and move on. I’ll say that again: find out, apologise and move on. A good way to find out someone’s name is to say “I think we’ve met before, haven’t we?”
Neil: I think we’ve met before, haven’t we?
BB: Or “You must be Feifei”.
Neil: Oh hello, you must be Feifei.
BB: Or, “I can’t quite remember your name.”
Neil: I can’t quite remember your name.
BB: Step two is the apology. Neil, can you apologise please:
Neil: Feifei, of course, how silly of me to forget.
BB: Or say this:
Neil: Oh yes, of course, I’m so sorry!
BB: And once you’ve found out and apologised, move on! We all make mistakes and the best thing to do is get on with business. A really easy way to move things on is to say “How are things with you?”
Neil: How are things with you?
BB: And even easier is, “How are you?”
Neil: How are you?
BB: And then you can get on with things. Remember, we all make mistakes, and knowing how to get out of tricky situations is what makes the difference. Just try to keep the conversation flowing.
Neil: We will Business Betty. You’re the best!
Feifei: So there you go! Find out.
Feifei: And move on! She really does know what she’s talking about that Betty…
Neil: You’ll never go wrong with Business Betty!
Neil: Do you feel a role-play coming on?
Feifei: Yes! It’s role-play time!
Neil: Surely it’s my turn to be the boss?
Feifei: There’s no boss today, I’m afraid. For today’s role-play, let’s say we’re at a business event, and you see me, and you remember you’ve met me before, and you really want to talk to me, but you can’t remember my name. OK?
Neil: I want to talk to you, but I can’t remember your name. Hmmm, could be tricky.
Feifei: You’ll be fine. Are you ready?
Neil: I’m ready!
Neil: Hi there.
Feifei: Oh hello.
Neil: I think we’ve met before haven’t we?
Feifei: Errr, have we? Oh yes, we met a couple of months ago, didn’t we? You knocked the cup of coffee over? It’s Neil… how are you Neil?
Neil: I’m good, very good. Please forgive me. I can’t quite remember your name.
Feifei: It’s Feifei.
Neil: Of course, Feifei, how silly of me to forget. How are things with you?
Feifei: How was that for you?
Neil: Not too bad actually, I felt embarrassed though because I didn’t know your name but I was pleased because I dealt with it quickly and moved the conversation on.
Feifei: That’s the way to do it! Do you want to try another one?
Neil: Yes go on, I’m feeling quite confident now!
Feifei: OK, this time, we’re at a business event. You think you know who I am and you want to come to say hello, OK?
Neil: I think I know who you are and I want to talk to you. Got it!
Neil: Bring it on!
Neil: Oh hello, you must be Feifei.
Feifei Yeah, hi there. Nice to meet you. You are…?
Neil: I’m Neil.
Feifei: I don’t think we’ve met before, have we?
Neil: Actually, I think we might have. You work in the media, right?
Feifei: I do, yes.
Neil: Yes I thought so: we were at the same dinner last month.
Feifei: Oh yes, of course. I’m so sorry! How are you?
Feifei: Well done Neil. Another tricky situation, another success!
Neil: Find out, apologise and move on. Except this time I found out and you apologised!
Feifei: Ha, yes, it works both ways.
Neil: It’s a miracle!
Feifei: Join us again for another episode of 6 Minute English.
Neil: Err Feifei?
Neil: What’s your name again?
Feifei: Goodbye Neil, goodbye everyone.
6 Minute English – Business English: Socialising Transcript Video
More BBC 6 Minute Business English
- 6 Minute English – Business English: Misunderstandings
- 6 Minute English – Business English: Socialising
- 6 Minute English – Business English: Punctuality
- 6 Minute English – Business English: Using technology at work
- 6 Minute English – Business English: Describing sales
- 6 Minute English – Business English: Asking personal questions
- 6 Minute English – Business English: Pay rise
- 6 Minute English – Business English: Rules
- 6 Minute English – Business English: New colleagues
- 6 Minute English – Business English: Asking permission & polite requests
More BBC 6 Minute English
- 6 Minute English – Giving away your fortune
- 6 Minute English ’14 – When does adulthood start?
- 6 Minute English ’11 – Witches
- 6 Minute English – How would you like to pay?
- 6 Minute English ’14 – Glass half full
- 6 Minute English – How do you like your tea?
- 6 Minute Business English ’13 – Arranging meetings
- 6 Minute English – The commute
- 6 Minute Business English ’14 – Misunderstandings
- 6 Minute English – Are we afraid of food?
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Source: BBC Learning EnglishMore Series for You: | <urn:uuid:d0ac42b1-3a35-4d2e-8600-b8142fe87589> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://linkengpark.com/6-minute-english-business-english-socialising/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281331.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00222-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.880052 | 2,225 | 1.976563 | 2 |
The Purdue Big Bass Drum is a percussion instrument played by the All-American Marching Band of Purdue University. At a height of more than ten feet (three meters), it is branded as the World's Largest Drum, although it is no longer officially the world's largest according to Guinness World Records. Since its inception, it has become a lasting symbol of the marching band as well as the university. The drum can be seen at all home football games as well as parades, alumni rallies, the Indianapolis 500 Race, and many other special events. It is stored within the Purdue University Armory when not in use.
Though the drum easily towers ten feet high on its carriage, the exact dimensions of the drum itself are a closely held secret known only to the crew members. The instrument is nearly four feet (one and a quarter metres) wide and about eight feet (two and a half metres) in diameter. Many of the original components, the carriage, axle, wheels, and wood shell of the drum are all intact and well preserved. Since its trip to Ireland with the "All-American" Marching Band in the spring of 2013, the drum has been remastered with new paint and select new parts to replace ones damaged on the trip. The carriage is built upon a Ford Model T back axle and wheelbase. The rims are steel wire spoke rims common during the 1910s in the racing circuit.
The drum is handled by a crew of four chrome-helmeted bandsmen, who are selected for their strength and agility, along with two beaters. They painstakingly rehearse every movement of the "Monster" drum to assure its being in the right place at the right time in accordance with the split-second timing necessary for the fast-paced shows presented by the "All-American" Band.
In 1921, Purdue Marching Band Director Spotts Emrick commissioned the Leedy Manufacturing Company in Indianapolis, Indiana, to produce a massive bass drum. Other bands were trying to make large drums at the time, but most could only achieve a diameter of about four feet. The main constraints included finding cattle skins large enough to use for drum heads, and carrying the drum both during and in between performances. After months of searching, Leedy's suppliers solved the first problem by finding steers weighing between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds each, which are said to have been from Argentina. These large heads put a great strain on the shell, requiring special reinforcement rods to be designed. While other marching bands had tried having two people work together to move their large drums along the football field, Emrick and Leedy decided to use a wheeled carriage. After contacting Jesse Lemon of the New York Central Railroad, Emrick was able to find a baggage car with a door large enough to accommodate the Monster.
The Purdue Drum's first football game was at the University of Chicago, whose band members immediately contacted Conn asking for an even larger drum. The resulting instrument was completed the following year and later sold to the University of Texas at Austin where it was nicknamed "Big Bertha." Whether Big Bertha is actually larger than the Purdue Drum is still debated.
The drum was refurbished in 1937 when the natural wood finish was replaced by an old gold diamond pattern and several inches were added to the drum's size. By the time Al Wright became Purdue's director of bands in 1954, the Big Bass Drum had been neglected after years of damage. Wright had the drum repaired and once again made it a centrepiece of the marching band. Because large cattle were much rarer than they were when the drum was built, Remo began making Mylar drum heads for Purdue in the early 1960s. These synthetic heads can be changed frequently.
While the drum may have been the world's largest in overall size at the time it was constructed, other drums have claimed the title of world's largest, such as the Millennium Drum. However, no official comparative measurement has ever been made. In 1961, the University of Texas and Purdue University chapters of Kappa Kappa Psi, an honorary band fraternity, pledged to bring their drums to the national convention in Wichita, Kansas for a direct comparison; however, only Purdue showed up. | <urn:uuid:dd9af4c9-c78b-421b-ad20-649ffee5e187> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://latare.com/Greatest-College-Football-Traditions19.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571222.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810222056-20220811012056-00671.warc.gz | en | 0.981251 | 862 | 2.453125 | 2 |
ieee80211_rx - receive frame
2. SYNOPSIS ▲
void ieee80211_rx(struct ieee80211_hw * hw , struct sk_buff * skb );
3. ARGUMENTS ▲
the hardware this frame came in on
the buffer to receive, owned by mac80211 after this call
4. DESCRIPTION ▲
Use this function to hand received frames to mac80211. The receive buffer in skb must start with an IEEE 802.11 header. In case of a paged skb is used, the driver is recommended to put the ieee80211 header of the frame on the linear part of the skb to avoid memory allocation and/or memcpy by the stack.
This function may not be called in IRQ context. Calls to this function for a single hardware must be synchronized against each other. Calls to this function, ieee80211_rx_ni and ieee80211_rx_irqsafe may not be mixed for a single hardware. Must not run concurrently with ieee80211_tx_status or ieee80211_tx_status_ni.
In process context use instead ieee80211_rx_ni.
5. AUTHOR ▲
Johannes Berg <
6. COPYRIGHT ▲ | <urn:uuid:8b588ace-a9a9-4c44-bbd0-3747780cb3fd> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://man.developpez.com/man9/ieee80211_rx/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280364.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00027-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.784368 | 282 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Even in the distant 17 th century Rabbi Yitzhak ben communities Poznan Elyakim especially for his daughter created a whole product in the format of the book, which is called a "good heart". There also have been described and these commandments for good wives after the break…
1. Be careful when your husband is angry. At this point, do not be no fun, no grumpy – smiled and said softly.
2. Do not make your husband wait for food. Hunger – the father of anger.
3. Do not wake him when he sleeps.
4. Be careful with his money. Do not hide from him his financial affairs.
5. Keep it secret. If he brags, and keep it a secret.
6. I do not approve of his enemies and not hate his friends.
7. I do not mind him and do not claim that your advice is better than him.
8. Do not expect the impossible.
9. If you will be attentive to his request, he will be your slave.
10. Do not say anything that would hurt him. If you’re going to treat him like a king, he will treat you like a queen. | <urn:uuid:d4ecad9d-ed54-463e-8632-bde73bea1ca2> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.funzug.com/relationships/10-commandments-for-good-wives.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572215.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815235954-20220816025954-00674.warc.gz | en | 0.978511 | 251 | 1.835938 | 2 |
This article is a delineation of the „Projekt Klassikerwortschatz“ that collects and processes those words in german literature between ca. 1750 and 1900 which are semantically different in today's german due to language change. It is the aim of the project to publish a dictionary in print, on CD-ROM as well as on the internet that explains these words in order to help to understand the literary language of the german „classic period“. The dictionary will therefore be a beginning of an attempt to fill the gap between Reichmann's FWB, the DWB and the DWDS which curiously coincides with this important period of german literature. The article focuses on the survey phase, when voluntary readers marked those words that made it difficult for them to understand a passage, the digitalization and the processing within the computerized environment. The main focus is on the digital editorial system „Paula“ which has been developped specifically for the „Klassikerwörterbuch“ and enables the lexicographer to focus exclusively on the content of the article rather than its format.
© Walter de Gruyter | <urn:uuid:dd748939-dcaa-437c-89de-0ab223e21a21> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/zfgl.2004.32.1.62/html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570765.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808031623-20220808061623-00268.warc.gz | en | 0.919054 | 245 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Jonathan Dodd’s latest column. Guest opinion articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication. Ed
There are two distinct pleasures at Christmas. They’re complementary, and entirely separate, and they have completely different aspects. I’m talking about presents. The receiving and the giving.
Nobody needs to learn how to receive presents. Just look at the faces and the excitement of children confronted by the mystery of packages that hide gifts. The instructions to wait before opening are received almost as a kind of pain, and the actual unwrapping is a frenzy of emotional excess that’s almost unrivalled in any human experience. You could almost think that we spend all of our adult lives trying to re-experience that pure unthinking ecstatic joy.
Bought and wrapped with maximum impact and fun in mind
Children have the advantage over those of us who are adults. All their presents are designed to give them pleasure, they have been bought and wrapped with maximum impact and fun in mind, and they are mostly unserious. There’s sometimes an earnest present included, but the unwrapping still goes ahead, the article put aside and the next present searched for with hardly a pause.
Once the unwrapping has finished, that’s a different world. There you are, with nothing left to unwrap, and two separated piles, one mass of ripped paper, and a collection of actual presents, each of which needs to be approached with much more thought and much less emotion. You can spend all day putting together a train set, or extricating a doll from its extensive packaging, or starting to read a longed-for book.
Go round to your friends’ houses and compare notes
Gradually the heap of shiny new things starts to merge into everything else you own, and life goes on. You have to thank people for their presents, and you have to lay the table or wash up before you can settle down to that new DVD or video game or go round to your friends’ houses and compare notes. And pretty soon everything goes back to normal.
Not everyone behaves this way with their presents. I remember the house of one of our neighbours, where their two boys woke up first on Christmas morning, crept down the stairs and opened every present they could find under the tree. And I mean every present. It took them quite a while to get over that. Another child I knew went the completely opposite way, exclaiming in a very loud voice after opening every present – “Oh thank you! That’s exactly what I wanted!”
We used to rip that wrapping paper into tiny pieces
My mother used to take longer with every present than anyone else I ever met. She would worry way at the edges of each piece of sellotape, pulling it off gradually, trying not to tear the paper. Then she would fold the paper into quarters in a pile on her lap and reach for the next one. She hardly even noticed what was in the presents themselves. And sure enough, for years afterwards our presents would be re-wrapped in the same old crumply paper. I’m ashamed to say that we used to rip that wrapping paper into tiny pieces. Sorry, Mum, I wasn’t equipped to think that way back then.
I remember once when I was working like a Trojan – long hours and long car journeys. I started wrapping after everyone was in bed late one Christmas Eve night, and I had a bottle of brandy. I managed to finish the wrapping, but I was found in the morning crumpled over the presents clutching a nearly-empty bottle. I got away with that by telling them that I was guarding the precious presents, and Santa never woke me at all. My head hurt for days.
Nobody knows it’s not a tradition until it is
I like traditions. The good thing is that nobody knows it’s not a tradition until it is, so you can make traditions up on the spur of the moment, and nobody argues against traditions. Especially at Christmas. I remember when my children were very little I used to hear about other families getting up early on Christmas morning, unwrapping everything, and then wondering what to do all day, because there was nothing to look forward to.
I didn’t want that to happen to my family, so I made up a tradition that happily worked very well with the Santa story. All the presents from us to us would be packed under the tree. We also had stockings, of course, and these were filled by Santa in the night with presents wrapped with different paper. In the morning the mince pie and carrots would all be eaten along with Christmas brandy (another tradition), and we would all settle down to open our stocking presents, delivered by Santa.
The children would quiver and drool and offer to help
The other presents would be left under the tree until after lunch was cooked and eaten, and everything was cleared away, and all the washing up done. Then we would sit down together and the youngest child would distribute all our family presents. This would be after 3:00 in the afternoon, so you could imagine how the children would shiver and drool and offer to help, just to get the time to pass quicker before the big moment.
Even visiting family or friends would have to abide by this tradition, and I was gratified to notice that several of them adopted the practice themselves. As I’ve always said – “A pleasure deferred (but not too much!) is a pleasure gratified.” And my children would be amazed when their friends, who had opened everything, asked them what they were given and they said they had piles of presents yet to open. They also got to appreciate all the smaller presents given to them by Santa before opening the big ones.
“This’ll hurt me much less than it’ll hurt you!”
There’s a certain benign cruelty in parenting. I used to quote the old proverb to my children – “This’ll hurt me much less than it’ll hurt you!” I suppose it was the same idea that made my father bring back only one souvenir from his trip to the USA. It was a car bumper sticker. Here’s what it said – “If I had known that grandchildren would be so much fun, I’d have had them first!”
I remember one Christmas in the bumpy road of my life when I was rather short of money. I managed to collect together some presents, but didn’t have enough money for wrapping paper. So I just had to extemporise. I used anything that came to hand that was flat and not easily torn. There were pages from a book I despised, magazines, some sheets of plastic from various sources, a few sheets from an old wallpaper book I found, and various other things. These were wrapped at random around all the presents and secured together by lots of sellotape. I thought they were rather elegant, in a strange way.
The second kind of present lesson
One year I realised at the end of wrapping that I had used up all the paper and there was one present left. It wasn’t small either. I racked my brains, and noticed a small pile of left-over pieces of wrapping paper. I stuck them all together, tearing and snipping them to fit so they covered the maximum area, and wrapped the last present magnificently. If ever presents went into amateur dramatics, that present would have been able to audition for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Present-Wrapping.
All of this has taught me two or three things. Sellotape is more important than paper, and it’s better to wrap a few days before Christmas, for the brandy consumption, if nothing else. By far the most important thing I’ve learned is the second kind of present lesson. There’s no joy in the world comparable to the process of finding things to give to loved ones, and keeping them secret, then wrapping them with paper and love (and lots of sellotape), then watching them open these very presents on Christmas Day.
Probably the most beautiful of human experiences
This is the most important lesson that Christmas teaches us, if we’re receptive and lucky. Loving, and giving, and doing special things for those we love is probably the most beautiful of human experiences. And opening them is pretty good too.
I hope you have (or have had) a wonderful Christmas, and that your presents are perfectly wrapped, enormously appreciated, and filled with Love.
If you have been, thank you for reading this.
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Image: gardener41 under CC BY 2.0 | <urn:uuid:c3becbcc-ef77-4d4f-b6f9-1606a5b9ff52> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://onthewight.com/jonathan-dodd-unwrapping-christmas/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282140.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00130-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971127 | 1,914 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Researchers have discovered a banking trojan, known as ‘Tinba’ or ‘Tiny Banker,’ has been targeting unsuspecting customers of at least 26 different financial institutions worldwide.
According to security firm Avast, the malware has resurfaced and expanded its targets after its original discovery nearly two years ago when it infected tens of thousands of computers in Turkey.
This summer, the malware was seen tricking Czech bank customers into providing their financial information, but researchers say it has since gone global.
The list of newly targeted financial institutions includes many major US-based banks, such as Bank of America, US Bank, Wells Fargo and Chase.
Avast security researchers David Fiser and Jaromir Horejsi explain in a blog post how the Tiny Banker malware successfully attains personal and financial data from customers attempting to access their bank account online:
1. The user visits a website infected with the Rig Exploit kit (Flash or Silverlight exploit).
2. If the user’s system is vulnerable, the exploit executes a malicious code that downloads and executes the malware payload, Tinba Trojan.
3. When the computer is infected and the user tries to log in to one of the targeted banks, webinjects come into effect and the victim is asked to fill out a form with his/her personal data.
4. If he/she confirms the form, the data is sent to the attackers.
Through this process, cybercriminals are able to gather a victim’s credit card information, home address, date of birth, social security number, driver license number and even their mother’s maiden name—a common security questions used to reset a “forgotten” password.
Despite its 20k code base, researchers state the trojan’s capabilities are powerful. The malware has been seen distributed by the Rig exploit kit, with revisions likely due to its leaked source code back in July.
Read More Here… | <urn:uuid:2a06ec7d-cdeb-483e-a19a-0afea0f1c3fb> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/latest-security-news/tiny-banker-malware-targets-dozens-of-major-us-financial-institutions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280310.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00182-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940011 | 408 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil for Use in the Lab.
Use aluminum foil to protect samples from light and seal containers containing buffer in the lab, for example.
Two types available:
Reynolds Wrap 12 in Standard Weight Aluminum Foil, 250 sq ft per roll, 2 rolls/pack, 500 sq ft total.
Reynolds Wrap 18 in Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil, 150 sq ft per roll, 2 rolls/pack, 300 sq ft total. | <urn:uuid:d7861eaa-73f3-426c-ad25-2f326b6b4dcd> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://morganvillesci.com/shop/lab-supplies/reynolds-wrap-lab-aluminum-foil/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571909.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813051311-20220813081311-00266.warc.gz | en | 0.688844 | 99 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Remember Cruz Bustamante? No? He ran for governor against Arnold... ring any bells? He's still the lieutenant governor of California.
Anyway, while running for governor he accepted almost $4 million from Indian tribes to fund his campaign... for re-election as lieutenant governor. But he wanted to use the money for his gubernatorial campaign instead, so he just rolled it from one account to the other. A judge ordered him to move it back, and to return the money to the donors.
Now it looks like the whole scheme was purposefully designed to circumvent campaign financing laws, and Mr. Bustamante has been fined.
California's lieutenant governor paid a record $263,000 fine for violating campaign donation limits in his run against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (search), the state's political watchdog agency said Tuesday.Naturally, Mr. Bustamante himself is not to blame.
California's Fair Political Practices Commission charged in a civil lawsuit filed in January that Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante (search) and his supporters improperly moved $3.8 million between campaign committees during the recall election in an effort to skirt contribution limits.
Although agency officials have said Bustamante faced fines of as much as $9 million, the $263,000 settlement is still the largest ever paid in California by a candidate. The agreement was approved Monday by Judge Loren McMaster.
"It was never my intention to violate the law," Bustamante said. "Unfortunately, the FPPC's regulations weren't as clear as they could have been. We believed that we were using a process the FPPC had allowed in the past and that our actions were consistent with the law."But, considering the egregious nature of the violations, not everyone was convinced by his pleas of ignorance.
The maximum contribution from any donor to a candidate running in the recall election was $21,200. Investigators said there were 16 contributions, valued at $3.8 million, that exceeded the contribution limits.Sixteen contributions with an average size of $237,500 -- more than ten times the allowable amount. Those regulations must have been pretty vague.
"Given the purposeful nature of the conduct, we thought it was important that this needed to be the highest paid," said the agency's chief of enforcement Steven Russo. | <urn:uuid:4c679d5f-7669-4003-b280-425ef9ad7be8> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.mwilliams.info/archive/2004/04/bustamante-violated-campaign-laws.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719843.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00293-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984407 | 464 | 1.632813 | 2 |
In Western culture the snake is the great seducer: in the paradise story, it is the snake that entices Eva to take a bite from the forbidden apple, leading to the Fall. And in the Gilgamesh epos, it is a snake who steals immortality from Gilgamesh. But besides being a symbol of evil - and even Satan - , the snake is also a symbol of fertility and regeneration - because it can shed its skin. The Sumerian fertility god Ningizzida - who also became the god of healing - was depicted as a serpent with a human head. And as is well known, the Greek medicine god Asclepius carried a serpent-entwined staff.
In Asia, the snake was close to the divine dragon. In Indian mythology we have the Nagas, great dragon-like serpents, who possessed many magical powers and guarded great treasures. In Buddhism, Nagas were believed to be both water-dwellers, living in streams, and earth-dwellers, living in underground caverns. They also guarded Mt. Sumeru, the Axis Mundi. In the legend of the Buddha's life we encounter a naga called Mucalinda - when Sakyamuni sat meditating under the Bodhi tree, a heavy rain started and Mucalinda with his seven snake heads formed a sort of umbrella above the Buddha's head to protect him from the elements.
In Japan, the serpent is especially associated with the syncretic Benzaiten, the goddess of everything that flows: water, words, and music. She is the main deity of the shrines on islands as Enoshima and Chikubushima and is often represented with a snake coiled around the rock on which she is seated. In Japanese legend, the snake is also a symbol of a woman's jealousy: in the famous story about Kiyohime, the jealous woman transforms herself into a serpent and coils around the temple bell in which her fugitive lover has hidden, literally "frying" him with her passion.
Perhaps because of the "Naga treasures," the snake is also associated with money and profit - on New year cards we often find it accompanied by gold coins.
Japan knows many snakes (as anybody who has hiked in Japan's forests can attest to); they are an ingredient in traditional medicine. Dangerous is the mamushi, the pitviper, whose bite leads to several deaths each year (another venomous snake is the habu, found on Okinawa).
The Year of the Snake is associated with the earthly branch symbol 巳 (mi), and this is how it is written on New Year's cards. | <urn:uuid:4c4a8fe3-f6cd-4510-a930-b2caaf1190a1> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.japannavigator.com/2013/01/the-year-of-snake-japanese-customs.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280587.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00562-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973676 | 548 | 3.171875 | 3 |
I would like to focus my long essay on spaces regarded as ‘hygienic’ and ‘non-hygienic’ in Shanghai. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it seems that notions of sanitation and hygiene were very closely tied to Westernization, at first by missionaries and concession governments, then later by Chinese newspapers, through advertisements of new ‘hygienic’ products. I would like to investigate who pronounced a space as hygienic or not, and how conceptions of these spaces changed over time. Shanghai is an ideal place to investigate the relationship between hygienic/non-hygienic spaces because it allows us to see notions of hygiene played on the scale of entire concessions, down to specific types of shops or interiors.
From the late 19th century, British medical missionary journals consistently ‘othered’ Chinese residents in Shanghai through health and hygiene practices. Leung argues that this is particularly seen in British medical practitioners’ insistence that China was similar in climate to the tropics, despite the fact that most of China was not in a tropical zone (Leung, p.111). Leung goes on to argue that calling a place ‘the tropics’ was a Western way of defining something as ‘culturally and politically alien, as well as environmentally distinct from Europe’ (Leung, p.115). The Medical Missionary Society in 1847 reports that “the natives have of course become thoroughly acclimated, and are not affected by the climate to the same extent as the foreigners” (Chinese Repository Vol. 17, p.189). This implies that even as the first missionary hospitals are being established in Shanghai, medical practitioners dictated a different health and hygiene standard for Chinese and foreign patients. Therefore, it is easy to agree with Leung’s argument that hygienic regiments and standards were not a method of maintaining health, but rather a way to “distinguish and distance the European self from the native other”(Leung, p.124).
Particularly in Shanghai, the way in which concession governments discussed the presence of Chinese houses in their European concessions demonstrates that they regarded Chinese spaces as unclean, unsanitary, and un-modern. This is particularly evident if we look at the reports from the ‘Conseil d’Administration Municipale de la Concession Française a Changhai’. A report from the Hygiene Committee in 1923 contains a speech on the ‘rural houses’ on Route Pere Robert, stating that “it is hardly acceptable that in this quarter, that has become an important European centre, exist a cluster of constructions as dirty as these ones. These houses do not have a single drainage, excretions and debris of all sorts of nature overrun…we cannot do practically anything there, all the disinfection would be only temporary and very costly” (Sèance du Comité, p.141). The report continues, and mentions under a section titled “Houses that are un-Sanitary and un-Aesthetic” the existence of a “typical town, not drained, typically dirty, a house on the border of Avenue Joffre constructed out of bamboo … almost all the real estate is in a state of dilapidation”(Sèance du Comité, p.142), concluding that these houses are a danger to public sanitation. This report demonstrates the severe ‘other-ing’, and complete blame the French concession government placed on these houses. The French government were using sanitation to insist that nothing non-European should exist in their concession.
Rogaski also explores this desire to create parallels between hygiene, modernity and Westernization by bringing up a 1930s short story called “Etiquette and Hygiene” by Liu Na-ou, about a Chinese couple living in the international settlement. The husband of the couple takes a walk from their home to enter the Chinese neighbourhood, and immediately describes how he has entered a ‘danger zone’, filled with ‘ghastly stenches’, and ‘prostitutes soliciting customers in alleys smelling of urine’ (Rogaski, p.225). This short story demonstrates that the association between hygiene and Westernisation had been prevalent in the early 20th century, as in the late 19th century. The descriptions offered in the short story are not dissimilar to descriptions from medical missionaries in 1850, where Shanghai was described as filled with a “stench that pervaded the whole city (…) If it had been wished to invent a plan for making a district unhealthy in the highest degree (…) perhaps none could have been devised so likely to prove prejudicial to the people, or one better adapted to produce extensive disease” (Chinese Repository Vol.20, p.154).
If we investigate spaces on a smaller scale, however, the concern with hygiene increases as we near the early 20th century. For example, medical missionary William Lockhard wrote in 1861 that “At Shanghai, there are numerous bathing houses established…[that are] for the most part very commodious and clean, and much resorted to” (Lockhard, p.40). Bathhouses would have been used as a social space, and a space for physical health and cleanliness. Here, the bathhouse is seen as a clean space, encouraged for use by everyone. However, if we compare this social space to tiger stove shops in the Nanjing Decade (1927-37), the relationship with hygiene is entirely different. Tiger stove shops sold hot water for drinking and bathing, and at night functioned as a ‘tea house’, which provided shelter for the night for the price of a cup of tea. These shops, like bathhouses, performed a social and practical function. This time however, they were regarded as filthy and unregulated. Historian Lu indicates a source where the writer complains that “the authorities have paid much attention to the hygiene of restaurants and the like, but (…) there has not been a single effort to regulate the filthy tiger stove shops- this can be counted as an oddity in the concessions!” (Lu, p.291). The Nanjing decade saw an increased interest of the state in regulating shops and businesses, and this seemed to come with an increased awareness for hygienic and non-hygienic spaces, and thus an increased pull towards all things western.
So, by looking at reports of concession governments, advertisements in newspapers, and works of medical missionaries, as well as the works of historians like Hershatter, Rogaski and Lu, I hope to explore how this relationship between modernity, westernisation, and hygiene developed, both in larger spaces like concessions, and in smaller, social spaces.
Lockhard, William, The Medical Missionary in China: a Narrative of Twenty Years’ Experience (London, 1861).
n.g, ‘Sèance du Comité d’Hygiène du 10 Juillet 1923’, Conseil d’Administration Municipale de la Concession Française a Changhai: Compte-Rendu de la Gestion pour l’Excercice 1923, pp141-142, <https://www.bnasie.eu/coreWeb/docReader/myReader.php?fID=bnPeriodical_ID-32_No-02.pdf> [accessed 28.10.2021]
Williams, Samuel Wells (ed.), Chinese Repository Volume XVII, (Canton, 1849).
Williams, Samuel Wells (ed.), Chinese Repository Volume XX, (Canton, 1851).
LaCouture, Elizabeth, Dwelling in the World: Family, House, and Home in Tianjin, China 1860-1960 (New York, 2021).
Leung, Angela Ki Che, Health and Hygiene in Chinese East Asia: Policies and Publics in the Long Twentieth Century (Durham, 2010).
Lu, Hanchao, Beyond the Neon Lights: Everyday Shanghai in the Early Twentieth Century (Oakland, 1999).
Rogaski, Ruth, Hygienic Modernity: Meanings of Health and Disease in Treaty-Port China (Berkley, 2004). | <urn:uuid:a1cda397-2f47-44b9-a64a-de0867d8ef77> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.spatialhistory.net/cities/2021/10/westernization-modernity-and-hygiene-in-shanghai/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571284.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20220811103305-20220811133305-00468.warc.gz | en | 0.942737 | 1,751 | 2.25 | 2 |
Purifier-type protoss mothership firing on a terran colony base on Haven. Artist: Blizzard Entertainment. Source: StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Last Accessed: Sept. 1, 2010.
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Glassing, otherwise known as planet cracking or purification, is a protoss war technique used to...
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After violence, fearful Wuppertal tries to ban Facebook shindig
The Local · 22 Jun 2011, 11:07
Published: 22 Jun 2011 11:07 GMT+02:00
The party invitation – apparently sent over Facebook by a 16-year-old – had attracted 1,600 replies before officials decided the event would be too dangerous for the narrow city street where it was scheduled to take place.
The concern comes in the wake of a series of parties organized anonymously on the internet, that have sometimes devolved into chaos and spurred calls for government solutions.
An incident in Wuppertal over the weekend made municipal authorities particularly nervous: 16 people were injured after a Facebook party attracted about 800 revellers and spun out of control.
There have been similar episodes across Germany, including a 250-person shindig in Munich’s subway that terrified normal passengers and a 1,500-person party for a 16-year-old Hamburg girl that turned violent and forced 100 police officers to respond.
Cities across the country have expressed deep concern and are trying to take proactive action against potentially large Facebook parties. Last week, Aachen banned one such party from being held in a city park. Düsseldorf’s mayor has threatened massive fines for people who organize unauthorized parties in city parks.
Officials have discretion to ban such events in advance if there is clear evidence acts of vandalism or violence could occur, although the anonymous nature of social networking makes it hard to do so.
The police union GdP said internet party organizers could be ordered to pay costs incurred by police, fire fighters or paramedics dealing with out-of-control crowds.
This week, another police union DPolG also called on legislators to put new laws in place to make it easier for police to pro-actively ban wild parties in advance. | <urn:uuid:b773fdd6-f231-47fc-be31-3d643bbdec6a> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | https://www.thelocal.de/20110622/35815 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988720000.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183840-00023-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960056 | 380 | 1.671875 | 2 |
All too often, we see news stories of high-profile trade secrets disputes involving high legal fees, damage to reputation and, most importantly, a loss of intellectual property (IP) and its related advantages for a business.
Typically, these trade secret disputes involve big-name companies, corporate espionage and national pride, and, as such, are often unrelatable to most business owners. However, trade secret protection should be part of every business plan, no matter the size or type of business.
What would happen if you or your company lost its competitive advantage? Are measures being taken to ensure it is retained? Does your company know where its competitive advantages are derived from?
Many business owners will not realise that the IP the company owns can be a significant value driver to the business.
You have heard it before—Uber® owns no cars; Airbnb® owns no property. They are businesses built on IP. We are in an IP driven economy where a large amount of value in many businesses no longer resides in the bricks and mortar that they own.
All new initiatives start life as a trade secret. The success of a company may depend on how effectively it identifies valuable trade secrets and implements a definable plan for safeguarding such. With proactive management, the enormous benefits that trade secret protection provides can be maintained.
What is a trade secret?
A trade secret can be any confidential information that relates to a new initiative. Some examples of trade secrets of a business are:
- commercial methods
- client information databases
- tooling manufacture and design
- productions practices
- efficiency data
- business methods and operation procedures
- software code
- marketing strategy
to name only a few.
Trade secrets are not confined to the IT industry.
Trade secret protection may not last forever. If the information becomes public, then the benefits of this form of protection are lost. Some kinds of information cannot be kept confidential forever, and appropriate timing is required to consider if other types of IP protection are more suitable.
To be a trade secret, the idea or information should:
- not be known to the public,
- have an economic benefit and therefore provide an advantage to the owner because the information is not known to the competition,
- and be maintained as confidential by the owner, i.e. it should be kept secret.
How do you protect your trade secret?
There are many options. It depends on your industry and what the trade secret is.
For example, if your trade secret is a complex moulding technique to make a unique product shape no one else has achieved – or make it more cost efficiently, then keep it confidential. This will require the process to be hidden from public view, a limit to the number of process operators, NDA’s used with contractors that may need to maintain the tooling and more
Teach operators to ensure they are aware of what a trade secret is and how it would affect the company if it were given away. Ensure they know to keep it confidential.
Think about your IP protection strategy at the very early stages of a new initiative and include a trade secret protection strategy. If you don’t, then your long and hard-earned successes may be the starting point for your competition. | <urn:uuid:55b1b39f-6d50-4bb6-8398-f418206a0362> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://nzentrepreneur.co.nz/what-is-a-trade-secret/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571911.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813081639-20220813111639-00470.warc.gz | en | 0.934005 | 666 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2016-496
Reference: Telecom Notice of Consultation 2015-134, as amended
Ottawa, 21 December 2016
File number: 8663-C12-201503186
Modern telecommunications services – The path forward for Canada’s digital economy
This decision sets out the actions the Commission is taking to help meet the needs of Canadians so that they can participate in the digital economy and society.
Modern telecommunications services are fundamental to Canada’s future economic prosperity, global competitiveness, social development, and democratic discourse. In particular, fixed and mobile wireless broadband Internet access services are catalysts for innovation and underpin a vibrant, creative, interactive world that connects Canadians across vast distances and with the rest of the world.
Canadians are using these services to find jobs, manage their investments, conduct business, further their education, keep informed on matters of public concern, consult with health care professionals, and interact with all levels of government. In general, fixed and mobile wireless broadband Internet access services improve the quality of life for Canadians and empower them as citizens, creators, and consumers.
A country the size of Canada, with its varying geography and climate, faces unique challenges in providing similar broadband Internet access services for all Canadians. Private sector investments, as well as funding programs from various levels of government, support the expansion of these services outside densely populated urban centres. Despite these efforts, many Canadians, particularly in rural and remote areas, do not have access to broadband Internet access services that are comparable to those offered to the vast majority of Canadians in terms of speed, capacity, quality, and price.
The Commission’s determinations in this decision were made with a view to achieving the following objectives:
- Canadians in urban, rural, and remote areas can access affordable, high-quality telecommunications services;
- telecommunications companies continue to invest in and various levels of government continue to fund robust infrastructure that can be upgraded in the future and that is capable of providing high-quality telecommunications services to Canadians across the country;
- Canadians can access innovative service offerings that enhance social and economic development; and
- Canadians can make informed decisions about their telecommunications services.
Pursuant to its legislative mandate, the Commission is establishing the following universal service objective: Canadians, in urban areas as well as in rural and remote areas, have access to voice services and broadband Internet access services, on both fixed and mobile wireless networks. To measure the successful achievement of this objective, the Commission has established several criteria, including,
- Canadian residential and business fixed broadband Internet access service subscribers should be able to access speeds of at least 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 10 Mbps upload, and to subscribe to a service offering with an unlimited data allowance; and
- the latest generally deployed mobile wireless technology should be available not only in Canadian homes and businesses, but on as many major transportation roads as possible in Canada.
The widespread availability and adoption of broadband Internet access services are issues that cannot be solved by the Commission alone. The universal service objective can only be attained with the help of other stakeholders in the Canadian telecommunications landscape. A variety of stakeholders have already undertaken efforts to address these issues. For example, the Government of Canada has announced funding to improve the availability of broadband Internet access services across the country. In addition, provincial and municipal governments across the country are devoting financial resources to broadband Internet access services, and the private sector is investing in improved and expanded network coverage.
To help attain the universal service objective, the Commission will begin to shift the focus of its regulatory frameworks from wireline voice services to broadband Internet access services. As such, the following services – which form part of the universal service objective – are hereby basic telecommunications services within the meaning of subsection 46.5(1) of the Telecommunications Act (the Act): (i) fixed and mobile wireless broadband Internet access services, and (ii) fixed and mobile wireless voice services.
The Commission will establish a mechanism, pursuant to subsection 46.5(1) of the Act, to fund continuing access to the basic telecommunications services listed above. This funding mechanism will assist the Commission in achieving various policy objectives set out in the Act, including the development of a telecommunications system that serves to enrich and strengthen the social and economic fabric of Canada and its regions.
A third party will operate the fund at arm’s length from the Commission in a manner that is transparent and efficient. The fund will evolve within the broadband Internet funding ecosystem and complement other sources of funding and investment. For the first year of the fund, no more than $100 million will be distributed. This amount will increase by $25 million annually over the following four years to reach an annual cap of $200 million.
As a result, the Commission will begin to phase out the subsidy that supports local telephone service – except where reliable broadband Internet access service is unavailable – and review its voice service regulatory frameworks. Consequently, Northwestel Inc.’s price cap regulatory framework is extended to 31 December 2018.
The Commission is also establishing regulatory measures to address issues related to accessibility for persons with disabilities and to enhance consumer empowerment.
The Commission will monitor progress towards achieving the universal service objective and closing the gaps in connectivity by continuing to collaborate with partners and by expanding its data collection process, as appropriate.
This decision complements the Government of Canada’s Innovation Agenda, notably the action area of competing in a digital world. Concurrent with this decision, the Commission is publishing, as a submission to the Innovation Agenda, input on the availability and adoption of broadband Internet access services in Canada, including gaps in access resulting from issues of infrastructure, affordability, and digital literacy, as well as barriers to connectivity in Indigenous communities.
- The Commission seeks to ensure that all Canadians have access to a world-class communication system. Telecommunications services play an important role in the lives of all Canadians, enabling them to participate in today’s digital economy and to access, for example, health care, education, government, and public safety services.
- Over the years, the Commission has established and modified (as appropriate) its policies to ensure that Canadians have access to basic telecommunications services. The Commission’s current policies on basic telecommunications services rely primarily on three interrelated regulatory measures, which were last reviewed in 2011:Footnote 1 the obligation to serve, the basic service objective, and the local service subsidy regime.
- The obligation to serve requires the incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs)Footnote 2 to provide telephone service to (i) existing customers, (ii) new customers requesting service where the ILECs have facilities, and (iii) new customers requesting service beyond the limits of the ILECs’ facilities.Footnote 3
- The basic service objective was set out in Telecom Decision 99-16 and consists of the following:
- individual line local touch-tone service;
- the capability to connect to the Internet via low-speed data transmission at local rates;
- access to the long distance network, operator/directory assistance services, enhanced calling features and privacy protection features, emergency services, as well as voice message relay service; and
- a printed copy of the current local telephone directory upon request.
- The basic service objective applies to the ILECs only in local exchangesFootnote 4 where the Commission continues to regulate the rates, terms, and conditions of wireline local telephone services. In exchanges where the Commission has forborne from regulation (forborne exchanges), the ILECs continue to have an obligation to provide stand-alone wireline local telephone services, which consist of (i) unlimited local calling at a flat monthly rate, subject to a price ceiling;Footnote 5 and (ii) access to a choice of long distance service provider.Footnote 6 The ILECs have the flexibility to meet this obligation by offering mobile wireless voice services.
- The local service subsidy regimeFootnote 7 was established to subsidize the provision of residential local voice services in high-cost serving areas (HCSAs).Footnote 8 Telecommunications service providers (TSPs), or groups of related TSPs, that have $10 million or more in annual Canadian telecommunications revenues are required to contribute to the National Contribution Fund (NCF). Contribution (money) is collected by means of a revenue-percent charge that is applied to the contribution-eligible revenues of a TSP. Certain revenues (e.g. from retail Internet and texting servicesFootnote 9) and other amounts (e.g. intercarrier payments) are currently excluded from the calculation of a TSP’s contribution-eligible revenues. The money collected in the NCF is distributed to ILECs serving regulated HCSAs, but only where they meet the basic service objective.
- In Telecom Regulatory Policy 2011-291, the Commission recognized that broadband Internet access services were an increasingly important means of communication. The Commission established universal target speeds of 5 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 1 Mbps upload for broadbandFootnote 10 Internet access service in Canada. The Commission stated that these speeds should be available to all Canadians, through a variety of technologies, by the end of 2015.Footnote 11
- However, the Commission determined that regulatory intervention was not appropriate at that time, choosing instead to rely on market forces and targeted government funding for the continued deployment of broadband Internet access service. Accordingly, the Commission did not modify the basic service objective to include broadband Internet access service.
Telecom Notice of Consultation 2015-134
- Through Telecom Notice of Consultation 2015-134, the Commission initiated a public proceeding to, among other things, examine (i) the telecommunications services that Canadians require to participate in the digital economy, (ii) how these telecommunications services are used by Canadians, and (iii) its role in ensuring the availability of affordable basic telecommunications services to all Canadians.
- A large number of parties with diverse interests and backgrounds participated in the proceeding. These include service providers such as large ILECs, small ILECs,Footnote 12 cable companies, and Internet service providers (ISPs); non-profit organizations representing, for example, consumers of telecommunications services, low-to-moderate-income Canadians, and persons with disabilities; small businesses; local, provincial, and territorial governments; arts and cultural organizations; Indigenous groups; post-secondary institutions; and individual Canadians. These parties represented all regions across Canada. There was significant representation of rural areas and the North.
- This proceeding included a public hearing that began on 11 April 2016.
- During the public hearing, the panel of Commissioners for the proceeding (the Panel) suggested that a coherent national broadband strategy be created, through an open and transparent process, based on evidence from all Canadians. The Panel specified that this strategy could be achieved (to the extent possible) through consensus, and implemented through shared responsibility—while the Commission may take some leadership on defining the strategy, it would not be alone in implementing and financing it.
- The Panel stated that the gaps in connectivity (geographic, technological, economic, and skill-related) should be assessed, as should the best ways to close them. In addition, the Panel raised the issue of who was in the best position to close or eliminate the gaps, and what role the Commission should play.
- The public record of this proceeding (including reports and input from Canadians), which closed on 13 June 2016, can be found on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca or by using the file number provided above.
- On 14 June 2016, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), put forward the Government of Canada’s Innovation Agenda, a vision to build Canada as a global centre of innovation. The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science; and the Honourable Bardish Chagger, Minister of Small Business and Tourism, supported Minister Bains’ vision to make innovation a national priority. All three ministers are expected to lead specific activities as part of a government-wide approach to building an inclusive and innovative Canada.
- According to ISED, the Innovation Agenda will be the focus of public engagement efforts intended to result in an action plan, and central to this plan will be a call to action for all sectors of society, since the Government of Canada cannot act alone if Canadians expect to see meaningful results.
Strategic policy objectives
- While voice communications were historically priced on time and distance, broadband connectivity has disrupted it all. Voice is now an application and content is a bit that travels at the speed of light to everywhere in the world through digital networks. We are in a day and age where everything is about broadband Internet. As a result, telecommunications regulation needs to be focused more on connectivity and capacity issues than on voice-related issues.
- The Commission’s decisions in recent years have been made with the goals of shaping Canada’s communication system and enabling Canadians to be active participants in the digital economy for years to come. These decisions are paving the way for high-quality broadband Internet access services to be offered at competitive rates across the country and facilitating the delivery of fixed and mobile wireless broadband Internet access services to Canadian communities.
- Access to scalable broadband networksFootnote 13 is essential as the digital economy in Canada expands. Telecommunications companies have invested, and will continue to invest, billions of dollars annually in wireline and wireless infrastructure to improve broadband Internet access services. Fibre technology is being heavily deployed in telecommunications networks to deliver faster speeds and greater capacity. Mobile wireless Internet access services, particularly those based on long-term evolution (LTE) technology, can offer the majority of Canadians download and upload speeds comparable to some fixed broadband Internet access services.
- Funding programs from various levels of government have supported, and will continue to support, the expansion of broadband Internet access services to areas that were previously uneconomic to serve. For example, the Government of Canada announced in Budget 2016 funding of up to $500 million to bring high-speed Internet access service to rural and remote communities.Footnote 14
- While the Commission set out to examine all telecommunications services that Canadians require to participate in the digital economy, fixed and mobile wireless broadband Internet access services became the focus of the proceeding. During the second week of the hearing, the Panel acknowledged that today, broadband Internet access services are vital to Canada’s economic, social, democratic, and cultural fabric. There is general agreement by all parties on the importance of broadband Internet access services for Canadians to participate in the digital economy.
- The Telecommunications Act (the Act) affirms that telecommunications services perform an essential role in the maintenance of Canada’s identity and sovereignty, and sets out several broad Canadian telecommunications policy objectives. The Commission’s determinations in this proceeding were informed by the policy objectives set out in section 7 of the Act, as well as the Policy Direction.Footnote 15
- Given this context, the determinations were made with a view to achieving the following specific objectives:
- Canadians in urban, rural, and remote areas can access affordable, high-quality telecommunications services;
- Telecommunications companies continue to invest in and various levels of government continue to fund robust, scalable infrastructure capable of providing high-quality telecommunications services to Canadians across the country;
- Canadians can access innovative service offerings that enhance social and economic development; and
- Canadians can make informed decisions about their telecommunications services.
- The Commission has identified the following issues to be addressed in this decision:
- Policy regarding modern telecommunications services
- The Commission’s role regarding broadband Internet access services
- Criteria for broadband Internet access services
- Broadband funding mechanism
- Modifications to current regulatory measures for local voice services
- Affordability of broadband Internet access services
- Consumer empowerment
- Digital literacy
- Data collection and monitoring
Policy regarding modern telecommunications services
Positions of parties
- Almost all parties in this proceeding, whether individuals, TSPs, governments, or non-governmental organizations (e.g. accessibility groups and consumer associations), submitted that Canadians need broadband Internet access services to participate in Canada’s digital economy. Individual Canadians, business representatives, and governments submitted that they anticipate that their needs will grow rapidly and that reliable broadband Internet access services significantly decrease barriers to accessing health services, jobs, and education. Municipalities noted the importance of broadband Internet access services in attracting and retaining talent and businesses, and developing tourism.
- The Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFA) submitted that Francophones in official language minority communities (OLMCs) need broadband Internet access services to overcome the scarcity of content in French in their community, including books, mobile apps for youth and schools, and television and radio content. This is the case particularly for Francophone OLMCs in Canada’s North and in other rural and remote parts of the country.
- A large number of individuals and parties, such as the Affordable Access Coalition (AAC), the Canadian Independent Telephone Company Joint Task Force (JTF), the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), the Kativik Regional Government, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, Inc. (MKO), and Rogers Communications Canada Inc. (RCCI),Footnote 16 submitted that the Commission should establish fixed broadband Internet access service as a basic telecommunications service. Some of these parties submitted that the Commission should establish a regulatory framework that recognizes that the functionality provided by local and long distance telephone services can be provided through broadband Internet access services. Also, many parties, including the FCM, the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications (FRPC), and OpenMedia.ca (OpenMedia), submitted that there should be universal access to fixed broadband Internet access service.
- A small number of parties, such as Saskatchewan Telecommunications (SaskTel) and TBayTel, submitted that while fixed broadband Internet access service is important, the Commission should not establish this service as a basic telecommunications service. They further submitted that the basic service objective should not be expanded to include broadband Internet access services.
- Bell Canada et al.Footnote 17 agreed that broadband Internet access services are important, but proposed that only broadband Internet access service at speeds of 5 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload be declared basic in areas that currently do not have access to those speeds. TELUS Communications Company (TCC) proposed that broadband Internet access service at 5 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload be declared basic along with voice telephony and certain ancillary services.
- Many individual Canadians and parties, such as Bragg Communications Incorporated, operating as Eastlink (Eastlink), and Media Access Canada (MAC), raised the importance of mobile wireless services. Some individuals considered mobile wireless broadband Internet access service essential to their participation in the digital economy and necessary for daily life and business. They added that mobile wireless services are important for public safety and in emergency situations while on the road. Other parties, including the AAC and the FRPC, submitted that while Canadians are increasingly adopting mobile wireless services, the majority of Canadians still rely on wireline services.
- The FCFA indicated that the lack of Internet access and cellular coverage in certain parts of the country has a significant impact on the vitality of OLMCs and limits their ability to participate in broader French-language society.
Commission’s analysis and determinations
- All Canadians, regardless of whether they live in urban centres or in rural or remote areas, benefit from having access to modern telecommunications services. Broadband Internet access services have become the catalyst for so much change – in the way businesses and governments offer and deliver services, and in the way Canadians express themselves as consumers, creators, and citizens of the digital world. Indeed, today’s networked environment has created fundamental shifts in just about every aspect of Canadians’ lives.
- Broadband Internet access services are used for economic development, to enhance productivity, to improve safety, and for the Internet of Things.Footnote 18 Moreover, broadband Internet access services offer innovative new approaches for Canadians to access the news and information they want from a wide choice of providers. These services empower Canadians to access audiovisual content that informs and entertains them when and how they choose. These services also help to attract and maintain the workforce in, and enhance the economies of, rural and remote regions of the country. Canadians will increasingly need to access broadband Internet access services to effectively participate in the digital economy.
- Since the Commission’s last review of the basic service objective, set out in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2011-291, broadband Internet access services have continued to increase in importance for Canadians. For example, the number of households subscribing to broadband Internet access services at speeds of 5 Mbps or higher increased from 54% in 2011 to 80% in 2015.Footnote 19 Canadians have also made greater use of these services; the monthly amount of data downloaded by residential subscribers has increased at an average rate of 50.4% annually over the last five years.Footnote 20
- The use of mobile wireless services also continues to grow, with 22 million Canadians subscribing to mobile wireless broadband services in 2015, compared to 13.2 million in 2011.Footnote 21 Also, the average monthly mobile wireless data usage per subscriber increased from 637 megabytes (MB) in 2014 to 932 MB in 2015, and the average monthly mobile wireless data usage by smartphone users increased from 988 MB in 2014 to 1,361 MB in 2015.Footnote 22
- Through the basic service objective, the Commission aimed to ensure that Canadians across the country had access to the level of telephone service generally available when this objective was established in 1999. Over the years, this objective has been used as a standard of service for providing subsidies in HCSAs and assessing service improvement plans. With near-ubiquitous access to this level of service in Canada, the basic service objective has achieved its purpose.
- Pursuant to the Commission’s legislative mandate, a new objective now needs to be established to recognize the current state of modern telecommunications services in Canada and to enable Canadians to become even greater participants in the digital economy. Accordingly, the Commission hereby establishes a universal service objective:
Canadians, in urban areas as well as in rural and remote areas, have access to voice services and broadband Internet access services, on both fixed and mobile wireless networks.
- Mobile wireless and fixed broadband Internet access services are key components of this new objective. Canadians living in rural and remote areas should have levels of broadband Internet access services similar to those available in urban areas. As well, it is still important for Canadians to access a variety of services and functionalities (e.g. voice, accessibility, emergency, and privacy) that are offered through traditional wireline phone services and can now also be provided through mobile wireless and fixed broadband Internet access services.
- The Commission will establish criteria to assess progress towards reaching the universal service objective. These criteria will be used to identify which regions do not have the appropriate level of broadband Internet access services and to determine where further infrastructure investment is needed. The Commission’s criteria for broadband Internet access services are set out below.
The Commission’s role regarding broadband Internet access services
Positions of parties
- The large ILECs, the large cable companies,Footnote 23 and some other parties (including the British Columbia Broadband Association [BCBA], the Canadian Association of Wireless Internet Service Providers [CanWISP], and Xplornet Communications Inc. [Xplornet]) submitted that the Commission should continue to rely on market forces which, combined with new targeted government funding, will drive the expansion of fixed broadband Internet access service availability and fill any gaps in the near future. These parties generally argued that the Commission’s role should be to set benchmarks and monitor progress. Bell Canada et al. and Cogeco submitted that the Commission should report and make recommendations to the Government of Canada regarding the issues in question in the current proceeding.
- Some parties, such as Bell Canada et al. and Eastlink, submitted that any Commission intervention to support the expansion of broadband Internet access service availability should be a last resort, and should be considered only for the most remote areas not reached by market forces or government funding.
- Many parties, including the AAC, the Eastern Ontario Regional Network / Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EORN/EOWC), the JTF, MKO, and OpenMedia, submitted that the Commission needs to take action in addressing the broadband Internet access service availability gap. These parties argued that market forces and targeted government funding will not result in the universal availability of broadband Internet access services. MKO submitted that the Commission attempted a “soft strategy” in 2011, and that since then, the connectivity gap has increased. The First Mile Connectivity Consortium (FMCC) and the JTF submitted that while federal funding programs have provided benefits for many underserved communities, they are not sufficient in scope, scale, or sustainability to fully address the gaps. These parties argued that the Commission should therefore take action. MKO further submitted that despite the essential nature of the Internet, the services provided to MKO First Nations are substandard and unreliable.
- Some parties, such as the EORN/EOWC and Mr. Luc Berthold, Member of Parliament for Mégantic-L’Érable, submitted that gaps in mobile wireless service coverage also need to be addressed. These parties argued that these gaps are a particular concern for public safety. Mr. Berthold added that these gaps in rural areas (i) have a negative impact on tourism; and (ii) inhibit economic growth by making it difficult to attract workers and businesses, and to retain young people.
- Some parties, such as the FMCC, the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT), the SSi Group of Companies (SSi), and Yukon Government (YG), submitted that the Commission should establish a funding mechanism to address the high cost and low capacity of broadband Internet access services in the North, including in satellite-served communities.
- During the public hearing, individual members of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now Canada (ACORN) described their struggles with the affordability of broadband Internet access services and the sacrifices they make to pay for their subscriptions. Parties including the AAC, OpenMedia, and l’Union des consommateurs (l’Union) submitted that the Commission should take action to address the gap in affordability of broadband Internet access services.
- Other parties, including the Cree Nation / Eeyou Communications Network (ECN), the FMCC, as well as Dr. Michael McNally and Dr. Dinesh Rathi, submitted that the Commission should take steps to address the gap in digital literacy, which prevents many Canadians from participating in the digital economy. The Cree Nation/ECN and the FMCC argued that the Commission should make funds available for digital literacy activities for northern residents.
Commission’s analysis and determinations
- For Canada to be prosperous in the digital economy, it is essential to have smart policy measures that reflect the realities of the digital global marketplace, keep up with the dynamic pace of change in knowledge-based industries, encourage innovation, and ensure a world-class digital environment for Canadians.
- The record of this proceeding clearly demonstrates that there is a significant disparity in the broadband Internet access service levels available in urban centres compared to those in rural and remote areas.
- Beyond the gap in the availability of high-quality broadband Internet access services, the record of this proceeding has identified other gaps, including the affordability of these services, the accessibility of these services for persons with disabilities, and digital literacy skill levels. These gaps prevent many Canadians from benefiting from the digital economy.
- The Commission cannot address on its own all the gaps in the availability and adoption of broadband Internet access services that have been identified over the course of this proceeding. While the Act gives the Commission broad powers to regulate the provision of telecommunications services, other stakeholders are better placed to implement solutions to address some of these gaps, as discussed later in this decision.
- However, with a view to implementing the telecommunications policy objectives set out in the Act, the Commission has a role in setting policies that will assist in expanding the availability and adoption of broadband Internet access services. Accordingly, the Commission will begin to shift the focus of its current regulatory frameworks from wireline voice services to broadband Internet access services. In particular, to support continued access to broadband Internet access services in underserved areas, the Commission intends to phase out the local service subsidy regime and to establish a new funding mechanism for broadband Internet access services. The Commission is also establishing regulatory measures to address issues related to accessibility for persons with disabilities and consumer empowerment, as outlined in the appropriate sections below.
- The determinations in this decision complement the Government of Canada’s Innovation Agenda, particularly the “competing in a digital world” action area. This action area seeks to harness the digital economy across sectors to encourage digital adoption and strengthen competitiveness, both of which require appropriate digital infrastructure availability, affordable access, and stronger digital skills among Canadians.
- On 18 October 2016, the Minister of ISED encouraged the Commission to make a submission to the Innovation Agenda. Consequently, concurrent with this decision, the Commission is providing a submission to the Innovation Agenda, in which it summarizes its findings and the views expressed by parties during the proceeding on issues related to the availability and adoption of broadband Internet services across Canada. These issues include gaps in access resulting from issues of infrastructure, affordability, and digital literacy.
Criteria for broadband Internet access services
- As part of this proceeding, the Commission sought comments on the characteristics that broadband Internet access services should have to meet the needs of Canadians.
- Below, the Commission establishes criteria to define the level of broadband Internet access services that should be available to Canadians. Specifically, the Commission will consider the broadband portion of the universal service objective to be achieved when Canadians have access to broadband Internet access services that meet the criteria set out below. These criteria will also play a role in the Commission’s new funding mechanism, which is discussed later in this decision.
Positions of parties
- There were a wide variety of opinions regarding an acceptable level of fixed broadband Internet access service. In general, most parties, such as the AAC, the JTF, and YG, were of the view that the most important criteria were (i) download and upload speeds, (ii) data allowance, and (iii) quality of service.
- Very few parties provided their views on an acceptable level of mobile wireless broadband Internet access service. Those parties that did, such as the Deaf Wireless Canada Committee (DWCC), often suggested the same criteria (i.e. speed, data allowance, and quality of service) that were proposed for fixed broadband Internet access service.
Commission’s analysis and determinations
- In Telecom Regulatory Policy 2011-291, recognizing the speeds needed for many Internet applications, the Commission established download and upload speed targets. Download and upload speeds continue to be important characteristics of broadband Internet access services.
- Over the past few years, the numbers of connected devices and applications used in a household have grown significantly, and these numbers will likely continue to grow. Consequently, the need for bandwidth is also growing. To give Canadians the tools they need to be able to participate in the digital economy, their broadband Internet access services must have sufficient data allowance.
- Broadband Internet access services make possible real-time applications, such as e-health services and distance learning, which are sensitive to any degradation of the connection. For Canadians to be able to use these applications, the broadband Internet connection must be of high quality.
- Accordingly, the availability of fixed broadband Internet access service offerings that meet certain levels of speeds, data allowance, and quality of service will help ensure that Canadians are receiving services that meet their needs and enable them to participate in today’s digital society. Specific values and parameters for these characteristics are established below.
- However, the criteria above cannot be the same for mobile wireless broadband Internet access service since the technical specifications of mobile wireless technology must be taken into account.
- LTE technology is currently the latest generally deployed mobile wireless technology and is available to 97% of the population.Footnote 24 However, many factors can uniquely affect the performance of mobile wireless broadband Internet access service, such as the terrain, spectrum, distance from the antenna, weather, type of device, and number of end-users connected to the network at any one time. As a result, the Commission specifies below the mobile wireless technology to which Canadians should have access as a measure of achievement of the broadband portion of the universal service objective.
- Accordingly, the Commission establishes the following criterion to assess whether the broadband portion of the universal service objective is achieved: the latest generally deployed mobile wireless technology should be available in Canada not only in premises,Footnote 25 but on as many major transportation roadsFootnote 26 as possible. However, the Commission recognizes that achieving this level of coverage will take time since the priority will be to meet the universal service objective for fixed broadband Internet access service.
Fixed broadband Internet access service criteria
Positions of parties
- Several ILECs submitted that the Commission’s existing target speeds of 5 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload remain appropriate. They indicated that these speeds are sufficient for Canadians to participate in the digital economy through various activities, such as web browsing, emailing, and video streaming.
- Other parties, such as the GNWT, the JTF, the Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation (NBDC), and l’Union, recommended that these target speeds be updated. A large number of consumers called for target speeds closer to 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload, and others called for even higher target speeds. Cisco Systems, Inc. submitted that Canadians should aspire to an Internet access service offering of 100 Mbps download and upload, while i-CANADA proposed higher target speeds of 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) download and upload.
- Many parties that supported higher target speeds, including the AAC and Cogeco, submitted that those speeds would enable Canadians to take full advantage of the applications available today and to use future applications as they become available (e.g. the Internet of Things). They were also of the view that higher target speeds are necessary, such as when there are many Internet users and many simultaneously connected devices in a household.
- Some parties pointed out that small businesses and employees working remotely need higher speeds to use the business tools and applications that are offered online. West Parry Sound Smart Community Network Inc. submitted that the current target speeds cannot accommodate today’s more complex business software applications. Some representatives of smaller communities and communities outside large urban centres submitted that the lack of availability of higher speeds constitutes a barrier to attracting businesses and investors into their communities.
- Many parties, such as Quebecor Media Inc., on behalf of Videotron G.P. (Videotron), and Xplornet, proposed that the Commission set a basic fixed broadband Internet access service definition for today, including speeds such as 5 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload, and an “aspirational” objective for the future including more ambitious speeds. For this aspirational objective, many parties suggested a speed of 25 Mbps download, but there was some disagreement around the upload speed. Some parties suggested that it remain at 1 Mbps, and others submitted that it should be set higher. For example, OpenMedia proposed an aspirational upload speed of 15 Mbps.
- Some parties proposed higher aspirational download and upload speeds. For example, the FRPC proposed that download and upload speeds of 100 Mbps be made available by 2021.
- Certain parties, such as the DWCC and OpenMedia, proposed that target speeds be symmetrical to take into account the fact that applications to upload content to the Internet (e.g. cloud computing) are increasing in importance.
- Campbell Patterson Communications (CPC) submitted that every Canadian needs equitable access not only to symmetrical connectivity, but to scalable connectivity. Axia NetMedia Corp. (Axia) submitted that the download and upload speeds necessary in this digital age need to be scalable from speeds of 25 Mbps to 1 Gbps.
Commission’s analysis and determinations
- In Telecom Regulatory Policy 2009-657, the Commission acknowledged the investments that Canadian ISPs were making in network infrastructure and encouraged continued investments to address changing network conditions. These changes were caused, in part, by Canadians’ growing reliance on the Internet and use of innovative new services. Since that decision, the investments made by ISPs have resulted in greater availability of faster broadband Internet access speeds. For example, in 2011, fixed broadband Internet access service at a download speed of more than 100 Mbps was available to 28% of households; however, with the investments made by ISPs, this percentage increased, reaching 75% of households in 2015.Footnote 27
- In the last few years, more and more Canadians have shifted towards digital platforms for many daily activities, such as those related to commerce, politics, health care, education, entertainment, security, sports, and global affairs. With the appearance of new applications and services, Canadians have significantly increased their use of broadband Internet access services, and speed requirements continue to grow. Speeds that were once acceptable by Canadians are regarded as slow a few years later. Accordingly, broadband Internet access service plans offering higher speeds have become more popular. For example, the percentage of broadband Internet access service subscriptions to plans with download speeds of 50 Mbps and higher went from just 0.3% of residential subscriptions in 2011 to 19.2% in 2015.Footnote 28
- The growing reliance on digital platforms is not limited to Canada; it is being experienced globally. Many of Canada’s trading partners, such as the United States and members of the European Commission, are implementing digital strategies to achieve download speeds of 50 Mbps or more within the next few years to enhance network infrastructures and to meet the growing demand for higher Internet speeds.
- It is crucial that broadband Internet access services in Canada keep pace with these global trends. They must offer the performance levels required to make it possible not only for Canadians to create, offer, and use products and services online, but for Canada to get ahead of the curve by attracting investments and being competitive in the digital economy.
- Canadians also need broadband Internet services with appropriate upload speeds for various activities, such as telework, videoconferencing, and real-time collaborative work. Rather than simply receiving content from various providers, Canadians need the ability to upload content quickly to become exporters and creators of content. However, Canadians and businesses in rural and remote areas generally do not have the ability to upload data rapidly; this impedes their participation in the digital economy compared to those in urban areas.
- It is also important for investments to be made in network infrastructure that is scalable. As technology and applications evolve within the telecommunications ecosystem, expectations concerning speeds are likely to change, and network infrastructures must be able to respond to future needs.
- In establishing an appropriate speed criterion, the Commission must consider what is currently available to the vast majority of the population and what is likely to be required in the future for Canadians to have new and creative ways to participate in the digital economy. The Commission estimates that 82% of Canadians currently have access to fixed broadband Internet access services at speeds of at least 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload.Footnote 29 The network infrastructure capable of providing those speeds is generally scalable, meaning that it can support download and upload speeds of up to 1 Gbps without requiring significant additional investment.Footnote 30
- In light of all the above, the Commission establishes the following criterion to assess whether the broadband portion of the universal service objective is achieved: Canadian residential and business fixed broadband Internet access service subscribers can access speeds of at least 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload.
- These speeds are to be the actual speeds delivered, not merely those advertised. That stated, the Commission recognizes that the broadband Internet access service speeds actually experienced by users are affected by a wide range of factors, some of which are outside the control of the network provider.
Positions of parties
- Most parties submitted that Canadians need a certain fixed broadband Internet monthly data allowance to participate in the digital economy. The FMCC and OpenMedia submitted that low-cost broadband Internet access service plans often come with low data allowances, making them impractical for participation in today’s digital economy.
- Many individuals stated that they use their monthly data allowance too quickly. Others indicated that the high fees for exceeding the monthly data allowance and the fear of exceeding the data cap prevents them from engaging in some online activities.
- Some parties indicated that in the North, the average number of people per household is higher, and that when many people share a single Internet connection, they quickly use their monthly data allowance. The NBDC submitted that Canadian consumers – especially those in satellite-served, remote, and predominantly Indigenous communities – face some of the most restrictive data allowances out of Canada’s peers in the Group of EightFootnote 31 and in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The NBDC therefore proposed a data allowance of 100 gigabytes (GB).
- YG supported the position that data allowances be removed or, at a minimum, that the Commission carefully scrutinize them in cases where customers have no realistic choice of supply. The GNWT submitted that unlimited data should be offered, but that if this is not economically feasible, a minimum monthly data allowance of 125 GB should be offered.
- Groups representing people with disabilities submitted that American Sign Language (ASL) and Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ) users need a sufficient minimum monthly data allowance to accommodate new video communication demands.
- Some parties argued that small businesses should not be prevented from engaging in business due to low data allowances. For example, representatives of communities outside large urban centres submitted that small and medium-sized businesses need sufficiently high data allowances to use the applications and tools that help them to be competitive in today’s economy.
- Many parties proposed that the Commission set a high minimum monthly data allowance for fixed broadband Internet access service. For example, the Canadian Media Concentration Research Project (CMCRP) suggested a minimum of 200 GB.
- Some parties submitted that a world-class communication system should enable unconstrained Internet use. L’Union stated that all consumers, including those with low incomes and those living in underserved areas, should have access to fixed broadband Internet access service without a monthly data allowance. The AAC and OpenMedia submitted that the Commission should eliminate data caps. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture stated that as the digital economy becomes increasingly central to agricultural operations, the availability of unlimited data packages should be a requirement for all ISPs, including those in rural areas.
- ISPs generally supported the continued use of data caps on the basis that Internet capacity is not unlimited. They opposed the idea of the Commission requiring them to provide unlimited data usage, and instead proposed data allowances that were lower than those proposed by other parties. For example, the JTF and RCCI proposed a minimum data allowance of 25 GB, and Eastlink proposed a minimum data allowance of 20 GB, arguing that these values are sufficient to enable Canadians to participate in the digital economy.
Commission’s analysis and determinations
- Increasingly, websites and services offered over the Internet require significant amounts of download and upload capacity. The digitization of many services (e.g. e-health services) and Canadians’ higher reliance on cloud computing services (e.g. online learning platforms, file hosting services, and streaming media sites) also demonstrate the need for broadband Internet access services with significant capacity.
- Canadians should be able to consume the amount of data they require to satisfy their educational, cultural, and social needs, and to participate effectively in the digital economy. Broadband Internet infrastructures must therefore accommodate this growing demand for capacity.
- If Canadians do not have access to sufficient capacity, they might limit their use of the Internet. For example, consumers may forgo downloading updates to their operating systems or computer programs to ensure sufficient capacity for other online activities. As such, there is a risk that many Canadians could become vulnerable to online threats.
- The average monthly amount of data downloaded and uploaded by residential broadband Internet access service subscribers increased an average of 50.4% and 30.2%, respectively, annually over the last five years.Footnote 32 Bandwidth consumption is expected to continue to grow as Canadians become more reliant on the applications enabled by broadband Internet access services.
- Almost all cable- and fibre-based broadband Internet access service subscribers have access to a choice of data allowance packages, including packages with an unlimited data allowance or with data add-ons. However, this choice is currently not available to many Canadians living in rural and remote areas. For example, today’s computerized farm systems require a broadband Internet access service with high data capacity. Canadian farmers therefore face challenges in running their increasingly digital operations due to limited broadband Internet access service options.
- A lack of sufficient data capacity impedes innovation and productivity in the economy of many rural and remote communities. Canadians should have the choice of an unlimited monthly data allowance package for fixed broadband Internet access service.
- In light of the above, the Commission establishes the following criterion to assess whether the broadband portion of the universal service objective is achieved: Canadian residential and business customers can subscribe to fixed broadband Internet access service that includes the option of unlimited data allowance.
Quality of service
Positions of parties
- Most ISPs were of the view that Canadians enjoy broadband Internet access services of high quality and that there is no need to establish quality of service criteria. Moreover, many ISPs argued that different applications require different quality of service characteristics, and that the needs of Canadians depend on how they use their broadband Internet access services. As a result, it would be difficult to set general quality of service criteria. They added that intensive efforts would be required to monitor those criteria, and that market forces alone would ensure that Canadians continue to enjoy high-quality broadband Internet access services.
- MAC submitted that broadband Internet access services with minimum service quality limits persons with disabilities, their families, and the broader public sector from deploying advanced applications.
- According to most parties, low levels of latency,Footnote 33 jitter,Footnote 34 and packet lossFootnote 35 are important for the purpose of ensuring high-quality broadband Internet access service. The significance of these service characteristics is best illustrated in the requirement for real-time communications services, particularly videoconferencing-type services such as telemedicine (e.g. remote surgery) and Video Relay Service (VRS).Footnote 36
- OneWeb, Ltd. submitted that Canadians need latency as low as 30 milliseconds (ms), while the Canadian Administrator of VRS (CAV), Inc. (CAV) suggested that a latency of up to 250 ms is acceptable. Xplornet submitted that mobile wireless services have a latency of approximately 100 ms and that satellite voice services have a latency of 400 ms, and that this has not prevented Canadians from adopting these services. The JTF suggested that jitter remain below 5 ms to ensure good-quality service. CAV and the FRPC recommended that packet loss be kept under 1%.
- Some parties, such as Cogeco, Shaw Cablesystems G.P. (Shaw), and SSi, mentioned other quality of service characteristics, such as the data throughput rate,Footnote 37 the oversubscription ratioFootnote 38 on a shared circuit, the error rate,Footnote 39 and uptime.Footnote 40
Commission’s analysis and determinations
- Broadband Internet access services that are not of high quality impede Canadians from participating in the digital economy, whether as consumers of communications products and services, creators and distributors of content, or citizens who need access to information to fully engage in a democratic society. Reliable broadband Internet access services are also important for people with disabilities since they use many Internet-based applications and services that improve their daily lives by facilitating communication, work, and the accessibility of goods and services.
- In rural and remote communities, high-quality broadband Internet access service is essential for accessing services that may not otherwise be available due to distance (e.g. health services via videoconferencing and education). Further, increasing reliance by banks and governments on virtual services requires reliable broadband Internet access services in all areas, including in rural and remote areas.
- While parties proposed a wide range of quality of service characteristics, the most important ones are latency, jitter, and packet loss. Real-time applications – particularly those with audiovisual functionalities – are sensitive to any degradation of the connection and require low levels of these three service characteristics to provide a smooth experience to the Canadians who use them.
- Accordingly, levels for latency, jitter, and packet loss need to be established to define high-quality fixed broadband Internet access service that would achieve the broadband portion of the universal service objective.
- While a wide range of values for latency, jitter, and packet loss levels were proposed, there is incomplete evidence on the record of this proceeding to establish appropriate metrics for these service characteristics. Further, ISPs argued that it would be difficult to monitor these service characteristics.
- Therefore, collaboration from various parties is necessary to establish appropriate metrics for these quality of service characteristics and a methodology to monitor them.
- A working group within the CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC)Footnote 41 would offer an opportunity for many different parties with technical expertise to provide input on appropriate metrics for latency, jitter, and packet loss.
- In light of the above, the Commission requests that CISC review and make recommendations on appropriate metrics for latency, jitter, and packet loss to define high-quality fixed broadband Internet access service for the assessment of whether the broadband portion of the universal service objective is achieved. These recommendations should include (i) technical specifications, (ii) the identification of points of interconnection (POIs)Footnote 42 in the ISPs’ networks where these metrics would apply, and (iii) the methods by which data on the service metrics could be collected and reported by ISPs in a consistent manner. The Commission expects that the quality of service metrics will reflect the objective that broadband Internet access services in rural and remote areas be of similar high-quality as those in urban areas.
- The Commission requests that CISC file its report with the Commission within six months of the date of this decision.
Measurement of success
- The universal service objective will take time and significant investments to achieve, and will require efforts from all stakeholders. The Commission therefore expects that funding from the public sector and investments from the private sector will be required over many years.
- Canada’s vast land mass and low population density in rural and remote areas constitute major challenges in building modern telecommunications networks for underserved households and businesses. The costs to reach these locations are not the same across the country. In communities that are more densely populated and closer to the transport network (the backbone), the per-household cost to upgrade or build infrastructure is lower. Conversely, remote or sparsely populated communities require significantly higher investments per household.
- Given the state of current telecommunications infrastructure in Canada, the Commission expects fixed broadband Internet access services, based on the criteria set out above, to be available in 90% of Canadian premises by the end of 2021, and in the remaining 10% of Canadian premises within 10 to 15 years. In communities where distance, geography, and limitations to existing technologies present challenges, the Commission expects that intermediate steps will be taken to progress towards these goals.
Broadband funding mechanism
Positions of parties
- The large ILECs, cable companies (e.g. Eastlink, RCCI, Shaw, and Videotron), as well as some other parties, such as the BCBA and Xplornet, generally submitted that no industry-funded mechanism for broadband Internet access service is warranted. They argued that market forces combined with government-funded initiatives should remain the primary means by which to continue to expand fixed broadband Internet access service availability in underserved areas.
- However, the majority of parties submitted that the Commission should implement a broadband funding mechanism to expand the availability of broadband Internet access service in all regions in Canada. These parties generally argued that market forces and targeted government funding are not sufficient to fill in all availability gaps.
- The AAC and CanWISP submitted that an industry-funded broadband mechanism established and managed by the Commission would not be subject to changing government priorities and would provide continued support for the high operating costs of broadband Internet access service in rural and remote regions.
- Parties including some provincial and territorial governments submitted that the Commission should be involved in funding transport infrastructure in underserved areas. They argued that this would be a means of increasing the number of service providers to these areas.
- The FMCC and the Kativik Regional Government submitted that there is a need for an industry-funded mechanism to support the operational costs of broadband Internet access service in First Nations and northern communities. These parties suggested that such funding should be used to support the deployment of broadband to anchor institutions, such as schools and libraries, in underserved First Nations communities.
- Specifically, the FMCC proposed that the existing NCF be replaced with a new funding mechanism called the Northern Infrastructure and Services Fund, which would be available to any service provider through a competitive processFootnote 43 that could offer facilities or services in designated areas. The mechanism would subsidize transport infrastructure in Northwestel Inc.’s (Northwestel) territory and northern provincial areas, such as Nunatsivik and Nunatsiavut, with the subsidized infrastructure being made available on a wholesale basis. The funding mechanism would be administered by an accountable, independent organization, include representation from communities, and involve ongoing consultation with communities.
- SSi submitted that satellite-dependent communities need dedicated funding for building terrestrial transport in these remote regions. SSi proposed that the Commission create a fund called the Backbone Assistance Program, which would allow open and affordable access to backbone (i.e. transport) connectivity and gateway services in satellite-served communities. SSi also proposed that a competitive process be used to determine who would receive funding.
- Specifically, SSi’s proposed fund would assist in building new transport infrastructure and supporting the cost of backbone already in place to allow connectivity to be provided to all local service providers at a consistent level across the North. SSi submitted that it was also necessary to lower the cost of backbone connectivity so that local service providers could deliver affordable broadband services and other basic communications services to consumers.
- To support the goal of ensuring that all Canadians have access to “basic” telecommunications services, particularly broadband Internet access service, the AAC proposed a new funding mechanism called the Broadband Deployment Funding Mechanism, through which subsidy would be made available to all TSPs using a competitive process. The annual cost of the AAC’s proposed funding mechanism would be capped at $220 million per year.
- With respect to the distribution of funds, many other parties, including the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties, Bell Canada et al., CMCRP, RCCI, Shaw, TekSavvy Solutions Inc. (Teksavvy), TCC, and Videotron, submitted that if a broadband fund were to be established, funding should be awarded based on a competitive process. These parties argued that this method is a best practice in the industry and would ensure that the funding program is fair and transparent.
- However, a small number of parties, such as the Columbia Basin Broadband Corporation, the JTF, and the Province of British Columbia, opposed this view. They submitted that funding should be provided to ILECs since they are best placed to meet the needs of underserved Canadians. YG submitted that Northwestel would be best placed to develop a project proposal for building new transport services in underserved areas in the North.
- Parties that were opposed to the establishment of an industry-funded mechanism offered some suggestions should such a mechanism be established. For example,
- Bell Canada et al. submitted that funding principles should be established;
- TCC submitted that the general terms and conditions of the Government of Canada’s Connecting Canadians funding program should be used as a guide to develop assessment criteria;
- Bell Canada et al. and RCCI proposed that funding should be transitioned from the local voice service subsidy, and that the amount of broadband funding should be no more than the current amount of the local voice service subsidy; and
- Bell Canada et al. submitted that should the Commission provide funding in satellite-dependent communities to pay for the ongoing operating costs associated with the lease of transponder capacity, this funding should be provided separately from any other terrestrial transport funding.
- Finally, many parties, such as the AAC, Bell Canada et al., Cree Nation/ECN, and TekSavvy, suggested that should the Commission develop a broadband funding mechanism, Internet and texting revenues (currently excluded from contribution-eligible revenues) should be included in the list of contribution-eligible revenues.
Commission’s analysis and determinations
Basic telecommunications services
- The need for a Commission broadband funding mechanism to support the provision of modern telecommunications services in underserved areas in Canada was extensively examined in this proceeding. Closing the gap in broadband Internet access service availability in Canada is an enormous financial challenge, requiring billions of dollars in funding and investments that can only be overcome through shared responsibility.
- While the Commission expects that continued investments from the private sector and funding programs from various levels of government will assist in achieving the broadband portion of the universal service objective, the record of this proceeding demonstrates a need for Commission intervention in closing the availability gap in Canada.
- Subsection 46.5(1) of the Act states that the Commission may require any telecommunications service provider to contribute, subject to any conditions that the Commission may set, to a fund to support continuing access by Canadians to basic telecommunications services.
- The universal service objective reflects the modern telecommunications services that enable the participation of Canadians in the digital economy and society. The Commission determines that the following services – which form part of the universal service objective – are basic telecommunications services within the meaning of subsection 46.5(1) of the Act: (i) fixed and mobile wireless broadband Internet access services, and (ii) fixed and mobile wireless voice services.
- The Commission further determines that it will establish a new mechanism, pursuant to subsection 46.5(1) of the Act, to assist in funding continuing access to the basic telecommunications services that form part of the universal service objective. This new funding mechanism will assist the Commission in achieving various policy objectives set out in the Act, including the development of a telecommunications system that serves to enrich and strengthen the social and economic fabric of Canada and its regions.Footnote 44
- There will be many elements involved in the Commission’s new funding mechanism, including guiding principles, fund design, and assessment criteria. In addition, the administration of this mechanism will require a defined governance structure and accountability framework. Below, the Commission sets out its determinations and preliminary views with respect to these elements. The Commission will initiate a follow-up proceeding in early 2017 to examine these preliminary views and other matters related to the establishment of the funding mechanism.
- The Commission has established above criteria to assess progress in the achievement of the broadband portion of the universal service objective. Geographic areas that do not meet these criteria are considered to be underserved areas for the purpose of the Commission’s broadband funding mechanism.
- The Commission expects that governments will continue to fund, and will create new funding programs to support, broadband infrastructure projects in underserved areas. In addition, the private sector will continue to invest in expanding and upgrading its broadband networks, including in underserved areas, to meet the needs of Canadians. As such, the Commission’s broadband funding mechanism will be aligned with existing and future broadband investments and funding initiatives; it will complement and not replace them.
- With respect to the administration of the Commission’s broadband funding mechanism, the Commission will designate a person to administer the fund pursuant to subsection 46.5(2) of the Act. The appropriate structure and safeguards for the administration of this mechanism will be put in place to ensure that the third-party administrator operates the fund fairly and efficiently.
- Accordingly, the following are the Commission’s guiding principles for the development of its broadband funding mechanism:
- The funding mechanism will focus on underserved areas in Canada;
- The Commission will attempt to align its funding mechanism with the broader ecosystem of current and future funding and investments; and
- To the greatest extent possible, the funding mechanism will be managed at arm’s length, based on objective criteria, and will be administered in a manner that is transparent, fair, and efficient.
- Competitive processes have been used for broadband government funding programs in Canada and abroad. As well, these processes are considered to be a best practice and a cost-effective, fair, and transparent means of distributing funding. Accordingly, a competitive process will be used to distribute funds to successful applicants under the Commission’s broadband funding mechanism.
- Applicants will be able to submit funding proposals to build or upgrade access and transport infrastructure for fixed and mobile wireless broadband Internet access service to achieve the broadband portion of the universal service objective in underserved areas. Both access and transport infrastructure are key to providing modern telecommunications services and thus support continuing access to basic telecommunications services. In addition, applicants will need to demonstrate that the proposal would not be viable without funding from the Commission’s mechanism.
- In some underserved areas, achieving the objective will likely need to be accomplished in incremental steps due to many factors, such as geography, the cost of transport capacity, the distance to points of presence, and the technology used.
Government funding and private sector investment
- To be eligible for the Commission’s funding mechanism, applicants will be required to secure a minimum level of financial support from a government entity. In this context, government entities include, for example, federal, provincial, territorial, regional, and municipal entities; Aboriginal governments; community entities; and non-profit organizations. In addition, applicants will be required to provide a minimum amount of investment in their project.
- The level of funding from a government entity and the proposed investment from the applicant must be more than a nominal amount and must be commensurate with the nature of the project. Applications with greater levels of government funding and private investment will be given more weight in the competitive process.
Level of funding
- In 2016, the local voice service subsidy was approximately $100 million. While the current amount of funding for the local voice service subsidy is an appropriate starting point for the Commission’s new broadband funding mechanism, given the size of the availability gap that exists in Canada, the level of funding from this new mechanism will need to be higher.
- A gradual increase in the level of funding would provide contributors to the broadband funding mechanism time to make adjustments regarding their contribution obligations. As well, capping the level of funding at a certain amount, and phasing out the local service subsidy regime as discussed below, would help mitigate contributors’ financial concerns.
- Accordingly, for the first year of implementation of the Commission’s broadband funding mechanism, no more than $100 million in funding will be distributed. This amount will increase by $25 million annually over the following four years to reach an annual cap of $200 million.
- The Commission intends to conduct a review of the fund in the third year to ensure that it is managed efficiently and is achieving its intended purpose. The incremental increases in years four and five will be contingent on the results of this review.
- With the changes to the contribution-eligible revenues set out in the section below, the revenue-percent charge at the $200 million annual cap would be approximately the same as the current revenue-percent charge.Footnote 45
- Many Canadians who depend on satellite services for some or all of their telecommunications needs are located in some of the nation’s most remote areas, where terrestrial transport facilities are minimal or non-existent. In particular, satellite-dependent communities present a challenge to connect terrestrially due to significant costs, lack of roads, harsh terrain, and short construction seasons.
- The Government of Canada has provided and continues to provide funding to expand broadband Internet access service in satellite-dependent communities. However, this funding is insufficient to provide these communities with adequate terrestrial transport infrastructure to achieve the broadband portion of the universal service objective. Connecting these communities using terrestrial transport facilities requires a collaborative approach with all stakeholders and the development of an action plan to pay for the necessary infrastructure costs. In the interim, the Commission’s broadband funding mechanism will also support these communities in improving their broadband Internet access services.
- To ensure that these satellite-dependent communities are supported by the Commission’s broadband funding mechanism, up to 10% of the total annual limit of the broadband funding mechanism will be allocated to satellite-dependent communities for the first five years of the fund’s operation. This funding is intended to support operational costs and potentially certain related capital costs.
Eligibility and assessment criteria
- In addition to the requirements set out in the fund design section above, funding applicants will be subject to a two-stage process. In the initial eligibility screening stage, proposals must meet certain eligibility criteria. Eligible proposals that proceed to the next stage, the assessment stage, will be examined on their merits using certain weighted criteria.
- The Commission sets out in Appendix 1 its preliminary view on certain eligibility criteria to be used to determine eligible recipients and eligible capital and operational costs, as well as on certain assessment criteria, for funding fixed and mobile wireless broadband infrastructure projects. These criteria, generally based on those used for other Government of Canada broadband funding programs, will be examined in the follow-up proceeding to establish the funding mechanism.
- The development of appropriate criteria for identifying priority underserved areas to be funded is an important element of the Commission’s broadband funding mechanism and will also be examined in the above-mentioned follow-up proceeding. Such criteria could include the existing level of broadband Internet access service available in the area, the proximity of the area to fibre transport infrastructure, the population density of the area, and the cost of the proposed investment.
- The Commission’s broadband funding mechanism will involve two main functions:
- the implementation and operation of the competitive process, as well as the management of the funding agreements (i.e. the project management function); and
- the collection of contributions and the distribution of funds (i.e. the accounting function).
- These functions could be conducted by a single administrator, or separate administrators could be selected for each function.Footnote 46 The Commission will retain oversight of the fund and will approve the projects to be funded.
- The Commission sets out in Appendix 2 to this decision its preliminary view on its responsibilities, as well as those of the third-party administrator(s) for the project management and accounting functions. These responsibilities will be examined in the follow-up proceeding to establish the funding mechanism.
- Currently, the board of directors of the third-party administrator of the local voice service subsidy fund has an audit committee to ensure that the administrator has followed Commission-approved procedures, collected the correct amount of contribution, and paid the correct amount of subsidy. The accounting function of the Commission’s broadband funding mechanism will require similar oversight.
- Accordingly, the board of directors of the third-party administrator for the accounting function of the Commission’s broadband funding mechanism will be required to establish an audit committee.
- The involvement of a fairness monitorFootnote 47 in the Commission’s broadband funding mechanism will not diminish or absolve the third-party administrator for the project management function of its accountability or responsibilities. Instead, it will ensure that the project management function is being administered in a fair, open, and transparent manner.
- Accordingly, the Commission will appoint a fairness monitor to observe the competitive process.
- Similar to the local voice service subsidy fund, contribution towards the broadband funding mechanism will be collected by means of a revenue-percent charge that is applied to the contribution-eligible revenues of a TSP.
- Retail Internet access and texting services are now used by consumers largely as a substitute or replacement for traditional voice services. Given that the broadband funding mechanism will support continuing access by Canadians to basic telecommunications services, it is appropriate to include retail Internet access and texting service revenues in the list of contribution-eligible revenues used to calculate the revenue-percent charge.
- Accordingly, contribution-eligible revenues will be expanded to include both retail Internet access and texting service revenues. This change to the calculation of the revenue-percent charge will take effect in the first year of implementation of the Commission’s broadband funding mechanism.
Modifications to current regulatory measures for local voice services
- As noted above, the Commission has relied on three interrelated regulatory measures to ensure that Canadians have access to basic telecommunications services: the basic service objective, the obligation to serve, and the local service subsidy regime. In addition, the Commission has established price cap and local forbearance regimes for local voice services, which are related to the above measures.
- Price cap regulation, which applies only to the ILECs’ tariffed services, generally places upward constraints on prices that companies can charge their customers. The Commission currently has similar price cap regimes in place for the large ILECs, the small ILECs, and Northwestel.Footnote 48 While the regime for Northwestel is set to expire on 31 December 2017, the regimes for the large ILECs and the small ILECs have no expiry date.
- The local forbearance regimes set out the detailed criteria that the large and small ILECs are required to meet before the Commission will forbear from rate regulation of retail local exchange services.Footnote 49 In forborne exchanges, the large and small ILECs continue to have an obligation to provide stand-alone wireline local telephone services subject to a price ceiling. A local forbearance regime has not been established for Northwestel.
Positions of parties
Basic service objective
- The ILECs and other parties, such as the AAC, CanWISP, Eastlink, and MKO, generally submitted that the current basic service objective remains important and that it would be premature to eliminate it, given that many Canadian households continue to rely on wireline voice services.
- Xplornet submitted that there is no requirement for a basic service objective because there are sufficient alternative technologies to provide voice services today. TekSavvy added that most provisions included in the basic service objective remain mandated as components of voice service, and that these components are available from competing providers over broadband Internet access service.
- TCC, Yellow Pages Limited, and other parties proposed that the Commission no longer mandate the provision of printed telephone directories under the basic service objective. They stated, among other things, that directory information is important to Canadians but that it can be more readily found by digital means. They noted that few mobile wireless telephone numbers are listed in the directory and that few subscribers request a printed copy of the directory.
- The AAC submitted that printed telephone directories are important for those who have limited or no broadband Internet access service. The JTF suggested that special home delivery of printed telephone directories could be arranged for certain vulnerable customers.
Obligation to serve
- Some parties, such as CanWISP, RCCI, Shaw, TCC, and Videotron, submitted that the obligation to serve should be eliminated in all markets where local voice service has been forborne from regulation since there is a competitive market for that service.
- RCCI argued that the obligation to serve is not necessary since in almost all cases, voice services are provided in response to consumer demand and competitive market forces.
Local service subsidy regime
- Parties such as MTS Inc. (MTS), SaskTel, and TCC submitted that distribution of the existing local voice service subsidy should continue. SaskTel submitted that although the amount of subsidy disbursed for local voice service is gradually declining, it continues to provide an important safety net for a significant segment of society.
- Many parties, including Bell Canada et al., CanWISP, Cogeco, Cree Nation/ECN, RCCI, Shaw, SSi, TekSavvy, Videotron, and Xplornet, submitted that the Commission should reduce, phase out, or eliminate local voice service subsidy.
- Bell Canada et al. submitted that the current local service subsidy regime is deficient and overstates the costs needed to provide voice services, and that as a result, it overstates the amount of local voice service subsidy needed to support the provision of local voice service.
- SSi argued that the subsidy is funding old technology and services from which customers are migrating away. Customers are moving to other forms of voice services, such as mobile wireless services or voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. CanWISP added that the Commission should subsidize voice services only in areas where no alternative voice services are available.
- Xplornet suggested eliminating the local service subsidy regime over a one-year transition period. However, Cree Nation/ECN proposed that the local voice service subsidy should remain in place for a maximum of three years and should be phased out thereafter.
- Most ILECs submitted that should the Commission decide to phase out the local service subsidy regime, the regulatory measures associated with the obligation to serve, including the price ceiling applicable to stand-alone residential wireline voice service, should be eliminated.
Commission’s analysis and determinations
- Voice services continue to be important for many Canadians. The Commission has recognized this by including them in the universal service objective. However, given the evolving importance of broadband Internet access services to Canadians’ participation in the digital economy, it is appropriate to transition the Commission’s regulatory frameworks and measures from being voice-centric to broadband-centric. Accordingly, the Commission must review these measures to determine whether changes are necessary to meet the policy objectives of the Act, and if so, what changes.
Basic service objective, local service subsidy regime, and the obligation to serve
- As stated earlier, there is currently near-ubiquitous access in Canada to the level of service set out in the basic service objective. As a result, the intended goal of the basic service objective has been achieved.
- The local service subsidy regime was developed to help Canadians in HCSAs benefit from the same residential voice services as those available in urban areas at reasonable prices by funding the difference between the price of the local voice services and the associated costs.
- Technology has evolved such that the ILECs’ network infrastructure, originally installed to deliver voice services, now also delivers other services, including broadband Internet access services. Mobile wireless and fixed broadband Internet access services are key components of the universal service objective. As stated above, the new broadband funding mechanism will help expand the availability of broadband Internet access services in areas that are currently underserved.
- Accordingly, the Commission determines that the current local voice service subsidy will be phased out. The Commission will launch a follow-up proceeding early in 2017 to examine the phase-out of the local service subsidy regime.
- The Commission expects that subsidy in HCSA BandsFootnote 50 E and F exchanges will be phased out first, while Bands G and H1 exchanges could require a longer phase-out period. Local voice service subsidy will be eliminated in regulated HCSA exchanges if the Commission determines that they qualify for forbearance, as set out in Telecom Decision 2006-15 and Telecom Regulatory Policy 2009-379. However, in all other regulated HCSA exchanges, the Commission does not intend to remove the local subsidy for a network access service (NAS)Footnote 51unless reliable broadband Internet access service is available.
- In addition, the Commission hereby eliminates the basic service objective as follows: (i) for regulated local voice service in non-HCSAs, the basic service objective is eliminated as of the date of this decision, and (ii) the basic service objective will be eliminated for a NAS in a regulated HCSA when the local voice service subsidy for that NAS is eliminated. The elimination of the basic service objective will not impede the continued provision of local voice service in regulated exchanges since the associated rates, terms, and conditions are set out in the ILECs’ respective tariffs.
- With respect to the obligation to serve, only ILECs are capable of providing access to local voice service for all customers in their respective exchanges. Given this situation, as well as the minimal presence of competitors in regulated exchanges, the obligation to serve, as it currently applies to voice telephone service, will be retained for the ILECs.
Price cap and local forbearance regimes
- Given the interrelationship of local voice service subsidy with both the price cap and local forbearance regimes, the elimination of this subsidy requires a review of, among other things, the existing pricing constraints and price ceiling applicable to the rates for residential local voice services.
- Accordingly, the Commission intends to launch a proceeding to examine the price cap and local forbearance regimes as applicable to the ILECs following its review of the local service subsidy regime.
- Since the Commission must complete its review of the local service subsidy regime prior to reviewing the price cap and the local forbearance regimes, the Commission hereby extends Northwestel’s current price cap regulatory framework to 31 December 2018.
Affordability of broadband Internet access services
Positions of parties
- Parties were divided on the need for regulatory intervention regarding prices for broadband Internet access services.
- Consumer groups, including the AAC, OpenMedia, and l’Union, submitted that certain vulnerable (e.g. low-income) consumers are struggling to afford broadband Internet access services. Provincial and territorial governments, as well as groups representing northern citizens, submitted that the prices for broadband Internet access services offered in rural and remote areas are significantly higher than those available in urban centres.
- These parties argued that the Commission should intervene to ensure that broadband Internet access services are affordable for all consumer segments in Canada. Notably, parties such as the Cree Nation/ECN, the FMCC, the JTF, and YG submitted that there should be a maximum retail price for broadband Internet access services. Cybera, EORN/EOWC, and OpenMedia proposed that the Commission mandate an entry-level tier for broadband Internet access services, similar to the model for basic television service packages. The Government of Ontario and MKO submitted that retail broadband Internet access service prices should be regulated only in areas with insufficient competition.
- The AAC and l’Union opposed the idea of a mandated entry-level tier for broadband Internet access services, submitting that this measure would not provide the flexibility to respond to end-users’ needs. Rather, they proposed that the Commission implement an affordability subsidy to support broadband Internet access services for low-income households. Similarly, SSi proposed a subsidy mechanism targeted to consumers living in HCSAs.
- By contrast, most ISPs argued that prices for broadband Internet access services are competitive and affordable, and that they compare favourably internationally. These companies opposed the imposition of any measure that would distract from continued reliance on market forces, including the introduction of a mandatory, price-regulated, entry-level tier for broadband Internet access services.
- These parties generally recognized the issues experienced by certain vulnerable consumers in paying for their telecommunications services. However, they were of the view that these issues stem from broader socio-economic conditions and not exclusively from the pricing of telecommunications services. As such, any subsidies should be funded by federal or provincial governments. RCCI and TCC also pointed to industry-led programs, including their own initiatives to offer affordable Internet packages to low-income households in their serving areas. They suggested that more experimentation and research are needed to find solutions and reduce barriers for these households.
Commission’s analysis and determinations
- The Commission does not regulate the retail rates for broadband Internet access services, with the exception of those provided by Northwestel over terrestrial facilities. However, the Commission has put in place wholesale and retail policies to foster a competitive marketplace for broadband Internet access services.
- For example, in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2015-326, the Commission established a wholesale wireline services framework to provide Canadians with increased choice and reasonable prices for their telecommunications services. Notably, through that decision, competitors can access certain telecommunications facilities and network components from incumbent carriers, including optical fibre facilities.
- In addition, in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2015-177, the Commission established regulatory measures to foster sustainable competition, innovation, and investment in the wireless services market. Specifically, the Commission began regulating the rates charged by the national wireless companies for the wholesale roaming services they provide to their competitors. The Commission also reduced certain barriers faced by mobile virtual network operators.
- Further, in Telecom Regulatory Policy 2013-271 (the Wireless Code Policy), the Commission established the Wireless Code, a mandatory code of conduct for providers of retail mobile wireless voice and data services. The Wireless Code sets out basic rights for wireless consumers, including protections against bill shock.
- These wholesale and retail policies have facilitated, and will further facilitate, sustainable competition, resulting in innovative service offerings and more competitive prices for consumers.
- There are between three and nine competing ISPs in the majority of urban centres, and between two and six wireless service providers (WSPs), thereby ensuring that Canadians living in urban centres enjoy the benefits of competitive offerings in the retail broadband Internet access services market. However, competitive and technological challenges related to the provision of fixed and mobile wireless broadband Internet access services in rural and remote areas can lead to higher prices for consumers.Footnote 52
- Moreover, analysis of pricing and income-related data from the 2016 CRTC Communications Monitoring Report supports parties’ views that low-income households are experiencing issues related to the affordability of their broadband Internet access services. Although spending on communications services by lower‐income households was less than that by higher‐income households, expenditures on communications services take up a significantly larger percentage of their annual incomes. In addition, households in lower-income quintiles are much less likely to use the Internet from home than those in higher-income quintiles.
- A comprehensive solution to affordability issues will require a multi-faceted approach, including the participation of other stakeholders. In this regard, the record of this proceeding demonstrates that various stakeholders, including ISPs and community organizations, have begun to implement innovative solutions to meet the wide-ranging needs of lower-income consumers. The Commission is mindful that its regulatory frameworks should be sufficiently flexible to allow for such solutions and does not want to take regulatory action that would inadvertently hinder the development of further private and public sector initiatives.
- In addition, the Government of Canada is currently examining these affordability issues in the context of its Innovation Agenda. As the Government of Canada has stated, everyone has a role to play. In the Innovation Agenda, ISED indicated that Canada must do more to give rural communities and low-income Canadians affordable high-speed Internet access services so that they can participate fully in the digital and global economy for a better quality of life. As stated in the Commission’s submission to the Innovation Agenda, the Commission supports concerted efforts from a variety of stakeholders as essential to making progress in this area and encourages other stakeholders to follow suit.
Availability and awareness of accessibility products and services
- In Broadcasting and Telecom Regulatory Policy 2009-430, the Commission set out a number of requirements and encouragements related to the promotion of disability-specific information and the training of customer service representatives. Regarding the promotion of disability-specific information, the Commission
- required TSPs to promote information on all of their disability-specific services and products in the accessible manner(s) of their choice;
- encouraged TSPs to promote disability-specific information through their websites; and
- encouraged TSPs to consult with customers with disabilities and the appropriate advocacy groups to develop suitable options and packages of optional features for persons with disabilities, and to offer such options at the earliest possible opportunity.
- Further, in the Wireless Code Policy, the Commission expected WSPs to ensure that customers with disabilities have the information they need to determine which plans, services, or products best meet their needs, and directed WSPs to report on these plans and services.The WSPs’ reports are available on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca.Footnote 53
Positions of parties
- The Canadian Association of the Deaf-l’Association des Sourds du Canada, the Canadian Hearing Society (CHS), DWCC, and MAC submitted that they find it difficult to locate information related to telecommunications plans and services that address the needs of people with disabilities. Further, the DWCC submitted that there is often no uniformity among companies’ wireless service plans geared for people with disabilities, nor is there consistency in how ASL and LSQ users are informed of wireless service plans. Collectively, these groups asked the Commission to ensure that WSPs do the following:
- offer packages that meet the needs of people with disabilities;
- clearly advertise these wireless plans in digital and print media, using ASL and LSQ, and English and French;
- develop terminology in ASL and LSQ videos for users to understand and navigate their wireless service contracts; and
- employ customer service representatives with specialized training in communicating with people with disabilities.
- Groups representing people who are Deaf or hard of hearing also submitted that Deaf Canadians primarily use data services – not voice services – to communicate, since they use video for sign language communications. As a result, many Canadians with hearing disabilities are paying for voice services that they are not fully using as part of their wireless services. These groups requested that WSPs offer packages that take into consideration low voice service use.
- MAC submitted that people with visual disabilities use many applications on their smartphones (apps) to address their accessibility needs. For example, a representative from the Canadian Council of the Blind explained that she uses several accessibility apps, including one that helps identify objects, read ingredient information on packages, and read cooking instructions. She also stated that many accessibility apps can be paired with a Braille display and that these apps make the smartphone an important tool to enhance the independence of people with disabilities.
- Some WSPs submitted that they currently offer a number of wireless service plans that could respond to the needs of people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, but that those consumers appear to be unaware of those plans. For example, TCC stated that it offers a $15 voice credit to its customers who are Deaf or hard of hearing and who cannot fully use the voice functionality of their phone. Also, RCCI submitted that it has introduced a flex plan with data and unlimited text messaging designed specifically for its customers with hearing disabilities.
Commission’s analysis and determinations
- The record of this proceeding demonstrates that some WSPs offer packages tailored to customers with disabilities; however, this does not appear to be a common practice among all WSPs. Canadians with disabilities should have equitable choices in the marketplace that meet their needs.
- Accordingly, the Commission directs all WSPs to offer mobile wireless service packages that meet the needs of Canadians with disabilities. These include people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, and primarily use video to communicate, as well as people with visual disabilities who use way-finding and Global Positioning System (GPS) apps. WSPs must make these packages available no later than six months from the date of this decision. These packages must include access to 9-1-1 service and be based on consultations with Canadians with disabilities.
- While Broadcasting and Telecom Regulatory Policy 2009-430 provided flexibility regarding how disability-specific wireless products/services are promoted, the record of this proceeding demonstrates that this approach does not ensure that Canadians with disabilities are aware of suitable options. Canadians generally use the WSPs’ websites as the initial and primary source of information, prior to engaging a customer service representative, for choosing suitable products/services. Therefore, these options must be clearly stated on WSPs’ websites.
- Accordingly, the Commission directs all WSPs to publicize all of their disability-specific products/services on their websites, and expects them to use other methods to publicize this information, such as through call centres, no later than six months from the date of this decision.
- In Broadcasting and Telecom Regulatory Policy 2009-430, the Commission encouraged TSPs to adopt the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and to conduct user testing for the customer service portions of their websites to be as accessible as possible. Since 2009, legislation has been passed into law or is in the process of becoming so in several provincesFootnote 54 that requires prescribed accessibility standards for websites, including the adoption of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. As a result, some WSPs, particularly the national providers, have already taken steps to implement these guidelines.
- Given the importance of WSPs’ websites in enabling Canadian consumers to make informed choices about their communications products/services, the information available on WSPs’ websites needs to be accessible to all Canadians.
- Accordingly, the Commission expects that all WSPs’ websites will meet the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines by 1 June 2017. The Commission will undertake an active monitoring program to verify that the products/services offered by WSPs, and the ways in which the WSPs make customers aware of their availability, are accessible to all Canadians.
Current and future accessibility initiatives
Positions of parties
- SaskTel submitted that it intends to continue to sponsor Inclusion Regina, the organization to which it had directed its deferral account funds for a program that enables people with cognitive disabilities to use tablets. MTS submitted that it worked with an accessibility organization to pilot an accessibility awareness training program for its employees. RCCI submitted that it systematically works to improve its services and processes for people with disabilities. Its efforts include meeting with representatives of advocacy groups, offering data-only wireless service flex plans, and offering a website and customer service representatives dedicated to serving the needs of people with disabilities.
- Several TSPs referenced various in-house accessibility initiatives. Bell Canada et al. highlighted Bell Canada’s Accessibility Services Centre, which houses sign language videos to assist customers who use ASL/LSQ and increase their digital literacy. Bell Canada et al. stated that Bell Canada’s deferral account initiativesFootnote 55 on mobility were set up with a product lifecycle support of beyond five years (2019) in mind and that they hoped this set-up would continue thereafter.
Commission’s analysis and determinations
- The Commission acknowledges the progress that some TSPs have made in advancing accessibility efforts, as reflected on the record of this proceeding. However, the Commission reiterates that the inclusion in the communication system of all Canadians is in the public interest and that accessibility needs to be an integral part of the corporate structure of any organization.
- The Commission’s experience with deferral account funding for accessibility initiatives has highlighted the following principles that should be used to guide future investment in accessibility initiatives:
- seeking solutions from non-traditional avenues outside the current supply chain of equipment manufacturers, including third-party app developers and suppliers that focus on accessibility issues;
- ensuring that accessibility features introduced on a platform are carried over to future iterations, thus encouraging third-party innovation in accessibility;
- consulting the appropriate accessibility organizations;
- offering integrated packages of products and accessibility apps with technical and customer support for a “one-stop shop” approach; and
- developing innovative customer service models tailored to the needs of customers with disabilities.
- The majority of the telecommunications service market is currently served by a few large facilities-based TSPs, and their activities related to accessibility have the potential for initiating change in market behaviour. To ensure that the Commission, as well as Canadians, are kept apprised of these activities, these providers should report on their accessibility initiatives.
- Accordingly, the Commission directs Bell Canada, Bell Mobility Inc., Cogeco, Eastlink, MTS, RCCI, SaskTel, Shaw, TCC, and Videotron to each submit a detailed report concerning their respective plans to invest in the ongoing accessibility of their telecommunications services. These reports are to be filed with the Commission no later than six months from the date of this decision.
Mandating captioned telephone services
Positions of parties
- The CHS submitted that Canadians with hearing disabilities and speech impediments need a captioned telephone service, similar to Captioned Telephone (CapTel) in the United States.Footnote 56 The CHS therefore recommended that the Commission direct TSPs to conduct a feasibility study, similar to the one Bell Canada conducted on VRS, for the establishment of bilingual captioned telephone services in Canada.
Commission’s analysis and determinations
- There are currently three relay services, namely Teletypewriter (TTY) Relay Service, Internet Protocol (IP) Relay Service, and VRS, that address the real-time communications needs of Deaf and hard-of-hearing Canadians. VRS was launched in September 2016.
- There is no evidence on the record of this proceeding to indicate that there is an insufficient choice of services to fulfill the needs of Canadians with hearing disabilities. Accordingly, it is not appropriate for the Commission to mandate captioned telephone services at this time.
Positions of parties
- Many individual Canadians expressed frustration with data overage charges for Internet access services. Individuals submitted that, combined with low data caps and the challenges of understanding and monitoring data use, data overage charges can lead to bill shock and high prices for broadband Internet access services. Canadians indicated that it is difficult to understand the data allowances associated with their broadband Internet access services, the overage fees they may be charged if they exceed those limits, and how to accurately monitor their data use.
- Individuals indicated that this is especially problematic for customers without access to unlimited data plans or to plans with higher data caps, and for customers in rural and remote areas where the lack of competitive alternatives limits the choice of data cap options. Customers in these areas submitted that they are especially vulnerable to bill shock and that they must limit their Internet use, unless they are willing to pay additional overage fees, which can be as much as $3 per GB.
- Consumer advocacy groups and ISPs had differing opinions on how the Commission should address consumer frustration related to bill shock from data overage charges. The AAC and OpenMedia submitted that the Commission should eliminate data caps, since they no longer serve a purpose as an Internet traffic management practice (ITMP). YG supported the position that data caps be removed, or at a minimum, that they be carefully scrutinized by the Commission in areas where customers have no realistic choice of supply.
- In contrast, ISPs generally supported the continued use of data caps as economic ITMPs and did not consider bill shock to be a sufficient reason to prohibit data caps. Bell Canada et al. and TCC submitted that (i) they offer unlimited data packages, (ii) only a small portion of their respective customers with data caps incur overage charges, and (iii) customers who routinely exceed their data caps receive additional education to help them understand their data use. Many ISPs submitted that they provide tools to help customers better understand their services.
Commission’s analysis and determinations
- Bill shock has been an issue for consumers of mobile wireless data services. In the Wireless Code Policy, the Commission stated that it expected WSPs to offer data usage notifications and monitoring tools, and required these providers to ensure that postpaid contracts and related documents clearly explain (i) the services included in the contract, (ii) any limits on the use of those services that could trigger overage charges or additional fees, (iii) the minimum monthly charge for services included in the contract, and (iv) where customers can find information on rates for overage charges. The Commission is currently reviewing the Wireless Code Policy, and any issues stemming from mobile wireless broadband Internet access services will be considered as part of this review.
- With respect to fixed broadband Internet access services, the data usage associated with common online activities can be complex and difficult for consumers to estimate. The record of this proceeding revealed that many Canadians are unaware of certain basic elements of their Internet access service contracts, including their monthly data usage limits.
- This confusion can result in consumers unintentionally exceeding their data limits and experiencing bill shock. Data overage charges for fixed broadband Internet access services vary greatly between ISPs, ranging from $0.50 to $3.00 per additional GB.
- Only a few ISPs have implemented a maximum overage charge in a monthly billing cycle, which means that customers who find it difficult to understand and monitor their data usage could get billed an amount that exceeds their usual monthly bill by hundreds of dollars. Individual and small business consumers of broadband Internet access services in all regions of Canada should have the information they need to understand, monitor, and manage their data usage to prevent bill shock.
- Accordingly, the Commission expects all ISPs that provide retail fixed broadband Internet access services to individual and small business customers to do the following, within six months of the date of this decision:
- ensure that contracts and related documents clearly explain, in plain language, (i) the services included in the contract; (ii) any limits on the use of those services that could trigger overage charges; (iii) the minimum monthly charge for services included in the contract; (iv) where customers can find information on rates for overage charges; and (v) whether or not there is a maximum data overage charge that might be incurred in a monthly billing cycle, and if so, the amount of that maximum charge;
- provide account management tools that enable customers to monitor their data usage; and
- provide plain-language information on the data usage associated with common online activities.
- The above-noted information and tools should also be accessible to customers with disabilities.
- Further, the Commission directs the following large ISPs – Bell Canada, Cogeco, Eastlink, MTS, RCCI, SaskTel, Shaw, TCC, and Videotron – to report on how they have met these expectations within nine months of the date of this decision.
- If consumers were notified of alternative broadband Internet access service plan options that may better suit their needs when they incur data overage charges, they would be empowered to better manage their bills and to avoid bill shock. The availability of usage monitoring tools and data overage notifications would provide consumers with cost certainty and would empower consumers to make better-informed choices.
- Accordingly, the Commission directs all ISPs that offer retail fixed broadband Internet access services, within six months of the date of this decision, to notify residential and small businessFootnote 57customers who have incurred overage charges of where they can find information about (i) the account management tools the ISP offers, (ii) the data usage associated with common online activities, and (iii) alternative plans that may better suit the customer’s needs. Customers should be able to opt out of these notifications at any time. Such notifications must be provided each month in which a customer incurs data overage charges, unless the customer opts out of receiving such notifications.
- Further, the Commission directs the following large ISPs – Bell Canada, Cogeco, Eastlink, MTS, RCCI, SaskTel, Shaw, TCC, and Videotron – to report on how they have met this requirement within nine months of the date of this decision.
- If a particular ISP is faced with a unique barrier that would make it technically impossible or financially unreasonable to implement the expectations or requirements listed above within the time frames provided, that ISP can file an application to obtain an extension from the Commission. However, the ISP is required to provide detailed evidence and rationale demonstrating that the burden it faces is unreasonable.
Positions of parties
- Individual Canadians, consumer groups, and provincial governments submitted that Canadians require not only access to broadband Internet access services, but also the knowledge of how to participate in the digital landscape so that they can benefit as much as possible from what it offers. Some provincial governments indicated that they have introduced digital literacy programs.
- Parties such as the Cree Nation/ECN, the FMCC, MediaSmarts, and the NBDC proposed that the Commission establish a fund for digital literacy initiatives. Dr. Michael McNally and Dr. Dinesh Rathi proposed that the Commission develop a national digital literacy strategy and a series of programs in conjunction with Employment and Social Development Canada.
- TSPs indicated that they are not well-equipped to address digital literacy, and that this issue would best be addressed by governments.
Commission’s analysis and determinations
- The Commission acknowledges that a gap in digital literacy skills is a factor that can contribute to limiting consumers’ ability to participate in the digital economy and society, and that closing this gap would maximize the potential benefits for Canadians. However, responsibility for the issue of digital literacy is not within the Commission’s core mandate. Multiple stakeholders are involved in the digital literacy domain, and additional coordination among these stakeholders is necessary to address this gap.
- For example, in the context of the action area of competing in a digital world under the Innovation Agenda, the Government of Canada is seeking input on innovative ways to develop stronger digital literacy skills among Canadians. The Commission looks forward to the findings of the Government of Canada’s public engagement efforts and the resulting plan.
Data collection and monitoring
Positions of parties
- Many parties submitted that the Commission should continue to monitor the availability of broadband Internet access services, and suggested improvements in the collection and reporting of related information.
- Some parties, such as the AAC, the CMCRP, and the FRPC, suggested that the Commission should collect and make available additional information on broadband Internet access service affordability and use.
- Other parties, such as the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance Inc. (CCSA), the Canadian Network Operators Consortium Inc. (CNOC), and TekSavvy, argued that there is a lack of information on the availability of transport services, such as interexchange private line and dark fibre services. These parties also argued that in some areas of the country, there is insufficient competition for these services, and that the Commission should therefore review its forbearance frameworks for these services.
Commission’s analysis and determinations
- The Commission intends to closely monitor the availability and affordability of broadband Internet access services, including progress towards achieving the broadband portion of the universal service objective. The Commission will therefore expand its data collection process, as appropriate, to improve its ability to monitor the evolution of broadband Internet access service availability and offerings. Under the Act, the Commission has the authority to collect information from, among others, Canadian carriers and non-carriers. The Commission will also collaborate with federal, provincial, and territorial governments to collect data on broadband Internet access service availability.
- With respect to transport services, investment in transport facilities will be required in rural and remote areas to achieve the broadband portion of the universal service objective. There is insufficient evidence on the record of this proceeding to determine all areas of the country where there is a lack of transport capacity. There are also, potentially, alternative suppliers of transport facilities in rural and remote areas, such as hydro-electric companies that have fibre facilities.
- Therefore, the Commission will perform a fact-finding exercise to collect more information on the availability of transport services to underserved areas, and will not re-examine the forbearance frameworks for these services at this time.
- The Policy Direction states that the Commission, in exercising its powers and performing its duties under the Act, shall implement the policy objectives set out in section 7 of the Act, in accordance with paragraphs 1(a), (b), and (c) of the Policy Direction.
- The issues under consideration in this decision relate to the provision of basic telecommunications services, which Canadians require to participate in the digital economy, and whether new or modified regulatory measures are required in this regard. Therefore, subparagraphs 1(a)(i) and (ii),Footnote 58 as well as subparagraphs 1(b)(i), (ii), and (iii),Footnote 59 of the Policy Direction apply to the Commission’s determinations in this decision.
- Consistent with subparagraph 1(a)(i) of the Policy Direction, the Commission has relied on market forces to the maximum extent feasible in making its determinations in this decision. For example, the Commission will establish a targeted broadband funding mechanism that will provide subsidy subject to certain conditions and only in underserved areas that are uneconomic to serve.
- Consistent with subparagraph 1(a)(ii) of the Policy Direction, the regulatory measures approved in this decision are efficient and proportionate to their purpose, and minimally interfere with market forces. In particular, the broadband funding mechanism is narrow in scope, and will replace, over time, the local voice service subsidy. The broadband fund will complement – and not replace – existing and future private sector investments and government funding within the broader funding ecosystem.
- In compliance with subparagraph 1(b)(i) of the Policy Direction, the policy objectives set out in paragraphs 7(a), (b), (c), (f), (g), and (h) of the ActFootnote 60 are advanced by the regulatory measures established in this decision. The determinations in this decision – particularly with respect to the establishment of a universal service objective and a broadband funding mechanism – are consistent with the objective of responding to the economic and social requirements of users, and the objective that Canadians in both urban and rural areas have access to reliable and affordable telecommunications services of high quality.
- Consistent with subparagraph 1(b)(ii) of the Policy Direction, the regulatory measures established in this decision, for example, using a competitive process to distribute funding, will neither deter economically efficient competitive entry into the market nor promote economically inefficient entry.
- Finally, consistent with subparagraph 1(b)(iii) of the Policy Direction, the regulatory measures that are not of an economic nature are, to the greatest extent possible, symmetrical and competitively neutral. For example, with respect to persons with disabilities, the Commission requires all WSPs to offer specific services and take measures to publicize these services. In addition, the Commission requires all ISPs to take measures to improve customer awareness of the following aspects of their retail fixed broadband Internet access services: (i) the terms and conditions of their service contracts, and (ii) their data usage.
- Final 2016 revenue-percent charge and related matters, Telecom Decision CRTC 2016-473, 2 December 2016
- Review of wholesale wireline services and associated policies, Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2015-326, 22 July 2015, as amended by Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2015-326-1, 9 October 2015
- Review of basic telecommunications services, Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2015-134, 9 April 2015, as amended by Telecom Notices of Consultation CRTC 2015-134-1, 3 June 2015; 2015-134-2, 22 December 2015; 2015-134-3, 14 January 2016; 2015-134-4, 9 March 2016; and 2015-134-5, 28 April 2016
- Regulatory framework for wholesale mobile wireless services, Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2015-177, 5 May 2015
- Bell Canada and Bell Mobility Inc. – Further proposals for the use of deferral account funds to improve access to telecommunications services for persons with disabilities, Telecom Decision CRTC 2014-527, 8 October 2014
- Northwestel Inc. – Regulatory Framework, Modernization Plan, and related matters, Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2013-711, 18 December 2013
- The Wireless Code, Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2013-271, 3 June 2013
- Regulatory framework for the small incumbent local exchange carriers and related matters, Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2013-160, 28 March 2013
- Obligation to serve and other matters, Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2011-291, 3 May 2011, as amended by Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2011-291-1, 12 May 2011
- Review of the Internet traffic management practices of Internet service providers, Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-657, 21 October 2009
- Accessibility of telecommunications and broadcasting services, Broadcasting and Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-430, 21 July 2009, as amended by Broadcasting and Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-430-1, 17 December 2009
- Framework for forbearance from regulation of retail local exchange services in the serving territories of the small incumbent local exchange carriers, Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-379, 23 June 2009
- Price cap framework for large incumbent local exchange carriers, Telecom Decision CRTC 2007-27, 30 April 2007
- The Canadian revenue-based contribution regime, Telecom Circular CRTC 2007-15, 8 June 2007
- Price cap regulation for Northwestel Inc., Telecom Decision CRTC 2007-5, 2 February 2007
- Forbearance from the regulation of retail local exchange services, Telecom Decision CRTC 2006-15, 6 April 2006, as varied by Order in Council P.C. 2007-532, 4 April 2006
- Regulatory framework for the small incumbent telephone companies, Decision CRTC 2001-756, 14 December 2001
- Restructured bands, revised loop rates and related issues, Decision CRTC 2001-238, 27 April 2011, as amended by Decisions CRTC 2001-238-1, 28 May 2001; and 2001-238-2, 7 August 2001
- Industry Consensus Reports submitted by the Contribution Collection Mechanism (CCM) Implementation Working Groups, Order CRTC 2001-220, 15 March 2001
- Changes to the contribution regime, Decision CRTC 2000-745, 30 November 2000
- Telephone service to high-cost serving areas, Telecom Decision CRTC 99-16, 19 October 1999
Appendix 1 to Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2016-496
Eligibility and assessment criteria – Preliminary view
Eligible recipients will be required to meet the following criteria:
- be legal entities, incorporated in Canada, that already operate or intend to operate broadband infrastructure. These include private sector companies; provincial, territorial, regional, municipal, and First Nations entities; and non-profit organizations. Individuals and federal entities (including Crown corporations) are not eligible.
- demonstrate experience in deploying and operating broadband infrastructure. If the entity does not itself have a track record in operating broadband infrastructure, it must demonstrate that it has appropriate resources with experience deploying and operating broadband infrastructure as part of its project team or contractual resources.
- demonstrate solvency and reliability through supporting documentation.
Terrestrial component of the fund
Eligible costs will include costs associated with activities such as engineering and design, environmental scans and assessments, as well as the purchase and installation of equipment and infrastructure (including the provisioning of backhaul capacity and other one-time access-driven costs).
These eligible costs will include, for example,
- equipment costs, including the costs of servers, switching and transmission equipment, fibre‐optic cable, repeaters, radio and microwave equipment, towers, poles, shelters and enclosures, backup power supplies, and network broadband connectivity devices including upgrades and adaptions;
- material costs associated with the set-up and performance of the proposed project;
- labour costs, including the one-time costs associated with the engineering and installation of capital equipment, network deployment, and service provisioning;
- labour-related travel costs, such as those associated with engineering, installation, network deployment, and service provisioning, considered on a case-by-case basis; and
- other direct costs associated with the project start-up.
Satellite component of the fund
For satellite-dependent communities, eligible costs are the costs associated with improving the speed, capacity, and quality of broadband Internet access services in the community. These eligible costs will include those listed above, as well as satellite capacity and equipment costs, such as the portion of the direct purchase or lease of bandwidth or capacity, modems, satellite links, and any other costs directly related to building and maintaining earth stations.
Applications will be assessed based on the following factors, with a view to minimizing, if possible, overlaps in multiple projects and overbuilding existing coverage:
- Speeds – Applications will be given more weight the greater the expected improvement in download and upload speeds for the community’s broadband Internet access services (measured in Mbps).
- Capacity – Applications will be given more weight the greater the expected improvement in data transfer capacity per household in the community (measured in GB).
- Quality of service – Applications will be given more weight the greater the quality of service that can be provided to customers in terms of latency, jitter, and packet loss.
- Government funding – Applications will be given more weight the greater the level of financial contribution of the total project costs from a government entity.
- Private investment – Applications will be given more weight the greater the level of financial contribution of the total project costs from private investment.
- Scalability – Applications will be given more weight the greater the capacity of the proposed project to do the following over a five-year period after project completion: (i) provide higher speeds, (ii) provide increased network capacity, (iii) expand to serve more clients (households and businesses) within the proposed project area, and (iv) expand to serve a larger area.
- Wholesale access – Applications will be given more weight if wholesale access to elements of the network is proposed.
- Mobile coverage – Applications will be given more weight if mobile wireless coverage in addition to fixed broadband Internet access service is proposed.
- Timeliness of project rollout – Applications will be given more weight the earlier the proposed completion dates.
- Service coverage – Applications will be given more weight the more households and businesses served and the greater the geographic area covered.
- Coverage density – Applications will be given more weight the greater the proportion of underserved households and businesses within the proposed project area.
- Cost per household – For the terrestrial component, applications will be given more weight the lower the cost per household.
- Sustainability – Applications will be given more weight the greater the potential of the proposed project to support long-term use of the network (as demonstrated in the operations plan, subscriber estimates, financial forecast, and technology solution).
- Pricing – Applications will be given more weight the lower the monthly price for subscribers for a broadband Internet access service plan that includes a higher data transfer.
Appendix 2 to Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2016-496
Project management function – Preliminary view
Role of the third-party administrator
The third-party administrator will be governed by a board of directors and will have full independence from any recipients of the broadband fund (such as ISPs). The board will ensure that all activities are conducted in full compliance with the terms of its agreement with the Commission and all applicable laws, rules, and regulations.
Specifically, the responsibilities of the third-party administrator for this function will include the following:
- administering the application process;
- producing an application guide for Commission approval;
- receiving applications; and
- communicating with applicants and parties that may be interested in applying.
- screening and assessing applications;
- developing assessment tools (such as an assessment grid) for Commission approval;
- screening applications by applying the Commission’s eligibility criteria (such as those outlined in Appendix 1);
- assessing the merits of eligible applications using the Commission’s weighted criteria (such as those outlined in Appendix 1);
- providing to the Commission a list of eligible applications, including projects recommended for funding; and
- demonstrating how, and to what extent, the projects recommended for funding meet the Commission’s eligibility and assessment criteria.
- managing funding agreements;
- preparing funding agreements;
- communicating with the third-party administrator for the accounting function, as required, regarding the schedule of payments and any hold-back payments; and
- reviewing fund recipients’ interim, annual, and final performance reports, including results data, to ensure that contribution agreements are fulfilled.
- conducting activities related to accountability; and
- filing with the Commission an annual report containing a budget and audited financial statements; and
- co-operating fully with the fairness monitor engaged by the Commission.
- reporting results.
- collecting data from fund recipients and sharing it with the Commission, taking into account commercial sensitivity as appropriate; and
- monitoring and filing annual public reports on the performance of the broadband fund.
Role of the Commission
As stated in the decision, the Commission will retain oversight of the fund, approve the projects to be funded, and appoint a fairness monitor.
The Commission’s responsibilities for the project management function will include the following:
- establishing the complete terms and conditions of the fund and approving any amendments to these terms and conditions, which may be proposed by the third-party administrator;
- approving the application guide produced by the third-party administrator;
- approving assessment tools to be used by the third-party administrator;
- reviewing the third-party administrator’s recommendations of projects to be funded; and
- developing a performance measurement strategy for the fund, including developing performance measures and indicators, the supporting data requirements, and a data collection strategy.
Accounting function – Preliminary view
Role of the third-party administrator
The third-party administrator for this function will be responsible for collecting contributions from TSPs and remitting payments to the successful applicants. This administrator will be governed by a board of directors, which may include fund recipients, such as ISPs, given that the administrator will make no recommendations or decisions with respect to funding.
Specifically, the responsibilities of the third-party administrator for the accounting function will include the following:
- implementing Commission-approved decisions with respect to its operating procedures and the contribution pay-in rate;
- maintaining the system used by TSPs to report their revenue information;
- collecting monthly revenue information from TSPs;
- collecting contributions from TSPs;
- making payments to fund recipients based on the schedule set out by the administrator for the project management function; and
- conducting an annual review of its systems and processes to ensure that it has followed Commission-approved procedures.
Role of the Commission
The Commission’s responsibilities for the accounting function will include the following:
- approving the procedures for this function;
- determining the revenue-percent charge contribution pay-in rate on an annual basis;
- determining the allowable deductions within the contribution regime; and
- performing other related tasks, such as reviewing TSPs’ annual contribution-eligible revenue reports.
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According to the World Health Organization, four non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – cancers, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases and diabetes - are responsible for 80% of all deaths from NCDs worldwide. This is despite the fact that there is a clear link between lifestyle and non-communicable diseases.
So behaviour change is key to the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, particularly as the number of cancer cases are expected to rise globally over the next two decades.
On this page we highlight specific lifestyle factors and their link to cancer; this includes:
looking at the research analysis we conduct as part of our Continuous Update Project (CUP) – the world’s largest, most authoritative and up-to-date source of scientific research on cancer prevention and survivorship through diet, nutrition, physical activity and cancer;
referencing additional external research on lifestyle patterns across different populations and their implications for developing cancer. | <urn:uuid:9a7d1bb8-b7b6-4a1d-b234-46182c3f585b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.wcrf.org/int/link-between-lifestyle-cancer-risk | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281424.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00337-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935683 | 191 | 3.109375 | 3 |
The determining factors of entry of new firms into industrial sectors: a survey
Entry is a common feature of all industries and it represents a key aspect to be studied in order to understand the dynamics that characterise the evolution of industrial sectors. It is the purpose of this paper to analyse the process of entry of firms into markets and the nature of the factors that could play a role in determining it and in shaping the evolution of market structures. Different fields of economic literature examine the dynamic process of entry of new firms. In this paper, we focus our attention on the differences that characterise these approaches: the traditional approach, the technological regime theory, the role of “competence-enhancing” and “competence-destroying” technological change, the industry life cycle theory, the role of information and uncertainty, the organisational ecology approach and the psychological view. We claim that the relationship of the entry processes with the evolution of market structures, then, can be deeply understood only if we take into account the distinctions and the complementarities offered by these views.
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Afghan war could spill over into Pakistan, India, warns dailyNovember 9th, 2010 - 2:41 pm ICT by IANS
Islamabad, Nov 9 (IANS) Islamabad and New Delhi need to give peace a chance as “a civil war in Afghanistan post-US withdrawal…will spill over into both Pakistan and India, leading to a widening of the war”, a Pakistani daily said.
In an editorial, the Daily Times said Tuesday: “President (Barack) Obama’s observations during his visit to India are something both India and Pakistan should seriously consider…he emphasised the importance of a stable Pakistan for the wellbeing of India.”
“This has become even more important because, in addition to their traditional rivalry, the two countries are becoming embroiled in pursuit of their respective interests in Afghanistan.”
It pointed out that “if Pakistan is not stable and prosperous…India cannot rest sanguine. Those very elements, which were instruments of its foreign policy in Afghanistan and India, are now challenging the writ of the Pakistani state”.
President Obama was in India Nov 6-9 on the first leg of a four-nation tour that will also take him to Indonesia, South Korea and Japan.
“Obama’s soft tone towards Pakistan indicates that the US thinks that it cannot win in Afghanistan without even the half-help that Pakistan is extending, half because of Pakistan’s dual policy towards the Taliban.”
It went on to say that Obama has taken a clear position that the US cannot impose its will on the Pakistan-India divide, but would be glad to facilitate the peace process.
“The will for peace, however, has to come from within the two South Asian neighbours. Given the accumulated layers of grievances over time, this will be an uphill task.”
The editorial observed that Afghanistan’s scenario was tricky, “given the growing strength of the militants and lack of a credible government. If the problems between India and Pakistan are not resolved in the common interest of the two neighbours, the region and the world at large, it will have grave consequences”.
“A civil war in Afghanistan post-US withdrawal and struggle for turf and influence will spill over into both Pakistan and India, leading to a widening of the war, which raises the risk threshold given that both neighbours are nuclear armed,” the daily said.
“Hence both India and Pakistan must give peace a chance, without which we cannot hope to survive in a dignified manner, let alone progress.”
- Pakistan may delay Taliban operation - Nov 22, 2010
- India seeks more talks with US on Afghan withdrawal - May 31, 2012
- Pakistan daily fears UN sanctions over `strategic assets' - May 03, 2012
- Pakistan's 'deep state' will remain abiding challenge for India (Comment) - Jul 12, 2012
- Pakistan not playing effective role in terror war: Afghanistan - Nov 09, 2010
- US should talk to Afghan neighbours: Kissinger - Nov 02, 2011
- US may turn to India if talks with Pakistan fail: Daily - Mar 31, 2012
- A decade since 9/11, Pakistan back to square one: Daily - May 07, 2011
- India seeks regional framework, opposes meddling in Afghanistan - Nov 02, 2011
- India wants to keep getting oil from Iran: Pakistani daily - Jan 30, 2012
- End Siachen row, Pakistan and India urged - Jun 02, 2011
- Forced disappearances negate humanity, says Pakistani daily - Sep 11, 2012
- Pak facilitating Afghan-Taliban secret meetings for own strategic advantage: Editorial - Nov 02, 2010
- Obama signs cooperation pact with Afghanistan (Lead) - May 02, 2012
- `Pakistan, India trade talks to give peace a chance' - Feb 15, 2012
Tags: afghan war, asian neighbours, barack obama, grave consequences, grievances, india and pakistan, militants, nation tour, New Delhi, pakistan india, peace process, sanguine, soft tone, south korea, state president, traditional rivalry, uphill task, war in afghanistan, wellbeing, writ | <urn:uuid:b0800597-3ec6-4490-96db-215fb4530cc5> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/south-asia/afghan-war-could-spill-over-into-pakistan-india-warns-daily_100456956.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280221.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00232-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933351 | 871 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Bill Traylor: his art, his life
A former slave who began drawing at the age of 85, Bill Traylor created over 1,500 silhouette-like drawings of plants, animals, people, and abstract forms. Sophisticated and naive, whimsical and sinister, these works offer us a stunning vision of Traylor's unique genius. 144 illustrations.
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Adler Modern Alabama Artist Atlanta Bill Traylor BLUE CONSTRUCTION cardboard 13V4 cardboard 1o'/4 cardboard 22 cardboard Signed Carl Hammer Gallery charcoal on cardboard Charles and Eugenia Charles Shannon Cheekwood Museum Collection of Charles Collection of Hirschl Collection of Judy Collection of Luise Collection of Montgomery Collection of Siri colored pencil Compressed charcoal courtesy of Carl courtesy of Cheekwood courtesy of Hill Courtesy of Hirschl DOG Poster paint Eugenia Shannon FIGURE/CONSTRUCTION FIGURES AND DOG Gift of Charles High Museum Hill Gallery Hirschl & Adler HOUSE WITH FIGURES Judy Saslow Lanford Wilson Luise Ross Gallery Marvill Collection Monroe Street Montgomery Museum mule Museum of Art Nashville oppos1te paint and pencil paint on cardboard Pencil and colored pencil and pencil Pencil and poster pencil on cardboard pencil on paper Photo courtesy Photo Ricco/Maresca Gallery Photo Scott Photographic Photo Zindman/Fremont plantation Private Collection Scott Photographic Service sidewalk Siri Von Reis South Traylor drawings York | <urn:uuid:1c9102d7-fa05-44f1-913d-cbb44a47248a> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://books.google.com/books?id=1CFQAAAAMAAJ&dq=related:ISBN0824090063&source=gbs_similarbooks_r&hl=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280310.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00180-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.776055 | 311 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Note 21, Chapter 5 of the author's Christina Rossetti in Context which the University of North Carolina Press published in 1988. It appears in the Victorian web with the kind permission of the author, who of course retains copyright.
In a letter to his sister dated 7 September 1881, Dante Rossetti describes Swinburne's reaction to A Pageant and Other Poems, in which Monna Innominata first appeared: "Swinburne's delight with the [volume] amounted to a dancing and screaming ecstacy" (Doughty and Wall, Letters of D. G. Rossetti, 4:1920). It is clear that Christina read Swinburne's poetry with some care. See FL, 120, and Packer, Christina Rossetti, 353.
Last modified 24 June 2007 | <urn:uuid:9e87c4de-206a-4332-be53-5c40615d1229> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/crossetti/harrison2/5n21.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285289.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00148-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928522 | 166 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Green juices are packed with cell-nourishing, health-enhancing goodness. And to turn it up a notch, I like to add a little red, in the form of beets, to my greens. Beyond adding amazing color, beets offer incredible benefits including combating inflammation, aiding detoxification, and even giving your brain a boost. This inflammation-busting recipe is one of my favorites and is a smart way to start the day.
- 3-4 Tuscan kale leaves (Any kale will work but Tuscan is my favorite for this recipe because of its less bitter flavor and deep green color)
- 1 small lemon, peeled
- 1 knob ginger (1/2 inch to 1 inch), peeled
- 1 large cucumber, unpeeled
- 1 apple, unpeeled and seeds removed (Any type of apple will work but I like the sweeter varieties for this and opt for Fuji)
- 1 small beet, peeled
Note: I suggest using organic ingredients whenever possible.
1. Wash produce thoroughly and peel if needed.
2. Add ingredients to juicer in manageable chunks and juice away. Depending upon your type of juicer, you may need to cut your produce into smaller pieces. If your juicer has various settings, it’s helpful to use a high setting when juicing beets.
3. Enjoy as soon as possible to get the most nutritional benefit.
4. Save the beet greens to use later or pop a couple in the juicer with this recipe.
Want to turn your passion for wellbeing into a fulfilling career? Become a Certified Health Coach! Learn more here. | <urn:uuid:691b16c6-4e17-483d-a0c4-ef688f3cdef3> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-13136/an-inflammationbusting-beet-juice.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.914473 | 341 | 1.609375 | 2 |
The WSJ covered the sentencing of certain Atlanta educators convicted of falsifying student test scores. One wonders what would happen if this approach were applied to plagiarists?
From the WSJ:
In all, 35 people were indicted in March 2013. The group included Beverly Hall, the district’s nationally celebrated superintendent.
Since the indictments, 21 of those charged settled with plea agreements, and two defendants died of cancer, including Ms. Hall.Before her March 2 death, Ms. Hall repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
Eleven of the remaining 12 educators were convicted on April 1 under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, orRICO, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. Several also were convicted on other felonies related to the cheating case.One was acquitted.
During the trial, which lasted more than five months, the prosecution argued that Ms. Hall oversaw the wide-ranging scheme, which occurred in 2009, to fix incorrect answers on the state’s Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, falsely inflating the reputation of the urban school system.
The cheating scandal first came to light in 2009, when the Atlanta Journal-Constitution raised questions about changed answers on standardized tests at many Atlanta public schools.
A 2011 report from investigators appointed by then-Gov. Sonny Perdue found that cheating on the tests was rife among teachers and administrators. The educators were responding to pressure from Ms. Hall’s administration to show improvement in scores or face discipline or less pay, the report found.
"Loser pays" in the Innovation Act looks tame by comparison. | <urn:uuid:7a107f6c-0c54-45ea-a713-13f44806630c> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2015/04/applying-rico-to-educators-who-falsify.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280310.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00189-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970379 | 329 | 1.71875 | 2 |
It seems like barely a few weeks have gone by since the last public announcement about the discovery and identification of a new fossil human ancestor and here we are again, looking at a new face in the family line up.
Meet Homo gautengensis.
Recently we were “warned” that the discovery of several proto humans were about to hit the headlines. The first of these is now getting the limelight; a new member to the genus Homo no less.
|Photo courtesy of Darren Curnoe|
The preliminary information available through public channels at the time of writing indicate that this new species of hominid, which measured about three feet tall and weighed around 110 pounds, was capable of walking upright as well as moving around in the trees. They lived from about 2 million years ago to 600,000 years ago. According to the researchers involved in this discovery, Homo gautengensis predated Homo habilis, officially still listed as the oldest known tool making and using human. As you will see below, there are other researchers who claim that Homo habilis had a much greater time depth. This headline grabbing statement will, no doubt, generate an interesting discussion.
This may now change as more context information becomes available. According to Dr. Darren Curnoe thinks it is highly likely that these hominids ‘produced and used stone tools and may even have made fire.” The presence of burnt bones found in association with the human remains points to this alleged use and mastery of fire.
More information will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal HOMO – Journal of Comparative Human Biology. Until then, this seems to be the extent of what the general public knows. What is certainly interesting to note here is that, while the announcement is to be made soon, the skull fragments were found in 1976 in the famous Sterkfontein caves. According to a University of New South Wales publication,
“The surprise finding was based on a partial skull – known by its museum catalogue number Stw 53 – along with two other partial skulls, several jaws, teeth and other bones found at various times at Sterkfontein and other nearby caves.”
This is not the end of the story. As they say in late night commercials: “but wait there is more…” What is the broader picture here? We all know that when it comes to the study of early human ancestors, hyperbole often abounds in press releases and subsequent newspaper articles. With that in mind, be prepared to read headlines in which the totally incorrect terminology of “missing link” will re-appear. There will also be claims that our understanding of human has been “severely shaken,” as it was claimed in other cases, again and again. You get the picture.
Photo credit Thomas Roche
Aside from all this predictable hoopla, we do have a chronological range (2 million to 600,000 years ago) and a place (Gauteng province, South Africa). Who else was around during that timeframe? As it turns out, quite a few hominids were around during that time span, all members of the genus Homo. Homo rudolfensis lived in East Africa from 1.9 to 1.8 million years ago; Homo habilis lived in Eastern and Southern Africa from 2.4 to 1.4 million years ago; Homo erectus lived in Northern, Eastern and Southern Africa as well as parts of Asia; Homo heidelbergensis lived in Europe, and possibly Asia and Africa from 700,000 to 200,000 years ago.
It looks like the place was crowded. In a way it was, with many more species of hominids present on our planet, mainly Africa, than there are today. In another way, it was not; we should not conjure up images of all these ancient hominids bumping into each other and stepping aside to let the others pass as if it were a busy pedestrian crossing in downtown Tokyo. Chances are that most may not have seen other species, and, if they did, were they aware that these others were different?
The earliest accepted evidence of using and controlling fire dates back to 790,000 years ago, at a site in Israel. If this find is pegged closer to the 2 million years ago mark, this would move the marker of fire use back in time considerably. We are not yet at stage of the game yet to make that call.
I wonder what the next announcement will bring. | <urn:uuid:d7f6d8ce-19eb-42b9-b4a5-2bf77cb92ba4> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://blog.hmns.org/tag/homo-rudolfensis/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280221.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00228-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974648 | 927 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Risklayer is collaborating with Tagesspiegel Innovation Lab to crowdsource data on the spread of the Corona Virus.
The Coronavirus data often arrives late to the public: first the infection comes, then symptoms show up in the affected population, then some are tested, and finally the number of infection cases are reported. And only then does the slow reporting begin in Germany: from districts (Landkreise) to federal states, total numbers of people infected across the country can be tallied up.
To make this all go faster, the Tagesspiegel Innovation Lab is collaborating with Risklayer to report the number of infected persons using the swarm intelligence of volunteers from all over Germany. Under the leadership of Risklayer and the Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the reports are collected directly from about 400 individual websites of the district offices and verified several times a day. This shows that the number of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 is already far higher than reported by the federal states.
Excerpts of the original article in the Tagesspiegel translated by Bijan Khazai in English | <urn:uuid:bafeffc5-9344-4a42-a16a-01f8827f2e23> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://risklayer.com/blog/Risklayer%20is%20collaborating%20with%20Tagesspiegel%20Innovation%20Lab%20to%20crowdsource%20data%20on%20the%20spread%20of%20the%20Corona%20Virus./ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573118.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817213446-20220818003446-00676.warc.gz | en | 0.922776 | 242 | 2.40625 | 2 |
Northwest Ohio experienced a wild week of November weather, ranging from record high temperatures to damaging winds.
It began with unseasonably warm temperatures. On Sunday, Nov. 8, the temperature climbed to a record 79 degrees at Toledo Express Airport. That broke the old record of 73 degrees in 1945.
The previous Nov. 9 record of 74 degrees was also broken the next day with a high temperature of 80 degrees. That also tied for the warmest temperature in recorded history.
The Nov. 10 record was then broken by more than 10 degrees. The previous record of 68 degrees in 1999 was obliterated by a 79 degree high.
The next few days had relatively normal autumn weather before the winds picked up Sunday. A high wind warning was issued for 50-60 mph wind gusts.
A 64 mph wind gust was reported for Toledo Express and a 77 mph wind gust was reported at a buoy 8 miles ENE of Oregon in Lake Erie. A 59 mph gust was reported in Defiance.
The strong winds led to many downed branches and power outages in the area. As of late Sunday, the vast majority of Fulton County power outages were in the Swanton area. | <urn:uuid:cb5230c8-0984-4169-b7f1-d7ac6e36cdfe> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.fcnews.org/news/27685/nw-ohio-sees-wild-weather | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571989.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813232744-20220814022744-00473.warc.gz | en | 0.971496 | 241 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Thousands of migrant workers have been trying to get home, with many of them attempting to cross state borders, amid the 21-day lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Many of them have died. While the deaths of at least 22 such migrants are documented, the actual number might be much more.
With businesses upended and establishments shut down, vast numbers of daily wage labourers, many of whom lived where they worked, were suddenly left without any means of sustenance and shelter in large cities. Thousands of them, including whole families, marched along interstate highways to their homes. On their way, many were beaten, lathi-charged and sent back from the borders by the police for breaking rules of social distancing amid the lockdown.
One migrant worker, a 39-year-old man who set off on foot from Delhi to his hometown in Madhya Pradesh, collapsed and died after walking around 200 km, The Times of India reported on Saturday. The man used to deliver orders for a restaurant in Delhi that shut down due to the spread of Covid-19.
Ranveer Singh had started walking to Morena in Madhya Pradesh, 300 km away, early on Thursday. He had two companions during the journey, according to Hindustan Times.
He reportedly began experiencing chest pain in Agra district and collapsed on the highway. The owner of a nearby shop saw and tried to help him. “The shop owner made him lie on a carpet and offered tea and biscuits,” local police station house officer Arvind Kumar told The Times of India. “He complained of chest pain and also called his brother-in-law to share his health condition. He died at around 6.30 pm [on Friday].”
The man’s autopsy showed he died of a heart attack triggered by exhaustion. “The autopsy revealed heart attack as the cause of death, but considering his travel history, we assume that exhaustion of long walk might have triggered his existing heart condition,” circle officer Saurabh Dixit told the newspaper.
Singh’s brother told The Times of India that he had three children and had been working in Delhi for three years. “He [Singh] left for the village on Thursday morning at around 3 am on foot,” he said. “We are poor farmers. We don’t know how his children would survive without their father’s earning.”
Meanwhile, a 62-year-old man died in Surat in Gujarat on Friday after walking from a hospital to his house for around 8 km as he could not find any means of transport, The Indian Express reported on Saturday.
Gangaram Yelenge was returning from New Civil Hospital at Majuragate along with his son Naresh Yelenge. He fell unconscious near his house in Pandesara and was taken back to New Civil Hospital, where he was declared brought dead.
“If somebody would have helped us or given us lift, then my father would have survived,” Naresh Yelenge said. The doctors at the hospital, who carried out the autopsy and handed over the body to Naresh Yelenge, claimed that no police case was registered because it was a “natural death”.
Four migrants who were turned back by the police from Bhillad town on the Maharashtra-Gujarat border and were walking back to Vasai, were killed when a truck ran over them in Virar early on Saturday. The four were part of a group of seven who wanted to reach their villages in Rajasthan after crossing into Gujarat.
The truck driver, who fled the scene, was later arrested by the police. Three of the migrants worked at a tea stall and canteens in Mumbai.
In another incident, a road accident killed eight persons, including an 18-month-old toddler, on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The group, which comprised labourers, was returning to Raichur in Karnataka.
As many as 31 migrant labourers employed by a construction firm in Suryapet district of Telangana were travelling in an open truck when their vehicle was hit by a truck loaded with mangoes. Of those dead, three men, a boy and a nine-year-old girl died on the spot.
Four people, including a one-year-old baby, died in a forest fire at Rasingapuram in Theni district of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday night while taking the forest route instead of the main road which had been blocked off because of the lockdown, The Hindu reported. They were part of a group of 10 people – six women, three men and a child – who were walking through a dry canal when the a forest fire engulfed them.
Meanwhile, three workers and two children were crushed to death in an accident in Haryana as they were heading home on foot.
Amid the 21-day nationwide shutdown due to coronavirus, thousands of migrant workers have been left without work, money and shelter and have been marching to their hometowns from large cities. The Uttar Pradesh and Delhi governments have arranged buses to take them home. Videos on social media showed massive crowds waiting to board buses at Delhi’s Anand Vihar Interstate Bus Terminal at a time when social distancing is so crucial to check the spread of the coronavirus.
There are more than 900 cases of coronavirus in India and 19 people have died, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The country went under a three-week lockdown beginning Wednesday. | <urn:uuid:fad531e5-7db5-4fa9-9b8e-ae28f94fc23c> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://scroll.in/latest/957570/covid-19-lockdown-man-collapses-dies-halfwaywhile-walking-home-300-km-away-from-delhi | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571190.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810131127-20220810161127-00073.warc.gz | en | 0.98827 | 1,144 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Skype just announced proudly that its users spend 2 billion minutes a day on Skype calls. It’s a big achievement, for sure… but considering how long Skype has been around, it’s also somewhat underwhelming. According to company comments from 2011, the average video call length was 27 minutes. If we estimate that the average Skype call including both voice and video calling is closer to 20 minutes, the 2 billion minutes a day figure would translate roughly to 100 million calls per day. This sounds decent enough — except that a cluster of mobile messaging app companies that debuted just a couple of years ago have already moved far beyond that level.
This past January, WhatsApp announced that it is processing 18 billion messages a day, with 11 billion of those being outbound messages.
The date of that announcement was artfully chosen, since WhatsApp elected to measure New Year’s peak traffic instead of an average day. Nevertheless, topping 10 billion transactions per day stands in stark contrast with 100 million transactions per day. After all, the opportunity to offer a marketing message of some sort only exists at the beginning and the end of a Skype call; it’s not like you can intrude in the middle to hawk Palm Springs condos.
Other messaging apps such as Kakao Talk and Line have also amassed big customer bases in certain markets. There is currently something of a race between these companies in leveraging the messaging volumes to offer social games.
Right now it looks like messaging services may turn out to have a larger role in consumers’ lives than voice services, which is something very few people realized 10 years ago when VoIP was thought to be the ultimate communication tool of the future. A hundred years ago, the telephone was the futuristic gadget that destroyed the relevance of telegraph messages. It seems that consumers are executing a neat reversal and returning short snippets of text to the primacy they enjoyed in the late Nineteenth Century. | <urn:uuid:11fa60e3-bf10-4528-8349-c9cd1e0107d6> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://bgr.com/2013/04/03/skype-2-billion-minutes-analysis-412280/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280587.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00561-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958267 | 389 | 1.90625 | 2 |
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The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.
I know someone who really cares about being right. Now, in fairness, I haven't had much interaction with this person over the past five years or so; he may have changed. But when I knew him, his main focus in most conversations was to convince the other person that he (my friend) was right.
This person (let's call him Sam) didn't know how to let a disagreement stand; the phrase "let's agree to disagree" simply wasn't a part of his vocabulary - or his mindset. For example, once Sam and I were talking about taking herbal supplements: he was a big fan, I wasn't. For him, it wasn't enough that I acknowledged that he might find them helpful - he wanted me to agree with him that it was important for everyone to take them, including me.
Finally I had to say, "Sure, fine, I'll try them," just to end the conversation. He may have left feeling that he'd changed my mind - while for me, it was merely exhausting and frustrating. (And I actually felt less open to his opinion than at the beginning of the conversation.)
Getting others to agree with you isn't a matter of bulldozing them into submission; insisting on your "rightness." In fact, that most often backfires: you may get them to say some version of "Sure dude - whatever," but that doesn't mean you've convinced them of your point of view.
So, what does work? How do you get people to be open to what you're saying to them?
The single most useful way to increase the likelihood of people agreeing with you is to frame it in your mind as "offering them a possibility."
When you think of it that way, you're much more likely to do the following:
- Build awareness: Think of the last time someone told you about something that really captured your attention in a positive way. There were probably a couple of elements at play. First, you probably felt open to the person, and felt that his or her motivations were positive. Second, the person was most likely personally engaged with the thing. You sensed that he or she was endorsing it, not simply presenting information, and at the same time, he or she wasn’t strident or insistent. It was more an offer of insight than a demand that you accept his or her point of view. Finally, the person probably provided examples or stories of the thing’s efficacy, uniqueness or value.
A few years ago, I was getting a manicure and the polish I was considering from the salon’s selection was a new brand for me. The aesthetician, with whom I’d already made a nice connection, complimented my color choice and noted that this was a new brand she’d just started working with, and that it was both lower in chemicals and longer-lasting than other brands. She then told me a great little story about getting her boyfriend, who worked in an automotive shop, to let her paint one of his nails so she could test the polish’s staying power under “high-stress conditions,” and that it had lasted a week. She didn’t try to convince me to buy it. She was simply sharing her positive experience with it. I found it a very attractive introduction to a new product.
These same elements of awareness work well when inviting people to consider any new idea. If they feel positive about you, if you personally endorse it without being dogmatic, and if you provide real-world examples or stories of how this process has been helpful in similar situations, people will be more likely to be interested in and open to your message.
- Build motivation: In my experience, people are motivated to do something new or be open to a new idea when they truly feel that it will be personally helpful to them, and that it will work better for them than what they’re doing now. Feeling that something will be personally helpful to you is very different than thinking you “should” do something.
For instance, up until about ten years ago, I knew that I “should” exercise. I was informed about all the benefits, and I was well aware that it was increasingly important to my health as I aged. I just didn’t connect with it personally. The benefits were very abstract to me. Then, just after I turned fifty, my siblings and I went to celebrate my mom’s 80th birthday. Two things happened. I saw how frail and weak my mom was – this was a woman who had never exercised since she stopped chasing around after us as little kids – and I saw how wonderful my sister looked. She’s only a few years older than I am, and she had recently lost quite a bit of weight through exercise and eating healthier. The contrast between her renewed vitality and beauty and our mom’s increasing ill health finally made it real for me – Without exercise; this. With exercise; that. Click: I got it.
So, how can you help people have that “click” about your idea? I’ve noticed that people tend to be motivated to change when they’re offered – as I was – a clear example of the personal rewards of behaving differently and a clear example of the personal “anti-rewards” (the risks, hazards or difficulties) of continuing to behave in the same ways. It doesn’t always work, but it seems to work better than anything else.
- Let Go and Listen: This is - for most people - the hard part. Once you've let someone know why you think something is a good idea, or the best approach (awareness), and how it will benefit them (motivation), stop "telling" and start asking. Remind yourself that you're simply offering them a possibility; you have no power to make them accept it. Ask, for instance, "So, what do you think about this?" and then truly listen: get genuinely curious about their point of view. If they ask you more about your idea or belief, answer their questions - but remember that you're offering, not insisting.
By taking this approach, people still won't always see things your way - but the odds are much better that they will. And even if they don't agree with you this time, you're building a reputation as a reasonable and flexible person, vs. someone who's dogmatic and rigid. Which is a much better place to start from in any conversation.
Want to know what Erika and her colleagues at Proteus do? Find out here. | <urn:uuid:ebb4c72d-d168-4721-8a35-56fadbfaa845> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2013/01/22/how-to-get-people-to-agree-with-you/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280504.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00141-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989115 | 1,388 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Performance of Government in the Center
Playing text to speech
At the Center, the Modi Government has almost completed its tenure and heading towards the election phase. The numeral figure of his working can represent his work story properly, but I’ll say, each number involves a story in his work tenure. As all the other parties are heading towards the preparation for the election phase, whereas, Modi government is quite different. The government has performed very well in the states as well.
Till now Modi Government carried out several economic reforms and launched various development programs continuously- Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana, Digital India, Make-in-India, Skill India, Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Ayushman Bharat and so on.
Instead of so much work and development, the Modi Government faced a lot of criticism. Sometimes, it makes me feel to shout aloud that ‘Mr. P.M. we don’t deserve people like you’. Not only the politicians but also the major portion of the public is not valuing your work. They are only seeing what trouble they are getting, but they don’t value that after this trouble they will get this development for their lifetime.
People are not valuing that various projects have been introduced by you, just for the welfare of the public. You re-started many projects that were stalled and became the problem for commuters. People don’t realize there is no any profit for you, it is only for the development of the city and its citizens. These peoples were blindfolded for the past so many decades and didn’t realize what their needs are. But now, when they are getting all these facilities then they are not even willing to adjust or value the progress.
The government also give its complete interest towards the development in Agriculture field and extended their helping hand towards farmers. As well as, introduced many programmes for increasing agricultural production and productivity. It includes Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, Soil Health Cards, Fasal Bima Yojana, etc. These programs encouraged small entrepreneurs and innovators through easy finance.
All these initiatives represent that the government is not only looking to diversify the sources of growth but also to democratized growth by understanding the potential of people from all the sections of the society.
Overall, from my point of view, the government performed exceptionally well in such a short time period as compared to the other previous government leaders. | <urn:uuid:daf383e7-7781-49d0-ac70-0679a10bf1a7> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/276/performance-of-government-in-the-center | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570871.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808183040-20220808213040-00271.warc.gz | en | 0.97105 | 533 | 1.773438 | 2 |
With the 2015 election season nearing the finish line, voter guides of all political stripes have made their rounds, including the Commonwealth Policy Center’s. It focuses entirely on social issues and asks candidates’ views on the defense of the unborn, opposition to the industrialization of gambling, the protection of religious convictions in the public square, and marriage between a man and a woman.
These issues can ignite debate from the kitchen table to the floor of the General Assembly. Tempers rise when pro-lifers tell a woman she shouldn’t terminate her pregnancy, or when a secularist insists that someone’s religious commitment can’t influence how he does his job. One person’s freedom often becomes another’s offense in our increasingly diverse society.
While offense is bound to come in a free society, our greatest concern is not when people disagree with conservative values, but rather when these issues aren’t debated at all because the debate itself has become off-limits. As soon as pro-life candidates announce their plan for legislation that would require an ultrasound before an abortion (a measure that’s repeatedly blocked by the Kentucky House), the left hurls its classic retort: “Who are you to impose your religious convictions on everyone else?” Quite the conversation stopper.
A lot of otherwise productive discussions are shut down prematurely because of this often invoked objection. But values voters shouldn’t be ashamed to promote policies they believe best for human flourishing. Indeed, everyone has their own moral categories, and come election season both sides of the political spectrum aggressively work to persuade the middle of what is morally right.
Why did Franklin Roosevelt defend the New Deal? Because “economic morality” is good for the country, he said in his second inaugural address. Why did Lyndon Johnson push the Civil Rights Act? “Because it is morally right,” he said. How did Bill Clinton argue for affirmative action? Because discrimination is “morally wrong.” Why did Gov. Steve Beshear expand Medicaid to Kentucky? Because it was the “morally right thing to do,” he argued.
Politicians have been appealing to a higher moral order to justify their political ends since government began, so when social conservatives oppose expanded gambling because of its penchant for hurting the less fortunate, or when they feel a county clerk should be able to have a religious objection without losing her job—they are walking a well-worn path.
We believe in separation of church and state. We do not expect anyone’s tax dollars to fund our mission trips, build our church buildings, or that membership in our congregations is a litmus test for citizenship or holding office. Nor do we expect the state to advance our doctrinal convictions. Jefferson got it right; there really is a wall of separation here. Church and state have different jurisdictions. This protects the church from being controlled by the state and vice versa, but we must never accept the separation of state from morality.
Laws against theft, child abandonment, and racism institute morality by definition. Laws about civil rights and women’s suffrage impose morality. Every time a bill is signed into law, someone’s moral vision is being implemented. The fact is that government has to deal with moral issues. That’s its job. Laws codify right and wrong, which means there is an inevitable intersection between governing and moral inquiry.
The question is not “Does the government impose morality through laws?” but “Whose morality will the government institute?” So let’s have a robust debate about social issues and morality in the public square. It’s a fair conversation that shouldn’t be silenced by angry platitudes. And a candidate’s response to a voter guide is a good place to begin the conversation.
Rick Hardison is the chairman of the Kentucky Baptist Convention Public Affairs Committee. He also pastors Great Crossing Baptist Church in Georgetown. Richard Nelson is the executive director of the Commonwealth Policy Center, a nonpartisan public policy organization. | <urn:uuid:487cc953-99f5-4fcf-a63e-eb79c574a377> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://newsdemocratleader.com/opinion/2029/are-some-social-issues-politically-off-limits | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282202.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00547-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95463 | 837 | 1.914063 | 2 |
–Operating System Interface Design Between 1981-2009
Over the years a range of GUI’s have been developed for different operating systems such as OS/2, Macintosh, Windows, Amiga, Linux, Symbian OS, and more. In the following article, we’ll be taking a look at the evolution of the interface designs of the major operating systems since the 80’s.
–Hulu app coming to the iPhone soon
Reports say a mobile application for Hulu is on the way that will let users watch full TV shows and movies on their iPhone over 3G and Wi-Fi.
–10 Youtube URL Tricks You Should Know About
Youtube – You know that site with videos and all. Yeah! It turns out that its quite popular and you happen to visit and use it quite often. Instead of just searching and playing here are some top Youtube URL tricks that you should know about.
–The Difference Between $100 and $100,000 Speakers
A speaker system can cost as little as $35. Or as much as $350,000. As a normal person, you probably have just one question about speakers that cost as much a Ferrari: What. The. Hell.
–Lifehacker’s Five Best Screen Capture Tools
Capturing your computer screen is a terribly handy trick in all sorts of situations, ranging from creating tutorials to capturing web moments for posterity. Take a peek at the five most popular screen capture applications.
–15 iPhone Apps Created by College Students
Apple’s iPhone application platform has made it easier than ever for hopeful software developers of all types to create a product and bring it to market. | <urn:uuid:d42f0f23-d713-499b-8338-0805523a21fc> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.geeksaresexy.net/2009/04/20/monday-morning-links-serving-the-april-20th-edition/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281649.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00439-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927976 | 343 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Interested in issues of education, college access and affordability, Wesleyan’s admissions, or journalism?
On Tuesday, April 9th, at 7:30 pm in the Memorial Chapel, the WSA will be hosting a talk by author and journalist Jacques Steinberg, titled “Beyond the Gatekeepers: The State of College Access and Affordability in America.” All student are encouraged to attend.
Jacques Steinberg is the author of “The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College,” a New York Times-best seller about the Wesleyan admissions process. Jacques was a journalist at The New York Times for nearly 25 years, most recently as its senior editor for education initiatives. Jacques left The Times in 2013 to join the senior leadership team at Say Yes to Education, a national non-profit organization based in New York City that provides an array of services to families in low-income districts – all with
the goal of raising high-school and college graduation rates.
The talk is a part of the WSA’s New York Times Readership Program. A book signing in Zelnick Pavilion will follow the talk and books will be available for purchase there. | <urn:uuid:8632d25c-3ff9-4588-9a90-3055c989c5df> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://engageduniversity.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2013/04/02/nyts-jacques-steinberg-talk-49/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279489.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00010-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941975 | 247 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Here we will talk about top 10 most expensive currencies in the world. We all know that every country has its currency. Every currency in this world has different rate and exchange rate as well. There are many currencies in this world in which some are more expensive, and some are cheap. Whenever someone talks about money, the only thing that came into the mind is dollar no other money. A currency is money nothing else which is used to do transactions with purchasing something. In past, when a money was not much common at that time barter system was used in which goods were given in return for goods. Everything is changed now, and no transaction is done without money. Some countries are very rich in the world because of their strong economy, and that is the reason their money is very expensive as well. These currencies are also very important in a trade as countries have to pay money to their countries for their goods. In this article, we will specifically talk about top 10 most expensive currencies in the world.
The following are top 10 most expensive currencies in the world:
10. Swiss Franc:
It is the official money of Switzerland. Switzerland is very famous place all over the globe especially in terms of tourists who also use their money when they visit this place. It is also used in places like Campione D’Italia but not officially used there. This money is revolving in the whole Europe. It was estimated that its value is more than US dollar. It has language is written on it which is used in Switzerland that is Latin.
9. Cayman Islands Dollar:
It is the official money of Cayman Islands, and its code is KYD. It is only used on this island nowhere else in the whole global market. The abbreviation used for this money is C/$ in order to make it different from all other dollar currencies. In this place, there is no proper taxation, and it also has its financial center as well. It is considered as one of the most valuable money in the whole globe. It is not much famous in the world as it is only used in this specific area not in any other place in the world.
8. Hong Kong Dollar:
It is the official money and the only used currency in Hong Kong. It is also considered as one of the graded currency in 2014. The dollar of Hong Kong is then divided into about 100 cents. It also has its specific character used on this dollar that makes it different from all other currencies and dollars as well. It is well known and famous all over the world only because it is used in Hong Kong.
7. Canadian Dollar:
Canada is very famous all over the globe. It is the official money of Canada which has almost 5.3% share in the daily transactions all over the world. In past, other different currencies were used in Canada but then they developed their money and is now used all over Canada. In some recent years, their currency is not getting stronger which raised it exchange rate and made economical conditions of their country more favorable and strong. The most important thing about Canada is that it has an 11th biggest economy in the whole globe.
6. The Japanese Yen:
Japan is very successful country and very strong as well. It has their money called Japanese Yen which is used in their country. It is estimated that almost 20% of monetary transactions in the Forex market are done by this currency. The word yen means that “Round Object” in Japanese language. But the pronunciation of this word is done according to English. It was done because English people were the most and frequent visitors to Japan so it will be easy for them. On their money, some words are also written in their language that is some historical words.
5. UK Pound Sterling:
Everyone knows about London and in this country there is the royal government. The pound sterling is commonly called the only pound. It is the official currency of UK. The one pound of this currency is divided into 100 pence. It is very expensive currency so people visiting this country must have the large amount with them to enjoy in this country. On their currency notes, it has the picture of their royal queen that is running from many years.
4. The Australian Dollar:
Australia is a very famous country in terms of beautiful views and also for a strong economy as well. It has the same $ sign used for it, but they also use A$ like this to make it more unique from all other dollar currencies in the world. According to 2011, it was considered as the 5th highly graded currency in the world as it has about 7.6% share in the daily transactions in the world. This currency is commonly called Aussie in the world.
3. The U.S Dollars:
USA is very famous all over the world. Almost 85% of the total transactions in the foreign exchange market are done in this currency. US Dollar is known as the currency of the world. USA has a very strong economy and can be called world strongest economy with the biggest bank in the world. Their dollar is used all over the world in different transactions. USA dollar is also the most used currency in the whole world and very popular as well.
2. Bahraini Dinar:
Bahrain is very famous and successful country in terms of employment opportunities. It is also very famous in the globe because of its high value of a currency. It is one of the most valuable currencies in the world. It is the main reason people from all over the globe go there for jobs. They know they will earn well for their hard work given to their work. It is also considered as a most liberal country in the globe. On their currency, they have the picture of their royal Arabs from many years.
1. Kuwaiti Dinar:
Kuwaiti Dinar is the official currency of Kuwait. It is considered as the highest value currency in the world. This country is very rich because of their oil reserves, and they are exporting them all over the world. As Kuwait has the most valuable currency in the world even then mostly people are still choosing USA as their destination and wanted to work there. Kuwaiti Dinar is become a number one most expensive currency in the world.
List of Most Expensive Currencies in the World:
|3||The U.S Dollar|
|4||The Australian Dollar|
|5||UK Pound Sterling|
|6||The Japanese Yen|
|8||Hong Kong Dollar|
|9||Cayman Islands Dollar|
We conclude that currencies are very important for every country, and every country has their currencies. All these currencies are the main component of the economy of the country, and strong currency make the country more strong. Some currencies are more valuable but are less famous in the whole world, but some are more expensive. We hope by reading this article you will be able to know about top 10 most expensive currencies in the world. | <urn:uuid:070a2fa1-3a47-4e1c-aee5-80f293056485> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://howtrend.com/top-10-expensive-currencies-world-us-dollar-3-guess-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281450.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00175-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980541 | 1,415 | 2.15625 | 2 |
One of the most despised actions of David Stern's tenure as NBA commissioner was the NBA dress code, which went into affect at the start of the 2005-06 season and was Stern's answer to the “hip-hop” and “hooligan” image of the NBA and its players. Naturally this affected African-American players more than any others, and items like jerseys, jeans, wave caps, headphones around the neck, and even Timberlands were banned at interviews, games, charity events, or any other function associated or affiliated with the NBA. Making it even more audacious is the fact that this was the first dress code imposed by a major professional sports league in the USA. In an era of the NBA that was filled with players with big personalities (cough-Allen Iverson, Rasheed Wallace, Paul Pierce, etc.), the dress code was openly understood as a way to attempt and control those personalities and align them with that of the vanilla NBA executives.
Some believe that the “Malice at the Palace” was the final straw in the progression to a dress code, but with several teams already having their own loose variations on a dress code, this was probably more of an inevitability than an all-out attack. The dress code is in effect to this day, but is often challenged by players who must compete with code while honoring sponsorship agreements from brands like Nike, Adidas, and even Beats By Dre. | <urn:uuid:13d1e87f-eda6-424d-a146-4c018ac65922> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.complex.com/style/2014/09/white-people-style-rules/nba-dress-code | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572581.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816211628-20220817001628-00072.warc.gz | en | 0.98173 | 293 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Why do some students complete a PhD and others drop out? It’s the kind of question that worries researchers like me. Evelyn Tsitas, who is completing her PhD in Creative Writing at RMIT University has some thoughts. Evelyn has the most interesting PhD topic I know – but she’ll tell you about that in a future post. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did 🙂
It’s a long distance journey doing one’s doctorate. Just ask actor James Franco, who has split from his actress girlfriend Ahna O’Reilly and blames his studies for the end of the 5 year relationship. It seems that doing a PhD in English at Yale University was the last straw – Ahna has already lived through one post graduate haul with Franco (UCLA, where he majored in English); “then I signed up for more school at Yale,” says Franco, 33.
Many of us doggedly slogging it out to the completion date can feel for Franco; even months after the split. The eligible bachelor reveals he is still on the market, saying he just doesn’t have time for a relationship. Doctorate students everywhere know what he means. Maybe it isn’t romantic relationship failure that concerns us – it could be guilt at how little time we are spending with our children; or neglected housework, weight gain, lack of exercise or languished friendships.
Indeed, the problem of Australian students completing their PhDs – and doing it on time – is well reported. While there are no national retention rates available, universities are generally happy if half of their Arts students finish within four years.
Putting the PhD front and centre and avoiding temptation along the way is one thing, but actually staying the distance is another. Yes, completion. Completion can be disrupted not just by the stress of juggling “real life”(mundane things like having to make a living). More spectacular diversions can derail many, such as interesting career opportunities that tempt us to stray from the path.
A perverse pastime of mine is to Google the well known and creatively successful who have made it to a PhD – and dropped out, only to find fame elsewhere. Californication’s David Duchovny (the title of his uncompleted doctoral thesis – Magic and Technology in Contemporary Poetry and Prose); The Offspring’s Bryan “Dexter” Holland (Molecular Biology); Brian May from The Queen, who dropped out in middle of his doctorate studying how light reflects off of dust floating in space and the movement of that dust within the solar system. (He went back and completed in 2007); David Filo, billionaire co-founder of Yahoo, who dropped out of the Stanford University PhD program to create Yahoo.
Then there are the stayers – those who got their PhDs, and went on to have high profile careers outside academia. Punk rocker Greg Graffin, from Bad Religion, who received his PhD from Cornell University in Zoology (thesis – “Monism, Atheism and the Naturalist Worldview: Perspectives from Evolutionary Biology.”). In a case of life imitating art, Mayim Bialik (Big Bang Theory) has a PhD in neuroscience. Peter Weller (RoboCop, Dexter) is completing his Ph.D. in Italian Renaissance history at UCLA. Robert Vaughn, (“Hustle”), has a PhD in communications. Rhodes Scholar and US TV host and political commentator Rachel Maddow, who can boast a PhD from Oxford.
I am interested in why people like James Franco, Greg Graffin and Mayim Bialik – who don’t actually need a PhD for their careers in the arts – would choose to be so focused on completing their doctorates. Franco has been spotted reading The Iliad on film set breaks, and quoted as saying “I go to school because I love being around people who are interested in what I’m interested in and I’m having a great experience… I’m studying things that I love so it’s not like it’s a chore.” So I am guessing it’s the intellectual buzz of being in an ideas environment that pushes Franco in his doctoral journey.
Perhaps the difference between actors James Franco and David Duchovny – both of whom don’t require a PhD to get a film role – might come down to “true grit”. Motivational psychologist Heidi Grant, PhD, says that studies show that gritty people obtain more education in their lifetime.
In her post Nine Things Successful People Do Differently, Grant says that successful people reach their goals not simply because of who they are, but more often because of what they do. She writes: “Grit is a willingness to commit to long-term goals, and to persist in the face of difficulty.”
While this may be true, what I find interesting that many actors and musicians have committed to the long-term goals of post graduate study when they do not intend to carve out careers as academics. Actors and musicians who have achieved both fame and a Masters Degree include: Sigourney Weaver, Fine Art; Dolph Lundgren, Chemical Engineering; Rowan Atkinson, Electrical Engineering; Leonard Nimoy, Education; Dexter Holland, Molecular Biology; Forest Whitaker, Comparative Literature.
It’s probably fair to say that the man behind Mr Bean doesn’t reference his electrical engineering study on a daily basis. Likewise, Brian May didn’t actually need a PhD for his working life after Queen’s spectacular success. So why do these people stay the distance, and complete? The reason could be financial. These people achieved financial success and fame and then went back to finish their studies. I would suggest they could also leverage their careers in film or music – along with a doctorate – towards a later career in academia. After all, glamour careers love young faces, and everyone grows old if they live long enough.
For those without decent industry experience to boost the resume, it can be disheartening to read about lack of positions within academia. In “Why doing a PhD is often a waste of time”, The Economist (16 Dec, 2010) reports, “As this year’s new crop of graduate students bounce into their research, few will be willing to accept that the system they are entering could be designed for the benefit of others, that even hard work and brilliance may well not be enough to succeed, and that they would be better off doing something else.”
I don’t have the answers, I only know this much for sure – come hell, high water or total exhaustion, or in spite of all of those, I will complete. Unlike frustrated doctoral students who have come through the university system without much outside work experience, I have had an extensive career in the “glamour” media industry. I can see what a doctorate can help me achieve, rather than fearing it is holding me back. Plus, I have two young children who have lived through this doctorate so far, and they need closure. If I quit, then what’s to stop them giving up on anything when it got bad, tedious, boring or too hard?
That’s why I have a large poster of James Franco up next to my computer; to remind me that no matter what enticing career paths may arise in the short term, its vital to keep on the path and complete the PhD.
No, seriously, that’s really why I have a poster of Franco next to my computer….
What do you think will provide you with the ‘grit’ necessary to finish? Will it come from inside you or from around you – or both? If you enjoyed Evelyn’s post you can read more of her writing at RMIT Blog Central | <urn:uuid:4b8d9165-71fb-4291-a241-fbd229fd930d> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://thesiswhisperer.com/2012/03/29/doctoral-devotion-to-complete-or-not-complete/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280891.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00161-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967785 | 1,642 | 1.5 | 2 |
The carved grins had yet to wither on the pumpkins before "Silver Bells" was heard at malls around the country. Merchants rushed to capture every precious minute of holiday shopping that officially starts on Black Friday, Nov. 31. So what happened to Thanksgiving?
Granted the economic indicators are dismal for holiday sales this year, let alone the consumer's general disposition to spend money. It's the consumer's mood that is being ignored by many merchants. There is no excuse to rush Christmas inventory even before Macy's kicks off its big parade. It all smacks of crass commercialism that is layered with the spirit of giving and this year topped off with patriotic themes. As much as the nation wants to jump-start the economy, retailers across all sectors are sending the wrong message at a time when the consumer is already shell-shocked by recent tragic events.
What's needed is a little respite and not the hustle to buy. In this sense Thanksgiving should be the connecting bridge between Halloween, the second biggest holiday-decorating event behind Christmas, and the hectic and often stressful Christmas shopping season.
Consider what Thanksgiving represents. It's an observance of peace, family togetherness and friendship, solid moral values, history and patriotism. Most of all it's a celebration of the harvest and its produce -- the cornucopia of good food. Here food retailers stand to reap this year's holiday harvest.
According to a new study by ValuPage.com, a division of Catalina Marketing, Thanksgiving is the second most expensive grocery-shopping holiday behind Christmas/Hanukkah. More than a third, 35%, of Americans ring up the highest grocery bill for Thanksgiving entertaining, the study indicated. The average grocery bill for Thanksgiving dinner will be $118 and younger consumers, those 18 to 24 years old, will spend even more, $140, the survey said.
Phil Lempert, the "supermarket guru,"said, "Thanksgiving dinner is an important part of our culture and history, so it's not surprising that, even in the face of a poor economy, cost-cutting tactics that would alter the quality of the family tradition are a last resort." According to a feature story on holiday promotions, Page 27, credit will go to those food retailers who know how to structure their Thanksgiving merchandising programs in a way that is sensitive to their consumers' emotional and shopping needs. "It's the basic American values that people embrace," said George Whalin, president of Retail Management Consultants.
George Tsokolas, director of retail strategies, Andersen Consulting, said the renewed patriotism will be reflected in what consumers buy. "This is the year of the apple pie. People want to demonstrate their support for this country. Apple pie will be the big win." Demand should be strong for pumpkin pie, too, he said.
And many retailers, Kmart Supercenters for example, will not forget the main staple. The Thanksgiving turkey has become the lure to get shoppers into the stores. Kmart proclaims it will match the lowest priced Turkey in town. Just one of many such deals. | <urn:uuid:9f26ae97-fe47-42e0-be4a-7422d8b0409b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.supermarketnews.com/print/archive/little-reverance-wanted-turkey-day-please | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279933.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00128-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948632 | 637 | 1.773438 | 2 |
LANSING, MI (AP)-- A report by a private foundation finds the well-being of Michigan's white children slightly below the national average while black children significantly lag the nation.
The findings are part of a Kids Count index released Tuesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The report titled "Race for Results: Building a Path to Opportunity for All Children" says Michigan has the third-lowest score for the overall well-being of black children. White kids ranked 32nd out of 50.
The report is based on 12 indicators, including babies born at normal birth weight, proficient or higher scores on math and reading tests, on-time high school graduation, delaying child-bearing until adulthood and living in low-poverty areas.
Officials say the report should serve as a scorecard and catalyst for policymakers on children's progress. | <urn:uuid:fe8e641d-535c-4443-9b34-46c96902b31f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://wnmufm.org/post/report-says-well-being-black-children-mi-poor | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281162.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00537-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948106 | 172 | 2.25 | 2 |
Finding the GNU General Public License (GPL) too restrictive with regard to derived works, a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai is working on an alternative license that will allow people to take commercial benefit from work derived from an open-source program.
The GPL of the Free Software Foundation in Boston requires a derived work to be given to the open-source community, which in many cases deters creativity, Deepak Phatak, professor of IT at the IIT told IDG News Service Thursday.
Version 2 of the GPL requires that "you must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License."
Developers and users also face the problem of changing open-source license terms, Phatak said.
Phatak favors a license modeled on the University of California, Berkeley's BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution). He hopes to modify the BSD license and make it a perpetual license. "This way even the original writer of the license will not be able to modify it," said Phatak. "So developers and users are not threatened by license revisions."
The BSD license allows software redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification in both closed-source and open-source situations. Source code released under the BSD license essentially allows the user free reign over the code, with very few restrictions, Phatak said.
Phatak is uncertain how many developers and academics in India will support his plan. "For now it is just my idea," he said.
By not requiring developers of derived works to give their work to the community, the new license will not stifle the open-source movement, Phatak said. "This license will better reflect the ground reality," he said. " For 20 people who make use of this provision, there will be 200 and more who will contribute and return to the community for no monetary benefit."
To give an analogy, there have been a number of derived works for profit based around holy books like the Bible and the Bhagvad Gita, but this has actually enriched understanding of these holy books, Phatak added. | <urn:uuid:e800a0df-cbde-4229-85f7-83869ad1ee98> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/130114/indian_professor_proposes_alternate_open-source_license/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988718296.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183838-00538-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941547 | 476 | 2.34375 | 2 |
Installing Seat Belts
1957 Chrysler 2 door
Factory installed seat belts were an option that began in the early 1960's. If your car is from the 50's and you want to install seat belts, the primary problems will be the style of the floor anchor and the location of the anchors in the floor.
The following picture is of the anchor and seat belt end that has been cut from the floor of an early 1960's Imperial. This was the style of the seat belt supplied by Chrysler. Note the hook arrangement at the end of the belt and the 'eye bolt' style of floor anchor.
This 'hook and eyebolt' anchor arrangement would be ideal for the 57 Chrysler
since the floor is very flat as the following picture shows.
I was able to find a modern equivalent from Andover Automotive www.andoauto.com, phone 410-381-6700. This is their belt style 87380 with their anchor kit MH-3. Notice the belts have a spring loaded snap arrangement at the belt anchor. Not only does this provide for easy installation, the belts are easily removed should you want to display your car at a show.
The choice of anchor location is the biggest problem. For this car, holes had already been drilled in the floor, perhaps for a previous installation of belts. Rather than cut new holes, I re-used them. If you have to cut new holes, it is important that the correct locations be chosen since it is possible to end up with a hole in an unuseable position, such as over a frame rail or over an exhaust pipe.
The Andover Auto style 87380 belts installed here use the black belt fabric and chrome latch buckle. Other colors and style are available; call Andover. The cost of these two front seat belts was just under $110. The 87380 belt is their 70" belt, where the short belt is 31" and the long belt (with the buckle) is 36.5". Andover also has this belt in 60", their style 873401 where the short belt is 27-3/4" and the long belt 35-1/4". Depending on the location of your floor anchors, you may find that the 60" fits better.
Since the 1958 and 1959 Chryslers share the same floor, I assume this information will also apply to those years. Other years will probably require some change to the anchor locations although it is my guess that the 87380 (or 873401) belts and MH-3 anchors will work.
Back to the 1957 page
Use this information at your own risk. Author assumes no liability. | <urn:uuid:56470f6b-1ed3-4eed-8f51-cdeafd152b1e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://simplexco.com/auto/cbelt/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573908.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20220820043108-20220820073108-00269.warc.gz | en | 0.958676 | 555 | 1.6875 | 2 |
MIZER Family Tree and MIZER Genealogy Records
Register yourself as a MIZER researcher
This is the surname research page for MIZER. This section is designed to contain general information about MIZER genealogy research. Please consider adding some of your own research, either as an editor or with journals below.
2010 US Census data for MIZER
This surname is in the top 162,000 names in the US Census from 2010. (There must be at least 100 to make the list).
There are 1648 MIZER records listed in the 2010 US Census, and it is the Number 17182 ranked name. A MIZER makes up 0.56 of every 100k people in the population.
Other US Census data for MIZER
93.93% are White Alone (Non-Hispanic)
1.46% are Black Alone (Non-Hispanic Black or African American Alone)
2.18% are Hispanic or Latino origin
0.73% are Asian Alone (Non-Hispanic Asian and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Alone)
0.49% are American Indian (Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native Alone)
1.21% Non-Hispanic Two or More Races
MIZER Family History and MIZER Family Genealogy Journals
There are no user journals for MIZER. Be the first to contribute to this surname: Create a journal | <urn:uuid:55f6a216-3f68-47cd-bb92-da980779cff9> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.familytreecircles.com/surname_MIZER.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571987.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813202507-20220813232507-00276.warc.gz | en | 0.833473 | 296 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Colloidal Silver and Surgical Wound Care Presentation Given at 2012 SIGN Conference
At the 12th annual SIGN Fracture Care International Conference on “Treatment of Difficult Fractures Around the World,” Dr. Samuel Hailu gave a presentation on the use of colloidal silver as a wound wash to help mitigate infections in fracture wounds.
The Conference was attended by 150 surgeons from 22 countries.
Dr. Hailu discussed his proposed study, “Effect of Colloidal Silver on Open Lower Extremity Fracture Infection: Randomized Control Trial,” which drew interest among the doctors in attendance.
The Micro-Particle Colloidal Silver Generator from TheSilverEdge.com was demonstrated at the conference as an inexpensive yet effective means of producing high-quality colloidal silver (see image below).
And a display and related handout materials, including a list of clinical studies on the use of antimicrobial silver as an infection-fighting agent, were available for the surgeons.
Silver has been studied as an antimicrobial agent, and used in surgical wound care since the 1970’s, when Dr. Robert O. Becker, M.D. conducted his original pioneering research into the effects of electrically generated silver ions on human cells and wound healing.
SIGN is an international organization that supports trauma surgeons in developing nations who have committed their lives to serving the injured poor.
SIGN provides educational support and specialized equipment to surgeons in 41 countries throughout the developing world, who in turn provide surgical care to indigent patients suffering from severe and often complex fracture trauma.
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Meet Steve Barwick
Important Note and Disclaimer: The contents of this Ezine have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Information conveyed herein is from sources deemed to be accurate and reliable, but no guarantee can be made in regards to the accuracy and reliability thereof. The author, Steve Barwick, is a natural health journalist with over 30 years of experience writing professionally about natural health topics. He is not a doctor. Therefore, nothing stated in this Ezine should be construed as prescriptive in nature, nor is any part of this Ezine meant to be considered a substitute for professional medical advice. Nothing reported herein is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The author is simply reporting in journalistic fashion what he has learned during the past 17 years of journalistic research into colloidal silver and its usage. Therefore, the information and data presented should be considered for informational purposes only, and approached with caution. Readers should verify for themselves, and to their own satisfaction, from other knowledgeable sources such as their doctor, the accuracy and reliability of all reports, ideas, conclusions, comments and opinions stated herein. All important health care decisions should be made under the guidance and direction of a legitimate, knowledgeable and experienced health care professional. Readers are solely responsible for their choices. The author and publisher disclaim responsibility and/or liability for any loss or hardship that may be incurred as a result of the use or application of any information included in this Ezine.
Copyright 2012 | Life & Health Research Group, LLC | PO Box 1239 | Peoria AZ 85380-1239 | All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:393bb32e-aa9c-47fb-9116-46684aaf0480> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://thesilveredge.com/colloidal-silver-and-surgical-wound-care-presentation-given-at-2012-sign-conference/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572286.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816090541-20220816120541-00264.warc.gz | en | 0.931018 | 764 | 1.765625 | 2 |
We can use operators AND/OR (in position 16:18) to specify logical relationship for Record Identification codes of an input record. I understood in what cases we use AND operator, but I couldn't understand in what cases one can use OR operator. I would be highly thankful if someone can help me in understanding this with a practical example.
Thanks in advance.
Free Guide: Managing storage for virtual environments
Complete a brief survey to get a complimentary 70-page whitepaper featuring the best methods and solutions for your virtual environment, as well as hypervisor-specific management advice from TechTarget experts. Don’t miss out on this exclusive content! | <urn:uuid:96a24b08-2346-4226-98ce-e12b351b7596> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/itanswers/logical-relationship-in-input-specs-in-rpg/?watch=57240 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279224.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00475-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.890567 | 134 | 1.601563 | 2 |
|Birthplace:||Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, UK|
|Death:||Died in Melrose, The Scottish Borders, UK|
|Place of Burial:||Melrose, Scotland|
Son of Walter Scott, WS and Anne Scott
|Occupation:||Historical novelist, Poet, Lawyer, Sheriff of Selkirkshire, Historical Novelist|
|Managed by:||Peter Alexis Andrews|
Matching family tree profiles for Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet
About Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832) was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time.
Scott was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime.
Writer and poet, a born storyteller and master of dialogue, one of the greatest historical novelists, whose favorite subject was his native Scotland. Scott wrote twenty-seven historical novels. His influence is seen among others in the works of James Fenimore Cooper, Alexandre Dumas, and Aleksandr Pushkin.
"Love rules the court, the camp, the grove,
And men below, and saints above;
For love is heaven, and heaven is love."
(from The Lay of the Last Minstrel, 1805)
Walter Scott was born in Edinburgh, as the son of a solicitor Walter Scott and Anne, a daughter of professor of medicine. An early illness - polio - left him lame in the right leg. Six of his 11 brothers and sisters died in infancy. However, Scott grew up to be a man over six feet and great physical endurance.
Scott's interest in the old Border tales and ballads had early been awakened, and he devoted much of his leisure to the exploration of the Border country. His early years Scott spent in Sandy-Know, in the residence of his paternal grandfather. There his grandmother told him tales of old heroes. At the age of eight he returned to Edinburgh. He attended Edinburgh High School (1779-1783) and studied at Edinburgh University arts and law (1783-86, 1789-92). At the age of sixteen he had already started to collect old ballads and later translated into English Gottfried Bürger's ballads 'The Wild Huntsman' and 'Lenore' and 'Goetz of Berlichingen' (1799) from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's play. Scott was apprenticed to his father in 1786 and in 1792 he was called to the bar. In 1799 he was appointed sheriff depute of the county of Selkirk. After an unsuccessful love affair with Williamina Belsches of Fettercairn - she married Sir William Forbes - Scott married in 1797 Margaret Charlotte Charpentier (or Charpenter), daughter of Jean Charpentier of Lyon in France. They had five children.
In 1802-03 appeared Scott's first major work, MINSTRELSY OF THE SCOTTISH BORDER. As a poet Scott rose into fame with the publication of THE LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL (1805) about an old border country legend. He had burned its first version, when his friends did not like it. Scott returned to the poem in 1802, when a horse had kicked him and he spent three days in bed. The Lay of the Last Minstrel became a huge success and made him the most popular author of the day. It was followed by MARMION (1808), a historical romance in tetrameter, set in 1513, and concerning the attempts of Lord Marmion to marry the rich Lady Clare. In 1810 appeared THE LADY IN THE LAKE and in 1813 ROKEBY. Scott's last major poem, THE LORD OF THE ISLES, was published in 1815. Later Thomas Love Peacock (1785-1866) ridiculed in 'The Four Ages of Poetry' Scott, Byron, and the Romantic "Lake Poets" Wordsworth and Coleridge: "While the historian and the philosopher are advancing in, and accelerating, the progress of knowledge, the poet is wallowing in the rubbish of departed ignorance, and raking up the ashes of dead savages to find gewgaws and rattles for the grown babies of the age. Mr.Scott digs up the poachers and cattle-stealers of the ancient border. Lord Byron cruizes for thieves and pirates on the shores of Morea and among the Greek Islands. Mr. Southey wades through ponderous volumes of travels and old chronicles..." Verses from The Lady of the Lake, including 'Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances!" were put to music by James Sanderson (1769-1841) and became the march traditionally played to honor the president of the United States.
Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er,
Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking,
Dream of battled fields no more,
Days of danger, nights of waking.
(from The Lady of the Lake, 1810)
In 1806 Scott became clerk to the Court of Session in Edinburgh - this work took only a few hours daily and half of the year he was free. His long holidays Scott spent at Ashestiel, situated on the Tweed River. To increase his income he started a printing and publishing business with his friend James Ballantyne. The firm had in the 1810s financial difficulties, and Scott spent his time in immense labours for his publishers, much of it hack editorial work. Scott also expanded during these years his Abbotsford estate, but it was not until 1826 when the final crash came. He accepted all Ballantyne's debts and decided to pay them off with his writings - the sum was £130,000 (millions today). In his diary he wrote: "I am become a sort of writing automaton, and truly the joints of my knees, especially the left, are so stiff and painful in rising and sitting down, that I can hardly help screaming - I that was so robust and active..." Difficulties lasted the best of Scott's writing career. To be more productive he used a massive desk with two desktops and kept two projects going at a time. Although Scott's books were sold at prices as high as 31s. 6d., they found much new middle-class readers, and there was no interest in lowering the prices. In comparison, low-cost books, booklets, were offered for the "white-collar" workers at sixpence apiece, and paperbound books were sold for 5 shillings.
In the 1810s Scott published several novels anonymously or under the pseudonym Jebediah Cleisbotham or 'Author of Waverley.' From this period date such works as WAVERLEY (1814), dealing with the rebellion of 1745, which attempted to restore a Scottish family to the British throne. The book set the classic pattern of the historical novel. It had a hero, whose loyalty is split between two rulers and two ways of life. Scott continued with GUY MANNERING (1815) and TALES OF MY LANDLORD (1816), consisting of The Black Dwarf and Old Mortality. ROB ROY (1817) was a portrait of one of Scotland's greatest heroes - the novel sold out its edition of 10 000 copies in two weeks. THE HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN (1818) was a story of Jeanie Deans's journey to London to appeal on behalf of her sister who has been wrongfully charged with child murder. THE BRIDE OF LAMMERMOOR (1819), was a novel of loss, love and vengeance, a venture into the gothic genre. In A LEGEND OF MONTROSE (1819) Scott drew a picture of the campaigns of 1644. IVANHOE (1819) was set in the reign of Richard I and depicted the rivalry between the King and his wicked brother John (King 1199-1216).
Ivanhoe, a tale of chivalry, was set in the age of Richard the Lion-Hearted. Wilfred of Ivanhoe loves Rowena, but his father plans marry her to Athelstane of Coningsburgh. Ivanhoe serves with King Richard in the crusades. King's brother John tries to usurp the throne with the help of Norman barons. Richard appears in disguise at the tournament at Ashby de la Zouch, where he helps Ivanhoe to defeat John's knights. At the tournament Sir Brian falls in love with Rebecca, a beautiful Jewess. She is taken captive with her father Isaac, Rowena, Ivanhoe, and Cedric by the Norman barons and imprisoned in Torquilstone. The King and his band of outlaws, among them Robin Hood, release the prisoners. Rebecca is carried off by Bois-Guilbert and charged of witchcraft. Ivanhoe appears as her champion, opposing Bois-Guilbert, who dies. Rebecca, seeing Ivanhoe's love for Rowena, leaves England with her father. - Michael Ragussis has argued that Scott's Isaac the Jew and his daughter Rebecca restaged England's medieval persecution of Jews and criticized the barbarity of persecution and forced conversion. In the story Rebecca is a healer and a voice of moderation between Saxon knights and Normans.
In the 1820s appeared KENILWORTH (1821), THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL (1822), PEVERIL OF THE PEAK (1823), QUENTIN DURWARD (1823), THE TALISMAN (1825), WOODSTOCK (1826), THE SURGEON'S DAUGHTER (1827), ANNE OF GEIERSTEIN (1829). After the financial crash of 1825-26 the author's anonymity was destroyed, and he was exposed to the general public as Sir Walter Scott. He had at least five pen names, including Jebediah Cleisbotham, Crystal Croftangry, Malachi Malagrowther, Lawrence Templeton, and Captain Clutterbuck. According to an anecdote, when mortally sick, Beethoven (1770-1827) hurled away Scott's novel with the cry: "Why, the fellow writes for money".
Scott's historical novels fall into three groups; those set in the background of Scottish history, from Waverly to A Legend of Montrose; a group which takes up themes from the Middle Ages and Reformation times, from Ivanhoe to Talisman, and his remaining books, from Woodstock onwards. Scott's dramatic work include HALIDON HILL (1922), MACDUFF'S CROSS (1823), THE DOOM OF DEVORGOIL, A MELODRAMA (1830), and AUCHINDRANE (1830), which was founded on the case of Mure of Auchindrane in Pitcairn's Ancient Criminal Trials.
In 1820 Scott was created a baronet. A few years later he founded the Bannatyne Club, which published old Scottish documents. Scott visited France in 1826 to collect material for his LIFE OF NAPOLEON, which was published in 9 volumes in 1827. A few years earlier Scott had started to keep his Journal, recording in undiscourageable spirit his deteriorating health and other misfortunes. His wife, Lady Scott, died in 1826, and the author himself had a stroke in 1830. Next year Scott sailed to Italy. In Malta he wrote one novel and a short story, and in Naples he collected old songs and ballads. After return to England in 1832, he died on September 21. Scott was buried beside his ancestors in Dryburgh Abbey. From the profits of his writings all his debts were ultimately paid.
Come fill up my cup, come fill up my can,
Come saddle your horses, and call up your men;
Come open the West Port, and let me gang free,
And it's room for the bonnets of Bonny Dundee!
(from The Doom of Devorgoil, 1830)
Scott's influence as a novelist was profound. He established the form of the historical novel and his work inspired such writers as Bulwer-Lytton, G. Eliot, and the Brontës. In the United States the scholar W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) said in his address in 1926, that he learned most of Scott's 'Lady of the Lake' by heart at school, adding: "In after life once it was my privilege to see the lake." In the 1930s European Marxist critics found Scott again, and interpreted his novels in term of historicism. The most prominent admirer of Scott was the Hungarian philosopher and aesthetician György Lucács. Modernist taste classified Scott to the category of the subliterary or juvenile. "It is impossible to believe that Scott lives anywhere today," wrote Ford Madox Ford in his The March of Literature (1938), "he might perhaps in a doctor's dining-room in Marseilles or Tarascon, in a child's nursery in Buenos Aires, or a housemaid's pantry on Boston Hill. Or, of course, in all the sancta sanctorum of all the professors of the universities of Goettingen and Jena. But his guilelessness is such that it is impossible to believe that any grown man could take seriously the adventures of Ivanhoe or Rob Roy." However, there is also a significant revival of critical and scholarly interest on Scott.
For further reading: Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart. by J.G. Lockhart (1837-38, 7 vols.); Sir Walter Scott by J. Buchan (1932); Scott: The Scott and Scotland by E. Muir (1936); A történelmi regény by Georg Lucács (1937 - trans. as The Historical Novel); Bibliography of Sir Walter Scott, 1797-1940 by James C. Corson (1943); The Waverly Novels by J.T. Hillhouse (1968); Walter Scott: Modern Judgements, ed. by D.D. Devlin (1968); Critical Heritage, ed. by J.O. Hayden (1970); Sir Walter Scott: the Great Unknown by Edgar Johnson (1970, 2 vols.); The Author of Waverly by D.D. Devlin (1971); Walter Scott by T. Crawford (1982); Scott and his Influence by J.H. Alexander and D. Hewitt (1983); Walter Scott: The Making of the Novelist by Jane Millgate (1984); Secret Leaves: The Novels of Walter Scott by Judith Wilt (1985); Modern Romance and Transformation of the Novel by Ian Duncan (1992); 'Writing Nationalist History' by Micheal Ragussis, in English Literary History 60:1, Spring (1993); The Life of Walter Scott by John Sutherland (1995); Critical Essays on Sir Walter Scott, ed. by Harry E. Shaw (1996) - See also: Prosper Merimée, J.F. Cooper, Washington Irving, The Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club - Suomessa Scottin teosten vaikutus näkyy mm. Frederika Runebergin ja Zachris Topeliuksen historiallisissa romaaneissa.
THE EVE OF ST. JOHN, 1800
MINSTRELSY OF THE SCOTTISH BORDER, 1802-03
THE LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL, 1805
BALLADS AND LYRICAL PIECES, 1806
THE LADY IN THE LAKE, 1810
THE BRIDAL OF TRIERMAIN, 1813
THE WAVERLY NOVELS: Guy Mannering, 1815; The Antiquary, 1816; The Black Dwarf, 1816
BORDER ANTIQUITES OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND, 1814
THE LORD OF THE ISLES, 1815
GUY MANNERING, 1815 - Tähdistälukija
THE FIELD OF WATERLOO, 1815
PAUL'S LETTERS TO HIS KINSFOLK, 1816
OLD MORTALITY, 1816
THE ANTIQUARY, 1816
THE BLACK DWARF, 1816 - Musta kääpiö
TALES OF MY LANDLORD, 1816 - The Black Dwarf and Old Mortality
ROB ROY, 1817 - Henkipatto Rob Roy
HAROLD, THE DAUNTLESS, 1817
THE HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN, 1818 - Mid-Lothian sydän
THE BRIDE OF LAMMERMOOR, 1819 - Lammermoorin morsian
A LEGEND OF MONTROSE, 1819 - Vanha tarina Montrosesta
IVANHOE, 1819 - suom. - film 1952, dir. by Richard Thorpe, starring Robert Taylor, Joan Fontaine, Elizabeth Taylor; television film 1982, dir. by Douglas Camfield, starring Anthony Andrews, James Mason, Lysette Anthony, Sam Neill, ; television series 1957-58, starring Roger Moore
THE ABBOT, 1820
THE MONASTERY, 1820
THE PIRATE, 1821
KENILWORTH, 1821 - suom.
THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL, 1822 - Nigelin vaiheet
HALIDON HILL, 1822
QUENTIN DURWARLD, 1823
PEVERIL OF THE PEAK, 1823
ST. RONAN'S WELL, 1823
MACDUFF'S CROSS, 1823
QUENTIN DURWARD, 1823 - Kuninkaan jousimies
THE TALISMAN, 1825 - Talismani
THE BETROTHED, 1825
LIVES OF THE NOVELISTS, 1825
THE LIFE OF NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE, 1827 (9 vols.)
CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE, 1827
MISCELLANEOUS PROSE, 1827
THE SURGEON'S DAUGHTER, 1827
THE HIGHLAND WIDOW, 1827 - Ylämaan leski
THE TALES OF A GRANDFATHER, 1827-30
THE FAIR MAID OF PERTH, 1828 - Perth'in kaupungin kaunotar
ANNE OF GEIERSTEIN, 1829
TALES OF A GRANDFATHER, 1828-31
THE HISTORY OF SCOTLAND, 1829-30
LETTERS ON DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT, 1830
ESSAYS ON BALLAD POETRY, 1830
THE DOOM OF DEVORGOIL, A MELODRAMA, 1830
AUCHINDRANE OR THE AYRSHIRE TRAGEDY, 1830
LETTERS ON DEMONOLOGY AND WITCHCRAFT, 1830
COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS, 1832
CASTLE DANGEROUS, 1832
THE WAVERLEY NOVELS, 1829-33 (48 vols.)
POETICAL WORKS, 1833-34 (12 vols.)
MISCELLANEOUS PROSE, 1834-71 (30 vols.)
THE JOURNAL, 1890 (republished 1939-36 in 3 vols.)
THE PRIVATE LETTER-BOOKS OF SIR WALTER SCOTT, 1930
SIR WALTER'S POST-BAG, 1932
THE LETTERS OF SIR WALTER SCOTT, 1932-37 (12 vols., ed. by H.J.C. Grierson)
- This web page provides genealogy information for 29 generations (nine centuries) of Border Clan Scott, whose members include poet and novelist Sir Walter Scott (Generation 17).
- Waterston, Charles D; Macmillan Shearer, A (July 2006). Biographical index of former fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1783-2002: Biographical Index. II. Edinburgh: The Royal Society of Edinburgh. ISBN 978-0-902198-84-5. page 832
- BBC - Your Paintings - Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832), Novelist and Poet
- "Sir Walter Scott", Westminster Abbey
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet's Timeline
August 15, 1771
Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, UK
Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
October 28, 1801
Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
February 2, 1803
December 24, 1805
September 21, 1832
Melrose, The Scottish Borders, UK | <urn:uuid:3fb3815c-0fa4-4ac3-9ca8-d42b57e52669> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | https://www.geni.com/people/Sir-Walter-Scott-1st-Baronet/345802797120011834 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719908.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00157-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929536 | 4,409 | 2.296875 | 2 |
Sunday's reversal comes six days after leaders of the paramilitary umbrella group known as the AUC halted testimonies in protest of a Supreme Court ruling that went against the 2003 peace pact that led 31,000 right-wing irregulars to disarm.
The change of heart will be a boost for Uribe who has described the deal with the paramilitaries as the biggest step towards ending Colombia's long war with left-wing rebels.
More than 31,000 paramilitaries have turned in thier arms over a three year period in a deal that promises them reduced jail sentences for crimes ranging from torture to massacre.
The agreement is based on the idea that former "paras" would be charged with sedition, and not criminal activity, as left-wing guerrillas have been in the past.
This would help them avoid cocaine-smuggling charges and protect their ambitions for running for public office.
However, the supreme court had ruled that the charge of sedition would not apply because the paramilitaries never tried to overthrow the government, and had worked with the army in their fight against left-wing rebels.
But Uribe said it was a double standard to allow former fighters from the M19, a disbanded right-wing armed group, to serve in congress, as some of its members have done, while not allowing other paramilitaries.
Uribe has said that the court was "ideologically biased" and has proposed a law to guarantee political rights to demobilised paramilitaries who are not directly guilty of atrocities.
He has denied accusations that he sympathises with the paramilitary cause.
The court has said in a statement that Uribe's comment was "a serious and dangerous form of censorship".
The paramilitaries were formed in the 1980s to protect cattle ranchers, drug lords and citizens from rebel kidnappings and land grabs.
The right-wing armed groups have profited from Colombia's multibillion-dollar cocaine trade and were known for killing peasants accused of cooperating with left-wing rebels.
Rights groups have said that the peace deal is not strong enough in forcing the paramilitaries to dismantle their extortion and drug-trafficking networks.
Several demobilised militia members had planned to run for local government posts in elections scheduled for October.
Those campaigns are now uncertain as the country tries to work through the legal issues involved in allowing them to run for government office.
"There is evidence that many demobilised paramilitaries are still involved in crime, so it may be premature to let them run for public office this year," Mauricio Romero, who serves on the national commission for reparation and reconciliation, said.
The president's reputation overseas has been damaged by a scandal in which some of his closest political allies, including Mario Uribe, his cousin, are being investigated for illegally supporting the paramilitaries. | <urn:uuid:0ab2f1ec-5bac-4a70-acc3-e56181467c9a> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2007/07/200852513514618102.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280929.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00420-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979758 | 585 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian has put down the relative calm recently observed at the border with Azerbaijan as well as along the Line of Contact in Nagorno-Karabakh to improved observation systems put in place by Armenian armed forces.
Speaking at a press briefing in Yerevan on Wednesday, Ohanian also partly attributed reduced tensions to a more active negotiation process conducted recently.
“It can be said that the border situation today is relatively calm because the Armenian Army and the Defense Army of the [unrecognized] Nagorno-Karabakh Republic have for years worked on improving their combat duty services,” the Armenian defense minister said. “Today we have improved our observation system, which makes it possible to conduct observations, detect [the enemy], make decisions and implement them more efficiently.”
In Ohanian’s opinion, the more active efforts of international mediators also contribute to reducing the tensions.
“I think that the political atmosphere, the meetings, the activity of the three co-chairs [of the OSCE Minsk Group], the corresponding efforts that should be made within the framework of a meeting of the two countries’ presidents also have an impact on the situation,” he said. “We, military leaders, have always urged international political institutions to raise this issue – either we observe the ceasefire or not.”
After the latest tour of the region on February 16-19, the American, Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors James Warlick, Igor Popov, and Pierre Andrieu, issued a joint statement, saying that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev, had agreed to consider their proposals aimed at strengthening the ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.
They did not elaborate on the proposals, but said that they discussed with the Armenian and Azerbaijan presidents and the two countries’ foreign ministers “next steps towards a settlement, as well as preparations for a future Presidential meeting later this year.”
Since the 1994 ceasefire agreement, dozens of soldiers on both sides have been killed in border skirmishes in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone every year. The latest upsurge in violence was observed at the beginning of this year. Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh reported more than a dozen casualties in January alone. Azerbaijan also acknowledged a number of casualties during the same period. The conflicting sides blamed each other for the ceasefire violations. | <urn:uuid:842dc97a-77f6-4794-aade-6aa4c198d326> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.azatutyun.am/a/26868693.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281450.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00177-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962104 | 520 | 1.601563 | 2 |
ESA is developing a series of short video lessons (Space-in-Bytes) for upper secondary school students, and their teachers. The extensive use of videos and internet by youngsters today make Space-in-Bytes a perfect combination of both, an attractive and innovative tool to reach out to a broad audience of students.
The aim of Space-in-Bytes is to develop educational content in the form of on-line video lessons that:
- explain the importance of space research;
- show and explain scientific phenomena that have a different behaviour in the space environment;
- show and explain scientific phenomena that are relevant to the European science curricula;
- familiarize pupils with the uniqueness of the weightless environment;
- increase the interest of upper secondary school students in Science and Technology.
Space-in-Bytes are based on key space topics related to the International Space Station (ISS), future space exploration and current ESA research projects.
Each video is accompanied by an on-line lesson which includes scientific explanations of some of the concepts illustrated in the video. The lesson is intended to provide teachers, and their students with more information about the topics covered in the video, and to suggest curriculum-relevant exercises which can be carried out in class.
Space-in-Bytes are intended to present “byte-size” scientific information, offering a starting point for further individual or classroom investigation.
Please take time to complete and return the on-line evaluation form when you have finished viewing each Space-in-Bytes.
The evaluation form can be accessed from each video lesson homepage on the right hand bar. Your feedback is important to us.
We thank you in advance for your time and support! | <urn:uuid:9d8bf00f-c0a7-428b-8c05-31381ac9840e> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.esa.int/Education/Space_In_Bytes/Space-in-Bytes/(print) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279189.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00058-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913816 | 346 | 3.71875 | 4 |
Climate change is impacting the entire world; however, there are some cities that will feel its effects more than others.
The UN has warned, in the UN Environment Programme, that urban areas are taking the consequences of climate change while, at the same time, contributing to the increasing importance and severity of the world’s declining environmental situation.
Rising global temperatures are causing an increasing number of natural disasters, which in some cases have deadly results. Professor Lei Zhao, an environmental engineering expert at the University of Illinois, calculated that the average summer temperatures could rise between 1.9°C and 4.4°C by the end of the century.
This is a list of ten cities that are vulnerable to climate change.
1. Jakarta, Indonesia
According to a 2021 report by Verisk Maplecroft, a risk analyst company, of the 100 cities most affected by climate change, 99 are in Asia. And the report found that the most vulnerable one is Jakarta, Indonesia.
Air pollution is the biggest cause of concern in Indonesia’s capital, which is also cursed with seismic activity and flooding.
According to Vox, Jakarta is also “the world’s fastest-sinking city”. This is because access to water is very limited, so more than ten million citizens are forced to extract it from the ground, which is leading to the submerging of the land.
The situation is so dire that President Joko Widodo is planning to build a new city in Kalimantan on the island of Borneo with the goal of making it the new capital.
2. Delhi, India
Verisk Maplecroft’s risk report also ranks Delhi as the second city most affected by climate change.
To be specific, 13 of the 20 highest-risk cities are in India: Kanpur, Agra, and Chennai even rank in the top ten.
Verisk Maplecroft stated that India’s urban populations’ health was at risk because of the high percentage of pollution found in the cities. In particular, Delhi is very contaminated. The report also found that “noxious air cause almost one in five deaths in India in 2019”, adding that water pollution is also a danger, causing around 400,000 deaths every year.
3. Lima, Peru
Lima is considered to be the most endangered city in the Americas.
Like the cities in India, Lima has air pollution issues. These are caused by vehicle emissions, and researchers at the University of Chicago discovered that if the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) guidelines on pollution levels in the atmosphere were respected, the population’s life span could increase by an average of 4.7 years.
Another issue for Lima’s population is the poor quality of housing, and infrastructural problems.
4. Lagos, Nigeria
Lagos is the most populated city in Africa, and it may soon be unliveable.
Even if yearly floods are normal and expected in Nigeria, the past couple of years’ rainy seasons have been extreme. CNN reported that “the floods paralyse economic activity, at an estimated cost of around $4bn (£2.9bn) per year”.
Verisk Maplecroft’s Climate Change Vulnerability Index also shows that African cities will be more affected by environmental threats than others, because of the lack of resources to mitigate their impacts.
5. Karachi, Pakistan
Sixteen million is the number of people who live in Karachi. And they have all experienced the deadly effects of extreme, unbearable heat; this is why it ranks as the 12th riskiest city.
In particular, 2015 was the year when more than 1,200 people died in the city due to a heatwave with temperatures that reached over 49°C.
Overpopulation is also an issue, as the UN expects Karachi’s population to increase to more than 20 million by the end of the decade. Natural disasters, such as monsoons, are also a threat to Pakistan.
6. Port-au-Prince, Haiti
According to studies, Haiti will experience both an increase in temperatures and storm length and frequency, as well as a decrease in dry-season precipitation. Haiti is also very at risk for tropical cyclones.
7. Miami, Florida
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson manifested worry for Miami’s future at Cop26, telling other world leaders that Miami could be “lost beneath the waves” if global temperatures were to rise even by 4°C.
In fact, the surrounding sea could rise by 6in by the end of the decade, and journalist Mario Alejandro Ariza wrote that “infrastructure planners are bracing for two feet by 2060”. “There is an inescapable truth about life in South Florida,” Ariza added.
8. Muscat, Oman
In March 2021, temperatures reached a scorching 41.3°C, a mercury reading that would be expected closer to the month of June.
A very powerful cyclone hit the city in October 2021 too. The last time a cyclone of this magnitude hit the country was in 2007, but climate change is “making disasters like this more common”, NPR reported.
9. Manila, Philippines
Bloomberg said that the sea water level in Manila Bay is rising “more than four times faster than the global average”.
Manila has been hit, in recent years, by cyclones too. The situation is not made easier by the rapid urbanisation and overpopulation.
A Global Climate Risk Index ranks it as the 17th most at-risk country, with 145,000 people injured or displaced by disasters at the end of 2020, says the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.
10. Shanghai, China
With a population of 20 million people, Shanghai is also in the ranking of most endangered cities.
Shanghai, being a coastal city, is also one of the world’s most vulnerable to flooding. According to Climate Central projections, 17.5 million people could be displaced by rising waters if global temperatures rise by 3°C.
Flood controls have been put in place, such as flood prevention walls being built along the waterfront. However, this does not lessen the risk Shanghai is facing. | <urn:uuid:343a2a9e-d9c9-4ce9-bf77-a0fabe90273e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://citymonitor.ai/environment/climate-change-environment/cities-most-affected-by-climate-change | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570767.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808061828-20220808091828-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.958091 | 1,297 | 3.46875 | 3 |
This week in the Volupe blog we would like to discuss settings for the coupled solver. From our customers we have got the feedback that the coupled solver is needing a lot of manual set up, and that it can be difficult setting up a simulation that provide results which agree with expected values. We would therefore like to provide some information about how the coupled solver works, and also inform about two features that might help you in your simulations – Continuity convergence accelerator and Automatic CFL method. See the picture below for where in the tree structure to modify the solver settings for the coupled solver.
What it the Coupled solver?
The coupled solver solves the governing equations for your flow field as a system where all equations are coupled to each other and solved simultaneously. The opposite technique is called segregated solver, which solves the equations separately and provides information between equations after the iteration is completed. Compared to the segregated solver the coupled solver might be slower per iteration, but the iterations needed to converge the simulation might be fewer. The coupled solver should be used when you simulation involves stiff equations, meaning that a small change of the input gives a huge change in the solution. Compressible flow is an example of an application where to use the coupled solver.
The coupled solver uses a pseudo-time marching approach, which is utilized in different ways depending on which time dependency is used in the simulation.
- Steady: An unsteady form of the governing equations is driven towards a steady state with a pseudo-transient term which goes to zero. This pseudo-transient term uses an optimized pseudo-time step which is computed to satisfy stability constrains.
- Implicit unsteady: For the inner iterations inside of a physical time step a pseudo-time step is used, which is optimized based on the Courant number.
- Explicit unsteady: Here the actual time-step is determined to fulfill the criterion that the Courant number needs to be below one in every cell.
All together the coupled solver is robust. Simulations with dominant source terms, for example rotational flow, is solved with much more robustness than if the segregated solver would have been used. The linear scaling of CPU time versus mesh size is also a strong property of this robust solver, since no loss in solver time is added when refining the mesh.
CCA – continuity convergence accelerator
When using the coupled solver, you are probably simulating high speed compressible flow. The convergence for this type of simulation can be quite slow due to mass imbalance. There is a method in Simcenter STAR-CCM+ to speed up these computations which is called CCA (continuity convergence accelerator). This method is adding additional equations to minimize the mass imbalance for each individual cell at each iteration. CCA formulates and solves a pressure-correction equation using the density-based/Riemann flux discretization. This discretization is a mathematical transformation that can be used on a conservation equation system to speed up the solving time. The mathematical transformation uses Riemann invariants to narrow down the possible solutions to follow certain behaviors. In our case CCA uses the assumption of a calorically perfect gas, meaning that the ideal-gas law is fulfilled together with that the specific heat is constant. This is good assumptions for ideal perfect gas with Mach number below three. If these assumptions are applicable in your simulation, you can use this feature to speed up your simulations and still obtain the same results that you would end up with without using CCA, but quicker.
Note: CCA should be used only when mass imbalance is slow, this is not a solution to solve other problems in your simulation.
Automatic CFL as CFL control method
In Simcenter STAR-CCM+ version 2020.1 the automatic CFL control method for the coupled solver was introduced. Previous the Expert driver settings were recommended to use, but automatic CFL is more user friendly and also controls the simulation to save time together with resulting in a more accurate solution (up to 23% speedup was mentioned in the release notes of version 2020.1). With the release of version 2020.1 the Automatic CFL method was set as default for steady simulations. In the past one and a half year the speedup has been increase even further, up to 1.45x in version 2020.2 and the default settings inside the method have also been improved in version 2021.1 and 2021.3.
For time dependent solutions with implicit method the coupled solver uses a constant value of CFL equal to 50 as default setting. In the documentation it is stated that this value should be changed in most simulations, to a value of 1’000 or even up to 100’000. There would be much less risk of using unwanted settings in the solver if the default value of how to treat CFL method would be the same regardless time dependencies. Especially when there is an automatic control which seem to be a much better setting in most cases.
Note: Please choose your simulation settings with care, and check if the default settings are the best for your simulation. Sometimes neither the default nor the most convenient setting is the correct one for you. It can then be worth investigating if a constant CFL of the value 1 is needed for your problem statement – but that might come together with refining the mesh and time step which demands more computational resources.
Comparison for simulations with different solver settings
To see the actual benefit of the Automatic CFL method and CCA I created a simple test case. The test case is visualized below, where air (ideal gas) is pumped into a closed box at atmospheric pressure.
Since there is no outlet in the simulation, I expect the pressure to rise in the domain. In the plot below you see the pressure increase for six simulations. In these six simulations I run automatic CFL, the default value 50 for a constant CFL and a constant CFL value of 10000, for these three setups I run with and without the CCA.
In the plot you can see that the CCA is improving accuracy of the results, especially compared to the default value of constant CFL equal to 50. Using automatic CFL seem to get you closer to a linear increase in pressure, but not as close as if you are using a high CFL number (the CFL number in my test case is above 50). The combination of automatic CFL and CCA seem to help providing expected results, and therefore it can at least be good to know about these features when calculating simulations with the coupled solver. The computational time needed for the simulations with CCA and automatic CFL where not increased even though a more accurate solution was obtained. Without these features we would have needed a finer time step and therefore longer simulation time, to obtain a more accurate solution.
Note: The test case is not resolved enough in terms of mesh settings, which give rise to mass imbalance and therefore running with CCA is much better than without. Since the test case have high CFL number running with a higher CFL value seem to be better than with a low or automatic value for the CFL method.
We at Volupe hopes that this blog post has been informative and that it will help you in your simulations using the coupled solver. If you have any comments or questions, please reach out to us at email@example.com.
Related to this blog post I have also created a discussion at the PLM community (IdeaStorm). If you would like to have automatic CFL as the default CFL control method, you can vote for the idea (like the idea at the community) via this link. We also would like to encourage you to post your own ideas at the community, to be a part of the development of the software.
Christoffer Johansson, M.Sc. | <urn:uuid:095cc210-f04b-43a3-8db9-683ffc6c9403> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://volupe.se/coupled-solver-settings-in-simcenter-star-ccm/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571993.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814022847-20220814052847-00675.warc.gz | en | 0.944192 | 1,610 | 2.390625 | 2 |
25th December. CHRISTMAS DAY, the birthday of Jesus. Praising God and singing for joy with the angels is what we can and should do on this day in a special way if we have done our best to prepare during these weeks. “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people of goodwill because today a Saviour has been born to us; he is Christ the Lord. “ Luke 1:14. The name Jesus means Saviour, i.e. something active, but can also understood as gift. God’s merciful gift of love that he gave to us at Christmas in the Incarnation is not only an abstract something but a person, God’s Son who is also our brother and friend. He came as a humble helpless baby. He lived a simple life in a small country mixing with ordinary people but showed us the way of unconditional love and complete self-giving by his life and finally his death. His Resurrection completed God’s plan of salvation and paved the way for us for eternal life and happiness. How can we show our love and thank him for this amazing gift?
The greatest gift a person can give is to give his life for his friends. John 15:13. Pope Francis. The mission of Jesus received from the Father was that of revealing the mystery of divine love in its fullness. Everything in him speaks of mercy. Nothing in him is devoid of compassion. From MV8. Reflect and Share. LOVE CAME DOWN AT CHRISTMASTIME is MARFAM’s other publication for this time built around the life and experience of St Francis and how he built a Christmas crib for the poor people in the village. As they celebrated Midnight Mass there, they had a real experience of the presence of baby Jesus.
A CHRISTMAS PRAYER FOR ALL PEOPLE.
Dear Loving God, Christmas is a time for giving, loving and caring. At time for being with others, having fun and sharing.
You gave Your Son, Lord Jesus, to save us from our sins And to learn to live in such a way that everybody wins.
We thank you for your kindness and showing us the way Help all the people in the world to follow you each day.
May every man and woman and every girl and boy Be honest, generous and fair to bring each other joy.
Bless all the lonely people, and bless those who are ill. Bless everyone who care for them, and those who pay the bill.
Bless those who have no homes, or have no food to eat And as we serve each other so in heaven may we meet. Amen. | <urn:uuid:7c9e76a2-6e9c-42c6-ac95-6063c0ab5036> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://marfam.org.za/2021/12/25/christmas-day-the-birthday-of-jesus/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570871.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808183040-20220808213040-00275.warc.gz | en | 0.968576 | 539 | 1.8125 | 2 |
A Geographic Information System (GIS) is an incredibly powerful function within an organisation, providing the spatial systems of record (data management), engagement (visualisation) and insight (analysis).
Any organisation that has implemented an enterprise GIS will know how the day-to-day IT support can demand a great amount of time from the GIS specialist charged with its management.
As a result, a typical GIS specialist role description can include the following list of skillsets:
server and database administration,
managing data coordinate systems/projections, and
spatial analysis – plus, an ability to understand and communicate business needs.
Executives and managers often discuss with me the challenges in replacing this role, and the business risks around having a single point of failure for this knowledge in their organisations.
However, their biggest lament is that GIS specialists spend much of their time dealing with the IT aspects of their GIS, rather than using their analytical skills to solve actual business problems.
But as organisations transition to modern web GIS, times are changing…
Web GIS gives organisations access to configurable, fit-for-purpose, easy-to-use apps with the ability to produce maps, edit data, work in the field, search datasets and perform analysis.
A central portal that simplifies user access controls such as assigning user names, defining roles and group access, means that these functions can shift from the specialist to a simple Help Desk task.
This simpler approach to creating, using and securing GIS content, allows anyone in the organisation with minimal or no training to perform tasks previously only possible by a specialist.
As organisations adopt web GIS, I am seeing the following three key trends emerging for how they fulfil the resource requirements for a GIS capability without a GIS System Admin role.
- GIS without GIS recruitment – SaaS
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) GIS removes the system administration requirement. The simplicity of this option means organisations that would never previously have considered a GIS, because of the overhead of hiring a GIS system administrator, can now adopt web GIS without having to hire a GIS specialist.
- Managed GIS administrator services
With organisations moving away from the highly customised monolithic web app in favour of the portal world – a single access point into many configurable, task-driven apps – the time overhead of managing GIS applications is vastly reduced.
For organisations managing an enterprise GIS on their own infrastructure, the day-to-day, front-end portal management is now much simpler. For example, IT Support can deploy named users, while designated creators in the business can deploy their own apps.
The effort of administering the system’s components becomes a much smaller, but highly specialised function. For this reason, more organisations are now looking to outsource this requirement through a managed services arrangement, where an external team of specialists can “keep the lights on” so internal staff can focus on solving business problems.
- Rise of the GIS Analyst!
By enabling organisations to self-serve with configurable, easy-to-use apps and by using SaaS or managed GIS administrator services to cover GIS administration, organisations are now looking to hire GIS staff for their spatial analytics and problem-solving skills, rather than their back-end IT skills. In other words, provide their organisation with the key expertise that they were trained to deliver.
Whether organisations hire a GIS System Administrator and/or a GIS Analyst, outsource or use SaaS, the options available mean that the unique problem-solving capability of GIS is now available to more organisations than ever before!
For advice on how to resource your GIS capability with ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise, call 1800 870 750 or send an email. | <urn:uuid:35881ba7-6a31-4dff-af9a-7d0ff9abc689> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://esriaustralia.com.au/blog/3-emerging-trends-web-gis-resourcing | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570977.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809124724-20220809154724-00470.warc.gz | en | 0.911864 | 827 | 2.125 | 2 |
Sockeye Suzy’s Fish company is voluntarily recalling all of its canned seafood with any code starting with “OC” because it may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum. That bacteria can produce botulism toxin, which can be life-threatening. No illnesses have been reported to date.
You can see the long list of product names, can sizes, and UPC numbers at the FDA web site. The recalled products include Fancy Chinook, Coho, Steelhead, Smoked Catfish, Sturgeon, Sockeye, Walleye, and others in different flavors and varieties. These products were made by Skipanon Brand Seafood and are part of a larger recall that affects fourteen other brands.
Botulism toxin does not affect the taste, aroma, appearance, or texture of food. It grows in an anerobic environment. The cans were improperly processed, which increases the risk of this type of toxin. The symptoms of botulism food poisoning include double vision, general weakness, dizziness, and trouble speaking, swallowing, and breathing. If you experience these symptoms, see a doctor immediately.
If you purchased any of these products, do not eat them. Throw them away or return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. | <urn:uuid:8f7a702b-45db-4ac9-9a9b-513c5683a067> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://foodpoisoningbulletin.com/2015/sockeye-suzys-fish-recalls-canned-seafood-for-botulism-risk/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285289.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00145-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951159 | 262 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Classical Management Theory
|Classical management theory||3|
|Classical organization theory||6|
|Modern Approaches to management theory||9|
|Menedžmenta salīdzinājums un izmantošana mūsdienās||13|
Classical management theory is a label applied to the beliefs about management that emerged during the early year of this century - ideas that represent the first well-developed framework of management. Classical management theory actually includes two different approaches to management: scientific management and classical organization theory.
Scientific management, which is concerned with the management of work and workers, grew from the pioneering work of five people:
Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1915),
Frank Gilbreth (1868-1924),
Lilian Gilbreth (1878-1972),
Henry Gantt (1861-1919),
Harrington Emerson (1853-1931)
Frederick W. Taylor
At the beginning of the twentieth century, there was considerable concern about productivity. Business was expanding and capital was readily available, but labor was in short supply. A primary goal of management was to use existing labor more efficiently. Frederick Taylor was very much interested in developing solutions to this problem.
One of Taylor's first jobs was as a foreman at the Midvale Steel Company in Philadelphia, where he developed a strong dislike for waste and inefficiency. At Midvale he observed what he called "soldiering": Working at less than a normal pace. The reason the employees worked at a reduced pace was that they feared the consequences of working harder; all the work might be completed and they might be laid off. Management was unaware of this practice because it had never analyzed the jobs closely enough to determine what the employees should be producing.
Taylor observed and timed each element of the steel worker's jobs. First he determined what each worker should be producing, and then he designed the most efficient way of doing each part of the overall tasks. Next he implemented an early from of a piece-rate pay system. Rather than paying all employees the same wage, he began increasing the pay of workers who met and exceeded the target level of output set for each job.
Taylor left Midvale and worked for several years as an independent consultant for Simonds Rolling Machine Company and Bethlehem Steel, among others. At Simonds he studied and redesigned jobs, introduced rest periods to reduce fatigue, and converted to a different pay scale. The results were higher quality and quantity of output and improved morale. At Bethlehem Steel, Taylor studied efficient ways of loading and unloading railcars and applied his conclusions with equally impressive results.… | <urn:uuid:c2a20db8-ac1c-46bb-8de1-35b316189622> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://rus.atlants.lv/referat/classical-management-theory/151982/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572127.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815024523-20220815054523-00271.warc.gz | en | 0.942086 | 612 | 3.390625 | 3 |
And though many British extremists are angered by the deaths of fellow Muslim across the world, what drove me and many others to plot acts of extreme terror within Britain and abroad was a sense that we were fighting for the creation of a revolutionary worldwide Islamic state that would dispense Islamic justice.
If we were interested in justice, you may ask, how did this continuing violence come to be the means of promoting such a (flawed) Utopian goal?
How do Islamic radicals justify such terror in the name of their religion?
There isn't enough room to outline everything here, but the foundation of extremist reasoning rests upon a model of the world in which you are either a believer or an infidel.
But while Butt is attracting a good deal of attention, there is less notice of America's own converted Islamic warrior: Kamal Saleem. Saleem says that he changed his life when he was cared for by several Christians after a car accident.
One would think that there would be more stories like these. | <urn:uuid:c1308497-fc72-427d-b131-5af834145cb6> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://influencepeddler.blogspot.com/2007/07/reformed-jihadists.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560283301.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095123-00509-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983431 | 205 | 1.59375 | 2 |
After months of planning, Intel officially announced this week the opening of its Collaborative Research institute for Computational Intelligence. Working in cooperation with both the Technion and Hebrew University, Intel will be spending $15 million in the coming years to develop projects that will take computers to the point where they can begin to think for themselves, or at least anticipate problems before they happen and suggest solutions.
At a gala event in Tel Aviv, top Intel executives presented details of the plan, which combines advancing work in the areas of machine learning, which enables the combining of massive amounts of data from a range of sources (the cloud, the sensors, the network and the environment) with historical and current private and public data. The aim is to create solutions to everyday needs, along with moving forward research in advanced computer architecture, to produce better, faster, and smaller processors to provide the computational power needed for the advanced apps and devices the institute hopes to produce.
Attending the event was Science and Technology Minister Daniel Hershkowitz, who praised the cooperation between industry and academia as “a wonderful approach to research. It’s not surprising that Intel is at the forefront of this welcome trend, and it makes sense that computational intelligence would be the subject of this cooperation.”
Also appearing at the event were two of Intel’s top executives, Corporate Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Jason Rattner, and Intel Israel head and senior VP of world Intel, Mooly Eden. At a press conference after the event, Rattner described details of the program, what kind of technology the Institute plans to produce, and when it’s expected to come to market. In a word, said Rattner, “it’s about the future of computing.”
The computer, formerly just a dumb box, is about to get a slew of new capabilities, thanks to the Computational Center. Life will get more convenient, safer, easier — or less private, depending on your point of view. One project Rattner described involves a device (or an app) that keeps tabs on what we do, and when and how we do it. The technologies and devices will take all the data gathered by sensors — GPS, accelerometers, cameras, and others yet to be developed — and mashup the information, with advanced algorithms learning the relationship between the data and making “decisions,” suggestions, and choices for us, all in the interest of making our lives less complicated.
For example, the device (or a series of devices collaborating in the cloud) could videotape us as we go about our daily activities. It we forget where we left the car keys (the system knows we need them because we are standing by the car door) it will tell or message us that we left the keys upstairs on the dresser. If it determines that we are serial forgetters, the system will take the liberty of reminding us not to forget the keys when we approach the door to go outside.
Once we’re in the car, we’ll find even more smart apps, devices, and technologies. “We’re working on this with all the major car companies, including Nissan, Toyota, BMW, and others. ‘Intel Inside’ is a logo we’ll see not only on computers, but in all sorts of intelligent car apps and products,” Rattner said. Working together, Technion and Hebrew University researchers will combine their advances in machine learning and architecture to produce those technologies, and the products that will make them useful and accessible.
Already, more rudimentary versions of these smart machine learning technologies and form factors are out there, Rattner said, describing a smart shoe sales system, components of which are already in use in the US. “You walk up to a pair of signs in the shoe store and it sizes you up, deciding if you are a man, woman, adult, or child. Then it runs a program which shows you the shoes appropriate to your needs — men’s styles for men, etc. With a few more gestures you can call up a specific model and size, and a salesperson will bring the shoes you gestured for.
If all this sounds a bit big brother-ish, Rattner sympathizes. “A few years ago we made security one of the pillars of Intel technology,” a commitment the company backed up with cash when it acquired McAfee, the security software company. “When developing new technologies, especially smart technologies like these where you have the ability to aggregate lots of information, it is incumbent to make that the data remains remains private and secure, and is only disclosed in ways with which the individual is comfortable.”
In other words, we should feel safe using whatever the Computational Institute comes up with, Rattner said — because the security is going to be built-in. “Security is difficult to retrofit on devices and technologies that were built in an insecure manner,” he said, citing email as an example. “If we had known that security was going to be an issue then, we would have designed in differently, in a more secure manner.” Now, though, designers have no excuse, and they will be designing smart technologies with built-in (and scalable, to ensure that they can keep up with the hackers) security systems.
And although he is helping to helm a project that some would consider a bit “invasive,” Rattner himself believes in keeping a low (online) profile. “Personally I think there is too much information about us on the Internet,” he said. “I think that society in general should embrace the view that our personal information is personal. We, not others, should be setting the agenda on how it is to be used.” | <urn:uuid:17a812b3-28ec-418a-aa8e-228975252d77> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.timesofisrael.com/intel-israeli-universities-to-develop-real-smart-technologies-to-do-real-smart-things/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279189.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00062-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952227 | 1,196 | 2.59375 | 3 |
On the seasonal signal of the Filchner overflow, Weddell Sea, Antarctica
Peer reviewed, Journal article
MetadataVis full innførsel
- Geophysical Institute
The cold ice shelf water (ISW) that formed below the Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf in the southwestern Weddell Sea, Antarctica, escapes the ice shelf cavity through the Filchner Depression and spills over its sill at a rate of 1.6 Sverdrups (Sv; 1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1), thus contributing significantly to the production of Weddell Sea Bottom Water. Here, the authors examine all available observational data from the region—including five year-long time series of mooring data from the Filchner sill—to examine the seasonal variability of the outflow. The temperature of the ISW outflow is found to vary seasonally by 0.07°C with a maximum in April. The accompanying signal in salinity causes a seasonal signal in density of 0.03–0.04 kg m−3, potentially changing the penetration depth of the ISW plume by more than 500 m. Contrary to recent modeling, the observations show no seasonal variability in outflow velocity. The seasonality observed at the sill is, at least partly, due to the admixture of high-salinity shelf water from the Berkner Bank. Observations and numerical modeling suggest, however, seasonal signals in the circulation upstream (i.e., in the ice shelf cavity and in the Filchner Depression) that—although processes and linkages are unclear—are likely to contribute to the seasonal signal observed at the sill. In the plume region downstream of the sill, the source variability is apparent only within the very densest portions of the ISW plume. In the more diluted part of the plume, the source variability is overcome by the seasonality in the properties of the water entrained at the shelf break. This will have implications for the properties of the generated bottom waters. | <urn:uuid:c8034fb8-99bb-48a0-b455-1e8d262a1adb> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://bora.uib.no/bora-xmlui/handle/1956/13069 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573908.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20220820043108-20220820073108-00265.warc.gz | en | 0.893901 | 483 | 2.390625 | 2 |
The author of the book: Theodore C. Chan
Format files: PDF, EPUB, TXT, DOCX
The size of the: 31.26 MB
Date of issue: 22 October 2004
Description of the book "ECG in Emergency Medicine and Acute Care":"ECG in Emergency Medicine and Acute Care" provides a comprehensive, clinically relevant resource on electrocardiography for those who care for patients in the emergency setting. The book provides succinct information on ECG abnormalities and their aetiologic differential diagnoses, diagnostic criteria for the ECG manifestations of various clinical diseases/entities, and many 12-lead ECG examples for review.
Reviews of the ECG in Emergency Medicine and Acute CareTo date regarding the book we have now ECG in Emergency Medicine and Acute Care comments people have never still eventually left his or her review of the game, or otherwise read it yet. But, in case you have previously check out this e-book and you are wanting to help to make his or her conclusions well require you to take your time to leave an assessment on our site (we are able to distribute both negative and positive reviews). In other words, "freedom of speech" All of us completely reinforced. Ones comments to reserve ECG in Emergency Medicine and Acute Care -- different visitors will be able to choose with regards to a e-book. Such support can certainly make us all additional Joined!
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Download EBOOK ECG in Emergency Medicine and Acute Care for free | <urn:uuid:9dde8fea-0b53-4173-bc49-548b63498d0e> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://clearwalksoft.com/medical/58659-ecg-in-emergency-medicine-and-acute-care.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281424.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00339-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925346 | 427 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Detection of CD4 in Human Blood Lymphocytes by Flow Cytometry. Human peripheral blood lymphocytes were stained with Mouse Anti-Human CD3 epsilon PE‑conjugated Monoclonal Antibody (Catalog # FAB100P) and either (A) Mouse Anti-Human CD4 Alexa Fluor® 700‑conjugated Monoclonal Antibody (Catalog # FAB3791N) or (B) Mouse IgG2A Alexa Fluor 700 Isotype Control (Catalog # IC003N). View our protocol for Staining Membrane-associated Proteins.
Preparation and Storage
The product is shipped with polar packs. Upon receipt, store it immediately at the temperature recommended below.
Stability & Storage
Protect from light. Do not freeze.
12 months from date of receipt, 2 to 8 °C as supplied.
CD4 is a type I membrane glycoprotein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily. It is expressed predominantly on thymocytes and a subset of mature T lymphocytes. CD4 functions in collaboration with the T cell receptor in the recognition of peptide antigens that are presented by class II major histocompatibility complexes. CD4 also has been shown to be a coreceptor of HIV entry and specifically binds gp120, the external envelope glycoprotein of HIV.
The reconstitution calculator allows you to quickly calculate the volume of a reagent to reconstitute your vial. Simply enter the mass of reagent and the target concentration and the calculator will determine the rest. | <urn:uuid:969fd87f-1b36-4661-bcbb-a1bc5eebb3fe> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.rndsystems.com/products/human-cd4-alexa-fluor-700-conjugated-antibody-11830_fab3791n | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280364.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00032-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.88783 | 328 | 2.03125 | 2 |
March 12, 2009
DALLAS (SMU) – SMU is a partner in a newly designated National Science Foundation research consortium aimed at building both military and commercial superiority by making technology faster, better and smarter.
The Net-Centric Software and Systems Industry/University Cooperative Research Center, which also includes two other universities and 11 companies, will focus on improving how complicated information is gathered, shared and used, from the battlefield to the boardroom.
For example, FedEx’s package tracking system, which links employees, customers, suppliers and partners, is an example of a commercial application of net-centric technology. And on the battlefield, where information superiority already translates to combat power, future net-centric systems will connect ground and air combat, linking shooters, decision makers and sensors toward a common goal.
“This opens a lot of doors,” said Jeff Tian, associate professor of computer science in SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering. “We envision this consortium becoming a leading research alliance in the United States. Because we can cooperate with the expertise of academic institutions and high-tech companies, we have much greater research capabilities than any one institution working alone.”
Academic partners in the consortium are Southern Methodist University, the University of North Texas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The center’s industry partners are Boeing, Cisco, Codekko Software, EDS/HP, Fujitsu, GlobeRanger, Hall Financial Group, Lockheed-Martin Aero, Raytheon, Texas Instruments and T-System.
“Net-centric” describes a continuously evolving, complex community of people, devices, information and services interconnected by a communications network that can instantaneously measure and apply all available resources to a particular challenge. It is becoming increasingly important for the realization of important defense, commercial, healthcare, education, communication, social networking and entertainment applications.
The consortium is one of approximately 40 such centers nationwide that develop long-term partnerships between industry, academia and government. The National Science Foundation makes an initial investment in these centers, but they are primarily supported by center members and focus on research recommended by industrial advisory boards.
# # # | <urn:uuid:1a9171af-8114-4dda-88dc-854ecaf35cfd> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.smu.edu/News/2009/Net-Centric-12march2009 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570871.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808183040-20220808213040-00273.warc.gz | en | 0.919153 | 449 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Deciding to buy a new home is an exciting time but remember that when you’re completing your budgeting, there is more to consider than simply how much you buy the property for. The key to a successful transaction is to have a comprehensive budget with everything accounted for. Here are some of the costs involved:
Leasehold – If the property you are buying is a leasehold, there will be an additional fee which often stays the same no matter the property cost.
Searches – Done by a solicitor, searches are highly recommended for identifying any issues with a property before you buy it.
Stamp Duty – Between now and the end of next March, stamp duty tax has been waived for homes under half a million pounds. From March 2021 they resume at 5% for homes in this price bracket. For more details on claiming a Stamp Duty Refund, contact Sentient, a provider of Stamp Duty Refund.
Legal fees – A solicitor or conveyancer will charge either a set fee or a percentage of the property’s value.
Land Registry – This government department holds details on all properties registered in England & Wales and there is a fee for registering the new ownership of a property.
Mortgage Fees – Most mortgages will come with fees for arranging and charges for organising the loan. There are mortgages available fee-free but they tend to have higher rates.
Valuation fee – On applying for a mortgage, the lender will want a full valuation of the property to check it is worth the asking price. | <urn:uuid:934547c9-a1de-4a09-bfbe-31f8c082d7fa> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://engagingelk.co.uk/lifestyle/what-are-the-costs-of-buying-a-house/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570977.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809124724-20220809154724-00466.warc.gz | en | 0.947154 | 318 | 1.640625 | 2 |
2007.08.03 17:30 "[Tiff] bug? copying tiled tiffs over 2GB seems to break", by John
I have a problem with a pyramid builder I wrote. It seems to break for pyramids larger than 2GB with tiff 3.8.2. I think (I hope this is right) it's supposed to work for files up to 4GB.
Here's a small test program:
Run it with:
gather output.tiff in1.tiff in2.tiff...
The input files need to be tiled TIFF. It just copies each one into the output file. If output.tiff is under 2GB, all is well. If output.tif goes just over 2GB, it becomes unreadable.
john@mm-jcupitt2:~/pics$ tiffinfo output.tiff
output.tiff: Error fetching data for field "BitsPerSample".
Is this a bug? Or am I doing something horribly wrong? Thanks! | <urn:uuid:321c15dd-c993-4410-be5c-f279b43af447> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://asmail.be/msg0054763658.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570913.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809064307-20220809094307-00075.warc.gz | en | 0.904987 | 255 | 1.640625 | 2 |
This chapter investigates the effects of introducing the “generational election system” proposed by Ihori and Doi (Nihon-seiji no keizai-bunseki (Economic analysis of Japanese politics), Bokutaku-Sha, Tokyo, 1998). The generational election system (or the election district by generation) consists of election districts divided by not only region but also generation. In industrial countries, intergenerational conflicts of interest are large at present. In particular, the older generation has more political power because of aging and fewer children. In an electoral system that consists of election districts divided only by region, conflicts of interest among regions can be dealt with in the Congress, but intergenerational conflicts are buried in each district because the opinions of older people dominate those of younger people. Therefore, this chapter analyzes the effects of introducing the generational election system using an overlapping generations model. The results of the voting equilibrium show that the preferred policy of the younger generation can be better represented in the generational election system compared with the current majoritarian system. Furthermore, the selected policy does not depend on the turnout rate of the younger generation. These results suggest that introducing the generational election system benefits both the younger and future generations. | <urn:uuid:d14ad778-7e3a-43ab-938d-85a5fea60b50> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://keio.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/tax-policy-under-the-generational-election-system | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573172.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818063910-20220818093910-00278.warc.gz | en | 0.943597 | 250 | 2.6875 | 3 |
May 3: Soka Gakkai Day
May 3 is known as “Soka Gakkai Day.” It was on May 3, 1951, that Josei Toda was inaugurated as the second president of the Soka Gakkai, and on May 3, 1960, that Daisaku Ikeda became the third president. May 3 is also “Soka Gakkai Mother’s Day,” symbolizing the vital role that women play within the organization.
Josei Toda became second president at a time when there were only around 3,000 Soka Gakkai members in Japan, seven years after the passing of first president Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, who died in prison for his beliefs during World War II.
Ikeda recalls that on that day, Toda announced his goal of achieving a membership of 750,000 households during his lifetime. Ikeda comments, “This was a soaring pledge to accomplish kosen-rufu (world peace through the spread of Nichiren Buddhism). The goal he announced was truly staggering. But I was overjoyed. Courage surged through me. My mentor, incomparable leader of kosen-rufu, had finally resolved to stand at the helm as president.”
Toda’s passionate efforts to realize this vision inspired hundreds of thousands of people throughout Japan to join Soka Gakkai over the next few years and eventually laid the path for Nichiren Buddhism to gain a following around the world.
In May 1960, two years after Toda’s death, Ikeda, then 32 years old, was inaugurated as the third president of the Soka Gakkai. Under his leadership, the movement began an era of innovation and expansion, becoming actively engaged in cultural and educational endeavors worldwide. Ikeda has continued to dedicate himself to fulfilling Toda’s dreams by developing initiatives in the areas of peace, culture and education. He has described May 3 as “a day to embark afresh on our struggle for world peace and the happiness of humanity.”
Toda had always emphasized the importance of the role of women in spearheading the organization’s development, and Ikeda also recognized that Soka Gakkai’s growth was largely due to the efforts of the women members—the “mothers of kosen-rufu.”
On April 27, 1988, at the first national Soka Gakkai Women’s Division meeting held in Tokyo, Ikeda therefore proposed that May 3 also be designated “Soka Gakkai Mother’s Day” in the spirit of appreciation for the sincere efforts of the women members. | <urn:uuid:7008a23b-36cb-4db0-a3d7-f379424d1078> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.sokaglobal.org/resources/study-materials/commemorative-dates/may-3-soka-gakkai-day.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572192.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815145459-20220815175459-00070.warc.gz | en | 0.985117 | 562 | 3.015625 | 3 |
“I am excited to see new ideas and technologies coming forward to help keep household bills down, boost our energy security and meet our climate change commitments,” said Greg Clark, UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. “A smarter energy system is an important part of our work to build an economy that works for all.”
This news was warmly welcomed by the UK Solar Trade Association (STA), which recognized it as an opportunity for solar to effectively combine with smart grid technologies: “Opening energy networks to the clean and clever technologies available today will be hugely beneficial,” stated STA CEO Paul Barwell. “Smart power allows greater volumes of the cheapest forms of clean power – like solar – to be integrated effectively into the energy system,” he continued.
Electricity storage is expected to be a key technology featured in the call for evidence. The STA announced that it will submit a report to Ofgem, which it says "confirms that storage is a long term game changer, rather than a short term market bubble."
The potential for storage to create a more responsive energy system is key to the technology's appeal. “It means demand will more efficiently match supply, rather than wasteful business as usual, where generation simply follows demand peaks,” says STA’s Barwell.
The announcement by Ofgem could provide a much needed boost for companies developing solar + storage applications, following a report earlier this week that few solar customers in the UK are even aware that storage products are available to them. A statement from the STA recognized that “Even modest rooftop solar schemes can face problems accessing the networks in parts of the country,” and said that today’s announcement is a move towards local networks being increasingly incentivised “to act like intelligent ‘mini grids’, with much more freedom to connect & manage complex power flows.”
Another idea that could be welcomed by Ofgem is voluntary demand side response, where companies receive payments for reducing their electricity use at peak times. “Having a smarter energy system will revolutionise how we interact with the energy market,” says Ofgem Chief Executive Dermot Nolan. To get there we must make sure that the regulatory regime is fit for the energy system of tomorrow.”
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:78283bba-a733-4de8-ab6c-0c6feb83cf80> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.pv-magazine.com/2016/11/10/uk-power-regulator-opens-dialogue-on-smarter-energy-system_100026870/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572870.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817062258-20220817092258-00678.warc.gz | en | 0.953579 | 520 | 2.078125 | 2 |
It is has recently been reported that Chinese scientists, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Security, have taken DNA from a 7 year old female Kunming Wolfdog named Huahuangma and produced what they hope will be the first of a line of super police dogs that will reduce both the cost and length of training of them. The media have already dubbed it as the “Sherlock Holmes of police dogs”. Huahuangma was awarded first-class meritorious dog of 2016 for her contributions in investigating murder cases. Is it fake news? – unfortunately it appears not.
The puppy was born by caesarian section from a beagle surrogate on the 19th. December, 2018 and is named Kunxun. The company behind this endeavour is Beijing based SINOGENE BIOTECHNOLOGY who hope it will result in “volume production”, but this anticipated “production” is still in its experimental stage and it could be up to 10 years before mass cloning of these dogs is possible. The scientists plan to establish a national police dog cell bank which they can utilise to produce top-notch police dogs.
The Kunming dog is believed to have been created from crossing German Shepherds and Wolfdogs in the 1950’s in Yunnan, China to produce military dogs and was recognised as a breed by the Chinese in 1988, since which time they have been used as police, customs, fire and rescue dogs. It resembles a German Shepherd but is usually taller and lighter. Some are kept as pets, but their temperament can be suspect.
Unfortunately China is a leading exponent of cloning animals for research and spurious commercial projects. Five “genetically edited” macaque monkeys were recently bred with identical mental illness in order to test drugs for mental conditions. And this is not the first of this kind of venture for service dogs as South Korea cloned a dog way back in 2005 and in 2007 cloned Labrador Retrievers to be used as Customs sniffer dogs. Scientists believe that this kind of breeding is far better than “regular” or natural breeding.
The only good news is that it may take years to start producing police dogs in large numbers and to make it economically viable, but cloned dogs can retail at over US$56,000. Breeding animals to order to fulfill whatever uses we might want to use them for is a frightening prospect and perhaps we should be trying to stop it before it gets out of control.
Why did it take so long to protect UK police dogs and horses.
Until recently police dogs and horses have always been treated just as a piece of police equipment or property. Countries have been extremely slow at recognising the need to protect them and it has often taken too many tragic incidents and thwarted campaigns to force lawmakers to do so. The UK, the great nation of animal lovers, has followed its usual path in lagging behind other countries in protecting service animals and like most countries has only done it through public pressure.
New Zealand has protected its police dogs since 2008 with the Policing Act 2008 (Killing or injuring Police Dogs) and has recently increased the punishment under the Policing (Killing a Police Dog) Amendment Bill 2016 to 5 years in line with many other countries and 2 years for injuring a dog plus a NZ$15,000 fine.
The USA has had protection in place since 2000 under the Federal Law Enforcement Animal Protection Act with up to 10 years in prison and a $1000 fine for assaulting, maiming or killing federal law enforcement dogs and horses following many attacks on them and drug dealers putting bounties on narcotics sniffer dogs, but State laws vary.
Police dog handlers have to fight for the rights of their dogs.
On the 12th. November, 2010 in Roseville, Minnesota, USA, Officer John Jorgensen sent his police dog Major into a wooded area to chase after intruders and within minutes he found Major covered in blood and rushed him to the vet where he was found to have suffered four stab wounds puncturing the lung and damaging the spinal cord resulting in permanent paralysis of his hind legs. Although it was a felony to kill a state police dog, assaulting one was treated at the time as a mere misdemeanour so the attacker only served 4 months. The officer was so appalled at the lack of protection of his partner that he began a campaign for more stringent laws in the State which he succeeded in.
In August 2013 in Adelaide, South Australia a police dog named Koda was stabbed in the chest in the line of duty when he caught up with a knife-wielding man following a burglary. He was stabbed in the chest causing a 8 c.m.-deep wound and was rushed to a vet where he underwent emergency surgery and survived. The incident was greeted with public outrage as no law existed to prosecute the offender and following a campaign a new law, known as “Koda’s Law” was introduced.
In 2013 in Edmonton, Canada a police dog named Quanto was brutally stabbed to death in a parking lot while pursuing a fleeing suspect named Paul Vukmanich who was later sentenced to 26 months under various laws, but there was outrage at the short sentence and lack of legal protection for the dog. This led to a campaign and the enactment on 24 July 2015 of the Justice for Animals in Service Act familiarly known as Quanto’s law in memory of the dog which makes it an offence to kill, maim, wound, poison or injure a law enforcement or military dog or horse.
On the 5th. October, 2016 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, UK a 16-year-old boy stabbed a police dog named Finn in the chest and head causing life threatening injuries, but he survived following surgery and weeks of treatment. It sparked outrage and there was a campaign, including a website and Facebook page for Finn, involving his handler PC Wardell to enact a law to protect them , something that should have been included under the Animal Welfare Act back in 2006 but was either overlooked or not felt necessary.
UK Government slow to come to the rescue of police dogs and horses.
A petition was launched which stated “I propose that UK police dogs and horses be given protection that reflects their status if assaulted in the line of duty. This would be similar to the US Federal Law Enforcement Animal Protection”, but prior to the petition being debated the Government responded by saying “It is unnecessary to give police animals the same legal status as officers in light of the penalties already in place”. This was not helped by a delay caused by Sir Christopher Chope MP who unbelievably objected to the new proposed law. Such is the UK’s commitment to animal welfare.
Despite this a new amendment,the Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Amendment, to the Animal Welfare Act, which has been dubbed “Finn’s law,” was finally debated by the Lords and came into force on 7th. June 2019. It is obviously better late than never but it seems sad that we haven’t found it necessary to help our police dogs and horses much sooner.
Is it time to reduce the usage of animals on front line duties?
Having such a law is obviously to be applauded, but it is not unfortunately going to solve the problem of attacks on police animals in the future and brings into focus the danger we put these animals in on our behalf. It raises the question of whther it is ethically and morally fair to intentionally put animals in harms way in the first place? Would it not be better to restrict them to ceremonial use or purely as “search” and “sniffer” dogs who appear to have a fun time at work. | <urn:uuid:c9c983eb-8131-4336-9b49-e64e013735a1> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://animalrightsandwrongs.uk/tag/police-dogs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570793.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808092125-20220808122125-00675.warc.gz | en | 0.977948 | 1,580 | 2.5 | 2 |
The Superlative A. Lincoln – Charlesbridge Publishing
SILVER Medal Winner
2019 Florida Book Awards—Older Children’s Literature
ILLINOIS READS Book Selection 2020, 2021
A program of the Illinois Reading Council
The Superlative A. Lincoln celebrates the numerous (and surprising) ways in which our sixteenth president excelled. The nineteen poems in this non-fiction poetry collection include “Most Distracted Farmer,” “Biggest Dreamer,” “Best Use of an Accessory,” and “Most Admired President,” to name a few. Each poem shares a fascinating story about events in Abraham Lincoln’s life. History notes accompany each poem and explain more about the ways in which Lincoln was superlative.
In the back matter, “The Superlative YOU” encourages children to consider the numerous ways in which they, too, are superlative. This book empowers young readers to learn more about Lincoln’s life and dream about great accomplishments they hope to achieve.
“Telling Abraham Lincoln’s story in poetry is a tall order, but Meyer pulls it off. “Come read about a legend— / the greatest of the greats; / from a poor boy in the backwoods / to a president, first-rate.” The title of each celebratory poem offers a yearbook-style superlative about our 16th president: “Best Wrestler,” “Best Lumberjack,” “Who’s Tallest?” Each poem is accompanied by a brief paragraph providing context for the poem. . . The collection will make excellent reading aloud in the classroom, a few a day. A tip of the stovepipe hat for making a poetry biography so much fun.”
“. . . An excellent use of language and recognizable rhyme schemes make this title a wonderful teaching tool for the classroom. These well-researched poems hold readers’ attention and could encourage them to explore additional questions. VERDICT A good example of how poetry can also inform. Highly recommended for elementary schools and public libraries.”
– School Library Journal
RESOURCES FOR READERS
Do you want to know more about our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln?
Check out these websites:
The URLs listed here were accurate at the time of this posting, but websites often change. If a URL doesn’t work, you can use the internet to find more information.
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace
National Historical Park:
History relating to Lincoln’s
History and information about this
famous landmark in Washington, DC.
Abraham Lincoln Presidential
Library and Museum:
Documents, manuscripts, newspapers,
oral biographies, and more relating to
Historical documents from the years
Lincoln lived in Illinois (1830–1861). | <urn:uuid:3021ede6-65ca-41b5-96a2-66e9de091fbe> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.eileenmeyerbooks.com/books/the-superlative-a-lincoln/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570868.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808152744-20220808182744-00073.warc.gz | en | 0.894643 | 676 | 2.84375 | 3 |
More About the Author
Helena Rasiowa (20 June 1917 – 9 August 1994) was a Polish mathematician. She worked in the foundations of mathematics and algebraic logic.
Review and Comments
Rate the Book
An algebraic approach to non-classical logics 0 out of 5 stars based on 0 ratings. | <urn:uuid:27304be3-0a95-45d1-aee4-5fa0019703f0> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://libdl.ir/book/52740/an-algebraic-approach-to-non-classical-logics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280310.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00182-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936853 | 66 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Wooden decking is subject to deterioration from weather and pests, whatever the wood used in its construction and however it is finished. This is especially true for joists, because they stay wet longer after rainfall and water tends to collect between them and the decking boards. They also provide a shady home for wood-boring insects and other pests. You can replace the rotting joists one by one after you remove the decking. If the rot is extensive, you may want to consider replacing them with pressure-treated wood.
Other People Are Reading
Things you need
- Crow bar
- Phillips screw bit (Size 2)
- New joists
- Circular saw
- Joist nails or 3 cm (1 1/4 inch) screws
- 7.5 cm (3 inch) deck screws
Remove one board at a time. If the boards are screwed in, use a drill to remove the screws and lift off each board in turn.
Pry up boards that are nailed down by first hooking the crow bar under the board and prying it up about 1.25 cm (1/2 inch), then hooking the bar around the nail head and pulling the nail out. Use a piece of wood to lever the bar so you don't damage the decking.
Remove as many boards as is necessary to completely uncover the rotted joists. If the joists are hung from beams on the front and back of the deck, you will have to remove all the decking.
Remove all nails from the boards and put them aside.
Decking board removal
Remove any nails or screws holding the joist to posts or beams. If it is secured to beams by joist ties, remove the nails holding the joist and lift it out, leaving the ties in place.
Measure the length of the joist you have removed and cut a new one to the same length with a circular saw. Drop it into place so that it is held by the joist ties and reattach it to the beams or posts with 7.5 cm (3 inch) screws or nails.
Use joist nails or 3 cm (1 1/4 inch) screws to secure the joist to the ties.
Repeat this process for any other rotten joists.
Replace the decking. If you are using nails, change their position since they won't hold the boards for long if pounded into their original holes. Screws are preferable to nails for securing decking, so it's probably a good idea to replace the nails that you remove with 7.5 cm (3 inch) deck screws.
- 20 of the funniest online reviews ever
- 14 Biggest lies people tell in online dating sites
- Hilarious things Google thinks you're trying to search for | <urn:uuid:1943428f-fb7e-461f-bf45-145ed78dd782> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_5981556_repair-rotting-deck-joist.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280292.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00341-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946088 | 571 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Poway, CA 92064
Blue Sky Ecological Reserve is a 700-acre oak-lined canyon flanked by coastal sage scrub and chaparral-covered hills. The Reserve is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna. Brilliant colors of wild flowers on the hillsides in spring, the songs of birds, and the tree-lined creek provide an inviting escape for a nature walk. The trails are open to the public free of charge during daylight hours.
Nestled in the hills of Poway amid groves of Eucalyptus and
characteristic Southern California chaparral, Lake Poway offers annual
community events, fishing and boating, an extensive trail system, picnicking,
softball, summer day camps, and more. The lake serves as the water supply for
Poway residents and has provided excellent outdoor recreation opportunities for
the entire community since 1972. There is a man-made dam connecting the
lake to the reserve.
Personal Experience: First off, if you are like me and prefer to hike not only for exercise but also for beauty, go in the spring! It gets HOT here in the summer and a lot of the greenery and flowers you see in these photos dies off. With that said, I don't find this trip particularly exciting but it is a good hike for endurance with a pretty view and a lake. I wish I still had my mountain bike because this would be a lot of fun to bike!
Anza Borrego Desert
Cuyamaca State Park | <urn:uuid:cc8e943c-0cf7-4304-816e-d65b2f81b94a> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://hiddensandiego.net/blue-sky-preservation.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282140.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00130-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.860447 | 314 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Unlike the unhappy ending of Madama Butterfly in Puccini's opera, many people today are able to be reunited with long lost children or long lost parents.
Even for those who cannot trace close living family members, more distant relatives might be discovered.
Madama Butterfly is one of the world's most popular operas. It is a tragic story of selfish behaviour and lost hope, wrapped in some of the most beautiful music ever composed.
Here is a summary of the opera
There are many women in the world who are like Madama Butterfly, and many men like Pinkerton.
Whatever the irresponsibilities and military personnel involved, the children who were the unintended consequence of fleeting passions are now able, as adults, to use the Internet to trace their ancestry. For example, I know of people who have had great success with GI Trace.
Here is the gitrace website
If you know of similar websites, please feel free to leave some comments about them below.
My Quieter Living blog also contains several posts on war, peace, poverty and children. Here are two that I think are especially appropriate for this time of year:
A Peace of Chocolate
Here in Ancestors Within, I provide these posts that may assist visitors who have a general interest in their own family history, whatever that history may be:
Family History - Ancestry and Privacy
Your Ancestral Heritage
The length of my blog pages should be shorter in 2010 as I will write more about the people in the photographs in the right hand column and move them to the relevant blog posts.
I'll take a break until then. In the words of the inimitable Spike Milligan, I wish you love, light and peace. | <urn:uuid:a1168bba-02f7-4608-aa17-af4536827cec> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://bisnonni.blogspot.com/2009/12/lost-relatives-regained.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280891.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00160-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945456 | 349 | 2.828125 | 3 |
There are so many reasons to pursue a hobby or extracurricular activity. Hopefully, the first reason is that you enjoy doing a certain activity. But there is also college applications, social interactions and family traditions to consider.
Spending time playing volleyball, chess or the violin are not just fun ways to enrich your life, and maybe increase your chances of getting into college. Hobbies and interests are also a way to qualify for many scholarships for college.
Scholarships by hobby, interest or extracurricular activity are available from a variety of sources. Much like scholarships for specific college majors and fields of study, there might be more financial aid available for students involved in some of the more “popular” or “mainstream” activities, but there are still plenty of available scholarships for unique or unusual hobbies and interests.
The largest pool of scholarship money for special interests is sports scholarships. Most sports scholarships are distributed directly by specific universities who are looking for players for specific teams. These are not limited to the “big” sports like football and basketball. There are also scholarships for lacrosse players, bowlers and golfers which are offered both by universities and by organizations and foundations looking to promote a specific sport. In fact there are even scholarships for those who participate in sports behind the scenes, like the Evans Scholars Foundation Scholarship for golf caddies!
It is important to note that for many scholarships involving a special interest or hobby, application processes for these awards can be more creative than more straight-forward awards. For example, the Ball State University Letterman Communications scholarships awards creative students with up to $10,000 for creative pursuits related to telecommunications. Students create their own telecommunications project to apply for the scholarship, like videos, websites and other media presentations.
Sports and hobbies are the only things that can help you get non-academic scholarships. Students involved in activism and public service will also find many opportunities to apply for financial aid. There are also scholarships for student environmentalists, and young citizens working to create a better planet.
With all of these different types of scholarships available, the listings found in this section of the site should offer something for just about everyone!
There are pages in this section featuring scholarships for people who have many different hobbies and interests, including:
Our editors are continually uncovering scholarships specific to hobbies and interests. Keep checking back and view our latest scholarship postings. We add new scholarships many times per week. | <urn:uuid:59a05ade-4700-4092-a778-f7de4f7abfb4> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.financialaidfinder.com/student-scholarship-search/scholarships-hobbies-interests/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281069.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00264-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955764 | 499 | 2.15625 | 2 |
DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN and JAMAL THALJI
Despite that certainty, tests show that a 12-year-old Pasco girl who died wasn't infected with E. coli after all.
TAMPA - Last week, Florida Health Secretary John Agwunobi expected that the number of people reported to have fallen ill after visiting one of two state fairs would rise as news spread.
On Wednesday, just as he predicted, the numbers jumped again.
There are now 22 confirmed cases statewide, up from 17 on Tuesday, and they include two in Pasco County.
Also the state added more suspected cases to its last count of 20, bringing the total to 24. That number includes three in Hillsborough and two in Pinellas.
Those confirmed patients all suffered from diarrhea after attending either the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City or the Central Florida Fair in Orlando.
Their lab results all turned up positive for a specific strain of E. coli or hemolytic uremic syndrome, HUS, a fairly infrequent and life-threatening complication of the E. coli infection.
Health officials are still trying to determine the source of the bacteria, which originates in animal feces.
The stricken fell ill after either eating undercooked and tainted beef, or they may have touched animals with that particular strain of E. coli during fair-related activities such as petting goats, riding a pony, milking a cow or racing pigs.
It can become a severe and debilitating illness, frequently requiring admission to a hospital and, in some cases, intensive care and dialysis.
HUS was suspected in the death of 12-year-old Kayla Nicole Sutter, who collapsed and died at her Wesley Chapel home March 23. But Wednesday the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner's Office ruled out the HUS-linked E. coli strain in her death.
Cultures taken from the Weightman Middle School seventh-grader and sent to the Florida Department of Health for testing came back negative Wednesday for E. coli.
"They are negative for the E. coli strain, and that's pretty self-explanatory," said Bill Pellan, the medical examiner's director of investigations. "If the cultures are negative, that pretty much rules (HUS) out as a cause of death."
Though the medical examiner reached a clinical decision in Kayla's death, state officials said their investigators must still make an epidemiological decision before removing her from the list of suspected HUS cases.
The cause of Kayla's death is still unknown, and could take weeks to determine. Kayla's family told a Pasco epidemiologist she had visited the Florida Strawberry Festival petting zoo.
In the wake of the outbreak, officials at the Lake County Fair in Eustis, scheduled to open April 7, nixed any plans for a petting zoo.
The company that owns the petting zoo is the same one used by the Florida Strawberry Festival and Central Florida Fair, said Happy Norris, manager of the Lake County Fair.
"It was a big part of our fair," Norris said. "But we're looking out for the concern and safety of fairgoers. Until we do know what the source is, we've got to do what we've got to do."
Norris said they're adding additional signs throughout the fairgrounds to remind the public of the importance of washing their hands after handling animals. Also, they've ordered more sanitizing stations. "We're trying to do what we can to educate the public on the safety of washing up after they handle the animals," he said. | <urn:uuid:b2014713-e29a-4299-a580-c0a4da9a0ed9> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/31/news_pf/Tampabay/State_says_22_are_con.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279368.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00324-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965093 | 749 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Antennas by GD Enable 'Early Science' for What Will Become the World's Most Advanced Radio Telescope
- Highly specialized, scientifically advanced antennas come together to capture never-before seen details about the cosmos
Now, in a preliminary step, the General Dynamics-built antennas are being linked together for the first time with others made in Europe and Japan to begin operating as a single radio telescope, enabling initial scientific experiments or 'early science.' One top-rated science experiment will use ALMA to unearth the behavior of about 50 of the most massive black holes in the universe previously hidden in the dusty material of their galaxies.
Global Satellite M2M Connections and Services Industry 2016 Market Research Report
"The installation of the General Dynamics antennas on the Chajnanator plateau represents a significant achievement for the North American portion of the ALMA project," said Brian Schrader, senior director of Engineering and Major Projects for General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies. "We've provided the majority of the antennas now allowing scientists to pursue projects that use ALMA's eyes to make large leaps in exploration."
"With ALMA poised to commence historic early science observations using at least 16 of its final 66 antennas, it is already the world's most powerful astronomical observatory at millimeter wavelengths. We're grateful to the entire North American ALMA antenna team, of which General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies is an integral part, for working so hard to make this day possible," said Mark McKinnon, North American ALMA project director at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO).
In addition to its antennas at the high site, General Dynamics has delivered another four antennas now in various stages of customer acceptance testing at the at the ALMA Operations Support facility, 7,000 feet below the Chajnanator plateau. Once complete and ready for operation, the antennas are carried by a custom-built transporter to the plateau where each is attached to a concrete platform and connected to electrical power, fiber optics and other services.
Source : General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) | <urn:uuid:1894af9d-7dc3-4718-b59b-8a618c0f988b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.asdnews.com/news-38598/Antennas_by_GD_Enable__Early_Science__for_What_Will_Become_the_World_s_Most_Advanced_Radio_Telescope.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280763.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00520-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903932 | 413 | 2.6875 | 3 |
A memorial service was held in September at New York's Riverside Church for Ernest T. Campbell, the congregation's senior minister from 1968 to 1976. He died July 9 at age 86 in his New York home. He was active on behalf of civil rights, migrant workers, a more humane national budget and fairer treatment for the LGBT community, said a church spokesperson. Campbell was a frequent speaker on The Protestant Hour and the National Radio Pulpit, as well as on college campuses. Campbell also taught at several seminaries, including Union Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary (his alma mater), Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, Claremont School of Theology and Garrett-Evangelical Seminary. His preaching missions abroad served as inspiration for such books as Christian Manifesto and Locked in a Room with Open Doors.
Raimon Panikkar, Catholic priest, philosopher and theologian noted for promoting interfaith dialogue, died at his home in Spain on August 26. He was 91. The son of a Catalan Catholic mother and an Indian Hindu father, Panikkar was a professor at the University of Madrid when in 1954 he made his first trip to India. It proved to be a life-changing experience of which he later said: "I left Europe [for India] as a Christian, I discovered I was a Hindu and returned as a Buddhist without ever having ceased to be a Christian." He also taught in Rome and at two U.S. universities, Harvard (1966-1971) and the University of California, Santa Barbara (1971-1987). The peripatetic Panikkar traveled worldwide, giving lectures and sermons and conducting retreats, always with a view to opening up Christianity to other religions. His 1989 Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh were published as The Rhythm of Being. Among his many other books: The Unknown Christ of Hinduism, The Vedic Experience, The Silence of God, The Cosmostheandric Experience and The Intrareligious Dialogue. In an interview in these pages in 2000, Panikkar said: "The whole history of Christianity is one of enrichment and renewal brought about by elements that came from outside itself."
British literary critic Frank Kermode, whose engaging works included studies in biblical literature, died August 17 at age 90 in Cambridge, England. Kermode, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991, wrote The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction (1967) and taught not only at Cambridge but also at Harvard, Princeton and Yale. He contributed to Christian-related academic journals and was noted especially for his 1979 book The Genesis of Secrecy: On the Interpretation of Narrative. Kermode coedited with Robert Alter The Literary Guide to the Bible (1987). | <urn:uuid:6ff74356-0fc5-4b6b-a8c0-3dc36b5eabcf> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2010-09/deaths | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280835.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00043-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971981 | 570 | 2.078125 | 2 |
You have layers and can create a layer, drag it beneath your active layer and put the water mark there, or create a layer above and put it there and make it transparent if you wish.
The interactive blend tool will show the forbidden symbol until it senses something that it blendable underneath it. There are tutorials on the web as to how to use blends that will show you more about this. You must have two items to blend between or blends will not work. The blend works by dragging the mouse once the forbidden symbols disappears to the other object at the opposite end of the blend.
Every day's a new day, "draw" on what you've learned.
Sally M. Bode | <urn:uuid:3dd0ab18-9e54-4549-bec9-41e2b1ac3216> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?9292-how-to-create-watermarks-in-coreldraw | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988718309.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183838-00404-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912187 | 142 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Preparing for your golden years requires a lot more than day dreaming about digging your toes into a sandy Florida beach or breathing in the salty air while cruising the Mediterranean.
Americans are living much longer, retirement costs are compounding, and pension plans — a retirement-staple in previous decades — are rapidly going extinct. While there are many risks that face retirees, new research suggests older Americans often underestimate the biggest and most likely problems they'll encounter.
“Planning for retirement has always been challenging because retirees face numerous risks and may not perceive them accurately,” writes Wenliang Hou, the author of a new paper published by Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research.
Hou’s research objectively ranks the biggest risks facing retirees, while also tracking how retirement-aged Americans perceive these risks. Unsurprisingly, there are some mismatches: For example, Americans tend to overestimate market volatility and underestimate their longevity and the toll it will take on their finances.
Here’s a look at the five biggest risks retirees face — as well as some advice for minimizing those risks.
1. Outliving your money in retirement
The biggest threat retirees face is outliving their retirement savings, according to Hou’s research. He refers to this as the “longevity risk.”
While it’s great news that Americans are living longer, the extra years come at a price. Americans often underestimate how long they’ll live — and therefore also underestimate how much money they'll need in retirement. “It is not surprising that longevity risk tops the list, because it affects the planning horizon for the retirement period,” Hou wrote.
What can you do to help pay for the added costs of living a longer life? To get some extra mileage out of Social Security benefits, retirement experts often recommend older Americans delay their retirement until age 70, if possible.
“The payoff from waiting until age 70 to start your Social Security benefit is the best investment you can make for your retirement,” Suze Orman, financial advisor and author, wrote in The Ultimate Retirement Guide for 50+.
2. Higher-than-expected medical costs
Health care expenses are a major financial risk to retirees, and it’s one they often miscalculate, according to Hou.
Recent research from Fidelity Investments shows that the average 65-year-old retired couple can now expect to pay $315,000 on medical expenses in retirement. Last year, that number was $300,000. Since Fidelity first began calculating the figure 20 years ago, estimated health care costs for retirees have almost doubled, and the vast majority of Americans report they aren’t prepared to cover the skyrocketing costs.
Experts often recommend long-term care insurance — preferably purchased long before you need it, in your 50s — as a way to help defray medical costs later in life, as can health savings accounts (HSAs) thanks to their major tax perks.
3. Stock market volatility
Americans subjectively think volatility in the stock market will be the biggest risk to their nest egg, but it’s actually the third largest risk, according to Hou’s ranking.
Who could blame them? Market swings stress most investors out, and for those approaching retirement, it can induce panic. Given that stocks officially entered a bear market in June, these fears have only heightened lately.
Kicking off your retirement during a bear market isn’t ideal, and experts recommend delaying your retirement if possible.
"If it were me and I was going to declare I’m retired and have my retirement party, I'd look to delay it a year or even two if I could," Chris Orestis, president of Retirement Genius, recently told Money.
That can help twofold by increasing your Social Security benefits while allowing for markets to recover. Whatever you do, don’t throw in the towel by cashing out your investments.
“The only thing worse than missing out on gains in a bull market is locking in your losses in a bear market,” he said.
Bear market or not, financial experts suggest you change your allocations as you get older to limit your exposure to the stocks — thus reducing the sting of volatile markets.
4. Family expenses
Aside from all the financial snafus you could personally face in retirement, your family will likely have unforeseen emergencies and expenses that you’ll need to cover.
For example, if you and your spouse were expecting to work throughout retirement to cover costs, that plan could easily be upended if one of you were to fall chronically ill — or worse. The Social Security Administration does provide 100% survivor benefits if you are at full retirement age, but it may not be enough to cover your specific situation — especially if your spouse was working. Likewise, a divorce later in life could completely alter the course of your retirement.
While it’s difficult to plan for all these possibilities, you can do your due diligence and set up aforementioned long-term care insurance, life insurance and possibly even a postnuptial agreement (one made after you are married) to protect your finances.
5. Social Security policy changes
Nearly 50 million Americans collect monthly retirement benefits from the Social Security Administration.
However, due in part to seismic demographic shifts spurred by the retirement of baby boomers, the SSA is on pace to become insolvent in the 2030s. High inflation now, which results in boosted monthly Social Security benefits in the short-term, could cause insolvency to come sooner.
While insolvency is a real possibility, and retirement benefits could be cut 20% or more, a hypothetical change to Social Security's payouts doesn’t top Hou’s ranking. At any time before then, Congress could, of course, act to keep retirement benefits fully funded.
“One big reason the policy risk is small is that Social Security reform is unlikely to have a significant impact on people who have already retired,” he wrote. | <urn:uuid:62426a1f-6dde-40e0-bb53-233c72d9616f> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://money.com/biggest-risks-people-face-in-retirement/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571758.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20220812200804-20220812230804-00675.warc.gz | en | 0.963701 | 1,244 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Organizations such as national governing bodies; road and mountain bike clubs and teams located in United States.
Related categories 2
American Track Racing Association
Sponsor of the American Velodrome Challenge, a national series of elite level track racing held at velodromes around the nation. Racing calendar, locations, sponsors and contacts are provided.
Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals
APBP provides quick access to bicycle and pedestrian program pages of federal, state and local transportation agencies.
Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute
Information on bicycle helmets, standards, and cycling laws; the helmet advocacy program of the Washington (DC) Area Bicyclist Association.
Concerned Off-Road Bicyclists Association - provides several mailing lists, signups for biking skills classes, trail building and maintenance, and online newsletter to its members.
Great Lakes Randonneurs
Promotes and manages a yearly brevet series for randonneurs in the Midwest area. Includes events calendar and results, rules, photo gallery and contacts.
League of American Bicyclists
The League of American Bicyclists has been working to improve the quality of bicycling in America almost as long as there have been bicycles.
Major Taylor Association
Residents of Worcester, Massachusetts, who became intrigued with the story of the 1899 world champion bicycle racer from Worchester who overcame racial prejudice to become the first internationally acclaimed African-American sports star. Features events, races and rides, history, and contacts.
NEMBA: New England Mountain Bike Association
Promotes trail advocacy and access for mountain bikers. Includes local chapter listings, event schedules, a newsletter and biking articles.
PBAA - Perimeter Bicycling Association of America
Organizes perimeter events and to encourage cyclists to bicycle perimeters of towns, cities, states, countries, and any geographical boundary. Features events calendar, monthly magazine, and membership information.
People for Bikes
A membership organization founded by bicycle industry leaders with the mission of "putting more people on bikes more often through the implementation of TEA-21".
Rails to Trails Conservancy (RTC)
Organization that converts abandoned railroad tracks into biking, hiking and walking trails. Bookstore and gift shop, history and information, advocacy campaigns, and members area.
RUSA - Randonneurs USA
Promotes randonneuring (long distance cycling) within the United States. Includes membership information, events, FAQs, affiliations, merchandise, awards, publications, rules, administration, and contacts.
Ultra-Marathon Cycling Association (UMCA)
Information for cycling enthusiasts who enjoy rides of 100 miles and longer (from the people who bring you the Race Across AMerica - RAAM).
United States Deaf Cycling Association (USDCA)
Provides support, education, and awareness for deaf cyclists. Features such items as an events calendar, membership information, photo gallery, and affiliated cycling club listing.
Promotes BMX cycling through championship series, competitions, news, results, TV schedule and BMX Today magazine.
The United States' cycling organization, including USPRO (track), USCF (road), NORBA (mountain biking), and NCCA (collegiate cycling) programs.
National, non-profit organization dedicated to keeping alive the heritage of American cycling, promoting the restoration and riding of early cycles (1918 or earlier). Features history, membership information, publications, swap meets, and meetings.
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LivaNova PLC (NASDAQ:LIVN; LSE: LIVN) (“LivaNova” or the “Company”), a market-leading medical technology and innovation company, today recognizes that more than one million people in the United States with drug-resistant epilepsy continue to be treated unsuccessfully with drugs, despite the proven effectiveness of non-drug treatment options. LivaNova’s VNS Therapy®, for example, is a medical device treatment specifically designed for people with drug-resistant epilepsy that is already used by more than 85,000 people around the world.
One in three people with epilepsy has the type that is not well controlled with drugs, called drug-resistant epilepsy. For those people, prescribing more medicine is usually not the most effective option. In fact, research shows that if you haven’t found seizure freedom after your first two drugs, there is a 95 percent chance that no drug or combination of drugs will result in seizure freedom.
“Despite what we know about drug-resistant epilepsy, the majority of people affected by this condition will continue to be prescribed additional medications instead of being evaluated for surgery or seen in a specialized epilepsy facility,” said Jason Richey, president of LivaNova’s U.S. Region and general manager of the Neuromodulation Business Franchise. “This treatment gap means over one million individuals in the U.S. with undertreated epilepsy remain at risk for dangerous side effects of continued seizures, including injury, depression, memory issues and death.”
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Within the last few years you may have seen extensive advertising about the benefits of using ripple "V" bristle fields. These uniquely shaped bristles help prevent plaque formation, as they can more effectively get in between the teeth. At Smile Brite, these pioneering ripple "V" bristled toothbrushes are marketed under the name "V Wave". You will find them in our product line in both nylon and natural bristles, and in extra-soft, soft and medium levels of stiffness. The V Wave Toothbrush also features an ergonomic handle, providing maximum agility in reaching even the furthest corners of the mouth.
The replaceable head has several advantages:
First, it saves you money. When the head wears out, you pay only for the replacement heads, rather than for a whole new toothbrush.
Second, it's good for the planet. By cutting down on the number of handles repeatedly thrown away, you can help alleviate problems of landfill overflow and waste disposal in your local environment. All Smile Brite toothbrushes come with one replacement head; when it has worn out, you may continue to purchase convenient Smile Brite Replacement Head Packs containing 3 heads until it is finally time for a new handle.
Third, Smile Brite replaceable head toothbrushes are hygienic. Any toothbrush will become less effective over time, due to deterioration of bristles and the buildup of bacteria. Dentists tell you to change toothbrushes every 2-4 months. It is particularly important to replace a germ-filled toothbrush after a bout with the cold or flu; this helps avoid reinfection during your recovery. However, few people actually keep to this schedule - we forget to get new toothbrushes or fail to keep a reserve supply on hand. With Smile Brite, however, replacing a toothbrush is easy with our patented "E-Z Snug System" - you just pull off the old head, push on the new one, and brush! You get one head with your first purchase and three heads with each replacement pack, so you should always have some on hand. Better replacement habits mean better care of your teeth and gums. By using Smile Brite, you can always achieve optimum care levels for your teeth and gums by disposing worn-out toothbrushes before they harm your dental health.
About Smile Brite
It's a little-known fact that the primary benefits of good dental care are obtained mainly from correct brushing itself, rather than from special toothpaste or rinses. From toddler to senior, everyone's teeth grow and change; each stage requires different toothbrush technology to produce optimal results.
As a leader in dental care, Smile Brite has developed a wide range of brush styles and sizes to meet every consumer need and preference. Smile Brite has developed lines of both natural and nylon bristles. | <urn:uuid:cca529f1-16be-4bd9-84ec-c4eeb55c48c5> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.4allvitamins.com/product_info.php?products_id=24446 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281450.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00176-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948558 | 583 | 1.539063 | 2 |
5 jobs that will never go away
Everyone knows someone who has been impacted by the economic woes of the last several years. While economists note that the true recession technically ended in 2009, its effects linger and many economists' forecasts remain bleak. In this environment, it is only natural to fear for your own career, especially if you have already joined the unemployment line.
"I think we are all looking for recession-proof careers, although there is no safe job," says Elizabeth Lions, career coach and author of the book "Recession-Proof Yourself." "All jobs are subject to layoffs, changes and promotions."
Still, Lions notes there are always exceptions; some fields tend to weather economic storms better than others. Investing in these fields may give you a much-needed edge over career competition.
Top 5 recession-proof careers: Safeguard your future
1. Fire safety
Whatever happens on Wall Street, people will always need first responders to protect and care for them. Firefighters, who often double as paramedics, are especially important.
"Our aging population is unhealthier, partly due to obesity related health issues," says Karen Facey, fire marshal for New Milford Conn., who notes that aging baby boomers and declining national health drive demand for first responders.
By the numbers: According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, positions among firefighters are expected to grow by 19 percent in the decade preceding 2018. They earned a median annual salary of $45,250 in 2010.
The training: While most fire departments will train firefighters, the BLS reports that those who have earned fire safety degrees or paramedic certification may fare best.
Crime and unemployment rates go hand in hand: The New York Times reports that every recession since the late 1950s has been linked to crime spikes. According to Philip Farina, certified protection professional and author of "Antiterrorism Careers," this trend benefits security professionals.
"Security and safety are one of those areas that will continue to grow despite harsh economic conditions," says Farina. "As crime and terrorism increase during the stages of financial duress, employers must then address those vulnerabilities by hiring the right professionals to mitigate those threats."
By the numbers: The BLS projects that demand for security professionals will increase by 14 percent in the decade ending in 2018. While the BLS notes that the average median salary for private security guards was $23,920 in 2010, Salary.com reports that security directors earned a more robust $115,076 in 2011.
The training: "A degree can be a common denominator in selecting candidates for a management position, however, certifications are looked upon highly and are gaining larger acceptance," says Farina.
There is a reason the U.S. Department of Labor allotted millions toward its Green Jobs Initiative Fund: Many leading policymakers believe green innovation can improve American competitiveness, providing some economic relief in difficult times. This initiative provides some job security for many types of engineers, including environmental engineers.
"Green jobs such as wind generation to solar panels to electric cars will be big as we draw our awareness to our energetic consumption and look for alternative ways to heat and cool our homes and run our cars," says Lions.
By the numbers: The BLS projects that positions among environmental engineers will grow by 31 percent in the decade preceding 2018. They earned a median annual salary of $78,740 in 2010.
The training: A bachelor's degree in environmental engineering can get you in the door, but a master's degree or more can ramp up your earnings potential and job security, especially in research and development.
Employers know computers can boost productivity while curbing cost, which is precisely what bolsters information technology careers despite economic fluctuations. BLS data shows that computer professionals in a variety of capacities are enjoying strong growth, but especially computer networking pros.
By the numbers: The BLS reports that demand for computer network, systems and database administrators is expected to grow by 30 percent between 2008 and 2018. They earned a median annual salary of $69,160 in 2010, though top earners exceeded $100,000.
The training: Though many employers prefer to hire candidates with bachelor's degrees or higher, the BLS notes that associate degrees coupled with professional certifications and experience will often suffice.
Biomedical engineering remains one of the fastest growing industries in the country despite recent economic woes. According to the BLS, an aging population coupled with increased demand for more cost-effective medical equipment and procedures drives demand.
"Baby boomers who have a lot of the money will spend money on medical procedures and aids," says Lions, who points to the success the drug Viagra as an indication of sustained demand.
By the numbers: The BLS predicts that positions among biomedical engineers will grow by an impressive 72 percent in the decade preceding 2018. These professionals earned a median annual salary of $81,540 in 2010.
The training: A bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering is a good start, but the BLS notes that many biomedical engineers, particularly those employed in research laboratories, must earn master's degrees or higher.
Protect your job while you can
Some fields may fare better than others in difficult economic times, but even successful companies have been known to sift their ranks to limit cost overall. That means that every worker--whatever the industry--should take steps to protect themselves from job loss.
"The person makes the job recession proof, not always the field," says Lions, who notes that visibility in the workplace is just as important as productivity. "Many have survived recession by being a positive influence."
Investing in continuing education is another way to improve your employee stock within your company, not to mention make yourself more marketable should you ever lose your position.
For those who have already been laid off, Lions recommends finding another job as soon as possible--even in an undesirable field--to prevent resume gaps. "Show (employers) that you are resilient and flexible."
Most importantly, try to remain positive.
"(I have) in my office as sign (that reads), in red, 'Stay Calm and Keep Moving'," says Lions. "That mindset is how we will get out of this recession. Pull (yourself) up by your boot straps, look for the good and keep going." | <urn:uuid:d89391fc-a340-49ec-ad26-c1c9a6db5fab> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.onlinedegrees.com/degree360/student-focus/5-jobs-that-will-never-go-away.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281649.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00440-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961233 | 1,290 | 1.765625 | 2 |
7 Trumpets of Revelation | The Day Trumpet 3 Hits Earth
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
13 And the Lord saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;
14 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
15 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
Are you prepared? Ready or not, Like it or not the Lord will return!
Much Love Majxsty | <urn:uuid:5c59d829-d966-4b38-91da-d8649fc31bcf> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://majxsty.com/when-trumpet-3-hits-the-earth/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571198.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810161541-20220810191541-00275.warc.gz | en | 0.968875 | 237 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Like to know a little more about the capital cities of the world? Take a look at these 19 facts about Manila!
- Manila is the capital city of the Philippines.
- Wondering how to say the name of this tropical city? It’s pronounced Ma-nil-ah.
- The total land area of Manila is 247 square miles (639 square kilometres)…
- …that’s slightly larger than Greater London.
- Manila’s population was 12,946,000 in 2015…
- …that’s around 2.6 million more than Greater London…
- …and gives it a population density of around 52,412 residents per square mile.
- Manila is located 53 ft above sea level.
- Residents of Manila are known as Filipinos.
- Filipinos living in Manila enjoy a tropical savanna climate with little temperature variation and an average annual temperature of 27.6°C. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Manila was 14.5°C on 11th January 1914!
- Looking to fly yourself to Manila? You’ll need the coordinates of 14.5800° N, 121.0000° E.
- Make sure you try a glass of Halo-halo if you’re in Manila; this deliciously cold drink made from shaved ice, condensed milk, sweetened beans, candied fruit, nata de coco, ube concentrate and leche flan will not only keep you cool and refreshed in the Filipino heat, it’ll also give you an insight into the local ingredients and culture.
- Did you know that Manila features several underground tunnels? These highly capacious tunnels are located around 3.5 metres below street level and are said to be big enough to house dumper trucks!
- Manila City Hall was designed to look like a shield of the Knights Templar when viewed from above – instead it has been said that it looks like a coffin – whoops!
- The official languages of Manila are Filipino and English.
- Philippine Peso is the official currency here.
- From 1762 until 1764 the British ruled Manila, before signing the Treaty of Paris and officially handing it back over to Spain.
- Philippines welcomed 4,681,000 tourists into the country in 2013, many of whom visited Manila for its gorgeous beaches, vibrant nightlife and incredible history.
- Do you know someone lucky enough to live in Manila? You can make cheap calls to Manila with Cherry Call – don’t forget, you’ll also need to use the international dialling code of 0063.
To keep up-to-date with what’s going on in Manila, head over to the Inquirer newspaper website. | <urn:uuid:aae182cd-e6c9-4540-9efb-6a988eeedbce> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://cherry-call.co.uk/blog/19-mesmerising-facts-manila/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281649.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00436-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928927 | 566 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Front End Web Application Developer at Website Design
Best website design Tips and References website . Search anything about website design Ideas in this website.
Front End Web Application Developer. This ‘front end’ is the external end of the site seen by the visitor. A front end developer is responsible for linking the world of design as well as technology together.
A front end developer is responsible for linking the world of design as well as technology together. To ensure that website visitors can easily interact with the page. With different languages used front end, the web developer’s role would be able to create a theme in line with a set style of the site.
Learning Front End Web Development in 2016 Fifteen
They do this through the combination of design, technology and programming to code a website’s appearance, as well as taking care of debugging. In general, everything you see, use, or click on a website to. We all have experienced bad design and even the best application is only beloved by the users if it is. This domain revolves around the look of a website and how the design is implemented. | <urn:uuid:b82cfc09-129d-496b-9642-5ac9e1e8b67b> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.bipolarforlife.me/front-end-web-application-developer | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573623.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819035957-20220819065957-00672.warc.gz | en | 0.931305 | 226 | 2.296875 | 2 |
As adults we know that feeling of picking up a pen for the first time in a while (say, after the glorious summer school holidays!). Kids can often let their fine motor skills lapse over the lengthy summer break. Today we’re giving you ideas for helping your students head into the break with some excellent fine motor skills, and some fun things they can do at home to retain them!
Have you subscribed to Teach Starter? Don’t forget! It means you’ll be the first to know whenever a new episode is released.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | <urn:uuid:5eed7812-fc87-4cb7-af29-7ee9a02eb951> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.teachstarter.com/au/podcast/fine-motor-activities-for-little-hands-over-the-break-au/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572033.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814113403-20220814143403-00276.warc.gz | en | 0.922553 | 128 | 2.1875 | 2 |
A Logo is the main and essential foundation and base of a successful business. Leading and successful companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple and other renowned agencies who have their unique identity with a unique and beautiful logo.
A perfect logo grabs a first impression of the audience whether it’s any business. Your audience recognizes your company through a Logo. When you’re going to setup a new business then first thing that comes in your mind and that is a brand logo.
So, why is a logo important? Because it grabs attention, makes a strong first impression, is the foundation of your brand identity, is memorable, separates you from competition, fosters brand loyalty, and is expected by your audience.
1. Grab Attention
If you are going to promote your business online, offline or anywhere, the very first thing your customer will see is your company’s logo which grabs you first impression.
As things stand, organizations have around 2 seconds to persuade potential clients that their items merit any thought. A logo can rapidly catch viewer’s eye and convey an organization's guiding principle in a fascinating manner. That limited capacity to focus – you know, the one that makes shoppers judge your business by its appearance – can work to further your potential benefit, in the event that you have a strong logo to represent your organization.
2. Unique Images
It is often said that “Unique is Rare”. A lot of queries raised when you create your own company like what makes your organization unique? The very first thing you would be striking in your mind that a unique brand logo.
There are certain symbols that come to speak to specific businesses or items. For instance, what number of pizza places have you seen with a logo that highlights an Italian, mustachioed cook with a tall white cap and a wide smile? Possibly holding a strangely immense pizza? A decent logo reflects what your identity is, however it ought to likewise recognize you from every other person. A decent logo should set out to appear as something else.
3. Facilitate Brand Loyalty
From time to time, an organization will upgrade their logo, maybe to refresh their look or reflect some other corporate change. As an advertiser, I get this. As a consumer, I hate it. At the point when I've gotten familiar with my preferred brands' logo and they change it, I feel a little double-crossed. Presently I must retrain my brain to search for something new. Brand reliability is tremendous and something each business needs to encourage. A recognizable and familiar logo goes far toward building brand reliability.
4. Builds Trust
A lot of people try to steal logo ideas from other renowned brands to make their brand noticeable in the audience. As far brand personality is concerned, logos do practically all the running. You can make trust among your clients with a logo that positively speaks with them.
For example, if your objective client is an ice skating youngster, your logo ought not resemble it's offering to more established grown-ups.
Senior residents may prefer a logo with an increasingly customary textual style. Then again, the more present day sans-serif text styles may speak to the adolescent. Serif text styles are astounding on the off chance that you need to convey quality and life span yet sans-serif textual styles are friendlier. A similar case applies to your decision of shading. Blue works up trust. Overabundance yellow may make your clients anxious.
The feelings provoked by shading are a whole science, and you can capitalize this data to make a logo design that causes clients to feel great about your business even before they've conversed with you.
5. Outshine Competition
Expertly made logo design helps in grabbing individuals' attention effectively. This is an incredible assistance in getting a decent market share over the long run. Remember that consumer partner nature of logo plan with the nature of your items or services. In this way, the logo can be an approach to have a serious edge in the market over your business rivals. All the major worldwide businessman have an extraordinary logo for the sole reason that it encourages them deal with their opposition effectively.
Business logo design is a important tool with regards to advancing an organization's items or services. However, the logo must have an interesting structure that joins a plan idea and colors and so forth components in an uncommon manner. Such a logo establishes an enduring positive connection with the potential customers. | <urn:uuid:d5dd587c-777e-463d-83f1-45efcfc0336f> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.kinergytech.com/blog/why-a-logo-is-important | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571692.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20220812105810-20220812135810-00065.warc.gz | en | 0.949354 | 906 | 1.5625 | 2 |
I won’t bother going in reverse order from 5 to 1. There’s no point, especially because I can’t really decide how I’d rank them all anyway. However, WebSockets are certainly my favorite and I included Server-Sent Events with WebSockets because they offer a similar functionality, except that it’s a one-way, long-lived, HTTP connection from the server to the client rather than a 2-way connection.
The ability for the server to inform the client about certain events in real time is a wonderful ability. There’s the obvious and ubiquitous example of a chat application, but that’s far from a true test of its power. Real-time, or even turn-based games can communicate actions this way. It’s used in social media to inform you any time there’s a new update to your feed (different social networks use differing techniques for this; they don’t all use WebSockets). You can even use WebSockets to give you full command-line control of a server from the browser. In fact I’m working on a project right now that allows me to control MineCraft servers through a WebSocket connection. You can see a demo of the alpha version here.
While I haven’t used Server-Sent events yet and cannot give you any idea of how easily you can use them right now, I do know that WebSockets are ripe for use immediately. Even if WebSockets aren’t available in a browser, there are several techniques that can be used to emulate them, though some of them won’t be good for real-time gaming because they won’t necessarily give you fast enough results. You don’t even need to worry about this though because there are some libraries out there that do all of this for you. The two most popular are Socket.IO and SockJS which I’d recommend. I have a basic and advanced tutorial for Socket.IO, but you’ll have to learn SockJS on your own.
The Page Visibility API is very interesting and allows all sorts of enhancements to applications. This API allows an application to detect whether the page that the script is running on is the active tab/window. If a user is viewing a separate tab or application window, then the API will let you know the page isn’t visible and vice versa, so you can react accordingly.
Practically all of the latest browsers support Page Visibility (except Opera Mini), and most of them support it without a prefix (except Android and Blackberry browsers). There are even polyfills for the older browsers that don’t support it, but I’m not sure what kind of browser support those have or how accurate they are. For now, especially with a polyfill, you can just use it as a progressive enhancement, but know that your users have a decent chance of supporting it.
What sort of applications are there for the Page Visibility API? Well, one that you’re probably aware of is what Facebook’s and Google’s chat apps use it for: notifying you that you got a new message while you’re away. They use a audio notification (at least on desktop browsers), but there are other means of notifying the user that you can use, some of which you’ll see with the other APIs below. Another way you could use it would be to use fewer resources when the tab isn’t being viewed. You can do this by skipping animations (just move the element where it should go) or discontinuing periodic server requests (such as checking for connectivity) and so on.
The Mozilla Developer Network has a pretty nice tutorial on how to use the Page Visibility API if you’re interested. It’s actually pretty darn simple once you’ve determined any vendor prefixes you need to use.
The Web Notifications API allows you to display a notification to the user that appears outside of the browser window. You can add icons, text, links, event handlers, and more to the notifications to get them to do what you want. I’ve seen these in action a lot recently since I enabled them for GMail and Google Calendar. Now I get a notification any time I receive a new email or get close to an event on the calendar.
The Web Notifications API support is pretty sparse, though Firefox and Chrome have both supported it for a while. This API’s specification is still a Working Draft, so the lack of support isn’t too surprising. Overall, I’d say you can use them as a progressive enhancement, but it’s far from being ubiquitous enough to rely on it.
Even if you could trust that support is there for the API, you still can’t necessarily rely on the ability to show Notifications because this is a feature that the user needs to grant permission to, which means that the user can deny your application permission to show the notifications. Of course this doesn’t mean that you should avoid it; as I mentioned, Google is already putting it to good use. In fact, you can use it in conjunction with the Page Visibility API to determine when notifications should be shown.
There a couple things that I’m not too fond of with this API:
- You create a
Notificationobject using the constructor and it will show the notification immediately after creation. I don’t think that the constructor should handle it. Rather I would prefer a
showmethod to be available.
- You have very little control of the duration of the notification. In fact, this is largely controlled by the browsers themselves. Chrome will display a notification until the user closes it or the application closes it with the API. Firefox, on the other hand, will automatically close a notification after a few seconds. We can, of course, close the notification early via the
closemethod, but I think the developers should have more control over it.
Once again, the Mozilla Developer Network has a pretty nice tutorial on how to use the Web Notifications API.
The Vibration API is pretty limited compared to most of these APIs because it can only work on a device that can vibrate, which pretty much means that we’re talking about phones and maybe some tablets. Despite the limited field of devices, this API still gets onto my top 5 simply because it can work so well on those devices. It can be used along with (or instead of)notifications to get a user’s attention, or it can be used to give users feedback, especially in a gaming environment. It seems that making great gaming possible with HTML5 is a high priority because so many new APIs that have been in the works lately offer a lot for games. Makes me kinda wish I was a game developer…
Browser support is extremely limited on desktop browsers (only makes sense since most desktops can’t utilize the API anyway), and mobile browser support is starting to pick up, though it still has a few more contenders that need to jump on the bandwagon. You can’t rely on users getting the vibrations, but it can be an enhancement to those who are using a capable device and browser.
The API is super simple, since it consists of a single function:
navigator.vibrate(). You can either send in a number of milliseconds for the device to vibrate or you can send in an array of numbers representing multiple vibrations, including the length of time the device should vibrate and the pause lengths between the vibrations. You can check out Vibration API Guide on MDN for more details.
This isn’t actually a single API. Instead it’s a classification of APIs (which is part of the reason there is a “9” in the post title). Previously, if we wanted to store persistent data on the front end, we were pretty much limited to cookies, which have countless reasons to be avoided. With the advent of IndexedDB, WebSQL, localStorage, and sessionStorage, we have a plethora of options.
These means of storage give us much greater flexibility and less dependence on the server. In fact they are one of the few key technologies needed to make offline applications, which are becoming more common amd mecessaru now that devices with patchy internet connectivity are more commonplace.
The likeliness that a browser will support at least one of these APIs is pretty darn good. Sadly developer tools haven’t advanced as quickly as the browsers themselves, so if you want to have control over the storage without writing scripts for it, you’re largely out of luck. Chrome, by far, has the best tools in this area, but they still lack some basic functionality. All-in-all, though, it’s not really something that should deter you from using these APIs.
- Application Cache: Along with client-side storage, this is one of the most useful tools for enabling offline applications. The best introduction I’ve seen is on HTML5 Rocks.
- Network Information: If this API was more explicit and consistent, and actually had the ability to give perfectly accurate information, it would have been more than an honorable mention. It has some useful features, but has a long way to come. Otherwise it’d be quite useful for bringing down different assets depending on connection type/status.
- Battery: This has limited use, but it can be used in a similar way to the Page Visibility API. If the battery is low and the device isn’t plugged in, you could throttle back some of the computations and other power-hungy tasks. MDN once again has a great guide.
Thanks for reading the list I know it’s a bit longer than advertised, but it’s hard to narrow the list down. I’m very excited that many of these are becoming widely available in browsers and I look forward to hopefully putting all of them through their paces in future applications. Was there an awesome API that you absolutely love that I missed? Let me know in the comments! God Bless and Happy Coding! | <urn:uuid:016128e0-d1fb-4735-ae6f-57162aaa4499> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.joezimjs.com/javascript/top-5-9-favorite-html5-apis/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280835.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00470-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937505 | 2,114 | 1.75 | 2 |
Written on 1 August 2022
A child with white hair could be due to vitamin or mineral deficiency. But there are several other reasons for white hair in kids:
The most common cause of early greying of hair is genetics. Children have a higher chance of greying early if parents or grandparents had a similar problem in childhood.
The early onset of greying may indicate something of concern. Loss of pigmentation of hair is a symptom of several conditions, like vitiligo and piebaldism. You may experience vitiligo if melanocytes fail to produce melanin. In the skin, this is distinguished by white patches. Likewise, when the thyroid gland doesn’t function properly, it produces white hair.
Vitamin B12 deficiency can also result in premature greying in children. Vitamin B12 is not found sufficiently in a vegetarian diet, so children with a vegetarian diet are at more risk of developing this condition.
It’s rare, but stress may also result in premature white hair in a few children. However, several environmental factors like air pollution, UV rays, and some shampoos can result in white hair.
There is plenty of evidence to show that modern-day cosmetics, especially hair care, include more chemicals than natural supplements. This hurts hair health and makes them frizzy, rough, and, sometimes, grey prematurely.
Smoke should be avoided since it has adverse effects on hair ageing. Cigarette smoke is the most dangerous since it can cause premature greying. Even passive smoking can cause stress and reduce the production of melanin, an important hormone for growth. All forms of smoking (active or passive) should be strictly prohibited, especially near children.
Fast food contributes to premature greying significantly. Protein deficiency aids early greying of hair. For good hair health, a balanced diet is essential.
Anaemia causes fatigue which, in turn, causes premature greying. In certain cases, it has been found that pernicious anaemia affects normal growth and aids premature greying of hair.
There is no treatment for white hair. But you could focus on a healthy diet to prevent early greying of hair in your children. Ensure proper nutrition. If the need arises, take supplements for vitamin B12 and minerals like copper and zinc. But do consult a dietician or your doctor before you take these supplements. But if you think your child might have premature greying due to genetic reasons, you must consult a doctor.
White hair in children could result from several genetic, environmental, and nutritional factors. Although most of the cases are genetic, you may not prevent them. However, if you are worried about your child’s white hair, consult a doctor to understand the cause and find possible treatments.
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Our research interests are in the areas of networks security and online privacy. Our work has broadly combined principles of the design, analysis, and development of security and privacy primitives and tools for various systems. Over the past ten years, our interests have evolved to include topics in (big and small data) security analytics, social networks security and privacy, Internet security, networks security, and privacy. Our approach in conducting research in these areas considered exploratory, constructive, and empirical methods. A common theme in our most recent research work is the use of advanced machine learning techniques for security analytics: to understand codes, traffic, and infrastructure usage in real-world deployments. Our earlier work focused on understanding various security issues in multiple networking contexts, by design and analysis.
Adversarial and Applied Machine Learning
Conventional machine learning approaches: Up until recently, the majority of our work has been focused on using conventional machine learning approaches, including supervised and unsupervised learning, in order to classify and automate the process of labeling threat indicators (such as domain names, binaries, vulnerability severity label) as well as prediction (time-series type of data). Supervised learning algorithms used include SVM, MLP, RF, ANFIS, among others. Unsupervised learning algorithms include k-mean, fuzzy c-means, and hierarchical clustering. Some of the recent of the problems we solved using conventional machine learning algorithms include the build of Internet of Things malicious software detectors, vulnerability severity score predictor and labeling system, a semi-supervised detector of cryptojacking codes (type of malicious codes used for abusing computer systems for cryptomining), malicious webpage classification system (to annotate malicious webpages based on capabilities and compromise vector), vulnerability cost assessment system (by stock performance prediction using ARMIA), among others.
Deep learning approaches: As the complexity and size of the data increased we utilized different deep learning algorithms for both feature extraction as well as pattern recognition. Deep learning algorithms benefit from automatic feature extraction and learning which not only improves the performance of the model by extracting more meaningful features, but also eliminates the need for feature extraction phase in conventional machine learning algorithms, which is laborious and require domain knowledge. We utilized convolutional neural network to build an Internet of Things malicious software vendors, intrusion detection system in software defined networking, website fingerprinting (for improving privacy), authorship identification (for identifying malicious codes authors and documents forgers), and binaries classification.
Adversarial machine learning approaches: adversarial learning is concerned with generated input samples similar to original ones (with simple perturbations) that would result in fooling machine learning algorithms (e.g., result in misclassification) and can be used for improving the robustness of machine learning algorithms, highlighting the risk of machine learning algorithms through purposeful attacks, and understanding practical limitations of such algorithms. Algorithms used for adversarial learning include MIM, FGSM, JSMA, PGD, DeepFool, NewtonFool, etc. Problems that benefited from adversarial machine learning approaches include generating practical malware samples that will not only fool classifiers but also be executable, intrusion detection in software defined networks, and website fingerprinting.
- Multi-χ: Identifying Multiple Authors from Source Code Files. M. Abuhamad, T. Abuhmed, D. Nyang, and D. Mohaisen. Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (PoPETS/PETS), 2020.
- Soteria: Detecting Adversarial Examples in Control Flow Graph-based Malware Classifiers H. Alasmary, A. Abusnaina, R. Jang, M. Abuhamad, A. Anwar, D. Nyang, and D. Mohaisen. The 40th IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (IEEE ICDCS 2020)
- Large-Scale and Language-Oblivious Authorship Identification. M. Abuhamed, T. Abuhamed, A. Mohaisen, D. Nyang: ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security (ACM CCS 2018)
Secure and Reliable Systems with Blockchains
Our work on blockchains covers a range of topics, from primitives and foundations to applications and translations. More precisely, he has been leading three thrusts of research: 1) foundational and principled research into distributed systems primitives (consensus algorithms) that would ensure desirable properties in blockchain systems, such as privacy, fairness, decentralization, 2) distributed systems requirements and their translation into a blockchain framework by combining requirements engineering and composable designs, and 3) sustainability of system properties in the new ecosystem through active measurements (predictive models) and design evolution of alternatives and trade-offs. Related to the last thrust, we have been working on understanding the abuse of blockchains through a system attack surface analysis.
- Towards Characterizing Blockchain-based Cryptocurrencies for Highly-Accurate Predictions. M. Saad, J. Choi, J. Kim, D. Nyang, A Mohaisen. IEEE Systems Journal (IEEE ISJ 2020) (Best Paper Award)
- Exploring the Attack Surface of Blockchain. . Muhammad Saad, Jeffrey Spaulding, L. Njilla, C. A. Kamhoua, S. Shetty, D. Nyang, D. Mohaisen: IEEE Communication Surveys and Tutorials (IEEE CS&T 2020).
- Exploring Spatial, Temporal, and Logical Attacks on the Bitcoin Network.
Mobile and Internet of Things Security and Privacy
Mobile security threats have recently emerged because of the fast growth in mobile technologies and the essential role that mobile devices play in our daily lives. For that, and to particularly address threats associated with malware, various techniques are developed in the literature, including ones that utilize static, dynamic, on-device, off-device, and hybrid approaches for identifying, classifying, and defend against mobile threats. Those techniques fail at times, and succeed at other times, while creating a trade-off of performance and operation. To this end, we contribute several systems: Andro-AutoPsy, AndroTracker, Andro-Dumpsys, and APHunter. In summary, we design efficent and accurate techniques for detecting and classifying mobile malware, techniques for improving privacy in mobile networks, as well as tecniques for detecting hardware malicious access points.
In our work on IoT security, we systemize for a finer understanding of the security threats in smart home networks and propose to perform a comprehensive multi-layer and cross-layer analysis, recommendations, and design of primitives and functions for securing the home network. Towards that, the proposed research explores a quantification of the attack surface of home network devices, network gears, and services, to guide a system-aware design of a security layer that incorporates primitives at the device, network, and service layer of the home network for intrusion detection and prevention. For prevention, the security layer features various functions such as secure naming and resolution, safe cryptographic primitives, including identification and authentication, and various other system layer-specific primitives. For intrusion detection, the cornerstone of our security layer is a behavioral logging and profiling capability at the device, network, and service, to facilitate real-time intrusion detection and notification. In summary, in this research theme we develop algorithms to improve the efficiency, security, and operation of mobile and wireless networks, including usable authentication techniques, and intrusion detection mechanisms, among others, for use in IoT applications. En route, we also explore various aspects of IoT privacy.
- AUToSen: Deep Learning-based Implicit Continuous Authentication Using Smartphone Sensors. Mohammed Abuhamad, Tamer Abuhmed, David Mohaisen, and DaeHun Nyang. the IEEE Internet of Things Journal (IEEE IoTJ 2020)
- Catch Me If You Can: Rogue Access Point Detection Using Intentional Channel Interference. R. Jang, J. Kang, A. Mohaisen, D. Nyang. IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing (IEEE TMC 2019)
- XLF: A Cross-layer Framework to Secure the Internet of Things (IoT). An Wang, Aziz Mohaisen and Songqing Chen. 39th IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (IEEE ICDCS 2019)
Distributed Denial of Service Attacks and Defenses
Analyzing and understanding distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks is another thrust of my work. Enormous efforts are continuously made from both academia and industry to understand the DDoS attacks and defend against them. With an ever-improving defense posture, the attack strategies are constantly changing as well; making DDoS attacks some of the most severe threats on the Internet. DDoS attacks, by nature, are difficult to defend against because: 1) it is hard to know in advance when an attack is launched, 2) where the attacking machines are from, 3) how many attacking machines are involved, and 4) how long an attack will last (among others). Most Internet DDoS attacks are today attributed to larger interconnected and overly complex entities that belong to various botnets. For such botnet-based (commercialized) DDoS attacks, understanding the underlying relationships between various attacks and attackers is fundamental in defending against the attacks. Particularly, are those relationships and efforts totally random? How do the attackers manage their resources? Can we estimate attack origins, sizes, duration, start time, and magnitude based on historical data? If there are some patterns in these attacks, can we learn and utilize them to improve the existing defenses? Apparently, understanding the latest attacking strategies and postures is key to the success of any defense. To pursue this work, and as a starting point, we relied on 50,704 different Internet DDoS attacks across the globe, of which data is collected for a seven-month periods operationally. These attacks were launched by 674 botnet generations from 23 different botnet families with a total of 9026 victim IPs belonging to 1074 organizations that are collectively located in 186 countries. To sum up, we design and develop a data-driven and model-guided approach to defending against application-level distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks by botnets.
- Examining the Robustness of Learning-Based DDoS Detection in Software Defined Networks. Ahmed Abusnaina, Aminollah Khormali, Daehun Nyang, Murat Yuksel and Aziz Mohaisen. The 2019 IEEE Conference on Dependable and Secure Computing (IEEE DSC 2019) -- Best Paper--Runner Up.
- A Data-Driven Study of DDoS Attacks and Their Dynamics. A. Wang, W. Chang, S. Chen, and A. Mohaisen. IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing (IEEE TDSC 2018)
- An Adversary-Centric Behavior Modeling of DDoS Attacks. A. Wang, A. Mohaisen and S. Chen: IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (IEEE ICDCS 2017)
Wearable Security and Privacy
Privacy leakage from elevation profiles: The extensive use of smartphones and wearable devices has facilitated many useful applications. For example, with Global Positioning System (GPS)-equipped smart and wearable devices, many applications can gather, process, and share rich metadata, such as geolocation, trajectories, elevation, and time. For example, fitness applications, such as Runkeeper and Strava, utilize information for activity tracking, and have recently witnessed a boom in popularity. Those fitness tracker applications have their own web platforms, and allow users to share activities on such platforms, or even with other social network platforms. To preserve privacy of users while allowing sharing, several of those platforms may allow users to disclose partial information, such as the elevation profile for an activity, which supposedly would not leak the location of the users. In this work, and as a cautionary tale, we create a proof of concept where we examine the extent to which elevation profiles can be used to predict the location of users. To tackle this problem, we devise three plausible threat settings under which the city or borough of the targets can be predicted. Those threat settings define the amount of information available to the adversary to launch the prediction attacks. Establishing that simple features of elevation profiles, e.g., spectral features, are insufficient, we devise both natural language processing (NLP)-inspired text-like representation and computer vision-inspired image-like representation of elevation profiles, and we convert the problem at hand into text and image classification problem. We use both traditional machine learning- and deep learning-based techniques, and achieve a prediction success rate ranging from 59.59% to 95.83%. The findings are alarming, and highlight that sharing elevation information may have significant location privacy risks.
AR/VR Security: Enabling users to push the limits of the physical world, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) platforms opened a new chapter in human perception. The novel immersive experiences resulted in the emergence of new interaction methods for virtual environments, which came along with their security and privacy risks that are never considered before. In this project, we explore a spatial side-channel keylogging attack to infer user inputs typed with in air tapping keyboards in virtual environments. We exploit the observation that hands follow certain patterns while typing in the air to initiate our attack. We introduce three plausible attack scenarios under which the adversary obtains the hand traces of the victim by either planting a small-sized hand tracker near the victim, keeping with a close proximity to the victim, or tricking the victim into installing a malicious application. Our five-step pipeline takes the hand traces of the victim and outputs a set of inferences ordered from the best to worst. Through our experiments, we achieved pinpoint accuracy ranging from 40% to 87% within at most top-500 candidate reconstructions. We discuss possible countermeasures, while the results presented provide a cautionary tale of the potential security and privacy risk of the immersive mobile technology.
- Understanding the Potential Risks of Sharing Elevation Information on Fitness Applications. Ulku Meteriz, Necip Fazil Yıldıran, Joongheon Kim, and David Mohaisen. The 40th IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (IEEE ICDCS 2020)
- Deep Fingerprinting Defender: Adversarial Learning-based Approach to Defend Against Website Fingerprinting. Ahmed Abusnaina, Rhongho Jang, Aminollah Khormali, DeaHun Nyang, and Aziz Mohaisen. in Proceedings of the 39th IEEE International Conf. onComputer Communications (IEEE INFOCOM 2020).
- You are a Game Bot!: Uncovering game bots in MMORPGs via self-similarity in the wild. E. Lee, J. Woo, H. Kim, A. Mohaisen, H. Kim: ISOC Network and Distributed System Security Symposium (ISOC NDSS 2016)
Website last updated on 04/28/2019 | <urn:uuid:e7d83b3f-3b8c-4356-9984-3bf5984a976d> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.cs.ucf.edu/~mohaisen/research.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572198.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815175725-20220815205725-00277.warc.gz | en | 0.895233 | 3,122 | 2.0625 | 2 |
“My mother is illiterate. But she was a true leader in our community,” Lailuma Nasiri proudly told me during an interview last month in Kabul. “She inspired me.”
Some weeks before Afghanistan was taken over by the Taliban in mid-August, Lailuma told me that she was opposed to the mass exodus of the country’s educated classes.
The co-founder of the Afghanistan Justice Organization, Nasiri is an energetic, youthful-looking woman in her forties. She said that, despite coming from a traditional Pashtun family in eastern Afghanistan where many marry young, she has simply never had time or any real desire to get married since she loves her work so much and all her time and energy is spent on it.
“Who will help Afghanistan if we all leave? Who will build the country?” she said. “Who will be left? Only the most uneducated, most vulnerable?” she stressed, in her office filled with books in several languages.
By then, as the US continued to pull its troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban had already seized 139 districts from the Afghan Army. On 15 August, after an agreement was made between the Taliban and the country’s political leaders, they entered Kabul.
Many Afghans, both men and women, rushed to delete their digital histories. Evidence of contact with foreigners or the security forces or with members of the opposite sex or anything else this “new version” of the Taliban might be opposed to could mean death: it takes very little to be accused of a crime against Islamic morals for the Taliban. Records were burnt. Ways out were sought. Thousands fled to the airport, desperate to get out.
Lailuma, however, isn’t going anywhere for the moment.
In a WhatsApp conversation on 18 August, she told me that “I’m at home, of course. The office is closed and I do not know what will happen next. It’s calm but confusing because we don’t know what is going on and what will happen.”
“I and my family won’t leave,” she said. “At least for now.” | <urn:uuid:40128474-16e8-4474-90af-bea919c14571> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/afghanistan-women-taliban | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573760.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819191655-20220819221655-00678.warc.gz | en | 0.982687 | 464 | 2.171875 | 2 |
How you find France depends on where and how you live. Cities are more expensive than small villages. If you intend to carry on eating “English”, with lots of imported food, then this will cost more than if you eat “French”. Eating out costs as much as you want to pay.
We find insurances (eg. house and car) considerably cheaper here. Assuming that you have a right to the healthcare system, you will pay 30% of any primary care (GP/physio, etc.) but hospital treatment is free. Top-up medical insurance is a fraction of that in England.
You probably will want to do work to your house and French builders are not cheap. This is because of the huge amount they have to pay in ‘social charges’ (think NIC++++). Do not fall into the trap of thinking English builders (there are many in France) will be cheaper - they operate under the same tax regime with the same obligation to provide (expensive) insurance-backed guarantees.
Everything else is mixed. Paint in France, for example, is expensive and of inferior quality. We cost whatever we are looking for in both countries and then opt for the better deal.
Mary Kennedy, by email | <urn:uuid:ef058577-fb75-4b96-9377-f76f45199e06> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/Comment/Your-views/Cost-of-living-in-France | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570741.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808001418-20220808031418-00072.warc.gz | en | 0.966132 | 255 | 1.632813 | 2 |
A central Queensland fish on the brink of extinction has been named among the planet's 100 most endangered species.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has included the red-finned blue-eye on its crisis list.
It's found only in the Great Artesian Basin springs of the Edgbaston Reserve near Longreach.
An introduced species called the mosquitofish has invaded the springs and is threatening the dwindling blue-eye.
The fish, which Australian authorities list as endangered, is one of four species found in Australia that have made the top 100 list.
The others are the underground orchid, found in Western Australia, the common sawfish found in Australian and other waters, and the Amsterdam Island albatross.
An ecologist from the Edgbaston Reserve has called on Australian authorities to trial captive populations of the blue-eye to help preserve it.
"We all need to work together because the future of the species remains in jeopardy," Bush Heritage Australia ecologist Dr Adam Kerezsy said in a statement. | <urn:uuid:df34fdde-56c6-4614-a5f8-22379ef1f3d4> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.theage.com.au/queensland/queensland-fish-on-worlds-most-endangered-list-20120911-25phq.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280891.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00160-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960668 | 211 | 2.9375 | 3 |
June 1, 2005
Yves Saint Laurent
In the wake of his nervous breakdown, Saint Laurent was released from Dior and started his own label together with Pierre Berge with the now-famous initials of YSL. During the 1960s and 1970s the firm popularized fashion trends such as the beatnik look, tweed suits, tight pants and tall, thigh-high boots, including the creation of arguably the most famous classic tuxedo suit for women in 1966, the Le Smoking suit. Among his muses were Loulou de La Falaise, the daughter of a French marquis and an Anglo-Irish fashion model, Betty Catroux, the half-Brazilian daughter of an American diplomat and wife of a French decorator, Talitha Pol-Getty, who died of drug overdose in 1971, and Catherine Deneuve, the iconic French actress. Ambassador to the couturier during the late 1970s and early 80s was London socialite millionairess Diane Boulting-Casserley Vandelli, making the brand ever more popular amongst the European jet-set and upper classes.
In 1993, the Saint-Laurent fashion house was sold to the pharmaceuticals company Sanofi for approximately $600,000,000. In 1999 Gucci bought the YSL brand and Tom Ford designed the ready-to-wear collection while Saint-Laurent designed the haute couture collection. Since his retirement in 1998 Saint-Laurent has become increasingly reclusive and has spent a much of his time at his house in Marrakech, Morocco.
In 2002, dogged by years of poor health, drug abuse, depression, alcoholism, criticisms of YSL designs, and problems with lead designer Tom Ford, Saint-Laurent and Gucci closed the illustrious couture house of YSL. While the house no longer exists the brand still survives through its parent company Gucci.
The pret-a-porter line is still being produced under the direction of Stefano Pilati after Tom Ford retired in 2004, while the boxer briefs sold all over the world still carry the brand name. | <urn:uuid:599e53bf-144f-41c6-b84f-7ca1a930dea5> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.bagbliss.com/ysl-handbags/about-designer-yves-saint-laurent/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280761.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00093-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963201 | 435 | 1.601563 | 2 |
liliana porter – “man with axe”
we have a show of liliana porter’s newest work at our gallery in new york. the centerpiece is a sculptural installation called “man with an axe” in which a man in a suit and hat smashes up what appears to be the wreckage of the past, chopping it into bits…
the man is 3 inches tall. the pile of debris is 12×12 feet.
the rubble is composed of furniture, a toy piano, several different representations of homes, a wedding dress, a key and hundreds of pounds of broken crockery.
the piece is the culmination of a series of works created in the last several years, in which porter positions a tiny, solitary character in front of a pile of material completely out-of-proportion to their size or ability. faced with an impossibly overwhelming task, they seem to toil unceasingly.
the collective title for these works,“forced labor,” implies, of course, a lack of free will…
porter is the puppet master of an eccentric and encyclopedic collection of figurines, toys, souvenirs and knickknacks. her talent lies in transforming junk into scenarios that speak to the most most basic of human emotions – longing, love, pride, fear, loss and death.
when she pops a statuette into an unexpected circumstance, she provokes uncanny political, philosophical and existential interpretations.
in addition to the man with the ax, the sprawling piece is populated by dozens of tiny figures. the cast of characters includes archetypes – soldiers, travelers, farmers, geishas, kings, a mariachi, a groom — as well as specific personalities. some of the people actively participate in clean up. some powerlessly contemplate the wreckage. others go about their business carelessly.
the guy with the ax isn’t the only one engaged in a monumental endeavor. an itty-bitty man with a broom attempts to sweep up a deep-water-horizon-sized spill of blue pigment…
while a gardener with a watering can sprinkles the flowers on a shattered plate. all gardeners are optimists. is this an act of hope? an attempt to coax something beautiful from the destruction?
or is it a study in impotence. surely nurturing shards of shattered dinnerware is a fruitless effort? as pointless, perhaps, as hand-painting fragile porcelain in the first place? is it the strength (or folly) of human nature to persist in the face of the inevitable?
the power of liliana porter’s work lies in ambiguity. visual puns. the open-endedness of the narratives.
her work is as profound as it is complicated. and this work — at its ambitious scale and epic scope — is more complex and significant than any of her sculptural works to date. porter has worked with recurring motifs in the art she’s been making since the 1960’s. many of those themes are incorporated into this single monumental work.
there are 13 clocks — broken, unwound or without a source of power. archaic. perhaps it’s not the guy wielding the ax, but time that’s the wrecker…
viewed in a mirror a clock runs backwards… the possibility of reversing time is another of porter’s themes.
as are mirrors…
which offer us views we’d other wise find physically impossible. they also act as metaphors for self-reflection. or narcissism. significantly, they are a means of forcing a viewer to see themselves within an art work.
there are several houses.
there are the remains of cultural icons — che guevara, mao ze-dong, mickey mouse, bambi, charlie brown, a sickle, a coca cola insignia — fragments from our collective memories of the 20th century… and the detritus of failed political or social systems?
interspersed with scattered playing cards, bingo chips, dice and mah-jong tiles, there are 11 wrecked ships in this installation. life is a game of chance…
a tiny man sits on a mah-jong tile. looming over him, an enormous, tumbled chair balances precariously on the edge of the platform, ready to slip and crush him. He gazes off, insensible to or untroubled by the constant peril… bravery? or denial?
one thing is certain — this is a mess. a reminder that life constantly threatens to shatter into fragments too small to ever be repaired… a train wreck in which forces beyond our control pile one thing on another, compounding the disaster.
this work is about the ubiquity of fear. porter’s brilliance is in portraying cataclysm in a way that allows a viewer to look at tragedy head-on. by projecting our horror or heartbreak or grief onto toys, we’re given the opportunity to examine our emotions without being crippled by them.
but back to our friend with the ax… the question remains — is he causing the wreckage or is he merely set to the task of crumbling the pieces into a manageable scale?
is he the main character in his drama, or a bit player in someone else’s?
“man with axe” 2011 wooden platform and found objects, 12×12 feet is part of liliana porter’s exhibition at hosfelt gallery, new york, on view through 21 january, 2012. | <urn:uuid:45c08279-9ccb-43f4-84b5-d3b11972ebb8> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://toddhosfelt.wordpress.com/2011/12/17/liliana-porter-man-with-axe/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280065.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00550-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939911 | 1,155 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Health care reform is driving accountable care organizations that compel patients to be more active in managing their care and for providers to offer tools to aid patients. But few health information exchanges have yet gotten the message, according to an annual status survey of HIEs.
Advocacy organization eHealth Initiative, in its 10th survey, identified 315 HIEs--compared with about 300 last year--and 199 responded to the 2013 survey. About half are regional HIEs with the rest almost split between state-operated entities and private HIEs for delivery systems. Only 31 of the HIEs enable patients to access their information, 24 enable patients to make appointments, 26 offer them educational materials and 25 support medication refill requests. While 102 HIEs plan to offer patient access to their own data, 56 others do not.
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Don't have an account? Register for Free Unlimited Access | <urn:uuid:ac1031b1-86d3-4000-8b60-6ed36a96c3dc> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/hies-lag-in-patient-engagement-but-making-strides-elsewhere | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719784.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00427-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932128 | 249 | 1.578125 | 2 |
You’ve no doubt seen the term “old vines” on many wine labels (think Old Vine Zinfandel) but in Italy, the term takes on a whole meaning.
Readers often ask me: what’s your favorite wine? That’s a tough question, because I love so many, from full-bodied Barolos to the elegant, almost ethereal reds from Mt. Etna, from mineral-driven Soaves to complex, savory Verdicchios. But one thing many of my top picks have in common is vine age, with wines made from old vines leading the way.
Read the article: Discover Italy’s Old Vine Wines
Italy is a land of contradictions, and as Italians love to declare, this is part of the country’s fascino, or charm. The country’s new breed of white wines is a perfect example.
At first glance, you’d expect whites from the country’s deep south, known for its Mediterranean climate and constant sunshine, to be powerfully structured, with superripe fruit, high alcohol levels and low acidity. While this used to be true of many bottlings, today the whites from select denominations in Campania and Sicily boast the complexity and minerality often associated with cool climates.
How? Winemakers now focus on indigenous grapes, which have adapted to the region’s climate over hundreds or thousands of years. “Rather than make wines geared for international palates that taste like they could be made anywhere, we want to make wines that express Campania’s native grapes and our unique terroir by identifying the best vineyard sites, harvesting at the right moment and using less invasive cellar techniques,” says Antonio Capaldo, president of leading Campania firm Feudi di San Gregorio. Here’s a breakdown of Italy’s southern whites that should be on your table this summer.
Read the article: Southern Italy’s New Wave Whites
It’s generally assumed that Italian white wines are cheap, cheerful and made to be consumed during the first year after the harvest. And while this may be the case for most Italian whites, and for the majority of white wines made around the globe, Italy produces some stunning whites that break the drink-now stereotype by developing depth and complexity as they age.
Read the article: Italy’s long-lived whites
Once infamous for making industrial quantities of concentrated musts and uninspiring sweet wines, Sicily is fast shaking off its bulk-wine and sticky Marsala image. Kerin O’Keefe identifies the island’s best growing areas and the dynamic estates that are transforming its reputation.
Photography by Paolo Tenti
Thanks to almost ideal growing conditions and a patrimony of unique native grapes, Sicily’s once stagnant wine scene is undergoing a much deserved quality renaissance. Now a wellspring of experimentation and investment, the largest island in the Mediterranean is quickly becoming Italy’s most exciting wine-producing region, as winemakers discover the island’s ancient grapes and classic growing areas.
Though the recent past was devoted to industrial-quantity winemaking, the future is focused on top-quality wines of relatively good value that are both modern and indisputably Sicilian. Sprinkled with ancient Greek temples and Norman cathedrals built by former invaders, Sicily has long been a land of contradictions, and this is especially evident in its flourishing wine sector, where new boutique wineries can be found alongside sprawling cooperatives the size of oil refineries. Even though Sicily is no longer merely a vast reservoir of grapes and concentrated must, the island’s determined drive toward quality is hindered by its steadfast image as a bulk-wine producer.
Its lingering reputation is not groundless: Sicily remains one of Italy’s most prolific wine-producing regions, with as much land under vine as all of Australia and more than double that of Piedmont or Tuscany. Surprisingly, only 17 percent of Sicily’s massive output is bottled on the island, and only 3 percent of this is under Italy’s Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) appellation system. The island remains a leading producer of strong grape must (vino da taglio), which is covertly used by many northern producers to give their more delicate wines an injection of southern muscle, while the brunt of the harvest, of dubious quality, is still sold in bulk or distilled. But side by side with these dismal remnants of mass production, dynamic winemakers have carefully revived ancient grapes and are now making some of Italy’s most innovative wines.
Read the article: Sicily. A continent of wine | <urn:uuid:13610930-c2fe-4452-b8da-24a3570d759b> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.kerinokeefe.com/tag/benanti/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571222.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810222056-20220811012056-00674.warc.gz | en | 0.940677 | 979 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Marvin S. Cohen and Bryan B. Thompson
An empirically based cognitive model of real-world decision making was implemented in Shruti, a system capable of rapid, parallel relational reasoning. The system effectively simulates a two-tiered strategy associated with proficient decisions makers: Recognitional or reflexive activation of expectations and associated responses, accompanied by an optional, recursive process of critiquing and correcting, regulated by the stakes of the problem, the time available, and the remaining uncertainty. The model and implementation are inconsistent with the conventional claim that decision makers fall back on formal analytical methods when pattern recognition fails. Instead, they learn simple metacognitive strategies to leverage reflexive knowledge in novel situations. In addition, the model suggests that the development of executive attention functions (metacognitive strategies) may be necessary for, and integral to, the development of working memory, or dynamic access to long term memory, and that strategies developed for uncertainty handling may accelerate the reflexive learning of remotely connected concepts. | <urn:uuid:17741fb1-27ce-464b-a1ff-000e6ceb0749> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://aaai.org/Library/Symposia/Spring/2005/ss05-04-006.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281162.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00529-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903996 | 202 | 2.125 | 2 |
Hubble Telescope Captures Comet’s Close Brush With Earth
Technology| | By Brian Delpozo
Earlier this year the Earth had a close encounter with a comet, and the Hubble Telescope got the pictures to prove it. On March 21, the comet known as 252P/LINEAR came within 3.3 million miles of the Earth, the third-closest comet encounter ever recorded.
Roughly two weeks after the encounter, the Hubble Space telescope captured numerous images of the comet which were later released by NASA. The images depict the comet’s trail of “space dust” made up of remnants of the frozen ice, gas, rocks, and dust that constitute the comet’s makeup, and mark the closest photos of any celestial body – besides the moon – ever recorded.
— The SETI Institute (@SETIInstitute) May 14, 2016
NASA describes the photos’ content as such:
“The images reveal a narrow, well-defined jet of dust ejected by the comet’s icy, fragile nucleus. The nucleus is too small for Hubble to resolve. Astronomers estimate that it is less than one mile across. A comet produces jets of material as it travels close to the sun in its orbit. Sunlight warms ices in a comet’s nucleus, resulting in large amounts of dust and gas being ejected, sometimes in the form of jets. The jet in the Hubble images is illuminated by sunlight. The jet also appears to change direction in the images, which is evidence that the comet’s nucleus is spinning. The spinning nucleus makes the jet appear to rotate like the water jet from a rotating lawn sprinkler. The images underscore the dynamics and volatility of a comet’s fragile nucleus.”
The comet’s trajectory is currently taking it away from Earth, but 252P/LINEAR is scheduled to return to Earth’s inner-solar system in 2021. However it won’t be drawn nearly as close to Earth at that time.
— Science Channel (@ScienceChannel) May 16, 2016 | <urn:uuid:d87de65c-6787-4ecc-b6ee-216d22a6a8db> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://preview.yourdailydish.com/hubble-telescope-captures-comets-close-brush-earth/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279169.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00220-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926246 | 431 | 3.765625 | 4 |
Welcome back! Go back and check out Part I of the series to learn how to install the environment we’ll be using!
Redis Server With Swarm Rescheduling On-Node-Failure
This portion of the post will focus on deploying a Redis container and testing out the current state of the experimental rescheduling feature.
Note: rescheduling is very experimental and has bugs. We will walk through an example and review known bugs as we go through.
If you want your container to be rescheduled when a Swarm host fails, then you need to deploy that container with certain flags. One way to do this is with the following flags:
--restart=always -e reschedule:on-node-failure or with a label such as
-l 'com.docker.swarm.reschedule-policy=["on-node-failure"]'. The example below will use the environment variable method.
First, let’s deploy a Redis container with the rescheduling flags and a volume managed by Flocker.
Next, SSH into the Docker host where the Redis container is running and take a look at the contents of the
appendonly.aof file we instructed Redis to use for persistence. The file should be located on the Flocker volume mount-point for the container and contain no data.
Next, let’s connect to the Redis server and add some key/values. After, look at the contents of the appendonly.aof file again to show that Redis is storing the data correctly.
View the data within our Flocker volume to verify that Redis is working correctly.
Now we want to test the fail-over scenario making sure our Flocker volume moves the data stored in Redis to the new Docker host where Swarm reschedules the container.
To do this let’s point Docker at our Swarm manager and monitor the events using the
docker events command.
To initiate the test, run
shutdown -h now on your Docker host that is running the Redis container to simulate a node failure. You should see events (below) that correlate to the node and container dying.
What the events tell us is that the container and its resources (network, volume) need to be removed, disconnected or unmounted because the host is failing. The events you see below are:
- Container Kill
- Container Die
- Network Disconnect
- Swarm Engine Disconnect
- Volume Unmount
- Container Stop
Then, some bit of time after the Docker host dies, you should eventually see an event for the container the same container being rescheduled (created again). This is where there is still some work to be done, as of 1.1.3 and our testing we noticed that Swarm has an issue running
Start on the container after it has been
Created on the new Docker host.
You should see the
Create event logged while watching
docker events and this actually does initiate the re-creation of the container and the movement of the Flocker volume it was using.
We found that you may need to manually
Start the container on the new host after it was rescheduled.
Note: Some of the issues with the container creating but not starting and others are tracked in this Docker Swarm issue.
This is the event we see when the container was rescheduled and created on a new Docker host automatically. Notice the IP address changed to a different IP from the last message; this is because the container is rescheduled on a new Docker host.
Here is what happened so far:
If we run a
docker ps against Swarm we can see the Redis container as
Created. So, in this case, we can start it manually and Redis is back up and running on a new node!
Let’s connect to the Redis server and make sure the data we added still remains.
The data is still there! Given the current state of rescheduling, it’s not recommended to rely on it.
During our tests, we did come across users that said the container did start. We also came across users that said rescheduling didn’t work at all, or they wound up with two identical containers if the Docker host came back.
Either way, there are certainly kinks to work out and it's part of the community's job to help test, report and fix these issues so they can work reliably. We will update this post along the way to make sure to show you how rescheduling works in the future!
Happy Swarming! Be sure to check out Part III!
We’d love to hear your feedback! | <urn:uuid:1237261b-f6d1-4df7-84fd-b1afc073ad29> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://dzone.com/articles/swarmweek-part-2-rescheduling-redis-with-swarm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282926.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00397-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927522 | 975 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Samsung is a business under pressure. The South Korean conglomerate sells a huge number of products from semiconductor chips in smartphones and tablets through to refrigerators, television sets and ships. The business has considerable manufacturing capacity and a large marketing budget, such that the brand Samsung seems to be almost everywhere. Everywhere, that is, apart from on non-Samsung devices’ screens. Samsung has an underdeveloped software side of things and this has been a popular criticism of the recent flagship Samsung Galaxy smartphones: love the hardware, don’t like the software. To some minds, the release of Samsung’s Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition smartphone was a great idea and spurred a number of other manufacturers to do the same thing. Too bad there wasn’t a Galaxy S6 Google Play Edition.
We’ve seen Samsung release many new software features and services only for them to be quietly removed after a time, or perhaps worse, to continue to exist with some significant drawbacks. First, there’s Samsung ChatON, the instant messenger client, launched into a competitive market and being compatible with a number of different platforms, similar to WhatsApp. ChatON was being pushed to cell ‘phone store employees as a reason why the Galaxy S devices could be great for customers, because ChatON was a worldwide service. ChatON has been quietly removed from most markets because the service simply didn’t draw enough users. ChatON was seen as another “also ran” in a competitive instant messenger world, and as a means to try to get people interested in the latest flagship Galaxy S device. The Samsung Milk Video service has been closed down, again the service was seen as a reason why to buy the Galaxy S.
Samsung KNOX security, the Samsung SmartThings platform and Samsung Pay are seen as examples of how Samsung may be changing, but it’s too soon to say. Samsung Pay is a particularly good example of how Samsung’s executives are gluing the service to the hardware. Samsung Pay is a mobile payment system built upon conventional strip technology, using existing infrastructure. It could be readily adopted across the world and it’s true that Samsung are working on expanding the regions and banks compatible with the system. However, it’s being used as a means to sell the hardware because only a small number of Samsung Galaxy Android-powered devices can use the software. Samsung are betting that flagship device customers who start to use Samsung Pay in 2015 will switch to a newer Samsung device in 2017 when their two year plan is up for renewal because they will get to keep using Samsung Pay. I am not so sure.
We’ve seen disquiet within Samsung, too. An individual quoted by Reuters said, “There’s a lot of distrust of top executives who can actually implement stuff that is more of a software and services offering. It’s still ‘we know how to sell boxes, we sell boxes’.” There is confusion from within Samsung with different divisions working towards similar projects, which causes internal competition. Competition can be a good thing, but duplication of efforts is not so much. One former employee said: “Samsung’s upper management just inherently doesn’t understand software. They get hardware – in fact, they get hardware better than anyone else. But software is a completely different ballgame.” Samsung announced earlier in the year that they would be releasing monthly software security patch updates for their devices, following Google’s announcement in the summer, but to date have disappointed in this regard.
One of Samsung’s problems in the smartphone industry is that the Galaxy range of smartphones have enjoyed strong growth thanks to their Android-based operating system, which makes it easy for customers to move to another manufacturer. Customers are trying cheaper devices, often from the Chinese manufacturers, and finding that they are “good enough.” Competitor businesses have seen how Samsung has grown its business and are trying things a similar way – we’ve seen a raft of rumors that other businesses are working on developing their own chipsets such as Xiaomi and ZTE, partially because Apple and Samsung have made this trend work very well for them. As the rest of the market catches up, people realise that when an unlocked Android smartphone costing under $200 is for many people as good as a Samsung-branded device costing $700, some people are going to save that $500.
I’m going to move the article across and take a look at BlackBerry now. BlackBerry, the Canadian smartphone and software provider, has struggled to sell devices into a competitive market. It has moved from a clunky, legacy operating system based on JAVA to a brand new and technically very competent BlackBerry 10 operating system, but having found that this has not sold so well has very recently released its first Android-powered device. Meanwhile, BlackBerry is reinventing itself as a specialised software security company. It has been a painful half decade for BlackBerry, watching quarter after quarter of falling device sales and losses, but there are signs that these difficulties are drawing to a close. The business has worked with a number of other technology companies including Google, typically behind the scenes, but a quick look at the first Android-powered BlackBerry device shows that not only have BlackBerry released their take on an Android device, complete with hardware keyboard, but they have developed their own Android software and kept it updated. BlackBerry, with their first Android device, have managed to update the core operating system before Google pushed out updates to the Nexus family, where Samsung, with their plethora of devices and armies of engineers, have failed. Yes; this is BlackBerry’s first and only device so we do need to see how efficient their team is this time next year, or in 2017, when we hope there are more Android BlackBerry smartphones released.
Samsung is still a world leader in smartphones and components, but its software lags. Perhaps the change in the Mobile division leadership will spark a change of mindset within Samsung, but just as an oil tanker is reputed to take a few miles to turn around, so perhaps Samsung’s sheer size means it will continue to struggle for some time. Meanwhile, I can dream of BlackBerry being tasked with building the Android operating system for Samsung’s next Galaxy S flagship device. | <urn:uuid:6d3a0bd0-e8ee-4aa6-be2f-37ce740a089c> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.androidheadlines.com/2015/12/ah-primetime-samsungs-software-slipup.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280891.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00156-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966118 | 1,285 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Administrators have long suspected that most students who “reverse transfer ” from four-year institutions to community colleges -- given that they are typically from low-income families -- do so for financial reasons. A new report, however, argues that parents' level of education has a bigger impact than does income, and that academic difficulty in the first years of college is more likely to be the reason behind reverse transfer.
This month’s issue of Sociology of Education -- a journal of the American Sociological Association – features a report that attempts to explain the socioeconomic differences among college transfer students. The research of Sara Goldrick-Rab, professor of education policy studies and sociology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, is based on the latest numbers from the National Educational Longitudinal Study . These numbers come from students who graduated from high school in 1992, and follow them through 2000.
Goldrick-Rab used a sample group of students who started their postsecondary education at a four-year institution. In this group, 33 percent transferred at least once within eight years of graduating from high school. Nearly 20 percent transferred “laterally,” from one four-year institution to another, and 15 percent transferred in “reverse” to a community college.
Lateral transfers were significantly more likely than reverse transfers to complete a bachelor’s degree – 69 percent compared to 22 percent. Both figures are still lower than the 79 percent graduation rate of those who did not transfer at all. Among those who reverse transferred and eventually made it back to a four-year institution, however, the graduation rate was 49 percent.
This, Goldrick-Rab noted, gives these reverse transfers a greater chance of earning a bachelor’s degree than students who start at a community college and then transfer upward to a four-year institution. She argued, however, that this is not an “effective pathway” for students to take, given the decreased likelihood that they will attain a four-year degree once they have transferred to a community college.
Transfer direction (lateral or reverse) was significantly affected by the student’s socioeconomic background. Students with families from the lowest income bracket were not quite half as likely as students with families from the highest income bracket to transfer between four-year institutions. They were three times more likely, however, to transfer to a community college.
The strongest indicator of transfer status, however, even considering income levels, was level of parental education. Students whose parents had more than a bachelor’s degree were some of the least likely to reverse transfer. At the opposite end, nearly 25 percent of those students whose parents had not completed high school reverse transferred.
The report attempts to account for the motivations behind the demographic differences made clear between these two types of transfers.
“Lateral transfer students appear to be a relatively elite set, since their levels of household income and parental occupational status are higher than average,” the report reads. “Their motivations for changing colleges may be based on expressions of personal preference, possibly striving to move to a ‘better’ school, but are clearly not connected to inadequate academic preparation in high school or poor performance in college.”
Though the rationale for reverse transfer might seem apparent, given the lower socioeconomic status of these students, Goldrick-Rab noted she was surprised to find that money was not the key issue for this cohort.
“The levels of academic preparation, informational and financial resources, and educational expectations found among the children of less-educated parents do not explain these students’ tendency to reverse transfer,” the report reads. “Instead, the analyses clearly showed that students who are equally well prepared for college but come from less-educated families show a higher propensity to leave the four-year college track because they struggle academically in their first year of college. This finding is consistent with other research that has identified significant challenges for first-generation students, particularly during their first year of college.”
Although this data was taken from college students during the mid- to late 1990s, Goldrick-Rab believes the rationale for reverse transfer is still less about money, even with the economy forcing some to reconsider their college selection. As more data become available about today’s students, she expects to see a further increase in the number of students who chose to reverse transfer.
From a policy standpoint, Goldrick-Rab believes that four-year institutions should bear most of the burden when it comes to stemming the tide of reverse transfers. She said that four-year institutions should adopt mandatory advising programs to help students “resolve their academic challenges” and stay at a four-year school. Ideally, she added, these programs should cater to students whose parents did not attend graduate school -- the most crucial population in the report.
“The function of community colleges shouldn’t be to do the job that a four-year school should have done,” Goldrick-Rab said. “Four-year schools need to not think about losing some of these students to community colleges as inevitable. It’s been their problem all along. There has to be something to catch these students on the other end.”
She recommends that four-year institutions promote advising resources to students who are considering transferring -- such as a sign that says "Thinking of leaving? Feel like you can't make it here? Talk to us." She said that these students, and sometimes their parents, often do not understand that reverse transferring to a community college lowers their chances to earn a four-year degree, as the data show.
“A lot of people don’t have a lot of information on hand when things don’t go well at a four-year school,” Goldrick-Rab said. “They’re not savvy about things and will think it fine to just go home and attend their local community college. That’s fine, but the chances of getting a bachelor’s degree are drastically diminished. They’re derailing their stated ambition of getting the degree they wanted. I don’t think a lot of them realize the consequences, and I think [reverse transferring] can be prevented.” | <urn:uuid:af2a33fb-8a00-4c92-9107-2fe7bdf4d188> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.insidehighered.com/print/news/2009/04/17/transfer?width=775&height=500&iframe=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280835.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00053-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976492 | 1,287 | 2.40625 | 2 |
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