text:
It's amazing how we got used to taking everything for granted. Right now, when writing essays or doing research paper writing, we don't think about how we actually got an opportunity to communicate to each other through writing. It was a long evolutionary process that we should get acquainted closer with in order to value it more.
The last time you've probably used the cave art writing technique was in your Arts class, where you had to complete an assignment on drawing a picture on a stone. I don't think your English teacher would've appreciated if you turned in your essay writing on a stone with a single drawing. However, the first traces of writing appeared on rocks in caves. Ancient people 25000 years ago tried to tell each other stories through pictures – primitive, but informative.
The developing agrarian society of the 9000 BC brought new problems and solutions into the world of writing. Because people needed to count their property somehow, they invented counting tokens – differently shaped pieces of clay that conveyed specific meanings. These clay records of land eventually grew into the first written language – the Cuneiform script. It was created by the Sumerians in 3000 BC and looked as a system of pictographs. Their difference from counting tokens was dramatic. Instead of scribbling there were clay tablets, on which symbols were written with styluses. The impressions left by the stylus were wedge shaped, thus giving rise to the name cuneiform ("wedge shaped"). A lot of languages, including Akkadian, Elamite, and Hittite were later built on cuneiform.
The start was given, and now all ancient nations begun developing their custom writing systems. One of the first written words in Egypt was registered in 3100 BC, and it was the name of the pharaoh Nar-Mer. The Egyptians also developed acrophony – not an alphabet yet, but its close draft, where pictures stood for first sound in words. Egyptian words, therefore, looked as a set of brightly colored pictures.
Epigraphy was the next step for writing and preserving words. It was a system of writing on hard materials. But because the engraving of symbols into stones took too much time (nothing close to typing, so you can call yourself a lucky one), the search for perfection continued until the soft materials for writing were discovered, as well as ink instead of sharp styluses. Papyrus became a widely used writing item not only in Egypt, but in Mediterranean region, inland parts of Europe, and south-west Asia, as well. In 800 AD it was replaced by parchment (sheep and goat skin).
Greeks went even further, than Egyptians. They became the first nation to symbolize the vowels, and this is how the Greek alphabet appeared. Latin, Cyrillic, and Arabic – the languages that you are familiar with – were based on this alphabet. And this is how modern languages got their tickets to life.
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History of Writing: Where Writing Comes From…
It's amazing how we got used to taking everything for granted. Right now, when writing essays or doing research paper writing, we don't think about how we actually got an opportunity to communicate to each other through writing. It was a long evolutionary process that we should get acquainted closer with in order to value it more.


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Welcome » IT Booklets » Retail Payment Systems » Appendix A: Examination Procedures
EXAMINATION OBJECTIVE: Examiners should use the
following Tier I and Tier II Retail Payment Systems examination
procedures to evaluate the policies and procedures, business
processes, personnel, and internal control systems of financial
institutions and technology service providers. Retail payment
system services include checks and share draft item processing,
bankcards, payment cards, ACH, EFT/POS networks, electronic bill
payment, person-to-person (P2P) and account-to-account (A2A)
payment systems, and many other products and services resulting
from emerging advances in technology. The examination scope should
be based upon the risk profile of the financial institution or the
technology service provider. The risk profile is determined through
an assessment of the entity's risk environment and quality of risk
management practices. This assessment should consider the formal
policies and procedures established to provide these services, as
well as the effectiveness of the financial institution's underlying
internal control environment, including information security,
business continuity, disaster recovery, and vendor management
Retail payment services expose
financial institutions to numerous risks, including legal,
compliance, strategic, operational, credit and liquidity. Depending
on the complexity of retail payment system activity, the scope of
the examination may require an integrated team approach that
includes the knowledge, skills, and expertise of, IT, credit, and
compliance specialists.
The examination procedures may be part
of either an IT or safety and soundness examination. Examiners can
use the procedures in their entirety or in a modular fashion to
focus on particular retail payment system products, services, or
business lines. Depending on the size, complexity and risk profile
of the financial institution or technology service provider, not
all of the procedures may be necessary to develop overall
conclusions. The examination of retail payment services may also
support the institution's BSA/AML examination, which requires an
evaluation of related risks in retail payment services.
The primary objectives of the Tier I
procedures are to evaluate the effectiveness of the internal
controls and risk management processes implemented by the financial
institution or the technology service provider. Examiners should
use the Tier II procedures to expand the scope of the examination
further if the risk profile or organization's complexity requires
additional information to establish comprehensive and accurate
examination conclusions.
Objective 1: Assess the level of risk in retail
payment systems function.
1. Determine the types of retail payment products and
services offered. Consider the following:
2. Determine whether new retail payment products and emerging
technologies pose in-creased risk due to the lack of maturity of
the respective control environments. Consider:
3. Determine if the quality of management and staff, and the
staffing levels are adequate for the specific retail payment
products and processes the institution provides.
4. Determine if the quality of process design and control points
are adequate for existing retail products, and if these factors are
considered for new products. Consider whether:
5. Evaluate the use of in-house and outsourced data processing
systems to support retail payment products and processes.
Objective 2: Establish the scope and objectives of
the examination of the retail payment systems function.
1. Review previous reports of examination for comments
relating to retail payment systems. Review:
2. Review past examination reports for comments relating to the
institution's internal control environment and technical
infrastructure. Review:
3. Review the financial institution's risk and control
assessments for comments relating to retail payment systems. Review
the following risk assessments:
4. Identify and obtain during discussions with management of
financial institution or service provider:
5. Review the financial institution's response to any retail
payment systems issues raised at the last examination and any
internal audits conducted since last review. Determine:
Objective 3: Assess the quality of oversight and
support provided by the board of directors and management.
1. Determine the quality and effectiveness of the financial
institution's retail payment systems management function.
2. Assess management's ability to manage outsourced
relationships with technology service providers. Consider:
3. Evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of financial
institution and service provider contingency and business
continuity planning. Consider:
4. Evaluate retail payment system business line staff.
Objective 4: Assess the quality of policies,
procedures, and limits supporting retail payment
1. Review policies, procedures, and limits for supporting all
retail payment services.
2. Review staff training programs and determine if they are
appropriate for supporting policies.
3. Determine whether the institution monitors compliance with
policies, procedures, and limits.
Objective 5: Assess the quality of management
information systems and reports used to manage retail payment
1. Review management reports for all retail payment services
including reports from service providers.
Objective 6: Assess the quality of risk management
and support for bankcard issuance and acquiring (merchant
processing) activity.
1. Evaluate financial institution adherence to bankcard company
rules and bylaws and regulatory requirements.
2. Evaluate whether card issuance processing is outsourced to a
third party. If yes, evaluate the vendor management controls
in place to govern the activities listed in steps 3 and 4.
3. Review internal procedures employed for each bankcard product
and assess:
4. Determine whether the audit function periodically performs an
inventory of all bankcards at each location owned or operated by
the institution and that each location is included in the audit
program, either directly or indirectly (e.g., as part of a branch
5. Determine whether management has established inventory
systems that include quality control activities such as
self-monitoring for data accuracy.
6. Review a sample of consumer contracts for each bankcard
service to ensure they describe adequately the responsibilities and
liabilities of the institution and its customers (compliance with
Regulation Z).
7. Evaluate the effectiveness of internal clearance and
settlement activity as it relates to customer bankcard
transactions. Consider the adequacy of:
8. Evaluate the effectiveness of internal credit monitoring and
card authorization performed by the financial institution.
Consider the adequacy of:
9. For financial institutions directly involved in, or
outsource, bankcard acquiring (merchant processing) services,
determine the appropriateness of controls over merchant services
and ISO/MSP relationships. Consider the adequacy of:
Objective 7: Assess the quality of risk management
and support for EFT/POS processing activity.
1. Evaluate the financial institution's compliance with
interchange rules and bylaws.
2. Review internal procedures employed for generating active ATM
cards. Consider:
3. Determine whether the audit function periodically performs an
inventory of unused ATM card stock at each location owned or
operated by the institution and that each location is included in
the audit program, either directly or indirectly (e.g., as part of
a branch audit).
4. Review a sample of consumer contracts for ATM services to
ensure they adequately set forth responsibilities and liabilities
of the institution and the customer. Evaluate compliance with
applicable regulations.
5. Evaluate the effectiveness of internal clearance and
settlement activities as it relates to customer ATM transactions.
Consider whether:
Objective 8: Assess the quality of risk management
and support for ACH processing activity.
1. Evaluate the financial institution's adherence to NACHA and
clearing house operating rules and regulations.
2. Review operational reports showing monthly or quarterly ACH
debit and credit activity and, if possible, compare levels with
peer financial institutions. If ACH activity is greater than
peer, determine whether institution is an originating institution
(ODFI). Obtain reports listing those customers for which they
originate and the volumes (number of items and dollars)
originated. Be sure to ask for all customers that use the
ODFI's originating account number with the Federal Reserve or
3. If the institution has bilateral clearing arrangements with
other institutions, review the underlying contracts and determine
how the institution monitors compliance with the
4. If the institution uses a technology service provider,
determine whether it performed appropriate due diligence prior to
engagement and has appropriate contractual agreements governing the
relationship. Determine whether the institution monitors
compliance with the governing contract. Determine if the
institution has an adequate business continuity plan in the event
the technology service provider experiences a service
5. If the institution is an ODFI and permits third-party sender
payments, determine whether it requires the third-party sender to
establish the identity of each originator using commercially
reasonable methods to warrant that the originators will assume
their responsibilities under NACHA rules and to warrant that it
will assume the liabilities of the ODFI. Determine whether
the ODFI has established limits and monitoring of the third-party
sender's creditworthiness relative to its underlying originators
and the nature and type of ACH activity that it warrants.
6. Determine whether the ODFI's contractual agreements with each
originator clearly define the specific terms for funds
7. Determine whether the institution has taken steps to ensure
that originators are properly educated about their obligations for
handling ARC and POP source documentation and all other NACHA
8. Review policies and procedures for acquisition of originating
customers and determine the appropriateness of these policies for
the risk profile and risk management capabilities of the financial
institution. Determine whether the policies identify and seek
to limit exposure to higher risk customers; such as, adult
entertainment and online gambling firms, adult bookstores, escort
services, and massage parlors.
9. Review policies and procedures in place to monitor
originating customer balances for credit payments (e.g., payroll)
to ensure payments are made against collected funds or established
credit limits and daily caps. Also determine whether payments
in excess of established credit limits and daily caps are properly
10. Determine whether the institution treats deposits
resulting from ACH transmitted debits on other accounts as
uncollected funds until there is reasonable assurance the debits
have been paid by the institution on which they were drawn.
Also, determine whether management monitors drawings against
uncollected funds to ensure they are within established
11. Review a sample of contracts authorizing the
institution to originate ACH items for customers and determine
whether they adequately set forth the responsibilities of the
institution and customer. Determine:
12. Determine whether the institution has a process in
place for monitoring and acting on returned items, that includes
third-party vendors, where applicable..
13. Determine whether the institution uses risk management
reports that are appropriate to the ACH activities and level of
14. Determine whether ACH activities are considered in the
institution's overall business continuity plans and insurance
15. Determine whether management monitors originating
customers for unreasonable numbers of unauthorized ACH
debits. If the volume of unauthorized ACH debits is high, it
could expose the institution to greater loss.
16. Determine whether management has addressed
international ACH requirements, where applicable.
Objective 9: Assess the quality of risk management
and support for electronic banking related retail payment
transaction processing.
1. Determine the extent to which the financial institution
engages in retail payment systems, including bill payment, prepaid
cards, wireless systems, contactless payment devices, remote check
capture, lock-box services that provide ACH check conversion or
check truncation, and P2P and A2A payments. Consider:
2. Evaluate the financial institution's ability to manage the
development and implementation of new retail payment services,
focusing on effectiveness of internal controls and provisions of
consumer compliance regulations. Consider:
3. Evaluate the financial institution's ability to incorporate
new retail payment product offerings into its existing retail
business lines and its effectiveness in including these product
offerings in its traditional retail payment operations.
Objective 10: Assess the quality of risk management
and support for checks.
1. Determine whether the accounting department handles check
return item processing appropriately, reconciling all aged
2. If the institution offers its customers RDC services, review
the appropriateness of:
3. Determine whether the institution uses electronic check
presentment (ECP) for payment. If yes, determine:
Objective 11: Assess the quality of risk -
management of new and emerging technology risks.
1. Determine the institution's processes for evaluating and
deploying new and emerging technologies for retail payment
systems. Of particular concern are retail payment products
and services that do not use established networks such as ACH, or
that extend operational processes to the customer location, as with
RDC. Determine:
2. Assess the vendor management program over the technology
service providers offering new and emerging technologies for retail
payment systems. Determine:
1. Determine the need to conduct Tier II procedures for
additional validation to support conclusions related to any of the
Tier I objectives.
2. From the procedures performed, including any Tier II
procedures performed:
3. Review your preliminary conclusions with the
examiner-in-charge (EIC) regarding:
4. Discuss your findings with management and obtain proposed
corrective action, within reasonable timeframes, for significant
5. Document your conclusions in a memo to the EIC providing
report-ready comments for all relevant sections of the FFIEC report
of examination (ROE) and guidance to future examiners.
6. Organize work papers to ensure clear support for significant
findings and conclusions.
Examination Objective: The Tier II Retail
Payment Systems Examination Procedures provide additional
validation steps to verify the effectiveness of a financial
institution's internal control processes over ACH, EFT/POS network,
check item, electronic banking-related retail payments, and
bankcard processing, clearance, and settlement. These
procedures assist in achieving examination objectives, and
examiners may use them in their entirety or selectively, depending
upon the scope of the examination and the need for additional
Examiners should coordinate this coverage with other examiners
involved in assessing the institution's information systems,
operations, information security, business continuity planning, and
vendor management effectiveness to avoid duplication of effort and
to ensure there is an adequate understanding of the control
environment as it pertains to retail payment business lines.
The procedures provided in this section should not be construed
as requirements for control implementation. The selection of
controls and control implementation should be guided by the risk
profile of the institution. Therefore, the controls necessary for
any single institution or any given area may differ from those
noted in the following procedures.
he Tier II Retail Payment Systems Examination Procedures provide
additional validation procedures verifying the effectiveness of a
financial institution's internal control processes over ACH
processing, EFT/POS network processing, check item processing,
electronic banking-related retail payments processing, and bankcard
processing, clearance, and settlement. These procedures assist in
achieving examination objectives, and examiners may use them in
their entirety or selectively. Examiners should coordinate this
coverage with other examiners involved in assessing the
institution's information systems, operations, information
security, and vendor management effectiveness to ensure there is an
adequate understanding of the control environment as it pertains to
retail payment business lines and to avoid duplication of
A. EFT/POS and Bankcard Agreements and
1. If the financial institution is a participant in a shared
EFT/POS network or if it contracts with third-party
bankcard-issuing or -acquiring processing service providers,
determine whether:
2. Determine whether management periodically reviews individual
sites providing retail EFT/POS and bankcard services to ensure
policies, procedures, security measures, and equipment maintenance
requirements are appropriate.
3. For retail EFT/POS and bankcard transaction processing
activities contracted to third-party service providers, assess the
adequacy of the review process performed by management regarding
annual financial statements, audit reports, and Payment Card
Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard assessment.
B. Personal Identification Numbers (PINs)
1. Assess staff access to PIN data. Ensure there is
separation of duties between staff responsible for card operations
and staff responsible for preparing or issuing bankcards.
2. Assess the adequacy of the PIN generation process.
Ensure there is separation of duties between staff responsible for
PIN generation and staff responsible for opening accounts or with
access to customer account information.
3. For new PIN issuance, assess the adequacy of control
procedures including accountability assigned to staff initiating
such transactions.
4. Assess the adequacy of PIN generation and issuance procedures
to determine whether they preclude matching an assigned PIN to a
customer's account number or bankcard.
5. Assess the adequacy of threshold for PIN access attempts to
customer account information and funds. The threshold
parameter should be set at a reasonable number of unsuccessful
6. Assess the level of PIN encryption when stored on computer
files or transmitted over telecommunication lines.
7. If resets are allowed, assess the adequacy of procedures and
controls for PIN/password resets. The use of single-use and
temporary PIN/password is preferred.
8. Assess the adequacy of procedures for prohibiting PIN
information from being disclosed over the telephone.
9. Assess staff access to PIN-related databases and determine if
management restricts access to authorized personnel. Assess
database maintenance activities to ensure management closely
supervises and logs staff access.
10. Assess the adequacy of customer PIN selection
criteria, focusing on whether the institution discourages or
prevents customers from using common words, social security
numbers, sequences of numbers, or words or numbers that can easily
identify the customer.
C. Information Security
1. Evaluate the logical and physical security controls to ensure
the availability and integrity of production retail payment systems
applications. Determine:
2. Evaluate the effectiveness of all logical access controls
assigned for staff responsible for retail payment-related
services. Determine:
3. Evaluate the security procedures for periodic password
changes, the encryption of password files, password suppression on
terminals, and automatic shutdown of terminals not in use.
4. Assess whether the institution encrypts telecommunications
lines used to receive and transmit retail customer and financial
institution counterparty data. If not encrypted, evaluate the
compensating controls to secure retail payment data in
transit. Assess whether any connecting technology service
provider's networks used to transport transactions are transporting
transaction data in the clear (not encrypted) or use weak forms of
5. Assess whether merchants use sufficient encryption for
wireless sales terminal activity transmitting sensitive customer
6. Assess whether customer information being stored is beyond
that required by industry standards.
D. Card Issuance
1. Assess bankcard issuance activities, and review control
procedures. Determine whether management:
2. Assess effectiveness of the dual control procedures for blank
card stock in each of the encoding, embossing, and mailing
3. Assess adequacy of physical access controls for card encoding
areas. Management should allow access to authorized personnel
4. Assess whether inventory controls for plastic card stock make
them physically secure.
5. Assess whether management restricts the use of bankcard
encoding equipment to authorized personnel only.
6. Assess adequacy of procedures for issuing cards from more
than one location (e.g., branches) to ensure there are
accountability and bankcard control procedures at each card-issuing
7. Assess adequacy of institution card-mailing procedures.
Ensure the institution mails the card and associated PIN to
customers in separate envelopes. Also ensure that the return
address does not identify the institution.
8. Assess whether mailing procedures provide for a sufficient
time between the card and PIN mailings.
9. Assess adequacy of returned card procedures. Determine
whether adequate controls are in place to ensure returned cards are
not sent to staff with access to, or responsibility for, issuing
10. Assess whether there is appropriate follow-up to determine
whether the correct customer received the card and PIN.
11. Assess the adequacy of control procedures (e.g., hot
card lists and expiration dates) to limit the period of exposure if
a card is lost, stolen, or purposely misused.
12. Determine whether the institution destroys captured
and spoiled cards under dual control and maintains records of all
destroyed cards.
13. Assess whether the institution adequately controls
test or demonstration cards.
14. Assess whether management maintains satisfactory
controls over the issuance of replacement or additional cards to
the customer (e.g., temporary access cards issued to the
15. Assess the adequacy of the vendor management program
to determine whether the institution reviews card issuance services
contracted to third parties for compliance with appropriate
bankcard control procedures.
E. Business Continuity Planning
1. Assess the adequacy of the financial institution's business
continuity plans for a partial or complete failure of each retail
payment system. Determine whether the plans include:
F. EFT/POS and Bankcard Accounting and Transaction
1. Assess the adequacy of reconciliation processes for general
ledger accounts related to bankcard and debit card transaction
processing activity. Determine whether:
2. Assess the adequacy of the daily settlement process for
institutions participating in shared EFT/POS networks or gateway
3. Assess the adequacy of transaction reconstruction
procedures. Transaction files should be duplicated or
otherwise retained for a minimum of 60 days, as required by
Regulation E, in order to identify unauthorized transactions.
4. Assess the adequacy of the investigative unit in place to
address customer inquiries and control non-posted items, rejects,
and differences. Management should periodically receive aging
reports that list outstanding items.
5. Assess the adequacy of separation of duties for the bankcard
and EFT/POS account posting process including receipt of
transactions, file updates, adjustments, internal reconcilement,
preparation of general ledger entries, posting to customers
accounts, investigations, and reconcilement with third-party
service provider network switches and card processors.
6. Assess the effectiveness and accuracy of the adjustment
process (e.g., changes to deposits and reversals) relating to
retail EFT/POS and bankcard transactions processed by staff.
7. For institutions involved in bankcard issuing or acquiring
services, determine whether the institution has established:
G. EFT/POS Operational Controls
1. Assess the effectiveness of personnel responsible for
internal ATM processing. Determine whether there are:
2. Determine whether terminal and operator identification codes
are used for all retail ATM and POS transactions.
3. Assess the adequacy of controls in place to prevent customer
charges from exceeding the available balance in the account or
approved overdraft lines.
4. Assess the adequacy of access controls for terminals used to
change customer credit lines and account information.
5. Determine whether retail EFT equipment keyboards or display
units are properly shielded to avoid disclosure of customer IDs or
6. Determine whether receipt issuance ensures customers receive
a receipt showing the amount, date, time, and location for retail
EFT transactions in compliance with Regulation E.
7. Assess whether each retail EFT transaction is assigned a
sequence number and terminal ID to provide an audit trail.
8. Assess whether the institution regularly updates hot card or
customer suspect lists and distributes them to branch banking
9. Assess the adequacy of verification procedures for
telephone-initiated payments or transfers and ensure confirmations
are promptly sent to customers and merchants.
10. Assess the adequacy of security devices and access
control procedures for EFT/POS, bankcard, and acquiring processing
facilities to ensure appropriate physical and logical access
controls are in place.
H. ACH ODFI and RDFI Responsibilities
1. Determine whether agreements between the ODFI and originators
adequately address
2. Determine whether the ODFI has established procedures to
monitor the creditworthiness of its originator customers on an
ongoing basis. Determine whether:
3. Determine whether the ODFI has established ACH exposure
limits for originators. Determine whether:
4. Determine whether the ODFI reviews exposure limits
periodically. Determine whether:
5. Determine whether the ODFI has implemented procedures to
monitor ACH entries initiated by an originator relative to its
exposure limit across multiple settlement dates. Determine
6. Assess the RDFI's overdraft and funds availability policies
and practices and determine whether they adequately mitigate its
credit exposures to ACH transactions.
7. Determine the adequacy of the ODFI's practices regarding
originators' annual or more frequent security audits of physical,
logical, and network security. Determine whether:
8. Determine how the ODFI or RDFI manages its relationship with
technology service providers. Determine whether:
9. Determine whether the ODFI allows technology service
providers direct access to an ACH operator. Consider whether
agreements between the ODFI and the service providers include:
10. Determine whether the RDFI has established procedures
to deal with consumers' notifications regarding unauthorized or
improperly originated entries or entries where authorization was
11. Determine whether the RDFI acts promptly on consumers'
stop-payment orders.
12. Determine whether the RDFI has procedures that enable
it to freeze proceeds of ACH transactions in favor of blocked
parties (under OFAC sanctions) for whom the RDFI holds an
13. Determine whether the financial institution considers
the volume of its uncollected ACH transactions as part of its
liquidity risk management practices.
14. Determine whether management and personnel display
adequate knowledge and technical skills in managing and performing
duties related to ACH transactions.
15. Review results from the financial institution's NACHA
rule compliance audit. Determine:
I. ACH Accounting and Transaction
1. Assess the adequacy of logs maintained for ACH payments
received from, and delivered to, each customer.
2. Assess the adequacy of the balancing procedures used for all
ACH payments received and whether they include balancing to the
aggregate payments sent to an ACH operator.
3. Determine whether the institution balances all payments
received from an ACH operator to the aggregate of payments
delivered to customers.
4. Determine whether the institution verifies and authorizes the
source of all ACH files received for processing.
5. Determine whether the institution reconciles all general
ledger accounts related to ACH activities on a timely basis.
6. Determine whether ACH supervisory personnel perform
reconcilement and regularly review exception items.
7. Determine whether the institution reconciles the ACH activity
and pending file totals daily with the ACH operator.
8. Assess the effectiveness of the reconcilement with
third-party service providers preparing ACH transaction files and
ensure daily reconciliation.
9. Assess the effectiveness of ACH holdover transactions and
determine whether the institution adequately controls them.
10. Determine whether accounting staff reconciles
individual outgoing ACH batches before merging them with other ACH
11. Determine whether there are separate accounts to
control holdovers, adjustments, return items, rejects, etc. and
whether they are periodically reconciled.
12. Assess the effectiveness of the investigation unit to
address customer inquiries and control return items,
rejected/unposted items, differences, etc. Determine whether
the unit periodically generates aging reports of outstanding items
for management.
13. Assess whether management adequately tracks exceptions
to credit limit policies and legal contracts.
14. Determine whether exception reports (e.g., rejects,
return items, and aging of open items) receive appropriate
management attention.
15. Assess the adequacy of separation of duties throughout
the ACH process including origination, data entry, adjustments,
internal reconcilement, preparing general ledger entries, posting
to customer accounts, investigations, and reconcilement with ACH
16. Determine whether adjustments (e.g., added payments,
stop payments, reroutes, and reversals) to original ACH
instructions are received in an area that does not have access to
the original data files.
17. Assess whether controls are appropriate for the
adjustment process, including authorization (e.g., signature
verification and callbacks on telephone instructions) and whether
the institution maintains adequate records (e.g., logs and taping
of telephone calls) of individuals making requests.
18. Determine the adequacy of the customer profile
origination and change request process. Consider whether
J. ACH Funding and Credit
1. Assess the adequacy of the process for releasing payments to
an ACH operator, and determine whether assurances are obtained that
sufficient collected funds (e.g., on deposit or prefunded) or
credit facilities are available. The institution should
monitor customer intraday and interday positions based on defined
2. For third-party service providers contracted to process
outgoing ACH transactions, determine whether there are procedures
to monitor ACH activity and ensure that funds are collected
(collected balances, prefunding, credit lines) before the
institution settles with the ACH operator.
3. For prefunding arrangements in place for customers without
credit lines, determine whether management blocks funds (held for
disposition) or maintains them in separate accounts until the
transaction date.
4. For non prefunded arrangements determine whether the
institution places blocks on outgoing payments to deposit accounts,
applies them as reductions to credit lines, or includes them in the
overall funds transfer monitoring process.
5. Determine whether management approves payments resulting in
extensions of credit lines or drawings against uncollected funds
and retains documentation to support the approvals. Determine
whether the institution performs credit assessments of customers
originating large dollar volumes of ACH credit transactions.
Credit assessments should also be reviewed periodically to evaluate
creditworthiness of the customer and current economic
6. Determine whether management treats ACH debits deposited as
uncollected funds and whether they monitor any draws against these
funds for debits originated by high- risk customers.
7. Determine whether management approves draws against
uncollected ACH deposits and maintains documentation to support
approvals for debits originated by high-risk customers.
8. Determine the adequacy of Internet and telephone ACH
transaction processing procedures and determine whether there are
appropriate authentication controls and procedures to ensure the
proper identities of parties invoking ACH transactions.
9. Assess the adequacy of management's risk assessment of ACH
services in terms of the importance of this function to the overall
corporate treasury services function.
10. Ensure that the financial institution obtains and
analyzes all audits conducted by the ACH service provider, pursuant
to the NACHA rule compliance audit requirement.
K. Web and Telephone-Initiated ACH
1. Determine whether the financial institution has adopted
adequate policies and procedures regarding ACH transactions
involving Internet-initiated (WEB) entries. Determine whether
2. Determine whether the ODFI has implemented
telephone-initiated (TEL) ACH entries. Determine whether:
3. Determine whether the ODFI requires its originator to employ
a commercially reasonable method to authenticate the
consumer/business. Determine whether:
4. Determine whether the ODFI conducts risk assessments of its
originators and whether they reflect a reasonable exercise of
business judgment. Consider whether the risk assessment
includes evaluations of:
L. ACH Contingency Plans
1. Evaluate the adequacy of the ACH contingency plan; determine
whether the financial institution has tested it and whether it
includes provisions for partial or complete failure of the system
or communication lines between the institution, ACH operators,
customers, and associated data centers.
2. Based on the volume and importance of ACH activity, evaluate
whether the plan is reasonable and whether it provides for a
reasonable recovery period.
3. Determine whether the institution duplicates or retains
transaction files for input reconstruction for a minimum of 24
hours. Note that NACHA rules require the retention of all
entries, including return and adjustment entries, transmitted to
and received from the ACH for a period of six years after the date
of transmittal.
4. Determine whether data and program files are adequately
secured, retained, and backed up at off-premises facilities,
including secured transport mechanisms for those resources.
5. Determine whether the center has established and tested
procedures to recover and restore data under various contingency
6. Determine whether the frequency and methods of testing
contingency plans are adequate.
M. Check 21
(A more comprehensive set of examination procedures that are
designed to test transactions can be found at the FFIEC Check 21
InfoBase at www.ffiec.gov/exam/check21/default.htm.)
1. Determine whether:
2. If a financial institution has begun to image checks or
retrieve imaged checks pursuant to Check 21, determine whether the
institution has the following:
3. If the financial institution is a reconverting institution
pursuant to Check 21, determine whether it has the following:
4. If the financial institution accepts RCCs from retail
business customers or payment processing customers, assess the
appropriateness of, and adherence to, policies and procedures
regarding customer due diligence, customer contracts, third-party
service provider's due diligence, and activity/transaction
monitoring. Consider the following elements relative to the
institution's retail customers, its payment processing customers,
and any processors' retail customers:
N. Remote Deposit Capture Risk Management
1. Identify the key elements of the RDC environment.
2. Assess the RDC strategic planning and the risk assessment
3. Customer due diligence and suitability.
4. Vendor Management
5. Contracts and Agreements
6. Insurance
7. Physical and Logical Access Controls
8. Separation of Duties
9. Oversight and Monitoring
10. Training
11. Change Management
12. Records Management
Assess the process by which financial institution management
verifies customer compliance with contract requirements related to
the secure retention, storage, and destruction requirements for
physical deposit items and electronic
13. Business Continuity Planning (BCP)
14. Fraud
O. Vendor Management
Assess the adequacy of vendor management program over a
service provider that provides a new and emerging retail payment
technology. (Select one or more projects involving the
development and deployment of a new and emerging retail payment
technology and complete the following procedures.)
1. Review documentation supporting the business case for the
2. Assess the extent to which the institution
3. Evaluate whether the institution's due diligence considers
the following:
4. Verify that the contract appropriately addresses:
5. Review service level agreements to ensure they are adequate
and measurable. Determine whether:
6. Evaluate the institution's periodic monitoring of the service
provider relationship(s), including:
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text:
ABC Family Buzz
After growing up on the set of the popular family series Full House, Candace Cameron grew out of her shoes as D.J. Tanner to become a beautiful young woman, later meeting and marrying Russian NHL hockey star, Valeri Bure, to become Candace Cameron Bure. In the years since Full House, Candace Cameron Bure has kept her foot in acting while also balancing the tougher job of being a mom. In 2009, Candace joined the cast of the new ABC Family series, Make It or Break It, in the role of Summer Van Horn who was the fiancée of Steve Tanner, the father character of actress Cassie Scerbo who plays budding gymnast, Lauren Tanner. After a successful first season of 10 episodes to mid-season, Make It or Break It returns on Monday, January 4 on ABC Family with the "Eleventh Hour" to start the back-end of its freshman run. Leading up to the mid-season debut of Make It or Break It, we joined Candace Cameron Bure on a recent conference call to learn more about gymnastics, how being a mother helps her with Summer, her thoughts on Full House so many years later, and what country she'll be rooting for during the men's hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. To Read More Click Here .
Make It or Break It returns to the ABC Family airwaves on Monday, January 4 to continue its first season with the episode, "The Eleventh Hour", that sees the Josie Loren character, Kaylie, struggle to deal with unexpected emotions from her national championship victory as Ayla Kell's Payson Keeler recovers from her near fatal back injury. After a successful debut on ABC Family, Make It or Break It has captured the hearts of fans and budding gymnasts who know first-hand the drama within the world of gymnastics and the dynamics of competition both on the floor and behind closed doors. Leading up to the mid-season premiere of Make It or Break It, TheDeadbolt caught up with actress Josie Loren to learn more about how Loren's Kaylie deals with being a national champion, her feelings over Payson's injury, and Kaylie's biggest challenge as a gymnast now that she's become the best in the country. To Read More Click Here .
Winning the National Gymnastics competition during the mid-season finale of Make It or Break It spells celebration for the girls, and even more excitement for fans who have been waiting for the show's return. But on tonight's episode, things aren't as clear as the ice. "The Eleventh Hour" has the girls facing the aftermath of the competition. Payson (Ayla Kell) is struggling with the back injury she sustained, and finds herself troubled by how detached she's become from her family and friends. Meanwhile, the others deal with the consequences of fame. The spotlight's on Kaylie (Josie Lopez) who is thrust towards the public eye. Joining her is Nicky Russo (Cody Longo), who won the silver medal on the Men's National. Emily (Chelsea Hobbs) and Lauren (Cassie Scerbo) have also landed spots on the National Team, leaving Payson behind. She becomes increasingly depressed knowing how she can't celebrate with her friends, in addition to the physical pain she's experiencing. To Read More Click Here .
Rejoice, Reelers! It's the first big TV night of the new year, and while not all our favs are back yet, there are actually new episodes of new and returning shows tonight! Check out what's on: 8/7c Heroes on NBC The Bachelor on ABC The Secret Life of The American Teenager on ABC Family 9/8c Another new Heroes on NBC Make It or Break It on ABC Family MythBusters on Discovery Channel Intervention on A&E 10/9c Conveyor Belt of Love on ABC The Jay Leno Show on NBC Men of a Certain Age on TNT 11/10c Chef Academy on Bravo What will you be watching?
Check out a first look at the 2010 premiere of MAKE IT OR BREAK IT "The Eleventh Hour" Episode 11 airing Monday, January 4th (8:00-9:00PM ET/PT and 9:00-10:00PM ET/PT). We previously released the premiere dates and time for the Make it or Break it a little while back. Episode Synopsis: The girls celebrate their win from the National Gymnastics competition and Payson nurses her back injury while as she grows completely detached from her family and friends in "The Eleventh Hour," the mid-season premiere of "Make It or Break It," premiering on ABC Family on Monday, January 4, 2010 (9:00 - 10:00 PM ET/PT). Source & More Photos
Both The Secret Life of The American Teenager and Make It or Break It return to ABC Family with all new episodes on Monday, January 4th at 8/7c. We've got some exciting previews for both shows! For Secret Life, we have 4 preview clips from ABC Family: Hallway Chatter Sex Talk Ditching Running Away Here are 2 general previews for MIOBI: Preview Make It or Break It All New Episodes And here's another one featuring a song by former US Olympic gymnast Carly Patterson: MIOBI Preview E!Online also has some spoilers for the new season: Make It or Break It Spoilers: What Happens to Payson, Postinjury? Who is excited for these shows to return? Check out more Midseason Premieres/Returns over on our Midseason Premiere Dates Calendar
ABC Family's The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Make It or Break It will premiere Jan. 4. The two shows' season premieres were originally slated for a week later, on Jan.11. "Teenager," which has a 12-episode order, and "Make It," which has 10 new episodes, will be joined by fresh episodes of Greek on Monday, Jan. 25. Source
You won't have to wait long to see what's in store for the students at Cyprus Rhodes. ABC Family has scheduled the midseason premiere of Greek - which will end the first half of Season 3 come Monday - for Monday, Jan. 25, at 10/9c. The network has moved Greek back an hour, enabling a Monday night block of original programming. The Secret Life of the American Teenager will air at 8/7c, followed by Make It or Break It at 9/8c, with Greek capping off the night. Will you be watching the new three-hour block? Source Here
Though Nico Tortorella is probably best known for his role as Cole Shepherd on The CW 's ill-fated Mischa Barton drama " The Beautiful Life ," those of us who faithfully watched ABC Family's " Make It or Break It " this past summer knew him as Razor/"Pizza Guy" first. When Tortorella landed the Cole Shepherd part on "TBL," "Make It or Break It" was forced to let him go, but sources tell Korbi TV exclusively that Tortorella will definitely return to "MIOBI" now that "TBL" has been canceled. The story line? Seems Razor's band mate, Damon -- whom Emily Kmetko (Chelsea Hobbs) became quite close with in Razor's absence -- has moved to L.A. to pursue his songwriting aspirations. Meanwhile, back in Boulder, Pizza Guy is working at The Pizza Shack once again. So, will he and Emily rekindle their romance? It's inevitable, no? Have you seen Nico Tortorella? We did. This weekend. Holding hands with "TBL" co-star Sara Paxton at a party hosted by "Gossip Girl"'s Ed Westwick for artist Todd DiCiucio's "Heartstrings" exhibition. And, yeah, she'd be insane not to. Source Here
"THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER" AND "MAKE IT OR BREAK IT" RETURN ON MONDAY, JANUARY 11 ON ABC FAMILY Burbank, CA (October 13, 2009) ABC Family's two original hit dramas, "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and " Make It or Break It ," will return back to back this winter beginning on Monday, January 11th (8:00-9:00PM ET/PT and 9:00-10:00PM ET/PT). "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" returns (8:00-9:00PM ET/PT) to complete its second season with 12 all-new episodes; "Make It or Break It" (9:00PM-10:00PM ET/PT) returns to complete its first season with 10 all-new episodes. The heartfelt drama "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" focuses on the relationships between families and friends and how they deal with teenage issues, including an unexpected pregnancy. Created and executive-produced by Brenda Hampton, the series stars Shailene Woodley, Molly Ringwald, Mark Derwin, India Eisley, Ken Baumann, Daren Kagasoff, Francia Raisa, Megan Park and Greg Finley. "Make It or Break It," set in the world of competitive gymnastics, follows a group of teen Olympic hopefuls as they train and prepare for their day in the spotlight. The show stars Chelsea Hobbs, Ayla Kell, Josie Loren, Cassie Scerbo, Zachary Burr Abel, Peri Gilpin, Candace Cameron Bure and Susan Ward. Created and written by Holly Sorensen, the series executive producers are Sorenson and Paul Stupin. Driven by original series "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and newcomer "Make It or Break It," 3Q09 recently wrapped as ABC Family's most-watched 3Q in the Net's history in Prime in Adults 18-34, Women 18-34, Adults 18-49, Women 18-49 and Females 12-34. Impressively, 3Q09 became the net's No. 2 quarter ever in key targets Women 18-34, and Females 12-34. Competitively, ABC Family ranked as 3Q09's No. 1 ad-supported cable network in Prime in Females 12-34 and Female Teens. Among all cable, ABC Family placed a competitive No. 4 in Women 18-34 and No. 5 in Women 18-49. Moreover, ABC Family ranked a high No. 9 in Total Viewers, jumping an impressive 5 places year to year. Part of the Disney-ABC Television Group, ABC Family is distributed in over 98 million homes. ABC Family features programming reflecting today's families, entertaining and connecting with adults through relevant stories about today's relationships, all told with diversity, dysfunction, passion, humor and heart. ABC Family's programming is a mix of network defining original series and original movies, quality acquired series and blockbuster theatricals. ABC Family is also the destination for annual Holiday events with "13 Nights of Halloween" and "25 Days of Christmas!" ABC Family. A New Kind of Family. Source Here


text:
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text:
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/12/2012 (1688 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
ST-LEONARD-D'ASTON, Que. -- You've heard of corn on the cob but what about corn on the lam?
Thieves using at least a dozen large trucks struck at a farm in central Quebec overnight Tuesday, making off with an estimated 400 tonnes of the product.
The farmer who owns the crop estimates the value of the theft at $140,000.
The unidentified farmer says the corn had been stored in silos at the farm located about 130 kilometres northeast of Montreal.
-- The Canadian Press


text:
Kids Night Out Party
Jola's Joyful Events
Saturday, October 27, 2012 from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM (PDT)
Who's Going
San Francisco, California
London, United Kingdom
Florence, Italy
Event Details
We are having a kids night out party
At our new location
1120 Hightower trail Sandy Springs, Georgia 30350
Parents Drop Your Kids Off For A Night Of Fun ( Don't let the kids know you will be having some fun to get a date night in, catch up with your girlfriends , or sip some tea in peace and quite ) While the kids are having a blast
This Month Theme
Princess & Pirates Adventures Party
Kids Will Do a Meet And Greet
Sing A Welcome Song
Get To Dress Up In Princess & Pirate Costumes
Get Tattoos Or Face Paint
Play Games
Have A Dinner Of Pizza, Lemonade, Mini Cupcake For Dessert
Watch A Movie If Time Allows
For Ages 3-10 years old
Children Are Broken Up Into Age Group's
3-5 years old ( children must be fully potty trained) will be together 6-8 years old will be together
We have a highly trained staff that is criminal background checked, CPR certified that work as teacher assistants, preschool teachers that have vast experience with children
Call us Today To Reserve A Spot For Your Child
When & Where
Joyful Kids Party Place
1120 Hightower Trail
Sandy Springs,
Saturday, October 27, 2012 from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM (PDT)
Add to my calendar
Jola's Joyful Events
Jola's Joyful Events, where Party Planning & Children are What We Do Best!
The event hostesses at Jola's Joyful Events are CPR - certified, childcare experts and party planners so your children will be safe and above all- enjoy their party experience.
We at Jola's Joyful Events are experts that offer top - notch celebration planning service. We provide our clients with all they need to make sure that each and every unique event is a joyful occasion. We plan fabulous and simple gatherings like baby showers, birthday party's, bridal showers, and everything in between. We pay close attention to detail from custom invitations, themed favor bags, color coordinated candy buffet table, welcome areas, child friendly entertainment and much more!!!! Once your hire us all you have to do is relax and enjoy your joyful event. What set's us apart is we give you options. You can host your event at your home and we come to you or you can host you event at out Joyful Party Boutique. Contact us anytime. Lets get started on planning your Joyfil Event.
Jola's Joyful Events
408 South Atlanta Street, Roswell Georgia 30075
Contact us anytime at 770-609-5474


text:
|Half Baths
|750 sq. ft.
|Property type
|Minimum Stay
|5 - 8 nights
Welcome to The Cottage at Island Breeze - an ideal romantic hideaway for a peaceful island vacation. This two-story Bahamas beach house is located on the Atlantic side of Eleuthera near the quaint settlement of North Palmetto Point. A sandy pathway from the cottage leads to a dune deck overlooking a private white and pink sand beach, making it a delightful spot for your morning coffee. Enjoy snorkeling and swimming in the calm turquoise waters teeming with coral reefs and vibrant tropical fish. Or explore the beach for an assortment of exotic shells, sea glass, and the elusive sea beans that float over from Africa and are rumored to bring good luck to their finder. You can also spend time relaxing on the large rear deck of the house watching the herons, egrets, and osprey frolic in a salt water lake.
A fully equipped kitchen awaits you along with all the comforts you would expect in your own vacation home. The cottage is fully air-conditioned with ceiling fans throughout, comfortable furniture, a full bathroom downstairs, 1/2 bath in the loft and an outside shower. The loft bedroom opens up to a spacious deck where you can savor a luscious sunset and let the sound of the breaking waves caress you to sleep in your king-size bed. Linens, bath and beach towels, beach chairs, shampoo and body wash are all provided.
Take a walking tour of The Cottage at Island Breeze: https://youtu.be/s36R-6DMpUI
Find us on Face Book at: Island Breeze Vacation Rentals
Be sure to check out my other properties: HomeAway #171732 and #171733
Our first visit to Eleuthera was in 1992. We fell in love with the breathtaking beauty and warm welcoming residents. We knew that Eleuthera was a very special untouched island, and we are excited to open our home to you. We wish you a visit that is filled with much love, laughter, and beautiful memories.
From our family to yours – Welcome to Eleuthera!
Michael and Katy Broderick
p.s. Be sure to…see a sunrise, see a sunset, see the stars at night, walk the beaches, explore, make new friends, read a good book, do absolutely nothing…return again to Eleuthera!
Had a great stay in the cottage. It's comfortable, clean and well appointed. The view and the beach are wonderful. Communication with the managers ahead of time and once I was on the island was easy. Overall a great spot for a relaxing week.
We loved staying in this cute little house adjacent to the beach. It was private and quiet. The beach was lovely. We appreciated the beach chairs, cooler and umbrella that were provided as we headed out everyday to a different spot on the island. Overall, we would recommend Island Breeze for a couple who want a peaceful and serene place to relax on their vacation.
We spent 5 night at the Cottage at Island Breeze. It was just as described and perfect for 2 people. Very comfortable and well equipped. It is far enough off the beaten path to feel alone, yet not too far into town for shops and restaurants. We LOVED the deck off the 2nd floor bedroom for morning coffee and evening star gazing. Eleuthera beaches were amazing - one of the best is Poponi just up the road from the cottage. The snorkeling equipment was nice for a couple of newbies like us. Definitely stop in Governor's Harbor on your way through to pick up drinking water and food supplies because you may not want to leave the cottage once you get there!
If you're looking at this rental, that means you've already made the very good decision to visit Eleuthera. Booking it will be another very good decision. With accommodation prices rising all over the island, it is wonderful to have a lovely option for couples at such a reasonable price point. We got everything we could have possibly wanted in this cottage without having to pay for extra space just to get a nice place and some privacy. It's a quiet road with very little traffic...maybe 4-6 cars passed by per day. We saw only a few people each day on the beach. We highly recommend getting a 4-wheel drive rental because there are some beautiful and truly secluded beaches further down the road...but it gets a bit rough. The house and grounds are pristine and immaculately kept. It's beautifully furnished. Just about everything was in fine working order, and we found all possible equipment and supplies to be provided. The view from the bed upstairs was a joy each morning, as was morning coffee on the veranda. The view from the deck at the steps to the beach was amazing and we enjoyed the hammock there. The beach itself was very nice, though there is rock/coral at all possible entry points to the water, so beach/water shoes would be a good idea as it can be a bit treacherous. But such conditions do make for excellent snorkeling, which we did a lot of. Unfortunately, the wifi was not working most of the time. We let the caretaker know when we arrived, and she had BTC out there right away, but the solution did not last long and we had two very brief periods where it came back up for about 15 minutes and then would go back down. We did not seek repair again after the first time. While we had hoped to be able to keep contact with our small children who were traveling with their grandparents, we don't really mind being unplugged on vacation. And understand that this is a not a problem unique to this house, as wifi can be unreliable all over the island. All in all, it was a lovely experience and I do think we would return to this house.
My friend and I spent a wonderful 10 days in the Island Breeze Cottage in late March 2016. We had an absolutely delightful time on Eleuthera and the Cottage was a big part of that! As a former contractor one of the first things I noticed was the excellent and substantial construction. It is beautiful, totally functional and had amenities that really enhanced our stay. The location on a very quiet little sand road maybe 50 feet from the stairway down to one of Eleuthera's most beautiful beaches seemed to us to be ideal. Central on the island, close to shopping, restaurants and such an oasis when we'd return home each day. We had rented a jeep wrangler from an agency suggested by the Cottage contacts and that for us was perfect as we explored many of sandy, bushy roads to beaches we almost always had to ourselves. The outside shower on the deck allowed us to wash the sand off ourselves and our gear (we snorkeled 9 out of our 10 days). The door off the deck goes right to the washer and dryer which were great to have. The downstairs bathroom has a beautiful tiled shower stall & we never ran out of wonderful hot water. The kitchen appliances and cooking utensils are quite complete. A CD player and wireless internet were appreciated. There is a local cell phone provided with a request that renters replace the minutes before they leave. The furnishings are really lovely, just as pictured. The upstairs loft has a very comfortable king bed and to our delight there is a 2nd sink and toilet up there as well. To lay in bed watching the waving palm trees and listening to the surf is as restful and calming as can be imagined. The photos are accurate, this is a Cottage designed for two people who will be sharing the bed, it's both very romantic and comfortable. The loft bedroom french doors open to a deck with a truly spectacular view up & down one of the best beaches on Eleuthera. Perfect for sunbathing! There is a loft ceiling fan (and non-opening skylight) and 2 more fans down stairs. There is AC both upstairs & down, but our temperatures were in the 70's so we didn't use it. With ample windows, screen doors & the 3 ceiling fans we were able to easily keep the Cottage comfortable. There were beautiful blooming plants in all directions. We had brought a book with us which gave invaluable information on Eleuthera's amazing beaches, 135 of them! Buy and study that before you go. We also brought a GPS which proved very helpful when exploring. Enchanting Visit!
This was our first trip to Eleuthera and Island Breeze was a great place to begin our vacation. The cottage is perfect for two people; we loved the upstairs bedroom with deck overlooking the Atlantic - the sunrise over the ocean is the first thing you see in the morning without even getting out of bed! The location in Palmetto Point was convenient - it was only a 15 minute drive to Tippy's for a great meal. We highly recommend Island Farm for organic veggies and misc; it's worth the drive south to Rock Sound Market for grocery shopping. Bristol's Spirits on Cupid's Cay in Gouveners Harbour had great prices and selection.
You definitely need to rent a vehicle to see all the beauty this island has to offer - it's a challenge to "keep left" but worth the experience. The cottage was clean and well-equipped but would be even better if coffee filters, bar soap and clothing detergent were left for the guests. We were surprised at how expensive grocery shopping was, and for a short visit, really didn't want to spend money on things like oil and vinegar,etc. Now we know why everyone recommended bringing a cooler of meat - we would do that next time and especially with a longer visit. We will be back!!!
|Rate Period
|Weekend Night
Jun 1 2017 - Oct 31 2017
5 night minimum stay
Nov 1 2017 - May 31 2018
5 night minimum stay
Dec 22 2017 - Dec 29 2017
8 night minimum stay
Flat fee
New Years
Dec 30 2017 - Jan 6 2018
8 night minimum stay
Flat fee
My Standard Rate
5 night minimum stay
|Cleaning Fee
|Refundable damage deposit
|Property Damage Protection
|Tax Rate
Signed Rental Agreement, provided by the owner, is required before occupancy.


text:
One thing I am looking forward to in Grade 12 is all the grad activities that I will be doing throughout the year like watching movies and having potlucks or go on field trips such as go-carts. The big activity at the end of the year is when we go on safe grad, which is a trip to the Halifax Sports Dome where we spend the night playing games and activities such as paintball.
I am really looking forward to my Encounters With Canada trip next April where I will be travelling to Ottawa for a week to learn about politics in Canada. I will also be meeting other teens from across Canada and we will be participating in some of the activities together. Encounters With Canada is Canada's largest youth forum in which each week of the school year over 100 teenagers from ages 14 to 17, travel from all parts of Canada to Ottawa to learn about Canadian institutions and meet famous and accomplished Canadians.
When I received my schedule for next year, I realized that I can't wait for first term of Grade 12 to be over because I will have all my hard courses out of the way. Then I will be able to enjoy and hopefully relax for the second half of Grade 12 before graduation and university.
I am mostly looking forward my Grade 12 graduation. I like my school and had some great teachers and friends but I can't wait until I enter the real world, face many changes and enter my university years. It will be a very new experience. During my last year of high school, I want to explore some options for international studies or volunteer work so I can do some travelling in my university years and learn about new cultures in other countries. I look forward to applying for university and reviewing and deciding which courses I can take. I look forward to taking courses which are of real interest to me. There will also be an opportunity to apply for different scholarships.
Lastly, I am looking forward to getting my driver's license so I will be able to drive myself to my extra-curricular activities, sports and job. Being one of the youngest people in my class, I wasn't able to get my license before Grade 11 ended. When I start grade 12 though, I will be able to drive myself which means I can sleep in and drive myself to school if I miss the bus. I know my last year of high school will be a memorable year and the friends I have made will be important to me. Some of us will go in different directions but I know my closest friends will always be part of my life in the future. Grade 12 will be a time to enjoy ourselves and make the most of things.
As this is the last article for Teen Scene, I would like to wish my fellow Teen Scene writers a great summer. I enjoyed reading your point of view on many topics. I would also like to recommend Teen Scene to other Grade 11 students. It was a great experience and opportunity for me as it made me think of subjects that I may not have otherwise. Hopefully, it also improved my writing skills. Thanks to Joelene for keeping us on schedule and meet deadlines.


text:
6 Comments
Love the building and the print. With the placement was a little higher though. I'll have to lose a few pounds to pull off those bright arching lines…
nice voted +1 pls vote or comment on mines plz: http://www.designbyhumans.com/vote/detail/215721 http://www.designbyhumans.com/vote/detail/215691 http://www.designbyhumans.com/vote/detail/215715 http://www.designbyhumans.com/vote/detail/215211 http://www.designbyhumans.com/vote/detail/215229 http://www.designbyhumans.com/vote/detail/215443
Cool. +1
Great Work +1 !
plz support :D
voted : )
vote / comment http://www.designbyhumans.com/vote/detail/215331
Like the shape quite a bit but is it just me or does the resolution of the image look kind of low?


text:
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Topic closed. 13 replies. Last post 4 years ago by sookie.
Do anyone know if there was a winner and where?
Hey Chrissy, Yes. One winner in Florida won tonight's PB jackpot. Source: http://www.usamega.com/ "Sunday, May 19, 2013 12:47 am � Powerball Jackpot Winner! There was one $591 million jackpot winner from Florida in the Saturday, May 18, 2013 Powerball drawing. More details to follow after the winner comes forward to claim their prize."
~ Win NY Pick 3 ♦ Create Pick 4 Numbers ♦ Create Pick 3 Numbers ♦ Pick 5 Numbers And Win ~
be funny if it's some ole gezzer about 99years old 1st time he ever played and he won,
Thanks NY
You're very welcome Chrissy. LOL @ Helpmewin
I know right. I've never purchased a powerball ticket until today. It felt weird, for some reason I felt good about the numbers....lol
be funnier if he had been playing since it was legal to play. back in 1960\s or when ever it started.
" Still swinging, still missing " 2014 = -1016; 2015= -1409; 2016 = -1171; 2017 = ? TOT = -3596: JAN= -
keno historic = -2291 ; 2015= -603; 2016= -424; 2017 = ? TOT = - 3318: JAN= -39
One day we will have an LP winner, watch and see!
there has already been a few
so he would just be breaking even right before he croaks
Thats not nice
no it wasn't
I didn't winPBbut I did win $2 in mm :)
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This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
The need for an efficient and standard technique for optimal spectral sampling of hyperspectral data during the inversion of canopy reflectance models has been the subject of many studies. The objective of this study was to investigate the utility of the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) for extracting useful features from hyperspectral data with which forest LAI can be estimated through inversion of a three dimensional radiative transfer model, the Discrete Anisotropy Radiative Transfer (DART) model. DART, coupled with the leaf optical properties model PROSPECT, was inverted with AVIRIS data using a look-up-table (LUT)-based inversion approach. We used AVIRIS data and
Leaf area index (LAI) of vegetation canopies controls and moderates different climatic and ecological functions [
Physically-based models range in complexity from simple nonlinear models to complex numerical radiative transfer models. One-dimensional (1-D) canopy radiative transfer models are among the more commonly used because of their ease of implementation and computational efficiency [
The Discrete Anisotropy Radiative Transfer (DART) model is a widely used 3-D model [
For the estimation of vegetation properties such as LAI, a model has to be inverted against measured reflectance data. Several model inversion techniques are available [
Model inversion requires that for a unique determination of
The discrete wavelet transform (DWT) has been increasingly used in recent years in the processing of hyperspectral images for a variety of purposes [
The advantages of DWT in LUT inversion are threefold. First, it transforms the correlated set of spectral features into wavelet features at different scales; the information carried at different scales is less correlated because of the orthogonal nature of transformation [
The main objective of this study was to assess the utility of the Haar discrete wavelet transform as a feature extraction technique for accurately estimating forests LAI through LUT inversion of DART using airborne hyperspectral data (AVIRIS). We posited that the transformation of hyperspectral reflectance into wavelet features and subsequent LUT inversion in the wavelet domain might provide improved estimates of LAI. We also examined three different sets of wavelet features and their effect on inversion accuracy.
A wavelet transform enables signal (data) analysis at different scales or resolutions by creating a series of shifted and scaled versions of the mother wavelet function [
We refer to the running difference, or fluctuation, as the detail vector,
The subsignals of the original signal define the first level of the Haar transform, usually referred to as 1-level. As such, the approximation coefficients and detail coefficients from the first level can be referred to as a1 and d1, respectively. Computation of approximation and detail coefficients for subsequent levels is achieved by recursively applying
The study area comprises a range of broadleaf deciduous forest types within the state of Wisconsin, USA (
Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data used in this study (Flight ID: f080713t01 and f080714t01) were acquired in July 2008 on NASA's ER-2 aircraft at an altitude of 20 km, yielding a pixel (
AVIRIS image preprocessing involved manual delineation of clouds and cloud-shadows, cross-track illumination correction, and conversion to top-of-canopy (TOC) reflectance via atmospheric correction. Redundant bands due to overlap of detectors were also removed. Cross-track illumination effects arise from a combination of flight path orientation and relative solar azimuth. We removed this effect by developing band-wise bilinear trend surfaces, ignoring all cloud/shadow-masked pixels, and trend-normalizing the images by subtracting the illumination trend surface and adding the image mean. Atmospheric correction of the cross-track illumination corrected images to TOC reflectance employed the ACORN5b™ software (Atmospheric CORrection Now; Imspec LLC, USA). Due to the low ratio of signal to noise at both spectral ends (366 nm–395 nm and 2,467 nm–2,497 nm), and in bands around the major water absorption regions (1,363 nm–1,403 nm and 1,811 nm–1,968 nm) those wavelength regions were dropped, resulting in a final total of 184 bands. The pixel spectra corresponding to the centers of the plot locations as described in the next section were extracted for the final 184 atmospherically corrected AVIRIS bands.
Optical measurements of effective LAI (
Hemispherical images were collected at 18 plots (60 m × 60 m) characterized by broadleaf decidous forest types. All measurements were made during the peak of the summer growing seasons in 2008 and 2010 during uniformly overcast skies or during dusk or dawn when the sun was hidden by the horizon. Images were collected in the JPEG format at the highest resolution (2,560 × 1,920 pixels) to maximize the detection of small canopy gaps. We followed the protocol of Zhang
One broadleaf plot of our 18 total was removed from the analysis based on Cook's Distance, which identifies influential observations on the basis of how a linear function changes when a certain observation is deleted [
We used DART version 4.3.3 to simulate canopy reflectance for different parameter combinations. The DART model was run in a UNIX environment using a computer with 32 processors (eight Quad-Core AMD Opteron TM 8356 Processor) and 64 GB of physical random access memory (RAM).
DART requires users to build a computer representation of a relevant earth landscape scene such as a forest, an urban area, and water body. Ideally, the scene area should be large and should include important details about the landscape. For instance, a forest scene should be built with a large number of trees, and the resolution of the scene (cell) should be high enough to represent canopy elements such as leaves, twigs, and branches. This level of details leads to unacceptable computational time requirements for a LUT building process. Thus, a scene of reasonable size and detail needs to be determined that allows one to operate DART with an acceptable accuracy level. In this study, simulations were conducted using a simple forest representation. A repetitive forest landscape pattern made up of four trees with ellipsoid shaped crowns was chosen; previous studies have found this representations to be optimal [
Construction of a LUT of reflectance values for a large number of bands with a 3-D model such as DART requires an unacceptable computational time. We used an efficient strategy to populate the LUT grid with a sufficient number of DART simulations by identifying the realistic combinations of different DART parameters and their suitable ranges. The process to develop the LUT is described below.
Initially, a preliminary LUT with a wide range and coarse increments for parameters was constructed for only four narrow AVIRIS bands (550 nm, 1,139 nm, 1,692 nm, and 2,208 nm). PROSPECT [
The simulations in the LUT were then compared with the image reflectance to find the optimal ranges for individual parameters. The corresponding maximum and minimum reflectance values in image-extracted spectra were determined for each simulated band. The maximum and minimum values in the individual band were combined to form a maximum and minimum reflectance (max/min) spectrum. To allow for potential model/measurement uncertainties, the space was expanded by five percent in both directions. A search filter was applied to find the LUT simulations confined within the max/min space. The model inputs that led to simulations (candidate solutions) in the resulting reduced LUT were examined to infer information about optimal parameter ranges and realistic parameter combinations. Combinations of parameter values that produced similar output to image reflectance were determined as the range for the rest of model parameters for different combinations of CC, DM, and EWT. We selected the four narrow bands in the preliminary LUT as representative of the four distinct regions of the vegetation reflectance spectrum. The selection of different subsets of the candidate bands did not significantly alter our result. Once the ranges and realistic combinations were determined, a simple sensitivity analysis (SA) was performed as in Santis
If we had considered all the parameter combinations, 134,400 (16 * 10 * 7 * 2 * 5 * 4 * 3) simulations for each AVIRIS band would have been required. After searching for realistic parameter combinations, only 5,960 simulations were needed in the infrared bands and 1,920 in the visible bands. Simulations were done separately for visible and infrared bands in order to reduce computation time, as reflectances in the two regions were sensitive to different sets of PROSPECT parameters. Canopy reflectances in the visible bands were simulated using fixed values for EWT (0.007 cm) and DM (0.007 g/cm2). Similarly, a constant value for Cab (30 μg/cm2) was used for the infrared bands. Common parameter values in both parts of the spectrum were later used to append the two tables.
When computing the DWT, two input parameters are required: the choice of mother wavelet and the level of decomposition. We chose the Haar mother wavelet as it is the simplest of all available mother wavelets, and recent investigations have illustrated its effectiveness in hyperspectral data analysis [
LUT inversion required similarity matching between wavelet coefficients from plot spectra (measured) and the wavelet coefficients from simulated spectra (modeled). Similarity was assessed using a least root mean square error (RMSE) comparison of the simulated and measured coefficients according to
In DWT, a large number of coefficients usually contain very low values (near-zero), and do not retain any useful information. For example, only 42 out of total 184 wavelet coefficients had 99.99% of the total energy (equivalent to variance) corresponding to original reflectance in one of the plots. The rest of the coefficients (142) had very low values (cumulatively containing only 0.01% of total energy) and might cause inversion bias. Hence, we repeated the inversion procedure but discarded the low coefficients. For each measured wavelet spectrum, the amount of retained energy by an individual coefficient was calculated as the square of its value. The wavelet coefficients were then sorted in descending order of their energies. Two sets of coefficients, which together contained 99.99% and 99.0% of the energy of original spectrum, were created. During inversion, similarity measurements between the wavelet coefficients and simulated spectra (
For comparison purposes, LUT inversion was also performed using the original spectral bands (SPECTRAL BANDS) which required assessing the similarity between plot and simulated spectra. As before, this was carried out using a least root mean square error (RMSE) comparison, in the case of the measured and modeled spectra, according to
LUT inversions were performed independently for all wavelet coefficients (ALL COEFFICIENTS), high energy wavelet coefficients (ENERGY SUBSET 1 and ENERGY SUBSET 2), and untransformed original spectral reflectance (SPECTRAL BANDS). All three sets of LUT were sorted from minimum to maximum according to the cost function (RMSE).
The final results are summarized in
The results show that the LAI estimated from ENERGY SUBSET 1 provided the greatest accuracy (RMSE = 0.46 and R2 = 0.77), followed by the LAI estimated from ENERGY SUBSET 2 (RMSE = 0.56 and R2 = 0.49). Among the different numbers of solutions, the median calculated from 30 solutions provided the best estimate of LAI, the differences were greatest for q = 10 (RMSE = 0.62) and q = 30 (RMSE = 0.46) with ENERGY SUBSET 1. The relations between the measured and model estimated LAI based on the median of 30 solutions from ENERGY SUBSET 1, and SPECTRAL BANDS are shown in
The results indicate that the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) can be a useful tool for estimating forest LAI using hyperspectral data by inverting DART. A simple wavelet decomposition of modeled and measured hyperspectral data by Haar wavelets followed by inversion using high energy wavelet coefficients provided better estimates of LAI than those provided by inversion using the original spectral reflectance.
According to Proposition 3 in Verstraete
The results of this study show that the wavelet transformation of hyperspectral bands can be a useful alternative to the band selection techniques employed by previous studies. Wavelet features in this study were less correlated than the original reflectance bands owing to the orthogonal nature of the transformation. DWT also afforded dimensionality reduction, as 99.99% of the total energy was concentrated in few coefficients. Moreover, DWT provided a multi-resolution representation of the original signal in which the effects of different parameters on canopy reflectance can possibly be distributed over wavelet coefficients of different scales. A narrow band in the red edge region of the reflectance spectrum might carry signatures of different parameters including leaf pigments, LAI, etc. After wavelet decomposition, the effect of leaf pigments might be relegated to a small-scale wavelet coefficient, whereas the effect of LAI might be more pronounced in one of the large scale wavelet coefficients (as LAI generally tends to affect reflectance over a larger part of the spectrum than leaf pigments). Such decoupling of the effects over wavelet coefficients at multiple scales and consequently greater independence among parameters is a useful property for inversion. The greatest accuracy obtained by the LUT inversion using ENERGY SUBSET 1 might be attributed to one or all of these benefits offered by DWT.
The poor estimates of LAI by ALL COEFFICIENTS compared to ENERGY SUBSET 1 and ENERGY SUBSET 2 demonstrate how essential it is to select optimal wavelet features. The selection of wavelet features employed in this study was relatively straightforward as only a small fraction of coefficients retained significant information (as measured by energy). The ENERGY SUBSET 1 discarded the low coefficients and only included the top coefficients cumulatively adding up to 99.99% of total energy. By doing so, the latter represented the original reflectance with a limited number of coefficients without causing significant errors for signal representations (loss of 0.01% of total energy). One of the important properties of DWT is that the energy of the Gaussian noise component of the signal will usually be dispersed as relatively small coefficients [
To understand the effect of different thresholds, we repeated the analysis using a new threshold of 99.0% energy. This led to a decrease in the best accuracy of LAI estimates from RMSE = 0.46 to RMSE = 0.56. With 99.0% energy, only 13 coarse-scale coefficients were retained (three approximations and others from scale level 4, 5 and 6), whereas, the 99.99% threshold level retained both coarse scale and fine scale detail coefficients from level 1 to 6. These coefficients from different levels are functions of scale and position (fine detail
The results also demonstrate that the different number of solutions estimated LAI with different accuracies. The differences were greatest between
We chose the Haar mother wavelet in this study, as it is the simplest of various mother wavelets, and has been found useful for hyperspectral data analysis in previous studies [
The plot LAI was estimated using DHP following the protocol of Zhang
The main objective of this study was to investigate the utility of the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) for estimating forest leaf area index (LAI) via inversion of the Discrete Anisotropy Radiative Transfer (DART) model using airborne hyperspectral data (AVIRIS). The DWT transforms the hyperspectral data into wavelet features at a variety of spectral scales. The multiscale features detect and isolate variation in the reflectance continuum not detectable in the original reflectance domain such as amplitude variations over broad and narrow spectral regions. We employed the DWT on reflectance spectra obtained from hyperspectral data to improve estimation of LAI in temperate forests. The model inversion was performed with three different datasets, the original reflectance bands, the full set of wavelet extracted features, and two wavelet subsets containing 99.99% and 99.0% of the cumulative energy of the original signal. The results show that the LAI estimated from the wavelet subset with 99.99% of the cumulative energy provided the greatest accuracy. Our results suggest that the Haar discrete wavelet transform can be an effective tool for accurate DART model inversion. This study focused only on comparing multiscale DWT coefficients to the original spectral bands. The work could be extended by applying sensitivity analyses to assess the effect of variation in LAI on wavelet features at different positions and scales. Such an effort might also help identify features that are more sensitive to LAI and less to background signals caused by soil or crown cover. The theory of wavelet transforms is still developing, and more wavelet families are being introduced. The exploration of the utility of other wavelets in model inversion is well warranted since different families of wavelets are suited to different signals and applications.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Study area: (
Tree scenes with variable tree ground covers from 100% down to 70%. Discrete Anisotropy Radiative Transfer (DART) works with an infinite scene comprised of a repetitive pattern of these tree scenes.
Reconstructed (with Haar coefficients having cumulative 99.0% energy)
Reconstructed (with Haar coefficients having cumulative 99.99% energy)
Reconstructed (with db3 coefficients having cumulative 99.99% energy)
Parameters, their ranges and increments for the final simulation. The final column shows the total number of values used for each parameter. The parameters are leaf area index (LAI), leaf equivalent water thickness (EWT), leaf dry matter content (DM), leaf structural parameter (N), leaf chlorophyll a + b concentration (Cab), canopy cover (CC) and leaf angle distribution (LAD). The three LADs used were planophile, plagiophile, and erectophile.
|LAI (m2/m2)
|EWT (cm)
|DM (g/cm2)
|Cab (μg/cm2)
Results from LUT inversion. The first column shows the total number of solutions selected by least RMSEr to calculate the median LAI value. The other columns show the RMSE and R2 between measured and estimated LAI by inversion using ALL COEFFICIENTS, ENERGY SUBSET 1, ENERGY SUBSET 2, and SPECTRAL BANDS respectively.


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Amazon is making it simpler to send personal documents from a Windows PC to a Kindle reader or Kindle app on a smartphone or tablet.
The company announced "Send to Kindle" for PC on the Kindle blog today. As Amazon explains in the blog post, sending a doc is as easy as right clicking on a document from within Windows Explorer and selecting "Send to Kindle." On Windows programs that have print capability, you can alternatively select Print, and then choose Send to Kindle.
Amazon also says you can archive documents in your Kindle Library and download them again later. Your last page read along with bookmarks, notes and highlights are automatically synchronized across all your Kindle readers and apps. (PDFs are the exception.) You can download Send to Kindle for free at www.amazon.com/sendtokindle. A Mac version is promised soon.
As before, you can send documents to a Kindle by e-mailing them to your Send-to-Kindle e-mail address.
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Tonight: Great Divide release party
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Your News Source for the Hilltop
July 18, 2006
Birmingham-Southern College's church rebuilding, restoration fund tops $350,000; checks being distributed to 10 churches
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Teams of Birmingham-Southern students, faculty, and staff have begun delivering checks to the 10 rural Alabama churches damaged or destroyed by fire in early February from the more than $350,000 donated to the college's Alabama Churches Rebuilding and Restoration Fund.
Through the Alabama Churches Rebuilding and Restoration Fund, the college also is distributing funds collected for the churches in other campaigns, including more than $55,000 from a joint effort of The National Conference for Community and Justice, AmSouth Bank, and FOX 6/WBRC TV, and more than $33,000 from The Community Foundation of West Alabama.
Checks already have been distributed to Antioch Baptist Church in the Antioch community of Bibb County, Beaverton Freewill Baptist in Lamar County, Dancy First Baptist in Aliceville, Old Union Baptist in the Brierfield community of Bibb County, Pleasant Sabine Baptist near Centerville in Bibb County, and Spring Valley Baptist in the Gainesville community of Sumter County.
BSC teams will deliver checks on Sunday, July 23, to Ashby Baptist Church in the Brierfield community of Bibb County, Galilee Baptist in the Panola community of Sumter County, and Rehobeth Baptist in the Lawley community of Bibb County. A team visit is tentatively planned to Morningstar Missionary Baptist in the Boligee community of Greene County Aug. 6.
The money is being distributed equitably according to the individual needs of the churches.
The fund was announced March 8 when the college learned that two of its students had been arrested for conspiracy and arson of nine of the churches. The college also included a 10th church in the fund. Beaverton Freewill Baptist Church in Lamar County was destroyed by fire Feb. 11, but was not linked to the other fires.
At a March 8 press conference, Birmingham-Southern President Dr. David Pollick vowed that "the entire community of Birmingham-Southern College—students, faculty, and staff—pledges to aid in the rebuilding of these lost churches through our resources and our labor. Together we'll stand as a reminder of the strength of communities that transcend the differences of religion and place, as well as the effects of mindless cruelty."
Since the establishment of the fund, unsolicited donations have been received from individuals, corporations, and foundations across Alabama and the nation.
"We've received support from all over the country and from many who do not have a connection to Alabama or Birmingham-Southern College," Pollick said of the fund-raising total.
"I have been deeply touched by the show of respect for our students and the moral stance of our college."
The fund was boosted by a $150,000 contribution from a Jackson Hole, Wyo., couple who wished to remain anonymous.
"In Galatians 6:2, God's word instructs us to 'Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ,'" the couple wrote with their gift. "As Christians we feel compelled to be instruments of Christ's encouragement and comfort those in need. Many people suffer from poverty of hope, of inspiration, of comfort, and of faith to name a few. When we heard about the Alabama church burnings, we felt compelled to see how we could help to bear the burdens of others."
Since the initial announcement of the college's offer to help rebuild and restore the churches, a Birmingham-Southern committee has been working to determine the specific needs of each church. Members of the committee visited with pastors or leaders of each of the 10 churches to determine what resources were needed.
The college then formed teams of faculty, staff, and students and assigned each team to a church.
"The teams are a link between the church and the resources that the college is distributing," said BSC Dean of Chapel Stewart Jackson. "Members of the teams first worshipped with the congregations of the churches to build relationships. Each church had unique resources, each church had unique needs, and each church responded to this tragedy in their own way. Therefore we needed our teams to get to know them and help us make the best use of the gifts that have and are being given."
In addition to the monetary support, Jackson said the college has dozens of offers of physical assistance, in-kind gifts of materials, and charity fund-raising events.