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warc | 201704 | Related Articles Related Questions Q:What would you recommend to use for belly fat? How do you feel about the superfood powders that are out here today that are using things like wheatgrass, barley etc? Lastly is there anything that can help hair growth? One more, weight training should it be done if so how and with what kind of resistance? Thank you A:
1. FULL BODY DETOX 2. DHERBS 10-DAY SUPREME COLON CLEANSE Super foods are great! For hair growth, hey, read our articles on the subject! Visit â€ARTICLESâ€. In re weight training, that's up to you, Beloved! I don't advocate weight lifting.
Q:Hi I'm a 48 year old black man and I need some help I got a lot going on I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. I had a heart attack 12-24-07. I smoke about a pack a day and have low sex drive. and it looks like I ate a basket ball. I'm 5'9" and 252 lbs so I need to lose about 60 pounds mostly in my belly and to top it off I can't take a walk or PLAY POOL because I have sciatica I can't bend over to the table. I'm sluggish all day. So what herbs do you recommend? A:
Beloved, you need to first detox (FULL BODY DETOX) followed by the PANCREAS CLEANSE AND REGIMEN followed by the 10-DAY SUPREME COLON CLEANSE followed by the TOTAL MALE CLEANSE. A lot of cleanses but if you perform them you'll wipe away all of your present conditions something you need to do and fast. Start with one kit at a time and proceed with the next.
Q:My Uncle has Epigastric hernia, his belly is big and his navel is sticking out. He went to the hospital; they kept him for 3 days and let him go. He has a lot of discomfort, he lives in the Caribbean (Grenada). I would like to know what type of herbal medicine he could take to make the hernia go away. A: Q:I looked at the FULL BODY DETOX it states that you can lose approx 10-50 lbs, I have lost about 25 lbs from April to present I really do not want to lose anymore. Will I lose any more according to this detox program, I really did not want to lose anymore and actually look sick? A:
Losing 10-50 pounds is a general statement. Doesn't mean you're going to lose 50 pounds. It only means you stand to lose or release between 10 and 50 pounds.
Q: A:The Full Body Cleanse is beneficial in more ways than just weight loss. It's a detox program that cleanses all of your major organs, boosting your energy levels and immune system. The purpose for cleansing is to eliminate waste and toxins that accumulates over the course of time. Your body has it's own intelligence. It won't allow you to lose necessary weight when you're already at the appropriate weight for your height. We recommend eating the foods in the diet that are high in fat such as avocados, almonds, sunflower seeds, pecans, pumpkin seeds and coconut. Q:How can I get rid of belly fat? A:
Perform the Full Body Detox, followed by the Weight Release Cleanse, followed by the 10-Day Supreme Colon Cleanse. Modify your diet too! Exercise as well. Use your mind and see yourself the way you desire to be. Order our "Mental Science Manual." Very helpful tool indeed!
Q:I am a young lady who is trying to lose weight. I usually stabilize around 130-135. however, I would like that to be 10 pounds lighter. Whenever I get below 130 though, my body feels like it goes into binge mode. Any suggestions or herbs that can help me stop eating to so much and instead help me lose weight? A: Q:How often can a male ejaculate, and not lose his life force? I am in the begining stages of learning, Panic breathing, Qi Gong, and Tantric Sex. I try to use my knowledge in those area, so that I won't lose my life Force. A:
By simply replenishing his life force. Eating nutrients, consuming white powder gold (Dherbs.com Ethereal Bliss), deep breathing, etc.
Product Links:
Ethereal Bliss Q:First of all hello and thank you for the FULL BODY DETOX. I completed the full detox August 5, 08 and found it extremely beneficial, again, thank you. Please let me know your opinion regarding the "Abgone" Extra Strength pill that reportedly promotes pot belly loss (the one issue I continue to confront). I exercise, I do yoga and I jog four times weekly 3 miles. Never the less I still have a "pot belly". I contacted "Biotech Research" and was advised that this is an all natural product. The ingredients are said to be Vitamin C, Zinc, Chromium Polynitic, Phofphatidylserine, Clabcaa, Dandelion Powder, 99% Caffeine, Green Tea Extract, The capsule is made of soybean, beeswax, gelatin, glycerin and red dye #40. Please respond at your earliest convenience. A:
That product ABGONE is crap due to the ingredients. No product is your solution, but the mind (thoughts, attitude), diet, lifestyle, etc. Stop worrying about the pot belly and focus on your desired state. Only see your results in your mind and you will attract the results on the material plane. Please read through some of our articles, beloved!
Q:I did the full body cleanse and I didn't lose any weight. I don't know if my thyroids are out of balance if so what do you recommend? I'm 5'8, 180 lbs I want to lose 50lbs. A:
If you are experiencing a thyroid issue, try adding the Thyroid Aid, and then performing the Full Body Cleanse again. If you maintain the raw foods diet, and with the addition of the Thyroid Aid, your body should be able to potentially lose weight and optimize health.
Q:Will the 10-DAY SUPREME COLON CLEANSE cause a person who does not need to lose weight to lose weight. A:
Of course not! Read the article â€I’M THIN! WILL I LOSE WEIGHT DURING THE DETOX†on our site under ARTICLES.
Q:I wanted to know if you had anything I could take to help me lose weight with my thyroid condition. I saw a product that mention thyroid but I was not sure if it would work for me since I no longer have thyroid gland. A: Q:I want to get this for my mother as she is trying to lose weight and keep her sugar level and blood pressure under control and not be in any danger from taking this. Her sugar was in the 300's and we got her to keep it down between 140 and 180. She was diagnosed with Diabetes last year and is working on eating right. I will order once you answer this. Should she talk to her doctor first or can she try it first? A:
It's her choice! What can or will a doctor who has an interest in DRUGS tell her about herbs that he/she doesn't get a kickback from??????
Q:Can I do a 45-minute cardio while doing the Full Body Cleanse? The Doctor claims I am a Type II Diabetic and I have decided to cleanse and then do the Pancreas Cleanse as well. I want to workout to tone up!!! Just wondering if I will have enough energy to continue to workout...I am doing cardio 4 x a week for 45 minutes. A:You can still exercise while doing the cleanse, but we suggest only engaging in the light cardio instead of any intense workouts. Because you're on an adjusted diet that consists of mainly fruits and vegetables, you may burn through the foods faster as opposed to when you workout while consuming carbs or starchy foods. You can drink Green Tea for a boost of energy or consume raw foods that provides a natural source of energy. Foods that provide you with more energy include bananas, spinach, citrus fruits like grapefruits and oranges, apples, almonds and lemons. Q:I writing to see what is the best option for me, I work and lose weight, but have found that I still have a puggy stomach, what herbs if any would you suggest? A:
This situation denotes your colon needs attention. Please give our COLON FORMULA, BOWEL MOVER, and INTESTINAL JANITOR formulas a try and these will help your puggy stomach to dissolve. Metaphysically, there could be something going on in your life that you can't "stomach," i.e., a person, an event, a circumstance, etc. that your body is conveying to you via your puggy stomach.
Q:How often should I Detox. I recently bought the detox package from you and lose no weight. Additionally, the black powder that can be used to help gain some whiteness to your teeth does not seem to be working either. Is there any advice that you can give. A:
Remember that in natural healing patience is a virtue. It takes time to undo the mess we did to ourselves in ignorance. Trust in God and God's herbs and be patient while using natural substances. Stay focused on your desires.
Q:I want to lose weight I am about 186 pounds and I would like to be about 163 pounds. I read the difference in the 10-DAY SUPREME COLON CLEANSE but I want to use the one that is best for what I am looking for and they both sound great. But I am comfuse about the one, which will work for me. A: Q:I would like know do your WEIGHT RELEASE FORMULA really help to lose weight. Also, will I be able to use this product with my medication (such as high platelets medicine)? A:
Yes the Weight Release helps you to maintain reduced weight! We don't recommend the use of herbs with drugs/medication (poisons). Herbs cancel out poisons! | 8,995 | 4,364 | 0.000232 |
warc | 201704 | Nuplazid (Oral) Generic Name: pimavanserin (Oral route)
pim-a-VAN-ser-in
Elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis treated with antipsychotic drugs are at an increased risk of death. Pimavanserin is not approved for the treatment of patients with dementia-related psychosis unrelated to the hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson's disease psychosis .
Commonly used brand name(s) In the U.S. Nuplazid
Available Dosage Forms:
Tablet
Therapeutic Class: Antipsychotic
Uses For Nuplazid
Pimavanserin is used to treat hallucinations and delusions caused by Parkinson disease psychosis. It works in the brain to prevent hallucinations and delusions. Pimavanserin should not be used to treat behavioral problems in older adults who have dementia.
This medicine is available only with your doctor's prescription.
Before Using Nuplazid
In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For this medicine, the following should be considered:
Allergies
Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to this medicine or any other medicines. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods, dyes, preservatives, or animals. For non-prescription products, read the label or package ingredients carefully.
Pediatric
Appropriate studies have not been performed on the relationship of age to the effects of pimavanserin in the pediatric population. Safety and efficacy have not been established.
Geriatric
Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated geriatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of pimavanserin in the elderly.
Breast Feeding
There are no adequate studies in women for determining infant risk when using this medication during breastfeeding. Weigh the potential benefits against the potential risks before taking this medication while breastfeeding.
Interactions with Medicines
Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking this medicine, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive.
Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is not recommended. Your doctor may decide not to treat you with this medication or change some of the other medicines you take.
Amifampridine Amisulpride Bepridil Cisapride Dronedarone Fluconazole Ketoconazole Mesoridazine Pimozide Piperaquine Saquinavir Sparfloxacin Terfenadine Thioridazine Ziprasidone
Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is usually not recommended, but may be required in some cases. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines.
Alfentanil Alfuzosin Amiodarone Amitriptyline Anagrelide Apomorphine Aripiprazole Arsenic Trioxide Asenapine Astemizole Atazanavir Azithromycin Bedaquiline Boceprevir Buprenorphine Buserelin Butorphanol Chloroquine Chlorpromazine Ciprofloxacin Citalopram Clarithromycin Clomipramine Clozapine Cobicistat Codeine Conivaptan Crizotinib Cyclobenzaprine Dabrafenib Dasatinib Degarelix Delamanid Desipramine Deslorelin Dihydrocodeine Disopyramide Dofetilide Dolasetron Domperidone Donepezil Doxepin Droperidol Ebastine Efavirenz Eribulin Erythromycin Escitalopram Famotidine Felbamate Fentanyl Fingolimod Flecainide Fluoxetine Formoterol Foscarnet Fosphenytoin Galantamine Gatifloxacin Gemifloxacin Gonadorelin Goserelin Granisetron Halofantrine Haloperidol Histrelin Hydrocodone Hydromorphone Hydroquinidine Hydroxychloroquine Hydroxyzine Ibutilide Idelalisib Iloperidone Imipramine Indinavir Itraconazole Ivabradine Lapatinib Leuprolide Levofloxacin Lopinavir Lumefantrine Mefloquine Meperidine Methadone Methotrimeprazine Metronidazole Mifepristone Mizolastine Moricizine Morphine Morphine Sulfate Liposome Moxifloxacin Nafarelin Nefazodone Nelfinavir Nilotinib Norfloxacin Octreotide Ofloxacin Olanzapine Ondansetron Oxycodone Oxymorphone Paliperidone Panobinostat Papaverine Paroxetine Pasireotide Pazopanib Pentamidine Pentazocine Perflutren Lipid Microsphere Perphenazine Pipamperone Pitolisant Probucol Procainamide Prochlorperazine Promethazine Propafenone Protriptyline Quetiapine Quinidine Quinine Ranolazine Remifentanil Risperidone Ritonavir Sertindole Sevoflurane Sodium Phosphate Sodium Phosphate, Dibasic Sodium Phosphate, Monobasic Solifenacin Sorafenib Sotalol Sufentanil Sulpiride Sunitinib Tacrolimus Tamoxifen Tapentadol Telaprevir Telavancin Telithromycin Tetrabenazine Tizanidine Tolterodine Toremifene Tramadol Trazodone Trimipramine Triptorelin Vandetanib Vardenafil Vemurafenib Venlafaxine Vilanterol Vinflunine Voriconazole Vorinostat Interactions with Food/Tobacco/Alcohol
Certain medicines should not be used at or around the time of eating food or eating certain types of food since interactions may occur. Using alcohol or tobacco with certain medicines may also cause interactions to occur. Discuss with your healthcare professional the use of your medicine with food, alcohol, or tobacco.
Other Medical Problems
The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of this medicine. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:
Arrhythmia (abnormal heart beat), history of or Bradycardia (slow heart beat), history of or Heart rhythm problems, history of or QT prolongation (abnormal heart beat), history of—Use with caution. May make these conditions worse. Proper Use of Nuplazid Take this medicine only as directed by your doctor. Do not use more of it, do not use it more often, and do not use it for a longer time than your doctor ordered.
Take this medicine with or without food.
Dosing
The dose of this medicine will be different for different patients. Follow your doctor's orders or the directions on the label. The following information includes only the average doses of this medicine. If your dose is different, do not change it unless your doctor tells you to do so.
The amount of medicine that you take depends on the strength of the medicine. Also, the number of doses you take each day, the time allowed between doses, and the length of time you take the medicine depend on the medical problem for which you are using the medicine.
For oral dosage form (tablets): For treatment of hallucinations and delusions: Adults—34 milligrams (2 tablets) once a day. Children—Use and dose must be determined by your doctor. For treatment of hallucinations and delusions: Missed Dose
If you miss a dose of this medicine, take it as soon as possible. However, if it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. Do not double doses.
Storage
Store the medicine in a closed container at room temperature, away from heat, moisture, and direct light. Keep from freezing.
Keep out of the reach of children.
Do not keep outdated medicine or medicine no longer needed.
Ask your healthcare professional how you should dispose of any medicine you do not use.
Precautions While Using Nuplazid It is very important that your doctor check your progress at regular visits to make sure this medicine is working properly and to check for unwanted effects.
Contact your doctor right away if you feel dizzy or faint, or have a fast, pounding, or uneven heartbeat. Make sure your doctor knows if you or anyone in your family has ever had a heart rhythm problem such as QT prolongation.
Do not take other medicines unless they have been discussed with your doctor. This includes prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicines and herbal (eg, St. John's wort) or vitamin supplements.
Nuplazid Side Effects
Along with its needed effects, a medicine may cause some unwanted effects. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention.
Check with your doctor immediately if any of the following side effects occur: Incidence not known Chest pain or discomfort fainting irregular or slow heart rate shortness of breath
Some side effects may occur that usually do not need medical attention. These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine. Also, your health care professional may be able to tell you about ways to prevent or reduce some of these side effects. Check with your health care professional if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome or if you have any questions about them:
More common Bloating or swelling of the face, arms, hands, lower legs, or feet confusion nausea rapid weight gain unusual weight gain or loss Less common Change in walking and balance clumsiness or unsteadiness difficulty having a bowel movement (stool)
Other side effects not listed may also occur in some patients. If you notice any other effects, check with your healthcare professional.
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
See also: Side effects (in more detail)
The information contained in the Truven Health Micromedex products as delivered by Drugs.com is intended as an educational aid only. It is not intended as medical advice for individual conditions or treatment. It is not a substitute for a medical exam, nor does it replace the need for services provided by medical professionals. Talk to your doctor, nurse or pharmacist before taking any prescription or over the counter drugs (including any herbal medicines or supplements) or following any treatment or regimen. Only your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist can provide you with advice on what is safe and effective for you.
The use of the Truven Health products is at your sole risk. These products are provided "AS IS" and "as available" for use, without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Truven Health and Drugs.com make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, usefulness or completeness of any of the information contained in the products. Additionally, TRUVEN HEALTH MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE OPINIONS OR OTHER SERVICE OR DATA YOU MAY ACCESS, DOWNLOAD OR USE AS A RESULT OF USE OF THE THOMSON REUTERS HEALTHCARE PRODUCTS. ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE ARE HEREBY EXCLUDED. Truven Health does not assume any responsibility or risk for your use of the Truven Health products.
Copyright 2016 Truven Health Analytics, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | 10,968 | 4,859 | 0.000207 |
warc | 201704 | Dyphylline-GG Elixir Generic Name: dyphylline and guaifenesin Dosage Form: elixir
Disclaimer: This drug has not been found by FDA to be safe and effective, and this labeling has not been approved by FDA. For further information about unapproved drugs, click here.
DYPHYLLINE GG ELIXIR Dyphylline-GG Elixir Description
DYPHYLLINE-GG is a bronchodilator/expectorant combination available for oral administration as Elixir.
Each 15 mL (one tablespoonful) of Elixir contains:
Dyphylline ............................................. 100 mg Guaifenesin .......................................... 100 mg Alcohol (by volume) .............................. 17 %
Other ingredients: citric acid, FD&C Red No. 40, D&C Yellow No. 10, flavor (artificial), propylene glycol, saccharin sodium, sodium benzoate, sodium citrate, sucrose, water.
Dyphylline is 7-(2,3-dihydroxypropyl)-theophylline, a white, extremely bitter, amorphous powder that is fully soluble in water and soluble in alcohol to the extent of 2 g/100 mL. Dyphylline forms a neutral solution that is stable in gastrointestinal fluids over a wide range of pH.
Dyphylline-GG Elixir - Clinical Pharmacology
Dyphylline is a xanthine derivative with pharmacologic actions similar to theophylline and other members of this class of drugs. Its primary action is that of bronchodilation, but it also exhibits peripheral vasodilatory and other smooth muscle relaxant activity to a lesser degree. The bronchodilatory action of dyphylline, as with other xanthines, is thought to be mediated through competitive inhibition of phosphodiesterase with a resulting increase in cyclic AMP producing relaxation of bronchial smooth muscle.
Dyphylline in Dyphylline-GG Elixir is well tolerated and produces less nausea than aminophylline and other alkaline theophylline compounds when administered orally. Unlike the hydrolyzable salts of theophylline, dyphylline is not converted to free theophylline in vivo. It is absorbed rapidly in therapeutically active form and in healthy volunteers reaches a mean peak plasma concentration of 17.1 mcg/mL in approximately 45 minutes following a single oral dose of 1000 mg of dyphylline.
Dyphylline exerts its bronchodilatory effects directly and, unlike theophylline, is excreted unchanged by the kidneys, without being metabolized by the liver. Because of this,
dyphylline pharmacokinetics and plasma levels are not influenced by various factors that affect liver function and hepatic enzyme activity, such as smoking, age, or concomitant use of drugs which affect liver function.
The elimination half-life of dyphylline is approximately two hours (1.8 - 2.1 hr) and approximately 88% of a single oral dose can be recovered from the urine unchanged. The
renal clearance would be correspondingly reduced in patients with impaired renal function. In anuric patients, the half-life may be increased 3 to 4 times normal.
Dyphylline Plasma levels are dose-related and generally predictable. The therapeutic range of plasma levels within which dyphylline can be expected to produce effective
bronchodilation has not been determined.
Dyphylline plasma concentrations can be accurately determined using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) or gas-liquid chromatography (GLC).
Guaifenesin is an expectorant whose action helps increase the output of thin respiratory tract fluid to facilitate mucociliary clearance and removal of inspissated mucus.
Indications and Usage for Dyphylline-GG Elixir
For relief of acute bronchial asthma and for reversible bronchospasm associated with chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
Contraindications
Hypersensitivity to any of the ingredients or related compounds.
Warnings
DYPHYLLINE-GG is not indicated in the management of status asthmaticus, which is a serious medical emergency.
Although the relationship between plasma levels of dyphylline and appearance of toxicity is unknown, excessive doses may be expected to be associated with an increased risk of adverse effects.
Precautions
General: Use DYPHYLLINE-GG with caution in patients with severe cardiac disease, hypertension, hyperthyroidism, acute myocardial injury or peptic ulcer.
Drug interactions: Synergism between xanthine bronchodilators (e.g., theophylline), ephedrine and other sympathomimetic bronchodilators has been reported. This should be considered whenever these agents are prescribed concomitantly. Concurrent administration of dyphylline and probenecid, which competes for tubular secretion, has been shown to increase plasma half-life of dyphylline (see Clinical Pharmacology).
Carcinogenesis, mutagenesis, impairment of fertility: No long-term animal studies have been performed with DYPHYLLINE-GG.
Pregnancy: Teratogenic effects– Pregnancy Category C: Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with DYPHYLLINE-GG. It is also not known whether this product can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity. DYPHYLLINE-GG should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed. Nursing mothers: Dyphylline is present in human milk at approximately twice the maternal plasma concentration. Caution should be exercised when DYPHYLLINE-GG is administered to a nursing woman.
Pediatric use: Safety and effectiveness in children below the age of six have not been established. Use caution when administering to children six years of age or older.
Adverse Reactions
DYPHYLLINE-GG may cause nausea, headache, cardiac palpitation and CNS stimulation. Postprandial administration may help avoid gastric discomfort.
The following adverse reactions which have been reported with other xanthine bronchodilators, and which have most often been related to excessive drug plasma levels,
should be considered as potential adverse effects when dyphylline is administered:
Gastrointestinal: nausea, vomiting, epigastric pain, hematemesis, diarrhea.
Central nervous system: headache, irritability, restlessness, insomnia, hyperexcitability, agitation, muscle twitching, generalized clonic and tonic convulsions.
Cardiovascular: palpitation, tachycardia, extrasystoles, flushing, hypotension, circulatory failure, ventricular arrhythmias.
Respiratory: tachypnea.
Renal: albuminuria, gross and microscopic hematuria, diuresis.
Other: hyperglycemia, inappropriate ADH syndrome.
Overdosage
There have been no reports, in the literature, of overdosage with DYPHYLLINE-GG. However, the following information based on reports of theophylline overdosage are
considered typical of the xanthine class of drugs and should be kept in mind.
Signs and symptoms: Restlessness, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, insomnia, irritability, and headache. Marked overdosage with resulting severe toxicity has produced agitation, severe vomiting, dehydration, excessive thirst, tinnitus, cardiac arrhythmias, hyperthermia, diaphoresis, and generalized clonic and tonic convulsions. Cardiovascular collapse has also occurred, with some fatalities. Seizures have occurred in some cases associated with very high theophylline plasma concentrations, without any premonitory symptoms of toxicity.
Treatment: There is no specific antidote for overdosage with drugs of the xanthine class. Symptomatic treatment and general supportive measures should be instituted with careful monitoring and maintenance of vital signs, fluids and electrolytes. The stomach should be emptied by inducing emesis if the patient is conscious and responsive, or by gastric lavage, taking care to protect against aspiration, especially in stuporous or comatose patients. Maintenance of an adequate airway is essential in case oxygen or assisted respiration is needed. Sympathomimetic agents should be avoided but sedatives such as short-acting barbiturates may be useful. Dyphylline is dialyzable and, although not recommended as a routine procedure in overdosage cases, hemodialysis may be of some benefit when severe intoxication is present or when the patient has not responded to general supportive and symptomatic treatment.
Dyphylline-GG Elixir Dosage and Administration
Dosage should be individually titrated according to the severity of the condition and the response of the patient.
Usual adult dosage:
30 mL (2 tablespoonfuls) Elixir, four times daily.
Children above age six:
15 to 30 mL (1 to 2 tablespoonfuls) Elixir, 3 or 4 times daily.
Not recommended for use in children below age six: (see Precautions).
How is Dyphylline-GG Elixir Supplied
Dyphylline-GG Elixir (dyphylline 100 mg, guaifenesin 100 mg and alcohol 17% by volume per 15 mL) is a clear, light yellow-orange liquid with a mild wine-like odor and taste. The elixir is available in bottles of one pint and one gallon.
Storage:
Store at controlled room temperature 15° - 30°C (59° - 86°F).
Dispense in a tight container.
Rx only.
Manufactured by:
Silarx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Spring Valley, NY 10977
DYPHYLLINE GG
dyphylline and guaifenesin elixir
Labeler - Silarx Pharmaceuticals, Inc (161630033) | 9,039 | 4,003 | 0.000252 |
warc | 201704 | Breeding systems for species with cryptic lives are difficult to examine in nature based on purely observational studies. In this study, a genetic approach was used to investigate the breeding system of a population of a stream spawning salmonid, the European grayling (Thymallus thymallus), from a tributary in the Norwegian lake system, Lake Lesjaskogsvatnet. For this purpose, highly polymorphic microsatellite loci were used to genotype adult grayling sampled in 2008. Those genotypes were in turn used to assign parentage to > 800 grayling fry sampled in 2008, which were genotyped for the same loci. In order to achieve the best possible results, I applied two different methods of parentage assignment and compared their results. Despite differences in individual results, overall, both methods were consistent in their major findings. Both confirm an apparent polygynandrous grayling breeding system, that is, that grayling of both sexes mated successfully with more than one partner during spawning in 2008 in Lake Lesjaskogsvatnet. In addition, a large variation in reproductive success and a reproductive skew for both sexes were observed. However, this variance in individual reproductive success could not conclusively be explained, neither with body length nor with the timing of spawning migration. | 1,315 | 690 | 0.001451 |
warc | 201704 | In this paper we provide a generalization of the standard models of the diffusion of a new product. Consumers are heterogeneous and risk averse, and the firm is uncertain about the demand curve: both learn from past observations. The attitude towards risk has important effects with regard to the diffusion pattern. In our model, downward-biased signals to consumers can prevent the success of the product, even if its objective quality is high: a “lock-in” result. We show in addition that the standard logistic pattern can be derived from the model. Finally, we discuss the asymptotic behavior of the learning dynamics, with regard to the multiplicity and the stability of equilibria, and to their welfare properties. | 731 | 433 | 0.002348 |
warc | 201704 | Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/
10419/46629
Full metadata record
DC Field Value Language dc.contributor.author Capuno, Joseph J. en_US dc.contributor.author Garcia, Maria Melody S. en_US dc.date.accessioned 2011-06-30T10:22:07Z - dc.date.available 2011-06-30T10:22:07Z - dc.date.issued 2009 en_US dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10419/46629 - dc.description.abstract In many countries that have decentralized, improving the accountability of local officials is increasingly emphasized to make them more responsive to their constituents' needs. This paper provides evidence that the public announcement of performance ratings can induce local governments to become responsive. The evidence is based on application of a difference-in-difference method on a unique household-level dataset collected during the three-year pilot test of a rating system in 12 municipalities and cities in the Philippines. The results are consistent with the predictions of political agency models of incumbent behavior. Some policy guidelines on the design and implementation performance benchmarks are made. en_US dc.language.iso eng en_US dc.publisher |aSchool of Economics, Univ. of the Philippines |cQuezon en_US dc.relation.ispartofseries |aDiscussion paper // School of Economics, University of the Philippines |x2009,08 en_US dc.subject.jel H11 en_US dc.subject.jel H30 en_US dc.subject.jel H77 en_US dc.subject.jel C93 en_US dc.subject.ddc 330 en_US dc.subject.keyword Local governments en_US dc.subject.keyword political agency en_US dc.subject.keyword performance ratings en_US dc.subject.keyword decentralization en_US dc.subject.stw Kommunalverwaltung en_US dc.subject.stw Good Governance en_US dc.subject.stw Dezentralisierung en_US dc.subject.stw Performance-Messung en_US dc.subject.stw Schätzung en_US dc.subject.stw Philippinen en_US dc.title What differences can performance ratings make? Difference-in-difference estimates of impact on local government responsiveness in the Philippines en_US dc.type Working Paper en_US dc.identifier.ppn 609245589 en_US dc.rights http://www.econstor.eu/dspace/Nutzungsbedingungen en_US
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Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. | 2,306 | 1,078 | 0.000933 |
warc | 201704 | This paper uses a unique data set on more than 600,000 mortgage contracts to estimate a credit supply function which allows for risk-heterogeneity. Non-linearity is modelled using quantile regressions. We propose an instrumental variable approach in which changes in the tax treatment of housing transactions are used as an instrument for loan demand. The results are suggestive of considerable risk heterogeneity with riskier borrowers penalised more for borrowing more. | 473 | 300 | 0.003347 |
warc | 201704 | Kawaguchi, Daiji Lee, Jungmin Hamermesh, Daniel S.
Year of Publication:
2012
Series/Report no.:
Discussion Paper series, Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit 6700
Abstract:
How would people spend time if confronted by permanent declines in market work? We identify preferences off exogenous cuts in legislated standard hours that raised employers' overtime costs in Japan around 1990 and Korea in the early 2000s. Using time-diaries from before and after these shocks, we estimate the probability that an individual would have been affected by the reform. Reduced-form estimates show that the direct effect on a newly-constrained worker was a substantial reduction in market time, with the free-up time in Japan reallocated to leisure and personal maintenance, while in Korea the results are mixed, showing some impact on household production. Simulations using GMM estimates of a Stone-Geary utility function defined over time use suggest no effect on household production in either country. Estimation of a household model shows only slight evidence that spouses shared the time gift, nor that one spouse's allocation of non-market time changed when the other spouse's market work was permanently and exogenously reduced.
Subjects:
time use household production freedom from work household bargaining | 1,317 | 745 | 0.001353 |
warc | 201704 | IFS Working Papers, Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) 06/23
Abstract:
Measuring the private returns to R&D requires knowledge of its private depreciation or obsolescence rate, which is inherently variable and responds to competitive pressure. Nevertheless, most of the previous literature has used a constant depreciation rate to construct R&D capital stocks and measure the returns to R&D, a rate usually equal to 15 per cent. In this paper I review the implications of this assumption for the measurement of returns using two different methodologies: one based on the production function and another that uses firm market value to infer returns. Under the assumption that firms choose their R&D investment optimally, that is, marginal expected benefit equals marginal cost, I show that both estimates of returns can be inverted to derive an implied depreciation rate for R&D capital. I then test these ideas on a large unbalanced panel of U.S. manufacturing firms for the years 1974 to 2003. The two methods do not agree, in that the production function approach suggests depreciation rates near zero (or even appreciation) whereas the market value approach implies depreciation rates ranging from 20 to 50 per cent, depending on the period. The concluding section discusses the possible reasons why this is true. | 1,320 | 711 | 0.001411 |
warc | 201704 | Edited by Arja Ropo, Perttu Salovaara, Erika Sauer and Donatella De Paoli Chapter 6: Virtual spaces as workplaces: working and leading in virtual worlds AbstractThis chapter focuses on leading and working practices in virtual worlds. Virtual worlds as digital collaboration environments are explored and studied from the perspective of sociomaterial theory. Virtual worlds considered here are communication and collaboration environments in which multiple actors share the same three-dimensional digital space despite occupying remote physical locations. Leadership in virtual spaces is seen as a relation that is constructed between people, between people and materiality (e.g., local built environment, place, artefacts) and between people and digital representations (e.g., virtual worlds and its visual artefacts), including the characteristics and behaviour of an avatar. The chapter continues by exploring leadership in virtual spaces from three perspectives: affordances of virtual worlds, social relationships and the characteristics of an avatar. Finally, virtual worlds as workplaces are categorized based on the literature. You are not authenticated to view the full text of this chapter or article.
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Your library may not have purchased all subject areas. If you are authenticated and think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian. | 1,718 | 839 | 0.001195 |
warc | 201704 | This study aims at synthesizing experiences in the practical application of ASM type models. The information is made easily accessible to model users by creating a database of modelling projects. This database includes answers to a questionnaire that was sent out to model users in 2008 to provide inputs for a Scientific and Technical Report of the IWA Task Group on Good Modelling Practice – Guidelines for use of activated sludge models, and a literature review on published modelling projects. The database is analysed to determine which biokinetic model parameters are usually changed by modellers, in which ranges, and what values are typically used for seven selected activated sludge models. These results should help model users in the calibration step, by providing typical parameter values as a starting point and ranges as a guide. However, the proposed values should be used with great care since they are the result of averaging practical experience and not taking into account specific parameter correlations.
Keywords: ASM, database, good modelling practice, parameter ranges, parameter sets, survey | 1,123 | 595 | 0.001693 |
warc | 201704 | Testing WHAM‐FTOX with laboratory toxicity data for mixtures of metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, Ag, Pb)
The WHAM‐FTOX model describes cation toxicity to aquatic organisms in terms of (a) accumulation by the organism of metabolically‐active protons and metals at reversible binding sites, and (b) differing toxic potencies of the bound cations. Cation accumulation (νi in mol g‐1) is estimated through calculations with the WHAM chemical speciation model by assuming that organism binding sites can be represented by those of humic acid. Toxicity coefficients (αi) are combined with νi to obtain the variable FTOX ( = ∑ αiνi) which, between lower and upper thresholds (FTOX,LT, FTOX,UT), is linearly related to toxic effect. Values of αi, FTOX,LT and FTOX,LT are obtained by fitting toxicity data. Reasonable fits (72% of variance in toxic effect explained overall) were obtained for four large metal mixture acute toxicity experiments involving daphnids (Cu, Zn, Cd), lettuce (Cu, Zn, Ag) and trout (Zn, Cd, Pb). Strong non‐additive effects, most apparent in results for tests involving Cd, could be explained approximately by purely chemical competition for metal accumulation. Tentative interpretation of parameter values obtained from these and other experimental data suggests the following order of bound cation toxicity: H < Al < (Cu Zn Pb UO2) < (Cd Ag). Another trend is a strong increase in Cd toxicity relative to that of Zn, as organism complexity increases (from bacteria to fish). Environ Toxicol Chem © 2014 SETAC | 1,583 | 853 | 0.001225 |
warc | 201704 | Quality of drinking water service is considered in two dimensions: tangibles (measured by sediment, taste, smell, and color) and reliability (measured by service continuity). Using a large and unique household-level dataset, we study important factors that are related to these dimensions in the Colombian drinking water sector. Based on the network design of pumping, purification, and delivery, our main findings are: (1) compared to users who do not receive a subsidy for water consumption, users who receive a subsidy report less reliable service while tangibles of water quality do not show significant difference between the reports of these two types of users; and (2) compared to water supplied by public providers, water supplied by community providers shows worse tangibles, while service reliability does not show significant difference between these two types of providers. These results suggest that Colombia water reform should not only aim to expand service and prompt water usage for the poor, but also strengthen quality control in multiple dimensions. | 1,071 | 544 | 0.001842 |
warc | 201704 | Keywords: legislation, cases, consultations, reports, decisions LEGISLATION GOVERNMENT BILLS Mesothelioma Bill
On 10 May 2013, the Mesothelioma Bill was published and received its first reading in the House of Lords. The Bill looks to remedy a lacuna in current provisions regarding individuals diagnosed with diffuse mesothelioma who were negligently exposed by their employer to asbestos, specifically where sufferers of this asbestos-related cancer (which frequently takes several decades to manifest) have difficulty tracing their employer or their employers employers liability insurance company, which leaves them with a good claim in principle, but unable to recover compensation.
The Bill allows for the establishment of a scheme by which payments can be made to eligible individuals who were first diagnosed with diffuse mesothelioma, as a result of negligent exposure to asbestos at work in the UK, on or after 25 July 2012 (and eligible dependants where the sufferer died before making an application to the scheme). There will be limits on those eligible for this scheme depending on whether they are able to claim from employers or insurers and whether they have received or are eligible for payments from other sources. The Bill received its second reading in the House of Lords on 20 May 2013 and has progressed through the committee stages, with the report stage to follow on 15 July 2013. The Bill was one of the measures announced in the Queens speech on 8 May 2013. Energy Bill
On 18 June 2013, the Energy Bill had its second reading in the House of Lords. The Bill is now progressing through the House of Lords Committee stage, with the final committee review scheduled to occur on 25 July 2013.
Water Bill
On 27 June 2013, the Water Bill was introduced in the House of Commons. The Bill will enable the government to implement the proposals originally set out in the Water White Paper which was published on 8 December 2011. The Bill primarily amends the Water Industry Act 1991 (WIA) in three parts.
Part 1 will make large changes to the water industry including: (1) the expansion and revision of the water supply licensing (WSL) regime under which water companies supply water to customers, the introduction of sewerage licences and the creation of a cross-border retail market between England and Wales and Scotland to allow all business, charity and public sector customers to choose their water and sewerage supplier for the first time and enable multi-site operators to tender for one supplier across Great Britain; (2) amending Ofwat s approval of water and sewerage undertaker's charging schemes by enabling Ofwat to introduce codes and charging rules to increase transparency and streamline negotiations between undertakers; (3) placing a new duty on various authorities to secure the long-term resilience of water supply and sewerage systems against environmental pressures, population growth and changes in consumer behaviour; and (4) providing Ofwat with powers to regulate the water and sewerage market as competition develops. Part ! additionally provides the Secretary of State (SoS) with the power to give water resources management plans directions to water suppliers and amends how frequently such plans need to be prepared. | 3,272 | 1,562 | 0.000642 |
warc | 201704 | I arrived at MillerCoors’s Chicago headquarters on a sultry summer day, the kind that makes you crave an icy beer. I was here to learn what lay behind Coors Light’s frosty themed advertising, and my PR handler ferried me along a well-organized tour of the marketing wing.
I saw the "lab," a windowed cell with aluminum bookshelves full of packages that employees brought in for inspiration: a sleek Sapporo can; a bright box of Tide; and more. I listened to boilerplate information from a Miller executive in the "Great Taste Room" ("Less Filling" is next door). But what I really hoped to find out was the question on the minds of the countless beer drinkers who’ve stared curiously at the Two-Stage Cold Activation bottles and cans that Coors released last year: How cold is super cold?
"I can’t give you proprietary information," a company rep stonewalled. MillerCoors did provide ballpark figures: The mountains turn blue at regular refrigerator temperature, or just over 40 degrees; the super cold strip at "a little bit lower."
Coke has its secret cola recipe, Halliburton its hydraulic fracturing fluid. Coors Light has trade-secret-cold. It’s not hard to understand why. Over the past six years, the men and women behind Coors Light have staked the entire brand on the concept and image of cold. In the process, they’ve boosted sales, leaving Miller Lite and Budweiser in the dust. The underlying idea behind "cold" is also rooted in research. Some 70% of beer-drinking men have at one point or another placed their beer in the freezer, MillerCoors asserts. "The trick is to know when to take the beer out," they say. More important, marketers saw shade-shifting bottles and cans as a way to build an image and tap into the consumer's psyche. "When a guy climbs up on a bar stool, he’s not going to admit it, but he’s going to choose the beer that matches with him in an emotional way," says Tim Arnold, who used to manage the Anheuser-Busch account at the advertising firm D’Arcy and now runs a consulting business.
Enter the Two-Stage Cold Activation vessels.
Unlike Arnold's "guy on a bar stool," I wasn't ready to accept this on image alone. I wanted evidence. So I got empirical. Just as intrepid researchers have sought to reverse-engineer Coca-Cola, I decided to try and figure out how cold is super cold.
A cursory Google search indicated I’m not the first to wonder. Some websites suggest that the super cold draft—that frost-covered-rocky-mountain-of-a-tap that bars can install to serve the pale, watery brew super cold—pours the beer at a frosty 29 degrees (yes, that is below freezing). I had the pleasure of drinking a Coors Light served from such a contraption at the company bar. It tasted disappointingly regular-cold. As for the cans, one site suggested cold registers at 40 degrees, super cold at 35. Another put cold at 42. Hard evidence was lacking. Clearly, I had to test this myself.
With my lab partner and digital thermometer at the ready, I bought a Coors Light at the corner deli. For an added twist, to test if it really is the coldest, I got a Bud Light too. Sitting in the deli fridge, the can told me it wasn’t even cold (and yet somehow, it still felt slightly colder than the Bud Light, which, admittedly, was one door down in the fridge, and hence, possibly sitting in a slightly different climate). In order to assure a controlled environment, we let each can sit at room temperature for an hour and a half.
The beers went into the freezer registering a balmy 83 degrees. After 10 minutes I checked. Nothing. Twenty-five minutes? Zip. Forty-five? No label change. Now I was getting nervous. The Rockies, the two cold strips, were stubbornly silver. Could the can be defective?
Strange things started happening.
After 1:09, the mountains and the cold strip registered a pale blue, not the deep shade I had seen in previous casual drinking sessions. The super cold strip was also pale blue. Could super cold be a sham? I removed the can with an oven mitt to test. As we prepared to measure the temperature, the mountains began transforming, taking on a bold hue. So did the cold strip (super cold stayed pale). The can registered 56 degrees on the surface. As we would later learn, the liquid inside was some 10 degrees colder than the can itself, putting cold likely around 45 degrees. The Bud Light registered the same. Both went back in the freezer. And we waited. And waited.
The mountains stayed blue, the super cold strip stubbornly pale. Finally, after half an hour, the super cold strip seemed to have stabilized at a slightly fuller shade, but not as deep as its friend, cold. Out came the beers. The can had cooled only three degrees. We opened the can to measure the actual beer, which registered at 43 degrees. Cold, yes. But super cold? (The Bud Light was inexplicably one degree colder.)
My lab partner cried foul on the super cold concept, gave up, and went home. I kept faith. Maybe we hadn’t waited long enough? Maybe there was some deeper blue waiting to emerge from that narrow strip on the can? I put the opened beer back in the freezer. But after another 20 minutes, it was still just super-meh. The mountains were now mysteriously silver again, the super cold bar still a few shades paler than the cold strip.
Lacking the self-confidence to decide whether my beer was cold enough, I, like so many who have tapped the Rockies before me, had relied on my Coors Light label to tell me. But when I looked to my can for answers, my can equivocated.
Finally, I picked it up and felt a slosh. Ice had formed. Super cold had failed me.
I began to form a new assessment of why Coors Light executives would not tell me the exact temperature when the Rockies turn blue, or when the super cold strip transforms. Maybe they don’t know. Maybe it’s all a sham. Maybe Coors Light pulled a fast one on all of us and it isn’t the coldest beer at all but really just as cold as the fridge or freezer it’s sitting in and the Bud Light next to it.
Then again, maybe we already knew that.
[
Image: Flickr user laszlo-photo] | 6,192 | 3,001 | 0.00034 |
warc | 201704 | About Programs Resources Briefing Room Contact
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 202-366-4000
Focus
Accelerating Infrastructure Innovations Publication Number: FHWA-RD-01-060Date: January 2001
America's first concrete pavement, a 2.4-m (8-ft) wide strip in Bellefontaine, Ohio, made its debut in 1891. Since then, significant technical and design developments have made concrete paving faster, less expensive, and more durable. Today, however, increased traffic and heavier loads are placing ever greater demands on the Nation's roads. To keep up with these demands, the 1998 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century provided $30 million to "carry out research on improved methods of using concrete pavement in the construction, reconstruction, and repair of federal-aid highways." The Concrete Pavement Technology Program (CPTP) is the result of this funding.
A new brochure available from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Innovative Pavement Research Foundation (IPRF), Developing a New Generation of Concrete Pavements, provides readers with an introduction to CPTP. The program is dedicated to research, development, and technology delivery activities aimed at improving the performance and cost-effectiveness of concrete pavements. CPTP's primary goals are:
Reducing user delays
Reducing user costs
Improving performance
Fostering innovation
The program is addressing these goals through the development of tools, guidelines, procedures, and software that can be used in the material selection, mix design, pavement design, construction, and operation of concrete pavements.
In the area of reducing user delays, the anticipated products include developing a method for using precast concrete panels to facilitate rapid pavement construction and establishing traffic management guidelines for reconstructing high-volume roadways. Planned products that will help reduce costs include establishing guidelines for applying life-cycle cost analysis to concrete pavements and developing a comparison of the costs and benefits of various design features.
Products that will help improve performance include establishing guidelines for the optimum timing of concrete pavement preventive maintenance, recycling of concrete pavements, and pavement repair and rehabilitation. And in the area of fostering innovation, the program will be developing workshops on pavement smoothness, concrete durability, and pavement design details.
CPTP is being jointly administered by FHWA and IPRF, a concrete paving industry consortium. The program's partners also include State highway agencies and the Transportation Research Board.
To obtain a copy of the brochure, contact Bob Bestold at IPRF, 703-288-8564 (fax: 703-288-8566; email: rbetsold@erols.com), or Steve Forster at FHWA, 202-493-3070 (fax: 202-493-3161; email: steve.forster@fhwa.dot.gov). The brochure is also available on the Web at www.iprf.org/cptp.pdf. For more information on CPTP, contact Suneel Vanikar at FHWA, 202-366-0120 (fax: 202-493-2070; email: suneel.vanikar@fhwa.dot.gov). | 3,151 | 1,527 | 0.000659 |
warc | 201704 | Joint Commission Alert Targets Intimidating/Disruptive Behavior: Aims to Stamp Out the "Equal Opportunity Harasser"
Recognizing that intimidating and disruptive behavior can compromise the delivery of quality healthcare, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) on July 9, 2008, issued a Sentinel Event Alert focusing upon its new requirements to address such behavior. The Sentinel Event Alert suggests what healthcare organizations must do to address all kinds of harassing and disruptive behavior, not just conduct made illegal under workplace discrimination and harassment laws.
The new standards dovetail nicely with workplace practices long recommended to prevent legal claims such as sexual harassment, race discrimination and retaliation. Although these standards are contained in the Leadership chapter of the JCAHO accreditation manual, successful implementation is likely to demand extensive participation by Human Resources (HR) professionals, who are already experienced in dealing with many similar requirements.
Acknowledging that only a small percentage of individuals actually engage in the offensive behavior being targeted, the JCAHO is seeking to eliminate intimidating and disruptive behavior that extends well beyond the scope of physician and nurse interactions. In fact, it recognizes that other healthcare professionals, such as pharmacists, therapists, support staff and administrators, sometimes engage in unacceptable conduct. JCAHO found these new standards and the Alert necessary in part because of what it termed a "history of tolerance and indifference" toward such behavior.
The standards themselves (LD.03.01.01) become effective January 1, 2009, but hospitals and others should begin planning implementation now. Strikingly similar to no-harassment and related policies long encouraged by employment attorneys, the JCAHO recommends the following actions, among other things:
Educate all team members regarding appropriate behavior defined by the organization’s code of conduct; Hold all team members accountable and enforce the code of conduct equitably; Develop and implement policies to address: "zero tolerance" for intimidating/disruptive behaviors; reducing fear of retaliation; and how and when to begin disciplinary action. Develop processes for addressing unacceptable behavior; Provide training for managers and develop systems for assessing the staff’s perception of the seriousness and extent of unacceptable conduct; Develop reporting systems, including possible anonymous systems, and evaluate how those systems are working; Intervene as required, including implementation of progressive discipline when necessary; and Document all attempts to address intimidating and disruptive behaviors.
In many respects, these requirements mirror employment practices that should already be in place, including the need for policies and training, options for lodging a complaint, no-retaliation, effective intervention and documentation. Thus, hospitals can meet many of these new requirements by broadening the scope of their existing policies. In fact, existing policies may already encompass intimidating and disruptive behavior.
Policy implementation, however, represents only half of the battle. Under the new standards, employee training must address conduct that is not necessarily illegal, but is nevertheless unacceptable. If there were any lingering doubts, the Joint Commission has made it clear that the days of the so-called "equal opportunity" harasser must come to an end, at least within healthcare organizations that want to maintain accreditation. The new requirements encompass physicians, nurses and anyone else whose disruptive conduct could compromise the performance of the healthcare team, including employees and third parties.
Beyond the accreditation issue, implementing these standards will further help healthcare organizations avoid employment-related legal claims and maintain a union-free workplace. As always, however, they should be mindful to ensure that their policies, training and implementation demonstrate consistency and fairness, as well as an absolute prohibition against retaliation.
For more information or assistance with respect to policy implementation or training, contact your Fisher Phillips attorney. This Legal Alert is provided to report on a particular event or legal development; it is not intended to be, nor should it be considered as, legal advice for any specific situation. | 4,533 | 2,042 | 0.000493 |
warc | 201704 | sunfire GmbH, a German energy conversion technology specialist, has developed the world’s largest commercial reversible electrolysis (RSOC) module, which delivers renewable energy on demand.
The fully integrated system converts surplus renewable energy into hydrogen (H
2) which is then stored in a highly compressed form. It can then re-generate electric power when needed using the stored H 2 taken from its fuel cell mode.
The system only takes a few minutes to switch from energy input to energy output mode. When in electrolysis mode, the system yields 42m
3 of H 2 per hour at up to 85% efficiency. When switched to fuel cell mode it delivers 50kW of electricity at up to 60% efficiency.
The module consists of a hot box, cold box, control unit and steam generator, and can also be operated in fuel cell mode in combination with cheap natural gas or biogas taken from the grid.
Nils Aldag, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at the Dresden-based cleantech firm, signified, “sunfire is proud to have developed the world’s largest reversible electrolysis system – another important milestone as we move towards industrialisation.”
sunfire and US partner Boeing began working together in 2014, with the RSOC system developed by sunfire at its headquarters in Dresden, Germany, in cooperation with engineers from Boeing. The system has now been integrated into a US Navy microgrid test facility for further analysis. | 1,447 | 774 | 0.001323 |
warc | 201704 | Abstract
In the midst of a global fisheries crisis, there has been great interest in the fostering of adaptation and resilience in fisheries, as a means to reduce vulnerability and improve the capacity of fishing society to adapt to change. However, enhanced resilience does not automatically result in improved well-being of people, and adaptation strategies are riddled with difficult choices, or trade-offs, that people must negotiate. This paper uses the context of fisheries to explore some apparent tensions between adapting to change on the one hand, and the pursuit of well-being on the other, and illustrates that trade-offs can operate at different levels of scale. It argues that policies that seek to support fisheries resilience need to be built on a better understanding of the wide range of consequences that adaptation has on fisher well-being, the agency people exert in negotiating their adaptation strategies, and how this feeds back into the resilience of fisheries as a social-ecological system. The paper draws from theories on agency and adaptive preferences to illustrate how agency might be better incorporated into the resilience debate.
Citation
Coulthard, S. Can We Be Both Resilient and Well, and What Choices Do People Have? Incorporating Agency into the Resilience Debate from a Fisheries Perspective. Ecology and Society (2012) 17 (1) [DOI: 10.5751/ES-04483-170104] | 1,402 | 741 | 0.001354 |
warc | 201704 | For every £1 the government is investing in broadband, the UK economy will benefit by £20, an expert report published today reveals.
For every £1 the government is investing in broadband, the UK economy will benefit by £20, an expert report published today reveals.
The report also reveals that in addition to offering outstanding value for taxpayer money the roll-out of superfast broadband nationwide will also make a real impact on the way we live - from working at home to watching TV content online.
UK Broadband Impact Study – Impact Report, by analysts SQW (with Cambridge Econometrics) says the government’s investment in superfast broadband will deliver a major boost to the UK economy.
The study is the most in-depth and rigorous examination of the impact of broadband in the UK, and looks at the economic, environmental and social benefits of superfast broadband.
Key findings on the impact of the government’s broadband investment include:
excellent value for taxpayer money with a net return of £20 for every £1 spent by 2024
significant short-term boost to the UK economy as the network construction adds around £1.5 billion to the economy; adding £0.5 billion and about 11,000 jobs in 2014 alone
long-term growth to the UK economy with public investment increasing annual GVA by £6.3 billion and causing a net increase of 20,000 jobs in the UK by 2024
household savings of £45 million a year by 2024 made through people being able to work from home more
benefits to be shared across the UK, helping the rebalancing of our economy. Approximately 89% of the benefits will be in areas outside London and the South East of England with rural areas set to benefit most
around 0.4 million tonnes a year of CO2e savings through reduced commuting, business travel and firms shifting to more energy-efficient cloud computing
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Maria Miller said:
What this report shows us is that as well as superfast broadband being good for economic growth it will make even more of a positive impact on the way we live, helping us work more productively and get online faster.
Our broadband rollout is one of the best in Europe with almost three quarters of the UK able to access superfast speeds. This is making a real difference to people in communities across the UK from small businesses able to expand, school children being able to log on to do their homework or people being able to work from home. This investment in technology is vital for our future and will help Britain continue to compete in the global race and improve the way we live and work.
Dr Pantelis Koutroumpis, Research Fellow at Imperial College and Advisor of the Broadband Impact Report said:
Looking at the evolution of broadband speeds in different geographies, and the on-going network deployments across the UK, this study brings new insights into the impact of improved broadband access on the national and local economies. Notably, the added capacity particularly affects small and medium businesses across industries, while the intervention helps address a growing digital divide. This motivates further research in the future as more empirical data become available - for example, in the relationship between business speed increases and productivity growth. | 3,363 | 1,563 | 0.000656 |
warc | 201704 | We’ve probably all seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The movie showcases imagination, creativity and the freedom to try new things and experiment.
That’s the same idea as the TSA’s IdeaFactory. The 5-year-old program was one of the first true government 2.0 technologies.
Megan Kenny is the Acting Program Manager for the Office of Training and Workforce at the TSA.
She was part of an ODEP hosted webcast, Policy Development Think Tank Webcast: New Strategies for Successful Collaboration. DorobekINSIDER host Chris Dorobek moderated the conversation.
“We wanted to make sure as an agency that we had access to all the best ideas. Our Administrator at the time really believed those answers were hidden somewhere within the agency’s 60,000 employees. But our agency is spread out all over the country at 450 airports. So we took the simple and unsuccessful idea of an employee suggestion box and threw it online and added a social crowdsourcing element,” said Kenny.
How it Works
“Every TSA employee has the ability to post their ideas publicly so everyone can see it, rate it and comment on it. My team manages those ideas. We have a data base of unfiltered opinions and experiences. It’s opened up 2-way communication between our field employees and headquarters,” said Kenny, “once those ideas are posted we send them up the chain of command to see if they are feasible. So far we have implemented 120 ideas.”
“When someone’s idea is implemented either through open innovation or a challenge that person is recognized very publicly. You get a certificate and a TSA Challenge coin. If possible we also try to let the person work on implementing their own ideas,” said Kenny.
Leadership
“You need a brave and dynamic leader to make it work. Our administrator back in 2007 said, ‘I want this program and I want it now,” we had the program up and running in six weeks.
Time
“IdeaFactory management is a full-time job for 4 employees at TSA. We also tap networks within TSA to filter ideas and explore whether ideas are actually feasible,” said Kenny.
IdeaChallenges
“We wanted to start targeting specific problems. So we go to senior leaders and ask them for a very specific suggestion. Then we send it out to the community as a challenge. This way we are targeting a specific need. So far we have launched 12 challenges this year,” said Kenny.
Measure Success
“TSA has 60,000 employees. IdeaFactory gets about 10,000 unique users a month. We are also able to mine the data to field reports to senior leaders about specific challenges and solutions,” said Kenny. | 2,700 | 1,333 | 0.000789 |
warc | 201704 | percent or more of the residential units in the building are occupied by individuals whose income is 50 percent or less of area median gross income. Subsection
(d)
(5)(C) shall not apply to any building to which the preceding sentence applies.
(ii)
Special rule for certain high-cost housing areas. In the case of a building
located in a city described in section 142(d)(6) [26 USCS § 142(d)(6)], clause (i) shall be applied by substituting "25 percent" for "40 percent".
For buildings placed in service after July 30, 2008, assistance under HOME and NAHASDA are not characterized as below market Federal loans and IRC §42(i)(2)(E) was removed from the Code under section 3002(b) of the Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008.*
In Compliance
A unit is in compliance when the rent charged does not exceed the *gross rent limitations on a monthly basis.*
Example 1: Provision of Optional Services
An LIHC property provides hot meals twice a day for the convenience of its tenants in a common dining facility. They charge a nominal fee to cover their costs, but do not include the cost in the rent charged for the apartments. Each unit in the property includes a fully functional kitchen.
In this case, a practical alternative exists for tenants to obtain meals other than from the dining facility, and payment for the meals in the common dining facility is not required as a condition of occupancy. Thus, the cost of the meals is not included in gross rent for purposes of IRC §42(g)(2)(A) and Treas. Reg. §1.42-11(b).
Example 2: Fee for Late Payment of Rent
A tenant pays the maximum rent of $525 for a one bedroom unit. The tenant did not pay the rent timely and was charged a late fee of $35, as stated in the lease.
The $35 late is a penalty for failure to perform according to the lease agreement and, therefore, the fee is not included in the rent.
*Example 3: HUD Releases New Income Limits
An LIHC property owner is a calendar year taxpayer. For 2006, the imputed income limit for two bedroom units is $31,080 and the maximum rent the owner can charge is $9,324.00 annually or $777.00 monthly.
11-8
Revised October 2009 | 2,165 | 1,163 | 0.000878 |
warc | 201704 | I have a leak in my Cape Cod style house and need to check theflashing around the chimney and dormers. I don't have any experienceclimbing roofs but am wary that a loss of balance will find me eatingdirt and looking at white coats when I wake up. Should I hammer stepsinto the roof? I notice that's what roofers do but I don't want tocompromise the waterproof integrity of the roof. I could also lassothe chimney and tie it around my waist. Just wondering if there is asimple safety measure out there that homeowners know that I don't.
Bottom line: confidence is everthing, if you are uncomfortable thenyou may want to hire who is paid to go up there rather than risk yourpersonal neck.What is the pitch of the roof? Do you own an extension ladder thatwill reach the eaves? On steep roofs that are unwalkable I might usea series of planks and ladder jacks to get up there. If you don't ownor want to own these tools then that's another reason to hiresomeone.Another way is to buy a special ladder that will hook over the ridge.We called it a "chicken ladder" on the crew I was on presumably sinceyou have to be a chicken to need it, haha. You could easily spendseveral hundred dollars for ladders and planks if the house is big andthe roof is steep so think about it.
So you call it a "chicken ladder". Chimney sweep used one on my roofin January when there was some snow. He did not have a helper so Ihung around to watch him. "Chicken ladder" slipped and would haveslid off roof with him on it if I had not held onto ladder used to geton roof. Did not hire him for subsequent work which I could have donemyself but at my age and taking blood thinners I hired another chimneyguy to do the work.Frank
Yeah, a traumatic spine injury is a lousy way to learn that gravity sucks.If you are on the north side of 30, have no experience climbing roofs(especially 12-12 Cape Cods), and don't have a warm fuzzy about all this, Istrongly recommend hiring the work out. (I say over 30 because us grownupsdon't heal up near as well or quick as we did when we were kids.) If youdon't already have the long ladders. roof jacks, etc, renting or buyingthose would cost more than paying a roofing company for a site survey. Ifthey do the repair work, they will probably credit you for the inspection.Walk around neighborhood during outdoor hours, look for similar roofs toyours, and ask those folks who they have used, and if the work was donewell. Steep roofs are a lot harder than the usual 5-12 or so a ranch has,especially when you get 20' off the ground.aem sends...
If you are only concerned about safety, the best way would be to buy asafety harness/rope. They are not hard to find...even Menards sellsthem where I live. Tying a rope around your waist doesn't cut it--ifyou fall at best you'll wind up upside down and then slip out of thenoose and crack your head. I wouldn't lasso the chimney--you mightfall, break off a chunk and get that on your head---after you hit theground! It's best if the rope is somehow anchored to the peak, but itcan be tossed over the peak and anchored to something on the otherside, like a car bumper (But take the keys out!) The trouble is, onceyou get up there, you need some way to free up your hands to work, sothe rope idea doesn't really do you that much good in the end--unlessyou fall!.You could buy some "roof jacks" which slide under the tab of a shingleand are held with nails. With care, you won't damage your roof. Thehard part is prying up the shingles, which will be sealed down. Theother option is a ladder hook, which is a hook that fastens to the topof a ladder and can be pushed up the roof. I'd use roof jacks if itwas me. They are inexpensive and safe if properly installed.
i seriously recommend you hire a pro.look at it this way. lets say you fall and are off 6 months recoveringor even 3 months.that means the cost of doing the roof job and likely not completing itcan be 1/3 or 1/2 your annual income, and perhaps more if you becomepermanetely disabled. now add in the pro cost if you fall and haventcompleted the job.let alone the damage if the repair isnt done properly. replacingdrywall, insulation, mold etc etc.I have done some limited stuff on roofs but leave the pro work to theprofessionals
And tell everyone else who has keys that they should NOT drive the caruntil you say so.Might be a good idea to check with someplace that sells supplies forclimbers, if going with the rope approach. They should know about ropeselection for this, and the best ways to attach yourself to the rope,and they will probably have some kind of useful quick-release mechanismfor the case where you need to get off the rope, fast (like if someoneforgets about you and drives off while you are roped to the car!).
For the OP, I agree with the others- steep roofs are no joke. I grewup in a climbing family, and still have some equipment. My roof ismoderate pitch, and I still use harness as described above if workingnear the edge. With slings and caribiners, and rope thrown over roofand secured to tree, I can generally get security and flexibility ofmovement- helps if you have an ascender or like me grew up beforethese things and learned how to tie prussic knots, etc. Was up a fewweeks ago to do spring roof work- had noticed my skylight was startingto leak during winter insulation work, and even though I'd seen leakfrom the inside, it was darned hard to see on the outside as otherswarn. I think I got it as it was dry inside after heavy rain. MaybeI would attempt a steep one like yours, depending on how brave orstupid I was feeling, but I grew up climbing like a monkey and stillfeel fairly confortable with it.
I could be misremembering, but I thought I saw on some documentaryprogram about mountain climbing that if someone falls, and the placetheir rope is connected to the rock fails, there is a big risk that theywill then pull the next person off, and those two will pull the third,and so on, so when a person lower on the rope sees this happening andsees that it has gone beyond the point where it can be stopped, theywant to get off that rope, quickly. But it could be that the guy on thebottom of the rope on the climb the show was about was just really fastat operating whatever it was that hooked him to the rope, rather thanhaving some kind of quick-release.
falls with harnesses are more common from tripping on lines etc.although less deadly.dont forget to watch out for power lines they can kill.the idea is rock climbers always are bolted to at least 2 hooks ifsomeone falls the rest hold him. never cutting clear the unfortunatefaller....all in all DIY in this case is a bad idea.might check your neighbors for good roofer referencesor a handymantype.I have a neighbor like that he can fix almost anything and low cost too
Just to give everyone an update - I chickened out and called a roofer.He noticed that a seal on one of the pipes had deteriorated and putsome sealant on it and told me that it should be good for another 20years. For the record that is exactly what I thought the problem waswhen I looked at it with my binoculars. It took him 5 minutes to fix,he didn't charge me but I gave him 30 bucks nonetheless. Thankseveryone for talking me down!
Frankly I suggest hiring someone. Cap Cods have have steep roofs and ifyou are not comfortable you are actually more likely to have an accident.The guys who know what they are doing don't have the problem, but you will.There was a time I finally got comfortable on a roof, but today I am not, Iwould not go up again. Life is short enough as it is.
Simple and safe is what I do these days. It is called "writing a check".You call a pro, he climbs, you write the check. Very simple very safe.I used to think nothing of going up on the roof but after I passed 50, I didit much less and past 55, I've not been up there. Capes are a steeper pitchthan mine so I'd probably have stopped closer to 40 on them.
So a cape cod has a 1:1 roof? Someone else said so. Even though I canimagine it now, I don't think everyone knows this, and it's anessential point to your question.Also, be sure to wear the right shoes. With laces that tie, noloafers. Tied well. Ankle high probably gives more stability. Rubberor gum soles, not leather, and probably with some indentations orridges in the soles, which iiuc wouldn't help on dry surfaces**,except in this case with shingles, there can be loose shingleparticles to slip on.The ladder should go 3 or 4 feet above the edge of the roof. It'spretty easy to get off a ladder that stops at the gutter, onto theroof. It's a heck of a lot harder to get back on the ladder. With mymore shallow roof, it's the hardest and scariest and most dangerouspart of the whole thing. If only my knee bent in both directions, itwould be easy, but it won't bend that way. With 3 or 4 feet ofladder above the edge, it's pretty easy to step onto the ladder,facing the middle of the roof and stepping to the side.I think you can make a ladder to hook on to the crest of the roofyoursself, from a straight ladder, or the top half of an extensionladder, (maybe even the bottom half, although I think I would tie upthe pivoting legs so they didn't catch on something when you weretrying) but someone here discussed adding something near the top toact as a hook. Probably even a ladder stand-off, the U shaped thingthat is clamped on to the top of a ladder (I don't know the name itgoes by), to span windows so one can paint above them, and to make iteasier to use a short ladder to clean gutters, in houses with eavesone foot or greater, where otherwise one's forehead would be touchingthe gutter or even under the eave. I haven't used this on the roofbut it is wonderful for gutter work. If I had more but narrowerwindows, it would be wonderful for painting the house.They sell these in a couple widths, although no place I went had 14inches off, only about 10 these days for some reason, which would befine for your roof work I think but not as good when leaning against awall. Mine is old, and maybe they don't make that size in the simpleversion anymore.They also make one adjustable version, that I couldn't find at anybigbox or ACE hardware around here, but is available on line.I wouldn't tie myself to a chimney, brick or metal. The strongestlateral forces they get are the wind, and you might be a lottt morethan that, and they might be ready to fail anyhow. I wouldn't testthem either. You'll either break it or won't do a sufficient test.**Which is why a lot of racing tires are "slicks".It's wise to be careful. I had a friend from work in his 50's whofell off his roof. His wife was washing dishes at the sink with awindow and saw him fly by. Only a story and a half iirc and he onlybroke his leg, but it wouldn't heal. He was on one crutch for weeksand weeks and had to plug himself into an electric device each eveningwhen he got home, or maybe overnight. Either he retired or I changedjobs. I should have kept in touch.
I suggest you ask yourself what you are going to do once you get upthere; I think most leak sources are not readily apparent, and it takessome skill and practice to find a leak. Even if you find what you thinkis a problem, all you are probably going to do is call a roofer and askhim to fix the leak, so why not just let him do the whole job and notrisk your neck. I'd hate to think you would think you had found theleak, and hire a roofer to repair the flashing, only to later find thatthe actual leak was elsewhere.Joe wrote:
Give that man a gold star!Excellent advice really. It's nice to see for yourself what could be wrong,but unless you know what you're looking for and are positive you can fixit - it cheaper, faster, better to pay an expert to do their job. If you'reasking for advice on how to climb a ladder, I would question your ability tofix roofing problems.Not that I'm the king of ladders. In fact I asked this very same questionsome 9 months ago while trying to clean my gutters. My roof is only a 1:4or 1:3 - shallow and simple to walk on - even still one slip on moss orloose shingles and I wouldn't be able to stop before tumbling off.
HomeOwnersHub.com is a website for homeowners and building and maintenance pros. It is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners. | 12,388 | 5,846 | 0.000171 |
warc | 201704 | The number of e-commerce websites that trade in consumer products and services is on the rise. This gives rise to heavy competition and subsequently aggressive promotion of one’s company online via internet marketing and other techniques. It is easy to divert a high number of people towards your e-commerce website by using effective SEM and SEO tactics. For effective direction of customers of your company, the right kind of e-commerce strategies need to be applied. Here in the online market, the greatest tool to turn visitors into customers is by providing them with enough encouragement to make a purchase and keep them happy with your products and services so that they keep coming back to buy them from your website.
People always go for e-commerce websites that have easy-to-follow instructions and a smooth layout that facilitates them to reach their target product in lesser time. Your main page or home page should have all necessary items and information that may help a customer start the buying process, for instance search boxes, special offers, payment and shipping options, browsing by category options, etc.
Getting the required data of the target customers and signing them up for email listings in automatic manner is another advantage. You can ask for regular details of customers like their- name, residence address, birth date, contact number, email address, etc. These details can be used in the future to send these people your latest offerings, or updates about your company through emails, posts, short message service, or by calling them. Your target customers should be able to set-up their RSS feeds on your website so that they receive information about every new product or change happening on your e-commerce site. Greetings or special offers to customers on their birthdays or anniversaries can be sent to increase sales on those days.
Special promotional offers can be given to top customers or new buyers. To lure in visitors and make them customers, you can offer them additional gifts or coupons as a promotional tool. Giving discounts or gifts is way to attract visitors and they get encouragement to re-visit your e-commerce site and give you more business. Rewarding the customers if purchases have been made beyond a certain limit is also a good promotional tool to boost up sales. A system which awards points on the amount purchased made by the customer adds to his/her points. After a certain amount of points get accumulated, a free gift or discount can be given. Therefore no matter how attractive and good the products you offer on you e-commerce website are, certain promotional tools need to be used to increase customer footfall and enhance sales figures. | 2,718 | 1,287 | 0.00078 |
warc | 201704 | The purpose of this study is to analyze to what degree changes in exchange rate affect export price, the overall relationship between export price and exchange rate, as well as the structural changes that took place after the foreign exchange crisis.
Despite the sharp decrease in exchange rate since the foreign exchange crisis, some argue that exports have continuously risen, indicating decreased exchange rate sensitivity for Korean exports. In the positive analysis, which compared the situation before and after the foreign exchange crisis, results indicated that exports were becoming less affected by the exchange rate compared to the past. In examining export price and dispersion and covariance of exchange rate, the absolute value of the correlation coefficient decreased when there was an increase in the dollar export price. Changes in exchange rate occurred because recent adjustments in export price based on the Korean Won made by exporting companies created a strong tendency to act against changes in the exchange price. A regression analysis of the exchange rate pass-through indicated that export price towards the pass-through continued to decrease. There are several reasons that explain the significant decrease in the exchange rate pass-through after the financial exchange crisis. First, because of changes in the exchange rate system, export companies’ projections of future changes in exchange rate might have decreased the pass-through. After implementation of a flexible exchange rate system, rate fluctuation increased; thus allowing corporations to judge the change as a temporary phenomenon. Secondly, as the pass-through largely decreased in products that were a large part of the export price index, the overall export price towards the pass-through decreased. Compared to the 1980s, the exchange rate pass-through by product has decreased; but when compared to the 1990s, products with a large portion witnessed a sharp fall in the pass-through. Also, if competition with China becomes intensified in the international market, and the market power of export corporations declines, the result would be a downward shift in the change in exchange rate to export price. This trend could spread internationally. In estimating Japan’s pass-through using the same method, the exchange rate also indicated a declining pattern. These results suggest that by adjusting the markup, export companies have been able to absorb the impact of exchange rate fluctuation, thereby playing a role in the overall lessened sensitivity of export to the exchange rate. This is particularly evident in cases where the exchange rate between the Korean Won and dollar is declining. The declining cost of the Korean won as opposed to the increasing cost of the dollar explains the strong tendency to act upon changes in exchange rate.
Title 환율과 수출가격의 구조변화(Structural changes in exchange rate and export price)
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Material Type Reports Author(Korean) Publisher 서울:한국개발연구원 Date 2007 Series Title; No 정책포럼 / 177 Pages 16 Subject Country South Korea(Asia and Pacific) Language Korean File Type Documents Original Format Subject Economy < Trade Holding KDI; KDI School License | 3,331 | 1,504 | 0.000694 |
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Word Count:690 Pages:1 1/1 In what ways has globalisation helped multinational corporations coordinate and control their business functions on a global scale Globalization is commonly used as a shorthand way of describing the spread and connectedness of production communication and technologies across the world That spread has involved the linking of economic and cultural activity Globalization in the sense of connectivity in economic and cultural life across the world has been growing for centuries However many believe the current situation is of a fundamentally different order to what has gone before The speed of communication and exchange the complexity and size of the networks involved and the sheer volume of trade interaction and risk give what we now label as globalization a peculiar force 1 In this era of globalization marginalized people are becoming especially angry at the motives of multinational corporations and corporate-led globalization is being met with increasing protest and resistance 2 lt is not a coincidence that the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were part of a violent attack in 2001 In an increasingly global economy these pillars of business and government are now tied together as the symbol of a growing link between the public and the private sector The attacks are evidence of a rising perception that globalization creates poverty and inequality which in turn creates the motive for much violence In response the private sector is becoming more public-minded while the public sector is becoming more business-minded The events of September 11 2001 the demise of Enron and a worsening recession clearly demonstrated that good corporate governance at home and abroad promoting economic inclusiveness and community goodwill are important elements of international security This interweaving of roles calls for new partnerships between business and government in which sharing skills and expertise can be valuable in promoting regional and global stability globalization and the mounting number of conflicts occurring in regions where multinational corporations MNCs operate have prompted international organizations the
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Word Count:1,280 Pages:2 1/2 More than three decades after the majority of the African nations declared their independence there remains still no consensus on the legacy of colonialism With most of Africa still struggling to stand on its own the rattle of debate continues as to what exactly the effects of colonialism were on Africa Colonialism had torn apart formerly neighborly kingdoms yet it had also created relationships betweens tribes which had not previously existed It had introduced Africa to the industrial age but it exploited Africas resources for European countries profit Formal medicine and education was established but only to the elite few Those who contend that colonialism made no positive impact share the simple-minded vision of those who claim that presence of Europeans completely saved Africa While the murky waters of good and evil right and wrong blanket Africas colonial past the imposition of the foreign rule and its effects on the economical and political futures of her inhabitants far outweigh the positive aspects brought about through colonialism One casualty of colonialism in Africa did not surface until after the African countries declared their independence self-sustainability Although politically independent African countries were not financially capable of taking on the demands of running a country forcing them to ask for help in the form of military money loans technology and markets for trade However like many countries which find themselves in this type position the countries of Africa have had a very difficult time shedding off their international dependence Today Africa pays more money every year in loan interest payments to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group IMFWB than it receives loans from them often depriving the inhabitants of those countries from obtaining the necessities of life This financial dependency allows the IMFWB to impose Structural Adjustment Plans upon the African nations These adjustments however are not always in the best interest of the African people largely consisting of privatization programs that result in deteriorating
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warc | 201704 | What Happens If You File Taxes a Day Late?
Crap. You missed the April 15th deadline for filing your taxes. What happens if you send in your return today, a day late?
Better Late Than Never.
And, less late is better than more late. So, go ahead and file your return today, or as soon as you can. If you’re having trouble completing that return and make $57,000 or less per year, you can get free filing software.
No Punishment, If You’re Getting a Refund.
If the IRS owes you money, the only consequence of filing late is that you’ll get your refund late. In fact, you can still get a refund if you file up to three years late. (Please note, we DON’T recommend you try this!)
But If You Owe Taxes, You’ll Also Owe Penalty And Interest.
The magnitude depends on how much you owe Uncle Sam. The penalty for filing late is 5% of whatever you owe per month—a portion of a month counts as an entire month—that you’re late. So yes, one day late counts as an entire month. In addition, you’ll have to pay interest at a rate that varies with the market (though it’s probably lower than a typical credit card).
Will They Really Notice?
After all, they’re literally getting millions of tax returns this week. Will they really notice which ones are postmarked April 16th instead of 15th? All we can tell you is that they
say that they’ll notice, and that they hang on to the envelope that your tax return arrives in for this very reason. So, don’t be surprised if you get an IRS bill for a relatively small sum because of your one day of lateness.
Next year, if you’re going to be late (even by a day!), make sure to file for an automatic extension. | 1,720 | 919 | 0.001143 |
warc | 201704 | Active Listening For Business
Wednesday 25th January @ 9.30am - 4.30pm
Work is a very dominant part of most people’s lives, yet the impact the workplace has on a person’s overall wellbeing is often underestimated. A positive working experience is crucial to a person's welfare, to their productivity in the workplace, and to the overall working environment.
Course Aim: Ag Eisteacht 4 Business provides training programmes which support staff in their interactions with colleagues, guide managers in handling difficult situations appropriately, and enable people to recognise and manage signals of distress among colleagues. Who is the training for? CEOs, HR directors, supervisors, employers, managers and employees working in corporate environments regardless of the size of the business. Participants who work in the community and not-for-profit sector can avail of a special concession rate. At the discresion of Ag Eisteach 4 Business group discounts may also be available. How will this training benefit me in my work? Participants will learn a five-step process which:
Enables you to recognise and respond to signals of distress
Shows you how to listen effectively, and respond appropriately and helpfully, within limited time and resources
Gives you a practical way of listening to and helping your colleague, while empowering them to find the answers themselves.
How will the course benefit me and my colleagues?
Increase productivity
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Tickets: €250 - Book Here Phone: +353 21 5005915 Email: admin@ageisteacht.com | 1,635 | 884 | 0.001152 |
warc | 201704 | France 1969
Source: Supplement to Internal Bulletin no. 11 of
Gauche Prolétarienne; Translated: for marxists.org by Mitchell Abidor.
After our “proletarian syndicalist” detour we had to accept the evidence: In order to set ourselves apart from the reviso-reformists it’s not enough to have new and tough forms of action, if we keep the same syndicalist spirit, or the same isolated demands taken from the program of the CGT.
All we succeed in doing is getting ahead of them by a couple of days; and, in the end, the union apparatus is quickly able to recover everything.
Ever since comrades have been trying to establish programs based on demands, our problem remains the same: the line of demarcation must be radical, and it isn’t always. The old syndicalist spirit still drags along in all of our programs for struggle. Nevertheless we must go forward and concern ourselves with the immediate working and living conditions of the largest part of the working class.
We believe, comrades, that we have not only to revolutionize our spirits, but also our language. For, whether we like it or not, demands, unions, and all these lists of demands smell of the reformist litany.
In fact, it is the revisionists who have rendered these slogans banal and stupid by repeating them so often without any context, the same way they once distorted the name of “social democrat.”
For worker militants the eternal list of demands at the end of every tract, of every poster, has become an attribute of the CGT, just like its emblem.
Instead of advancing the consciousness of the masses, these constantly diminished lists amuse the people and give the union an excuse to live.
As for past struggles and their victories, they constitute the juridical baggage of the union. To be a good delegate or full-time union worker you have to have your juridical baggage. This has become the so-called tradition of union struggle, a legislative or bourgeois-legal tradition.
At every blow, the syndicalist reflex prefers the juridical argument to struggle. “I've been working in this place fifteen years, so I have a right to a seniority bonus.”
The syndicalist spirit must be destroyed. It’s not a matter of doing “better” than the CGT — for example, to ask for 5% more than them — because for the workers all that means is that we're one more organization that “asks.” It’s a matter of protesting the salary, not asking something of the boss. In fact, it’s not a list of passive demands that will mobilize the workers.
At Olibet Bourdeaux, how did the workers smash the unbearable pace of work? By deliberately breaking 333,000 old francs worth of cookies. These comrades didn’t beg for anything, but the acceleration of the work pace has stopped.
This is a form of struggle that opposes itself to “demands” synonymous with “discussion.” Because talking would have allowed the bosses to redirect the problem by raising salaries or by giving, like at Dasault, a technical bonus while preserving the same rhythm.
The “demand” is the legal brake between the boss and the workers. It leads to participation, and has as a goal the preventing of the posing of fundamental problems, of getting to the root of evil.
This is what we can hear from the mouth of an experienced swindler, a former PCF journalist and theoretician: “We can’t always put at the end of every article that we want to overthrow capitalism; that we're for the revolution.” It is, in fact, tiring for the bourgeoisie and those who don’t believe in this any more. This is the kind of spirit that leads directly to revisionism. The goal is too far away, so instead of bringing ourselves closer to it, lets get stuck in the present.
When we make demands that don’t want to be demands (as we often inevitably find in our tracts) the result is ambiguities, and roundabout ways of saying things (“if the workers were in power”) that aren’t clear.
Unions are currently like Councils of the UER, which exist purely and simply for participation.
Those comrades who have begun by fighting against the hierarchy of salaries have often fallen into this trap: is the problem between increase, decrease, or modification?
And so, in the first place, we allow to be accepted the idea that hierarchy is necessary, and we don’t contest either its principle or the scale itself (which is as arbitrary as can be).
Should we fight on the field of the bourgeoisie or of the proletariat? Should we adopt the bourgeois or proletarian concept of life? Should we prefer syndicalism-participation-integration to struggle for the revolution? For syndicalism is a variant of revisionism: “the union movement is everything, the revolutionary goal is nothing.”
The juridical field is the field of bourgeois forms of struggle and knowledge. When a union delegate, or any other, adopts it, he becomes a specialist taken by capital from his class. In order to control him he must become like them: a parvenu of the worker’s aristocracy. In any event, in the majority of cases no one controls him, for no one any longer understands his calculations.
At Labaz, near Bourdeaux, they had someone come from the PCF-CGT office to get the workers to return to work during a period of electoral peace. His great art was to camouflage a defeat through the use of numbers; to confuse that which all would have obtained without going on strike and that which was accorded them.
Another example, two years ago at Dassault: the longer the struggle continued, the less the workers understood why they were fighting. Their starting point being parity with Paris, it ended up being about pay-raise percentages.
Even so, the methods of struggle were tough, but when the workers don’t have the political direction of their strike, when the concrete goal is incomprehensible to them, they lose their footing. In fact, only 200 of the unswerving remained at the end of the movement, determined to fight for the sake of fighting.
What is now certain is that we must show proof of imagination, and invent new forms of struggle by relying without any reservations on the initiative of the masses. But above all, we must accept a new language in order to express the aspirations of the masses.
Syndicalist sprit and jargon must be destroyed, and be replaced by a dynamic, revolutionary and new spirit.
It is by this radical change that we will construct, on the syndicalist corpse, a program of revolutionary protest.
We propose is that all of our comrades compete amongst themselves in this direction.
DOWN WITH SYNDICALISM-PARTICIPATION!
DOWN WITH EMPTY DEMANDS!
For a new form of protest!
In a revolutionary militant spirit!
Long live Maoism! | 6,852 | 3,237 | 0.000319 |
warc | 201704 | Whereas information technology is the application of computers and networking equipment to facilitate storage and exchange of data, business information technology takes these principles to make businesses perform better. Graduates with a Master in business information technology realize that information technology is not the end itself; its commercial applications is what really makes it relevant.
Information technology has gone through a lot since its inception. Many historians would point to the invention of programmable computers as its birth, but in a more comprehensive perspective, we can see how information technology is used to keep business and organizations functioning. A Master in business information technology teaches students the world of computer systems and how it is used to keep everything from accounting data to social media user profiles.
The business potential of information technology is huge. In 2012 alone, the world spent 881 billion dollars in information technology services; this does not include expenditure on telecommunications services, maintenance of data centers, manufacture of front-end devices and development of enterprise software. All in all, the information technology industry spent 3.6 trillion that year. With this information, students seeking a Master in Business Information Systems are aware of the many professional opportunities.
The career prospects for graduates of Master in Business Information Technology are highly rewarding. They command among the highest entry-level salaries, and there are always job openings seeking business information technology expertise.
The masters programme "Information Technologies" is offered by the Faculty of Information Technologies, that trains specialists as for practical as scientific work in the field of IT. Up-to-date computer rooms with the latest equipment are used for the studies, that are practice-oriented and in close connection to the needs of industry and labor market. [+]
This degree curricula is aimed at training professionals characterized by an enormous versatility skill for Information Technologies market. It is intended that students develop their critical capacity of analysis in the fields of Software Engineering and Information Systems, with a geat focus on current research and practical application of their knowledge. [+]
The International Master’s in Management of IT (IMMIT) programme prepares students to act as intermediaries between business users and Information Technology specialists in an international environment [+]
International Master in Management of Information Technology
This program requires proficiency in English.
The International Master’s in Management of IT (IMMIT) programme prepares students to act as intermediaries between business users and Information Technology specialists in an international environment, and thus become “hybrid” managers at the interface between InformationTechnology and Business functions.
IMMIT consists of integrative skills and knowledges needed for effective use of Information Technology to support international business operations and management.
Organisation and Structure of IMMIT
IMMIT is a two year, integrated Master programme, specialized in IT management, organised between 3 university partners from renown European Institutions:...
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The aim of the course is to cultivate engineers as specialists in the fields of automation, control systems, measurement, and sensors using cutting edge laboratories and expert instruction. The priority of the Branch is to teach students to approach technical problem solving creatively, and to deal with assignments in the field of measurement and control engineering independently and systematically – i.e. to acquire all skills that are necessary for work as an engineer. [+]
It is the only department which gives opportunity to both students completing BCA and also to the non-computer science graduates. It encourages students to be able to choose an education line which will eventually allow them to choose a career which students pursuing B.Tech & M.Tech in Computer Science or Information Technology. [+]
The aim of this 'cutting edge' programme is to develop practical skills and critical awareness in relation to the state-of-the-art in business/enterprise systems integration (from a service-oriented perspective). [+]
USQ’s Master of Information Systems will give you the skills to succeed in an increasingly connected world where new challenges are presented every day. [+]
Educational direction FIIT focused on the training of professional programmers in the field of multi-user distributed information systems with fundamental knowledge in the areas of: [+]
This cycle of studies aims to prepare engineers with abilities in all phases of software development, namely the ones related to analysis, design, implementation and installation of software systems. [+]
Business Informatics is a specialist area of IT relating to harnessing the synergy that exists between business and IT. Business Informatics can encompass everything from utilising Information Technology to make informed decisions in business through large scale data warehousing to applications for mobile devices. [+]
The remarkable increase in the volume and complexity of available data and new technologies that have been developed to process them requires a combined multi-disciplinary approach to design an overall strategy aimed at transforming data into useful information. [+]
The Master in Business Intelligence aims to train specialists in Business Intelligence (BI) with a business orientation. [+]
The Master in Digital Solutions Development is ideal for those who want to enter the Digital industry with a solid base on which to start a new career in IT. Aligned with the technology and programming skills that the digital companies need to develop creative technology solutions. [+]
This programme provides knowledge and skills in three key areas: project management, the use of IT in business, organisational and technological innovation, and the evaluation of IT in organisations. [+]
Information technology innovations are driving forward the digital transformation at lightning speed – the internet of things, big data, the cloud, social media and mobile working are having an impact on the strategy, structure, culture and processes of all companies. [+] | 6,457 | 2,676 | 0.000377 |
warc | 201704 | Metaphor, meaning and psychiatry Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper is to examine the scientific and cognitive role of metaphor and the use of metaphor in the conceptualization of depression as an example of mental illness. CONCLUSIONS: Metaphors from the creative arts have been used to support existing psychiatric diagnostic concepts. The existing concepts are themselves built on embedded metaphors now treated as literal facts. The choice of metaphor dictates not only the description of the condition but also its treatment and research. The use of unacknowledged and unchanging metaphors in current diagnostic practice affects progress in knowledge and practice. Some alternative borrowings of basic metaphors are provided.
Author-supplied keywords Readership Statistics 10Readers on Mendeley | 810 | 471 | 0.002134 |
warc | 201704 | * This is the Consumer Version. *
Continuity of Care
Continuity of care is an ideal in which health care is provided for a person in a coordinated manner and without disruption despite involvement of different practitioners in different care settings. Also, all people involved in a person’s health care, including the person receiving care, communicate and work with each other to coordinate health care and to set goals for health care.
Continuity of care is not always easy to accomplish, especially in the United States, where the health care system is complicated and fragmented. When continuity of care is missing, people may not adequately understand their health care problems and may not know which practitioner to talk to when they have problems or questions.
Continuity of care is a particular concern for older people. Older people are particularly likely to have several practitioners (each specializing in one organ system or problem) and thus to move from one care setting to another (called transition of care). They may receive care in several private practitioner offices, in a hospital, in a rehabilitation facility, and/or in a long-term facility.
Having several practitioners may disrupt the continuity of an older person's health care. For example, one health care practitioner may not have up-to-date, accurate information about the care provided or recommended by other practitioners. That practitioner may not know the names of the other practitioners involved or may not think to contact them. Information about care may be miscommunicated or misunderstood, particularly when older people have disorders affecting speech, vision, or mental function (cognition) that make it more difficult for them to communicate effectively. Older people may mention an important detail to one practitioner and forget to mention it to the others.
To ensure that care is continuous (and optimal), all practitioners involved must have complete, up-to-date, and accurate information about what other practitioners have done, particularly about tests done and drugs prescribed. When this information is missing or miscommunicated, the following can result:
Different practitioners may have different opinions about a person's health care. For example, practitioners in a hospital may disagree with a person's primary care practitioner about whether surgery is required or about whether the person should go to a nursing home after being discharged. The person and family members may be overwhelmed and confused by differences of opinion among the various practitioners.
People taking many prescription drugs, as is common with older people, may fill their prescriptions at different pharmacies (for example, the one nearest each specialist's office). When different pharmacies are involved, each pharmacist may not know all the drugs people are taking and thus will not know when a newly prescribed drug might interact negatively with a current one.
Moving from one care setting to another (transition of care), such as going from a hospital to a skilled nursing facility, increases the chance that errors in care may occur. New drugs may be prescribed in the hospital, and they may duplicate or interact negatively with the person’s other drugs. Sometimes old, needed drugs may be unintentionally omitted. Even when changes in people's drugs are appropriate, the changes may not be communicated to all involved health care practitioners, such as the primary care practitioner.
To prevent such problems, current regulations in the United States require health care organizations to do drug reconciliation whenever the care setting is changed and whenever new drugs are ordered or existing orders are rewritten. Drug reconciliation involves comparing people's drug orders to all the drugs they were previously taking and thus make sure no drugs are duplicated or omitted. When changing care settings, older people or their caregiver should ask practitioners whether drug reconciliation was done.
If people are not in a health care facility, they and/or their caregivers should do their own drug reconciliation. People should keep a list of their current drugs as well as a list of drugs they used to take (and why they were stopped). Then, after people see a new practitioner or enter or leave a hospital or other care facility, they should check whether any newly prescribed drugs are on these lists. If people see any of the following, they should speak to the practitioner right away.
Making an appointment with the primary care practitioner soon after discharge from the hospital or other care facility (such as a rehabilitation center or skilled nursing facility) is always a good idea. The practitioner can then review all of the drugs and instructions recommended at the time of discharge.
The health care system has many rules that affect continuity of care. The rules may be made by the government, insurance companies, or professional organizations for health care practitioners. For example, some insurance companies limit which hospital people can go to. The person’s primary care practitioner, if not on staff at that hospital, may be unable to provide care there. Also, many primary care practitioners no longer provide care in hospitals or rehabilitation centers. As a result, a person in such settings may be cared for by new practitioners who are not familiar with the person's medical history. It is important for the person or the person's caregiver to make sure that all pertinent information is provided to the new practitioner.
Continuity of care may be disrupted when people do not have access to health care. For example, older people may miss a follow-up appointment because they do not have transportation to a practitioner's office. They may not see a practitioner because they do not have insurance and cannot afford to pay for health care themselves.
Improving continuity of care requires efforts by the health care system, by the people receiving care, and by family members.
Managed care organizations and some government health care plans coordinate all health care and thus contribute to continuity of care. Also, the health care system has developed several strategies to improve continuity of care. Examples are
Interdisciplinary care is coordinated care provided by many types of practitioners, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dietitians, physical and occupational therapists, and social workers. These practitioners make a conscious, organized effort to communicate, cooperate, and agree with each other about a person's care. Interdisciplinary care aims to ensure that people move safely and easily from one care setting to another and from one health care practitioner to another. It also aims to ensure that the most qualified health care practitioner provides care for each problem and that care is not duplicated. Interdisciplinary care is not available everywhere.
Interdisciplinary care is particularly important when treatment is complex or when it involves movement from one care setting to another. People who are most likely to benefit include those who are very frail, those who have many disorders, those who need to see several different types of health care practitioners, and those who have side effects from drugs.
The practitioners who care for a particular person are called the interdisciplinary team. One practitioner, who may be the person's primary care practitioner or a social worker or care manager, coordinates care.
Sometimes the health care practitioners on an interdisciplinary team do not work together on a regular basis (an ad hoc team). They come together to meet a particular person’s needs. In other situations, there is an established team with the same members who usually work together and who care for many people. Some nursing homes, hospitals, and hospice organizations have established teams.
Team members discuss plans for treatment and inform each other about changes in the person’s health, changes in treatment, and results of examinations and tests. They make sure that the person’s records are up-to-date and that the records accompany the person through the health care system. Such efforts help make changes in care settings or in health care practitioners smoother and less traumatic. Also, tests are less likely to be repeated unnecessarily, and mistakes or omissions in treatment are less likely.
The interdisciplinary team also includes the older person being cared for and family members or other caregivers. For effective interdisciplinary care, these people must actively participate in care and must communicate with the health care practitioners on the team.
These people are specialists who make sure that an older person receives all the help and care needed. Most geriatric care managers are social workers or nurses. They may be members of an interdisciplinary team. Geriatric care managers can make arrangements for the services needed and supervise these arrangements. For example, care managers may arrange for a home nurse to visit or for an aide to help with housecleaning and preparation of meals. They may locate a pharmacy that delivers drugs or arrange for transportation to and from the doctor's office. Geriatric care managers are relatively uncommon.
These records contain health information about a person in a digital format. Their purpose is to enable all health care practitioners caring for a person to see accurate, up-to-date, legible, and complete information about the person whenever they need to.
EMRs typically contain demographic and personal information (such as age and weight), the medical history (including vital signs, drugs being taken, allergies, and immunization status), test results (of laboratory and imaging tests), and billing information.
EMRs can improve care by
Enabling practitioners caring for a person to communicate with each other more easily and more quickly
Reducing mistakes and omissions made because practitioners lacked needed information
Reducing the number of duplicated tests
Reducing delays in treatment
Enabling people to have access to their medical records and participate more fully in their own health care
However, there are many different EMR systems. Practitioners and hospitals often cannot read records created by practitioners and hospitals that use a different system. Furthermore, the information in EMRs is only as accurate as the data that are entered by previous practitioners. When possible, people should verify the information contained in their EMR.
To help improve the continuity of their care, older people or their caregivers can take a more active part in their care. For example, they can learn more about what can interfere with continuity, how the health care system works, and what tools (such as care managers or social workers) are available to improve continuity of care. Being familiar with their disorders and the details of their health insurance plan can also help.
Active participation begins with communication—giving and getting information. When older people have special health care needs or questions, they or their family members should tell their health care practitioners. For example, older people often need help determining which drugs are covered by their Medicare prescription drug plan.
People who are receiving care or their family members need to become proactive in care. For example, older people, or their caregivers, need to establish an ongoing relationship with at least one health care practitioner, usually the primary care practitioner, to minimize the problems created by having several health care practitioners. Older people should make sure the primary practitioner is aware of changes in their condition and their drugs, especially when a specialist has made a new diagnosis or changed a treatment regimen. They may need to ask one health care practitioner to call and talk with another to make sure that information is communicated clearly and that treatment is appropriate.
Active participation means asking questions about a disorder, treatment, or other aspects of care. It also includes learning how to prevent disorders and taking the appropriate steps to do so.
For people who have a disorder, active participation often involves following a healthy lifestyle. For example, people with high blood pressure can follow a heart-healthy diet and exercise regularly. People can also monitor their condition. For example, people with high blood pressure can check their blood pressure, and people with diabetes can measure the level of sugar in their blood.
Keeping a copy of their medical record can help people participate in their health care. They can often obtain a copy from their primary care practitioner. A copy of the medical record is useful as a reference for information about disorders present, drugs being taken, treatments and tests done, and payments made. This information can also help people explain a problem to a health care practitioner. File boxes, binders, computer software, and Internet programs have been designed for this purpose. When more than one practitioner is involved, people can keep their own records of their care, including the type and date of examinations and procedures and a list of their diagnoses. At a minimum, people should keep a record of all drugs (prescription and nonprescription) they are currently taking, plus the doses and the reason they are taking the drug. They should bring this record with them each time they visit a doctor.
When people go to a hospital or to a new health care practitioner, they should check with someone at the new location to make sure that their medical record has been received.
Buying all drugs (prescription and nonprescription) at one pharmacy or through one mail order service and getting to know a pharmacist there are also important. Older people can ask their pharmacist questions about the drugs they are taking. They can also ask for containers that are easy to open and labels that are easy to read.
* This is the Consumer Version. * | 14,144 | 5,139 | 0.000196 |
warc | 201704 | A familiar industry issue for distribution centers is the infiltration of increased outside moisture-laden air into warehouse areas, specifically cold storage areas that trigger an influx of humidity-related problems.
When warm, wet air comes into contact with the cold floors and walls of the loading docks, condensation begins to form. These wet and slippery floors can put a strain on the facilities throughput, which can reduce production. The influx of humidity into the docks also produces negative effects in adjoining freezers. Ice forms on the freezers’ racks and walls at the entrance, as well as on the high speed roll-up doors causing staff to have to chip ice off the doors to make sure they continue operating properly. Also, more defrost cycles are required to stop the ice buildup on products.
In highly automated facilities, elevated humidity levels cause automation equipment to malfunction.
Many electric eye and proximity sensors fog up resulting in product loading interruptions until the sensors dry. Unproductive interruptions lead to a decrease in profits.
segments Within retail
We can help you with Corrosion
Corrosion, or the oxidation of metal, is heavily influenced by the presence of moisture in the air.Read more
Condensation
When water evaporates it becomes water vapour. When this comes into contact with cool surfaces, condensation drips onto walls, ceilings and productsRead more
Ice/Frost Build Up
Ice and frost in and on chilled and frozen food effects productivity, quality and safety.Read more
Mold and Bacteria
Moist air which is laden with bacteria can increase the potential for contamination in production and storage.Read more
Areas of expertise
Related Products | 1,727 | 899 | 0.001126 |
warc | 201704 | Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common viral pathogen that influences the outcome of liver transplantation. In addition to the direct effects of CMV syndrome and tissue-invasive diseases, CMV is associated with an increased predisposition to acute and chronic allograft rejection, accelerated hepatitis C recurrence, and other opportunistic infections, as well as reduced overall patient and allograft survival. Risk factors for CMV disease are often interrelated, and include CMV D+/R- serostatus, acute rejection, female gender, age, use of high-dose mycophenolate mofetil and prednisone, and the overall state of immunity. In addition to the role of CMV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, there are data to suggest that functionality of the innate immune system contributes to CMV disease pathogenesis. In one study, liver transplant recipients with a specific polymorphism in innate immune molecules known as Toll-like receptors were more likely to develop higher levels of CMV replication and clinical disease. Because of the direct and indirect adverse effects of CMV disease, its prevention, whether through antiviral prophylaxis or preemptive therapy, is an essential component in improving the outcome of liver transplantation. In the majority of transplant centers, antiviral prophylaxis is the preferred strategy over preemptive therapy for the prevention of CMV disease in CMV-seronegative recipients of liver allografts from CMV-seropositive donors (D+/R-). However, the major drawback of antiviral prophylaxis is the occurrence of delayed-onset primary CMV disease. In several prospective and retrospective studies, the incidence of delayed-onset primary CMV disease ranged from 16% to 47% of CMV D+/R- liver transplant recipients. Current data suggests that delayed-onset CMV disease is associated with increased mortality after liver transplantation. Therefore, optimized strategies for prevention and novel drugs with unique modes of action are needed. Currently, a randomized controlled clinical trial is being performed comparing the efficacy and safety of maribavir, a novel benzimidazole riboside, and oral ganciclovir as prophylaxis against primary CMV disease in liver transplant recipients. The treatment of CMV disease consists mainly of intravenous (IV) ganciclovir, and if feasible, a reduction in the degree of immunosuppression. A recent controlled clinical trial demonstrated that valganciclovir is as effective and safe as IV ganciclovir for the treatment of CMV disease in solid organ (including liver) transplant recipients. In this article, the author reviews the current state and the future perspectives of prevention and treatment of CMV disease after liver transplantation. | 2,711 | 1,223 | 0.000818 |
warc | 201704 | A couple of weeks ago we published our comic Try Harder song, praising the OSCP certification and our students in general. It was really well received by our alumni, who related closely to the the theme of “
Try Harder“. However, there is a more serious undertone to this than meets the eye. Information Security Certifications Mean Little Today
The intent of an
Information Security certification is to provide confirmation that a specific individual has specific characteristics related to the field. The concept is great, you get a certification and use that as proof to a potential employer that you actually know your stuff. As this is a complex field, this is wonderful for an employer as it provides some level of assurance that the person you are hiring to do the work actually is competent.
The problem is, a number of certifications on the market just don’t provide that level of assurance. Like many IT certifications of the late 90s, a multiple choice test approach where you get the majority of the questions correct is enough to win you the certification. This leads to memorization quests on the part of test takers, where they focus more on what the right answer is and not so much on what the right answer means. The obvious result from this has been that
many people just don’t respect infosec certifications.
On the other hand, with Infosec professionals at a shortage, the need for an effective measure of ones technical abilities has never been so critical and urgent – and this is where we believe we’re making a difference. With our
entry level certification (the OSCP) now identified by organizations as a leading technical certification – more and more are starting to use the OSCP as an industry standard.
Interestingly, it’s not only the private industry that has responded to the
OSCP certification – we’re seeing more and more government entities incorporate Offsec in their information security training programs. The latest example for this is the UK Government Ministry of Defense – which has placed the OSCP on the shortlist of desirable qualifications for potential job candidates. Offensive Security Certification Reviews
Googling around for Offsec course reviews, or even checking out our own course review page should give you a general feeling for what our courses are like. We’ve put together a couple of quotes and references which we thought were specifically relevant to the state of the job market today:
The strong technical foundation of the Offensive Security training content, coupled with a rigorous testing process has established the OSCP certification as the most relevant education in the pen-testing space. Accuvant LABS requires any prospective consultants to pass the OSCP exam before applying to our attack & penetration team. -VP of the Attack and Penetration Testing Team, Accuvant.
A recent article in the IATAC magazine (the Cyber Security and Information Systems Information Analysis Center) covered the OSCP certification in one of their publications, and here’s what they had to say about it:
The Offensive Security approach is one that warrants a closer look. It is a shame that all certifications across all disciplines cannot be provided based upon performance and real-world demonstration of mastery in a particular area.
Join the Offensive Security Certified Group
This acceptance has come at a price however, as the OSCP certification is quite difficult to attain compared to other industry certifications. What makes the OSCP so effective for companies to use as a measuring stick of skills – also causes quite a shock for many candidates that are used to an easier, more relaxed, certification process. The OSCP certification requires actual effort to be put forth in order to succeed.
If you are ready to put in the effort it takes, if you are ready to “
Try Harder“, be sure to check out the our online Penetration Testing with Kali course. The rewards for your career will be well worth it. | 4,063 | 1,898 | 0.00054 |
warc | 201704 | Ki Tetse – 10 September 2011 – 11 Elul 5771
It is by any standards a strange, almost incomprehensible law. Here it is in the form it appears in this week’s parsha:
Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget. (Deut. 25: 17-19)
The Israelites had two enemies in the days of Moses: the Egyptians and the Amalekites. The Egyptians enslaved the Israelites. They turned them into a forced labour colony. They oppressed them. Pharaoh commanded them to drown every male Israelite child. It was attempted genocide. Yet about them, Moses commands:
Do not despise an Egyptian, because you were strangers in his land. (Deut. 23: 8)
The Amalekites did no more than attack the Israelites once, an attack that they successfully repelled (Ex. 17: 13). Yet Moses commands, “Remember.” “Do not forget.” “Blot out the name.” In Exodus the Torah says that “God shall be at war with Amalek for all generations” (17: 16). Why the difference? Why did Moses tell the Israelites, in effect, to forgive the Egyptians but not the Amalekites?
The answer is to be found as a corollary of teaching in the Mishna, Avot 5:19:
Whenever love depends on a cause and the cause passes away, then the love passes away too. But if love does not depend on a cause then the love will never pass away. What is an example of the love which depended upon a cause? That of Amnon for Tamar. And what is an example of the love which did not depend on a cause? That of David and Jonathan.
When love is conditional, it lasts as long as the condition lasts but no longer. Amnon loved, or rather lusted, for Tamar because she was forbidden to him. She was his half-sister. Once he had had his way with her, “Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her.” (2 Sam. 13: 15 check). But when love is unconditional and irrational, it never ceases. In the words of Dylan Thomas: “Though lovers be lost, love shall not, and death shall have no dominion.”
The same applies to hate. When hate is rational, based on some fear or disapproval that – justified or not – has some logic to it, then it can be reasoned with and brought to an end. But unconditional, irrational hatred cannot be reasoned with. There is nothing one can do to address it and end it. It persists.
That was the difference between the Amalekites and the Egyptians. The Egyptians’ hatred and fear of the Israelites was not irrational. Pharaoh said to his people:
‘The Israelites are becoming too numerous and strong for us. We must deal wisely with them. Otherwise, they may increase so much, that if there is war, they will join our enemies and fight against us, driving [us] from the land.’ (Ex. 1: 9-10)
The Egyptians feared the Israelites because they were numerous. They constituted a potential threat to the native population. Historians tell us that this was not groundless. Egypt had already suffered from one invasion of outsiders, the Hyksos, an Asiatic people with Canaanite names and beliefs, who took over the Nile Delta during the Second Intermediate Period of the Egypt of the pharaohs. Eventually they were expelled from Egypt and all traces of their occupation were erased. But the memory persisted. It was not irrational for the Egyptians to fear that the Hebrews were another such population. They feared the Israelites because they were strong.
(Note that there is a difference between “rational” and “justified”. The fear of the Egyptians was in this case certainly unjustified. The Israelites did not want to take over Egypt. To the contrary, they would have preferred to leave. Not every rational emotion is justified. It is not irrational to feel fear of flying after the report of a major air disaster, despite the fact that statistically it is more dangerous to drive a car than to be a passenger in a plane. The point is simply that rational but unjustified emotion can, in principle, be cured through reasoning.)
Precisely the opposite was true of the Amalekites. They attacked the Israelites when they were “weary and weak.” They focused their assault on those who were “lagging behind.” Those who are weak and lagging behind pose no danger. This was irrational, groundless hate.
With rational hate it is possible to reason. Besides, there was no reason for the Egyptians to fear the Israelites any more. They had left. They were no longer a threat. But with irrational hate it is impossible to reason. It has no cause, no logic. Therefore it may never go away. Irrational hate is as durable and persistent as irrational love. The hatred symbolized by Amalek lasts “for all generations.” All one can do is to remember and not forget, to be constantly vigilant, and to fight it whenever and wherever it appears.
There is such a thing as rational xenophobia: fear and hate of the foreigner, the stranger, the one not like us. In the hunter-gatherer stage of humanity, it was vital to distinguish between members of your tribe and those of another tribe. There was competition for food and territory. It was not an age of liberalism and tolerance. The other tribe was likely to kill you or oust you, given the chance.
The ancient Greeks were xenophobic, regarding all non-Greeks as barbarians. So still are many native populations. Even people as tolerant as the British and Americans were distrustful of immigrants, be they Jews, Irish, Italian or Puerto Rican. What happens, though, is that within two or three generations the newcomers acculturate and integrate. They are seen as contributing to the national economy and adding richness and variety to its culture. When an emotion like fear of immigrants is rational but unjustified, eventually it declines and disappears. So far is the United States from persistent hostility to Jews that, as a result of recent research, Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam has shown that Americans have warmer feelings toward Jews than to the members of any other faith.
Antisemitism is different from xenophobia. It is the paradigm case of irrational hatred. In the Middle Ages Jews were accused of poisoning wells, spreading the plague, and in one of the most absurd claims ever – the Blood Libel – they were suspected of killing Christian children to use their blood to make matzot for Pesach. This was self-evidently impossible, but that did not stop people believing it.
The European Enlightenment, with its worship of science and reason, was expected to end all such hatred. Instead it gave rise to a new version of it, racial antisemitism. In the nineteenth century Jews were hated because they were rich and because they were poor; because they were capitalists and because they were communists; because they were exclusive and kept to themselves and because they infiltrated everywhere; because they were believers in an ancient, superstitious faith and because they were rootless cosmopolitans who believed nothing. Antisemitism was the supreme irrationality of the age of reason.
It gave rise to a new myth, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a literary forgery produced by members of the Czarist Russia secret police toward the end of the nineteenth century. It held that Jews had power over the whole of Europe – this at the time of the Russian pogroms of 1881 and the antisemitic May Laws of 1882, which sent some three million Jews, powerless and impoverished, into flight from Russia to the West.
The situation in which Jews found themselves at the end of what was supposed to be the century of Enlightenment in emancipation was stated eloquently by Theodor Herzl, in 1897:
We have sincerely tried everywhere to merge with the national communities in which we live, seeking only to preserve the faith of our fathers. It is not permitted us. In vain are we loyal patriots, sometimes superloyal; in vain do we make the same sacrifices of life and property as our fellow citizens; in vain do we strive to enhance the fame of our native lands in the arts and sciences, or her wealth by trade and commerce. In our native lands where we have lived for centuries we are still decried as aliens, often by men whose ancestors had not yet come at a time when Jewish sighs had long been heard in the country . . . If we were left in peace . . . But I think we shall not be left in peace.
This was deeply shocking to Herzl. No less shocking has been the return of antisemitism to parts of the Middle East and even Europe today, within living memory of the Holocaust. Yet the Torah intimates why. Irrational hate does not die.
Not all hostility to Jews, or to Israel as a Jewish state, is irrational, and where it is not, it can be reasoned with. But some of it is irrational. Some of it, even today, is a repeat of the myths of the past, from the Blood Libel to the Protocols. All we can do is remember and not forget, confront it and defend ourselves against it.
Amalek does not die. But neither does the Jewish people. Attacked so many times over the centuries, it still lives, giving testimony to the victory of the God of love over the myths and madness of hate.
Reprinted with permission from Covenant & Conversation by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks published by OU Press and Maggid Books, an imprint of Koren Publishers Jerusalem, www.korenpub.com. Available at www.OUPress.org | 9,759 | 4,354 | 0.000234 |
warc | 201704 | By Clayton Krueger
Wow! Can you believe that social media marketing was not even a topic of conversation just 10 years ago? Since then, powerful social media platforms have risen and fallen. Others have emerged and earned their rank among the top-visited sites in the world. More importantly, these networks play a vital role in our daily lives as well as those of our customers.
The question no longer is: Why should we as pizzeria operators employ a social media strategy as part of our overall marketing mix? The question is: How? At Farrelli’s Pizza, where I am employed as the director of marketing and communications, we were early adopters in the use of social media as part of our marketing mix. On May 1, 2007, we ventured into the unknown landscape of business social networking by creating a MySpace profile for Farrelli’s. We learned a great deal as we forged ahead, opening new accounts on different networks and watching our MySpace network fizzle away. What we learned can be summarized with a fishing analogy.
There are many reasons to go fishing—quiet time with nature, idle hours with friends, etc.—but ultimately the idea is to catch some fish in the process. In order to do that, the accepted general consensus is that you need to fish where the fish are biting. This involves some strategy. You can cast your bait where there are a lot of smaller fish, the idea being that you will catch a lot of them but probably none that spawn a legend. Or you can set out to catch the big one. Sure you may not get as many bites, but when you do, it will be worth screaming and shouting about!
Social networking is similar for many reasons. It is something you do alone, but it is something you do to communicate with others. Depending on where and how you utilize social media, you will be networking where there are lots of fish. As a business, we can look at these as different types of opportunities.
For example, Facebook is by far and away the largest social media network worldwide; there isn’t even a close second. So it goes without saying that if you want to catch some fish by employing a social media strategy, you should probably start with a Facebook profile for your business. But the waters below the surface layer tend to get a bit murkier, which isn’t to say that there aren’t fish there because there are. There are many different networks to fish in, with different strategies for hooking customers in each one. For example, Vine is a network targeted for mobile use that leverages short video clips in the same way that Instagram promotes photos (and now videos as well). Through Vine, you can highlight very quickly and concisely what sets you apart from your competition—whether it’s your pizza-baking process, your multiple beer taps, your new special pizza and discount offers. It’s a way to give potential customers vital information and a reason to come dine with you sooner rather than later.
At Farrelli’s we mostly fish where the fish are, but the fun part of employing a social media strategy is fishing in new networks and trying new strategies. The bait you choose is key, and I will be going over offers and tactics we’ve used at Farrelli’s in my seminar on social media at Pizza Expo in March.
Keep in mind that these are social networks not advertising networks. If you’re only advertising on social sites, no matter how hard you try or how long you sit, the customers won’t bite. We’ve seen our best social networking results when we simply try to stay connected with our fan base. We do so with fun photos and clever messaging that encourages interaction on their behalf. Our aim is to engage our audience, not snare them.
We know that they might not be hungry in that instant, but if we do a good job of staying present in their lives when they are outside our four walls, then there is a very high likelihood that they will visit us the next time they are in the mood for pizza. That ladies and gentlemen is strategic fishing.
An early adopter to digital marketing, Clayton Krueger is the director of marketing and communications for seven-unit Farrelli’s Wood Fire Pizza in Tacoma, Wash. He is a regular Pizza Expo speaker and an authority on pizzeria marketing plans.
This Pizza Expo Exclusive is part of a continuing series leading up to the International Pizza Expo. Seminar speakers and demonstrators will provide professional advice on their area of expertise.
CLICK HERE to read more Pizza Expo Exclusives.
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January 12, 2017 | Pizza Headlines
I dip, you dip, we dip! A tantalizing dip is a great way to provide instant gratification. Many can be made ahead of time and simply heated or plated. A favorite in Pizza Today’s home base of Louisville, Kentucky is beer cheese. Now, there’s debate on whether it should be served hot or cold. But… Read More ›
January 11, 2017 | Press Releases
Dallas, Texas – RAVE Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:RAVE) today announced that the Board of Directors has named Scott Crane as Chief Executive Officer, effective today. Crane succeeds Interim CEO Clinton J. Coleman, who will remain in his role as a member of the Board, where he has served since 2007. “Scott is dynamic leader… Read More ›
January 4, 2017 | Pizza Headlines
As a new year rang in, the food industry made its predictions of restaurant trends that will sweep the nation, from rising concepts to customer-facing tech and hot menu items. How do these forecasts correlate to the pizza industry? What’s going to be this year’s hot pizza style? What are your predictions? Let’s take a… Read More › | 5,789 | 2,757 | 0.000374 |
warc | 201704 | Categories Follow Harriet on Twitter About Harriet Blogroll New Children’s Poet Laureate: Kenn Nesbitt
The Poetry Foundation announced its newest Children’s Poet Laureate: Kenn Nesbitt. Nesbitt is the author of
The Tighty-Whitey Spider (2010), My Hippo Has the Hiccups (2009), and Revenge of the Lunch Ladies (2007). He was born in Berkeley, California and grew up across the golden state, in Fresno and San Diego, before majoring in computer science at National University in San Diego. He currently resides in Spokane, Washington, where he lives with his wife and two children.
From the Poetry Foundation:
Inaugural Children’s Poet Laureate Jack Prelutsky was in attendance at last night’s Pegasus Awards, held at the Poetry Foundation in Chicago. The Poetry Foundation installed the office of the Children’s Poet Laureate in 2006, after its research study,
Poetry in America,demonstrated that a lifelong love for poetry is most likely to result if cultivated early in childhood and reinforced thereafter.
During his laureateship, Nesbitt will deliver two major public readings for children and their families, teachers, and librarians. He will also serve as an advisor to the Poetry Foundation on children’s literature, and will likely engage in a variety of projects and events across the country to help instill a love of poetry among the nation’s youngest readers.
Tell us about your life BCP (Before Children’s Poetry).
I don’t believe I had a life before children’s poetry. Some of my earliest memories are of my parents reading Mother Goose nursery rhymes and the books of Dr. Seuss. Throughout my childhood, my father would recite—from memory—poems by Rudyard Kipling, Robert Service, Ernest Thayer, and many others.
There was, however, a gap. At the age of 15, I discovered computers and taught myself to program, and this consumed me for the next 17 years. I studied computer science in college and worked for many years as a software developer, including a two-year stint at Microsoft, before rediscovering my passion for children’s poetry.
You write primarily humorous poetry and nonsense verse. Do subjects such as science, nature, biography, or history ever inspire you?
My entire raison d’être is to get kids excited about reading. I want them to have as much fun with books as is humanly possible. I want to light up every synapse in their brains, and get them to think in new and previously impossible ways. In other words, I am not trying to educate as much as I am trying to inspire and motivate, to get kids to think and wonder. As such, at least so far, I have avoided writing about real-world subjects like science and history. Nevertheless, I have incorporated these themes into the occasional poem. If I can make kids laugh with a poem about math or nature, I certainly don’t shy away from it.
Why do you think poetry is necessary for children?
I’m no biologist, but I do believe that our brains are constantly shaped and strengthened by the thoughts we think and by the ideas and concepts we discover and explore. Reading is a fundamental and necessary part of this, but not all reading is the same. Reading a telephone directory won’t make you any smarter or wiser.
Good children’s poetry can distill an idea or an emotion into a short and memorable “package” that can broaden a child’s perspective on the world. Poetry is perhaps the most playful of all exercises for building children’s growing brains and minds.
Congratulations, Kenn! | 3,597 | 1,792 | 0.000579 |
warc | 201704 | As you may already know, our thoughts create our reality through the power of our intention. In other words, positive things bring about a positive reality, while negative thoughts create the opposite effect.
The late and great Dr. Masaru Emoto has done extensive studies on how exactly our thoughts and intentions can alter the shape and structure of water crystals, and what he discovered is simply astounding.
In one double-blind study, a group of about 2,000 people in Tokyo focused positive intentions and thoughts toward water samples inside an electromagnetically shielded room located in California. There was also another group of water samples set aside in a different location used as controls, but the group was unaware of this fact. Ice crystals from both sets of samples were then identified and photographed by an analyst, and the images obtained were blindly assessed and critiqued for aesthetic appeal by 100 judges.
The conclusion indicated the crystals from the treated water were given a higher score than those in the control group, which is consistent with prior studies measuring the impact of intention on water.
Based on one’s consciousness, a person can directly alter the geometric shape and structure of water since both our thoughts and water are comprised of the same energy. For a number of years, Dr. Masaru Emoto has researched and performed many studies on how our intentions can alter the structure and energy of water. Ever since learning about micro cluster water in the US and Magnetic Resonance Analysis technology, he’s been compelled to uncover more about our impact on the water we drink.
For years, Dr. Emoto has been freezing droplets of water and examining the molecular changes in water caused by our thoughts and intentions. He then photographs the frozen water crystals in order to visually document these changes.
Here are a few examples of his water crystal experiments:
In another example, he taped the words “thank you” on a bottle of distilled water, and miraculously, the water crystals from this sample had a strikingly similar shape and composition to crystals that had been exposed to Bach’s “Goldberg Variations,” representing gratefulness for the man it was composed for. As you can see from this example, giving thanks for our water, our land, and our Earth can transform the very particles that make them up and provide us with more healing and good energy.
However, when these water samples were labeled with negative words, exposed to heavy metal music, or spoken to negatively with words such as “Adolf Hitler,” no water crystals formed and the structure became chaotic and fragmented.
Also, when fragrant floral oils were added to the water, the crystals actually took on the original shape of the flower that the oil was extracted from!
Dr. Emoto found that samples taken from clear mountain springs and streams had a beautiful crystalline structure, while water crystals observed at polluted or stagnant water sources were deformed and chaotic. While this example doesn’t have to do directly with the words we speak or conscious intentions we have, it just shows that negativity that stems from destruction and pollution we have caused wreaks havoc on our precious water sources. However, when we take care of our Earth and let it exist naturally, our water remains beautiful, fresh, and unadulterated.
So, with these examples and exposure to Dr. Emoto’s groundbreaking work, you can see that we have the power to alter our physical world with our thoughts and intentions. Water is life, and we must protect it, honor it, and bless it in order for it to nourish us properly and heal us.
If you would like to see more of Dr. Emoto’s studies and evidence about how our intentions affect the water we drink, please watch this video for more information: | 3,891 | 1,831 | 0.000557 |
warc | 201704 | or been forced into. Is it the right list? Maybe..probably depends on the type of projects they are leading. But I've got a different list here...one that has some “below-the-layers” type of characteristics that are more “soft” skills than hard skills. You can't always just learn these and they really are necessary for true success on the tough ones...meaning tough projects.
So, let's look over my list and try to lock in on these six and you'll probably be pretty well-equipped to deal with most general project management related responsibilities that help define true success – at least from my experience over the years. It's experience...but it's the right experience that's really the make it or break it in the PM world. Focus on these six...
Works well under pressure.
I don't think there is a project manager alive and with any real experience to speak of who hasn't felt some pressure or that real fun “under the gun” feeling when running a tough project. Expectations are high, information is low and the focus is on the project manager to make the right move or decision at the right time. This is one of those “must have's” if you hope to be successful in the big projects. There's really no “faking it till you make it” in this category...you can either sweat it out or you can't. The best can.
Gets production from those under him.
The project manager who can't lead his team effectively will get eaten alive. No one can question that. But what makes him get that following he requires? Leadership, honesty, integrity, experience – and the right experience, credibility, sometimes charisma, and that whatever it takes to just have the follow through to do what you say you're going to do. What's that called? Maybe stick-to-it-iveness. You know what I mean. Never wishy-washy. Battle tested, success proven. That's who the team will follow. Not the resource manager disguised as the tech project leader.
Can deal with senior management.
This sounds easy, but it's not. Senior management doesn't always want exactly what the project customer wants...or even what the project manager wants. And sometimes they can demand things that aren't necessarily in the best interest of the project. That happened to me on two occasions and I bowed to senior management even though I thought I knew it was the wrong way to go for the project and customer. Turns out my gut was right, but I didn't listen to it and both times it cost us success on the project – we failed miserably and it was at that senior management input point that we jumped the shark on each project and failure became inevitable. No more...I am more careful in “just following” senior management. You really sometimes need to be able to “deal” with them and still support your customer's best interests at the same time.
Knows financials.
Knows financials? Why is this important? Because the project that falls 10% off budget can be corrected. The project that is 50% over is likely doomed to fail. 50% is too great of an overage to correct when so many other critical things are going on for the project – all of which are chewing through the budget themselves and fighting for those fading dollars remaining on the project. So the project manager who is comfortable with the project financial planning, analysis and forecasting processes and knows to stay on top of the budget weekly is going to win more often than lose on the financial side. Having a good connection in accounting always helps because the smart project manager is reviewing project financials – updated with actual charges from his team and vendors – every week and re-forecasting diligently. If you are always watching, then it's far more difficult for the project budget to go more than 10% over without you knowing about it...and doing something about it.
Doesn't require accolades.
This one is important because you often won't get any. Success is tough and often elusive (true success happens less than 50% of the time on average no matter how good you are), but is still expected every time out. Think Tiger Woods not winning a major golf tournament. While the odds of winning any major for the best are long, for Tiger it was expected every time out until he was beset with back injuries and surgeries. And even then he still has only won 14 major tournaments and trails the leader and legend Jack Nicklaus by 4 as he enters his 40's with his prime behind him. So, understanding right away that success is expected and pats on the back are a strange and rare bonus will help the best performing project managers succeed and not care about what others think or what may be coming their way in terms of recognition.
Know how to handle the customer.
It's the customer's project. The customer's money. It's their requirements, their business processes, their technological whims and wishes. But success rests on yours and your team's shoulders and no matter what the customer wants or says, at the end of the day success or failure is yours. So knowing how to interact with and manage the customer is important. Knowing when to say yes and when to say no is key. Knowing when your customer is just looking for treatment for a symptom of a bigger problem...that's critical. And it takes experience and a strong gut to tell the project customer that you need to dig deeper...that what they have come to you with is not really the full project. Careful how you break that news to them though, because further analysis means more money. And it could lose you the project if you handle it wrong.
Summary / call for input
Basically, project leadership is not for the faint of heart. You have to start somewhere...yes. At some point a project manager is the newbie with no experience. Hopefully, that project manager gets to start small and has a good mentor. I did and it sure helped my success and confidence levels. Some get thrown into the fire. But somehow we all must acquire these characteristics and skills to truly succeed.
What's your take on this list? What would you change or add to it? Please share your thoughts and experiences with our readers. | 6,222 | 2,832 | 0.00036 |
warc | 201704 | Continue Reading
The cost of recovering a car from a police impound varies according to state and local laws and may range anywhere from $100 to $1,000, according to CostHelper.com. The vehicle's size, its condition and the length of the impound may also affect the price.
The total cost of a vehicle's recovery is dependent on several factors, including the cost of towing, the cost of impound and the cost of the release fee. Any outstanding tickets or fines are likely to be included in the cost of recovery. Because public agencies often contract towing out to private companies, fees paid to the company may also apply, explains CostHelper.com.Learn more about Law Enforcement | 685 | 392 | 0.002566 |
warc | 201704 | Continue Reading
According to Energy Star, a standard 100-watt incandescent light bulb emits 1,600 lumens of visible light. The luminous efficacy of an incandescent light bulb is set at 16 lumens per 1 watt.
A lumen (lm) is a unit for measuring the brilliance of a visible light based on the sensitivity of the human vision. One lumen is roughly equivalent to the intensity of light emitted by a single lit candle.
The packaging of most modern light bulbs bears an indication of the number of lumens that the bulb can produce. Since the color of light also affects the amount of lumens that can be emitted, the lumens indicated on the packaging of light bulbs represent the brilliance produced by the soft yellowish color that incandescent light bulbs emit.
Energy Star states that a 40-watt bulb will produce 450 lm, 60-watt 800 lm, 75-watt 1,100 lm, 100-watt 1,600 lm and 150-watt 2,600 lm.Learn more about Electricity | 926 | 496 | 0.002029 |
warc | 201704 | This is in contrast to walking, where one foot is always in contact with the ground, the legs are kept mostly straight and the center of gravity vaults over the stance leg or legs in an inverted pendulum fashion. A characteristic feature of a running body from the viewpoint of spring-mass mechanics is that changes in kinetic and potential energy within a stride occur simultaneously, with energy storage accomplished by springy tendons and passive muscle elasticity. The term running can refer to any of a variety of speeds ranging from jogging to sprinting.
It is assumed that the ancestors of mankind developed the ability to run for long distances about 2.6 million years ago, probably in order to hunt animals. Competitive running grew out of religious festivals in various areas. Records of competitive racing date back to the Tailteann Games in Ireland in 1829 BCE,
[ citation needed] while the first recorded Olympic Games took place in 776 BCE. Running has been described as the world's most accessible sport.
It is thought that human running evolved at least four and a half million years ago out of the ability of the ape-like Australopithecus, an early ancestor of humans, to walk upright on two legs.
The theory proposed considered to be the most likely evolution of running is of early humans' developing as endurance runners from the practice of persistence hunting of animals, the activity of following and chasing until a prey is too exhausted to flee, succumbing to "chase myopathy" (Sears 2001), and that human features such as the nuchal ligament, abundant sweat glands, the Achilles tendons, big knee joints and muscular glutei maximi, were changes caused by this type of activity (Bramble & Lieberman 2004, et al.).
[7] [8] [9] The theory as first proposed used comparitative physiological evidence and the natural habits of animals when running, indicating the likelihood of this activity as a successful hunting method. Further evidence from observation of modern day hunting practice also indicated this likelihood (Carrier et al. 1984). According to Sears (p. 12) scientific investigation (Walker & Leakey 1993) of the Nariokotome Skeleton provided further evidence for the Carrier theory.
Competitive running grew out of religious festivals in various areas such as Greece, Egypt, Asia, and the East African Rift in Africa. The Tailteann Games, an Irish sporting festival in honour of the goddess Tailtiu, dates back to 1829 BCE, and is one of the earliest records of competitive running.
[ citation needed] The origins of the Olympics and Marathon running are shrouded by myth and legend, though the first recorded games took place in 776 BCE. Running in Ancient Greece can be traced back to these games of 776 BCE. | 2,755 | 1,400 | 0.000717 |
warc | 201704 | Big Data Analytics Using Splunk is a hands-on book showing how to process and derive business value from big data in real time. Examples in the book draw from social media sources such as Twitter (tweets) and Foursquare (check-ins). You also learn to draw from machine data, enabling you to analyze, say, web server log files and patterns of user access in real time, as the access is occurring. Gone are the days when you need be caught out by shifting public opinion or sudden changes in customer behavior. Splunk's easy to use engine helps you recognize and react in real time, as events are occurring.
Splunk is a powerful, yet simple analytical tool fast gaining traction in the fields of big data and operational intelligence. Using Splunk, you can monitor data in real time, or mine your data after the fact. Splunk's stunning visualizations aid in locating the needle of value in a haystack of a data. Geolocation support spreads your data across a map, allowing you to drill down to geographic areas of interest. Alerts can run in the background and trigger to warn you of shifts or events as they are taking place.
With Splunk you can immediately recognize and react to changing trends and shifting public opinion as expressed through social media, and to new patterns of eCommerce and customer behavior. The ability to immediately recognize and react to changing trends provides a tremendous advantage in today's fast-paced world of Internet business.
Big Data Analytics Using Splunk opens the door to an exciting world of real-time operational intelligence.
Built around hands-on projects
Shows how to mine social media
Opens the door to real-time operational intelligence
What you'll learn
Monitor and mine social media for trends affecting your business
Know how you are perceived, and when that perception is rising or falling
Detect changing customer behavior from mining your operational data
Collect and analyze in real time, or from historical files
Apply basic analytical metrics to better understand your data
Create compelling visualizations and easily communicate your findings
Who this book is for Big Data Analytics Using Splunk is for those who are interested in exploring the heaps of data they have available, but don't know where to start. It is for the people who have knowledge of the data they want to analyze and are developers or SQL programmers at a level anywhere between beginners and intermediate. Expert developers also benefit from learning how to use such a simple and powerful tool as Splunk. | 2,550 | 1,205 | 0.000835 |
warc | 201704 | Not yet a Member?
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Statements by a general manager that a former employee was “too black to do various tasks” and that a “dark skin” black person was not allowed to handle money constituted direct evidence of discrimination, according to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Esma Etienne, a black woman, sued her former employer, Spanish Lake Truck & Casino Plaza LLC, for violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, Etienne, who worked as a waitress and bartender, alleged that Spanish Lake’s general manager, Bernard Terradot, failed to promote her to a managerial position, despite being qualified, because of her race and color.
Etienne submitted an affidavit by Jeannene Johnson, a former manager at Spanish Lake, in support of her allegations. In the affidavit, Johnson indicated that Terradot determined each employee’s responsibilities based on the color of the employee’s skin. Johnson further indicated that Terradot, on numerous occasions, said Etienne was “too black” to do certain casino tasks.
The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Spanish Lake. The 5th Circuit vacated the district court’s decision and remanded the case. According to the 5th Circuit, the district court, relying heavily on the fact that most of the managers in the casino were black, focused their analysis of Etienne’s discrimination claim on race rather than color. The 5th Circuit noted that while the court had never explicitly recognized “color” as a separate, unlawful basis for discrimination, Title VII is unequivocal on the matter. The statute prohibits discrimination against an individual because of the individual’s “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”
The 5th Circuit also rejected Spanish Lake’s argument that Terradot’s statements were mere stray remarks. Instead, the court held that the statements were direct evidence of discrimination. In order to determine whether comments made in the workplace constitute “direct evidence,” or only “stray remarks,” the court examined whether the comments were: 1) related to the plaintiff’s protected characteristic; 2) proximate in time to the challenged employment decision; 3) made by an individual with authority over the challenged employment decision; and 4) related to the challenged employment decision. While the court easily found factors 1, 3 and 4 applicable, it had a harder time assessing whether factor 2 was satisfied, given that Johnson’s affidavit failed to provide specific dates. The court ultimately found that a justifiable inference could be made that factor 2 was satisfied, because the affidavit alleged that Terradot’s comments were made “on several occasions.”
Etienne v. Spanish Lake Truck & Casino Plaza LLC, 5th Cir., No. 14-30026 (Feb. 2, 2015).
Professional Pointer: While claims of race and color discrimination are frequently joined together, it is important to remember that a claim for color discrimination can stand on its own, absent a race discrimination claim. Employer-provided training for employees should incorporate Title VII’s prohibition of discrimination based on color.
Kathiana Aurelien is an attorney with Swerdlow Florence Sanchez Swerdlow & Wimmer the Worklaw® Network member firm in Beverly Hills, Calif.
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warc | 201704 | Transport Minister, Norman Baker, visited Millbrook Proving Ground as part of government’s ‘See Inside Manufacturing’ initiative to promote careers in engineering and industry.
The Minister joined pupils from Bedford Academy, Samuel Whitbread Community College, Redborne Upper School and Stratton Upper School on a tour of the proving ground’s powertrain and track facilities. He spoke to them about their career aspirations, before hearing from university graduate, James Brewster, about his route into an engineering career through a university placement programme at Millbrook – one of Europe’s leading locations for the development and demonstration of every type of land vehicle.
Commenting on the visit, Norman Baker said, “It is essential that we support and encourage our young people into worthwhile and enjoyable careers. By opening its doors today, the Millbrook team has provided a glimpse into what a future role in advanced engineering in the UK could entail. I definitely saw some of the pupils’ eyes light up at the sight of the fast cars and the military vehicles!
Miguel Fragoso, Managing Director of Millbrook Proving Ground, added, “Our apprentice and undergraduate schemes are very important for the future, not only of Millbrook, but also for the automotive sector as a whole. The ongoing success of this industry in the UK will depend heavily on inspiring the next generation of engineers and technicians – something we hope we’ve achieved here today.”
‘See Inside Manufacturing’ is a government initiative to provide young people with the opportunity to get behind the scenes of some of the UK’s world-class automotive facilities and learn about the wide range of rewarding jobs in the sector. The initiative has seen more than 30 companies host over 100 events between 10 and 21 October, in order to help change the perception of careers in industry and ensure manufacturers have access to the skills they need to remain at the forefront of advanced manufacturing.
For more information about ‘See Inside Manufacturing’, click here. | 2,148 | 1,092 | 0.000957 |
warc | 201704 | By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
All cell membranes have a universal structure of a phospholipid bilayer with globular proteins interspersed throughout, much like a mosiac. Proteins can stick partly through the membrane (periperal) or go all the way through the membrane from one side to the other (transmembrane, peripheral). This tutorial goes through the history of the development of the Fluid Mosaic model to show how new information is incorporated into viable scientific explanations.
The biophysical properties of phospholipids and proteins can be seen in the way they form membranes. The video begins with a highlight of the historical development of the Fluid Mosaic model of the Cell Membrane. Emphasis is placed on the biophysical properties of these molecules. Any good scientific explanation continues to be modified as new information is learned. The video finishes with some relevant research published in June 2014.
Source: M. O'Mahony, open source figures
BioVisions, (Harvard University) has produced this animation "The Inner Life of the Cell".
Watch this - and find the references to the cell membrane structure and function within it.
Source: BioVisions, Harvard University
Fatty Acid Vesicle Formation
De novo vesicle formation from fatty acid micelles - Protons are represented by the small glowing spheres. Upon protonation, the micelle structure becomes more fluid and may allow for larger numbers of micelles to join together. Vesicle formation occurs by chance after the fatty acid sheet has reached a threshold surface area.
Source: Janet Iwasa, Harvard Animation Collections
This is the notes template for the lesson.
Source: M. O'Mahony, open source images
A great interactive simulation that explores the composition of the Cell Membrane. To to: | 1,808 | 902 | 0.001119 |
warc | 201704 | Finance and Money Management
Resources to help with bill-paying, credit management assistance, banking issues, investments, taxes, and more General Resources
Federal Reserve Board: Mortgage Foreclosure Resources
If you are having difficulty making your mortgage payment, one of the most important things you can do is seek assistance.
Consumer.gov
Consumers face many challenges in the marketplace. Use these resources to help you solve your consumer problems. This page can help you prevent identity theft, find out how and where you can check your credit, show you resources for managing money, and much more.
Institute for Financial Literacy
The mission of the Institute for Financial Literacy is to make effective financial literacy education available for all American adults.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure
Whether you're in foreclosure now or worried about it in the future, we have information that can help.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: Corporate Bankruptcy
Information for investors in companies filing for bankruptcy protection.[1]
Washington Financial Education Clearinghouse
The Washington Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) has developed this Web site for Washington residents who are looking for information and resources about managing finances. This Web site serves as a clearinghouse for financial education information and resources.
Washington State University - eXtension: Financial Security for All Approved Resources
A list of approved resources and articles, vetted by financial security experts at WSU. Includes articles on financial planning, protecting credit information, early retirement, tax refunds, and more.
Change Counts! Your Money Helpline: A Resource Guide for Cast Managers, Counselors & Advocates
Your Money Helpline is a resource sharing opportunity to help you assist clients with banking, credit, debt management and reduction and preparing for their short and long term financial goals.
Financial Literacy
Financial Beginnings
Financial Beginnings offers a variety of programs serving youth, educators, and the community at large. Program categories include Youth Programs, Community Education & Outreach, and Advocacy.
Choose to Save: Resources
Financial security is one of the most important issues for most Americans. Whether it is putting kids through college, saving for an emergency, buying a house, or saving for retirement - having enough money for life's demands is among our biggest concerns. And yet, many Americans have not taken even the first steps toward a secure financial future. The Choose to Save® national public education and outreach program is dedicated to raising awareness about the need to plan and save for long-term personal financial security.
Council for Economic Education
The Council for Economic Education offers comprehensive, best-in-class K-12 economic and personal finance education programs, including the basics of entrepreneurship, consisting of teaching resources across the curriculum, professional development for teachers, and assessment instruments. Each year, the Council's programs reach more than 150,000 K-12 teachers and over 15 million students in the United States and in more than 30 other countries.
National Endowment for Financial Education
The National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®) is the only private, nonprofit, national foundation wholly dedicated to improving the financial well-being of all Americans. The mission of the National Endowment for Financial Education is to help individuals acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to take control of their finances. NEFE’s mission is grounded in the belief that financially informed individuals are better able to take control of their circumstances and improve their quality of life.
SmartAboutMoney.org
NEFE reaches out to all Americans who want to learn how to improve their financial well-being by providing them with information and resources, such as this Web site, to reach their goals. This Web site was designed to help you get quick tips on budgeting, reducing debt, setting financial goals, and much more; Find a wealth of information to help you with all of life's financial challenges and locate information on a broad range of financial topics contributed by many organizations throughout the U.S.
Savings and Investment Information
Federal Trade Commission
Get free credit reports, information on credit and loans, tips to prevent identity theft, ways to avoid internet fraud, and more useful resources and information.
TreasuryDirect
TreasuryDirect is a financial services website that lets you buy and redeem securities directly from the U.S. Department of the Treasury in paperless electronic form. You enjoy the flexibility of managing your savings portfolio online as your needs and financial circumstances change, and your money is backed by the U.S. government.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
The mission of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.
Your Money: A Guide to Reaching Your Financial Goals
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warc | 201704 | It speaks for you when you cannot. It tells what treatments you do or do not want and who will make the health care decisions for you when you cannot.
An AD is signed by you when you are a competent adult naming someone you trust to make your health care decisions if you are incapacitated.
It is the inability to understand information or communicate health care decisions.
Anyone who is at least 18 years old and of sound mind, but not: your health care provider, an employee of your health care provider, an employee of a health care facility in which you are a resident or patient, or a spouse/ domestic partner of any of the above unless that person is also your relative.
Yes. It must be signed by the person in the presence of two witnesses at least 18 years old. At the time the document is signed, no witnesses may be:
Upon receiving a valid document, a health care facility or physician reviews the document to make sure it is valid. The document is then scanned into your electronic medical record. If you have been certified as incapacitated, that activation form is also placed in your medical record so that we can respect your stated desires consistent with applicable law.
No health care facility or provider may be criminally or civilly liable or charged with unprofessional conduct for:
No health care agent, unless the agent is the spouse or domestic partner of the principal, may be held personally liable for goods or services purchased or contracted for under a DPAHC. The medical cost liability would be the same as if the care was provided as a result of the person’s decision.
A health care agent, acting in good faith, does not incur criminal or civil liability for health care decisions made under a valid DPAHC.
The regular Durable Power of Attorney document is used for finances but does not include health care issues. (If the Durable Power of Attorney was completed prior to April 28, 1990, and includes health care decision-making ability, it is presumed to be valid.) The DPAHC addresses only those issues relating to health care.
If you sign a new DPAHC, the prior one is revoked. Notify your health care agent(s) and health care provider(s) orally or in writing that you revoked your DPAHC. If the agent is the person’s spouse or domestic partner, the DPAHC is automatically revoked upon divorce, annulment of the marriage or notice of termination of domestic partnership.
A Declaration to Physicians tells your doctor of your desires regarding life-sustaining procedures or a feeding tube if you were to develop an illness or injury that cannot be cured or were in a persistent vegetative state. A Declaration to Physicians may authorize the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures or feeding tube when two physicians, one of whom is the attending physician, have personally examined and certified in writing that one has a terminal condition and is unable to understand or express health care choices, or is in a persistent vegetative state.
A Declaration to Physicians goes into effect if two physicians certify that you are terminally ill or in a persistent vegetative state and have lost the ability to make medical decisions. It only deals with the use or non-use of life-sustaining procedures or feeding tubes. A DPAHC is said to be activated if two physicians, or a physician and a psychologist, have personally examined you and certify that you are incapacitated and cannot make health care decisions. However, you do not have to be close to death or in a persistent vegetative state. The DPAHC allows another to speak for you and to make health care decisions for you that are not limited to just artificial life-sustaining procedures or feeding tubes. Your agent may also make decisions for you regarding nursing home or community-based residential facility placement and organ donation, among other things. The type of decisions your agent can make depends upon the authority you give when you complete the document.
It is not necessary to have both a Declaration to Physicians and a DPAHC. If you have both documents, make sure they do not conflict. If they do conflict, a health care provider will follow the instructions on the DPAHC rather than the instructions of the Declaration to Physicians (if the DPAHC is dated after December 11, 1991).
You may revoke or redo a Declaration to Physician or DPAHC at anytime.
Some health care providers and physicians may have policies or beliefs, which prohibit them from honoring certain ADs. Discuss your AD with your providers to make them aware of your wishes and to determine if they will honor it. If they will not, you may choose another provider.
You still receive medical care even if you do not have an AD. You may not receive the type of care and treatments you want if you could still make decisions for yourself. If you cannot speak for yourself and do not have an AD, a physician or health care institution may ask the courts to appoint a legal guardian who would then make decisions for you.
Keep your AD in a place where you and others can easily find it, but not in a safe deposit box. Make sure your family members or domestic partner, physician, health care provider, hospital and lawyer are aware that you have an AD and give each of them a copy of your document. It is ideal to have the document in your medical record.
Your physician or other health care provider, your attorney, the Pastoral Care dept. at HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center at (920) 498-4282 or the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services at (608) 266-5863. This information is adapted from the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services.
Documents signed in another state on or after May 5, 2004, are valid and enforceable in Wisconsin if they were valid in accordance with the laws of that state. The document must authorize your agent to make the same decisions for you that a health care agent in a valid Wisconsin document could make for you.
St. Francis of Assisi | 6,027 | 2,427 | 0.000415 |
warc | 201704 | There are several ‘first questions’ that new homeschoolers ask, and one of them is: “Do I need a detailed schedule and a dedicated schoolroom?”
Because of our own school experiences, we picture learning as taking place at a specific time in a special space, requiring one-piece desks, chalkboards, charts, and other schoolish trappings. Some find the idea of doing anything else intimidating and even frightening.
Homeschooling frees our children from classroom constraints and conditioning, and allows us to find our unique learning style.Read More | 573 | 365 | 0.002859 |
warc | 201704 | As an Entrepreneur of an internet company in Australia, I now want to move to the United States to marry my American fiance of two years. My company is generating about 5M dollars annually. I am considering selling my business to a business associate in Australia. My other option is moving the company entirely to the Unites States. What are the tax implications of such a move? Tax Professional Answers
There are some issues around transfer of domicile of a company and this would need to be achieved via a US State that had appropriate provisions in their corporate law.
If this is a business with a predominantly internationally sourced income, it may be opportune to consider a third country residence for the business. Expensive to set up properly, but may be beneficial in the medium term, especially if personal residence elsewhere maybe contemplated in the longer term. Estate planning opportunities may be a consideration also.
US tax issues would sensibly require a US attorney or CPA input. There are also cross-border intellectual property issues to be considered.
All-in-all, some very interesting alternatives to be considered!
For instance, if the Australian based co.clients migrate to a new US LLC set up, at their own instance, and the Australian business is wound down (subject to what an Aussie tax specialist has to say) I doubt there will be a tax liability.
Sometimes their are provisions in tax Acts that deem a disposal if there is some value-shifting arrangement, but if its the clients making that decision such a value-shifting arrangement may not be applicable. A new internet business is then created in the US.
Under USA laws, if you eventually sell this business you will be taxed on the entire Capital Gains from the starting point, so this could be very expensive.
From an Australian point of view, if you keep the entity as is, it remains taxable even when overseas as business assets are taxable even for foriegners (which you become when you move permanently aborad).
One option is to do a genuine sale at market value to a new US incorporated entitiy. In Australia this does trigger Capital Gains Tax, including the 50% tax free gains since you have been operating more than 12 months.
The tax therefor may be small and manageable, which would mean that there is no further tax in Australia and only tax in USA above the contracted sale price.
This exemption would also apply if you sold to your friend, so worth considering an actual sale if you can get a good price for it.
A lot depends on your estimated value, cost base to have built the company up to date, access to cash to cover the potential tax cost, faith in the future growth and incoe potential of the business and intentions when abroad to build the business or pursue a new career.
Your actions depend largely on your intentions, so be clear and honest about that before deciding on the apropriate course of action.
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warc | 201704 | Carly Fiorina, whose claim to fame was basically presiding over HP while the company's value dropped in half
, has made it clear that she's planning to run for President
, despite her sole political experience being losing a Senate race in California against Barbara Boxer. To get ready, Fiorina has been ramping up her public opinion-spewing. She's gotten plenty of attention for blaming environmentalists
for California's current water problems and accusing Apple's CEO Tim Cook of hypocrisy
in his response to Indiana's controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Feel free to debate those claims all you want. The one that interests me is Fiorina's confused and ignorant take on net neutrality
-- which seems to involve making a bunch of claims that are
flat out false
. I recognize that, as a Republican candidate, she apparently is duty-bound to hate on net neutrality (despite the fact that Republican and Democratic voters alike both overwhelmingly support
net neutrality -- and Republicans who actually understand technology support it as well
). It still remains a mystery to me why this is even a partisan issue, but it is. Still, if you're going to attack net neutrality, you should at least do so on a factual basis. Fiorina can't even muster up the effort to do that.
Crony capitalism is alive and well. If you need proof, look no further than the Federal Communication Commission's new Title II regulations imposed in the name of "net neutrality" under pressure from President Barack Obama, and the big businesses that benefit.
Um, no. The crony capitalism was on the other side, as nearly all of the pressure
against
net neutrality came from the giant broadband players, Comcast, AT&T, Time Warner Cable and Verizon. There was almost no actual
public
support. Meanwhile, the push for Title II was driven heavily by public interest groups and the public itself. While there were some companies that got involved, most of the "big" businesses seemed to sit things out until late in the process and it was clear which way the wind was blowing. The companies that actually made a big difference were the startups (mainly in New York and San Francisco) that mobilized to talk about the harm that the FCC would do to the open internet if it didn't stop the broadband companies from messing things up. Kickstarter, Etsy, Tumblr and others played a really big role. Those companies are growing, but they're nothing like the big broadband companies.
Net neutrality proponents did a masterful job of marketing it with the help of late-night hosts and political spin, arguing that it would level the Internet playing field. The truth, however, is that it will insert Washington bureaucracy and control into the 21st century's greatest success story. The Internet, which has empowered hundreds of millions of Americans in so many aspects of life, will now be subject to the same types of regulations that governed telephone service in the 20th century.
This is a massive exaggeration and is incredibly misleading. First of all, the rules are
not
the "same regulations," but rather they're just built off the same
authority
(Title II), but with clear forbearance on the parts of Title II that everyone agrees are problematic. The rules are not
about treating the internet as a utility, but in preventing duopolists and monopolists from abusing their position. On top of that, if you talk to a lot of people, they actually remember when telephone service was super reliable, unlike broadband service today.
As someone who led a $87 billion company for six years, I know this: Only big companies can deal with vast, sweeping regulation like the 313 pages imposed by the FCC. This administration has had a habit of identifying a particular problem and then convincing the voters that we require enormous new swaths of government control to fix it.
Almost everything in this paragraph is misleading. First of all, "leading" an "$87 billion company" -- well, here's the chart of HP's stock price during Fiorina's tenure:
As you can see, the valuation fluctuated a bit during Fiorina's "leadership," but it seemed to go mostly downward...
Second, the rules are
not
"313 pages." They are
8 pages
. You can see just those 8 pages right here
. The rest of the document
(which is actually 400 pages) consists of legally required supplemental material and the dissents.
Next, remember, that it was mostly
small
companies pushing for these rules and
big companies
fighting against them. As
small
ISP Sonic made clear, the rules are only a problem if you're trying to do something bad
. So if the small companies are clamoring for this, and the big companies are against it, it defies basic common sense to argue that the new rules are good for big companies and bad for small companies. You either have to be woefully misinformed, or blatantly lying. I'm not sure which is the situation here, but neither looks for for Fiorina.
Title II regulation gives the Federal Communications Commission nearly unlimited authority to micromanage how, when and where Internet companies innovate.
This isn't even close to true. It only gives
limited authority
in how it makes sure that
internet access providers
handle their traffic. That's it. Not "internet companies." It's a cheap trick to conflate internet access providers and the internet companies that rely on an open internet, but that's the best Fiorina can do. And then she takes it to another level of ridiculousness:
Whereas the old Internet was "permissionless," the new Internet will require bureaucratic approval for the most mind-numbing minutiae and create huge areas of uncertainty . Major companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, eBay and Netflix now have a government-conferred advantage over start-ups because they can afford the lobbyists and lawyers necessary to navigate the new Title II landscape. When influence trumps innovation, big entrenched companies benefit.
This isn't true. The new rules do not require anything of internet companies. They don't need lobbyists or lawyers to navigate anything. The rules are directed at
internet access providers
, and startups offering services
on the internet
do not have to deal with the rules -- only those offering internet access.
And, really, let's just repeat this line for its sheer insanity:
When influence trumps innovation, big entrenched companies benefit.
Yes,
that
line is true, but if you look at the past two decades, you'd see that the companies with the most powerful influence have been
AT&T, Comcast and Verizon
which have some of the most powerful lobbying operations in the world, and have driven broadband policy almost entirely on their own whims for the past two decades. This has resulted in
less competition
,
terrible service
and a variety of bad policies.
Who does Fiorina think she's fooling?
One, the Internet economy will no longer benefit from the competition that has steadily driven prices down over the past two decades.
What?
Has Fiorina looked at internet bills lately? They have
not
been going down. It's true that the prices of
other things
on the internet have gone down, but she is once again conflating internet services with internet access. And, in fact, under the new rules it looks like there may be
more
competition because it will make it easier to get pole attachments
. Furthermore, because of the FCC's other big ruling
we may finally see some real municipal competition. And, as AT&T has made clear
, when there is real competition,
then
its prices go down. But it has spent years actively blocking competition
, using its political influence.
Two, companies will devote more of their resources to lobbying and regulatory compliance, passing the costs of these activities directly on to consumers.
Again, the rules only impact internet
access
providers and
only if they're doing bad stuff
to consumers. If they treat traffic neutrally, there are no compliance issues to worry about.
Ah, wait. It appears we left out a bit of Fiorina's bio. Before she took the helm at HP... she spent her career at AT&T and AT&T spinoff Lucent. Perhaps
that
has more to do with her position than anything. But if she thinks she's going to court the tech vote, directly misleading the public about an important issue like net neutrality isn't going to do her any favors. | 8,417 | 3,871 | 0.000262 |
warc | 201704 | Choose your language:
July 21, 2016
By Aditi Hegde
What you’ll learn in this tutorial:
Digesting varied and vast amounts of data and synthesizing its meaning can be a complicated—but rewarding—undertaking. Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a data format popular in many industries, including semiconductor and manufacturing sectors, which captures and records the data from sensors. Processing XML can derive values and provide analytics and data forecasting.
XML has a set of rules that encodes the data to make it self-describing. This means that the structure of XML has the schema defined, making it both human- and computer-readable.
The basic element of XML is tags. An element of information is surrounded by start and end tag. The element name describes the content, whereas the tag describes its relationship with the content. An outermost root element contains all other elements in an XML document. XML supports nested elements and hierarchical structures.
XML is semi-structured. Since the structure of XML is variable by design, we cannot have defined mapping. Thus, to process the XML in Hadoop, you need to know the tags required to extract the data.
Apache Pig is a tool that can be used to analyse XML, and it represents them as data flows. Pig Latin is a scripting language that can do the operations of Extract, Transform, Load (ETL), ad hoc data analysis and iterative processing. The Pig scripts are internally converted to MapReduce jobs. Pig scripts are procedural and implement lazy evaluation, i.e., unless an output is required, the steps aren’t executed.
To process XMLs in Pig, piggybank.jar is essential. This jar contains a UDF called XMLLoader() that will be used to read the XML document.
Below is the flow diagram to describe the complete flow from extraction to analysis.
Example Consider the following XML to be loaded and extracted. The XML contains the cost of the meter reading for the time period.
Download and register Jar
To use Piggybank jar in XML, first download the jar and register the path of the jar in Pig.
In the above example, feed is the root element and the tag to be extracted is food.
If all the elements are defined under root_element without parent tag, then the root element will be loaded using the XMLLoader()
Using regular expressions
Use the regular expressions to extract the data between the tags. Regular expressions can be used to determine simple tags in the document. [Tag <title> in the document]
For nested tags, writing regular expression will be tedious because if any small character is missed in the expression, it will give null output.
Dump the data to see the extracted data.
XPath uses path expressions to access a node.
The function for XPath UDF consists of a long string:org.apache.pig.piggybank.evaluation.xml. Thus, you should define a small temporary function name for simplicity and ease of use.
To access a particular element, start from loading the parent node and navigate to the required tag.
Note that every repeating parent and child nodes become separate rows and columns respectively. In the above file, the tag<IntervalReading> repeats in the file, thus, upon extraction, each tag <IntervalTag> becomes a new row with the tags under it becoming attributes.
Dump the data to see the extracted data.
Various transformation can be performed in Pig on the extracted data.
Below is an example to show the conversion of date and calculation of per-unit cost. If multiple files are present, there will be a need to add the key to the data. To add a unique key, load it separately from the XML into a dataset and create a new dataset with required columns.
Below is an example:
Dump and view the data
The datasets can be stored in a file with the required delimiter.
For the first time, create a table in Hive. Load the data into the table created.
The structured data can be visualized in any of the tools like OBIEE, BDD, Tableau or Kibana. | 3,983 | 1,888 | 0.000537 |
warc | 201704 | The Magic Mountain
“The greatest danger to Black Mountain College now is not that its legacy will be lost but that its truly radical nature will be forgotten,” writes Mary Emma Harris in the preface to the revised edition of her book on one of the most unusual and influential schools in the United States. It was at Black Mountain College that John Cage staged his first Happening, Merce Cunningham formed his dance company, and Buckminster Fuller built his first dome. Among the faculty were Anni and Josef Albers and Willem de Kooning. Albert Einstein and Carl Jung served on the board of advisers. The students included Francine du Plessix Gray, Robert Rauschenberg, Ray Johnson, and Ben Shahn. Anais Nin, Henry Miller, May Sarton, and Aldous Huxley all made visits to the school. Admittedly, the College was ephemeral, operating for less than three decades (1933-1957). It was also off the map, located in sparsely populated, unknown Black Mountain, North Carolina, and small, enrolling fewer than 1,200 students over the entire course of its existence.
Yet despite all this, this progressive, non-traditional institution was the starting point for a remarkable and diverse collection of artists who made up the American avant-garde of the 1960s. In the years since its closing, Black Mountain College is often misremembered as a loosely cobbled together experiment, an ill-conceived venture, an anarchist or Communist enclave with little lasting significance. Even the author, a native of the area, had never heard of the school until she was a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 11 years after Black Mountain College closed its doors. Harris decided to investigate further. Years of research and interviews resulted in the original version of the book, published in 1986. Harris continues to serve as principal researcher for the Black Mountain College Project, which seeks to preserve artifacts, release interviews, and publish information about the school for future generations. The revised edition of The Arts at Black Mountain College, with a new foreword, is the definitive history of the artistic component of this enigmatic institution. (With the exception of its final years, Black Mountain College offered a full liberal arts program, but the author focuses on its most notable achievement, bringing the study of fine arts from the fringes to the core of its curriculum.)
Started in reaction to more traditional schools of the time, Black Mountain College was created when classics professor John Andrew Rice lost his position at Rollins College in Florida due to his controversial, anti-administration ideas. With colleagues from Rollins and elsewhere, he wanted to form a college “based on an idea of community among individuals working and learning together.” While searching for a physical home for this venture, they eventually located a collection of buildings owned by the Blue Ridge Assembly of the Protestant Church in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and the college was born.
Black Mountain College was founded rather idealistically as a school that was to be governed equally by students and faculty, with a self-directed course of study that was free of requirements. Its setting was rural, and the artistic work produced at Black Mountain differed wildly from that of the Bauhaus, the seminal 20th century school of design in Germany that sought to create a new social order in its rejection of bourgeois architecture for simpler classical forms. Harris proposes that the school was in many ways the spiritual stepchild of the Bauhaus. The two shared in common an experimental educational philosophy that rebelled against academia, coupled with a belief in the social responsibility of the arts and education. In fact, the Bauhaus ended just as Black Mountain was in its initial planning stages. In 1933, the year Rice was dismissed from Rollins College, the Bauhaus was searched by Hitler’s storm troopers and the Berlin police, and subsequently closed. Rice and Dreier courted Bauhaus instructor Josef Albers, who with his wife Anni, a master weaver, emigrated to the United States, where they became part of the core faculty at Black Mountain.
The college evolved with the times, establishing a mica mine to sell the mineral during World War II, securing GI Bill benefits, and first admitting African-American students in 1944. Its radical nature was often at odds with its surroundings–on off-campus trips, students had to abide by North Carolina’s segregation customs. The residents of nearby Asheville had grown accustomed to sometime residents like Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, but were not prepared for the influx of the art school students who caused stirs when they showed up in town. Although most students and teachers left for larger cities in the late fifties, the lasting influence of the college is still felt in Black Mountain and Asheville, an area with a less innovative but thriving arts community that continually pops up on national lists of desirable, liberal, and gay/lesbian-friendly places to live.
In later years, faculty and student interest in the community farm, and in taking part in school administration and maintenance began to wane. A few efforts to adopt a more traditional structure failed as well, at odds with the school’s core notions of academic and creative freedom. At the same time newly appointed rector-poet and unorthodox scholar Charles Olson had other ideas, completely abandoning academics in favor of a wholly fine arts curriculum. With GI benefits all but disappearing, Olson continued to propose new fundraising schemes even in the college’s darkest days. But the conservative atmosphere of the early fifties made it almost impossible for experimental education to exist financially. Slowly, the school’s assets were sold off, and as faculty and students began to leave for art scenes in San Francisco and New York, Olson was directed to begin the process of closing Black Mountain College forever, with all programs ceasing in March 1957 and a final issue of the Black Mountain Review published in the fall of that year.
As Harris tells it, the story of Black Mountain College encompasses some of the most crucial lifelong issues confronting the working artist: The need for community support and involvement versus the need for solitude in order to create and produce work; the importance of artistic friendships, as well as the cliched “artistic difference;” voluntary poverty versus economic security; isolation versus a metropolitan environment.
Created at a time when Europe was in flux politically and artistically, Black Mountain College helped shape the transition from European to American dominance in the arts. The school differed fundamentally from other American arts schools in its resistance to education based on technique. Although Josef Albers assigned practical drawing exercises, he eschewed traditional methods in favor of experimentation, saying that he did not wish to form a contingent of little Alberses. “Abstraction is the function of the human spirit,” he wrote, later adding that he wanted the visual artist to have the same right as the composer, “to create forms that have life within themselves as music has.” One of the most influential music courses was Rudolf Kolisch’s “Democratic Practices of Ensemble Playing,” a class that approached the orchestra as a cooperative effort, opposing what Kolisch saw as the traditional “dictatorial” role of the conductor. Charles Olson’s writing and literature class, which typically ended up at a bar anyway, once reportedly lasted for two days because it got so interesting that people just wanted to keep going. Marathon classes aside, John Cage believed that the most important learning did take place at the dinner table, where faculty and students ate together.
Part of the Black Mountain process involved experimentation with notions of community living, a venture that was not consistently successful. The students and faculty worked and lived together, growing food and cooking meals. Students from all economic backgrounds found themselves assigned to jobs such as shoveling coal and building the log cabin dormitories. This sort of intimacy proved both enriching and counterproductive. Numerous friendships that made a critical impact or resulted in artistic collaboration were first formed at Black Mountain. Here, Robert Motherwell met artist/social realist Ben Shahn. John Cage began to work with Ray Johnson, the painter who would later become famous for the mail art he produced as part of the New York Correspondence School. Robert Creeley and Charles Olson published the Black Mountain Review, working with connections between writing and visual images.
Personalities clashed at Black Mountain, too. Harris is a documentarian, not a gossip, and her unbiased faithfulness to every detail of the “process” that was Black Mountain can make for tedious reading at times. But she objectively and humorously depicts the various artistic temperaments present at the school. These included characters like Jean Varda, the Greek-born artist who first arrived to teach in a Model A convertible he’d painted magenta and orange and driven cross-country on three spare tires. He tossed packages of loudly colored Rit dye in a washing machine to dye the shirts he wore open to the waist. In contrast to Josef Albers, to whom students “prayed, knelt beseechingly before the great god of capital A-R-T,” Varda was a breath of fresh and flamboyant air. Literature instructor Ed Dahlberg, Harris recounts, fled home to New York after a mere two weeks at the college. John Rice had described him as a “vague” lecturer, and Anni Albers “sensed the seeds of discontent when Dahlberg extolled Ancient Greece and the pastoral life, but could not stand to get up for breakfast.” Printing instructor Winslow Ames described the college as a “massive sandal bed.” While generally pleased with the school, he found it “rather strange” due to the “almost deliberately and programmatically shallow culture of most of the students who seem to be so firmly anchored in the latest thing.” He cited as a primary example the stray Coca-Cola bottles he saw lying about the campus, which the office had affixed with little signs that read: “This bottle has become ubiquitous. Please help keep the campus neat,” and to which the students responded by crossing out the word “bottle” and replacing it with the word “notice.”
Less successful as a communal model, the larger lesson of Black Mountain is about the elusive aspects of art that cannot be taught in a classroom–making necessary decisions and sacrifices in order to work, forming connections and friendships with other artists, and most importantly, actually doing the work once formal education has ended. Black Mountain College removed the mystery of making art, allowing its students to witness the daily, often very mundane struggle to produce work. Of course, this arrangement in many ways made the struggle even harder for artists who were used to their privacy. As Harris notes, the more solitary artists in fact produced their best and most famous works away from Black Mountain: Josef Albers’ Graphic Tectonics and Variations on a Theme series, Olson’s “Special View of History” and “New Sciences of Man,” for instance. Some of the major hallmarks of Black Mountain College–the Merce Cunningham dance company, John Cage’s seminal performance piece that became known as the first “Happening,” and Fuller’s dome–were actually collaborative works.
“It was a unique and vital experiment that occurred at a particular time in American history,” Harris maintains. Following the initial publication of this book, an attempt was made to re-form the Black Mountain College. Although the new college was built from the same elements as the first–a lack of grades, a famous faculty, a farm, a work program–the new school quickly failed. Harris unfortunately does not venture to explain the specifics of the demise of the second college, offering only the detailed story of the first as an example. Perhaps the new founders were impatient with the lack of immediate success, perhaps there were financial or administrative problems that were not foreseen; in any case, the elements did not produce the same vibrant atmosphere of the first school. Black Mountain helped bring about ideals of interdisciplinary learning, the integration of the study of fine arts, farm and work programs that are used in several American colleges today, and even Warren Wilson College in the same area of North Carolina. Yet today’s art schools tend to be more career oriented and it would be difficult to find a group of artists of the same caliber as the Black Mountain faculty who are willing to sacrifice a good deal of their private working lives for the sake of education. Although the original Black Mountain was certainly no educational utopia, it succeeded for as long as it did in large part because of the historical events surrounding its creation–the years following the Great Depression, the onset of World War II–and the way in which the faculty and students responded to these changes in the postwar years. As the author concludes, Black Mountain College was not a formula that can be easily copied; rather it was an ongoing process of decision making and experimentation. Her book is a valuable resource for its record of this process and its perspective on an ephemeral time and place.
Rebecca Bengal grew up near Black Mountain, North Carolina. She currently lives in Austin where she is an MFA candidate at the Michener Center for Writers at UT-Austin. | 14,005 | 6,311 | 0.000162 |
warc | 201704 | All refugees in various stages of the asylum process can once again access basic Canadian health care, after the federal government reluctantly agreed to comply with a court-ordered reinstatement.
The revised health program measures unveiled Tuesday, which include medication for children and prenatal care, will be in effect only until Ottawa has exhausted legal avenues in the battle over whether its health-care program for refugee claimants is unconstitutional.
Immigration Minister Chris Alexander stressed that the new measures are just temporary and maintained that the government will continue to appeal the “offside” court decision against the cuts.
“Our government is complying with the recent federal court decision by implementing new measures under the (Interim Federal Health Program). Our position has not changed,” Alexander said in a statement.
“The court’s decision is offside with Canadians’ views on this issue and will cost Canadian taxpayers $4 million more per year. We will continue vigorously to appeal the court’s decision and defend the interests both of Canadian taxpayers and genuine refugees who need and deserve Canada’s protection.”
Critics say the revised coverage announced Tuesday doesn’t restore what refugees were entitled to before 2012 when the Conservatives overhauled the system to create a tiered approach to paying for health care, which drastically restricted the coverage available for some would-be refugees.
It entirely eliminated care for failed claimants awaiting removals from Canada and those seeking asylum from so-called “safe” countries, as designated by the federal government. These individuals were allowed to get care only if they posed a public health risk.
Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers and Justice for Children and Youth, along with two refugee claimants affected by the cuts, subsequently filed a constitutional challenge.
The federal court concluded in July that the cutbacks “potentially jeopardize the health, the safety and indeed the very lives of these innocent . . . in a manner that shocks the conscience and outrages our standards of decency.”
Federal Court Justice Anne Mactavish found the cuts unconstitutional and gave the government four months to reinstate the coverage in place before 2012.
The Conservatives’ failure to do so could possibly put the government in contempt of court.
“What the court had ordered was to turn back the clock to the pre-cuts program. It was not just one court order, but two orders. All they have to do is to reinstate the old program. The government hasn’t done that,” said Maureen Silcoff, one of a team of lawyers representing advocacy groups in the case.
“We are considering what this really means and what options we have for a full compliance.”
Ottawa had been slow in responding to the court order since the Federal Court of Appeal on Friday dismissed the government’s request to delay enforcement of Mactavish’s order while an appeal is pending.
Some advocates were pleased to learn that basic health care is restored for all, though supplemental benefits are available only for children and prenatal care.
“We are certainly pleased to see the government complying with the ruling. We expected nothing less,” said Melanie Spence, a spokesperson for Health for All, one of many groups advocating for the reinstatement of full coverage.
“It is a victory for grassroots mobilization. It is a victory for refugees. It is a victory for frontline health-care providers.”
Alexander had no qualms expressing his disgust for the court ruling.
“We are doing this because the court has ordered us to do it, and we respect that decision while not agreeing with it,” Alexander said Tuesday.
“We are going to continue our appeal, and we are going to continue pointing out to Canadians . . . that refugees continue to benefit from generous benefits in this country. They never stopped benefiting.”
Liberal immigration critic John McCallum said denying refugees health-care will cost taxpayers only more money, because patients typically waited until they were really sick before they went to the emergency room. Six provinces, including Ontario, stepped in to foot the bill for refugee care.
“The fact that the court was able to step in and order the government to reinstate the health services for refugee claimants is very good for Canada,” said McCallum. “The government has no choice but to revoke the cuts.”
With files from The Canadian Press | 4,694 | 2,114 | 0.000494 |
warc | 201704 | Stocks are cheap.The chart below, courtesy of Bloombergtells the story. Currently, the S&P 500P/E ratio is about 14x. The forward P/E, i.e., the P/E ratio based on next year's consensus earnings forecast is about 12.7x. Based on the historical average of 17.0x, stocks are cheap right now. If you are a "reversion to the mean" disciple the current pricing environment should give you a great deal of comfort about the value in stocks. Deere( DE), Cliffs Natural Resources( CLF), Monsanto( MON) and Archer Daniels Midland( ADM). Europe is stabilizing. European leaders have not only been proactive, but effective in solving their debt and economic issues. One of the biggest weights on global growth and stock markets has been worry about break up of the EU. With recent events in Europe, I believe that worry is now effectively off the table. The events that give me confidence are 1) German agreement on a single regulator, in Brussels, to oversee bank capital rules, budgetary decisions and investments among other economic concerns; 2) German agreement on several provisions of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which is headquartered in Luxumbourg and oversees financial assistance to financial troubled EU members. 3) Fairly robust bond auctions for the PIGS nations. The emergence of former prime minister Silvio Berlesconi is unfortunate, and Greece, though upward and onward if you squint very hard, will continue to rattle, but in 2013, the world is going to breathe much, much easier about the EU. | 1,517 | 890 | 0.001127 |
warc | 201704 | This essay has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work written by our professional essay writers.
A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself. and infect a computer. The term virus is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, adware, and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability. A true virus can only spread from one computer to another (in some form of executable code) when its host is taken to the target computer; for instance because a user sent it over a network or the Internet, or carried it on a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB drive.
Discuss the damage that a computer virus can cause to a computer system.
Computer Virus is a kind of malicious software written intentionally to enter a computer without the user's permission or knowledge, with an ability to replicate itself, thus continuing to spread. Some viruses do little but replicate others can cause severe harm or adversely effect program and performance of the system. A virus should never be assumed harmless and left on a system. Most common types of viruses are mentioned below:
Resident Viruses
This type of virus is a permanent which dwells in the RAM memory. From there it can overcome and interrupt all of the operations executed by the system: corrupting files and programs that are opened, closed, copied, renamed etc.
Examples include: Randex, CMJ, Meve, and MrKlunky.
Direct Action Viruses
The main purpose of this virus is to replicate and take action when it is executed. When a specific condition is met, the virus will go into action and infect files in the directory or folder that it is in and in directories that are specified in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file PATH. This batch file is always located in the root directory of the hard disk and carries out certain operations when the computer is booted.
Discuss the security measures that are commonly implemented to safeguard against computer viruses. Prevention
The risk of virus infection can be minimized by a combination of common sense, vigilance, virus defense software and the use of virus alert services. The most effective solutions use a combination of these. The following sections describe some general steps to take to prevent a virus infection.
Common sense and vigilance
Keep your premises physically secure. This makes good sense in all circumstances, especially as some intruders have been known to introduce viruses deliberately by using infected floppy discs.
Do not open suspicious e-mails or attachments. Treat as suspicious any e-mails from:
- anonymous senders
- strangers addressing you in a familiar manner
- non-standard addresses.
Virus defense software
Basic actions (again, based on common sense) should include the following:
Keep your Internet browser up-to-date by 'patching' it regularly. Most browser updates include new security elements to meet newly identified virus
threats. These updates can be obtained from Microsoft (for Internet Explorer) or Netscape.
Purchase virus defense software. You should identify your individual requirements depending on your technical infrastructure, geographic spread and dependency on technology.
Any technical solutions need to be managed. The following steps provide a simple framework.
Define a virus defense strategy, addressing:
- gateway virus checking
- server virus checks
- workstation virus checks
- update mechanism for patches and fixes
- isolation policy
- recovery procedures.
Alert services
Virus alert services are provided by a number of bodies, including:
European Institute for Computer Anti-Virus Research
www.eicar.org
Symantec Security Response
http://www.symantec.com/en/uk/business/security_response/index.jsp
Sophos Virus Information
http://www.sophos.com/security/
SECURITY: HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST COMPUTER VIRUSES
Details on subscription to these services can be obtained directly from the service itself. If alerts are used, they should be combined with a practical procedure for updating the systems at risk, including your servers, desktops and laptops.
N.B. Inclusion of companies listed on these pages does not reflect any form of endorsement by BERR.
Describe a computer worm in the context of internet security What is the worm in computer?
Computer worms are malicious software applications designed to spread via computer networks. Computer worms are one form of malware along with viruses andtrojans. A person typically installs worms by inadvertently opening an email attachment or message that contains executable scripts.
Once installed on a computer, worms spontaneously generate additional email messages containing copies of the worm. They may also open TCP ports to create networks security holes for other applications, and they may attempt to flood the LAN with spurious Denial of Service (DoS) data transmissions.
What are computer worms? A computer worm is a self-replicating computer program. It uses a network to send copies of itself to other nodes (computers on the network) and it may do so without any user intervention. Unlike a virus, it does not need to attach itself to an existing program. Worms almost always cause at least some harm to the network, if only by consuming bandwidth, whereas viruses almost always corrupt or modify files on a targeted computer Discuss the damage that a computer worm can cause.
A worm may infect a computer without any action on the users part, or it may trick a user into performing an action which would allow it to infect the computer; though a worm that requires a user to propagate borders on being a Trojan horse, which is another form of malware.
Worms may propagate over a computer network, portable storage, or any other means in which any data could enter a system by exploiting un-patched vulnerabilities in the computer's software.
Discuss the term computer hacking
Computer hacking is more difficult to define. Computer hacking always involves some degree of infringement on the privacy of others or damage to computer-based property such as files, web pages or software. The impact of computer hacking varies from simply being simply invasive and annoying to illegal. There is an aura of mystery that surrounds hacking, and a prestige that accompanies being part of a relatively elite group of individuals who possess technological savvy and are willing to take the risks required to become a true hacker
a hacker can be defined as:
A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary.
One who programs enthusiastically (even obsessively) or who enjoys programming rather than just theorizing about programming.
A person capable of appreciating hack value.
A person who is good at programming quickly.
An expert at a particular program, or one who frequently does work using it or on it.
Discuss the ethical issues concerning computer hacking and the fact that computer hackers are looked down upon from an ethical point of view. Ethics Of Hacking
Cracking is the correct concept for deconstructing/sabotaging in the cyberspace/Internet, e.g. by circumventing the security of a website and posting your own (critical) stuff on their site or spreading viruses in the Internet. Hacking, on the other hand, is about using and reconstructing the computer or other machines/systems in a new and (by the owners and inventors) unintended way. Hacking is about reclaiming the system, manipulating it and using it, not destroying it. Both terms define people who can break into computer systems and rewrite programs, but hackers do not use their knowledge offensively or illegally. Crackers use their skills for illegal use: distributing pirated materials, stealing money and identities, etc.
Describe a firewall in the context of internet security
firewall is a part of a computer system or network that is designed to block unauthorized access while permitting authorized communications. It is a device or set of devices which is configured to permit or deny computer applications based upon a set of rules and other criteria.
Firewalls can be implemented in either hardware or software, or a combination of both. Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet, especially intranets. All messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified security criteria.
There are several types of firewall techniques:
Packet filter: Packet filtering inspects each packet passing through the network and accepts or rejects it based on user-defined rules. Although difficult to configure, it is fairly effective and mostly transparent to its users. It is susceptible to IP spoofing.
Application gateway: Applies security mechanisms to specific applications, such as FTP and Telnet servers. This is very effective, but can impose a performance degradation.
Circuit-level gateway: Applies security mechanisms when a TCP or UDP connection is established. Once the connection has been made, packets can flow between the hosts without further checking.
Proxy server: Intercepts all messages entering and leaving the network. The proxy server effectively hides the true network addresses.
Discuss the Application Layer Firewall and the Network Layer Firewall in your report.
An application firewall is a form of firewall which controls input, output, and/or access from, to, or by an application or service. It operates by monitoring and potentially blocking the input, output, or system service calls which do not meet the configured policy of the firewall. The application firewall is typically built to monitor one or more specific applications or services (such as a web or database service), unlike a network firewall which can provide some access controls for nearly any kind of network traffic. There are two primary categories of application firewalls, network-based application firewalls and host-based application firewalls network-based application layer firewall is a computer networking firewall operating at the application layer of a protocol stack and are also known as a proxy-based or reverse-proxy firewall. Application firewalls specific to a particular kind of network traffic may be titled with the service name, such as a web application firewall. They may be implemented through software running on a host or a stand-alone piece of network hardware. Often, it is a host using various forms of proxy servers to proxy traffic before passing it on to the client or server. | 10,763 | 4,729 | 0.000213 |
warc | 201704 | [Remarks As Prepared]
Thank you. I wanted to start by thanking the Center for American Progress and the American Enterprise Institute. I was going to call them the odd couple, but indeed I'm proud to be here associated with each of them. I wanted to use my introductory comments here to provide a framework on issues related to the international community's role in preventing and ending armed conflict. And to then develop some of the themes in our discussion period thereafter. I start from the standpoint and the premise that the United States has a deep stake in encouraging stability and development in the developing world. President Obama in September of last year produced a presidential policy directive that for the first time in American history, stressed the importance of conflict resolution and development in our national priorities. This was building obviously on previous president's activities, but it was the first time a presidential directive was actually issued. And it made perhaps a strongest case that America has interest in international development and conflict resolution.
We have a security interest because states that are prosperous and free from conflict generally do not traffic in drugs and persons and weapons, they don't spew out large numbers of refugees across borders and across oceans, they don't serve as breeding grounds for pandemic diseases, they don't have pirates off their shore, and perhaps most importantly, they don't require American forces on the ground. But the President said as well that encouraging stability and conflict resolution in these countries is in our national economic interest as well. Because as we look ahead over the next 20 years, some 85% of the growth in economies around the world will come in developing countries. And that means exports for American companies and that means jobs.
But the President took it one step further and said that encouraging stability and conflict resolution is in our values structure as well. We as Americans prefer to live in a world that's peaceful, democratic, prosperous, and respectful of human rights and human dignity. Following up on that document there was the world-famous QDDR, and the single mistake I made in terms of getting confirmed too quickly was that I had the pleasure of being involved in the last two months of producing that document. It is in fact a remarkable statement of America's interest in diplomacy and development, and one of the key things it does is recognize that conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and post conflict reconstruction form the bedrock of diplomacy and development and are a reflection of our civilian power in our national interest. When we turn to this area of conflict resolution and conflict prevention, it is now generally accepted that this is a role that USAID should be playing. We have for a long time talked about what are the parameters for USAID's engagement, and I think the inability to figure it out exactly has led to a proliferation of terms that we use to refer to this challenge. We talk about it as the relief to recovery, the development continuum, we talk about it as stabilization operations, we talk about it as the missing middle, nation building, countering violent extremism and insurgency, complex humanitarian emergencies, peace building, and when the military sometimes refers to it, they say that civilians, USAID and State Department, are force multipliers for their efforts, which is a phrase that we don't always appreciate all that much.
But as we look at this field, I think it's important to remember that the traditional dividing line that we've all seen between hard national security issues and issues of human security, which are generally considered to be soft, are hopelessly and permanently blurred. Today there are no hard issues, there are no soft issues. Crisis and conflict no longer remain in their separate boxes any more than they respect national borders. You simply cannot achieve or even adequately address the fundamental goals of promoting governance, sustainable development, and international stability and cooperation in the presence of conflict and violence. At present USAID now has 25% of our staff in the two dozen countries that are most vulnerable to armed conflict. And from a resource standpoint, 70 - 80 % of our budget has been dedicated to humanitarian response, transition, and development in these settings. We now have a plethora of acronyms, whether it's OTI or OFDA or DART, or the Civilian Response Corps, CRC. At State we are now getting our own set of institutions, a coordinator for reconstruction and stabilization and soon there will be an undersecretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights as well as a bureau for conflict stabilization operations.
Today USAID people in the field have to be a combination of diplomat, humanitarian relief coordinator, security expert, military liaison officer, public affairs officer, risk manager, and even psychologist. We're asking our staff to implement security sector reform, to mobilize and to reintegrate armed combatants, to support transitional justice mechanisms, to administer elections, to empower and protect women and disabled persons, to conduct humanitarian demining, to return refugees and IDPs to their home, to build roads and infrastructure in the presence of armed combatants and so on.
As we look at where we engage, in the prevention side I think it's important that we identify the drivers of armed conflict and indeed the effort to predict where conflicts will emerge has become a cottage industry now. At USAID we've identified some seven criteria that will basically tell us to some extent where conflict will emerge. The first is where there is a lack of political participation, responsive government, and rule of law. Societies need safety valves to permit peaceful redress of grievances.
Second is areas where there has been rapid urbanization and population pressure coupled with weak economies. One of the quickest routes to conflict is when alienated youth don't see opportunities within their societies and are susceptible to fanatics and zealots.
Third is the absence of institutions or civil society that can draw populations together despite religious, ethnic, class, or political differences.
Fourth is a phrase we hear in another context, location location location. The role of neighbors in either mediating or fueling disputes is fundamental. Countries in bad neighborhoods risk spill over from armed combatants, refugees, and arms flows. Those in good neighborhoods receive a powerful dampening effect on political violence.
Fifth is the militarization of society or put another way, the normalization of violence. This includes whether there is a strong role for the military and the security forces in political life as well as the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
Sixth is whether the society is closed, especially to international influences. Closed political systems, economies, and media environments are dangerous. I like to say the conflict is like a mushroom, it grows best in darkness.
And finally, the question is whether there has been upheaval in that country during the past 15 years. Contrary to the warnings you get on an investment prospectus, the past record is indeed an indicator of future performance.
So if these are the factors that we need to monitor and the potential triggers of conflict, does that mean that the presence of these considerations can doom a society? Well we can't do much about many of these factors indeed, nor can we stop natural disasters that often translate into conflict. Still every drought doesn't have to become a famine, and every weak or poor state is not condemned to instability and abuse. So as we go back and look at USAID's role over the past 40 years in addressing these challenges, what we have found is that there are essentially six simultaneous challenges that need to be addressed.
These are restoring security, building a political framework, kick starting the economy, ensuring justice and accountability, promoting civil society, and getting the regional context right. And I'll go through each of these real quickly.
On security front, international peacekeepers can often provide a buffer, but credible local security forces have to take over to provide a sense of stability, normalcy, and rule of law to everyday life. USAID prioritizes its support for security sector reform, which is essential to creating forces that are well trained, disciplined, and adequately paid so that they do not exploit and abuse the very populations they are supposed to be protecting. There has to be an effective program to disarm, demobilize, and reintegrate ex-combatants, including militias, and perhaps equally important, child soldiers must be allowed to put down their ak-47s and pick up schoolbooks.
The second challenge is to restore legitimate political frameworks. People must have confidence that their government at the national and local levels is fair and just, they must see armed movements transformed into political parties, they need to see effective legislatures and judiciaries which counters the power of the executive which often grows in power during a conflict period. The quick fix of creating national unity including all competing forces is rarely a viable long term solution. Similarly, the premature holding of elections can create a winner take all power dispensation that in itself is a prelude to new conflict from disempowered minorities.
A culture of accountability and transparency has to emerge in government, along with an effective system to protect human rights. This often involves decentralization and local empowerment, but this has to be balanced with the need for a strong central authority in fragile states.
Third is the question of economic renewal. We usually define this strictly in physical terms as rebuilding roads, schools, clinics, power grids and houses, but in fact long term development in most of these conflict situations involves reviving agriculture, creating conditions to allow foreign direct and local investment ensuring a quality of income distribution and creating jobs. As I mentioned before, in the wake of youth unemployment rates of upwards of 90% in some of these countries, there is little surprise that in addition to their brutal forced conscription of child soldiers, renegade leaders have been able to lure disaffected youths with the siren song of quick if venal empowerment and meaning for their lives.
The fourth challenge is to come to grips with past atrocities and abuses. Clearly nations and individuals who have suffered from grievous treatment must balance immediate accountability and long term national reconciliation. But too often transitional justice is addressed through amnesties, tantamount to men with guns forgiving other men with guns for crimes committed against women and children. There is no one size fits all approach to transitional justice whether its action in local courts, whether its the international criminal court, whether it's a truth and reconciliation commission like in South Africa, community court system in Rwanda, or an ad hoc international tribunal in cases where local courts are inadequate. Ensuring accountability is essential to rebuilding the concept of rule of law and eliminating the culture of impunity.
The fifth challenge, which is often ignored, is recreating civil society. Groups of academics, lawyers, teachers, unions, and women are the glue that hold society together and serves as safety valves to permit the peaceful redress of grievances. In most conflict situation, such groups are polarized during the conflict, often due to conscious efforts of divide and rule strategies by national or factional leaders. Disadvantaged minorities, including IDPs and refugees, must be drawn into the mix. In particular, women have to be drawn into peace processes, not just because they are the primary victims of conflict, but because they are the key to peaceful consolidation in post conflict periods. Bringing women to the table improves the quality of agreements reached and involving women in post conflict governance reduces the likelihood of returning to war. We all know the single best investment to revitalize agriculture, to restore health systems, and to improve other social indicators is girls' education. It's been said you educate a boy, you educate an individual, you educate a girl and you educate a community.
The final challenge is getting the regional context right. Neighbors are best positioned to provide a powerful dampening effect on potential violence. Comprehensive peace building must recognize differing yet often synergistic roles to be played and interests to be pursued by neighboring countries, each with their special relationships and contacts with key actors. In this context, it is often useful to have a formal structure or ad hoc friends groups or some form of conflict resolution committee, to bring together regional and sub-regional organizations and countries.
A few points on these six areas that are of interest. It is important, I believe, that we not only look at these as individual activities but we need to look at them closely at sequencing and their application in each country's unique conditions. In almost all cases, there will be a hierarchy of requirements, in many situations the need for restoration of security not only military stabilization but addressing the needs of human security is the first among equals without which little else can take place. Further, we need to acknowledge that there are a lot of internal contradictions at play here. For example, if society recreates security through strengthening military or relying on regional warlords, this can pose a serious threat to the reestablishment of a credible government structure.
Similarly, if you empower and provide legitimacy to the national government, this can easily empower leaders whose interests are more related to their personal advantage including rent seeking opportunities and consolidation of personal power than to more altruistic goals.
I wanted to go back to the beginning of my presentation. I said then that the dividing line between hard and soft issues has blurred or vanished. While I think this is generally true in reality, unfortunately mindsets in the corridors of power have yet to internalize this notion. Non-military tasks related to conflict resolution and prevention still suffer from second class citizenship among foreign actors. Indeed they are often referred to as the soft side of foreign policy. In fact I think we all know that there is nothing soft holding warlords and other human rights violators accountable for abuses, or insisting that women have a seat at the table in peace negotiations and post-conflict governments, there is nothing soft about insuring that roads and villages and farmlands are free of landmines, that governments are empowered to deliver health and education services to their populations, or that neighboring countries and world powers alike cease their meddling and play a positive role in building regional peace and security. These are in fact the hardest issues we face in the challenge of building stable societies out of fragile states, and I salute CAP and AEI for drawing us here together to discuss this issue.
Related Speeches Keynote Address by Administrator Gayle Smith at the InterAction Forum 2016 Gala Banquet & Award Ceremony Remarks by Deputy Administrator Alfonso Lenhardt at the Office of Transition Initiatives 20th Anniversary Celebration Remarks by USAID Asia Bureau Deputy Assistant Administrator Greg Beck for “The Response to Philippines’ Typhoon Haiyan” conference
Last updated: May 02, 2016 | 15,882 | 6,833 | 0.000147 |
warc | 201704 | “This is worse than I thought it would be,” our contractor said as he stood in our half-finished shower. “This is embarrassing.”
My husband and I were having our upstairs bathroom—a black-and-white bath original to our 1951 Arlington Colonial—gutted and updated. We’d been happy with how prompt and neat the crew had been for its week at our house, but three days into the tile work, we contacted the owner of the firm: A number of our travertine tiles didn’t line up, and some were badly cut. We wanted him to see the sloppy work and have it fixed.
“This tile all has to come down,” the contractor finally said. “I’ll get my best stone guys on this project.”
He did. And he paid for new tile.
My husband and I had learned our first lesson in bathroom renovation: All tile setters are not the same. The workman who had laid our stone wasn’t a novice—he had, according to the contractor, recently done an intricate ceramic-tile backsplash. But he’d never installed stone, and natural stone—which is uneven and heavy—is hard to work with. Tile setters usually charge $2 to $5 per square foot more for stone.
Lesson one: Make sure the person laying your tile has experience with that material—especially stone and glass. Most experts at laying stone can usually lay ceramic or porcelain, which is easier. It doesn’t always work the other way.
Tales of renovations gone wrong are frequent cocktail-party banter. What you often hear is that renovation takes longer and costs more than the contractor tells you. Both were true: Our project, which the contractor had estimated would take four weeks, took 20 weeks and cost 5 percent more. At least the crew finished the work—we’d been warned about contractors who take the money and run.
While our contractor made mistakes, so did we. Here are nine other things I learned the hard way about bathroom renovation.
Even if you’re just giving a bathroom a facelift and not changing walls or plumbing, it pays to consult a designer.
Our first mistake was assuming that because we were just ripping out old tile and fixtures and putting in new—sometimes called a facelift—we didn’t need a bathroom designer.
We were redoing two bathrooms—the black-and-white one on the second floor and a 30-year-old bath with ocean-blue fixtures in a first-floor addition. We had flipped through books and magazines and found photos of the looks we wanted. We had interviewed three contractors and one design/build firm, showing them our photos and getting estimates.
The upper range of the design/build firm’s quote was twice what the three contractors wanted to do our 5½-by-6½-foot upstairs bathroom. (The design/build firm would give us only a range, not a firm estimate, until we paid a $500 design fee.)
My husband was impressed by the design/build firm’s reputation and leaned toward going that route. I balked at spending so much more on a “simple” project. To this day, my wonderful husband has never blamed me for the challenges we had.
We assumed we could get design advice from our tile shop and our contractor. After all, they did bathrooms all the time. The contractor we chose says his firm does at least 40 bathrooms a year.
A few tile shops we visited offered suggestions—some have staff designers, and you can make an appointment. But many tile shops, including the one where we bought our travertine, are staffed by salespeople who know the products but who aren’t designers.
Contractors aren’t designers, either. We threw the contractor a curve when, before signing on the dotted line, we decided to replace the upstairs tub with a luxurious shower. Now it wasn’t a simple facelift. We should have hired a designer at that point.
One reason our first tile setter had problems is that no one had drawn the space for him and figured out where to start the tile and at what height. As he came to the window and had to make the tile in the shower line up with the tile outside the shower, he ran into problems.
Before the owner of the contracting company had the mislaid tile taken down, he brought in a designer to measure the room and to decide exactly where to place the tile, including where accent pieces would go. The new crew followed his drawing and had no problems.
In hindsight, the extra money the design/build firm wanted may have more than paid for our time and frustration. We spent many Saturdays shopping for tile, fixtures, and accessories. While we still would’ve had to do some of that with a design/build firm, it would have handled more details and narrowed our choices. It also would probably have saved us from ordering the wrong tub for our downstairs bath. More on that later.
“One misconception a lot of people have is that bathrooms are easy,” says Mark Richardson, president of Case Design/Remodeling. “Bathrooms, from a design-and-construction point of view, are the hardest.”
It’s worth asking if a design/build firm has a certified bathroom designer on staff; not all do. A friend who paid a design fee to one firm was sent shopping for tile and fixtures with a woman she assumed was a designer but who turned out to be the office bookkeeper.
Lesson two: Unless you know design, it’s worth hiring a bathroom designer. Even if you don’t want to pay for a designer or a design/build firm to work on a project from start to finish, some independent designers offer advice for a flat fee—say, $250. At the very least, make sure your contractor has thought through or sketched out your bathroom, especially tile placement. You usually get what you pay for.
That’s a golden rule you hear all the time, whether buying shoes or furniture. Still, homeowners often assume that a remodeler wanting twice the price for a project is marking up labor and materials too much. That’s sometimes true, but good subcontractors with more experience charge higher hourly rates. Bathrooms require experienced craftsmen—we learned that when our contractor brought in the second tile crew.
“A good question to ask is ‘How many of this type of project did you do in the past 12 months?’ ” says Richardson. “Ninety-nine percent of remodelers are generalists, not bathroom specialists. They may have done only four bathrooms in the past year.”
There’s no guarantee that a high-priced plumber or tile setter will do the job perfectly. Still, says Dee David, a bathroom designer in Falls Church, “you can’t get good quality at a cheap price. If you’re working with Joe in the truck, he probably won’t be able to deliver on your expectations.”
Our contractor gave us a one-year warranty on the work; the pricier design/build firm, we later learned, offers five years. In this economic climate, it’s also a good question whether a contractor will be in business next year—the more established the company, probably the better the chance.
Besides, says Mike Weaver of W.T. Weaver & Sons, a plumbing showroom in Georgetown, “people are always trying to save money, but they’ll probably not redo their bathroom for a very long time, so it’s important to do it right.”
Lesson three: If you’re paying for higher-end tile or fixtures, don’t skimp on labor. You’ll have to take time off work to visit showrooms and meet contractors.
In an area where many people work long hours and some Home Depots are open around the clock, my husband and I assumed that bath showrooms would have evening and weekend hours. We were wrong.
Some tile and plumbing-supply shops are open Saturdays; a few are open Sundays or after hours by appointment. But many are geared to contractors, opening at perhaps 7 am and closing at 3 pm, with no weekend hours.
“If you want a good-quality designer, a good-quality contractor, you need to work with them on their schedule,” says David.
Lesson four: Be flexible. Contractors can’t always work around you—and you may not want to hire those who can. Small baths are harder to renovate.
Partway through our project, a bathroom designer told me that small bathrooms are harder for contractors.
We’d had our own problems designing our small upstairs bath. We had to find a sink no wider than 20 inches—harder than it sounds—and a fairly compact toilet. We went to several showrooms before finding what we wanted at Union Hardware in Vienna.
What we didn’t know is that small spaces are hard for contractors, too. They’ve got to fit a lot into a small space, and there will be more frequent tile cuts.
A bigger issue, says Dee David, is that smaller bathrooms are often in older homes. A home more than 40 years old has settled, and the walls and floor may no longer be level or square. A contractor can adjust for that. In our case, the company installed new subfloor and laid the floor tile on a diagonal to hide the slightly off-square walls. But you may not know what you’re dealing with—for example, hidden water damage or plumbing problems—until the plaster and drywall come down.
“From both a design and technical standpoint,” says Case’s Richardson, “bathrooms are the riskiest renovations. There’s plumbing, there’s electrical. If you do something wrong, the cost and pain of fixing it are great.”
Lesson five: If you have an older home, be prepared for surprises. A bathroom may be the smallest room in a house, but there are dozens of decisions.
We had spent hours at a tile shop picking porcelain and ceramic tile for the walls and floor of our downstairs bath. Then the saleswoman said, “Now you have to pick your grout.”
I groaned. Already there had been more decisions than we’d expected for both bathrooms: What style of trap did we want under the wall-mounted sink upstairs? What seat did we want on our dual-flush Toto toilet? Did we want the edges of the bullnose tile round or straight?
“In the past few years there have been more new choices in bathroom products than in all of the past 100 years,” Richardson says. “It’s overwhelming.”
It wasn’t that we didn’t have answers for most of questions; it’s that after a while the level of detail became mind-numbing—so much so that we made mistakes.
When ordering the tub for downstairs, I was presented with two cast-iron choices by Kohler that would match my sink. The saleswoman suggested that the tubs were similar except in price—one was $600 more. I couldn’t see the cheaper tub in person; it wasn’t on display. Because she seemed to be suggesting there was no reason to pay extra, I chose the less expensive model. I never took a hard look at the dimensions. Only later, when the tub was delivered, did we realize it was a builder-grade model too shallow and narrow to allow a decent bath. Waiting for the new, more comfortable tub held up the project two weeks.
It wasn’t the only mistake we made on materials. When the downstairs bath’s floor tile was incorrectly installed—laid straight instead of diagonally—the contractor offered to redo it. At the tile shop, I opted for a different tile that was in stock rather than waiting two weeks for the original tile to come in. But I didn’t realize that the pattern of each ceramic tile would vary greatly from the sample—until the tile was on the floor. Next time, I’d look at every tile in the box and take out the ones I didn’t like.
It’s important to think through every detail. “A typical thing people don’t think about when planning their bathroom is accessories,” says Dee David. “I tell people that planning where the towel bar is going is just as important as the height of the sink.” Or you may finish the bathroom and realize you didn’t leave space for a towel bar.
Another common problem, says Sarah Bernheisel of Renaissance Tile & Bath in Alexandria: “People plan for the fixtures but don’t think enough about storage.”
Lesson six: Take snacks with you on your shopping excursions; they may take longer than you expect. Bathrooms cost more than you’d think.
“What surprises my clients is how labor-intensive bathrooms are: They’re the most expensive rooms to renovate per square foot,” says Dee David. “That’s because it can take 20-plus people to create a bathroom—the designer, the person you picked the tile from, the guy who cuts the mirror, the guy who does the light.”
Lesson seven: Although a bathroom is a small space, you may have many strangers in and out of your house, from the plumber to the tile setter to the painter. Don’t dwell just on design—consider function.
Before my husband and I embarked on our project, we gave a lot of thought to what we liked and didn’t about our bathrooms. It’s one reason we tore out the tub upstairs—we never used it. We also installed extra lighting in both dark bathrooms.
In my bath, I weighed a jetted tub versus non-jetted, a shower door versus a curtain. I changed the mirror placement so it was easier for me to get ready in the morning.
But I admit that I gave more thought overall to looks than to function. I had fallen in love with a particular Kohler pedestal sink, and I had the bathroom built around it. I spent hours poring over the sink faucet and the tile but only minutes picking a showerhead and the heated floor—decisions that later mattered when the showerhead was too low and had to be raised and the heated floor didn’t work as well as I thought it would.
“There’s a natural tendency on the part of homeowners to immediately go to a showroom and choose product instead of taking an inventory of their needs,” says Case’s Mark Richardson.
My husband and I had also debated whether to gut both baths or simply do cosmetic touchups. Why not tile over the chipped floor and refinish the tub? One contractor pushed us in that direction—but the price wasn’t that big a savings.
Valery Tessier-Leon, a project designer at Case Design/Remodeling, says that when clients ask her that—“Should I just tile over?”—she counters with “How long do you plan to stay in your home?” If a bathroom is more than 20 years old—a typical lifespan, she says—and you expect to be in the house another decade or more, you might save money by gutting a bathroom in which problems, such as a cracked shower pan, could surface later.
Lesson eight: Before you go shopping, think about how you use your bathroom, what you’d change, and how long you plan to be in your house. Your contractor will make decisions you may not like or understand.
Anyone who has had renovation done knows that you may come home at some point, look at the work that’s been done that day, and think, “Why did they do that?”
We had a number of those moments, as with a light fixture that wasn’t centered over the medicine cabinet, an oddly cut windowsill, and a shower seat much larger than we’d discussed. Some things were done for a reason; others were not but weren’t worth changing. For example, we had told our contractor three times to use ivory grout on the stone tile. We came home to sand-colored grout—which I ended up liking better.
We talked to or e-mailed our contractor almost every day and met with him weekly, trying to avoid surprises. For the most part, our contractor had no problem when we asked to have something fixed.
Lesson nine: If a contractor does something you don’t like, point it out. But if you’re a perfectionist, you’ll need to let go of some things or you’ll go mad. No one but you is going to notice sand-colored versus ivory grout. Try to keep the project in perspective.
For many people, bathrooms are a sanctuary—and if they’re spending all this money on renovating their sanctuary, they want to sweat the details and get it right.
Like many a homeowner who has done renovation, I became obsessed with it. I’m sure I drove my contractor crazy. It was sometimes all I could talk about with friends, family, and colleagues—sorry about that, guys—because it was front and center in my mind. It’s stressful: When you come home to chaos and dust and strange men with power tools, your home is no longer a haven. The Friday we came home to the poorly laid tile, I barely slept.
A few days after that sleepless night, I got an e-mail from a friend about someone we knew who had been diagnosed with cancer. It put our bathroom in perspective.
My husband and I planned more date nights to get out of the house, with its drop cloths. Fun evenings helped diffuse some of the stress.
Despite all the aggravation, we’re happy we did our bathrooms over. “Having said everything I said about the risks in redoing a bathroom,” Richardson says, “a bathroom is one of the most important investments you can make in a house.”
Lesson ten: When your bathroom is done, it may not be perfect. I could point out things in our beautiful new baths that I’d now do differently. But I’ll let them go. After all, each looks so much nicer than it did. And it’s just a bathroom. | 17,537 | 7,345 | 0.000144 |
warc | 201704 | The oil in a vehicle’s engine has one main purpose – to keep all of the components working properly. This reduces wear on the engine and its parts and ensures that everything works more efficiently and quietly. Keeping the engine oiled also reduces the cost of repairs and helps your vehicle last longer.
Where the oil goes in an engine
The engine must be oiled for smooth, efficient performance, but that includes various components within the system. Oil travels around the following parts of the engine when it is flowing correctly:
Oil pan: This is the place where the oil goes when the engine is shut off, most vehicles will hold between four and six quarts of oil. Pickup tube: This tube picks up the oil from the oil pan when the engine is turned on. Oil pump: The pump pressurizes the oil to pack it more tightly and pushes it up the tube. Pressure relief valve: This reduces the pressure when it has gotten too high. Oil filter: This removes dirt and debris that may have gotten mixed in with the oil from previous passes through the system. Spurt holes and galleries: Holes that were drilled into the crankshaft and other components that allow the oil to pass through and coat cylinders, pistons and bearings. Sump: This allows the oil to slide back into the oil pan to begin the process all over again.
Two types of sumps exist. The first is a
wet sump, which is used in a majority of vehicles. In this system, the oil pan is located on the bottom of the engine where the oil is stored. This design is practical for most vehicles because the pan is located close to where the oil will be used and it is relatively inexpensive to repair.
The second type of sump is the
dry sump, which is most often seen on high-performance vehicles. The oil pan can be located anywhere on the engine and be any shape and size. The reason for this design is that it allows the vehicle to sit lower on the ground, which can improve stability at higher speeds. Another bonus is that extra oil stays away from the crankshaft, which can reduce horsepower when too much oil is present. What engine oil does
While the basic job of oil in the engine system is to keep everything running smoothly, it has several different tasks to achieve that goal. To understand the importance of oil in the system, you have to know the specifics of what it is doing.
First, the oil coats the moving parts so that when they touch other parts, they glide instead of hitting the others and making loud noises. Imagine two metal pieces moving against each other. Without the oil, they would scratch, dent and otherwise damage each other. With the oil between them, the two pieces slide past each other with no marks left behind.
Oil also cleans dust and debris from the working parts. This is the reason that oil must be filtered before it runs through the system again. It picks up dust and dirt from the various components as it moves back to the oil pan. Keeping the system lubricated prevents rust and corrosion. Water, road chemicals, and other substances can get in the engine and would cause rust over time if the oil didn’t keep the metal parts lubricated. As the oil moves around the pistons and bearings, it helps improve sealing so that air doesn’t get in and the engine doesn’t leak. Another use for oil in the engine system is that it carries heat away from the moving components so that the engine stays cooler.
Types of oil
Oils may be either petroleum-based or synthetic (non-petroleum) chemical compounds. They are usually a blend of various chemicals, which includes hydrocarbons, polyinternal olefins and polyalphaolefins. Oil is measured by its viscosity, which is also considered the thickness of the oil. An oil must be thick enough to lubricate the components of the engine while being thin enough to move through the engine. The outside temperature also impacts the viscosity of the oil, and it must be able to maintain proper flow even in low temperatures.
Most vehicles use petroleum-based oil. If you switch to synthetic oil and your vehicle is not designed for it, you can end up damaging your vehicle. Many vehicles begin to use oil if the regular oil is switched with synthetic. Using or burning oil means that it gets by the pistons and into the combustion chamber where it is burned off. The vehicle may produce smoke when this occurs.
Synthetic oil does provide many advantages if your car is designed to use it. This type of oil doesn’t react to differences in temperature and creates better fuel economy. It also provides reduced friction on the engine parts over petroleum-based oil. The engine will last longer and require less maintenance, which means more savings for the owner.
Grading the oil
When you see a carton of oil, you will notice a set of numbers. This is defined as the grade of the oil and is important when determining which oil you will use in your vehicle. The grade system is defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers, which is why you will sometimes see SAE on the oil carton.
The grading begins at zero and increases in increments of five to ten. For example, you will see oil grades of 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, and 60. After the numbers 0, 5, 10, 15, and 25, you will see the letter W, which means winter. This oil is better performing at lower temperatures. The grade 20 may also have a W in front of it but not always, depending on whether it is a hot or cold viscosity grade.
Multi-grade oil is common with vehicles today. This type of oil has special additives included to allow the oil to function in various temperatures. These additives are called viscosity index improvers. In practical terms, it means that vehicle owners no longer have to change out their oil every spring and fall to prepare for the changing temperatures as it was once common to do.
The SAE designates two grades to the oil. One is for the lowest temperature at which the oil can operate and the second grade is for the viscosity at a high temperature. For example, you will see an oil designated as SAE 10W-40. The 10W tells you that the oil has a viscosity of 10 in cold temperatures and a viscosity of 40 at high temperatures.
Oil with additives
In addition to the viscosity index improvers, some manufacturers include other additives to improve the performance of the vehicle or the way the oil works. For instance, detergents may be added to help clean the engine. Other additives may help prevent corrosion or neutralize acidic products in the oil.
Molybdenum disulfide additives have been used to reduce wear and friction and were popular until the 1970s. Many additives have not been proven to improve performance or reduce wear and have become less common in today’s motor oils.
Problems related to oil in a vehicle
When the lubricating system doesn’t work properly, it can cause serious damage to a vehicle. One of the most obvious issues is when a vehicle leaks oil. If the issue isn’t addressed, the vehicle could run out of oil. Your engine will quickly be damaged and need replacing when this happens. It often throws a rod or piston when it isn’t lubricated properly.
The first step is determining where the oil is leaking. A professional will find the leak and make the repair. It may come from a damaged or leaking seal or a gasket. If it is the oil pan gasket, it can easily be replaced. A leak in the head gasket can cause permanent damage to a vehicle’s engine, and the entire head gasket will need to be replaced. If your coolant has a light brown color to the liquid, this is an indication that the problem is a blown head gasket. This part is designed to keep the oil inside the engine compartment and away from the coolant and other systems.
Another issue is low oil pressure on the gauge in your dashboard. Low pressure can occur for various reasons. If the wrong type of oil is put in a vehicle, it can lower the pressure in the summer or winter. A clogged filter will also reduce the oil pressure. Other causes include rod bearings and crankshaft journals that need to be replaced.
Maintaining your lubrication system
To keep your engine in proper working order, you need to maintain the system. This means changing the oil and oil filter as recommended by your vehicle owner’s guide. You also must use only the grade of oil that is recommended by the manufacturer. If you notice any problems with your engine or an oil leak, you should have your car serviced by a mechanic right away. | 8,522 | 3,622 | 0.000279 |
warc | 201704 | P2647 code definition
A Rocker Arm Actuator System Stuck on Bank 1
What the P2647 code means
This trouble code indicates that the powertrain control module has detected a malfunction in the intake camshaft rocker arm actuator system (A). This code is usually found in vehicles that have variable valve timing.
What are the causes of the P2647 code?
Some of the potential causes of this trouble code would include:
The engine timing may be out of specification
A faulty oil control valve or restricted orifice may be a factor
Damaged wiring or connector that is associated with the oil control valve may be present
Low oil pressure / Low engine oil may be causing this issue
A faulty powertrain control module may exist
What are the symptoms of the P2647 code?
Symptoms of this trouble code that the driver may experience would include:
Hesitation or stumble upon acceleration. Poor engine performance overall A check engine light How does a mechanic diagnose the P2647 code?
The first thing a mechanic would do to diagnose this issue would be to check the engine oil level and check for a low oil pressure light. After that the mechanic would ensure that the engine timing is correct using the marks supplied by the manufacturer. If all timing marks appear to be correct, the mechanic would then test the variable valve timing parts to ensure proper function. Next, the mechanic would test all circuitry related to the variable valve timing system. Finally, the mechanic would use a high tech scan tool to test the powertrain control module. If any parts turn out to be faulty during this diagnosis, they would need to be replaced before moving to the next step. The mechanic would likely explain to the customer that multiple parts may need to be replaced and multiple diagnostic tests may need to be carried out.
Common mistakes when diagnosing the P2647 code
It is very easy to replace other parts in error when low or wrong engine oil is the actual cause of this issue. It is very important that checking the engine oil is the first step in the diagnostic process of this trouble code.
How serious is the P2647 code?
This trouble code would be considered serious regardless of the cause but more serious if a timing issue is present. This can cause severe engine damage especially in interference engines. It is important to have this trouble code diagnosed and repaired as soon as possible.
What repairs can fix the P2647 code?
Repairs that can resolve the issues that are caused by this trouble code would include:
Replacing the oil control valve or other variable valve timing components
Repairing or replacing wiring or connectors that are associated with the variable valve timing system
Additional comments regarding the P2647 code
It is very important that the vehicle does not get driven much with this trouble code stored as severe engine damage may result. If this issue is not diagnosed sooner rather than later, the repair costs could increase significantly.
Need help with a P2647 code?
YourMechanic offers certified mobile mechanics who will come to your home or office to diagnose and repair your vehicle. Get a quote and book an appointment online or speak to a service advisor at 1-800-701-6230 | 3,243 | 1,354 | 0.000745 |
warc | 201704 | Newsroom
Speeches By EPA Administrator
Press Conference on Community Revitalization and Brownfields Cleanup Act of 199703/19/1997
Carol M. Browner
Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Press Conference on Community Revitalization and
Brownfields Cleanup Act of 1997
Remarks Prepared for Delivery
March 19, 1997
Washington, DC
Thank you, Minority Leader Gephardt. I am delighted to join you, Congressmen Dingell, Oberstar and the other cosponsors for the unveiling and introduction of the Community Revitalization and Brownfields Cleanup Act of 1997. This Brownfields redevelopment legislation is an important step toward restoring hope, opportunity and jobs to communities and neighborhoods that are being held back by the presence of old, abandoned industrial sites. I’m talking about sites that may be lightly contaminated with toxic waste -- a relic from the days before such substances were regulated. Entrepreneurs may balk at starting new businesses and creating jobs at these sites, largely because they fear they may be saddled with the cost of cleaning up the mistakes of the past. I’ve visited many of these sites. You can feel their potential and their promise. Local residents, business and government officials are joining together, looking for ways to turn them around. We ought to be helping them do that in any way we can. This legislation builds on the Clinton Administration’s Brownfields Action Agenda, initiated two years ago, which is producing results that make economic sense, environmental sense and common sense in cities across this country. It is designed to help lift the stigma that hangs over Brownfields areas, to enable communities to realize their full redevelopment potential. So far, EPA has funded a total of 78 Brownfields pilot projects -- and in so doing we have helped communities build a more unified approach to cleaning up and redeveloping these sites. These Brownfields assessment grants -- up to $200,000 each -- provide money that communities can use to determine their own needs and promote economic development the way they believe it will work the best. We will be announcing another 25 grants within the next few weeks. We have also worked to build partnerships among government agencies, businesses and community groups. In dozens of cities, these partnerships have become the catalyst for Brownfields redevelopment. We have committed ourselves to addressing the liability problems that so often act as barriers to progress in cleaning up Brownfields properties. We have also removed more than 29,000 sites from the Superfund master list, thereby lifting the stigma that can prevent redevelopment from moving forward. Our goal is to encourage redevelopment by assuring potential developers that they won’t be held accountable for someone else’s contamination -- as long as they don’t make it worse. Last year, President Clinton announced an additional, important effort -- to provide targeted tax incentives to those who purchase and clean up abandoned industrial sites. Finally, we have worked with other agencies to build employment training opportunities so that residents of Brownfields neighborhoods can benefit from the new jobs that are created through redevelopment. This legislation will help take the Brownfields agenda to a higher, more effective level -- enabling us to bring environmental renewal and economic revitalization to more of our communities. We have an ongoing responsibility to find better, more effective ways to clean up these Brownfields sites, to work with affected communities, and to give them hope for the future. These communities need Brownfields legislation now. They should not have to wait for completion of the much broader and more complex Superfund reauthorization. At the same time, our Administration believes it is important that Congress move to build on the administrative reforms we have in place in today’s Superfund program. We look forward to working with members to develop responsible, consensus-based legislation to finish the job of ridding America’s neighborhoods of toxic waste dumps. Again, I commend the Minority Leader and the cosponsors for their leadership on Brownfields legislation. I look forward to working with you and other members toward building the support we’ll need to get it passed into law. Working together, we can continue this nation’s 25 years of progress in protecting public health and the environment. We can protect our health, our communities, our economy -- and pass along a safe, healthy world to our children. Thank you. | 4,632 | 2,111 | 0.00048 |
warc | 201704 | How Elizabeth Warren will harm fast food workers, the working poor
Progressive hero and possible 2016 presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren spoke at Netroots Nation on Friday and listed what "progressive" means to her. One of the items on her list is very pro-corporate and would negatively impact lower-skilled American workers.
Warren asked the rhetorical question "What does it mean to be a progressive?" [1] then laid out her 11 answers. Here are her answers that are relevant to this discussion:
* "We believe that Wall Street needs stronger rules and tougher enforcement, and we're willing to fight for it."
* "We believe in science, and that means that we have a responsibility to protect this Earth."
* "We believe that no one should work full-time and still live in poverty, and that means raising the minimum wage."
* "We believe that fast-food workers deserve a livable wage, and that means that when they take to the picket line, we are proud to fight alongside them."
* "We believe that students are entitled to get an education without being crushed by debt."
* "We believe that immigration has made this country strong and vibrant, and that means reform."
The last item in that list undercuts the rest. There's a reason the US Chamber of Commerce, WalMart, McDonalds, Marriott International, Tyson Foods, and other major corporations agree with Warren on the general concept of comprehensive immigration reform: more labor will help reduce their wage costs. Major corporations are spending millions or tens of millions per year lobbying for looser immigration rules, mass immigration, more high-tech visas (H1B), and so on. Instead of opposing those major corporations on attempts to lower wages, Warren would give them what they want.
Another group of very large corporations that want more immigration are big banks: see immigration banks. They want to open accounts for immigrants, no matter their immigration status. They want to give them home loans. And, they want to take a cut of the money that immigrants and illegal aliens send home (see remittances). As with chicken processors and fast food restaurants, Warren would give Bank of America, Wells Fargo, CitiBank and the rest what they want. The Federal Reserve is also trying to take a cut of remittances, and Warren would give them what they want too.
If it's unclear that Warren's position on immigration would lower wages and decrease safety standards, ask yourself why all those top corporations are spending so much money promoting the same thing as Warren. Would fast food restaurants and growers push a policy that would increase their wage costs? Would chicken processors push a policy that would increase safety standards in their plants?
But, what about the minimum wage? Wouldn't that fix the situation? Perhaps. More likely, corporations worth trillions of dollars would find work-arounds. For instance, by increasing the number of the independent contractors they use (independent contractors are generally not eligible for the minimum wage). Or, by simply increasing the number of illegal aliens they employ off the books. In that case, can you realistically see Elizabeth Warren busting companies for the bogus use of independent contractors, when it would mean throwing illegal aliens out of work? Take a clue from Obama: after an immigration raid, his administration gave the illegal aliens caught up in the raid work permits. Does anyone think Warren would do something different?
Of course, there's a good chance Warren wouldn't get a major increase in the minimum wage. There would be more labor in the U.S. due to Warren's loose immigration policies, and that means lower wages and reduced safety standards.
Warren's loose immigration policies would also impact another item on her list: more people use more resources, negatively affecting the environment.
Those same policies would negatively impact college students. Can anyone see Warren opposing college educations and college discounts for illegal aliens? As illustrated on the DREAM Act page, any college slot or discount given to an illegal alien is one that was taken from an American. Warren's student loan discounts aren't going to help those Americans that want to go to college but can't because they were displaced by a foreign citizen here illegally.
I realize that the above might be greeted with hostility or disbelief from some Warren supporters. They can't believe that she'd promote highly pro-corporate policies that would lower wages. In that case, please do your own research and think this through with an open mind. What other explanation for the actions of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce can you come up with? Could it be that Warren is either not what she appears or has made a mistake?
If - after thinking this through - you want to do something, do a Twitter search for those using hashtags like #ReadyForWarren, #RunLizRun or tweeting at @SenWarren. Then, make the points above to them. You can even do that as a Warren supporter, with the goal of helping improve her policies.
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[1] nationaljournal . com/politics/ elizabeth-warren-s-11-commandments-of-progressivism-20140718 | 5,219 | 2,333 | 0.000432 |
warc | 201704 | But a recent study by the non-profit Checkbook.org shows that making a few calls can really pay off for both your pet and your pocketbook.
Checkbook asked more than 10,000 pet owners in the Delaware Valley to rate more than 160 local veterinary clinics.
Then, they called around and got prices from those clinics for routine services, such as spaying, neutering and dental cleanings.
Robert Krughoff, Checkbook's President, says the findings were surprising.
"So for instance, to neuter a 30-pound, 6-month-old dog, Checkbook found prices ranging from, $100 up to $555 dollars for exactly the same service," Krughoff explains. "Dramatic differences is price. And we found this again and again for different types of service."
Further, they found no correlation between quality and price.
Krughoff says, "Some of the lowest-priced vets were among some of the highest rated in terms of what the customer said about them, in terms of the quality of care and advice that they got from those vets."
Krughoff says pet owners can also save by keeping up on preventive care and by seeing if vets will consult over the phone, instead of insisting on office visits.
And there's nothing stopping you from getting price quotes for routine services yourself, which are a good indicator of that clinic's general pricing.
"If a vet has good prices on routine things like neutering and teeth-cleaning and things like that." Krughoff says, "You can be pretty sure that the vet is going to have reasonable prices on the things that you can't know in advance."
To read more about Checkbook.org's survey of veterinarians, click here. | 1,635 | 855 | 0.001186 |
warc | 201704 | Lipid-lowering effect of maize-based traditional Mexican food on a metabolic syndrome model in rats
Maize-based food is typical in Mexico and other Mesoamerican countries. Used for millennia, they have recently been replaced by modern food that is associated with an increase in the prevalence of non-communicable chronic diseases.
This study was carried out in order to evaluate the effects of traditional food on lipid profiles. Methods: Metabolic syndrome was induced in animals given a 30% sucrose solution. The animals were given maize tortillas (n=5) and maize pozol (n=5), traditional Mexican food items. A control group was given a 30% sucrose solution in the laboratory diet (n=5) and a witness group was given plain water and pellets. Triglycerides, cholesterol and glucose in tail blood were recorded each month between weeks 12 to 24. Blood was obtained from the cardiac cavity on week 28 and triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, C-reactive protein, alanine amino transferase, glucose and glycated hemoglobin were recorded. Results: The animals provided with supplementary traditional food presented a lower increase in triglycerides up to week 24 (p<0.001). Data recorded on week 28 showed lower values of LDL (p<0.05), a lower percentage of glycated hemoglobin when maize tortillas were provided (p<0.01) and lower values of alanine amino transferase when both food items were provided (p<0.01). Conclusions: Providing traditional Mexican food generated a protective effect against the intake of a 30% sucrose solution over a long period. Published on: 2013-03-15
Discussions | 1,601 | 802 | 0.001251 |
warc | 201704 | In this section, the proposed models are applied to modeling the decision-making of pedestrians in shopping streets. The satisficing model is applied to the decision of terminating the shopping trip, or the Go-Home decision; the comparative model is applied to the decision of walking direction choice. Both models are compared with the conventional MNL models. The data were collected in East Nanjing Road (ENR), a popular shopping street in Shanghai, China.
5.3.1. The Go-Home Decision
5.3.1.1. Model specification
Two kinds of real time are used in the models as explanatory factors: relative time () and absolute time (tA), both in minutes. Relative time refers to the time elapsed since a pedestrian starts the shopping trip. It correlates with the progress of purchasing the planned items during the shopping trip, visiting schedules and how tired the pedestrian has become. Absolute time refers to the time difference between the current clock time and the 0:00 base. It correlates with available time budgets reflecting when the pedestrian must turn to other business.
Under the framework of HHM, a pedestrian decides to go home, if
Here is an N-element (more accurately, N is specific to each X) row vector of factor state values, is a column vector of factor threshold values and Ψ(ψ) is an element-wise identity function being 1 for the true relationships, being 0 for the false relationships. That means if the overall value of going-home is larger than the overall threshold, then the pedestrian will go home. Otherwise, he/she will keep shopping.
To estimate the distribution of A as depicted inEq. (5.16), the value of each decision heuristic is calculated. The estimations of and provide the preference structure, from which the stopping conditions for each heuristic can be inferred. To complete the calculation of mental effort, the effort for processing each factor can be estimated as separate effort parameters. However, the results showed that estimating factor-specific effort parameters does not bring significant improvement to the model compared to only one effort parameter for all factors. Furthermore, this effort parameter cannot be separated from the weight parameter in Eq. (5.23). Thus, is assumed to be negative to represent some kind of cost.
The last element required for calculating mental effort is the probability beliefs of factors being in certain states. Although people may have different belief distributions, which can be estimated for each factor state, the results showed that they add more complexity than goodness-of-fit to the model compared with uniform probability beliefs. The uniform probability means that the belief that a factor being in a
(5.31)
particular state is equally probable. With the probability beliefs, the risk perception of each heuristic can be calculated.
Given the estimated distribution of preference structures, the expected probability of a pedestrian deciding to go home is estimated using the latent-class structure described in Eq. (5.14). In total, the parameters that are simultaneously estimated include, factor state weights, WX, and factor thresholds, ΔX. The number of their elements are not set a priori, but estimated through model selection. The parameter for mental effort, β6, as discussed before, is assumed to be negative; the parameter for risk perception, βr, is assumed to be positive because pedestrians, ceteris paribus, are assumed to prefer diverse decision outcomes to betting on very few highly probable outcomes; the sign of the parameter for expected outcome, β°, is not assumed, but determined empirically.
Found a mistake? Please highlight the word and press Shift + Enter | 3,726 | 1,683 | 0.000602 |
warc | 201704 | XSS & friends: Text Handling in PHP applications Update: I jotted down some initial theory in my Safe String Theory for the Web post.
For a while now, a lot of talk has been going on about XSS, aka
Cross Site Scripting. In October 2005, an XSS worm nearly took down MySpace. Most XSS attacks however are not as benevolent as that. They can be used to steal passwords and other sensitive information, perform distributed Denial-of-Service attacks on sites or generate fraudulent advertisement income.
XSS problems are still rampant in many web applications today though, with PHP applications being especially vulnerable. This has caused some to conclude that XSS problems are even impossible to avoid or at least impractical to completely audit for. However, from a purely technical standpoint, XSS problems are not unique at all. They belong to a wider class of security problems which stem from incorrect handling of user-supplied data (e.g. SQL command injection or e-mail header injection).
So, what makes the web so tricky to secure? Is it because web programmers are inherently 'stupid' and can't 'code properly'? I don't think so.
However, I do think that most web languages (such as PHP) tend to promote a bad approach to coding and by extension, to security. By letting the programmer jump in directly, learning as they go, most people never build-up a complete overview of the programming environment, but simply tweak code 'until it works'. The same applies to security issues: when a bug is found, those people will just tweak a particular line of code until the problem goes away. They won't see the big picture and will make similar mistakes later.
Another serious problem in my opinion is that there is no well-defined vocabulary for the tools used to solve these problems. Umbrella words such as 'filtering' are all too often used and stand in the way of a more precise description. With only vague notions about 'validation', 'special characters' and 'escaping', you cannot understand what's
really going on. Such a lack of insight also prevents people from seeing beyond individual issues.
So I've decided I want to build up a more formalized explanation to text handling. Expect one or more blog posts about this in the future. At least the next time people "lock up" on me, I can point them somewhere. | 2,333 | 1,280 | 0.000785 |
warc | 201704 | Summertime means good weather and a desire to explore the great outdoors. Some of your clients may take advantage of summer by doing activities like
sailing on a boat, jet skiing or riding a dirt bike.
But accidents can happen at any time, and it is important that your client purchases insurance for a
recreational vehicle.
Here are some
insurance policies to keep in mind:
1.
“Agreed value” and “actual cash value” are two basic policies for boat coverage
2. Most state laws require
liability insurance for ATVs and dirt bikes
3. Policies that cover
medical costs, theft and damage are also available for boats, ATVs and dirt bikes
Having the
right coverage is always nice to fall back on in case emergency strikes or damage affects your client’s recreational vehicle. Read the full post for more information.
Ilyce G link is the author of several books, including 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask and B uy, Close, Move In!. She blogs abou t money and real estate at ThinkGlink.com, The Equifax Personal Finance Blogand CBS Moneywatch She is Chief Content Strategist at RealtyJoin.com, a community for re al estate investors. | 1,188 | 695 | 0.00149 |
warc | 201704 | By now it should be clear that the most important thing a biker can do to ensure safe passage along busy city streets is to be seen. Bright day-glo colors aren't just for burned out Haight Street hippies and Alice in Wonderland remakes, they're also the uniform of smart cyclists. Especially at night. High visibility shirts and reflective vests draw attention. So too do bike-mounted reflectors and flashing lights [source: Transportation Alternatives].
In many states, cyclists are required to have a headlight in order to ride at night. For the same reasons that you want others on the road to see you, it's also a good idea to be able to see what's on the road once the sun goes down, whether it's pot holes, speed bumps or small animals. "Front and rear lights are our eyes to the world at night and make us bigger and brighter on the street," say the New York City-based cycling safety enthusiasts at Transportation Alternatives. A white light with at least 500 feet (152 meters) of visibility for the front and a red back light with at least 600 feet (182 meters) of visibility is a good start [sources: Transportation Alternatives, Portland Bureau of Transportation].
Headlamps, like the ones donned by coal miners and cave divers, can also help light up the night. If you're in the market for one of these wearable beams, be sure to consider the lamp's power (measured in lumens), distance (the light's useable range) and battery life [source: REI]. | 1,464 | 790 | 0.001271 |
warc | 201704 | Here’s another post spurred by Bill and our discussion from An Idealist’s View of Agile Hardware Development. This is a good one. If there were an award for best AgileSoC comment, Bill probably would have won it with this…
“Given the cost to tape out a large ASIC these days, we know that these incomplete designs are never going to be shipped. We are going to wait until most or all of the features are in before we ship. We don’t get multiple tapeouts to add incremental features like we can in software.
Now this may sound like I’m arguing against agile HW design but I’m really not. I’d contend that even if we were to just pretend that we could ship a design, it would force us to tie off a lot of loose ends earlier and plan the order we add features much more carefully. In fact, if we were to just change our view to add features in order from most important to least important, we would likely end up with a shippable design much sooner.
I think I may be arguing both sides of the issue here but I truly a believe that if we were to take a more holistic view of chip development and align development, verification and PD to operate in a more incremental fashion, we might just ship the final product sooner even if we don’t end up in that agile nirvana of being about to tape out on any particular Friday afternoon.”
A little context… Bill’s background is physical design. Like the rest of us, Bill finds himself struggling with how we incorporate PD into an ideal agile development flow; one that includes continuous deployment of an ASIC (“agile nirvana” as Bill calls it). Unless you have customers willing to shell out a few million dollars on a monthly basis, continuous deployment isn’t realistic. I think we all understand that as an obvious strike against agile hardware development. But if that’s all it takes for you to walk away from agile, consider Bill’s analysis.
Bill is reminding us there’s no one-strike-and-you’re-out when it comes to agile. Not being able to continuously deploy an ASIC in the strictest sense doesn’t preclude you from using other practices. It also, as he points out, doesn’t keep you from
interpreting the practice of continuous deployment such that we’re still able to add value to a product. Just pretending continuous deployment is viable could help us a) prioritize features; b) tie up loose ends sooner; and c) grease the wheels for an earlier tapeout.
Now, would
pretending to continuously deploy an ASIC be enough to satisfy the agile police? Nope. But pretending could still lead to the major improvement so who cares if the agile police are happy with us or not! I like Bill’s idea of pretending to ship a design and I hope others give it a little thought, especially the people doing physical design.
To keep the ball rolling, I’m going to try and redirect things slightly. In XP, continuous deployment is a corollary practice. That means if we’re jumping directly into discussion about continuous deployment, we’re ignoring several prerequisites, two in particular. Before an agile team is doing continuous deployment, I’m guessing that, at a minimum, they’ll have to master the primary practices of weekly and quarterly releases. So let’s forget about continuously deployment and focus on those as our
pretend deliveries. From there, I’ll put these questions to the PD crowd: What meaningful and complete “product” could you deliver in the first week of development? (who cares what it does as long as it’s shippable) What meaningful and complete “product” could you deliver in the first three months of development? (again… who cares what it does, it just has to be shippable) What inputs would you need from others (designers/architects/etc) for a first weekly/quarterly delivery? What loose ends could you tie up on a weekly/quarterly basis that would grease the wheels for early tapeout? What other XP primary practices would be required for a successful weekly/quarterly release? (if you don’t know what the other primary practices are, you’ll find them in my satirical post on Why Agile will Never Work In Hardware)
We’re brainstorming here so there are no wrong answers. Also, let’s keep it to the ideal as much as we can without restricting ourselves… what
could we do as opposed to what can we do. If you’re looking to strike out on a tangent, there’s always the discussion regarding the tooling required to support weekly and quarterly deliverables. That’d be fun, too.
Back to Bill for a second, thanks for speaking up for the folks on the physical design side of the fence. You’re underrepresented in this discussion about agile development. Hopefully your voice of reason gets things moving a bit.
-neil | 4,917 | 2,217 | 0.000474 |
warc | 201704 | Top 9 Health reasons to get Massage at work
Corporate Massage is not something that every company invests in but, there are scientific studies and research that points clearly to one thing – massage has outstanding benefits for employee health and well-being!
So, if these benefits are so welcome and prevalent after someone has received a massage, why are more companies not investing in massage at work? And what are the benefits?
Here we have listed 9, but the power of massage on your physical and emotional well-being is several fold…
1. Anxiety & depression
Two ‘silent illnesses’ that many people walk around with on a daily basis, with colleagues and peers not noticing in many cases, are depression and anxiety. Despite awareness raising campaigns by Government and mental health charities, there is still significant stigma attached to depression, stress and anxiety.
Employers have a duty of care to their employees to keep them safe, and many forward-thinking organisations also promote stress-free work and environments within the workplace. Massage is a great way of helping people to relax.
The stress hormone cortisol is significantly reduced and, as well as lifting emotional mood, it also lowers blood pressure. Serotonin is the chemical is short supply when someone feels the gloom of depression, with massage promoting the release of this chemical within the brain.
2. Pain
Despite the best efforts in terms of ergonomically designed chairs and desks etc., many employees from sitting with poor posture can be full of aches and pains; pins and needles are also common in hands, shoulders etc. from sitting for too long in a position that is not good for joints and muscles. Massage can help alleviate these aches and pains!
3. Sleep
Being able to fall into a fitful and soothing sleep is important; tossing and turning for hours on end can increase the levels of frustration meaning that when we do snatch 2 or 3 hours, we are not rested.
Massage in the work place can promote not only all-round emotional well-being, but also sleep, important for physical concentration too.
4. Immunity
We need staff teams and the workforce to be well, both mentally and physically. Massage, as a cumulative effect of all of the above mentioned thus far, also help in boosting the body’s natural defence against illness – the immune system can be a fragile thing, thus maintaining its balance is important.
5. Alertness
American studies suggest that a 15 minute ‘in the chair massage’ such as the one we do, makes someone more alert. The study, the first of which was conducted in 1996 by the Touch Research Institute, tested their findings by noting participants solved mathematical problems quicker after they received a massage.
6. Headaches
Many people suffer from headaches which can be as a result of many life choices and working environments. From dehydrating due to the lack of fluid during the day, to excessive noise and stark, ‘strip’ lighting, people can also find headaches are common in times of stress.
A tense working environment can make for an uncomfortable place to work and even though massage may not ‘attack’ the root cause of tension and stress, a 15 minute massage can have an immediate and long-lasting impact on reducing the headache.
Studies suggest that for those people suffering prolonged headaches, 30 minutes is the optimum massage time.
7. Increasing blood flow
Massage also encourages increased blood flow throughout the body and this means that the nasty toxins that are built up in our systems are shuttled along; the quicker and more effectively we dump these toxins, the better we will feel.
This increased blood flow also plumps the skin, making us look and feel better.
8. Decrease absenteeism
Every company struggles at some point with staff shortages due to illness but, a regular program of massage therapy at work, the instances of staff being off ill due to stress-related illness is significantly decreased – and there is research that backs this up!
9. Just an all-round nice thing to do…
Companies and businesses are constantly looking for ways to build team rapport and create an atmosphere where people feel valued and valuable. Massage at work is just one of way of doing this, and what a great way of doing it!
Could massage at work be the right step forward for your work force?
Time and time again, it has been proven that companies who look after the emotional and physical well-being of their staff, reap the rewards of people who stay for a long time working for them, as well as having a significantly low absenteeism rate. Isn’t it time you took a look at massage at work for your team? | 4,757 | 2,271 | 0.00045 |
warc | 201704 | Newton aldermen passed an ordinance Monday requiring residents to clear sidewalks of snow and ice within 30 hours of winter storms. During the law's two-year trial period, no fines or penalties will be assessed.
"This might be the longest meeting of the full board I've ever experienced," said alderwoman Deb Crossley, before the debate ended close to midnight. "But I support this measure because we will be using public policy as an expression of our values to make the city safe for all people. We'll be committing to this value with our labor, literally picking up our shovels to make it so."
The final vote was 18-6, with aldermen Ciccone, Lappin, Lennon, Salvucci, Shapiro, and Swiston opposed.
"I'm very gratified," said alderwoman Victoria Danberg, a member of the snow committee and one of the architects of the ordinance. "I didn't know how the vote would go, because I honestly thought there were intelligent arguments on both sides. But now we have an opportunity to look at how we're going to accomplish the goal of making the city safe."
The two-year trial will begin on Nov. 1 and continue to Nov. 1, 2013. During that time, residents will be expected to clear snow and treat ice for a 36-inch wide segment of sidewalk and handicap access ramps that abut their property within 30 hours. Residents who do not will receive letters of noncompliance from the city.
Those who wish to report a neighbor for noncompliance may do so by utilizing the city's 311 phone system. There will be no fines assigned during the trial. Residents who claim a physical or financial hardship that prevents them from shoveling snow may obtain an exemption from the city.
Before the vote, the language of the ordinance was changed by amendments to specify that residents should use reasonable efforts to clear sidewalks of snow and treat ice. The wording change was to clarify that residents will not be held accountable if the city's public plows or private contractors dump snow on a curb cut or sidewalk.
"We want people to shovel their sidewalks, but no family with small children can be expected to clear out the insane mountains of snow that were left on some people's property this year," said alderman Jay Harney, who brought photographs of snow piles left during snow removal.
Alderman Charlie Shapiro also suggested an amendment making it clear that homeowners would be protected from unintended financial consequences if someone injured on their property decided to sue. That amendment did not carry because, as alderman Ted Hess-Mahan said, residents were already protected by case law in such an instance.
"This amendment is a solution in search of a problem," Hess-Mahan said.
In the end, the amended ordinance won over a number of opponents, including alderman Brian Yates, who voted down a similar ordinance 15 years ago, and alderman Lenny Gentile.
"I had originally thought I would vote against it, but I approved of the amendments that softened the language," Gentile said. "I like that it's a two-year trial without fees, and that we've moved from it being a mandate to an expectation."
One who was not won over, however, was alderwoman Greer Tan Swiston. Despite being undecided until the very last minute, she eventually voted against the ordinance.
"My deciding factor was, though I would have been supporting it to encourage people to do the right thing, what I heard from a number of other people was an emphasis on this saving the city money," Swiston said. "If we can't afford the $3 million it will cost the city to remove the snow, it'll be a lot more expensive without the efficiencies of being done by one body, and that cost will fall on a smaller number of people."
Despite the lateness of the hour, a number of citizens, many of whom wore green "YES" badges in support of the ordinance, stayed to the end.
"I'm thrilled," said Maryan Amaral, who arrived at the meeting on her motorized scooter. "I've been supporting this amendment as an advocate for the disabled for over a year. To see it come to fruition for the people who need the sidewalks all year long is very exciting."
Sarah Thomas can be reached at sarah.m.thomas@gmail.com. | 4,204 | 2,040 | 0.000495 |
warc | 201704 | Kokua Line
Imus are legal but some uses require permits Question:
What are the guidelines on having an imu in your property? My neighbor has an imu about 30 feet away from the property line and likes to cook in it two or three times a month. The problem is that, most times, the smoke goes directly into my home even with the windows closed! Another concern I have is they also use this imu as a trash-burning pit. I also suspect the food being cooked is for fundraising. Is that legal?
Answer: There are several factors at play and you may have to check with both state and city agencies.
According to the city Department of Planning and Permitting, if the imu involved an excavation of more than 50 cubic yards, a grading permit is required.
If the structure is more than 30 inches high, a building permit is required.
Use of an imu for fundraisers may be permitted by the city as a "home occupation," said city administration spokesman Bill Brennan.
At the state level, the Department of Health's Clean Air Branch does not regulate imu fires.
"Imu fires are considered cooking and, therefore, are exempt from Clean Air rules," said department spokeswoman Janice Okubo.
However, while you can basically cook anywhere on your property, there are city fire code requirements.
That includes notifying the Honolulu Fire Department, at 523-4411, prior to lighting an imu fire.
No permit is required, just advance notice, because imus "generate a whole lot of smoke" and inevitably, calls about a fire start coming in, said Fire Department spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada.
While the Health Department says the Fire Department will respond to calls about excessive smoke in residential areas, Tejada says that's a difficult area to deal with.
For example, the department sometimes will respond to a complaint only to find "there's not that much smoke," and that instead it's a matter in which "neighbors don't get along."
In a situation where a cooking fire generates a lot of smoke, "we might let (the cook) know it's a bad day to burn," Tejada said. But every situation is different and "the circumstances are dynamic," he said.
If the imu is used for burning trash, that would be illegal, because open burning is not allowed on Oahu, except under certain situations (see Kokua Line, May 23, 2005).
You can report open trash burning to the Clean Air Branch at 586-4200.
Meanwhile, Okubo said the Department of Health's Sanitation Branch oversees food establishments and food prepared for sale to the public. The state requires a permit to cook and sell perishable products for consumption.
If food cooked in the imu is sold to the public, your neighbor should have a permit.
The Sanitation Branch can be reached at 586-8020.
Complaints about the illegal sale of meat to the public can be reported to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Hawaii Office at 522-8011, Okubo said.
Got a question or complaint?
Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered. E-mail to kokualine@starbulletin.com
.
See also: Useful phone numbers | 3,173 | 1,627 | 0.000622 |
warc | 201704 | If you're a PPL Electric Utilities customer sweating that 30 percent hike to your bill this year, the company wants to throw you a bone. Or at least a discount on some energy-efficient light bulbs.
The Allentown energy company today is launching a program to encourage energy conservation by offering discounts on compact fluorescent bulbs, which use 75 percent less energy and last three times as long as incandescent bulbs.
From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, the company is offering a buy-one-get-one free deal on 14-watt compact fluorescent bulbs at the Home Depot at 1951 Glenwood St., Allentown. There is a limit of 12 free bulbs per customer at this event.
Otherwise, discounts on the bulbs will be available on an ongoing basis at more than 540 retail locations in the PPL service area. A complete list of participating retailers and details about recycling the bulbs is at www.pplelectric.com/e-power or by calling 1-888-217-2332.
Prices for the bulbs vary by location, manufacturer and the type of bulb, according to PPL. At the Home Depot event today, customers can buy a four-pack of 14-watt bulbs for $1.85, or 68 percent off the regular retail price, according to PPL.
The program, which is being paid for by PPL customers, is part of a state-mandated plan to help residents save money on bills and reduce energy consumption. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in October approved PPL's plan, which includes distributing 7 million compact fluorescent bulbs by May 2013.
The plan also includes rebates to customers who replace inefficient appliances and home energy audits to suggest ways customers can conserve energy.
Pennsylvania mandated that PPL and six of the state's other large electricity providers reduce customers' annual energy usage 1 percent by mid-2011 and 3 percent by mid-2013. The mandate also requires a 4.5 percent reduction in energy use during peak hours by 2013.
PPL will charge customers $246 million over four years to implement the energy conservation programs. The charge will be passed on to customers through their monthly bills. The typical residential customer will pay an extra $24 a year to pay for the conservation plan.
Even though customers are paying for it, the PUC maintains the program will help them save by reducing their electric consumption and by reducing wholesale electric prices by cutting demand.
spencer.soper@mcall.com
610-820-6694 | 2,409 | 1,199 | 0.000839 |
warc | 201704 | 15/08/2013
The French manufacturing company has introduced a method which may enable the Group to take one major step ahead towards the savings targets set down in the water strategy.
In 2025, according to the new water strategy, the Group’s water consumption must be halved in comparison with 2008. This target had yet to be defined, when, as early as 2004, the French manufacturing company introduced a method that reduced their water consumption by as much as 90 per cent. If this method is introduced in the rest of the Group, the total water consumption is estimated to fall by almost a third.
Oil separated from water The method is very simple and aims to reuse water, which is polluted with 3-5 per cent oil during the casting process.
Sabine Muller, Health, Safety and Environment Manager of the French manufacturing company, explains that previously, the polluted water was sent away for treatment at a company specialising in this particular type of wastewater.
- But since 2004, when we installed a plant that distils water here at the factory, it has not been necessary for us to send all the water away for treatment, but only the small, concentrated part. The rest of the water can be reused, and thus, the total water consumption in the company has fallen by an impressive 90 per cent, Sabine Muller explains.
Great potential Tom Palle Hansen, Senior Facility Management Consultant, estimates that large amounts of water could be saved if the French method was spread to the manufacturing companies in the rest of the Group.
- In principle, the method can be used everywhere where cooling water and lubricants are mixed – i.e. in component washers and in connection with all kinds of processing machines, for example milling machines. My estimate is that we could save some 30 per cent of all the water that is involved in production throughout the Group, he says.
Every drop counts According to Tom Palle Hansen, this method is very good for the environment. First of all because it is saving water, but also because an external waste company needs far less energy to treat the wastewater, as the volume is significantly reduced.
Helle Nystrup, Senior Engineer of Group Environment, Health and Safety, hopes that the good example from France will spread like rings in the water.
- I know that a similar initiative has been started in Hungary, and more are probably underway. This is good, because every drop of water that we can save counts, and it is important that we make an effort within the areas that matter the most. It is also important, however, that the initiatives that are launched in order to save water are as energyefficient as possible so that we do not reduce one environmental problem while at the same time increasing another, she says.
Helle Nystrup adds that a number of obvious solutions present themselves in terms of saving water. According to her, they may be identified using a simple method that was presented at the Group EHS conference in May. | 3,011 | 1,411 | 0.000714 |
warc | 201704 | In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the electric car manufacturing industry was relatively robust and successful. In 1900, for instance, out of the total of 2,370 automobiles found in New York, Chicago and Boston, 800 of those cars were fully electric. Surprisingly, only 400 cars were powered by gasoline and the remaining 1,170 were steam-powered automobiles -- popular because at the time steam technology was familiar and proven [source: Sulzberger].
After just a few decades of improvement, electric cars around this time were clean, quiet and relatively efficient. Most resembled horse-drawn carriages, since that's what most automobiles looked like at the time -- a horse cart without the horse. In 1899, there were about 12 manufacturers making electric cars in the United States, and many of the cars were used as cabs in cities where the driving distances were often shorter -- mainly due to the limited charge of the batteries.
Gasoline-powered cars during this time, on the other hand, were extremely noisy and smelled awful. They were often unreliable and had to be started (cranked) by hand, which was actually dangerous because it could lead to some nasty injuries. Fuel efficiency was embarrassing, and cars around this time didn't really support our current notion of eco-friendly driving. But after a short while, the loudness and power of gasoline-powered cars actually became a positive, exotic attribute, and the kinks surrounding inefficiency and hazardous operation were eventually worked out.
One thing gas-powered cars had going for them was speed and range. Major obstacles for the electric car popped up in the form of the search for practical, rechargeable batteries. Even Thomas Edison, the American inventor (and a proponent of electric cars), spent some time trying to improve the electric car's battery. In fact, he was even able to extend an automobile's range to 100 miles. But his battery had its flaws; it was too heavy, easily damaged and expensive. Other battery improvements around the same time typically suffered from a combination of the same setbacks. By the time Henry Ford introduced his Model T, American roads were somewhat better and the demand for long-range vehicles was in place. The internal combustion engine quickly gained momentum and surpassed the electric motor as the popular choice among motorists. The Model T gave the people what they wanted in a reliable and inexpensive package.
However, by no means does the history of the electric car end around the turn of the 20th century. A few electric prototypes emerged during the 1960s and 1970s, and General Motors EV1, the subject of the 2006 documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?" enjoyed some exposure during the 1990s. Recently, Toyota's RAV4 EV and the Tesla Roadster have caught people's attention, but high costs have made it difficult for either one of these vehicles to reach the mainstream. The three major U.S. automakers have announced plans to produce affordable electric vehicles in the near future, so, who knows? A new story may soon begin.
For lots more information on electric cars, fuel-efficient vehicles and green driving, follow the links on the next page. | 3,197 | 1,634 | 0.000614 |
warc | 201704 | The Bare Soul
-
December 6, 2009 Consecrated
to God
James 4:8 -
Draw near to God and He
will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts,
you double-minded.
It is quite easy to confuse our responsibility in working out our salvation regarding God's promises in our lives as believers if we are viewing things in a carnal manner. Sanctification, or God setting us apart for His will and desire and empowering us to live a holy life on this earth has never been our task. We could no more make ourselves holy (even by an infinitesimal amount) then if we were able to justify ourselves before God the Father outside of the blood of Jesus and the work on Calvary. The spiritual work of justification, sanctification, and one day glorification when we will one day be like Jesus in all respects (I John 3:2), will always be the work of the Holy Spirit. However, there is an important distinction to understand regarding how God draws us to Himself while we are in these mortal bodies. He will not draw us if we have not invited him to do so. This is the act of consecration, to literally set oneself apart thereby denouncing the sins that so easily beset us and asking God to use us even in our imperfect state. We can never clean ourselves up. That is God's desire and He does it very effectively through the work of His Spirit. We can only come before Him, confessing our faults and giving ourselves to Him and his will.
Even as we may find ourselves in a place of initial humility to God, asking Him to take our lives and use it for His glory, we may later find that we have mistaken a consecrated life for a life of sanctification. As previously stated, God is the one who changes us, sometimes in an instant and other times over the course of days, weeks, months, or even years. For instance, God may have put His finger on an area of our lives, such as sloth. A believer that God has challenged in this area may with exuberance begin to attack the problem by rising an hour earlier and by placing more diligence on their work. After a few weeks or months if they gain some success in this area, it is quite easy to not give God the glory for these apparent victories and to believe that now they've gotten a lot "better" in this area of sloth. When one takes this attitude, they have withdrawn the sacrifice of their consecration from the altar, telling God that their improvement is all that is needed. In this sad reality, this man or woman has not allowed God to finish the work but has settled for a fleshly, carnal substitute. We often do a quick inventory of our seeming weaknesses and then work with a flurry on the obvious, when we should be waiting on the Lord for Him to put His finger on the root cause. Obvious character defects are easy to work on and often show quick results, so we are drawn to seek to please God by getting a supposed handle on these. However, God wants us to submit to him in areas that we KNOW we can't commandeer as easily as rising early or adding a bit more pep to our jobs. He wants to get to the heart of the sin of sloth within our hearts. A life of consecration means a life that is daily presented on the altar of sacrifice so God can speak to the heart and thereby change the heart. It is so much like the flesh to gain the victory in a couple of areas and to self-congratulate oneself with the "seeming" victory. In reality, these are the very things that Jesus accused the Pharisees regarding, that they were beautiful on the outside but inside they were full of dead men's bones (Matthew 23:27).
James the brother or our Lord gives us a concise, step-by-step plan to first consecrate ourselves and then to live in the sanctifying power of the Lord Jesus Christ (James 4:8). We have already discussed the importance of drawing near to God in humility, thus He will draw near to us. In order to not grieve the Holy Spirit once He has drawn close to our present need, we must acknowledge TWO important realities:
The unspeakable joyous reality that Jesus Christ has dealt sin a final blow on Calvary is forever an accomplished fact in heaven and a looming reality in hell for those who do not receive His sacrifice. However, there are still those areas of sin that we live out in the carnal flesh that God wants to deal with as we serve Him on this earth. As we acknowledge that we are indeed sinners, daily, in need of His grace, then we are "cleansing our hands" as James states or we are consecrating ourselves to God and submitting to His sanctifying power. There is no stronger position as a believer to daily come before the Lord and to know that we are consecrating ourselves for God to have His way with us. This is only a strengthened position as we approach the Lord with "single-mindedness", intent on His sanctifying work and all that He can do. If we will but focus on Him and wait for his grace to isolate the root cause of our "sinning", then we will understand that the purifying of heart that James speaks of is merely the work of the Holy Spirit as we consider ourselves as God does. When we see our sin as God sees it, with no excuses or denial, then He will bring the purifying work of His Spirit into our hearts. Paul stated what James said in a different but similarly compelling manner in Romans 12:2. For if we are "transformed by the renewing of our minds", then certainly we shall be purified by the work of the Holy Spirit as He fills our hearts with what we have agreed to with God in our minds.
Beloved, God does not desire any of us to change outward behaviors as the "end all" for what He desires. Those things that we seek to change should be getting at the heart of the matter -- the very root cause of the sin that would so easily beset us. If the changes we affect are not driving toward this final goal, then we are no better off then the Pharisees of Jesus' day. If, however, we allow these changes that we seek to be springboards, showing us how we can never clean up our own hearts, then the Holy Spirit has accomplished His desire by shining the light of understanding into our hearts and minds. Once we truly agree with God through our consecration, then He can and will in His magnificent power, begin to transform us more and more into the image of His Son through sanctification. Glory be to to God!
Heavenly Father, as we draw near to you and consecrate our lives to you once again, allow us not to work merely on the "outward" manifestations, but show us the heart of the matter. Take our lives and point out the roots of selfishness, fear, anger, and any other that might be the cause of our "stalled out" sanctification. Give us single minds and clean hands in humility to Your Divine plan for each and everyone one of us. Thank you Lord. In Jesus' Name, Amen!
Your Barefoot Servant,
Rick
Click Here for Past Writings of The Bare Soul | 6,893 | 3,150 | 0.000319 |
warc | 201704 | From textile machines to the horseless carriage to email, technology has upended industries and wiped out jobs for centuries. It also has created millions of jobs, though usually not for the people who lost them.
"People suffer — their livelihoods, their skills and training are worth less," says Joel Mokyr, a historian of technological change at Northwestern University. "But that is the price we pay for progress."
A look at breakthroughs that made the goods we buy more affordable, our lives more comfortable — and our jobs more precarious:
THE FIRST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
For most of history, people made many goods themselves. That changed with the First Industrial Revolution, which began in England in the mid-18th century and lasted about 100 years.
New mechanical devices that allowed one man to do the work of several flooded the market with products, most notably textiles. Using cords, wheels and rollers, inventors sped up the twisting of threads to make yarn and the weaving of yarn to make cloth.
Next, steam was used to free the new machines from the limits of man's muscle and make them run faster. The new machines produced so much, so fast and so cheaply, more people could afford to buy textiles. Demand soared and so did jobs manning the machines and doing other work.
In America in 1793, Eli Whitney freed slaves from the laborious work of picking sticky seeds from cotton bolls by inventing a cotton gin that did that automatically. It led to widespread planting of cotton — but even more work for slaves.
Whitney also is credited with another invention: interchangeable parts. At a workshop he ran for making firearms, he had his staff make the same part many times so that his guns could be assembled quickly. It worked, and industries such as watch makers copied his method.
In 1831, Cyrus McCormick invented a reaper that cut wheat stalks as it was pulled by horses and piled them on a platform. Farmers could harvest faster.
In 1837, John Deere stuck the blade of a steel saw onto a plow and invented the steel-edged plow to replace cast-iron ones. Farmers could cut a furrow in the earth more easily and sow faster.
And so began a series of inventions that made farming efficient, and began to drain farms of people. In 1800, two-thirds of Americans worked on farms; today, 2 percent do.
THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Life sped up more in this second period of innovation, from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, an age of steel and electric power, expanding railroads and the automobile.
In 1856, an Englishman discovered a way of making steel fast and cheap, and other inventors soon improved the process. Railroad companies started using steel for their rails instead of wrought iron, which bent easily and needed to be replaced often. Trains could carry heavier loads, which meant businesses could send more products to distant markets. Sales increased, and so did jobs.
In 1861, a telegraph line was strung from coast to coast in the U.S., vastly improving communication. It also wiped out the Pony Express delivery service; it went out of business the same year.
In 1879, Thomas Edison made a light bulb that wouldn't burn out in a few hours. Factories replaced gas lights, reducing the number of fires.
In quick succession came a string of breakthroughs — the automobile, an automatic typesetting machine for printing, a tractor propelled by an internal combustion engine instead of pulled by horses and the Wright brothers' airplane.
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warc | 201704 | Visitors Now: Total Visits: Total Stories: Demand for gluten free meats/meat substitutes is anticipated to post a healthy CAGR of about 12% between 2014 and 2020. Wheat, barley, rye and their derivatives are found to contain the protein called gluten and individuals sensitive to it exhibit mild symptoms of intolerance such as chronic diarrhea and vomiting. However, there exists a sizeable population that shows typical symptoms of intolerance that is classified as celiac disease. This is an inherited autoimmune disorder in which gluten damages the small intestine, with the only remedy for it being a strict gluten free diet for life.
The market for gluten free foods & beverages has undergone a radical change from being considered specialty niche products to becoming mainstream products. Millions of individuals around the world have started consuming gluten free products, not only because of being diagnosed with celiac disease but also because of a general perception of maintaining better health. A current trend towards free from products consumption has given further impetus to the gluten free foods & beverages segment. The market for gluten free products is highly competitive, with innovation in products being a major strategic approach being adopted by leading players. This trend is likely to continue in the future, as the established set of players seeks to garner increased market share. North America and Europe lead the global market for gluten free meats/meat substitutes; and demand growth is likely to be the fastest in Asia-Pacific.
Key Deliverable of the study: • Market analysis for the Global Gluten Free Meats/Meat Substitutes Market, with region specific assessments and competition analysis on global and regional scales. • Market definition along with overview of drivers, restraints and opportunities. • Extensively researched competitive landscape section along with list of key companies and their market shares. • Identification and analysis of the macro and micro factors that affect the Global Gluten Free Meats/Meat Substitutes Market on both global and regional scales Key points in table of content 1. Research Methodology 1.1 Methodology 1.2 Definition of the Market 2. Executive Summary 3. Market Dynamics Contact US: NORAH TRENT Partner Relations & Marketing Manager sales@wiseguyreports.com Ph: +1-646-845-9349 (US) Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK) | 2,415 | 1,233 | 0.000819 |
warc | 201704 | In ancient Sumer, more than 4,500 years ago, the first libraries were archives of clay tablets etched with cuneiform script. In our own time, a library may contain not only printed books and journals, but also audio and visual recordings in analog and digital form. Yet the purpose remains little changed over the millennia – to share information from one human being to another and to preserve a body of knowledge from generation to generation.
The Harvard Depository in rural Massachusetts is a library, too, but on a scale and with a purpose unlike your local public library branch. The just-released documentary Cold Storage takes us inside the HD and offers a chilling glimpse of the future of scholarship.
“The facility was originally meant as a dark archive for materials that don’t really circulate,” explains director
Cristoforo Magliozzi.“There’s both a ‘general population’ area, as they term it, that is somewhere around 50 degrees, for most of the materials. They also have a film vault, which is even colder, for keeping 35-millimeter prints in the best shape possible.”
“The last chapter of that book, which unfolds six historically-grounded scenarios for the future of libraries, is a screenplay. It’s a visual essay, a kind of photographic essay with a text that accompanies it. That text is, indeed, the screenplay for Cold Storage, the film,” Schnapps tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.
“One of the ambitions of the documentary and the (accompanying) Web documentary project was precisely to experiment with a kind of generative model of publishing,” says Schnapp. “Various pieces – printed, not printed, performed – are captured in a number of different media [and] all intersect one another, but do things that are different, that add value to each of those building blocks that make up a kind of sustained meditation on the nature of human interaction with knowledge.”
Cristoforo Magliozzi is the Director of Cold Storage, an interactive documentary exploring the Harvard Depository, which he shot and edited while serving as a Principal and Project Coordinator for the metaLAB at Harvard. Jeffrey T. Schnapp is Professor of Romance Languages & Literature and Comparative Literature, and on the teaching faculty in the Department of Architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. He is the faculty director of metaLAB (at) Harvard and faculty co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. With Adam Michaels, he is co-author of The Electric Information Age Book (Princeton Architectural Press, 2012). | 2,644 | 1,361 | 0.000766 |
warc | 201704 | LONDON, January 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
The medical appliances and equipment industry faced its fair share of challenges during the recession, as procedural volume in some cases was reduced due to the economic situation in the U.S. and Europe. Analysts from our services research team completed in-depth analysis on Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) and Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT). These free reports are available at
Competition also crimped margins for several companies, leading to lower sales and profits. However, with the recession in the rear view mirror, the outlook for the industry and companies such as Boston Scientific and Medtronic is positive. Now that companies have been afforded some breathing room, they are focusing their attentions on bringing new products to market and growing their international footprint. Download the free report on Scientific by signing up now at
Both Boston Scientific and Medtronic [Free Report on MDT]
[ 1 ] have been looking to new products to grow their top- and bottom-lines, and both have recently been involved with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation affects around 15 million people globally, and can cause serious health problems such as strokes and heart failure.
In the case of Boston Scientific, the company newly announced that the first patient has been treated in its ZERO AF clinical trial. The results of the trial are anticipated to be used to back up an FDA regulatory submission for a paroxysmal atrial fibrillation indication.
Medtronic has also been busy, recently stating that the FDA has cleared the FlexCath Advance (TM) Steerable Sheath, an improvement to the Arctic Front Advance (TM) Cryoballon System. The new sheath will make it easier to reach inferior veins of the heart when delivering and positioning the cryoballoon catheter in the left atrium to treat paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.
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warc | 201704 | Predictors of symptomatic response to glucosamine in knee osteoarthritis: an exploratory study Centre for Health Exercise and Sports Medicine, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Correspondence to: Dr A N Bennett Defence Medical Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Centre, Headley Court, Epsom, Surrey KT18 6JN, UK; Accepted 6 January 2007 Published Online First 29 January 2007 Abstract Objective: To evaluate whether patient characteristics and/or radiographic disease patterns predict symptomatic response to treatment with glucosamine in osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. Design: Exploratory prospective correlational study. Setting: Institutional. Patients: 39 participants with chronic knee pain from the local community. Interventions: Glucosamine sulphate (1.5 g/day) for 12 weeks. Main outcome measures: Pain and physical function were assessed with visual analogue scales (VASs) and participant-perceived global change scores (GCSs). Regression modelling evaluated the relationship between treatment outcome and age, body mass index (BMI), pain and function self-efficacy and presence/absence of osteophytes in the medial and lateral tibiofemoral joint (TFJ) and patellofemoral joint (PFJ) compartments. Results: 13 (33%) participants were men. The mean (SD) age and BMI were 53.6 (13.1) years and 27.9 (4.6) kg/m 2, respectively. 13 (33%), 19 (49%) and 24 (62%) participants had medial TFJ, lateral TFJ and PFJ osteophytes, respectively. Glucosamine significantly improved pain (mean change on VAS = −1.4, 95% CI −0.6 to −2.2; p = 0.002) and activity restriction (−1.9, 95% CI −1.0 to −2.8; p<0.001). At 12 weeks, 30 (77%) and 27 (69%) participants reported improvement in pain and physical function, respectively. Regression modelling showed that no evaluated variables predicted change in pain on VAS. Decreased function self-efficacy, presence of PFJ osteophytes and absence of medial TFJ osteophytes predicted functional improvement on VAS. BMI, pain self-efficacy and function self-efficacy predicted improvement in pain by GCS. Conclusions: Although glucosamine significantly improved symptoms, most of the variance in outcome at 12 weeks was unexplained by the predictors evaluated. However, glucosamine may be more effective at improving symptoms in patients with knee OA who have a lower BMI, PFJ osteophytes and lower functional self-efficacy. BMI, body mass index GCS, global change score OA, osteoarthritis PFJ, patellofemoral joint TFJ, tibiofemoral joint VAS, visual analogue scale Footnotes Published Online First 26 January 2007
Funding: We are very grateful to Mayne Consumer Products (Australia) for providing the glucosamine sulphate and the radiography funding for this study.
Competing interests: None. | 2,783 | 1,343 | 0.000754 |
warc | 201704 | Like so many of my fellow Alaskans, I’m an implant to our state. My hubby and I both hail from the Lower 48, and this week, we’re lucky to have family visiting from down there! Summer is a great time for guests in Alaska, because there are so many fun and affordable things to do. Can’t stretch your cash for an airplane tour or charter fishing trip? No problem! Go for a hike to Flat Top, the Matanuska Glacier, or any of the other AMAZING foot-accessible spots in our state. Good, cheap, fun.
Yesterday, we took my aunt-and-uncle-in-law to a “pick your own produce” farm in the Valley. Tons of sunshine, fresh air and great-looking greens made the trip an excellent, budget-friendly adventure. We went home with bags and bags of locally grown produce – which in turn saves us money on restaurant bills while relatives are in town!
I remember when we moved to AK and everything fun seemed out of our reach. Certainly, it’s easy to drop a small fortune on the adventures our state has to offer. But that doesn’t mean you need to bust your budget to enjoy the area. Instead, search event listings in your local news for free community activities. Ask your friends and neighbors for their favorite site-seeing spots, and plan to walk or bike the trail. Take advantage of your “resident” status to score an inexpensive fishing license, and go fill your freezer with Alaskan bounty!
If you play your cards right, summer is the perfect time of year to have a great time AND save money. Your utility bills are low thanks to sunshine and warmer weather, and you can hoard food that will last into winter. Get out to your local farmers market (or pick-your-own farm!) today and stock up on freezer-friendly essentials that will keep your food bills low this winter. Skip the gym membership and exercise in the great outdoors instead! Most of all, don’t feel defeated by costly Alaskan activities that tourists gobble up this time of year. This state is our playground, and each season brings new ways to enjoy it!
Enjoy today’s blog? Subscribe to stay tuned! We’ll update you with news of the cool stuff we’re doing and talking about at CU1. | 2,209 | 1,197 | 0.000865 |
warc | 201704 | Our guest post this week is written by Carisa Kluver of Digital Storytime. She tells the story of getting started in the app world, both as a storybook app resource, and as a husband/wife development team. Don’t miss her five tips about working with app review sites. Thanks Carisa for the contribution!
A whole ecosystem has evolved around the world of kids apps that includes dozens of new review sites, mostly run by tech-savvy parents who are early-adopters of tablet technology. This is the story of how our site, Digital-Storytime.com, got its start. At the end, I’ve added five tips for developers hoping to get reviewed, advertise or partner with sites for promotions.
Back in early 2009, my programmer husband was laid off from his job at Microsoft while I was on extended leave from my career in child & maternal health research at the University of Washington. Staying home with our son had been an important decision for me as a mom and I don’t regret a minute of that time. However, I imagined I would go back to work once our child was in school. With the recession and gap in my resume, I found myself unsure about what to do next, right as my husband was also out of work.
Soon our family business was all about apps, starting with a few Android apps and then moving into iOS. Then came April of 2010. Yes, the iPad launched, but I also turned 40 (as did ‘Earth Day’) and got an iPad as my gift to myself. Almost immediately I began to have some new ideas about apps. Within just a few months I was downloading more book apps than anything else. The digital picture book became a singular obsession for me.
My husband suggested I design a book. He could then program & release it as an interactive app. I actually got as far as storyboards and some basic image sets, but something about this felt very wrong. Everything I saw in the marketplace told me, deep in my gut, that this wasn’t the best use of my natural abilities. By October of 2010, I had convinced my husband that I should start a book app review site instead. He happened to be taking a .php class for database management and decided to build a site for me as part of his classwork. And before we knew it, our site had grown to include a blog and daily deal page for kids apps. Soon Digital-Storytime was a top resource for book app reviews …
As traffic increased and it became clear I was up to the challenge of writing reviews daily (with nearly 600 to date), we increased the time we focused on the review site and decreased our time on other app projects. We now support our site with ads as well as a small commission from iTunes. We also decided recently to offer paid ‘expedited’ reviews, although we are strict about limiting them to a very small percentage of our overall content.
Our most recent app, in fact, is a version of the Digital-Storytime site. Like many small development teams, we have found this to be a very exciting adventure with many unexpected turns and twists. But if you are open to following the market, there are many opportunities still to be discovered in the app world, especially for curators/reviewers.
Based on my experiences on both sides of the app review process, here are my “5 Tips for Working with Review Sites”:
Check every site out first … don’t waste your time asking for reviews on every site you can find, but instead take your time to find out about sites that might fit your app in a specialized way.Indicate in your request how your app fits with the site’s content. If you are new to the marketplace, carefully consider options to pay to get a review prioritized on sites that offer this type of service. It can get very expensive, very fast if you decide to pay to get reviewed quickly and may not be worth it, depending on your overall marketing plan and the app itself. Don’t expect a response and don’t take this personally.The average app review site gets dozens of requests a day and typically only reviews 1 out of 10 submissions. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to even thoroughly preview all the apps submitted to most sites, so requesting a review can feel like sending a message into the ether and never hearing back. If sites could respond, they would – it really isn’t personal but a matter of being overwhelmed by the volume of apps coming into the market at this time. Knowing this in advance can help developers be prepared and set realistic expectations for how much app review sites can be counted on as part of a marketing or launch plan for any app. Most kids app review sites are run by parents who are very busy. School holidays, summer break and other times kids are out of school may be times when these sites are especially difficult to reach. If you do contact a site directly, keep your email brief and clearly state any questions you have about the process. If you send a long-winded email with more than one question, it is unlikely you will get a response at all. While this is hard to understand, being on the receiving end (and I’ve been on the sending end, too), it is simply impossible for sites run by just a couple people to respond to hundreds of emails a day, so chances are that any long emails will simply be deleted. Consider marketing more broadly and focus on what you have the time to be good at …reviews alone are not enough for most apps to get noticed, but part of a larger marketing strategy. Consider setting a series of ‘google alerts’ with keywords related to the need your app meets for consumers. You can comment on posts, as well as share these links on your social media pages to attract people with similar interests. Review sites are not an option for every new app from a new developer and shouldn’t be seen as the only key to success. If you can get traction with your app in a specialized market, general app review sites may notice. Think outside the box when looking for reviews of your app. Sites that specialize in app reviews or even just kids apps are often inundated with requests, but there are lots of blogs out there that review apps as part of their other content. Find bloggers with specialized interests based on your specific app and you may get a much faster response, as well as reach an audience that is not as saturated with app news. Advertising and partnering with sites, whether you have been reviewed or not, is also an option if you have your heart set on being featured on a particular site.Most app review sites have advertising you can buy at a reasonable price per/month. If you are unsure of where to advertise, comparing a few sites in your apps’ genre on Alexa.com can be helpful to decide where and how much to spend on ads. You can also offer review sites promo codes for giveaways, but it is important to know that these giveaways are time-consuming for review sites to administer and are rarely an incentive to promote or review your app. Consider the buzz your app will drive for a review site when ‘pitching’ your app as something a site should review.If you have a solid social media following you will promote the review to after it is done, this is vital information to share with a review site. Often, I hear developers discuss how much a review on any given site will impact their sales, but remember that review sites are also concerned about driving the same kind of interest when they make decisions about what to review. If your app review is unlikely to create buzz on a site or drive traffic, it is unrealistic to expect a review site to cover your app quickly. Review sites are also businesses, just like the ones app developers are in, so please don’t ask us to review your app just because you love it or developed it with your kids (or need to sell it to feed your family). Trust me – we hear variations on this every day and it doesn’t impress us or make us more likely to promote your app. Your app should be phenomenal for users. Period.
It has been a great honor to be involved with MomsWithApps and I enjoy the conversations with developers that this organization has facilitated. We take feedback from our readers AND developers into consideration when designing each new phase of our site and really appreciate the constructive advice we have gotten so far. Thank you! | 8,391 | 3,858 | 0.000264 |
warc | 201704 | [
I am currently helping Berin Szoka edit a collection of essays from various Internet policy scholars for a new PFF book called "The Next Digital Decade: Essays about the Internet's Future." I plan on including two chapters of my own in the book responding to the two distinct flavors of Internet pessimism that I increasingly find are dominating discussions about Internet policy. Below you will see how the first of these two chapters begins. I welcome input as I refine this draft. ]
Surveying the prevailing mood surrounding cyberlaw and Internet policy circa 2010, one is struck by the overwhelming sense of pessimism about our long-term prospects for a better future. "Internet pessimism," however, comes in two very distinct flavors:
First, there is an elitist air to their pronouncements; a veritable "the-rest-of-you-just-don't-get-it" attitude pervades their work. In the case of the Net Skeptics, it's the supposed decline of culture, tradition, and economy that the rest of us are supposedly blind to, but which they see perfectly--and know how to rectify. For the Net Loving Pessimists, by contrast, we see this attitude on display when they imply that a Digital Dark Age of Closed Systems is unfolding since nefarious schemers in high-tech corporate America are out to suffocate Internet innovation and digital freedom more generally. The Net Loving Pessimists apparently see this plot unfolding, but paint the rest of us out to be robotic sheep being led to the cyber-slaughter since we are unwittingly using services (AOL in the old days; Facebook today) or devices (the iPhone and iPad) that play right into the hands of those corporate schemers who are out to erect high and tight walled gardens all around us.
Unsurprisingly, this elitist attitude leads to the second thing uniting these two variants of Net pessimism: An underlying belief that
someone or something--most often, the State--must intervene to set us on a better course or protect those things that they regard as sacred. They either fancy themselves as the philosopher kings who can set things back on a better course, or they imagine that such creatures exist in government today and can be tapped to save us from our impending digital doom--whatever it may be.
In both cases, I will argue that today's Internet pessimists have over-stated the severity of the respective problems they have identified. In doing so, I will argue that they both have failed to appreciate the benefits of
evolutionary dynamism. I borrow the term dynamism from Virginia Postrel, who contrasted the conflicting worldviews of dynamism and stasis so eloquently in her 1999 masterpiece, The Future and Its Enemies. Postrel argued that: The future we face at the dawn of the twenty-first century is, like all futures left to themselves, "emergent, complex messiness." Its "messiness" lies not in disorder, but in an order that is unpredictable, spontaneous, and ever shifting, a pattern created by millions of uncoordinated, independent decisions. How we feel about the evolving future tells us who we are as individuals and as a civilization: Do we search for stasis--a regulated, engineered world? Or do we embrace dynamism--a world of constant creation, discovery, and competition? Do we value stability and control, or evolution and learning? Do we declare with [Tim] Appelo that "we're scared of the future" and join [Judith ] Adams in decrying technology as "a killing thing"? Or do we see technology as an expression of human creativity and the future as inviting? Do we think that progress requires a central blueprint, or do we see it as a decentralized, evolutionary process? Do we consider mistakes permanent disasters, or the correctable by-products of experimentation? Do we crave predictability, or relish surprise? These two poles, stasis and dynamism, increasingly define our political, intellectual, and cultural landscape. The central question of our time is what to do about the future. And that question creates a deep divide.
In this chapter, I will take on the first variant of Internet pessimism (the Net Skeptics) and make the dynamist case for what I call "pragmatic optimism." I will argue that the Internet and digital technologies are reshaping our culture, economy and society in most ways for the better, but not without some serious heartburn along the way. My bottom line comes down to a simple cost-benefit analysis: Were we really better off in the scarcity era when we were collectively suffering from information poverty? Generally speaking, I'll take information overload over information poverty any day. But we should not underestimate or belittle the disruptive impacts associated with the Information Revolution. We need to find ways to better cope with those changes in a dynamist fashion instead of embracing the stasis notion that we can roll back the clock on progress and recapture "the good 'ol days"--which actually weren't all that good.
In another chapter in the book, I will address the second variant of Internet pessimism (the Net Loving Pessimists) and show how reports of the Internet's death have been greatly exaggerated. Although the Net Loving Pessimists will likely recoil at the suggestion that they are not dynamists, the reality is that their attitudes and recommendations are decided stasisist in nature. They fret about a cyber-future in which the Internet might not as closely resemble the its opening epoch. Worse yet, many of them agree with what Lawrence Lessig said in his seminal--by highly pessimistic--1999 book,
Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, that "Left to itself, cyberspace will become a perfect tool of control." Lessig and his intellectual disciples--especially Zittrain and Wu--have continued to forecast a gloomy digital future unless something is done to address the Great Digital Closing we are supposedly experiencing. I will argue that while many of us share their appreciation of the Internet's current nature and its early history, their embrace of the stasis mentality is unfortunate since it forecloses the spontaneous evolution of cyberspace and invites government intervention to create a more "regulated, engineered world" that will, ironically, undermine much of what they hope to preserve about the current Internet.
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[
I'll then go on to finish this chapter, basically by finally completing my essay, "Are You An Internet Optimist or Pessimist? The Great Debate over Technology's Impact on Society." In the second chapter addressing the pessimism of the "Net Lovers," I will build on my review of Zittrain's "Future of the Internet," my two-part debate with Lawrence Lessig on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of " | 6,727 | 3,222 | 0.000312 |
warc | 201704 | A U.S. Senate committee on Tuesday gave strong bipartisan backing to federal legislation that would ban discrimination against gays and lesbians in the workplace, or denial of employment based on sexual identity. The legislation is edging toward enough support to overcome a blocking filibuster.
The 15-7 vote in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee included a trio of Republicans — Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Mark Kirk, R-Illinois, and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Yes, Orrin Hatch, who was persuaded by bill language providing strong exemptions for religious employers.
“Discrimination of any kind, against anyone, is unacceptable, so I am incredibly proud to have voted for this historic legislation today,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a member of the committee.
Twenty-one states (including Washington) and the District of Columbia have laws that prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, with just 16 including provisions on sexual identity.
Anne Levinson, a former judge and Seattle deputy mayor, noted that the issue has been before Congress for 19 years.
“Many Americans don’t realize that federal law prohibiting discrimination does not protect gay employees,” said Levinson. “For those lesbians and gay individuals who live in states without a non-discrimination law, they can still get fired without cause, nor not hired at all.
“Ironically, they may be able to travel to another state to marry, but they run the risk of being fired if their employer reads their marriage announcement.”
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act has a total of 53 Senate cosponsors, including Murray and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. Two are Republicans. With Murkowski and Hatch voting in support, the legislation is not far from the 60 votes needed to overcome certain efforts by conservative Republicans to block floor consideration.
The leadership of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives remains hostile to the legislation. Still, the Senate committee vote was taken as an encouraging sign by supporters.
“This is real progress for the first time on federal legislation: The bipartisan vote is very encouraging,” said State Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, who fought 17 years in the Legislature to bring marriage equality to Washington. | 2,349 | 1,187 | 0.000867 |
warc | 201704 | What We See: Advancing the Observations of Jane Jacobs, a collection of essays, has just been published by New Village Press (who sent me a copy). Several of the essays are very good, such as those by Pierre Desrochers, Janette Sadik-Khan (in charge of improving New York City’s streets), Daniel Kemmis, Robert Sirman, and Mary Rowe, but my favorite was the one by Janine Benyus. Benyus came in contact with Jacobs when Jacobs phoned her to ask her to speak at the 1997 Toronto conference Jane Jacobs: Ideas That Matter. Benyus was thrilled to be speaking to the person whose writing she’d studied to learn how to write. Benyus wrote about increasing appreciation of the value of biomimicry, learning how nature has solved this or that problem to help us solve the same problem.
[On the Galapagos Islands] I watched a quiet engineer named Paul stand motionless before a mangrove as if in deep conversation. He finally called me over and pointed: “This mangrove needs fresh water but its roots are in saltwater, which means it somehow desalinates using only the sun’s energy. No fossil fuels, no pumps. Do you know how we do it? We force water through a membrane at 900 pounds of pressure per square inch, trapping salt on one side. When it clogs, we apply more pressure, more energy.”
Then Paul asked the question I’ve been working to solve ever since: “How is it that I, as a desalination engineer with a five-year degree and twenty-year experience, never once learned how nature strips salt from water?” | 1,549 | 890 | 0.001156 |
warc | 201704 | Depending on what you read, the fundamentals seem to be bulish and bearish on Oil in equal quantities lately.
Oil prices have dropped over 50% in the last year with retail investors and informed money alike shorting Brent and Crude futures markets this year. Goldman Sachs have gone as far as to predict that Oil prices could remain depressed for the next 15 years due to a global over supply.
However, in early trading this week, Oil prices have risen against a fundamental backdrop of talk about declining stockpiles, the futures contract rollover on September 16th and a large net reduction in long positions by Hedge Funds according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Its hard to know which way to trade…
What are the charts saying?
This is a very bearish chart, Brent oil has been dropping over the last year and price has been capped by the trend line in play. What is interesting about this chart is that price broke the yearly lows and plunged to the early $42 before it picked up some buyers and we got some impulsive looking candles bringing price rapidly to $52.
We are now seeing some back and forth corrective price action with price basing off of the $47 level. If we drill down to the 4 hour chart, we can see the corrective price action we have had recently with price firmly capped for now.
If the $47 level can hold, we may get a slow corrective grind to the $58.50 – $59.50 level before suppply really kicks in again. But before Brent can get to this level, there are a couple of potential sticky supply levels to be aware of.
No Risk With SparkProfit
Which ever way you think Oil is going to go, you can play it risk free with SparkProfit.
Please note our disclaimer on all of this. | 1,734 | 943 | 0.001074 |
warc | 201704 | The eighth interview in the series is with Dr. Mojca Matičič, Head of the Viral Hepatitis Unit at the Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Febrile Illnesses, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, and Head of the National Viral Hepatitis Expert Group in Slovenia
How did you initially get involved with viral hepatitis?
It is quite an interesting story since timewise my personal medical career coincides with the history of hepatitis C.
In the beginning of the 1990s, I started my career as a clinician at the national referential center for HIV/AIDS at the Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Febrile Illnesses, University Medical Centre Ljubljana. There, I also performed the research for my master’s degree, which focused on the first-ever detection of HIV in gingival fluid.
After finishing my specializations in internal medicine and in infectious diseases, I received a grant to serve as a visiting doctor in the field of STIs and HIV/AIDS at the Middlesex Hospital and Royal Free Hospital in London. There, I witnessed the famous Concorde study on the first HIV/AIDS treatment with azidotimidine. At the same time, more or less accidentally, I attended the lectures on viral hepatitis at the Royal Free, led by the legendary authority in that field, Dame Sheila Sherlock.
Upon returning to my home clinic in Slovenia, I was appointed to lead the Unit for Viral Hepatitis. It was quite a shock to move from one of the most promising and exciting fields of medicine, HIV/AIDS, to the field of viral hepatitis, where no specific treatment was foreseen at the time. I was initially disappointed as an ambitious young clinician to have shifted to simply advising patients on how to have a healthy lifestyle and performing regular medical follow-ups with no active medical interventions for their disease.
But by the late 1990s the hepatitis C landscape began evolving quickly to become quite a challenge. Simple diagnostic tools and the introduction of the first specific treatments began to look very promising. I even participated in the epidemiological puzzle, which was the first-ever discovery of the hepatitis C virus in gingival fluid, which became my PhD thesis. The need for organized national interventions led to the establishment of a multidisciplinary National Viral Hepatitis Expert Group in 1997, which I chair to this day.
We immediately set up the Slovenian national strategy on managing hepatitis C, where special attention was focused on managing HCV infection in people who inject drugs. Over the following years much effort was put into awareness campaigns, education, screening programs, availability and access to treatment and research including a permanent evaluation of HCV treatment efficacy and safety. The results were getting better and better.
So, in retrospect, hepatitis C became the most exciting and fulfilling story of my professional life. I would never change it to any other medical field including that of HIV/AIDS. Over time, my Tuesdays, when I run the hepatitis outpatient clinic, turned from the most depressing days in the era of interferon-based treatment into the most exciting ones thanks to the introduction of direct acting antivirals (DAAs). Seeing all those happy faces of my cured patients is by far the best reward a clinician can get.
How has the viral hepatitis field, especially HCV, been changing?
Over the last two decades, enormous progress has been made in the field of viral hepatitis, hepatitis C in particular.
Over the last two decades, enormous progress has been made in the field of viral hepatitis, hepatitis C in particular. At first, managing HCV seemed like it would be a similar story to that of HIV/AIDS management, with which I was quite familiar. But at a certain moment the hepatitis C story shifted and began its own path towards goals that exceeded even those set forth for HIV/AIDS.
A fortuitous aspect of HCV is that, during its lifecycle, the virus does not enter the nucleus of liver cells. This made it possible for antivirals to eliminate the virus from the body, which is not the case in HIV or HBV infections. Because of this, the current antiviral medications have thus far been ineffective in eradicating either HIV or HBV from the cellular nucleus.
Today we are witnessing a historical moment, a real breakthrough in medical history, since hepatitis C represents the first-ever curable chronic viral infection. Moreover, projection studies have shown that extremely effective, safe and patient-friendly treatment may lead to excellent control and likely even the elimination of hepatitis C – despite no vaccine being available.
What areas of viral hepatitis research do you think are being neglected?
In the sparkling light of hepatitis C achievements, the treatment of hepatitis B has definitely been a Cinderella-story over the last ten years.
In the sparkling light of hepatitis C achievements, the treatment of hepatitis B has definitely been a Cinderella-story over the last ten years. However, significant discoveries that have recently been made in the biology of HBV may open new perspectives in drug discovery.
Much work remains to be done in the hepatitis C arena, particularly from a global and public health perspective. Progress has not been consistent around the globe. High rates of undiagnosed HCV patients, neglected and marginalized high-risk groups, a lack of national strategies and action plans for HCV management, risk of early hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence in those cured of HCV, extremely high prices and uneven access to DAAs – these are the main areas that need immediate action.
Experiences from my country, a middle-income nation, have shown that a multidisciplinary team of highly involved and motivated professionals that lead the long-term organized management of viral hepatitis at the national level may yield satisfactory results. In Slovenia, historically, all the currently recommended standard-of-care treatment options have been available and accessible including the new DAAs, and hepatitis treatment is fully publicly funded.
The national multidisciplinary network for the management of HCV in PWID enabled HCV treatment with 95.4% adherence and allover 80% sustained virological response (SVR) even with peginterferon/ribavirin. Projecting the future burden of HCV infection in Slovenia has shown that by scaling up the annual number of newly diagnosed and the number of annually treated patients, Slovenia could reach a 90% reduction in HCV prevalence by 2030.
Useful Articles:
Matičič M, Videcnik Zorman J, Gregorcic S, Schazt E, Lazarus JV. Are there national strategies, plans and guidelines for the treatment of hepatitis C in people who inject drugs? A survey of 33 European countries. BMC Infect Dis 2014; 14(Suppl 6): S14
Hep-CORE advisory group 2016 interview series: Let’s not forget ‘prevention as prevention’ ; interview with Eberhard Schatz The task now is identifying people who don’t know they’re infected and connecting them to care ; interview with Luis Mendão Without a vaccine, eliminating HCV will be a huge challenge ; interview with Antons Mozalevskis The same debates, 25 years later ; interview with Marie Jauffret-Roustide Outside the biomedical box of hepatitis C research ; interview with Magdalena Harris Changing to a holistic approach towards hepatitis policy ; interview with Achim Kautz Patient associations: a key catalyst for hepatitis advocacy and impact ; interview with Charles Gore Hepatology, Medicine and Policy has launched with BioMed Central. For more information, visit: www.hmap.biomedcentral.com . | 7,666 | 3,430 | 0.000295 |
warc | 201704 | Meltdown redux The author is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The U.S. politician-businessman that Congress put in charge of determining the reasons for the 2008 financial crisis has a sobering message for us: “It’s going to happen again.”
Phil Angelides, the real estate developer and former California state treasurer who chaired the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, said on Friday that “all across the marketplace the warning signs were there” of a coming disaster but the mechanisms and political will to stop it were not.
He and I both spoke at a University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School symposium on the financial crisis and the commission set up to examine it.
Angelides warned of a recurring economic nightmare unless Congress and the next president start paying attention to the facts and stop listening to the people who caused, profited from or failed to detect the crisis.
While Wall Street and laissez faire Republicans have attacked the commission’s final report — all 22 footnoted chapters of it — Angelides boasted that not one fact had been proven wrong.
Statements from the leading Republican presidential candidates, as well as the tepid actions of President Barack Obama, show an active interest not in fixing the problems, but rather in enabling Wall Street to go on doing business pretty much as it chooses.
SQUELCHED OR IGNORED
For months now, a canard has gained popular currency through mere repetition: no one could have seen the meltdown coming.
The commission’s report shows that a number of people did see what was coming but they were squelched or ignored. Clear back in 1998, four months before the Long-Term Capital Management collapse, Brooksley Born, then chairwoman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, wrote a paper predicting that disaster would flow from the unregulated sale of derivatives. Congress responded by making sure derivatives were not regulated.
Then there were the internal reports at failed mortgage banker Countrywide Financial, which warned there was little-to-no hope that many borrowers would ever repay. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae tried to resist these shaky mortgages, but they had to keep taking them after Countrywide founder Angelo Mozilo applied political pressure.
In early 2004, after detecting a mortgage bubble in the data, I wrote two pieces for the New York Times warning of the problems. If a mere journalist who was not even reporting on real estate could discern the problem, what excuse was there for those whose job it was to monitor the situation?
Wendy Edelberg, who was the commission’s executive director, said on Friday that “while you can never predict all panics, the flip side is this crisis was caused by human actions and was avoidable.”
Edelberg presented charts showing that loan delinquencies “were lower by an order of magnitude” for government-sponsored Fannie and Freddie than for Wall Street’s mortgage-backed securities. Delinquencies at one point were 15 percent for Fannie and Freddie versus 40 percent for Wall Street.
Edelberg also outlined who bought the obviously bad loans. No one did.
She compared the bad loans to soup with so much fat no one wants it, so it is put in the refrigerator. Once the mixture chills the fat rises to the top and is skimmed off.
EXCESS FAT
By 2006 more than 80 percent of the sure-to-fail loans were inside collateralized debt obligations that were being repackaged and resold like so much excess fat. “No one was actually buying the risk,” she said. “It was just being recycled.”
This is exactly what Washington politicians in both political parties, with their eye on donations from Wall Street, do not want to hear.
One of the best proofs of official lack of interest in learning the facts is the size of the commission budget Congress authorized: $9.8 million.
That is a tiny fraction of the $175 million spent investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, and that was in 1980s dollars. It is less than a quarter of what Kenneth Starr spent investigating President Bill Clinton‘s dalliance with an intern.
And then there is the official hostility to the commission. When the report was issued in January, Representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican and one of the richest self-made men in Congress, mounted an investigation.
Angelides characterized the move as a search for just one email showing the inquiry was motivated by ideology rather than truth-seeking. Issa came up dry, but his message was loud and clear: don’t mess with Wall Street.
What the commission’s report has shown is that leaving Wall Street alone will ensure a future of continuing panics, to the detriment of everyone who is not part of Wall Street. | 4,877 | 2,420 | 0.000425 |
warc | 201704 | You probably didn’t need a government-appointed panel to tell you that the majority of Americans are overweight or obese. It’s with that reality in mind, however, that the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee — a panel of independent experts that makes recommendations for the nutritional guidance issued by the government every five years — has issued its report.
Given the extent of our national fatitude .. | 438 | 294 | 0.00359 |
warc | 201704 | Nov 8 loaded with the robot ship and stand
June 15 carrying plywood to make workshop tables
LOGISTICS - BMS is operating on a shoestring budget at the moment, so needs to get to events such as Innovate 2015 as economically as possible. Normally this would mean using a bargain gas guzzling van to be able to accommodate such a large display, and that would have been the case, but for some lateral thinking. Enter the humble Nissan Micra (seen above) that still has plenty of life left in it with only 30,000 miles on the clock. It was ideal for adaptation with a purpose made roof rack - even though our Government would have you scrap such vehicles and buy a new one in our not-quite superheated economy, but certainly debt laden society. The trip to London and back to Herstmonceux in Sussex, which included a leg to overnight accommodation in Woodford from Old Billingsgate (twice), cost the team just £25 in fuel despite the extra drag from the increased frontal area on the vehicle. Now that is what we call low carbon economy motoring. Well done Nissan. On top of this was the Congestion Charge and the Dartford Crossing toll ( both of which are our Government charging us twice to use roads that we already pay for with road tax), adding another £13.50. Transport cost excluding wear and tear on the vehicle, insurance and road tax was just £38.50. Imagine what that would have cost using public transport? Hence, we believe that privately owned zero carbon transport is essential for sustainable communities of the future. Public transport (trains, buses) is not that efficient. If they were, they would surely cost less.
HEAVIER HAULAGE - If we had used our 4x4 (Jeep) for the same journey, it would have cost us £57, more than double. Plus of course the £13.50 additional taxes = £70.50.
SUNDAY 8th NOV - The exhibition hall was full of activity when we finally arrived to unload and set up our stand. We were scheduled to unload from 12:30, but delays in traffic made us late. The organizers were most understanding and flexible in this regard. Mind you we did not take up a lot of room with such a small vehicle. A number of the stands provided by the organizers were plain plywood on bare softwood frames. Other stands were more elaborate, mainly the official Government organizations who were attending.
ABOUT OLD BILLINGSGATE
The magnificent building of Old Billingsgate is in the heart of the City of London, positioned amidst the largest financial centre in Europe, and just a short distance from some of the world’s most exclusive residential districts such as Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Chelsea and Kensington.
Old Billingsgate Market is the name given to what is now a hospitality and events venue in the City of London, based in the Victorian building that was originally Billingsgate Fish Market, the world's largest fish market in the 19th century.
The first Billingsgate Market building was constructed on Lower Thames Street in 1850 by the builder John Jay, and the fish market was moved off the streets into its new riverside building. This was demolished in around 1873 and replaced by an arcaded market hall designed by City architect Horace Jones and built by John Mowlem & Co. in 1875, the building that still stands on the site today.
In 1982, the fish market itself was relocated to a new site on the Isle of Dogs in east London. The 1875 building was then refurbished by architect Richard Rogers, originally to provide office accommodation. Now used as an events venue, it remains a major London landmark and a notable Grade II listed building.
ROUTE MAPS - These are the route maps for the two legs of the journey to Old Billingsgate from the south coast, to Woodford.
3000 DELEGATES - MONDAY 9TH NOVEMBER 2015
More than 3,000 delegates from high-growth innovative businesses, the investment community, academia and government are gathered in London on the 9-10th of November for Innovate 2015 – a global showcase for the best in UK innovation.
Speakers for the 9yh included Facebook vice-president for Europe, Middle East and Africa Nicola Mendelsohn, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Sajid Javid MP, global innovation leader Dr Dave Richards, Cobra Beer founder Lord Bilimoria, and bio-bean founder Arthur Kay. Many small and medium-sized British companies at the cutting edge of innovation are exhibiting alongside universities; funding and support bodies such as Innovate UK, the Catapults, and the Business Growth Service; and private investors. Many smaller themed meetings and events are taking place away from the main stage and there are formal and informal networking opportunities for delegates, including the opportunity for one-to-one meetings with investors. Events on the main stage for the 9th: 9.05am keynote ministerial speech by Sajid Javed 9.25am chief executive of Innovate UK Dr Ruth McKernan on a 5-point plan to accelerate innovation 10.10 Dr Dave Richards, co-founder of MIT Innovation Lab, on the seven sins of innovation 11.15 Nicola Mendelsohn on the relationship between innovation and creativity 1pm angel investor Sherry Coutu on UK progress on the recommendations of The Scale-Up Report on UK Economic Growth 1.50pm Lord Bilimoria on his top 5 tips for business expansion 2.45pm Arthur Kay, the Guardian’s Sustainable Business Leader of the Year 2015, on how his idea for bio-bean has changed his life 3.25pm panel discussion about how Catapult innovation centres are driving investment 4.25pm Chris Aylett, chief executive of the Motorsport Industry Association, on how the UK’s Motorsport valley cluster is leading the world TUESDAY 10TH AT INNOVATE 2015 Businesses attending can find out about the wide range of research expertise and government support available to help them to deliver new products and services and to expand both at home and abroad. Tuesday’s schedule focused on the innovation capabilities of the UK and the regional funding and support opportunities available to help businesses succeed and grow. Speakers included Jo Johnson MP, Minister of State for Universities and Science, Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt, chairman of the Open Data Institute, and a range of participants in the pioneering Evoque_E collaboration to develop hybrid and electric vehicles based on Range Rover models.
LOGISTICS
Our budget for this show was non-existent. The project team under the leadership of Chris Close, decided to make a stand that revolved, from old equipment and other redundant parts that we sometimes keep on the premises a bit too long before scrapping. Is that a good thing? You bet your life it is.
RECYCLING IN INNOVATION - How do you go from this pile of scrap steel to the exhibition quality stand below? Find out by clicking on the picture above and learn how to recycle your waste and fashion something useful, even elegant - in the process saving money that would have been spent on purchasing new goods carrying with them a fresh carbon footprint.
So it was that a consultant designer was brought in to mentor the team to come up with a configuration to reuse scrap parts to make a display stand that fit the bill, in that it was strong, durable and aesthetically pleasing. The stand would also have to break down to fit into or onto the only pool vehicle with a roof rack that the company currently uses. Indeed, some of the roof rack was also fabricated from reused steel as a custom build, because the racks that you could buy from automotive accessory shops or online were not strong enough and expensive to boot.
JAMIE & CHRIS - Probably the youngest delegate at the Innovate 2015 show, Jamie (17 left) nicknamed "Q", was allowed special time off (work experience) from his regular studies to be able to attend his first public exhibition. Our SeaVax project manager Chris (right), also had his first outing with the proof of concept boat seen above on its revolving stand. BMS is keen to introduce talent to the commercial arena, teach practical skills for life and watch contributors to the project grow with the project. Apart from aiming for a circular economy in cleaning up our oceans, BMS believes that the future economic prosperity of all nations relies on a skilled workforce in key technological areas such as energy, transport, robotics and communications to underpin sustainable agriculture (including fishing) and house building among other vital support for all life on earth. Conversely, young engineers need interesting engineering projects to encourage entry to a challenging career path. We believe that SeaVax ticks the boxes on all fronts and so offers far more to the UK's skills drive than all the land and water speed record attempts currently proposed, including our own.
IMPROVED FACILITIES
Although it was possible to get to and from this event with the help of some very friendly organizers at Innovate2015, both inside and outside the building, BMS needs a rig that will allow the team to give shows at venues that are popular, such as carnivals and music fests, shopping malls, beach events and so on. The problem with exhibitions in this part of London is that parking is severely limited. That means fast setup and breakdown times and long waiting times for your slot in the queue. The Nissan Micra, though a brilliant car for economy, cannot be modified for practical eventing. Super minis are now on the market that approach 80 mpg. Good news for the motoring public, bad news for oil companies. EVs are also coming on stream, meaning that one day they could be solar and wind powered, just like the SeaVax. Again, good news for the environment, bad news for fossil fuel investors like Bill Gates. Naughty! But then again we still need oil to tide us over until zero carbon transport takes over.
To improve our flexibility and make other venues possible, the team have a modified VW camper van and a trailer earmarked for dedicated conversion to a "rig" for eco Road-Shows. The reason for this is that most people are not aware of the ocean plastic problem, let alone the fact that there is a potential cure in the offing. It must then be that as we have a suitable display that people can enjoy learning from, that we should attend as many popular venues as possible to share information with the man on the street.
EXHIBITION STAND No 115 - Due to health and safety issues we were not allowed to have the display stand revolving while visitors were in the halls. For our next static event we may solve this limitation by including a large circular base with rope barriers. We were blessed with a superb position adjacent to the LUTZ Pathfinder Pod stand.
NICOLA MENDELSOHN - We were very pleased to welcome Nicola Mendelsohn when she made time to visit our stand at Innovate 2015. Thanks Nicola. Nicola is Facebook's vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). She was a speaker at the Innovate event. Nicola works from the social network’s new London office near Euston where her calendar is covered in colour-coded post-it notes to indicate the different regions of the world she is visiting.
This year, Nicola was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in recognition of her services to the creative industry. She was Executive Chairman at the advertising agency Karmarama. She is the co-chair of the Creative Industries Council a joint forum between the creative industries and UK Government.
Previous roles include being the first woman President of the IPA, Director of the Fragrance Foundation, a board member of CEW, Trustee of the White Ribbon Alliance and Corporate chair of Women's Aid. Nicola serves as non-executive Board Director for Diageo and is Director of the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction. Her greatest joy in life comes from her husband Jon and their four children Gabi, Danny, Sam and Zac.
The Telegraph quotes Nicola as saying:
"I plan a year ahead, to make sure I visit all the markets and see what’s going on. I pay particular attention to different areas that might need me at different times." "It means I’m on the road every single week, but I absolutely love it. I get to spend time with extraordinary people in the most incredible places, and Facebook can help their businesses." Throughout her 20 years in advertising agencies Mendelsohn insisted on working four days a week, so that she could spend more time with her family. But, when she joined Facebook around two years ago she decided to go full-time saying "because I didn't think I would be able to do the job well on that amount of time, and the kids were older". Like Facebook's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, she champions diversity in the workplace and recently hosted a breakfast event for around 200 female leaders to celebrate International Women’s Day. During Mendelsohn's two years working at Facebook, the social network has changed dramatically. When she first joined the company in 2012, it had only just acquired Instagram, it hadn’t bought WhatsApp, it hadn’t bought Oculus, and it hadn't yet separated out Messenger from the the main Facebook app on mobile. Mendelsohn said that, since 2012, there has been a rapid acceleration in the number of people accessing the social network via mobile devices. In the UK alone, 27m people visit Facebook every day, and 24m of these are coming back on mobile every day. On average, she said, people check Facebook on their mobiles an average of 14 times a day. Video has also exploded on Facebook. The company is now seeing 3bn video views every day, up from 1bn six months ago. This has forced advertisers to completely rethink the way they target customers. There are now 2 million active advertisers on Facebook, up from 1.5 million roughly half a year ago and 1 million a year-and-a-half ago. Follow Nicola on Twitter: Twitter Nicola Mendelsohn
EXHIBITION STAND No C10 - Automated (self-driving) vehicles are seen by many as the future of personal transport, with the eventual promise of fully-automated vehicles expected to bring significant societal benefits. Road safety is perhaps the most important factor, as it has been estimated that human error is at least partly responsible for more than 90% of today’s road fatalities. It’s also anticipated that automated vehicle systems will allow for more efficient movement of people and goods – potentially leading to a marked reduction in congestion as well as bringing possible benefits to the environment. If vehicles can be made to run entirely without human drivers, automation could also offer a new lease of mobility to those who cannot currently drive, whether on account of age, disability or simply because they do not own a car. There is still a long way to go until that vision becomes a reality, but the Transport Systems Catapult is helping to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of this exciting new field of technology, with our LUTZ Pathfinder self-driving pods project about to get underway on pedestrianized areas of Milton Keynes. Carried out on behalf of the UK Automotive Council and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the LUTZ Pathfinder project will oversee the trial of up to three automated pods within the city centre, and assess their feasibility from both a technological and societal point of view. Designed and manufactured by Coventry-based automotive innovation experts RDM, the electric-powered two-seater pods are equipped with sensor and navigation technology developed by the University of Oxford's world-leading Mobile Robotics Group.
EXHIBITION STAND 74 - eStress specialises in providing engineering analysis and consultancy services within the ‘high-tech’ and R&D fields ranging from contribution to new product designs, investigation into the structural integrity of existing products and components, failure analysis, heat transfer, and assessment of the impact of modifications on life expectancy and structural performance.
The Organization is based in Bristol and has been operating for more than 20 years. Its success was founded and is still firmly based on the wide ranging practical engineering experience of its 10 strong Top Management and Engineers. Customers include Airbus, BAe Systems, Rolls-Royce, GKN Aerospace, Messier-Bugatti-Dowty and British Energy.
The HPC-Blade product represents a novel design and manufacturing solution for wind-turbine blades. The product assembly facilitates the following technology shifts: progression from a spar and core configuration to a rib-based fully stressed blade skin; elimination of mechanically fastened or bonded composite-metal joints; an optimised and appropriate synthesis of composite and metallic materials.
HPC-Blade offers weight saving, improved reliability, erosion/corrosion resistance, faster manufacture and lower cost when compared to existing products on the market. The unique hub adaptation assembly unlocks the blade retrofit market. The design is scalable, offering benefits to composite blades of many sizes. CONTACT: eStress Ltd, 3 Hide Market, West Street, St Philips, Bristol, BS2 0BH. Tel 0117 954 7147 Email
chris.vaissiere@estressltd.com http://www.hpcblade.com/
INNOVATE 2015
This event is designed to encourage inventive entrepreneurs to take technological ideas to market. The other area for drive was export, so helping budding business persons to start companies to make products to keep the UK competitive, and provide jobs. That said, with robotics being one of the fastest growing areas, jobs may become a thing of the past.
The idea is that the Dti put up a number of grants in selected areas of growth. The grants are between 50-70 percent of a projects costs, meaning that entrepreneurs need to either risk their own cash if they are wealthy, or persuade a bank to lend them what amounts to research and development funding. Typically, existing technology companies with huge reserves will reap the rewards of these grants, because they already have an R&D budget. This innovation showcase is a great place to see the latest ideas and poach one or two for your own company, should an exhibitor not have sewn up their IP rights - so be careful. It's a cut-throat world, especially where devious military interests come into play. They don't want to help you, they want to steal your know-how and will even sign a non-disclosure agreement to find out who your partners are, then walk away once they have that intel. So steer clear of MOD contractors.
INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS - Without robots making our cars and computers they would cost more and be made to lower tolerances. Robots speed up production and do not need to stop for meals, etc.
THE GUARDIAN NOV 5 2015 - ROBOTIC REVOLUTION
According to the Guardian, In a 300-page report analysts from investment bank Bank of America Merrill Lynch draw on the latest research to outline the impact of what they regard as a fourth industrial revolution, after steam, mass production and electronics.
“We are facing a paradigm shift which will change the way we live and work,” the authors are quoted as saying. “The pace of disruptive technological innovation has gone from linear to parabolic in recent years. Penetration of robots and artificial intelligence has hit every industry sector, and has become an integral part of our daily lives.” However, this revolution could leave up to 35% of all workers in the UK, and 47% of those in the US, at risk of being displaced by technology over the next 20 years, according to Oxford University research cited in the report, with job losses likely to be concentrated at the bottom of the income scale.
BEHIND THE SCENES - Camera and sound men record the speakers and keep presentations on PowerPoint running smoothly.
“The trend is worrisome in markets like the US because many of the jobs created in recent years are low-paying, manual or services jobs which are generally considered ‘high risk’ for replacement,” the bank says.
“One major risk off the back of the take-up of robots and artificial intelligence is the potential for increasing labour polarisation, particularly for low-paying jobs such as service occupations, and a hollowing-out of middle income manual labour jobs.” The authors calculate that the total global market for robots and artificial intelligence is expected to reach $152.7bn (£99bn) by 2020, and estimate that the adoption of these technologies could improve productivity by 30% in some industries. They point out that Google bought eight robotics companies in a two-month period in 2014, from Boston Dynamics, which makes the BigDog robot, to DeepMind, specializing in deep learning for artificial intelligence.
STAR SHIP ENTERPRISE - This may look like a Trekkie treat, and another Star Ship for Admiral James T Kirk or Captain Jean-Luc Picard to go boldly somewhere in the Universe, but they may be surprised to learn that it's not a space ship at all, rather an ocean cleaning workhorse for planet earth.
In the most advanced manufacturing sectors – among Japan’s carmakers, for example – robots are already able to work unsupervised round the clock for up to 30 days without interruption. While offshoring manufacturing jobs to low-cost economies can save up to 65% on labour costs, replacing human workers with robots saves up to 90%.
At present, there are on average 66 robots per 10,000 workers worldwide, the report finds; but in the highly automated Japanese car sector there are 1,520. But it is not just low-skilled jobs, such as assembly-line work, that could be replaced: a report from the McKinsey Global Institute in 2013 found that up to $9tn in global wage costs could be saved as computers take over knowledge-intensive tasks such as analysing consumers’ credit ratings and providing financial advice. Enthusiasts for the rise of robots argue that they can overcome the foibles and fallibilities of human workers. The report cites research that showed judges tend to be more draconian in the runup to lunchtime and more lenient once they have eaten, for example.
PRESENTERS & PANEL - The Innovate event had a full conference agenda on a variety of topics
It urges consumers to invest in businesses that are already taking advantage of the benefits of the new technologies: “Early adoption will be a key comparative advantage, while those that lag in investment will see their competitiveness slip.”
REFRESHMENTS - Coffee, tea and water were served all day. At lunchtime there were filled rolls for carnivores and veggies, and other snacks.
However, the bank also points out that major ethical and social issues will increasingly arise: they cite the moral questions about the growing use of unmanned drones in warfare; and even the emergence of a pressure group called the Campaign Against Sex Robots, where no such machines exist to be able to evaluate any argument one way or the other, though we are sure there would be no shortage of volunteers - and such endeavors could see an end to exploitation of both male and female servitude - and provide companionship for many who prefer less complicated lives. Fears about humans being displaced by machines are not new: in the early 19th century bands of angry Luddites smashed up the steam-powered looms that were throwing hand-weavers out of work.
Beijia Ma, the report’s lead author, said that over the past 200 years and more, societies have eventually found ways of turning technological developments to their advantage. She said the best advice for people fearing the rise of the robots is to polish up their skills. “It’s not meant to be a doom and gloom report: one of the ways we think people could help themselves here is through education.”
STAND VISITORS - Visitors to our stand were often experts in robotics or other engineering fields. We enjoyed sharing information with them and the media, who were also in force. We were filmed for Japanese and Chinese audiences. We also touched base with Government officials from overseas, some of whom liked the concept of being able to clean up their patch. A big thankyou for all of you who took the time to talk to us and share your views.
Beijia Ma added that a recent survey of industry experts, by the US polling firm Pew, revealed a stark divide between techno-optimists and pessimists. Almost half of them, 48%, believed the rise of robots and artificial intelligence would have “a massive detrimental impact on society, where digital agents displace both blue- and white-collar workers, leading to income inequality and breakdowns in social order”.
Meanwhile, 52% “anticipated that human ingenuity would overcome and create new jobs and industries”. Andrew Simms, of thinktank the New Weather Institute, said the rise of new technologies could be an opportunity to realise the aspirations of the economist John Maynard Keynes, who predicted in 1930 that within a century, technology would have enabled the working week to be reduced to 15 hours with the rest of the time devoted to leisure. Without rethinking the relationship between work and society, the result could be a growing disparity between economic winners and losers. “We are in danger, for the first time in history, of creating a large number of people who are not needed,” he said. “The question should be, what sort of economy do you want, and to meet what human needs?”
LOWER GROUND FLOOR STAND No 24 - ASV won a place to showcase its product at the UK’s largest innovation show. ASV Global had this 500mm (12' x 7' feet full size) long model of their C-Enduro catamaran on display [4 x 2.5 metres full size]. We understand that they have sold at least 3 of these boats since introduction that are solar and wind powered, with a diesel engine in the driveline as the Achilles Heel in the design of a truly long endurance vessel. ASV Global are regularly awarded military contracts by the Royal Navy and other Department of Defense organisations, giving them significant financial reserves to be able to develop both oceanographic survey and war machines. Under the leadership of Dan Hook they now employ around 70 staff largely due to military support, where the Royal Navy is keen to move into the sphere of robotic warfare and is now inviting demonstrations of autonomous marine idea at their 'Unmanned Warrior' DSEI exercise in 2016. Bluebird Marine Systems oppose any form of conflict that puts human lives at risk, and does not seek nor undertake military contracts. If it is absolutely necessary to patrol the oceans as a deterrent, we would prefer to see passive unmanned peacekeeping vehicles that are designed to prevent wars (save lives) - and that are non-polluting. That of course rules out nuclear powered submarines and aircraft carriers. The C-Enduro cannot be described as a war machine. It is mainly used for limited range (coastal) oceanographic surveys.
THE ROBOT REVOLUTION - UNDER THREAT?
A wide range of jobs could eventually be taken over by machines, Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s analysts predict. Burger flippers A San Francisco-based start-up called Momentum Machines has designed a robot that would replicate the hot, repetitive tasks of the fast-food worker: shaping burgers from ground meat, grilling them to order, toasting buns, and adding tomatoes, onions and pickles.
Manufacturing workers Relatively low-skilled industrial workers in rich countries have become used to competing against cut-price employees in cheaper economies. But while “offshoring” can cut labour costs by 65%, replacing workers with machines can cut them by up to 90%. The process is well advanced in countries such as Japan and South Korea; as other countries catch up, many more jobs will be taken over by technology.
LOWER GROUND FLOOR STAND No 60 - Potentially of interest to BMS for marine animatronics applications was a linear actuator that is around 65% efficient. Dr Graham Whitely (Tech Dir) and Craig Fletcher (Man Dir) were on the stand to explain the advantages of the system to our roving delegate. Wavedrives Limited are developing a range of what amounts to electro-mechanical muscles for prosthetic or robotic applications. Wavedrives is a spin off of Elumotion Ltd’s patent system. Their focus is on sustainable, electro-mechanical and robotic solutions capable of human-compatible motion that is smooth and judder free with fine control.
They claim the product is scalable. Stroke length can be extended without loss of performance. Backdrive force can be tailored for application. While larger diameter SILA units will provide greater force, smaller units will remain power dense. The non-contact transmission has very low noise, no wear, no friction and no risk of jamming. Electromechanical actuators cannot match this adaptability and endurance.
The SILA EC-210 generates less than 48db noise. This offers meaningful reductions in noise levels relative to other actuation technologies. Low lifetime cost and complexity and part count, absence of wearing surfaces, high efficiency and low maintenance requirement all contribute to reducing the lifetime cost of such systems.
CONTACTS - Unit 1, Wansdyke Business Centre, Oldfield Lane, Bath, BA2 3LY. Tel: 01225 466633 Web: http://www.wavedrives.com/
Financial advisers Bespoke financial advice seems like the epitome of a “personal” service; but it could soon be replaced by increasingly sophisticated algorithms that can tailor their responses to an individual’s circumstances.
Doctors Some 570,000 “robo-surgery” operations were performed last year. Oncologists at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York have used IBM’s Watson supercomputer, which can read 1m textbooks in three seconds, to help them with diagnosis. Other medical applications of computer technology involve everything from microscopic cameras to “robotic controlled catheters”. Care workers Merrill Lynch predicts that the global personal robot market, including so-called “care-bots”, could increase to $17bn over the next five years, “driven by rapidly ageing populations, a looming shortfall of care workers, and the need to enhance performance and assist rehabilitation of the elderly and disabled”.
MERRILL LYNCH - A “robot revolution” will transform the global economy over the next 20 years, cutting the costs of doing business but exacerbating social inequality, as machines take over everything from caring for the elderly to flipping burgers, according to a new study. As well as robots performing manual jobs, such as hoovering the living room or assembling machine parts, the development of artificial intelligence means computers are increasingly able to “think”, performing analytical tasks once seen as requiring human judgment.
SHOW HIRE
Event organizers that are looking for an interesting attraction might like to hire the SeaVax road show and a presenter, to give short inspirational talks and demonstrations of the robot ship that could be the answer to declining fish stocks, a subject that is worrying the United Nations and most other world leaders. Not though the Global Ocean Commission who recently recommended doing more of the same: yes that is right - nothing much! Granted we are taking on a lot, but it is a worthy cause and we're bound to learn a great deal in rising to the challenge. We are of course not alone in this quest, we have many academic supporters in principle.
MEZZANINE FLOOR STAND 151 - Boris is a life sized humanoid robot from Globalnet 360 designed for human interaction in a public environment. Boris is fully interactive, multilingual, and user-friendly, making it a perfect device with which to communicate and entertain. He is available for hire to perform at your venues, complete with a roboteer to create custom content. We saw a demonstration where Boris changes from blue to red to simulate anger. His eyes change colour and the machine waves its arms about. In our opinion Boris would benefit from a little work in the facial appearance and muscle department - and the eyes. But to a customer unfamiliar with robots, they would be entertained and it is a very good effort.
CONTACT: 360Globalnet Ltd, Bourne House, 475 Godstone Road, Whyteleafe, Surrey CR3 0BL. Tel: 01883 621000
More to come ......
CONTACTS
Oldbillingsgate Ltd
1 Old Billingsgate Walk London EC3R 6DX Call: +44 (0)20 7283 2800 Fax: +44 (0)20 7626 1095 Email: info@oldbillingsgate.co.uk
LINKS & REFERENCES
UK Trade and Industry Innovate 2015
http://en.people.cn/n/2015/1112/c98649-8975579-2.html
TS Catapult UK
Government organisations department for business innovation skills
Campaign against sex robots wordpress
Mckinsey insights business_disruptive_technologies
The Guardian technology 2015 November 5 robot revolution rise machines could displace third of uk jobs
Government paying twice for public roads Dartford crossing charge
TFL Transport For London UK driving congestion charge
UKTI Government events
https://twitter.com/Innovate2015
http://www.instagram24.com/tag/innovate2015
http://www.internationalwomensday.com/
http://www.bostondynamics.com/
https://www.google.co.uk/
http://www.ibm.com/
http://www.janes.com/article/54427/dsei-2015-uk-royal-navy-plans-to-gauge-autonomous-technology-opportunities-in-unmanned-warrior-exercise-in-2016
http://en.people.cn/n/2015/1112/c98649-8975579-2.html
Wikipedia Old_Billingsgate_Market
http://www.360globalnet.com/
http://asvglobal.com/events/innovate-2015/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Billingsgate_Market
https://www.events.ukti.gov.uk/
http://www.ox.ac.uk/
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-business-innovation-skills
https://twitter.com/nicolamen
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/11480211/Interview-Facebooks-Nicola-Mendelsohn.html
https://www.ml.com/
https://ts.catapult.org.uk/
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-business-innovation-skills
http://www.rdmgroup.co.uk/
http://www.automotivecouncil.co.uk/
http://mrg.robots.ox.ac.uk/
http://www.newweather.org/
https://campaignagainstsexrobots.wordpress.com/about/
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_technology/disruptive_technologies
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/nov/05/robot-revolution-rise-machines-could-displace-third-of-uk-jobs
https://www.gov.uk/pay-dartford-crossing-charge
https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/congestion-charge | 34,690 | 15,592 | 0.000065 |
warc | 201704 | Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2007.08.08 Willi Braun (ed.), Rhetoric and Reality in Early Christianities. Studies in Christianity and Judaism 16.. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2005. Pp. 267. ISBN 0-88920-462-4. $59.95. Reviewed by Rubén R. Dupertuis, Trinity University (ruben.dupertuis@trinity.edu) Word count: 1453 words
[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review.]
Most of the essays collected in this volume had their origin in the 2000 Congress of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Alberta, Edmonton. The book's stated goal is "to explore the rhetoricality of early Christian discourses and practices around the overarching question of how to account in cogently explanatory terms for the persuasions of and to early Christian groups, ideologies, and practices" (ix).
After a short Preface and a list of contributors, the book consists of nine chapters, each of which is followed by a section of endnotes and a bibliography for that chapter. I found this feature useful because the examples used to explore modes of persuasion in their cultural contexts vary significantly from essay to essay. The final pages contain an index for the volume as a whole.
The first essay by Willi Braun, the volume's editor, functions as the introduction for the volume as a whole. The essay can be divided into three parts. The first is an argument for the need to move away from an exclusively text-oriented understanding of the rhetorical study of early Christian literature with its tendency to pry texts from their contexts. The second provides an alternative approach, which would "ambiguate the object defined as 'rhetoric' that is (at least tacitly) interlinked with, even restrictively posed in terms of, a logographic formalism of the classical (Aristotelian)
ars rhetorica" (4) and allow for consideration of how persuasion works within particular social and cultural contexts. Braun and the other contributors of the volume assume a broad definition of rhetoric--the preferred term is, in fact, rhetoricality (10). The third and final part of this essay briefly describes each of the following contributions.
In his contribution William E. Arnal explores the attitude toward language in the Gospel of Thomas, which he understands as a first century C.E. text. Based on the premise that "we should expect to find a close correspondence between a given text's social location and attitude, on the one hand, and its doctrine of, and use of, and approach to language on the other" (27), Arnal argues that the Gospel of Thomas assumes the possibility of a single meaning, which the readers are charged to discover despite the fact that it is not obvious or self evident. Arnal also argues that the central view of language in the Gospel of Thomas can be characterized as "anti-taxonomic" in its largely consistent upending of privileged categories, such as hidden/manifest, inner/outer, dead/living. Nonetheless, the use of some of these terms in the Gospel of Thomas is inconsistent, as poverty is bad in Sayings 3 and 29, but good in Saying 54. Laurence Broadhurst's essay weighs into a debate regarding the degree to which the anti-Judaism of Melito of Sardis'
Peri Pascha reflects actual conflicts between Judaism and Christianity in Asia Minor or not. He challenges the view of Miriam S. Taylor 1 that "Israel" in the Peri Pascha does not represent Jews in Melito's time but is used figuratively as part of an argument for Christian supersession. To make the case that the image of Judaism in the text "must be reflective somehow of the reality" (55), Broadhurst turns to what is the central, and I think quite valuable contribution of his essay, that of placing the Peri Pascha in the context of the literary context of the Second Sophistic, which is convincingly demonstrated.
In the next essay Todd Penner discusses the genre of the Acts of the Apostles in the light of the ongoing attempt of New Testament scholars to determine which parts of Acts are to be considered historical. The account of the Hellenists in Acts 6:1-8:3, in particular, has been invested with historical value by interpreters because the Hellenists can represent the first steps toward a break from Judaism. Penner also notes that in all of the discussions regarding which parts of Acts are more historical than others, very little attention has been paid "to the basic issue of what constitutes
historia for the writer of Acts (80). Penner suggests that Acts be understood as historia and therefore be evaluated according the expectations of history-writing in Roman world.
Margaret Y. MacDonald explores the apparent contradiction in Colossians, which on the one hand contains an instance of the so-called "household code" that limits the role of women (3:18-4:1), but on the other contains a reference to Nympha, who is clearly the head of a household (4:15). MacDonald suggests that "the code may be less about applying new restrictions to a particular group such as wives or slaves and more about general community orientation and identity, and the face one presents to the world outside" (107).
In the following essay John Kitchen looks at the language of redemption and the institution of slavery in early medieval writings. Building on the work of Orlando Patterson
2 Kitchen finds two poles in Pauline language on salvation and slavery: one has "conservative" spiritual and social implications in which redemption is understood as enslavement to Christ, while the other has more "liberating" social implications. After the time of Constantine, Patterson has argued, the "conservative" view took hold and was the dominant understanding through the medieval period, allowing the church to hold slaves. Kitchen argues, however, that the more "liberating" view can be found such texts as Gregory of Tours' Life of Portianus and Sulpicius Severus' Life of Saint Martin.
Theodore S. De Bruyn then looks at the relationship between lament rituals and the philosophical consolation tradition in late antique Christianity, suggesting that among "the élite the rhetoric of consolation displaced--or aimed to displace--the ritual of lament as an expression of identity and community in the face of death" (162). Relying on Roy A. Rappaport's theory of ritual,
3 De Bruyn argues that the discourse of consolation achieves a very similar effect to that of rituals of lament. In the end, however, lament rituals were not displaced, in part because they gave participants--predominantly women--a central place in the ritual and an opportunity for "truth telling" (175).
Luther H. Martin uses cognitive psychology to examine the way in which participants would have experienced the cult of Mithras. He argues that the inability of scholars to reconstruct a stable narrative or myth is likely the result of there having been no such widespread myth in the first place. Relying on the work of Harvey Whitehouse, Martin argues that unlike Christianity, which was transmitted in a "doctrinal mode of religiosity," Mithraism existed and spread in an "imagistic mode of religiosity," which employs "a diversity of precepts and practices that are based on the local exegesis associated with small-scale, face-to-face groups and that are transmitted episodically, through infrequently performed rituals" (189). At the heart of participants' experience were emotionally-charged initiatory rites that served to define group identity in particular ways (192).
In the final essay in the volume, Chad Kile takes aim at definitions of Christianity that focus on doctrine and understand the "process of (effective) Christianization" as the "transmission of doctrinal material through persuasion at the level of ideas, concepts, and creeds" (221). Drawing on a range of scholars that include Rodney Stark, Burton Mack, Bruce Lincoln and Harvey Whitehouse, Kile argues for the need to view Christianization as a process of social formation in which persuasion is less the product of ideologies and concepts than by how coalitions are formed and sustained.
The collection as a whole is a fine and valuable contribution to the study of early Christianity. As one might expect, there is some unevenness from essay to essay, given the broad chronological scope and differences of methodological approaches. Nonetheless, all of the essays are connected by similar, or at least compatible, interests and questions. This volume will be interest mostly to specialists in the study of early Christianity and rhetoric generally, as well as those interested in the specific texts used as examples in the essays that make up this volume.
CONTENTS
1. Willi Braun, "Rhetoric, Rhetoricality, and Discourse Performances"
2. William E. Arnal, "The Rhetoric of Social Construction: Language and Society in the Gospel of Thomas"
3. Laurence Broadhurst, "Melito of Sardis, the Second Sophistic, and 'Israel'"
4. Todd Penner, "Early Christian Heroes and Lukan Narrative: Stephen and the Hellenists in Ancient Historiographical Perspective"
5. Margaret Y. MacDonald "Can Nympha Rule This House? The Rhetoric of Domesticity in Colossians"
6. John Kitchen, "'Raised from the Dung': Hagiography, Liberation, and the Social Subversiveness of Early Medieval Christianity"
7. Theodore S. de Bruyn, "Philosophical Counsel versus Customary Lament in Fourth-Century Christian Responses to Death"
8. Luther H. Martin, "Performativity, Narrative, and Cognition: 'Demythologizing' the Roman Cult of Mithras"
9. Chad Kile, "Feeling Persuaded: Christianization as Social Formation".
Notes:
1. Miriam S. Taylor, Anti-Judaism and Early Christianity: A Critique of the Scholarly Consensus. Studia Post-Biblica, 46. Leiden: Brill, 1995. 2. Orlando Patterson, Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982. 3. Roy A. Rappaport, Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. | 10,059 | 4,625 | 0.000218 |
warc | 201704 | Benjamin Dangl
In early July in Sicaya,
This upcoming recall vote on the president, vice president and eight of nine departmental governors is to take place at a time of historic change for the country. Half way through a five year term in office, Morales is applying social programs aimed at fighting poverty and inequality, and developing positive relationships with
Since May 4, autonomy referendums have been approved by voters in the departments of
In addition, all of the referendums were marked by high levels of voter intimidation and abstention – Morales urged his supporters to abstain from voting. In Pando, for example, the combined number of "no" votes and abstentions was 16,303, while the "yes" votes totaled only 12,671. In other departments, Morales supporters were kidnapped, tortured and beaten by right wing thugs in an attempt to suppress the anti-autonomy vote.
In spite of the questionable legitimacy of these referendums, the votes illustrate the growing polarization in the country. In another setback to the Morales administration, opposition prefect Savina Cuéllar, was elected in Chuquisaca on June 29. She was running against MAS candidate Walter Valda in a vote that took place in tandem with a successful autonomy referendum. However, the opposition’s apparent momentum is likely to be put in check by the August 10 recall vote.
In an attempt to break up a political impasse in December 2007, and in response to demands from the opposition, Morales proposed the recall bill which was passed on May 8, 2008 by the opposition-controlled Senate. The recall bill states that if the president, vice president and governors do not receive both a higher percentage of votes, and actual number of votes, in the recall referendum than what they received in the 2005 election, they will lose their position. Therefore, it’s possible to win the necessary percentage of votes, but lose the necessary number of votes, thus losing the recall vote. If Morales and vice president Alvaro Garcia Linera lose, they have to hold new elections within 90-120 days, in which they themselves are likely to be strong candidates. If the governors lose, they are to be replaced by an interim governor of Morales’ choosing until the next election. The recall vote on the governors will take place in eight out of the nine provinces; Chuquisaca won’t participate as Cuéllar was just recently elected governor there.
The results of the recall vote could vary widely. Polls indicate that Morales and Linera will win; they will likely be bolstered by new voters in rural areas voting for the first time after a massive voter registration drive led by the government. Morales is also likely to benefit from the fact that many voters and social organizations, in spite of any criticisms they have of his administration, will likely back him in a vote in which the alternative is essentially the right wing. As an analysis article on the Bolivian news publication
BolPress explained, "[V]arious popular organizations have initiated a campaign to ratify Morales and kick out the oppositional governors, not because they consider that the actual leader [Morales] is managing the government well, it’s because the oligarchy’s return to power would imply an end to the possibility of transformation within the socio-economic structures of the country."
Though the recall vote may invigorate Morales’ mandate, and perhaps weaken the right, it’s unlikely to resolve many of the disputes tearing the political landscape apart. The question of whether the executive and legislative powers will be based in
Some opposition governors and their supporters will likely not respect the results of the recall vote, or even participate in it at all. Vice president Linera recently told reporters that "They will probably boycott some regions, those where they know will lose. I believe they are laying the grounds for some sort of boycott on August 10 to create conflicts." It is also not entirely clear if the recall vote will proceed at all. Magistrate Silvia Salame, the only judge on
While debates over the recall vote go on, controversy continues to surround how to best use
Meanwhile,
On June 24, Coca growers in
At the same time, regional support for the Morales administration’s policies is on the rise.
Lula and Chavez recently pledged to collectively contribute $530 million dollars to help with the development of highways linking
Back in Sicaya, where Morales said he would return to coca farming if he lost the recall vote, the president stated that now, "the vote serves not only to name authorities, but also to revoke their mandate. We are talking about expanding democracy." Yet recent history shows that democracy in
***
Benjamin Dangl is the author of " The ," (AK Press, 2007). He is the editor of TowardFreedom.com, a progressive perspective on world events, and UpsideDownWorld.org, a website on activism and politics in Latin America. Email: Bendangl(at)gmail(dot)com | 5,063 | 2,408 | 0.000423 |
warc | 201704 | Bonamici Bill Will Help Employees Gain Skills Needed by Local Companies
WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1) introduced H.R. 5975, the Workforce Infrastructure for Skilled Employees (WISE) Investment Act today to help identify local skills gaps and put Americans back to work. This is Bonamici’s first major piece of legislation since she assumed office in February.
The WISE Investment Act establishes a pilot program that will provide grants to eligible workforce investment boards, community colleges, and other vocational institutions to hire local business liaisons. The liaisons will identify and analyze existing skills gaps and find ways to appropriately address them. “ Workforce development is a critical part of closing our nation’s skills gap,” Bonamici said. “ The WISE will help provide workforce organizations the resources they need to align training with the skills needed in our communities.” The local business liaisons funded by WISE Investment grants will conduct a strategic skills gap assessment – identifying employment opportunities that are difficult to fill, areas of growth and decline among industries, and the skills of unemployed or underemployed individuals. The findings of the assessment will then inform a strategic skills gap action plan – a road map for addressing the identified skills gaps in the region. “ Workforce development programs throughout the state and country are already doing an excellent job; this bill will assist their efforts. Increased collaboration between these organizations and local businesses will help to ensure that we are offering training opportunities that are aligned with local jobs,” Bonamici added. Congresswoman Bonamici consulted with a number of representatives from local businesses, community colleges, and workforce investment boards across Oregon’s First District throughout her first few months in office. Their concerns and feedback inspired this bill. Mark Lewis, owner of Woodfold Manufacturing in Forest Grove, participated in a workforce development roundtable led by Bonamici at Chemeketa Community College in McMinnville in May. “ From time to time we have jobs available at Woodfold that require certain high-level skills and training,” Lewis said. “ By helping small businesses integrate their needs into local workforce development strategies, Congresswoman Bonamici’s bill will allow Woodfold to more effectively focus our needs, which will in turn facilitate job placements.” The text of the WISE Investment Act and a fact sheet about the bill are attached below. | 2,662 | 1,268 | 0.000816 |
warc | 201704 | THE third year Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) medical students, Wendy Yap Hui Li, Nur Maajidah binti Hj Abd Rahman and Alicia Poh Wan Yan, recently conducted the ‘Breastfeeding Motivational Session for Rimba Community’ as part of their community-based project for their Special Study Module 3 (SSM3).
The objectives of this project were to emphasise on the importance and benefits of exclusive breastfeeding for six months until two years, to address the issues arise during breastfeeding and to explore the reasons behind the non-compliance to exclusive breastfeeding.
It was also an effort to encourage and support the involvement of husbands and family members in breastfeeding. | 699 | 440 | 0.002319 |
warc | 201704 | By Julie Cole
W
hat’s the pulse of the local church today?
On May 16-20 David Wells, General Superintendent of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC), will teach the seminary course Ministry Issues in Contemporary Culture which he hopes will enable students to gain a fresh perspective on what’s going on in the church.
Briercrest seminary dean, David Guretzki believes Wells is the best candidate to teach this course.
“It would be hard to find someone who has more exposure to the local church in Canada than him,” Guretzki said. He has so much insight into what’s happening and he is willing to experiment with new (forms of ministry) even while recognizing that traditional forms within the church are still necessary and needed.”
Wells has held a number of impressive leadership positions. In 2010 he coordinated the Christian chaplaincy at the Olympics in Vancouver. He is currently the Chair of the Board for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.
These responsibilities help Wells to keep his finger on the pulse of society and the church.
“I communicate with Canadians in everyday life,” he said. “Not just from the ivory tower of the denominational office. (It’s important) to lead from the streets instead of from the office.”
Many current issues will be examined in the course. Some that Wells hopes to look at are:
1. What does the church look like today?
2. The “basic angst” related to the church and those who have felt burned by the church.
3. Social media and the new demands it places on Christian leaders.
4. The role that denominational affiliation has in churches today. (Is the church becoming post-denominational?)
5. The mission of the church today.
Both Guretzki and Wells hope that local church leaders will take this course. The class is designed to be “highly participatory” so that students can bring up issues in class that they are encountering in their own ministries.
“We’re hoping to engage leaders in the local church,” Wells said. “People involved in equipping ministries who are currently in ministry in the laboratory of the local church or other ministry organizations.”
“Our primary hope is to signal to the local churches of our interests in talking about trends in ministry,” said Guretzki. We are hoping to draw pastors from local churches and our own alumni as well as current Briercrest seminary students.”
Click here to look at the course syllabus for Ministry Issues in Contemporary Culture. For more information about registering for the course, contact Shirley Entz at 306-756-3306. | 2,671 | 1,317 | 0.0008 |
warc | 201704 | ARTICLES / General / End of
Life Tips for Caregivers /
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End of Life Tips for Caregivers
By Ryan Mackey
At the end stages of life, do not
underestimate the loved one’s need for spiritual growth
and care through local clergy or religious communities
however insignificant it may seem to you.
Locate and understand all financial and legal papers
such as wills, power of attorneys, and bank accounts.
Make the necessary arrangements for a funeral or burial
and if this decision has not been made.
Do not cut yourself off from family and friends while
going through this situation, rather involve any
relatives who may wish to visit and spend some time with
the loved one.
It may be a good time to reconnect with any family or
friends of the loved one they may have lost contact with
over the years and see if they might be willing to talk
or visit.
Do not minimize a loved one’s pain in your own mind.
Listen and understand their feelings and be willing to
support them no matter how difficult it becomes.
If they are still able to be involved with the hobbies
they have enjoyed over the years, whether it is doing a
crossword puzzle or watching a television show, try your
best to make it possible.
If their primary doctor has prescribed medicine for
their pain, but the loved one has yet to use it, you
should urge they take it to reduce pain as much as
possible.
There are
hospice programs available that can provide comfort and
support for both patients and families.
Printable Version | 1,566 | 852 | 0.001211 |
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