text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|Apr 16, 2002
|Filing date
|Oct 11, 1996
|Priority date
|Aug 29, 1996
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Oded Maimon, David Israel-Rosen
|Original Assignee
|Japan Infonet, Inc.
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (8), Non-Patent Citations (5), Referenced by (28), Classifications (10), Legal Events (8)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
This Appln claims benefit of Prov. No. 60/024,813 filed Aug. 29, 1996.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to software systems for gathering, storing, and retrieving data. The invention more specifically relates to such software systems wherein the data is text based. Yet more specifically, the invention relates to systems for gathering, storing and retrieving corporate disclosure information.
2. Related Art
The current practice for the gathering, storage, analysis and retrieval of data concerning corporate disclosures revolves around the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (EDGAR�) system of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). EDGAR performs automated collection, validation, indexing, acceptance and forwarding of submissions made by companies and others who are required by law to file various documents with the SEC. The primary purpose of EDGAR is to increase the efficiency and fairness of the securities market for the benefit of investors, corporations and the economy as a whole by accelerating the receipt, acceptance, dissemination and analysis of time sensitive corporate information filed with the SEC.
The success of a system such as EDGAR in accomplishing the SEC's goals depends to some extent on whether all required submissions are, or even can be, filed using the system. The success also depends on the ease with which output reports may be generated and the variety and nature of the inquiries which may be made to generate reports using the system. Finally, success of the system will depend on the ease with which accurate submissions, referred to as disclosure documents, may be drafted by those companies and persons required to do so.
In order to ensure that all the data required by the SEC is collected, and further to ensure that this data is searchable, once entered into the EDGAR system, the SEC requires that EDGAR filings be done using standard forms. A list of the standard forms presently accepted for EDGAR filing is included in Appendix A. The dramatic proliferation of form types illustrated by Appendix A is a result of requiring filings to be rigidly standardized. A standard form or variant must be created for every conceivable situation.
Presently, an individual preparing a disclosure document for filing uses a general purpose word processor to create one of the form types accepted for electronic filing. The completed form is filed using an electronic mail system (E-MAIL). However, the EDGAR system provides no methods or processes for companies to uniformly perform quality control, tracking, analysis or process support while preparing a document for filing. The failure to control this part of the filing process can have serious consequences because the EDGAR system permits only the submission of disclosure documents, not the amendment or alteration of disclosure documents.
Since statute and regulation require a large number of filings from a large number of entities, the EDGAR database has grown to enormous proportions. As a result of the size of the EDGAR database, and as a consequence of inconsistencies with respect to how different entities report similar matters, it is inherently intractable to analyze the EDGAR data in a meaningful way. Basic text searches can be performed, but meaningful data reduction is substantially hampered by inconsistencies and by the variety of reporting forms used to report similar information.
The various problems of the conventional corporate disclosure and repository system discussed above and such other problems as will now be evident to those skilled in this art are overcome by the present invention in which there is provided a software system for collecting corporate disclosure information in a free text form, generating a database of disclosure information and analyzing the database of disclosure information.
A software system according to some aspects of the present invention may be fixed in a machine-readable medium. The software system may include synthesis software tools which receive documents including freely formatted text documents and which produce a formatted database of information from the freely formatted text documents; and analysis software tools which receive the formatted database and which produce an analysis output. Variations on this system are possible. For example, the synthesis tools may further include a concept dictionary relating a concept word root, a context word root and an instance word root; a parser which receives the documents and which produces a plurality of words contained in the documents; a rooter which receives the words parsed by the parser and which produces corresponding word roots for the words received; and a contexter which receives the concept dictionary and the word roots and which identifies a concept corresponding to each word root on the basis of the word roots received. Also in accordance with this variation, the word roots may include a target word root and proximate word roots identified by the parser to have originated at a location in the document proximate the target word root. In that case, the contexter may further include a context recognizer which identifies in the concept dictionary all concepts having context word roots matching proximate word roots; and an instance recognizer which identifies in the concept dictionary all concepts previously identified by the context recognizer which also include an instance word root matching the target word root. The analysis tools may further include a diagonalization tool which receives the formatted database and rearranges the formatted database to cluster similar topics together forming a grouped database in which each cluster of similar topics is a group; or a catalog defining each database entry as one of either required or optional. When a grouped database is produced, the analysis tools may further include an inferencer which receives the groups from the grouped database and which produces an inferenced database in which inferences are drawn on the basis of information present in and absent from the groups.
In the drawings, in which like reference designations indicate like elements:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a data processing system suitable for operating software embodying aspects of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the memory system of the system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a relational block diagram of a software system according to the present invention, illustrating the transactional relationships between software modules;
FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram of the reduction of input free format text to a usable form;
FIG. 5 is a more detailed process flow diagram of the process illustrated in FIG. 2;
FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram of the life cycle of a corporate disclosure, as would occur by use of a system in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of generation of a set of relational databases in accordance with one aspect of the invention; and
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a diagonalization method according to another aspect of the invention.
The present invention will be better understood upon reading the following detailed description of specific embodiments of various aspects thereof, in connection with the drawings.
The system is embodied as a combination of one or more hardware elements which operate in response to instructions contained in one or more software programs. The hardware elements may include data processing elements such as shown in FIG. 1, for example.
A typical data processing system includes a processor 101, memory 103 in which data and instructions are stored, one or more input devices 105 and one or more output devices 107, all communicating through an interconnection mechanism 109. Input devices 105 may include, but are not limited to keyboards and pointing devices, such as mice. Output devices 107 include printers, modems and monitors, among others. Processor 101 may be a single-chip microprocessor, a single-board computer a digital signal processing chip or a variety of other devices known to those skilled in this art. The entire system of FIG. 1 may be realized in a personal computer (PC), a mini-computer or a mainframe computer, for example.
In any of the variations described above, memory 103 may be realized as shown in FIG. 2. Memory 103 conventionally includes a long-term storage device, such as disk 203 and a short-term storage device, such as short-term memory 201. Short-term memory 201 may be realized as dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), static RAM (SRAM), or other suitable forms which are known to those skilled in this art. Long-term memory 203 may alternatively be realized as programmable read-only memory (PROM), electrically alterable read-only memory (EAROM), electrically erasable ROM (EEROM), or other suitable forms which are also known to those skilled in this art.
In most conventional arrangements, processor 101 does not communicate data and instructions directly with disk 203, but rather data and instructions from disk 203 are stored temporarily in short-term memory 201 for quick access by processor 101.
Software programs control the operation of the hardware shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to perform useful functions, such as those performed by systems constructed in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.
The architecture of the system, as illustrated by FIG. 3, divides the system into two major sections, the intracompany part 301 and the intercompany part 303. The intracompany part performs processes which are the responsibility of an individual reporting entity, including related companies. The intercompany part performs processes which go beyond the responsibility of an individual reporting entity. For example, the intracompany part relates to gathering information from various sources within a reporting entity and compiling from the information gathered a disclosure document, while the intercompany part relates to data reduction and analysis of disclosure documents already filed with an official government agency. Each of the described parts may include one or more software programs operating on one or more data processing systems such as shown in FIG. 1. The software programs may be written in C, C++ or any other programming language or system found to be suitable by the skilled artisan at the time of implementation. Presently preferred programming languages include C and C++.
The intracompany part includes three main levels. These are the front end, or user level 305, the middle or engine server level 307, and the back end or database level 309. External interfaces that supply information not available within the reporting entity may also be connected to the intracompany part through special front end connections 311.
The front end level 305 is the level at which reporting entity users 313 interact with the system. The front end level includes special interfaces tailored for the various information sources present within a reporting entity. For example, in SEC reporting, those information sources may include the chief financial officer, a legal department, an auditing department, accounting and various other officers and departments of a corporation.
The middle level 307 includes the operational logic of the system. The middle level also includes communication, linkage and ODBC enabling processes 315. The major features of the middle level include those listed in Table 1.
Text Search
Searching by keywords and Boolean operation
Case Search
Searching based on related relevant similar cases (free
text, plus user preference)
Allows for formatting free text (for quality check, analy-
sis and automatic inferencing)
Discover Based
Allows for nonformatted open ended questions that are
also using data mining and inferencing techniques to dig
up the answer (based on the special matrix based organi-
zation of the data).
It allows the user to see the data by a browser, such as
Used for keeping tracks of the versions of the document
Phase Control
Used for keeping track and alerts according to the speci-
fied process for ready versions (e.g. draft by a certain
time to be sent to specified individuals etc.)
Security and
Allows access to authorized people (also distinguish
between and write access)
Allows for electronic signature
Approval and
Support the process of preparing the document
Linked Module
Specific business, consolidation and filing rules
(Customizable) for preparing the report
Linked Module
Specific legal (e.g., FASB), accounting and explanatory
Linked Module
Specific Process and Phases definition for preparing the
Linked Module
Regulatory and Disclosure requirements updates
Generating predefined and customizable reports and
documents (e.g. for different types of companies)
The application supports multi language capabilities
Allows for application generation in addition to the
disclosure documents
For a company with affiliates and related companies that
share data
Provide needed data for the documents (such as from
Input and
Financial Portfolio Management Systems, and legacy
systems, such as accounting).
Support connectivity to any database with ODBC Driver
The back end level includes the actual data repository of the database. The database system used herein should be appropriate for storing relations, objects including figures, maps, and digital images of documents, and free text.
The intercompany part 303 also consists of the three levels. The first level is the repository level 317. The second and third levels are an engine level 319 and an application level 321. In this part, the second and third levels may be distributed among several sub-parts. For example, there may be engine 319 and application 321 levels for use by regulatory organizations, coexistent with separate engine 319 and application 321 levels for use by the public.
The engine levels 307, 319 implement several software tools embodied in one or more software programs which are used to execute a method according to the invention. The various stages and steps next described may be performed for some purposes entirely by one engine level, or may be accomplished for other purposes by cooperation between multiple engine levels, as will be explained.
As shown in FIG. 4, a transformation of information is performed by the present invention. Documents are introduced into a disclosure document text space 401. The information contained in the text space 401 is synthesized 403 into a structured format in formatted database space 405. Finally, analysis 407 produces information in a useful textual form.
FIG. 5 expands the transformation illustrated in FIG. 4 into several distinct steps. Text is entered 501 and automatically formatted as a raw relational database 503. Extracts may be taken from the raw relational database in the form of free text abstracts 505. The extractions produce abstracts which are more useful than similar extractions made directly from the text entered at step 501 because the formatting of the database brings like kinds of information together in one place. Diagonalization produces one or more grouped databases 507 which may be statistically analyzed to produce a related companies analysis 509. Finally, a conclusion process synthesizes from the grouped database 507 an inferenced database 511 which is analyzed to form a set of questions/discoveries 513.
The above-described transformation processes can occur at various points in the life cycle of a disclosure document. This life cycle is illustrated in FIG. 6.
During Phase 1, data is entered 601, for example using a word processor, proofread 603 and reviewed 605. When the data entry is complete, the document is reviewed 607 and posted 609 to an intracompany repository during Phase 2. If the document is not yet required to be reported externally, then the temporary phases have not ended 611 and any previous step may be revisited, resulting in modifications to the document. However, when the temporary phases end 613, a permanent document is created during Phase 3. Final adjustments are made 615, the document is audited for completeness, correctness, etc. 617 and the document is finally frozen and reported 619. No further changes are permitted after reporting 619. When the document then enters Phase 4, it is archived 621 for some useful duration, after which it may be discarded 623. Although the document reported at step 619 may not be modified in a typical reporting system, there may be a Phase 5 of the document life cycle, during which the document may be annotated 625. Thus, explanations and corrections required, for example, by a regulatory agency may be entered.
The generation of a reporting entity's database of documents to be reported to a regulatory agency and integration of the reporting entity's database with the regulatory agency's database of documents reported is now described. Free text is entered by the user at various stages in the life cycle of a reporting document. Several software tools are used to process the input.
First, the Expanded Conceptual Dictionary (ECD) is discussed. This dictionary relates five kinds of information, conceptually described here as five columns: the left hand side is the Concept, the middle two columns are Main Key and the Context, and the right hand two columns are the Instance, and Synonym. The Main Key and the Context are optional (i.e. do not necessarily exist for each Concept).
Each Concept is unique. That is, there is a unique Concept in each row of the dictionary. The Concepts contained in the ECD are candidates to form columns defining a matrix data base design. Each Concept has associated therewith one or more Instances. The Instances are the kernel or root of the word (e.g. 'do' for 'does', 'did', 'done'), and could include Synonyms.
A Concept is for example a "company', and the Instances could include "IBM," with a Synonym of "International Business Machines." The Context for a "company" could be another Concept, such as "transaction." So unless there is an Instance of a "transaction," such as "joint venture", then "IBM" is not identified as a "company." Thus for example, "The blue giant", which can be defined as a synonym to "IBM," is understood as a "company" only in the Context of a "transaction" (or its Instances) in the sentence. Otherwise, for example "The blue giant" might be interpreted as a type of a whale. This allows for an Instance to belong to more than one Concept.
When free text input is received, the text is first parsed on the basis of the contents of the ECD. Each paragraph of the free text input is parsed into words. Roots are identified for each of the words. Parsing identifies the Concepts represented by the words, by finding the word roots or words in the ECD amongst the Instances. Rows in a database matrix are formed for each word found in the ECD. Each row comprises a record, with the columns of each record, i.e. the database table definition being the Concepts. The database is constructed paragraph-by-paragraph, on the fly. The output database is known as the Raw Relational Database (RRD). From the RRD, text can be extracted representing the bare essence of the paragraph. This extraction is referred to as a free text abstract, as described above in connection with FIG. 5. The latter is used both for verification and for quality assurance, as described below. For example, in describing relation with a vendor, if the lead time is missing, it is easily identified. The abstract is generated from one or more predefined templates that define connection words between the Instances.
Note that the dictionary is prepared in advance, i.e. before parsing input text, and can be updated to account for more and more Concepts. Since the domain of Concepts in which the dictionary is used is defined, this process asymptotically converges on a dictionary representing a high percentage of the Concepts encountered in the domain.
Operation of the system upon a free text input in a predetermined domain e.g. business, legal or financial, is now described.
Each of the software tools next described have a user interface for editing elements of the system. The software tools are used by the system while parsing free text. The system includes the software tools, but the system "learns" from the input processed and the content of databases or knowledge bases included in the software tools is enhanced as the system gains experience.
The ECD consists of five conceptual columns noted above: the Concept, the Main Key, the Context, the Instances, and the Synonym. For each Concept (such as company), a Context is defined in which this Concept is used, and then the Instances and Synonyms are defined. The Context and Synonym are optional. For each Concept there could be many Instances. The Context is required in any case in which there is an Instance which belongs to more than one Concept. That is, if an Instance may refer to more than one Concept, then only one Concept may include that Instance without having a Context also associated with the Instance, and all the other appearances of that Instance must have a Context associated with them. The Concept with which the Instance is associated absent a Context is the Default Concept. Each Context is itself a unique Concept that has Instances of its own.
The ECD has an option to include a Main Key level entry, which determines the design of the database. If it is not included, then the system has an internal, i.e. hard wired default. This field defines the Main Key of the database table.
An event rules tool includes logic rules that define the relationship among the Instances of the Concepts. The hypothesis or trigger to the rule, i.e. the if part, is an Instance of an event that is identified in the first parsing step. For example, suppose an event rule hypothesis for the Concept "business action", exists. If the Concept "business action" is found then the rule parser looks for the then part, which specifies that there should be Instances of the Concepts "companies" and "technologies." If these Concepts are found then the rule is true, and a new record is added to the database, as explained later.
An auxiliary knowledge software tool is built as a collection of rules that uses background knowledge to check validity, and quality, as well as automatically add information not found in the ECD to the database, based on built in rules. For example, if a legal action is described, then the auxiliary knowledge software tool checks whether the name of the law office is included. It may then add the address etc., for a particular name and also check that other desired parameters are present such as liability amount, expected time for resolution, etc.
The rules used in the auxiliary knowledge software tool depend upon whether it is used in the intracompany part or the intercompany part. In an internal application, i.e. in the intracompany part, the rules reflect the format that the company wants to impose on their own reports. In the case of the repository system, i.e. the intercompany part, the rules reflect desired automatic analysis parameters.
The following is a detailed description to be read in connection with FIG. 7, explaining the generating of the First Tier Database (FD) and Second Tier Database (SD). This is Stage 1 of the overall method.
The input to the system is one or more report documents formatted as free form text. The first step is dividing the text into paragraph and word units to be parsed 701, and then identifying in each sentence the instances (words), which have a concept associated with them 703. Ties, which occur when an instance has associated with it more than one concept, are broken according to the context associated with the document being input 705. For example, in the business context the "Blue Giant" is IBM, and "Apple" is the computer company, while in other contexts, they may by whale type and fruit type, respectively.
For each paragraph of the input document, a list of concepts is generated that form tables of the database. The database entries are the instances, i.e. the relevant words of the input document, related to concepts in the ECD.
For the first paragraph the concepts form the table definition, and the entries are the instances, i.e. the words that existed in the free text of the input document. In the second paragraph, there will likely be some new and some existing entries. The new concepts are added, that is, a new table is generated, and filled with the entries of the instances. The tables are built on the fly keyed to a main key Concept having a Main Key value in the ECD, e.g. a company, a law suit, a person, etc. In case more than one Concept has a Main Key value, then the keys are organized into levels according to Main Key value, and the higher level Main Key is used. In case several Main Keys appear at the same highest level, the first appearance of the repeated Main Key is used.
The result of this step is a relational data base 707. The design of this relational database is not efficient for the purpose of the present invention, yet, but the free form text document is transformed by this step into a formatted one.
The input to this step is the FD and the event rules (ER), which are combined to generate additional tables which become part of the resultant database 709. The tables of the FD carry an understanding of the original text. However, this understanding cannot be readily derived from the FD. For example in the FD there may be a table for each company reported on, containing the information that they had some new business development, for example developing flat screen technology. In the SD it will be revealed that this is a joint venture between two companies. Thus, the table key of the SD is different from that of the FD, and the rows all comply with certain structured rules. This additional structure imposed on the information provides the user with another level of understanding of the text. Where the understanding level in the FD was that the ASCII combination of the letters "IBM" means a company and all the related knowledge, now the idea of, for example the concept "business action" represented by the instance "joint venture" is understood as associating two or more companies (using the first level understanding) with each other and with some technology area. This understanding is made use of in Stage 3 of the method.
Now Auxiliary Knowledge (AK) is used to augment the FD, the SD or both 711. For example, a pointer may be added to a database record containing information about a person linking the person's history to the record, or a pointer may be added to a database record containing information on a company project linking descriptions of related projects to the record.
The AK may also be used for validation and verification. For example, rules about what should be in a litigation description are used to validate that all the appropriate fields are present, and verify the current entries, such as address, phone numbers, etc. Such issues go beyond the conventional data type verification and domain verification inherent in a conventional database definition.
The output of Stage 1 of the method is the RRD 713, which includes the FD, the SD, the AFD and the ASD.
An example of the Stage 1 processing is now illustrated using the input sentence, "ABC and XYZ are forming a joint venture to develop flat screen technology." For this example, the contents of the ECD are given by Table 2.
Main Key Level
Business Action
Business Action
joint venture
flat screen
The event rules used to transform the FD into the SD are given in Table 3, as follows.
if Business Action then:
The necessary parts are:
Two or more com-
The optional parts are:
The sentence is parsed in accordance with the contents of the ECD to form the AF, as now given in Table 4.
Business Action
Associated With
joint venture
flat screen
joint venture
flat screen
Next the contents of the FD of Table 4 are transformed into the SD by invoking any relevant event rules. The SD thus generated is given in Table 5.
flat screen
joint venture
Background knowledge, such as references to regulations applicable to reported activities are applied here to validate and to augment the FD. A pointer to such regulations may be inserted in the relevant record of the FD and the SD to generate the AFD and the ASD.
The result of stage 1, the RRD, is the input to stage 2. Because of the way it is constructed the RRD could be a very sparse matrix, with many different topics. The Stage 2 processing clusters similar topics. This is most useful for the repository database, but may also find utility at the company level, especially if the reporting entity is part of a large organization, with many affiliated companies. The processing of Stage 2 shuffles the rows and columns so that a dense diagonal matrix is created, the Grouped Database (GD). Stage 2 processing may be applied to all the different component databases of the RRD, i.e. SD, FD, ASD, and AFD.
The GD is organized in such a manner as to enable the Stage 3 processing. The GD provides an additional benefit in that it is a more efficient way of saving the information contained in the databases that were created in Stage 1 processing.
Stage 2 processing, illustrated in FIG. 8, proceeds as follows.
First, for each two rows of the input database, a similarity index between them is calculated 801. The similarity index used is the number of columns for which both rows have an entry, i.e. in both rows the entry is not empty, divided by the total number of columns where either one of the two rows have an entry, i.e. in at least one row of the two rows the entry is not empty. This number is between zero, indicating no similarity at all, and one, indicating total similarity. Other similarity indices could be used, as will be understood by those skilled in this art.
Next, the rows are placed into order of their similarity indices 803, from highest down to a predetermined minimum threshold 805. Below the threshold, the rows may be in any convenient order. The rows having similarity indices which exceed the threshold constitute a Group 807, also referred to as a block.
The process is repeated 809 for the rows which are not yet part of a Group, until there are no more rows possible to arrange.
In somewhat more detail, the method is performed as follows. Assume I(i,j) is the input matrix, and that O(i,j) is the output matrix, and further that i1. i2, . . . , in are the rows in the matrix (the records), and that j1,j2, . . . , jp are the columns in the matrix (the concepts-the data base table design). Thus I(i4,j5) for example is the entry corresponding to the fourth record and the fifth column of the input data matrix. S(il, ik) is the similarity index between the lth and the kth record. The number of instances that exist at the lth record is c(il), while c(jk) would be the number of instances for the kth concept that exist for all records. Thus, the similarity index between two records is defined to be S(il, ik)=c(il∩ik)/c(il∪ik). This index takes on values between 1, representing two records that deal with the same concepts and 0, representing two records which consider totally different concepts. Values falling between 0 and 1 show the relative similarity of two records, in the sense that the higher the index , the higher the similarity. The similarity index is not, however, necessarily linear.
Using the above notation, the method is applied to a database as follows. For each two rows, compute the similarity index between them 801. For each row, sum all the similarity indices, as follows: S(il)=
The row l with the maximum value for S(il), I*, is defined by I*=arg(max[S(il)∀l=1, 2, . . . , n]) in step 802. By this definition, I* is the record l of maximum similarity to all other records. It has a similarity index value of Si*=max[S(il)∀l=1, 2, . . . , n]. Next, all the record numbers are arranged in an ordered descending list Li* according to the similarity of each record to I*, with ties broken arbitrarily in step 804. Thus, the list Li*=(I*k(1), . . . , I*k(n−1)), where k identifies the number of the original record, k∈{(1, 2, . . . , n), k≠I*}, and the number in parenthesis is the place in the list of the associated record, also called the order number. For example Si*l(5)≧Si*k(6) means that the similarity of the lth record to I*, is greater than or equal to the similarity of the kth record to I*. A threshold T, for example, between 0.6 and 1.0 is now selected 805. The preferred value for T is 0.75. The value reflects the relative desire for similar data with respect to the size of the database. The list Li* is now trimmed at a cut-off point to form cut-off list Li*c such that similarity Si*q(n−1) of the last record q in the list is greater than or equal to T. Thus, Li*c=(I*k(1), . . . , I*k(m)), where the first m elements of Li* appear (m≦n−1), and Si*k(m) is the similarity value of the last record in the Li* list that is with similarity index between I* and the last record greater than or equal to T. The rows of the database are then reordered such that I* occurs first, followed in order by the rows in the Li*c list 807. The records not in the list, follow in an arbitrary order.
A similar process is now undertaken for the columns, i.e. concepts. The result is a dense matrix for the first m rows. The process is similar to that applied to the rows, i.e. records, above. Consider as input a matrix with m rows (records) and q columns, which is the number of columns for which at least one of the chosen m records has an instance. The order of the concepts, i.e. the columns in the m�q matrix, is rearranged using the method described above with respect to the rows. However, the similarity is considered between the column vectors of the matrix, rather than the rows. At this point, the result is a new ordered m�q matrix, which includes m records and q concepts. This matrix is termed a Group. The groups are numbered, the first one being called Group 1.
Now the input matrix of n records and p concepts is reduced to eliminate Group 1 from further processing, so that the remainder of the matrix may be processed separately 808. Delete the m records and form a new input matrix with v=n−m records and r concepts, where r is derived from the original p concepts by deleting the concepts that do not have any instances in the remaining records. From the v�r matrix derive Group 2 in the same manner as above. Then recursively continue 810 until all records have been considered, and w blocks have been formed.
There are now w matrices defining groups derived from the initial matrix, but each group is defined by a dense matrix dealing with similar concepts. The GD, which is the final result of this process, ideally has a diagonal structure, as seen in the example, below.
Variations on the method of Stage 2 are possible, including for example conditional diagonalization. This applies when the groups should reflect the fact that a certain concept should exist. For example, if one wants to make an analysis of all the joint ventures among companies that file to the repository, then the similarity may be analyzed after filtering for that instance.
Tables 6 and 7 represent an example of the input and output of Stage 2 processing, respectively. Each row is numbered and concepts are represented by the letters a-h. The presence of an entry in a row for a concept is denoted by an asterisk (*). The diagonalized result is shown for a predetermined threshold of T=0.6. The resulting groups are {3, 5, 7, 8}, {4, 9, 6}, {1, 10} and {2}.
Finally, in Stage 3 of the method, conclusions are reached and issues raised by the contents of the input document are identified. Identification of issues raised by the contents of a database is a particularly difficult problem. This is a very difficult task in any large database, especially when starting with a dynamic, data dependent free text input. However, the present invention makes such identifications as described below, after performing the two preparatory phases presented above and in view of a knowledge of the domain.
The input to this stage is the w groups, i.e. blocks from the GD generated in the previous stage, and the output is the Inferenced Database.
From a GD group, the software identifies rows having in common a missing column. This technique is especially effective when comparing such rows to a catalog. It is easy to observe changes in a pattern established over time by a specific company or a group of companies, For example, suppose the column for the Concept "inventory turnover" is missing. Although it is not necessary data, suppose further that it had been consistently reported in previous years. The question now arises, "Why is this data not reported this year?" This type of result is gathered with other, similar results, in the Questions Discoveries (QD) database.
Another example is that if many companies disclose, the potential monetary consequence of litigation, but some do not, then this entry in the matrix will be empty for them, and thus will be easily flagged and identified as missing.
In other cases, a column may be added over time. This may lead to a new automatic conclusion, for example, about special new relations between companies.
The GD of the SD generates also the Company Analysis Report (CAR), based on the concepts that are filled.
A tool useful in this stage and in the next stage is the Catalog. The Catalog defines for a disclosure area, what are the columns, i.e. fields that are required and what fields are optional. Thus, the disclosure can be checked for completeness, and the quality of the document can be evaluated.
In an example of the use of the Catalog, the input may be the result of Stage 2 diagonalization, i.e. the GDs. The output is an Inference Database (ID) plus QD (Question Discovery) and CAR (Company Analysis Report). The Catalog defines a Database Design Template for a variety of issues, such as the required disclosure of legal issues and also desired optional issues. For example, the potential value "damage" for litigation matters may be defined as "not required."
Verification and validation of a current report at either the intracompany level or the intercompany level may proceed as follows. If a concept is missing, or is sparse, in the current report and the Catalog indicates it to be either mandatory or optional, then it is included in the QD. If an instance is mostly missing from current reports that has appeared in previous years' reports, then that instance should be added to the QD. If the current report is compared to reports of a group of related companies, concepts common to the related companies but missing from the current report may be added to the QD. Finally, instances of concepts may be compared to benchmarks, leading indicators of industry averages. If the current report includes instances of a concept which are substantially different than the benchmark, leading indicator or average used, then that concept may be added to the QD. The process which performs verification and validation may have embedded therein to formulate specific questions in connection with the items added to the QD.
The present invention has now been described in connection with a number of specific embodiments thereof. However, numerous modifications which are contemplated as falling within the scope of the present invention should now be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that the scope of the present invention be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.
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|U.S. Classification
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|Feb 18, 1997
Owner name: JAPAN INFONET, INC. DBA LINK CO., MASSACHUSETTS
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:MAIMON, ODED;ISRAEL-ROSEN, DAVID;REEL/FRAME:008357/0028
Effective date: 19970128
|Jul 2, 2002
|Certificate of correction
|Nov 2, 2005
|Maintenance fee reminder mailed
|Jan 12, 2006
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 4
|Jan 12, 2006
|Surcharge for late payment
|Nov 23, 2009
|Maintenance fee reminder mailed
|Apr 16, 2010
|Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees
|Jun 8, 2010
|Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee
Effective date: 20100416


text:
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The Baroque Collective is an informal grouping of leading professional musicians and singers who specialise in the Baroque and Early Music repertoire. The instrumental ensemble is led by Julia Bishop , violinis with Red Priest, and the soloists are Lucinda Houghton (Dido), John Hancorn (Aeneas), Daisy Brown (Belinda), Hilary Andrews (Sorceress), Katie Tearle and Charlotte Tayler (the Two Witches). The Chorus is drawn from the East Sussex Bach Choir and appropriately includes a group of students from Brighton and Hove High School: the work was originally written for performance at a girls' school in Chelsea in 1689. Dido and Aeneas is directed by John Hancorn.The Baroque Collective will bring drama, humour and exquisite musicianship to this performance to close the CMP Festival with Dido's Lament ringing in the ears of the audience!
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Paper with pen free vector
Paper with pen is free Vector clip art vector that you can download for free. it has been downloaded 66 times since May 25, 2013. 93 people has appriciated this vector. Paper with pen vector comes with 1 files, in svg format. 1.56 M bandwidth has comsumed so far. Download Paper with pen vector today.


text:
The Art Noveau challenge winner is here!
170 designs /
printed design /
76,314 votes placed
The challenge was
Design a tee in Art Nouveau style
Be one with your environment!
Art Nouveau attempts to create art that lives harmoniously with the surrounding world. Your challenge is to create a design for a tee in Art Nouveau style.
To get started, take a walk outside and examine the space around you. Get inspired by nature, structures, and curved lines.
Start creating a design that fits your surroundings to a tee!
The winner received
$2,000 cash
$500 Threadless gift code
$300 eBay gift card to pick up some vintage Art Nouveau pieces


text:
You are viewing an uncirculated German 20 Mark gold coin. The coin measures 22.5mm in diameter. It has a date of 1872 and a mint mark of "B" for Hannover. On the rim is stamped: Gott Mit Uns ( God with us). The coin weighs 7.9 grams.
2 other shoppers have this item in their Cart or Wish List .
Quality, Service and Integrity for over 46 years!
Layaways Available! Just Ask!


text:
Corrupt policewoman who blackmailed Steven Gerrard jailed for nearly two years
A CORRUPT police woman who seized CCTV footage of a street scuffle later used in a bid to blackmail Liverpool and England star Steven Gerrard was jailed for 22 months yesterday.
Helen Jones was jailed nearly two years over her blackmail of Steven Gerrard
WPC Helen Jones, 32, who was on a career break with the force, obtained footage of the row involving Gerrard by "flashing her warrant card" to the boss of a bank in Formby, Merseyside, in August 2013.
Later midfielder Gerrard, 34, faced demands for money with a warning that if he failed to pay up, the tape would be sold to the media.
You were on a mission and knew you abused your position
Merseyside Police arrested Jones who admitted confiscating the film but claimed she was only doing a "favour for a friend".
Jones, who has since resigned, wept in the dock at Preston Crown Court as she admitted misconduct in a public office.
Passing sentence Judge Stuart Baker said: "You were on a mission and knew you abused your position."


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Getting "ideal" and "perfect" mixed up is easy. However, the ideal is based on what you already know. You have a foundation upon which to construct a vision of the ideal. As you learn more, your vision of the ideal will change. This may be the result of changing values, perceptions, associations, etc. the point is that the ideal can (and will) change, eventually.
Perfect is absolute. There can be nothing better. After perfect, there is nothing.
None of us will ever be perfect. None of us will ever see perfect. We can only have an ideal and match up ur experiences against our ideal.
Sure, students can get all the answers correct on a test. The test is a measure of learning (at least it should be). The learning, however, was not perfect. Neither was the test. The score doesn't mean the student knows everything about that topic or concept. The student can't.
Learning is change. With change, your vision of the ideal changes. However, with effort, grit, resilience, determination, etc. you can find yourself, often, in a state of great satisfaction, even joy. When you reflect back on that journey, you will also see how you became better at the processes/skills needed to reach the new you.
You cannot observe perfection, but improvement is relatively easy to measure and observe.
In my eBook, The Golden Apple Manifesto, I wrote that the standard of satisfaction is not perfection. Satisfaction should come from committing to improvement, making the effort to realize your "better" self, and arriving at a point where improvement is noticeable.
I don't know perfect, but I know improvement.


text:
Austin Maloata might be taking other official visits but the Corona (Calif.) Centennial standout said he's not backing away from his USC pledge.
And he doesn't plan to at all.
Maloata, a three-star defensive end, was at the UCLA-USC game this past weekend with his family and he said he loved the environment. Something else that reinforces his commitment is that teammate and friend Viane Talamaivao recently flipped his commitment from Alabama to USC.
Article Continues Below
More trips are planned but Maloata said he's all about USC right now.
"I was there with my family," Maloata said. "It was great. We got to go and visit for the game. We all enjoyed it even though USC didn't come out with the win. Everything is still the same, nothing has changed. I still plan to go there and play there next year.
"It's still the same. I'm just glad (Talamaivao) is coming there and everything. It's great to know that he's coming to USC to compete, too, and we can spend the next four years there. Hopefully, we can keep on playing and make it to the pros."
There were whispers that after Maloata visited Washington State recently he would flip but the three-star said that is definitely not true. He loved his visit but won't back off his USC pledge.
The Corona Centennial recruit plans to officially visit UCLA this weekend and then head to Arizona State soon. His trip to USC is planned for mid-January.
"People are saying I am going to de-commit and go to Washington State but I want to spread the word that the trip to Washington State was nice and it was great but I'm going to stay with SC and sign with them on signing day," Maloata said.
"As of now, it's Fight On all the way."


text:
Player Updates
Jimmy Graham (Sea-TE)
Graham (ankle) was listed as a non-participant on Wednesday's injury report, John Boyle of the Seahawks' official site reports.
In his third season with the Seahawks, Graham's red-zone prowess is beginning to mimic that of his time with the Saints. In particular, he's scored seven touchdowns over the last six games, during which he's been targeted 18 times in the red zone. Regarding his health, Graham has appeared on the injury report almost weekly this season, so his availability for Sunday's game at San Francisco isn't really in question, unless he doesn't log a full practice by week's end. -- Rotowire.com
Eric Gordon (Hou-G)
Gordon (calf) will be sidelined for Wednesday's game against the Nuggets, Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston reports.
As expected, Gordon will sit out Wednesday while dealing with a calf strain. In his stead, James Harden could be asked to play more minutes, while Trevor Ariza may spend time at shooting guard. It's possible Bobby Brown, Demetrius Jackson and Troy Williams see a handful of minutes as well. -- Rotowire.com
Kevin Durant (GS-F)
Durant (ankle) will play Wednesday against the Thunder, Anthony Slater of The Athletic reports.
Durant had been questionable after missing the Warriors' previous game with a minor ankle issue, but he'll suit up as he goes up against his former team for the first time this season. Expect Durant, who's once again off to a strong start (24.9 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 4.9 APG), to play his usual role Wednesday. -- Rotowire.com
Chris Paul (Hou-G)
Paul is expected to see about 28 minutes during Wednesday's game against the Nuggets, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com reports.
The Rockets are slowly working Chris Paul back from a bruised knee. He's played 21 and 24 minutes respectively in the past two contests, so Wednesday represents more progress in that area. He still managed to average 14.0 points, 8.0 assists and 2.0 steals in those limited minutes, however, certainly making him a valid DFS option. -- Rotowire.com


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| Park City Townhomes
Parks Edge is located in Park City Utah. You can find townhomes, condos and houses with beautiful views and great weather for outdoor activities. - (Read more)
| Myrtle Beach Resort Brunswick Plantation & Golf 800 322-8576
Play golf and stay in Myrtle Beach Brunswick Plantation and Golf resort. Efficiency, 1 BR and 2BR condos available with private balconies, fully equipped living spaces and convenient location. Check online for availability and reserve now. - (Read more)
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30A Real Estate has become some of the hottest vacation home real estate in Florida. NatureWalk At Seagrove gives people the opportunity to live closer to the beach than they ever thought possible. - (Read more)
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Find the perfect Gulf Shores vacation rentals from Three Palms with a great selection of condos, homes and duplexes along Alabama\'s Gulf Coast. You\'ll find the size and amenities you desire while enjoying the less crowded beaches and southern charm you\'ve come to expect. Check availability and reserve online today. - (Read more)
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Vacation homes and villa rentals for short-term and long-term rent in top travel destinations of Europe: Barcelona, Mallorca, Costa Brava, Prague, Paris, Rome, and many others. Convenient search and online bookings are available. - (Read more)
| Villas,Holiday apartments for rent st julian`s Malta
We offer holiday villas and houses with pool for rent in various parts of Malta.Also a vast range of luxury self catering apartments.Site offers valuable information about things to do such as excursions. - (Read more)
| Holiday villas for rent in Mallorca
Vida Villas is proudly offering for rent holiday villas in Mallorca. Private villas for rent are a great option if you are looking for a luxurious and comfortable vacation in the Balearic Sea. All selected villas have amazing view and their own pool where you can relax and enjoy quality with your family or friends. The benefits of staying in a private rent villa are that you have the comfort of a five star hotel and the tranquillity of your home. - (Read more)


text:
AUSTRALIAN employees are expected to take more than one million "sickies" this festive season, costing their bosses $350 million.
Absenteeism will be particularly high this year - the data suggests 1,069,889 working days will be lost - mainly because Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve both fall on Mondays.
That means anyone who fakes illness on December 24 will enjoy a five-day break. Those who fail to turn up on December 31 will get four days out of the office. About 570,000 sickies are expected on these two days alone.
According to surveys by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Morgan and Banks and Direct Health Solutions on workplace absenteeism, 67 per cent of workers admit to taking a sickie on a Monday.
However, employers have wised up. They are now 50 per cent more likely to ask for a certificate for leave taken either side of a public holiday.
Many workplaces that remain open for business during the Christmas-New Year period struggle to cope with higher absenteeism.
According to Paul Dunden, chief executive of Direct Health Solutions, service and production roles are at full capacity during the Christmas period.
"As a result these industries are at risk of high levels of absenteeism either side of public holidays over the festive season," he said.
Retailers are particularly susceptible to absenteeism.
"Retail tends to increase shifts during the Christmas and Boxing Day sales period because it is the busiest shopping period in the year," said Margy Osmond chief executive of the Australian National Retailers Association.
The health sector is also vulnerable. Australian Medical Association vice president Professor Geoffrey Dobb said: "Intensive and coronary care and the emergency department are just as busy as any other time of the year, if not busier."
"There is always an increase in people saying they could not access a GP at this time as they are also on holidays," he said.
For those who plan to chuck a sickie this silly season, the best way to get away with it is working on January 2 and taking Thursday, January 3 off.
According to Direct Health Solutions, bosses are more likely to believe a single-day, midweek excuse, as long as you have plenty of sick leave still in the bank.
Alternatively, Mr Dunden advised taking advantage of open-neck season, beginning this week, as a chance to wind down.
"No one does much work and everyone is getting a boost from the holiday season. That is a great thing after a hard year. Enjoy it and look after your wellbeing."
Originally published as 'Tis the season to take a sickie


text:
Chris Brindley is a prominent UK Business Leader and until recently was MD of Metro Bank, which has changed the face of retail banking in the UK. He is a leading authority on Customer Experience, Leading Teams, Employee Engagement, Performance Management and Sales Management particularly within organisations where change is on the agenda.
Chris Brindley has now burst on to the speaker market as a fresh, dynamic, challenging and highly credible speaker. His vast experience and insight of changing cultures within large organisations, private, public and charity, sets him aside from others. Chris Brindley is unique, in that he is a master storyteller. His stories of success, outstanding performance and legacy, stimulate audiences into thinking differently about the road ahead. Chris Brindley also provides powerful, yet simple tools to create confidence and motivation for audiences to take immediate action with long lasting benefits.
After listening to Chris Brindley, delegates will leave your event feeling energized, empowered and with a new focus on what 'outstanding' really looks and feels like.
He has infectious energy for his subject backed up by a huge depth of knowledge and practical experience. This makes Chris Brindley a compelling, credible presenter and inspirational speaker. Chris operates high challenge, with high support and conference delegates will leave exhilarated not exhausted
His success is a result of a unique set of experiences. He blends deep academic knowledge, practical hands on experience and has also benefitted from working with Olympic athletes and using sport as one learning model to inspire success within business. Athletes include Olympic medalists Becky Adlington, Beth Tweddle, Steve Smith, Marc Woods and Steve Parry
For Chris Brindley, results are important, but what is more important is the creation of a long term sustainable performance culture that will continue long after Chris has finished working with any organisation or individual. His mission statement captures it all: "Consistently Delivering Outstanding Results and Developing Winners in Life"
Chris Brindley has worked extensively with academics from leading business schools as well as executives, managers and team leaders within global PLCs, and is also currently working with high profile Olympic medalists who have themselves set up their own businesses.
Chris Brindley is a master of turning theory into action, as a skilled practitioner with over 30 years' experience in retail banking latterly as the Managing Director for NatWest North of England & Scotland and was also Business Director and National Sales Director for British Gas.
Chris Brindley has achieved many individual and team awards from prestigious bodies including:
National Business Award for Most Outstanding Employer
National Customer Service Award for Outstanding Team
National Sales Award for Most Outstanding Sales Leader
Special recognition award by the North West IOD for for his work as an Non-Executive Director at GreaterSport., Total Gymnastics, Total Swimming, The RFL, Rapport, Manchester FA and Becky Adlington Swim Stars.
Chris Brindley was also recognized for leading teams through significant change management, which saw him become the winner of the much sought after "Britain's Best Boss" Award.
Recently, Chris has played a major part in establishing Metro Bank, not only as the first high Street Bank in 170 years, but growing the business significantly, through a unique culture amongst colleagues, inspiring them to deliver market leading customer experience with Net Promoter Scores regularly in excess of 80.
Previous clients who have used his services include Waitrose, Sky, Heineken, Allianz, Manchester United, Rugby Football Union, Sport England plus many others
Chris Brindley is also Chair of the charity, GreaterSport, Non Executive Director of the Manchester Football Association and Champion of the Association for Physical Education.
Key subject areas include
Change Management
Employee Engagement
What it takes to become a top class "Business Athlete"
Performance Management
Sales Management
Delivering an amazing customer experience
Chris Brindley is one of the UK's foremost business leaders.
Chris Brindley is a Founder of Developing Winners in Life,
Chris Brindley is a Leadership Coach at Metro Bank
Chris Brindley is Chair of one of the UK's leading charities, GreaterSport,
Chris Brindley is an Independent Non-Executive Director of Manchester Football Association.
Chris Brindley is also in demand as an Executive Coach and Mentor for Business Leaders throughout the UK. He is a renowned keynote speaker on topics, which include, Customer Experience, Leadership, Teamwork, Change Management and Performance Management.
His sporting background puts him in a unique position to blend sporting high performance techniques and apply them successfully in business.
Until August 2015, Chris Brindley served as Managing Director of Metro Bank, which opened its doors to the public in 2010 whilst Britain was still in recession and many retail banks had lost customer trust. Since then the bank has grown rapidly and it's already recognised as the top challenger to its highly established, powerhouse competitors. The Metro Bank USP is simple: focus on the customer and deliver unparalleled levels of service & convenience.
By adopting a true culture of customer-centricity, the bank has differentiated itself from the rest of the market. In under 4 years since Chris Brindley took over as the MD, he grew the Store network to 36, customer (fans) numbers have grown from 42,00 to almost 600,00, deposits have risen from £95 million to £4.5 BILLION, with lending growth as equally impressive. Service scores are unparalleled.
Chris Brindley lead the Bank to achieving awards at the Moneywise Customer Service Awards 2015, including Most Trusted Challenger Bank, Best Current Account for Branch Service, and Most Trusted Current Account Provider
Chris Brindley is not just a theorist, but a skilled and experienced practitioner. He is a leading authority on Sales Management, Customer Experience, Employee Engagement & Satisfaction; particularly within organisations where change is a feature. His strengths include building high performing teams, enhancing productivity through employee engagement and situational leadership
Chris Brindley - Inspires change through his comprehensive knowledge of the practice of Coaching and Leadership and utilises a Balanced Business scorecard approach to build compelling visions of the future for both organisations and individuals alike.
His success is a result of a unique set of experiences including working with Olympic athletes and using sport as the inspirational learning model to inspire success within business.
Chris Brindley has also worked extensively with academics from leading business schools as well as executives, managers and team leaders within global PLCs.
Chris Brindley is passionate about creating a long term sustainable performance culture that will continue long after he has completed his work with the organisation or individual.
Chris Brindley 's accolades include Britain's Best Boss, Most Outstanding Workplace at the National Business Awards (judged by IiP), Sales & Marketing Director of the Year (3 consecutive years), Sales Leader of the Year at the National Sales Awards and has just received a nomination for the Lifetime Achievement at the National Customer Service Training Awards.
Chris Brindley is an accomplished speaker and is in demand across Europe, Middle East and Australia to share his successes.
Key subject areas include
Change Management
Employee Engagement
What it takes to become a top class "Business Athlete"
Performance Management
Sales Management
Delivering an amazing customer experience
Chris Brindley thank you so much for your inspirational talks yesterday.
We are so pleased with your output and ability to connect to our mass population of young contact centre colleagues. We feel happy you met our brief and appreciated your collaborative working style. With over 130 colleagues attending your sessions I can safely say you were a hit.
Today we ran more sessions about how to think outside the box when it comes to your own growth and learning, I was a facilitator and many of my team were quoting to me your ideas and thought points, demonstrating that you really did hit home.
Joanne Fishwick Senior Engagement Manager | M&S Bank
Chris Brindley Just to a note to say how much I enjoyed your presentation yesterday - it was great to feel so much energy in the room - we all came away buzzing. I hope I have the good fortune to cross your path again.
Tracey Gates New Business Support Manager at ABN AMRO Commercial Finance PLC
I've worked as a colleague for over 10 years, I've worked as a business rival for over 4 years and have had some of my people benefit from Chris Brindley's inspirational training sessions. What sets Chris Brindley apart is his leadership and personal qualities - he has the uncanny knack of developing superb strategies that are both people centric and beneficial to the bottom line.
Chris Brindley has the courage to challenge convention with the energy to over deliver on his commitments he makes. He finds new approaches that you wish you'd thought of yourself but does so with passion and humility.
Greg Heaton Divisional Director - South Nationwide Building Society
Chris Brindley
Very many thanks for your wonderful and inspiring session yesterday afternoon. It was great to meet you and I look forward to the next time!
Your tips and storytelling hit exactly the right spot, resonating with everyone in the room .
Edward Perry Director of Operations, Knowsley Safari & Hall
"Chris Brindley, For me you are the MAN of the YEAR 2015 ! The speech you presented at the MSPA Conference in Riga , in May 2015, was one of the most inspiring I have ever heard. It was not only inspiring but also helped me understand many practical issues in a better way. I am your Fan and also Fan of the formula you presented to us, on how to create FANS, not Customers. I have been sharing it with many people I meet and actually offered the book "FANS not customers" (Metro Bank) to many of my friends and business partners.
Luis Duarte "Mystery Shopper Providers Association ( MSPA )
Please pass on my regards to Chris Brindley . I found his presentation, both enlightening and inspiring.
A great example of thinking 'outside' the box, and not following a pre-agreed doctrine, and thinking more in-line to what the client wants.
I have had 32 years in banking (I am still learning), in both client and institutional facing roles, and in both instances taking a 'personal' stance with them won business. The fundamental thing is about listening to the client, and providing a solution, and not providing a leaflet that only confirms the lack of care that will be afforded to the client. The client is a human being – we are all different. Every problem is different and requires a bespoke service.
What I do see with Metro Bank's core values is something that changes the whole way we look at high street banking. It has been re-invented, but also it serves as an inspirational platform for the younger generation to learn from and mature within.
Lastly it was good to hear that the older generation are needed to guide and nurture the younger generation coming though. I totally agree with this thinking, I am at the stage in my career that it is not about the money or promotion, but more about giving something back to the younger generation, to inspire and give them the chance to lead. They need to hear that making mistakes happens – we are human, and as one manager said to me 31 years ago, "…it shows that I know you are working….". I am still working.
It was a great honour to hear Chris Brindley speak and blow away those banking ideals many are still holding onto. Long may he continue to inspire.
Richard Whiting
Chief Representative Doha Bank Nov 2015
Chris Brindley , it was a real
pleasure meeting you at The Palace last night, your energy, passion and skill
was electric. It's great meeting people who have a shared passion for people
and leadership.
Alyson Fadil HR Director Sofaworks CIPD November 2015
Chris Brindley recently gave the 63rd TLC lecture to a select group of members from The Leaders Club at Metro Bank HQ in London and undoubtedly it one of the very best.
Chris's topic, understandably was "Metro Bank - Leading the Banking Revolution" and TLC members were keen to understand why Metro Bank was different from the competition. They soon found out.
Chris Brindley is the embodiment of proving that you can get a quart into a pint pot as his style, energy and enthusiasm are without equal and I am tempted to believe that Chris could take any subject and entrance his audience with his panache and skill. He certainly succeeded with our members who 'bought' Metro Bank and importantly understood how, with focus, belief and commitment, you can challenge and succeed when the apparent odds are insurmountable.
Stephen Fletcher JP FRSA
Founder and Chief Executive The Leaders Club Oct 2015
Chris, thanks for your inspirational talk yesterday. I think it will act as a catalyst for moving the business forward, something to refer back to and demonstrate we have started the journey - a long way to go but I like a challenge!
Richard Managing Director Close Brothers Business Finance October 2015
Chris , Thank you for giving us such a good time! Great wine nibbles and one of the most engaging Interesting and vibrant presentations I have seen in a long time. You are awesome!
Chair of The Executive Network October 2015
Chris, It was absolutely wonderful to have you with us yesterday. Thank you for making the time to join us. Your session really has captured the imagination and I have continued to hear people talking about elements of the Metro approach today.
I am very sure this is just the beginning of a great relationship with Waitrose and I am sure you will be hearing from other delegates personally today as well.
Glenn Cox Manager Service Innovation Waitrose
October 2015


text: Cool Shania Cover Calgary, AB, Canada / (CKRY FM) Country 105 Scott Phillips May 19, 2017 01:03 pm This is so cool, and shows how timeless a Canadian icon's music is. Lady A sat down recently with Kelsea Ballerini and Brett Young to perform the Shania Twain classic, You're Still the One. So good!


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Comcast and One Economy Celebrate Comcast Digital Connectors Program
Innovative Program Teaches Dearborn Youth Digital Literacy and Leadership Skills
Aug 09, 2010, 16:28 ET from Comcast Cable
SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast and One Economy today celebrated the success of a major technology learning and service initiative that teaches young people about broadband technologies and how to put that knowledge to work to serve the Dearborn community. The program, Comcast Digital Connectors, was conducted during the 2009-2010 school year at the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) in Dearborn and will continue next fall throughout the academic year.
In the Comcast Digital Connectors program, 23 Dearborn-area high school students from diverse and low-income backgrounds were selected to gather at ACCESS two evenings a week throughout the year to learn digital literacy skills. The young people then volunteered their time at community-based organizations, senior centers, religious-based organizations and even in their own homes to help improve digital literacy.
A number of community leaders joined Comcast to celebrate the program's success, including U.S. Congressman John Dingell, among others.
"Our next generation needs the technological skills and knowledge to not only compete for jobs globally, but to also strengthen our communities through service locally," said Congressman Dingell. "I thank Comcast and One Economy for working together to advance this program that has helped provide young Michiganians with the tools to do both."
"This is a really exciting and extremely important initiative for Comcast and the Comcast Foundation. Developing digital literacy skills in young people is essential to their future," said David L. Cohen, Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation. "Along with digital education, young people from diverse communities will experience a unique opportunity to improve their lives and the lives of others by cultivating leadership skills, impacting their neighborhoods through community service and preparing for their bright futures in the workforce."
As the nation's largest residential Internet service provider, Comcast is contributing to One Economy's mission to maximize the potential of technology in cities and towns across the country. Comcast's commitment to the Digital Connectors initiative, developed in 2001, will also help One Economy increase the number of youth who will benefit from the program. To date, nearly 3,000 young people have contributed more than 77,000 hours of community service through the Digital Connectors initiative. The One Economy-Comcast partnership aims to double the number of participants in the program and the hours of service they contribute to their communities.
"The Comcast Digital Connectors program has been a great opportunity for young people in Dearborn," said Tom Coughlin, Senior Vice President for Comcast's Michigan Region. "It has taught them the technology skills needed to advance in education and in the workforce, and instill the importance of passing on that knowledge to their neighbors, friends and family in order to improve their lives and community."
The curriculum for Comcast Digital Connectors covers several broad areas to help the program participants learn real world applications for broadband technology. Modules include leadership principles, real world learning opportunities, digital technology skills development, community service, financial literacy and civic journalism. The students learned how to network computer labs, connect wireless access points and create video documentaries. Additionally, they were given instruction in entrepreneurship, healthy living, career and character development. The program also included creative media projects intended to inspire the Digital Connectors to put broadband and Internet technology to their greatest use.
Through grants from the Comcast Foundation totaling more than $40,000, ACCESS was able to set up a computer lab at its newly constructed youth center in South Dearborn, as well as fund the Comcast Digital Connectors program costs to ensure the students had access to state-of-the-art equipment and technology as they developed their digital literacy skills. The new computer lab has also benefited area youth of all ages that visited the ACCESS facility since opening last year.
"Comcast has been an invaluable partner to One Economy and our mission to empower underserved communities through the use of technology," said Rey Ramsey, Founder and Chairman of the Board of One Economy. "This partnership will help us further tap into the great potential of young people and ensure that our youth have the resources and tools they need to develop, grow and lead in a digital economy."
"ACCESS is very grateful to have been given the opportunity to offer the Digital Connectors Program to students from multiple high schools in our community," said Hassan Jaber, Executive Director for ACCESS. "Due to the generosity of Comcast and its partner, One Economy, youth at ACCESS have been given the chance to develop leadership, citizenship and healthy lifestyle skills through the effective use of technology. The Digital Connectors Program has provided us the essential tools and resources to better teach our children how the positive uses of technology can improve the quality of their lives and the community in which they live."
In addition to Dearborn, the Comcast Digital Connectors program has launched in Washington, D.C.; Houston, Texas; Springfield, Massachusetts; Morgantown, West Virginia; Burlington, Vermont; and Tallahassee, Miami and West Palm Beach, Florida. Other sites expected to kick off by the end of 2010 include: Denver, Colorado; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Atlanta, Georgia; Tacoma, Washington; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Chicago, Illinois; Portland, Oregon; and others.
Comcast powers dreams in the communities it serves by providing access to innovative technology, volunteering time, giving financial support and partnering with organizations to make communities stronger. The company focuses its community investment initiatives on building tomorrow's leaders, promoting community service and expanding digital literacy. Since 2001, Comcast have provided $1.8 billion in cash and in-kind support to national and local non-profit organizations in 39 states and Washington D.C. The company has made a $1.2 million commitment to sponsor the Digital Connectors program for three years, beginning in 2009.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (www.comcast.com) is one of the nation's leading providers of entertainment, information and communication products and services. With 23.2 million cable customers, 16.4 million high-speed Internet customers and 8.1 million Comcast Digital Voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.
Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One, 11 regional sports networks operated by Comcast Sports Group and Comcast Interactive Media, which develops and operates Comcast's Internet businesses, including Comcast.net (www.comcast.net). Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast-Spectacor, which owns two professional sports teams, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team, and a large, multipurpose arena in Philadelphia, the Wachovia Center, and manages other facilities for sporting events, concerts and other events.
Comcast's Michigan Region serves more than one million customers statewide and employs approximately 4,000 people. Comcast has three major call centers located in the state and houses its Michigan Region headquarters in Southfield.
About the Comcast Foundation
The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations. The Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their communities. The Foundation's focus areas are expanding digital literacy, building tomorrow's leaders and promoting community service. Since its inception, the Comcast Foundation has donated more than $77 million to organizations in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/inthecommunity.
About One Economy and the Digital Connectors
One Economy is a global nonprofit organization that uses innovative approaches to deliver the power of technology and information to low-income people. More than 17 million people have used One Economy's online tools and resources, including the Public Internet Channel (www.pic.tv), to build better lives. One Economy has launched on-the-ground programs in 42 U.S. states, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. The Digital Connectors program is One Economy's flagship initiative that delivers 21st century technology training to young people from low-income backgrounds, who then share what they learn within their own communities. To date, more than 3,000 Digital Connectors have delivered more than 56,000 hours of technology focused community service. Learn more at www.one-economy.com.
About ACCESS
The Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) is a human services agency dedicated to empowering and enabling individuals, families and communities to lead informed, productive, culturally sensitive and fulfilling lives. ACCESS honors its Arab-American heritage while serving as a non-profit model of excellence as a social service agency focused on cultural and social entrepreneurship, as well as the values of community service, healthy lifestyles, education and philanthropy. More information about ACCESS may be found at www.accesscommunity.org
SOURCE Comcast Cable


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"Eye opening"
I really enjoyed listening to this book. I'm actually glad that I listened to it instead of reading it--I think listening forced me to slow down and really absorb everything the book says (I tend to read pretty fast). The juxtaposition of the different voices of the authors (Barbara K., Stephen H. and Camille K.) worked very nicely. Some of the points do get repeated a bit throughout the book, which did get a little annoying. However, that did not interfere with my enjoyment.
The book struck such a chord with me. When I was a child, there wasn't so much transportation of produce and I do remember how excited my mother would get when certain things came "in season." This book really brought all that back. I wish I had read this book in August or July, instead of November! I also appreciated the insight into the corporate food industry. The book makes me want to investigate further.
"Really Good Book"
Totally enjoyable and informative! Wasn't sure I wanted to read another book about food and organics, but I'm very glad my friends encouraged that I do so. I didn't particularly enjoy the author's personal narration. As a gardener, food preserver and one who cares greatly about nutrition and good eating, it was very good. As one who owns and loves animals, the chicken and turkey tales were great. Don't miss this book if you care about food sources and learning how easy it is to prepare good food - and how this family did it.
"Bringing Pause to What We Eat"
Since reading this book I can't reach for a pepper at the grocery store without wondering where it came from, how many miles it traveled, or how it was grown. In fact, I only buy my produce from my local farmer's market and am learning to eat seasonally. How and what I eat hasn't been the same since finishing this book - Barbara Kingsolver invites an intellectual conversation back into the American diet, after decades of forfeiting our knowledge about what's in our food over to the food processing plants and agricultural system. In our hustling bustling lives of today we must learn to take pause and give more thought to what gets us through day by day - our food. This book is a great way to stimulate how you think about what you eat and your relationship with food. Kingsolver's self narration of her book is charming and one of the best I've heard. If you enjoyed Michael Pollen's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" you'll love this book even more.
This was my first audio book on audible. I LOVED it. I am very picky about my narrators, and the fact that it was the author herself made it that much better. I have the print version of the book but I just could not get into it like other Kingsolver books. So I downloaded the audio version and I can't stop listening! After I finished I just started it again! This book is so inspiring I would look for any recommendations of books just like it. Kingsolver's words are just so poetic that it makes you wish you were there with her canning tomatoes, working in the garden, hunting in the morel patch. I am kind of disappointed that my first audiobook was such a success, because now it is going to be hard to top it.
"mixed feelings"
I think I agree with other reviews that this particular book might be best left to print rather than spoken word.
I already knew I liked Barbara Kingsolver's books and her particular viewpoint resonates with me. Her knowledgeable and thoughtful observations were well-stated but not dry. She skillfully and lyrically describes the wonder of watching vegetables and animals grow and ponders the ethics and traditions of our food choices. And EATING! The descriptions of mouth-watering meals made me hungry!
I personally didn't respond to the contributions of her husband and daughter in this audiobook. I thought their voices interrupted the narrative and imagine that in the printed text these are sidebars - extras that could be skipped over if you already "got it" that you should only buy fair-trade coffee and that meat from supermarkets is from mistreated animals. There is a preachiness here that even I found tedious as much as I might be in agreement with the POV.
I think this book could have stood a lot of editing and found it difficult to finish, even though I appreciated the insight into her family's 'experiment'.
I had just finished reading "Cooked" by Michael Pollan, so I downloaded this book which had been on my wish list for a while. I also recently listened to "Flight Bahavior" and really liked Barbara Kingsolver as the narrator. I was immediately pulled in to the narrative of their year of eating deliberately. I felt really inspired, and realized I was ready for this book.
Some people found its tone a bit preachy, but it appealed to me because it just made so much sense, as did "Cooked." I started buying nearly all my meat, dairy and produce from our Saturday morning farmers market, and whole wheat bread from a local bakery, as Pollan suggested. I just finally got that Big Agribusiness doesn't much care how healthy and environmentally responsible the products they produce are.
A supermarket tomato sold in February is inedible and buying it is just dumb. I'm trying not to bore my friends and family; my daughter gives me the eye-roll. I've started to really enjoy meal planning and cooking, and for those of you who are ready for this message, read this book!
"Good, but keep the perspective"
I gave this audio book 5 stars for the reading, the content and humor along the way. At times, some of the content was too preacher-like and demeaning to the intelligence of common folk. I have overlooked these areas because the overall approach of becoming aware is the most critical part of the book. It certainly takes a cold-turkey jump into buying locally to really appreciate all we (technologically advanced countries) have taken for granted.
While not everyone needs to follow her footsteps, it was the learning curve needed to be able to share this topic with others.
So, if you like to be respectful to the Earth, but you won't scream at the woman wearing a silk blouse, or berate the cowboy for wearing leather boots, then this book should be enjoyable. As with all audiobooks, which is very different than a physical paper book, the reading is the key. The book was read by the author, her husband and daughter, and the tone was pleasing. I could not have finished this book if the author were to have read with a hell, fire and damnation tone.
For this reason alone, I give 5 stars!
"Kingsolver is always good"
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is an interesting story of a year-long experiment with eating wholesome, locally grown food, eliminating almost all foods coming from another state or region. There is much to be learned from their experiment. This is also a good read. Kingsolver tells a tale well, whatever the tale.
"Food for the soul!"
Barbara Kingsolver and her family created an excellent memoir of their experiences becoming more acquainted with their food lifestyle. The story is compelling, entertaining, and inspiring. I'm ready for change and this book helps show how easy it is to become more in control of your health and nutrition just by selecting food based on the real costs to our environment and our lives. A must read for anyone interested in a healthy, environmentally sustainable life-style.
"good book, especially good audio"
This is a good book in any form (I have a paper copy too), though it is not a scientific reference manual. Those interested in the details should really read more widely because Kingsolver gets some stuff wrong (including part of her core theses). But the broad sweeps are excellent and she does a good job of painting a picture, and teaching lessons, in terms you will not soon forget. But what really sets it apart as an aural experience is the narration by the authors, which is personable and perfectly recorded and paced. As another reviewer suggested, you really feel connected to them through their narration, bringing another level to the experience of this captivating story and analysis. Without hearing her wax about it, I would never be inclined to plant asparagus! This is particularly good road-trip listening, as you drive through the in-between spaces where most of our food is produced (and also because the radio-style pace is better for driving than some audiobooks which are distracting or sleep-inducing). Even if you have read the paper version, get this and listen to it again in a year, and you will enjoy it again.


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What does NVTI stand for?
NVTI stands for Neurocranial Vertico-Transversal Index (physical anthropology)
This definition appears very rarely and is found in the following Acronym Finder categories:
- Science, medicine, engineering, etc.
See other definitions of NVTI
- Abbreviation Database Surfer
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- Nashoba Valley Technical High School (Westford, MA)
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Calling all kitty cat lovers! Today's post is all about July's Purrfect Box.
The Purrfect Box* is a monthly subscription service for cats & cat lovers. Each box contains 5 - 6 high quality treats for your kitty, ranging from collars and training aids to toys and treats. Each month there's a different theme, usually related to a recent festive holiday (Christmas/Valentines Day) or just the current season. July's box was named 'Hello, Summer!' Again, like last month, I don't really feel like the title and items relate to each other very well, but I do love what we received!
- Pet Munchies Treats. These cat treats are 'gourmet premium' treats, according to my little magazine that comes with each box. They're all natural and freeze dried, and help maintain a healthy heart and promote healthy skin. I really like the sound of these!
- Delicious Happies from Trixie. Trixie is a brand that Luna has tried before, as she received some other treats by the same brand last month. These ones are little pieces of chicken and lactose-free cheese, which sound perfect as Luna loves cheese flavoured treats!
- Multi-Vitamin Paste by GimCat. I'm really intrigued by this paste! It claims to 'not only recharge your cat's batteries, but their happiness too' which sounds exciting. It comes in a tooth-paste-like tube that has a little screw cap to keep things fresh.
- Glitterball Interactive Toy from Happy Pet. Every month Luna has a favourite - this month, it's this toy! It's basically a sparkly ball on the end of a spring, which is secured to a scratchproof base. It's a really interactive toy that we can play with together, which is so much fun.
- Litter Shovel from Camon. This is SUCH a cool addition to the box! It's a cat-poop-scooper that comes with bags that attach to the handle - meaning you can scoop the poop and it'll go straight into the little bag. This is such a genius idea. Luna doesn't use a litter tray anymore (I bought her a hooded one but she just slept in it) so I'll be giving this to my Dad for his indoor cat, Weller.
- Catnip Toy by Petbrands. This is a cute little catnip toy. It's a black hexagon which I assume is filled with catnip, and it has a little white feather attached. Luna was too overwhelmed with the Glitterball toy so she hasn't played with this yet, but as soon as she catches a sniff of catnip I'm sure she will!
The Purrfect Box is a monthly subscription box, which costs £19.90 per month. It's a commitment-free service, so you could simply try it out once or twice a year! The bigger the plan you subscribe to, the cheaper it is, for example a six-month subscription is £17.90 a month etc. It was really easy to fill in the details for my plan, which included a lot of information about Luna so that each product included within the box was suitable for her. Also - there's a special promotion running at the moment where you can get your first Purrfect Box for free! Now that I have received three boxes, I'm fully stocked up on cat treats and toys! I never have to buy anything new for Luna. However, I think that this service would be lovely if you had more than one cat, as I am a little over-run with all of the goodies she receives. I think that just one box between two, maybe three, cats would work out great aside from a few items such as a collar etc.
You can check out the Purrfect Box here. They also have a subscription service called the Pawsome Box which is the exact same service, just for dogs!


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S.3895 -- not moving this year
Expand Messages
- Dear friends;
S.3895 Keeping All Students Safe Act, is not moving forward this year and it will be hard to get it through next year because of the number of new members of Congress, the change in control of the House and the expected concentration on Elementary and Secondary Education Act [ESEA]. The work of those seeking federal legislation on eliminating seclusion/restraint has not been in vain. We will have a starting point to begin discussions for next Congress. We just are not optimistic that Congress will as sympathetic to the issue next term as it was this term. We will be keeping you updated in the weeks and months ahead.
We want to thank everyone who has written letters, told their stories and their families stories and contacted their legislators for the effort. We all must continue to inform our family, our friends and our new legislators about how important it is to keep working to end the use of seclusion and restraint in our nation's schools. In the end, all of us working together, will produce success. Like all good things, however, it will not come easy and evidently, will not come soon.
The OCLB Team
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Despite already having quarterback Kyle Carta-Samuels (San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine College) committed in the 2014 class, Vanderbilt has picked up another signal caller in this class.
Elijah Staley (Marietta, Ga./Wheeler) committed to the Commodores over offers from Boston College and Mississippi State.
"I committed to Vanderbilt for football only," Staley said.
Staly\ey says football only because he also happens to be a three-star prospect in basketball. The 6-foot-6, 208-pound prospect is commit No. 5 for Vanderbilt in the 2014 class.