text:
A full Service Portfolio
With the developed skill set and the experience accumulated by operating with companies and executives from various backgrounds, cultures, and with various objectives, it is natural to operate in the closely related fields as follows.
In addition, a complete operating methodology, along with the associated processes have been put in place, enabling CAPTIS to hand craft the approach on each individual project. A neutral, confidential third-party approach, such as CAPTIS', ensures the objectivity of any assessment, action plan, and eventually, its delivery as well. Please contact us for a more detailed explanation. We have been able to help in every single case we have had the honor and the opportunity to operate.
Click on services to submit an inquiry for a confidential, commitment-free evaluation
Phone Contact Information United States Offices: 1 (800) 445-1839 (US & Canada Toll Free) Europe & International Offices: +41 22 518 2100 Thank you for your interest!
Previous: About Us
CAPTIS is a global consulting firm specialized in Executive Search and Recruitment Solutions in the Healthcare and Medical Devices fields. Our Strenghts, our Principles, and our Promise. (Read more)
NEXT: Our Commitments
Many reasons why trust CAPTIS for any Executvie Search requirement. (Read more)
Most comprehensive search process
When hiring CAPTIS for the Executive Search services, you may reasonably feel secure regarding the most comprehensive search operations. Thorough network is only the first base for such approach. A number of methodology steps are set in order to enable CAPTIS' teams to perform "manual" search through all the key competitors, industry companies, at the targeted level – but also at the levels +/-1, and an important sourcing operation. The search methodology is adapted whenever our client's assignment require any kind of personalized approach. CAPTIS operates as a temporary extension of our client's business operations, confidentially whenever required, and communicates thoroughly with the decision makers and hiring managers, or any other person involved. That is materialized by written Progress Reports including search statistics, market feedback, general comments from our Consultants, and Shortlist Reports with any kind of required information (subject to legal, and ethical values), along with the interview notes and tips. Regularly, or at any additional moment required by the client, conference calls are organized, through a central worldwide conference call system with local numbers in mot of countries; and it is planned to introduce a more developed CLIENT AREA on CAPTIS' website www.captis.com, allowing an almost "live" preview of the operations.
Thorough industry knowledge
We at CAPTIS value the importance of the client's industry knowledge, and a significant investment in terms of time and funds are dedicated to the knowledge development. In the Executive Search business, we are already exposed to the industry information, often confidential – which is never disclosed to any third party. However, it shapes the understanding of the industry movements, projects… which is then useful to gain the overall picture of the industry situation. Being up-to-date regarding the product developments, launches, financial operations, people movements, etc. is the key aspect for any successful search business. In that sense, an important amount of time is spent attending the industries' trade shows, symposia, or other relevant events across the world. Including national, continental, regional and global events. Also, instead of focusing all our activities towards the communication with the candidates only for the purpose of gathering their views and comments from within the industry, we do take the time to speak to the end-users and any useful third part (physicians of any related specialty, KOL's, professors, distributors and agents, regulatory bodies and administrations…) so that every aspect and our clients' constraints are understood as well.
Vast professional industry network
The very basis of a successful practice lies in the importance of its professional network, amongst the other aspects. With our accumulated decades-lasting experience, we materialize particularly developed industries' professional confidential networks, counting in hundreds of thousands of executives operating on all levels and functions. We are nurturing our network, and maintaining our records updated as much as possible. Our data base is highly qualified, containing all the relevant information as much as possible.
Global presence & exposure
Given the industry knowledge developed in each industry, and the positions' levels of the most significant proportions of our assignments, CAPTIS developed a global presence and market exposure. We are able to consider assignments in any region, and are aware of market particularities, labor laws, attractiveness and possible difficulties in each territory. Trust that we at CAPTIS will always pre-assess our capacity to deliver, methodology to employ, difficulties, and attached timelines, before launching any search operation, and discuss it with you. Our global exposure enables us to grow and nurture truly international networks of executives as well.
Commitment to deliver
As previously mentioned, we will always pre-assess our capacity to deliver, methodology to employ, difficulties, and attached timelines, before launching any search operation, and discuss it with you. This includes, amongst the other tasks, primary filtering operations to evaluate the population to target, lining up – at our end and most often together with our client, the list of key target companies, and evaluate the volume of sources to get in touch with. Also, we will look up all relevant previous experiences of similar nature, in order to confirm possible difficulties we may expect to encounter, if any. Finally, assigning a team which will operate on each individual assignment is not a random operation. It will, naturally, take into account the capacities to employ, language skills, previous experiences of each member on their functions, time zones involved, etc. Carrying out all this ground work, once we commit to an assignment, our commitment is final, and must have a successful delivery as its result. Additionally, we communicate openly with our clients, and all those involved in the process. You may be certain that you will be informed whatever happens. The trust you place in CAPTIS by assigning us to recruit is of an absolute importance to us. In no case we will allow ourselves to jeopardize your projects, by not communicating the exact, realistic status of the current operations. Once again, with the objective to deliver as promised at the start of the search. Please note that we are proud to bring forward the fact that the percentage of uncompleted projects for whatever reason is less than 1%.
Great assessment capacity
The primary reason for investing such amount of time and resources in order to maintain a high level of developed industry knowledge is to illustrate and materialize great assessment capacity. This includes, level-wise, any level's evaluation skills and experience. Function-wise, any function which constitutes your business is thoroughly covered. Sales volumes, market shares, territories' particularities, health system reimbursements, sales channels employed, commercial practices, maturity of the markets, competition, clinical affairs, product development and related processes, materials employed, clinical trials and particularities, logistics/supply-chain operations, quality assurance, administration, finance, human resources… None of these fields are strange to us, and we are able to use all the knowledge and experience into evaluating any candidate, and relevantly filter out the large selection. Besides, we are continiouosly developing a vast network of investors of all kinds, various portfolio/investment volumes, in many key territories. Our consultants continuously experience exposures to the boards of directors/non-executive directors, and have executed numerous assignments related to IPO-M&A situations… All these facts place CAPTIS at the top of trusted service providers with a real valid and relevant assessment capacity.
Strong guarantee
CAPTIS offers outstanding guarantee terms. Once a search is concluded and launched, besides a clear commitment to deliver, we believe in our candidate evaluation capacities, and our judgment regarding the final selection submitted to our client. Another reason for such confidence lies in the fact that we do our very best to understand our client company culture, its environment, short/long term vision and objectives; and on a micro-level, the organization structure, reporting line(s), hiring manager's personality, meeting whenever possible, the teams reporting to the position. All these aspects have as their aim enabling us to relevantly execute both the objective, and the subjective evaluation the closest to your own capacities – powered by our overall selection and recruitment experience. This enables us to materialize our commitment to deliver and our trust in the quality of the selection and assessment process, by offering thorough guarantees. A successful placement is a long-lasting one, or the one which fulfilled the initial company/project-related aim. That is exactly what we thrive for and commit to.
Ethical approach
There's not much to disclose, besides the fact that at CAPTIS, we operate and communicate with the highest ethical standards. There is no reason good enough for which we will become flexible with this matters, in any aspect of the business.
Relevantly projected client's image within the industry community
You are certainly aware of the importance, sometimes probably subjective, of your companies' reputation and image amongst the industry population and competitors. Particularly on the senior level, you probably already found, or will most surely do, how important it is to nurture your image, communicate the environment's culture, and the importance of the human assets, amongst the population of executives in your industry. This clearly plays an important role in your company's attractiveness, and the quality of targeted executives' responsiveness in any search operations. Also those carried out by CAPTIS, and that information will be a part of our full feedback during the search phases. Yet besides this basic branding practice towards the industry population itself, we take the liberty to raise your attention to the way your company's image will be conveyed by the search company you employ. We believe that this communication vector requires a highly serious approach. You may trust that any approached executive will receive an image of seriousness and professionalism. Your company culture will be conveyed as well – more commercially aggressive, or more of conservative style, for instance.
Absolute confidentiality
Whoever CAPTIS deals with: clients, executives, investors, boards of directors, or any other third party, any disclosed information will be treated as the most confidential, and never disclosed to any other parties. Whenever an assignment to recruit is granted to CAPTIS, any information or data (organization, environment, staff, projects, developments, internal policies, etc.) will remain absolutely confidential. When dealing with candidates, we are naturally exposed to the very private informations, including the current professional situation, but not only. It will be considered strictly confidential as well.


text:
A busy day at the ballpark
There's a lot going on these days at Dodger Stadium, and that's a great thing. With Juan Uribe flying to Los Angeles to take his physical, Ned Colletti and his staff obviously realized that once he passed, we would have an extra infielder (Ryan Theriot) and he had a deal in place to move Ryan to St. Louis in exchange for Blake Hawksworth.
News like this tends to have a lot of moving parts, with Uribe heading to the doctor for the physical, sorting through the media availability for various players, making sure that word of a trade doesn't get out before the players hear it from their respective teams. So of course, with that, is a lot of internal planning.
But, we have a great front office and PR department, medical staff, etc. who helped today run seamlessly. We got word that Juan was official and let the media know that the deal was done and that he'd be available on a conference call. From there, Ned had to call Ryan and let him know that he had been traded to St. Louis. And then, Juan headed to the stadium for a quick visit with team officials, a tour of the clubhouse and the conference call before he grabs dinner and catches a very early morning flight back to the D.R.
He couldn't have been a nicer guy and his wife was also very kind. He said that Manny Mota pretty much called him every day after the World Series telling him how much the Dodgers wanted to see him in Blue and he said that it was very meaningful to him that the team cared so much about him. Before they took off from the stadium, we armed them with all sorts of hats and Dodger items to bring back to the Dominican and we're certainly looking forward to having him on the team in 2011.
For those who follow such things, Blake is on Twitter @blakehawksworth but he's yet to weigh in via that account…still, I'm sure he'll be picking up a lot of L.A. followers. And hopefully he'll add a nice arm to the bullpen for 2011.
Ned seems to still be on the hunt for more pitching, a LF and, as he says, to sort through the catching situation. Stay tuned…we certainly hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday.
41 Comments
Giants To Sign Miguel Tejada…LOL…..Well at least we didn't sign him…
Too bad its just a meaningless move that will surely lead to another season of mediocrity… We had our shot w/ Manny and the boys, but our inability (or unwillingness) to acquire TOP FLIGHT starting pitching was the thing that held us back (that and Matt Stairs sitting dead-red on a Broxton fastball). C'mon, Kershaw and Billingsly are good #2 and #3 guys, but they are not the quality of Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, or even Tim Lincecum (who the Dodgers could have drafted instead of Kershaw – the Giants selected him 2 picks later). I would certainly have given up either Bills or Shaw to get Halladay or Lee!
Asked if he understood that Giants fans might be upset that he signed with the rival Dodgers, Uribe said, ?I can?t control that. I?m not the owner of a team. Things happen
Tru….I do think we got the better player…I mean Tejada is washed up…The only thing that bothers me about the Uribe deal is the yrs and money…Anyway welcome to the Dodgers Uribe and Blake Hawksworth
Dodgerzona ~ I just saw that about Tejada….I think we got the better player, don't you?
Welcome to L.A. Juan and Blake!
Jhall ~ I was having submission errors last night too….AFTER ONE POST!!!! So, I understand 🙂
You all know my opinion of Martin BUT, I can't help but feel that without the anchor around their neck that was Joe, the entire team will get a lift, including Martin. I wouldn't tender him, but I would see if he'd take an incentive laden contract for one year, maybe even an option for a second if he met certain performance criteria. I'm willing to give Martin a chance in the event that it wasn't P E Ds and was more J O E as to why his performance plummeted. If you look, he was fine until Joe arrived. As Nells pointed out to me last night, so was Loney. Kemp was progressing. Billz was progressing… all that stagnated or regressed when Torre arrived on the scene.
I'm already of the opinion that with Joe gone the team wins another 6-7 games just from saving themselves of his in-game mismanagement alone.
"A little bit of Blue, take that San Fran"
Awesome D4!!!!
Oh yeah thanks enchanted I forgot you mention that name before. Look like another John Lindsey or Mitch Jones without a lot of power.
Wow!!! Another great song Dodger4life!!!!
Juan Uribe looks pretty good in Dodger Blue, and I am glad to see he is taking #5. He was #16 on that other team 🙂
As for Theriot, I wish him well in St. Louis. He just happened to be on a team that was already on the downhill slide before he got here. I think it might have played out differently if the Dodgers were in "real" contention at the time. It will be interesting to see how Blake DeWitt fairs wherever he lands (if it is not with the Cubs). How his play could have been different (possibly for the better) with a different Dodger manager.
I am reading minds again 🙂
Hello All!!! Sorry I cut out suddenly last night Trumom, but, after I post 4 or 5 times I get Submission Errored for the rest of the night. As for Theriot, Thank God and Greyhound, He's Gone!!! I don't want Pathednik back in left field either. Geez, you'd think we would have someone on the farm that could play Left Field. My God!!! If Martin isn't traded by Thursday, I would non-tender him (which I believe we will). Sorry, but he s*cked before the injury. If he wants to come back, I would negotiate a minor league deal with incentives and work him out at 3rd base. Just some thoughts from the peanut gallery!!! LOL!!!!
Our current state of affairs really emphasizes the fact that player developement, the draft, and scouting should be very high on the list of priorities. It used to be one of the Dodger claims to fame and the reason for their success!!! More peanuts!!!
I see our TIME WARP is alive and well 🙂
Ladies and Gentleman, this is Juan'sBro's # 5
Juan, two, three, four, five, everybody in the park, come on let's glide
Cause Juan ain't slappy, he hit a homer
Boy's are gonna win and here's the proof, mojo's back, got good karma
No hangover like we had last year
Were gonna go deep, cause talk is cheap
We like Andre, Matty, the Beard and his peeps
As we continue Bills, Kersh are getting sweeter
So what do we do, we honor blue of course
Are Frank and Jamie still flirting with the courts
Oh sigh!! It's all's good, time to bump it
There is more to see than tea and crumpets
A little bit of Dodger Pride, in our life
A little bit of Wallach, saying slide
A little bit of Maury, on the bag
A little bit of Lopes, clocking our speed
A little bit of Sandy, on the gun
A little bit of O'Malley, in this run
A little bit of Fernando, ol� and yeah
A little bit of Blue, take that San Fran
Juan'sBro's #5
Jump up and down, high 5's all around
Bump your fist to the sound, of I love L.A. In the background
Take one step left, one step right
One to the front and one to the side
Clap your hands once and clap your hands twice
And if you look like this then your doing it right
A little bit of Dodger Pride, in our life
A little bit of Wallach, saying slide
A little bit of Maury, on the bag
A little bit of Lopes, clocking our speed
A little bit of Sandy, on the gun
A little bit of O'Malley, in this run
A little bit of Fernando, ol� and yeah
A little bit of Blue, take that San Fran
Trumpet the trumpet
Juan'sBro's #5 ha, ha, ha
A little bit of Dodger Pride, in our life
A little bit of Wallach, saying slide
A little bit of Maury, on the bag
A little bit of Lopes, clocking our speed
A little bit of Sandy, on the gun
A little bit of O'Malley, in this run
A little bit of Fernando, ol� and yeah
A little bit of Blue, take that San Fran
Walk off
We're gonna do what it takes, to grab the ring in the Blue
We're gonna run and we're gonna fly
Think Blue Parade and Snoop Dog pimp'in the ride
JuansBro's #5
WOO-HOO, Dodger4life…AWESOME!!!!
According to MLBTR…
"Before the Dodgers signed former Giant Juan Uribe, San Francisco offered the infielder a three-year deal worth $20MM, according to Schulman (on Twitter). That's $1MM less than the Dodgers offered and $5MM less than Uribe was asking for."
Uribe turned down a 20 millions deal to signed with us for 21 millions.
I'd rather have the Damon of 10 yrs ago or someone with a lot more pop, still I like the idea and think he'd be fun to have in blue.
Damon would make me long for the days of Juan Pierre.
And you don't want to make me long for the days of Juan Pierre.
I heard that rumor too knouffbrock. I think he would add some fun to the lineup for sure, but yea, the Damon of 10 yrs ago would have definitely added the pop we needed.
Good morning ITD boys and girls!
NOOOOOO DAMON NOOOOOOOO DAMON!!! We can DEFINITELY do better and especially we can get someone that plays better LF than him; he?s and atrocious fielder. Now, I know this isn?t the biggest FA outfielder, but I still wouldn?t mind seeing Brad Hawpe in a Dodger uniform. I know he?s had his own share of defensive issues, but he?s younger than Damon, would be less expensive, and it?d get him back in the NL West. The AL is not for him, and I would think he?d like to stick it to the Rox for letting him go last year?
And D4 ? Great song!!!
I'd still rather see Paul in LF. He won't hurt you offensively or defesively and he still has upside. The moves Ned has made so far are good, but they're still only to make the team competitive, not a winner. Past Crawford, there's not much good on the market – let Paul have a chance at least until the trade deadline to see what he can do.
We would never want you to long for Juanpy, Enchanted 🙂
CP – I totally agree!! I would love to see Brad Hawpe in Dodger Blue!!! He always gives us trouble so it would be good to have him on our side.
My Nellygirl!
I?ve ALWAYS loved Brad Hawpe and his playing style. Back when he started with the Rox, he was one of my Rockie favs ? Matt Holliday, Brad Hawpe and Garrett Atkins. Atkins has fallen off the table the last couple of years, and Holliday is, well, Holliday. But IMHO the Dodgers could do a lot worse than sign Brad Hawpe?
I agree CP!!! I just know that when he plays us, I always worry about him when he comes up to bat. He is alot like Andre and he tends to come through in clutch situations or at least has the ability to make things happen.
Yep, I agree. I think Ned needs to stop while he is slightly ahead for the time being. I would hate for him to make a really bad move and negate all the good things he has done so far. I can't believe I am using "good" and "Ned" in the same sentence.
Let's do the time warp again.
Ned needs to wait now until we see who all gets non-tendered by all the other teams. Could get a pretty good pick-up on the cheap somewhere.
Sorry Nelly, but I couldn?t post earlier; I kept on getting ?Redirect Errors? so I stopped. Redirect Errors are much like Submission Errors; won?t let me post a comment. Frustrating indeed.
But just to finish off my thought on Hawpe, he?s always hit well at Dodger Stadium. Now, I know you and others may be saying, ?Well, that?s against Dodger pitching.? That?s true, but I refer you to Vlad Guerrero. Last off season, he, of course, signed as a FA with Texas. At the time my husband said that Vlad loves to hit in Arlington and judging by his performance in 2010, he did extremely well (that?s putting it mildly). I think how well a player hits in a particular stadium isn?t always the opposing pitching staff; it may be the park itself. I?m hoping that Hawpe/Dodger Stadium could be another Vlad/Arlington Park situation!
Could it be that Ned's was at it again?
It does explain the contract bonuses tied to IP.
Some men you jest kain't reach…
That's "Ned was" not "Ned's was."
Hello Gang!!! Got submission errored last night after 2 posts. Outstanding song D4L!!!! I enjoyed it alot.
I'd still rather see Paul in LF. He won't hurt you offensively or defesively and he still has upside. The moves Ned has made so far are good, but they're still only to make the team competitive, not a winner. Past Crawford, there's not much good on the market – let Paul have a chance at least until the trade deadline to see what he can do.
By enchantedsunset on December 1, 2010 10:18 AM
I totally agree Beav!!!! I certainly hope MLB is working on fixing this blog!!!
You know we haven't had any issues with the submissions for a long time, why? ……because until this last week or so we haven't anything to talk about at length. Now that we do have something to actually talk about, the problem came back as well.
Same here Jhall! I even had a submission error this morning on my first post. There seems to be no rhyme or reason why or when it happens.
Let's do the time warp again!!! It is just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right…….
I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for them to fix this blog. We've been asking for nearly two years now, with no luck.
Thanks Ya'll…………
I do want to see the boy's do well this season.
I was locked out right after the song
Hey Nelly and Trumom!!! Great to see you!!! You're probably right Tru!!! LOL!!! Yep Nelly, not much to talk about until the last couple of weeks. After this last season, I was totally disgusted and dismayed and didn't really have much to say. Just kind of licking our wounds. The outlook for 2011 was looking pretty bleak. Now, I am starting to get optimistic that we can contend again. Again, great to see you both and I will be reading you. However, if I don't respond, it is not from lack of trying. Just can't get a post thru!!!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Judge orders release of Newtown shooting 911 tapes
Photo: Journal Register Co.
Recordings of the 911 calls made during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting will be released by Dec. 4 under a Tuesday decision by a Superior Court judge in New Britain.
Judge Eliot Prescott issued the decision Tuesday, denying a request by State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky to prevent their release. Sedensky had asked the court to issue a stay while he appealed a decision by the Freedom of Information Commission, which had called on Newtown police to provide copies of the recordings to the Associated Press.
The judge gave Sedensky until Dec. 4 to appeal the ruling. Sedensky is reviewing the decision and will determine his next course of action by that date, according to a statement from the state Division of Criminal Justice.


text:
Wind power has played a crucial role in meeting this rapidly growing demand. Since 2003, the wind sector has delivered an impressive compound annual growth rate of 29%. Last year, India was ranked in the top three countries in the world for new installed wind capacity.
Many policies have helped to drive this wind energy success, most notably attractive tax breaks. In addition, the Electricity Act of 2003 has been influential by requiring state electricity regulatory commissions (SERCs) to promote renewable plants and aid their connection to the grid. This landmark act has helped spur the majority of SERCs to introduce renewable purchase obligations, and has also led to various state-level feed-in tariffs, thus giving confidence to clean-energy investors.
Yet the Indian wind industry is now marked by nervous chatter about a possible slowdown in activity. Of particular concern are the drastic cuts to tax breaks and, to a lesser extent, the introduction of charges for unscheduled interchanges (UI) for inaccurate forecasts.
Accelerated depreciation
According to the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), 70% of wind installations in 2011 was driven by a generous and relatively risk-free tax break, accelerated depreciation (AD). AD is a fiscal mechanism that speeds up the depreciation in value of wind projects in the financial year after project commissioning, meaning a significant reduction in tax liability. Until April 2012, investors were entitled, under AD, to claim 80% of the cost of project equipment as expenses, paying no tax on this amount.
But the glory days are over: on 1 April the rate was dramatically cut to 15%, although a further 20% could possibly be claimed on power equipment. This has triggered concerns that wind deployment will suffer a slowdown, with some sections of the wind industry lobbying to maintain the higher depreciation rate.
While other support mechanisms already exist or are likely to be introduced, they have a less convincing track record. And, unlike AD they increase performance risk, being designed to drive electricity generation rather than simply encouraging installed capacity.
For instance, at the time of going to press it seems likely that the generation-based incentive (GBI) will be re-introduced. In its previous incarnation from December 2009 to March 2012, the GBI paid INR 0.5/kWh ($0.009/kWh), with an overall cap on payments. When first introduced, the energy ministry envisaged that this incentive would fund up to 4GW by March 2012, but less than half of this was actually claimed. In part, investors seem to have been hesitant to take on performance risk: GBI payments are determined by actual generation (kWh) not capacity (kW), so a wind farm that performs poorly will suffer a big revenue hit.
The renewable energy certificate (REC) programme is similarly generation-focused. RECs are tradeable certificates awarded for electricity generated from renewable sources. They are purchased by obligated entities in India that are unable to generate cost-effective sufficient renewable power themselves. The system is promising but has only been introduced in 2011, so is yet to be fully established as a tried-and-tested, reliable mechanism.
Unscheduled interchange requirements
In addition to the dramatic cuts to AD, another key policy change is the introduction of UI legislation. The Indian government has made daily forecasting of power generation a requirement for wind farms since 2012. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) states that the new forecasting provisions apply to all wind farms with a collective capacity of more than 10MW and connected at 33-kilovolt level and above.
Wind-farm operators face charges if actual generation is more than 30% above or below what was predicted. For those trading wind energy on India's day-ahead markets, at the Indian Energy Exchange or the Power Exchange of India, the price implications associated with both shortfalls and over-production could significantly affect project profitability.
But these policy changes need not necessarily be seen as a threat to the wind sector. There are technical solutions to manage both the risks of performance-based support mechanisms and scheduling charges.
Prepare and monitor
Although some risk is inherent in every project, the heightened performance risk from support mechanisms such as GBI can be mitigated with technical measures - namely pre-construction energy assessments and post-construction operational monitoring. These analysis have historically been less rigorous in India than in Europe or North America.
During the pre-construction phase, a high-quality wind measurement campaign that uses a sufficient number of onsite meteorological masts can help to optimise wind turbine layout and performance. Thorough energy assessments include a review of site characteristics, such as terrain and wind monitoring equipment, wind data filtering and quality control; and a calculation of likely wind farm loss factors, for example, wake loss, non-availability and electrical efficiency.
Wind-flow modelling can be undertaken with a linear computer programme, such as the Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program, and in some cases augmented with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model results, or even a conceptual model if site terrain creates an unusual wind-flow regime. Uncertainty analysis can also explore the probability of exceeding different energy levels. All of this can help investors to make well-informed decisions and minimise performance risk.
At the post-construction phase, performance optimisation through studying detailed operational wind-farm data - ten-minute data output from a supervisory control and data acquisition (Scada) system - has become commonplace in mature European and North American markets. This experience can be applied directly to wind farms in India.
Any unexpected drop in power output from the turbine can be easily identified if individual turbine nacelle anemometer wind speed and power are recorded on a ten-minute basis. Rotor speed and blade pitch angle signals can similarly help to identify performance problems, especially when complemented by physical on-site inspections.
Risk removed
The risk of incurring unscheduled interchange charges can be mitigated through accurate wind power forecasts using a physical and statistical approach - refining weather model inputs from a number of approved suppliers and enhancing the data. This is achieved using high-resolution meso-scale weather models, micro-scale wind-farm flow models and via statistical routines that can adapt to the measured conditions.
Using a common international measure of forecast performance - as used in Denmark, Germany, the UK and the US - it is possible to achieve a typical accuracy of day-ahead forecasts in India of 12% mean absolute error as a percentage of the capacity of a wind farm.
In other words, if the wind farm has an installed capacity of 100MW, the average difference between its forecasts and production is 12MW. This means that when forecasting power output of 50MW from a 100MW wind farm, the actual production will be 38-62MW most of the time, thus meeting the required margin of +/30%.
Of course, the very nature of forecasting weather conditions means that there will be occasions when the actual production will fall outside the +/30% margin and charges would become applicable. But, the overall financial benefit derived from accurate forecasts compared with basic forecasts could be as much as INR 30 million ($568,000) per year for a 100MW wind farm (assuming a capacity factor of 20%).
Encouraging maturity
Contrary to the belief that policy changes in India are undermining wind deployment, the reality may be quite different. It could be argued that cuts in tax breaks and UI requirements are driving the sector's longer term maturity and sustainability by encouraging more rigorous energy assessments, operational monitoring and forecasting.
Certainly, the shift in emphasis from installed capacity to electricity generation should help to improve India's weighted average capacity factor - which, at 21.2%, is currently well below that found in other markets. Similarly, accurate short-term forecasting should aid the integration of increasing amounts of variable generation on the grid, ensuring maximum use of the wind resource.
However, a rather more important issue is being overlooked: power sector infrastructure. This might at first seem to be an unexpected assertion, given that infrastructural challenges in the Indian energy sector have historically helped wind energy to flourish, chiefly by hitting its coal-based competitor. Despite substantial domestic coal reserves, the country has experienced debilitating logistical difficulties in both the extraction and transportation of coal, leading to domestic production shortages and a reliance on costly imports. As the investment plans for coal-fired power plants have faced financial ruin, interest in wind has soared.
Yet the infrastructural challenge is now starting to affect wind energy too. Grid difficulties in particular are becoming critical. The transmission and distribution grid desperately needs to be modernised and upgraded - losses are high and there are instances of power theft. Power transmission systems require more rigorous planning and implementation, and regional grids need to be better interlinked.
The underlying problem is systemic underinvestment, with the appropriate bodies - such as state transmission utilities and state electricity boards - lacking the finance to upgrade the network. This is exacerbated by the market distortion of underpriced power, such as subsidised electricity for the rural poor.
The impact on wind energy is already being felt. The creaking infrastructure struggles to transmit the large volumes of electricity generated by wind plants, which are often located in remote areas. There have been instances of curtailment in Tamil Nadu and in some areas of Maharashtra, where during periods of high congestion the state load dispatch centre has asked wind farms to restrict their generation. This means huge losses for developers and may make distribution utilities more cautious in accepting wind plants in future.
To a certain extent, developers can take technical precautions against these grid challenges. For instance, low-voltage ride-through capability can help turbines to accommodate varying grid conditions; this enables them to continue to generate through voltage dips. But what is really needed is a substantial programme of infrastructural investment and network upgrades.
Shocked into action
The high-profile power cuts in July - when more than 620 million people were thrown into darkness - is helping to galvanise policy action in this area. Most notably, in September the Indian cabinet approved a plan to bail out power distributors saddled with around $35 billion debt.
Even before July's major power outage, promising steps were being taken. A joint working group of MNRE, the Ministry of Power, the Central Electricity Authority and the Power Grid Corporation of India is working on the issue of transmission development, following prioritisation in MRNE's provisions for the 12th Plan Period (2012-2017). The creation of the India Smart Grid Task Force, set up by the Ministry of Power in 2010 bodes well. The possible interconnection of the national grid with the southern region grid - due to occur in 2013-14 - will help further.
The wind industry needs to do more to engage with these activities; it needs to ensure that plans and policies are converted into action - and urgently. Although tax break cuts and the introduction of UI will have a near-term impact on the Indian wind market, it will be infrastructure that constrains its long-term prospects unless the problems are tackled now.
Felicity Jones is a policy analyst at renewables consultancy GL Garrad Hassan. Contributions also from Jeremy Parkes, James Mclean, Jack Marriott and Alok Kumar.


text:
Discover Mind and Body Wellness
Social, intellectual, spiritual, physical, medical, and emotional wellness are important aspects of life at Blue Ridge. Residents have ample opportunity to get involved in our comprehensive wellness programs. From exercise and educational classes to spiritual gatherings, there is always something fun and interesting going on at our communities to fill your mind, body and soul. And our professional team members are always nearby to help you enjoy the best possible quality of life.
Learn More About Connections Transportation


text:
The Equal Pay Canard
To paraphrase the line often attributed to Mark Twain, there are lies, damn lies, and the "equal pay" statistic.
The factoid that women earn only 77 cents of every dollar earned by men is the focal point of a feminist cargo cult. It has its own movement and its own quasi-holiday, so-called Equal Pay Day, marking how far into a new year women supposedly have to work to match what men made the prior year.
The figure is presumed to clinch any debate over the continued existence of massive, economically debilitating discrimination against women in the work force. And so the factoid has predictably featured heavily in the latest push by Democrats on the alleged "war on women," which tends to flare up right around the time the party needs to mobilize its female voters with an urgent reminder that Republicans hate them.
The statistic, and the political use to which it is put, deserve each other; they are equally shoddy, shameless and disreputable.
Drawn from Census Bureau data, the 77-cent figure is a comparison of the earnings of women working full time compared to men working full time. Its fatal flaw is that it accounts for none of the important factors that play into the disparity, such as hours worked.
Mark Perry and Andrew Biggs of the American Enterprise Institute note that men are twice as likely to work more than 40 hours per week as women. Then, there are differences in choice of occupation, in education and in uninterrupted years of work. Once such factors are taken into account, there is about a 5 percent differential in the earnings of women and men, about which various theories are plausible, including the effect of residual discrimination.
What is clear is that the wage gap is largely an artifact of the fact that women devote more time to caring for children than men do. Harvard economist Claudia Goldin points out that the earnings of women without children are almost equal to those of comparable men. Feminists are mistaking a byproduct of the laudable desire of mothers to spend time with their kids for a depredation of The Man.
For all that the left still invests in the 77-cent factoid, the number is losing some of its potency. When gently asked in an MSNBC interview about the reliability of the pay-gap number, White House economist Betsy Stevenson confessed, "I agree that the 77 cents on the dollar is not all due to discrimination. No one is trying to say that it is. But you have to point to some number in order for people to understand the facts."
There you have it: For people to understand the facts, you have to give them an easily misunderstood statistic with none of the necessary context and spin it in the most inflammatory, partisan fashion possible. Otherwise, how is anyone to understand the complex dynamics at work in interpreting disparities in pay between men and women?
Even the mainstream media are beginning to wonder about the 77-cent figure. When Jay Carney faced skeptical questions at his briefing, he initially responded in high dudgeon — how dare reporters question such an incontrovertible fact. By the end of a series of exchanges, he had to admit, "there are a variety of factors that play into that gap."
At this point, anyone citing the figure as hard evidence of anything is either woefully misinformed or willfully misleading. Enter President Barack Obama.
Every time he mentions the 77-cent statistic, he could ensure that there is no possibility of misunderstanding with a one-sentence disclaimer: "To be sure, just a small part of that gap, if any, is the result of discrimination." But he can't bring himself to make this elementary, 17-word concession. Instead, he wrings every bit of dishonesty he can out of the number.
At the Equal Pay Day event at the White House, he marveled at the simplicity of it all: "A woman has got to work about three more months in order to get what a man got because she's paid less. That's not fair. That's like adding an extra six miles to a marathon. It's not right." An audience member moved by this injustice called out, "Ain't right." To which the president responded by way of clarification, "It's not right and it ain't right."
Such is his subtle rendering of a number that even his own aides admit — at least under questioning — must be handled with care.
A cottage industry has now sprung up around hoisting Democrats with their own canard. Perry, of AEI, calculated that women at the White House make a median salary of $65,000 and men make a median salary of roughly $74,000, so female White House staffers make only 88 cents for every dollar earned by male staffers. The National Republican Senatorial Committee crunched the numbers and found a similar "gap" for the offices of certain Democratic senators. By the crude logic of the promoters of the 77-cent figure, every one of these offices is guilty of rank discrimination against women.
No matter. Hillary Clinton, whose prospective presidential campaign will be predicated on every feminist cliché her supporters can muster, tweeted on Equal Pay Day, "20 years ago, women made 72 cents on the dollar to men. Today it's still just 77 cents. More work to do."
Yes, never tire or relent. The flogging of the bogus statistic can never end.


text:
Agendas and Minutes
March 1, 2017 (Cancelled)
August 1, 2018 (meeting notes)
Contact Information
For more information or further assistance,
please contact:
Economic Development Officer
City of Port Colborne
66 Charlotte Street
Port Colborne ON L3K 3C8
Tel: 905-835-2900 ext 502
Fax: 905-835-2939
Email the Economic Development Officer
Economic Development Advisory Committee
The Economic Development Advisory Committee was created in 2015 to provide local perspective, guidance and expert strategic advisement in the delivery of economic development services in the City of Port Colborne and to serve in a non-governance capacity with a focus on provision of advice and recommendations for consideration.
The committee is normally comprised of up to 12 voting members including two City Councillors, one representative from the Port Colborne-Wainfleet Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, one representative from the Main Street Business Improvement Area (BIA), one representative from the Downtown Port Colborne BIA, and up to seven voting members from the Port Colborne business community to be appointed by resolution of Council.
Members of the public are welcome to attend all committee meetings. On this page you will find the Economic Development Advisory Committee Terms of Reference, associated by-laws, membership list and minutes and agendas for committee meetings.
Terms of Reference
The Terms of Reference for the Economic Development Advisory Committee can be accessed here: Committee Terms of Reference
The By-law creating the Economic Development Advisory Committee can be accessed here: By-law 6299/125/15
The By-law clarifying requirements for at-large committee members can be accessed here: By-law 6326/06/16
Committee Members
City Council Representatives:
Gary Bruno (Residential Development Committee, Chair)
Harry Wells
Port Colborne-Wainfleet Chamber of Commerce Representative:
Len Stolk, Stolk Construction
Downtown Port Colborne BIA Represntative:
Betty Konc (Tourism Committee, Chair)
Main Street BIA Representative:
Business Community Representatives:
Marilyn Barton
Andrea Boitor
Angela Ferreira
Larry Fontaine (Industrial/Commercial/Small Business Committee Chair, Vice-Chair)
Kate Ostryhon-Lumsden, Re/Max Welland Realty
Kevin Reles
David Semley (EDAC Chair)


text:
New research by Incapital shows that structured notes, particularly nonprincipal protected notes, will likely surpass structured certificates of deposit in terms of growth in 2013.
Incapital, a leading underwriter and distributor of fixed income and other financial products, polled nearly 100 financial professionals at its 2012 Structured Investments Conference in October, which assessed the overall sentiment of advisors about structured products and their perceived key attributes and challenges.
Advisors polled said the primary reason they are using structured products is to add equity exposure to clients' portfolio (34%), while 26% felt that structured products were best used to replace plain vanilla income products such as CDs, and 20% use them for portfolio diversification.
"We've noticed a shift in investors' appetite that is likely to continue into 2013, as more and more financial professionals are gravitating toward non- or partially-protected notes," said Glenn Lotenberg, managing director at Incapital, in a statement. "Our survey found that in this low rate environment, advisors are incorporating them into investors' portfolios as a more efficient way to enhance yield and as a means to build equity exposure."
Additionally, the survey found that the greatest attribute of structured products is enhanced yield, with 42% of respondents finding them most valuable for that purpose. Principal protection, access to asset classes otherwise not available and the ability to customize structures followed as additional reasons, ranging as the key attribute for 15% to 17% of respondents.
The survey also revealed that an overwhelming majority–60% of respondents–view education as the key component in making structured products more popular. Education far outweighed any of the other factors such as greater liquidity, simpler structures and lower fees as driving elements in building a stronger presence for structured products in investors' portfolios.
"Education is clearly fundamental to the wider understanding and adoption of structured products in the investment community," said Deryk Rhodes, vice president in Incapital's Structured Products Group, in the same statement. "There are a large number of investors for whom structured notes could be an appropriate investment vehicle. Many financial advisors and their clients, however, lack a clear understanding of what these notes have to offer, how they work, the relevant risks and the impact they have on a portfolio."
Jim Schaberg, managing director of marketing for Incapital, notes that it's important for advisors to brush up on structured notes, as "allocation to structured notes in a diversified portfolio should be undertaken with full awareness of the various risk factors, including issuer credit risk and secondary market liquidity." A valuable resource, he adds is Incapital's web site structuredinvestments.com, which provides advisors industry-leading content and risk disclosure, including regulatory guidance.
Although structured investments are often considered "niche products," Schaberg says, "advisors who are well educated in the features and customized strategies of a broad range of structured notes represent a growing percentage of wealth managers."


text:
A Great Story of Grace
In January, Columbia International University mourned the loss of a 25-year-old alumna. Aimee Elisabeth Powell, class of 2007, died from injuries she suffered in a traffic accident in the Charotte, N.C. area. She was on her way to teach her fourth grade class at SouthLake Christian Academy in Huntersville, N.C. when police say her car was hit by a man driving an oncoming vehicle that crossed the center line at 55 miles per hour.
In an update to the story, the "Carolina Weekly" reports that Powell's parents have asked prosecutors not to charge the driver of the other vehicle, while the family and Powell's church reach out to him. Powell's parents are also CIU graduates, Scott (class of '85) and Leslie (class of '82).
To read the update go to Carolina News Weekly Newspapers.


text:
Contribute to ReadWriteThink / RSS / FAQs / Site Demonstrations / Contact Us / About Us
Find content from Thinkfinity Partners using a visual bookmarking and sharing tool.
Home › Results from ReadWriteThink
1-3 of 3 Results from ReadWriteThink
Sort by:
- Professional Development | Grades 2 – 5 | Professional Library | Journal
Digital Readers: The Next Chapter in E-Book Reading and Response
This article discusses the use of digital e-book readers in the classroom.
- Professional Development | Grades 1 – 5 | Professional Library | Journal
eVoc Strategies: 10 Ways to Use Technology to Build Vocabulary
Drawing on research-based principles of vocabulary instruction and multimedia learning, this article presents 10 eVoc strategies that use free digital tools and Internet resources to evoke students' engaged vocabulary learning.
- Professional Development | Grades 1 – 3, 5 | Professional Library | Journal
Exploring the Use of the iPad for Literacy Learning
The goal of this investigation was to explore how a fourth grade teacher could integrate iPads into her literacy instruction to simultaneously teach print-based and digital literacy goals.


text:
Story highlights
Joe Thompson, 11, struck by sudden fear of flying on journey from United Arab Emirates to UK
Family moving home, Thompson due to start at new school in Britain in weeks
Hypnotherapy, psychiatric consultations and sedation have failed to solve problem
Youngster and his father now face lengthy overland and sea trip across Middle East, Europe
A British boy and his father are about to embark on the journey of a lifetime, traveling across the Middle East and Europe by land and sea after 11-year-old Joe Thompson suddenly developed a paralyzing fear of flying.
Thompson, who had previously always loved flying, says he cannot explain what came over him on July 1 at Abu Dhabi airport - an hour by car from his home in Al-Ain – as his family prepared to relocate to the UK from the United Arab Emirates.
"Everything just went horrible for me," says Joe, recalling that day. "I just went into body lockdown. I kept on crying. I sat down and I couldn't move. I just couldn't do it."
Joe's father has no idea what caused the incident. "He's been flying since he was three months old," Tony Thompson tells CNN. "We didn't expect it at all and really still don't know what triggered it.
"My initial reaction was 'come on, just get on the plane, it'll be fine,'" says Tony, sitting in the small apartment he's borrowing from friends who are out of town. "But then I realized that no, it was far more serious than this."
The challenge has been finding an alternative travel option by land and sea that takes them across the Middle East, while avoiding deadly conflict areas.
The flight from Abu Dhabi to London is eight hours long, crossing a distance of about 3,500 miles (5,600 km), as the crow flies.
The most direct land route would take the pair straight through some of the region's most dangerous areas, including the Iraqi capital Baghdad, into war-torn Syria and straight through the embattled city of Aleppo to the Turkish border and on to Europe.
"Obviously that's not an option," says Tony.
The maritime alternative is to sail around the Arabian Peninsula, braving the pirate-infested waters off the coast of Yemen then up through the Suez Canal past the Egyptian hot spot of Sinai where a military operation remains under way.
But the option of a safer land route has emerged. After earlier being denied entry visas by the UAE's Saudi Arabia embassy, the Saudi ambassador in London, Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf al Saud, intervened to help.
The freshly-minted Saudi visas in their passports mean Tony and Joe can now take a bus through the Saudi and Jordanian capitals, a car to the Israeli port city of Haifa, then a boat to a European Mediterranean city.
The trip is expected to take 12 to 15 days and has suffered multiple false starts as the Thompsons try to line up the logistics of visas, border crossings and travel time timetables in a part of the world where buses and ferries don't tend to conform to strict schedules.
It's been more than six weeks since Joe was scheduled to fly home. With his new school in the UK scheduled to start on September 4, time is not on their side. Yet Joe insists that flying is still not an option.
"It may be easy for you, but for me it's the most terrifying thing in the world," says Joe, who is currently spending his days playing computer games with friends and occasionally practicing rugby with his father in the scorching 48 degree Celsius August heat.
Joe has tried flying home four times. Once, he made it as far as the flight cabin but panicked when the captain announced they were shutting the doors.
"So immediately I knew what I had to do," says Joe who thinks he may be claustrophobic. "I just got over the chairs, went around into the aisle and sprinted out [of the plane.]"
His father says they have tried various treatments including hypnotherapy and psychiatric consults. He says the medical center at the airport even gave his son a sedative injection before the flight, but Joe was still so upset that the flight crew deemed him unfit to fly.
"It is a little frustrating," says Tony who describes the whole ordeal as a roller coaster. "At first it was all a bit of an adventure but now it's become more of a burden."
Father and son both say they're looking forward to the journey and reuniting with Joe's mother and sister at home.
It is a rare opportunity for a young boy to gain first-hand knowledge of the geography and geopolitics of a region that often leads the news headlines. On this occasion though, it seems Joe has himself become the headline.


text:
Crysti Couture
@ We are due for a website revamp in a couple of weeks, should be much easier to navigate. Hang in there!
@ Thanks. I don't know if the board is as confusing as I think it is or if it's not meant for mobile. I didn't see the contact info in the post, not sure if the comment was condensed or you didn't post it. Either way thanks for the kind words 🙂
@ Hi Jason! I have not seen the colony, I live about an hour away. I would give them a call and set up a time to check it out. You will find that if you post pictures and ask for help, one of our locals will step up!
@ Welcome to the group Jason!
If you get a chance introduce yourself and tell us about your interests.
Again, WELCOME!
Rob Shepler
Mayhill, NM
@ Hello Gloria,
I didn't know you were one of Hayley's teacher. What a small world. I will meet you there at noon. I guess you gave Hayley the address. She is forwarding it to me.
@ Good to hear you are still in the game. Do you farm or just live in the country? Do you maybe raise alfalfa? With the wind today I'm wondering how your discing and planting worked out.
If you have been following exploits over here you know I have been busy with swarms and cutouts. A few more "rescues" and I will be "bee poor" and the proud o…[Read more]
@ I am. My for hives made it through our first winter. I should learn to do some splits though. I am planting an extra area for a wildflower mix. I have not got my seed yet because I was not sure when we would water (that happened so can disk Sat.&broadcast as soon as I get some seeds. Thanks for asking.
@ Kimberly,
Have not read anything from you in a year. Are you still beekeeping? How are conditions east of the mountains this year?
@ Joel, sorry, got the whole message, this site is still new to me.
@ Joel, no, this is all new to me, I am just starting out and these bees are the first for me. I could not see the rest of your message, it was cut off.
@ Shannon,
Great, we'll play pick-up date by ear and hopefully no later than the weekend of the 28th. I appreciate the help with the pick-up, have you transported bees before? I'm going to put together a box with lite ventilation for the back of the pick-up, this is assuming it won't be to cold <50 degrees for trip (10AM-3pm). I'll also have su…[Read more]
@ Joel, received an email that the bees might arrive a little later, possibly the 28th this is still TBD, I ordered two packages and am available to help with the pick-up.
@ Welcome Claude from a fellow La Luz Beekeeper
@ Welcome Bob,
Now it's just a wait for the Bees to arrive!
@ Yes, same here. A quart a day. But I am just using a canning jar upside down with holes poked in the lid propped on sticks :)Not sure what kind of feeder that is.
@ I am using a regular entrance type feeder for the masses. I go through a quart of syrup a day.
@ Thanks, Kenneth – yes, I wasn't sure how to go about responding. The different posts are confusing. I'll try to repost to the whole group.
I am also interested in helping out the wild bees, and I'd love to be able to catch a swarm. I'm a bit worried about luring them to close to my weak hives, although there doesn't seem to be a problem at the…[Read more]
@ Mariel,
I have noticed a predominance of darker bees at the feeders also and my tree bees are lighter like yours and are very mellow.
I keep feeding to keep the native population going strong, kind of like feeding wild birds.
Your black bees sound like Spanish or Moorish Black Bees. Paul McCarty is the guy to ask about this stuff. He is a vault…[Read more]
@ Kenneth,
I am up in Albuquerque with two TBHs I'm trying to overwinter, but I've had some similar issues. This is my first winter, and I had some bad luck with the hives over the summer so they went into winter with not enough bars of honey/pollen, only 7 each. I know I should have combined hives, but they were from different sources and I…[Read more]
@ Good morning Shannon!
I sent this out to the group before you joined, thought you might like to know about it.
Candle making class!
Join Jessie Brown as she teaches how to create products using beeswax:
Simple and elegant dipped beeswax candles
How to use a variety of different molds to make candles
How to create your own silicone…[Read more]
- Load More


text:
Filter by Topic
- (-) Remove Experiments filter Experiments
- Publications (16) Apply Publications filter
- Reproduction (9) Apply Reproduction filter
- People (4) Apply People filter
- Disorders (3) Apply Disorders filter
- Organisms (3) Apply Organisms filter
- Processes (3) Apply Processes filter
- Technologies (3) Apply Technologies filter
- Ethics (1) Apply Ethics filter
- Theories (1) Apply Theories filter
Filter by Format
- (-) Remove Articles filter Articles
HIP Randomized Breast Cancer Screening Trial (1963–1982)
From 1963 to 1982, researchers in New York City, New York, carried out a randomized trial of mammography screening. Mammography is the use of X-ray technology to find breast cancer at early stages. The private insurance company Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York, or HIP, collaborated with researchers Sam Shapiro, Philip Strax, and Louis Venet on the trial. The researchers' goal was to determine whether mammography screening reduced breast cancer mortality in women. The study included sixty thousand women aged forty to sixty-four.
Format: Articles
Subject: Experiments
"A Stochastic Model of Stem Cell Proliferation, Based on the Growth of Spleen Colony-Forming Cells" (1964) by James Till, Ernest McCulloch, and Louis Siminovitch
In 1964, authors James Till, Ernest McCulloch, and Louis Siminovitch, published A Stochastic Model of Stem Cell Proliferation, Based on The Growth of Spleen Colony-Forming Cells, which discussed possible mechanisms that control stem cell division. The authors wrote the article following their experiments with spleens of irradiated mice to demonstrate the existence of stem cells, had unknown properties.
Format: Articles
Subject: Experiments


text:
Nineteen tourists died when the hot air balloon they were riding caught fire and plummeted about 1,000 feet to the ground Tuesday in the ancient city of Luxor in southern Egypt. One British tourist survived along with the pilot of the balloon, who was badly injured.
The death toll surpassed what was believed by ballooning experts to be the deadliest accident in the sport's 200-year history: In 1989, 13 people were killed when their hot air balloon collided with another over the Australian outback near the town of Alice Springs.
The balloon over Luxor, 510 kilometers (320 miles) south of Cairo, was carrying tourists from France, Britain, Belgium, Japan and Hong Kong plus an Egyptian pilot. The balloon flights provide panoramic views of the ancient Karnak and Luxor temples and the Valley of the Kings, the burial ground of Tutankhamun and other pharaohs.
An airport official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said relatives of nine tourists from Hong Kong arrived in Cairo to identify the bodies of the victims.
The bodies of all the victims were moved on Tuesday to morgues in Cairo. The two survivors were being treated in military hospitals.
According to initial reports, the balloon was in the process of landing after 7 a.m. when a cable got caught around a gas tube and a fire erupted. The balloon plummeted about 1,000 feet to the ground, crashing in a sugar cane field. The bodies of the tourists were scattered across the field around remnants of the balloon.
Authorities suspended hot air balloon flights, a popular tourist attraction here, while investigators determined the cause of the accident.
The tragedy raised worries of another blow to the nation's vital tourism industry, decimated by two years of unrest since the 2011 revolution that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The southern city of Luxor has been hit hard, with vacant hotel rooms and empty cruise ships.


text:
'Despicable Me 2' upsets 'Lone Ranger' at box office
LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The small yellow minions of "Despicable Me 2" upstaged Johnny Depp at the weekend movie box office.
The animated "Despicable" sequel hauled in an impressive $82.5 million in the United States and Canada from Friday through Sunday, more than double the weak $29.4 million for Walt Disney Co's big-budget Western "The Lone Ranger," which stars Depp as the masked man's Native American partner Tonto.
The two films began their box office battle on Tuesday night to grab moviegoers ahead of Thursday's U.S. Independence Day holiday. From their debuts through Sunday, "Despicable 2" earned $142.1 million, while "Lone Ranger" grossed just $48.9 million, below pre-opening forecasts for at least $60 million.
Families lifted "Despicable Me 2," which finished far above industry projections and achieved the biggest-ever five-day opening for an animated film. The movie is a sequel to the 2010 blockbuster featuring Steve Carell as the voice of the lovable villain Gru.
In the new film, Gru is a single father to three adopted daughters and becomes a spy for an anti-villain league. His devoted group of workers, the goggle-and-overall-wearing minions, get more screen time for their slapstick antics and song-and-dance numbers.
Universal Pictures, a unit of Comcast Corp, spent $76 million to produce "Despicable 2." The studio unleashed a hefty marketing campaign, including a nationwide tour by a yellow minion blimp called the "despicablimp."
Sales in international markets, where the movie started playing two weekends ago, stood at $151 million through Sunday, Universal said, for a worldwide total of $293 million.
"No one could imagine that 'Despicable Me 2' would do this kind of business," said Nikki Rocco, president for domestic distribution at Universal Pictures.
But "a broad audience loved the original movie. The minions captivated everyone and adults were very willing to do it again because it was so satisfying the first time around. It's very funny, and it wasn't a rip-off."
Another sequel, "Minions," is scheduled for Christmas 2014.
"The Lone Ranger" cost Disney $225 million to produce plus at least $100 million for marketing. The poor opening raises the possibility that the movie could saddle the media giant with a loss on the film, which is an action remake of a 1930s radio show and a 1950s TV series set in the Old West.
Armie Hammer plays John Reid, the lawman who becomes the masked Lone Ranger to fight injustice with his partner Tonto.
"Obviously this is disappointing," said Dave Hollis, vice president of distribution for Walt Disney Studios. "It obviously didn't connect with audiences, and it's frustrating for us. We felt we had everything in place for it to succeed."
"The Lone Ranger" added $24.3 million from international theaters during the weekend, bringing its global take to $73.2 million through Sunday, Disney said.
Hollis said it was still "a little too early to tell just yet" whether the film might eventually be profitable with the bulk of its international openings still to come.
"When the analysts started adding up the numbers and the critics began posting negative reviews, the movie struggled to get out of the gate," explained Paul Dergarabedian, head of Hollywood.com's box office division.
A Disney hit, animated prequel "Monsters University" from the company's Pixar studio, finished the weekend in fourth place, grabbing $19.6 million for the weekend. Its global total topped $400 million through Sunday.
The female buddy comedy "The Heat," starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, took the No. 3 slot pulling in $25 million, while the Brad Pitt zombie thriller "World War Z" earned $18.2 million to finish in fifth place.
"The Heat" was released by the 20th Century Fox studio, a unit of 21st Century Fox. "World War Z" was distributed by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.


text:
Indira Cesarine "Bettie Dances No 26"
Indira Cesarine "Bettie Dances No 26" 2018
India Ink Painting on Arches Paper, Framed with glass and white wood float frame
Dimensions 5 x 7 in, framed 11 x 13 in
Signed on verso, Includes Certificate of Authenticity
Indira Cesarine is a multidisciplinary artist who works with photography, video, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. A graduate of Columbia University with a triple major in Art History, French and Women's Studies, she additionally studied at Parson's School of Design, International Center of Photography, School of Visual Arts, Art Students League and the New York Academy of Art. Cesarine had her first solo show at the age of sixteen at Paul Mellon Arts Center. Her work as an artist has been featured internationally at many art galleries, museums, and art fairs, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Hudson Valley MOCA, Mattatuck Museum, Albany Institute of History and Art, CICA Museum, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, French Embassy Cultural Center, Art Basel Miami, SCOPE Art Basel, SCOPE Miami, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, Getty Images Gallery, Cannes Film Festival and the International Festival Photo Mode to name a few. In 2014, her public art sculpture "The Egg of Light" was exhibited at Rockefeller Center as part of the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt. Her work has been auctioned at Sotheby's New York for the annual Take Home A Nude art benefits in 2017-2019, at ARTWALK NY benefiting the Coalition for the Homeless in 2018 and 2019, as well as at Tabula Rasa, the 26th Annual Watermill Center Benefit and Auction, July 2019. Her work is additionally on view at Norwood Art Club's "Ingenuity" exhibition until August 2020. Her artwork and exhibitions have been featured internationally in many publications including American Vogue, Vogue Italia, Forbes, Newsweek, W Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, Dazed and Confused, New York Magazine, i-D Magazine, and The Huffington Post among many others.
Read more about her artwork and exhibitions on our website.


text:
[This entry has been revised: I didn't read the MediaNet release carefully enough...they are offering DRM-less MP3s, not WMA files. Apologies to anybody whom I misled. My bad.]
Back in May, EMI--one of the big four record labels--agreed to sell its songs through Apple's iTunes without digital rights management (DRM) protection.
Before this move, iTunes and the iPod were technically linked: if you bought a song from iTunes, you could only play it on an iPod (unless you burned it to CD then re-ripped it into an unprotected format). Offering DRM-less downloads severed this link, allowing users to play downloaded iTunes songs directly on a Zune player (one of the few portable players other than the iPod to support AAC), and making the MP3 conversion process easier. But by and large, the landscape didn't change much. The iPod already has 70 percent+ of the market, so there just isn't much demand for playing iTunes songs on other types of devices.
Today, MediaNet announced that it, too, has licensed more than 1 million DRM-free tracks from EMI. MediaNet, which just changed its name from MusicNet, is the back-end store for most of the second-tier music download stores (iTunes is the only tier-one store, with something like 80 percent market share), including Yahoo Music, MTV Urge (heavily promoted by Microsoft before it launched its own Zune player and store), and Samsung Digital Connect (Samsung's response to Zune).
Equally important, the DRM-less downloads on the MediaNet stores will be in the MP3 format. While AAC (and Windows Media Audio, for that matter) offers a much better quality-to-compression ratio, MP3 is supported by all portable players, all digital media software for all computer platforms, and far more consumer electronics devices than any other compressed digital format. This could actually change the landscape: paid downloads, from one of the major labels, playable on an iPod, from a source other than iTunes. That's new.
The challenge to iTunes' hegemony could accelerate when Amazon launches its MP3-based store later this year. If EMI and the other smaller labels offering DRM-less MP3s begin to see their digital sales rise, then the other big labels might follow suit. And once all tracks are available in DRM-less MP3 format, the only differentiator for the iTunes store is the fact that it's integrated with the iTunes software, which is required to use an iPod (or iPhone). That integration should be enough to keep iTunes in the lead, but now these other stores have a fighting chance to compete on pricing and selection.


text:
Supply & Fit
Good Advice, Free measuring & quotes
Underlay & Accessories
Carpet suppliers
From the comfort of your own home
Competitive pricing
We offer a professional & personalised service which includes excellent advice, free measuring with a no obligation quotation, with extremely low prices but with exceptionally high workmanship. We supply and fit, but if a customer requests, we are more than happy to just supply or just fit. We understand how busy life can be and sometimes there isn't enough hours in the day to get to the shops to browse for your home comforts, or you simply don't like the thought of hunting from shop to shop for your flooring, this is where we can help by visiting you and saving you much effort and travelling time. If for any reason we do not have the exact product you are looking for we will always contact our suppliers and make every effort to obtain your desired choice. Just give us a ring and we can make an appointment which is convenient to yourselves, we will bring a wide range of samples for you to view, from carpets, vinyls, laminates and wood flooring. You may keep the samples for a few days if you are unsure of your choice. We also offer a Property Maintenance Service, this includes many jobs from fences, to redecorating any room before the flooring is laid. Please enquire for details if you are interested in any maintenance work to your property inside or outside, no job is too big or too small.