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Usually the planning of an exhibition begins years before the invitation cards to the opening reception are put in the mail: it occurs as soon as the plans for the next two to three years are available. From this moment on up to the opening, members of the planning staff are involved in the organizing processes and in close contact with the responsible curators and this for several exhibitions at a time. It takes great flexibility: usually one exhibition is about to open, another is in its beginning stages, whilst others are waiting for replies for loan requests and catalogue production is at full speed. The planning department sees itself as interface between and information center for all other departments involved in the realization of temporary exhibits, which include the curatorial department, the sponsoring department, the press and communications office, the registrars office which organizes the transportation of works of art on loan from around the world, the conservators and the technicians as well as the staff of the museum shop.
Smaller gallery shows are not necessarily less work-intensive than the big exhibitions that take place in the Bührle-Saal. What is decisive is whether the exhibition is conceived and realized in-house, or whether it is in collaboration with another institution or a pre-existing exhibition. At times the different exhibition concepts require a lot of imagination and improvisation. The manifold contacts with partnering museums and the coordination of the requirements of all involved is a daily challenge at times it creates a bit of a commotion, but it always makes for variety.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Douglas G. Jones, Beloit/Janesville (1942-2013)
October 29, 1942 - December 5, 2013
Douglas G. Jones, age 71, of rural Beloit, passed away Thursday evening, Dec. 5, 2013, at Beloit Memorial Hospital following a brief illness. He was born Oct. 29, 1942, in Beloit, the son of the late George A. and Helen M. (Elliott) Jones. He was a graduate of Beloit Memorial High School. Doug was a veteran of the U. S. Marine Corps, and had served his country during the early years of the Vietnam War. On April 30, 1966, he married Delores J. "Dee" Mezera in Madison, WI. Doug worked for many years as a Heavy Equipment Operator for the Rock County Highway Dept., as well as with several construction companies in the area until his retirement. He was a member of the Heavy Equipment Operators Union, Local #139. He also was a Life Member of the Beloit V.F.W. Post #2306, and was an active member of the Marine Corps League. He was a longtime member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church, and had been active with the BINGO program at their school.
Doug was an avid hunter and fisherman, and especially looked forward to his annual fishing trip with his sons at their cabin in Richland County. He was an accomplished cook, baker, and winemaker, and enjoyed preparing wonderful meals and treats for his family and friends! His greatest joys were tinkering around on his farm, and spending time with his family, especially his 5 beloved grandchildren!
Doug is survived by his wife, Dee; his three children: Doug (Paula) Jones of Janesville, Dawn (Mike) Cagney of Whitewater, WI, and Dan Jones of Janesville; his two sisters, Patti of Belvidere, IL, and Sandra of California; his five grandchildren: Alyssa, Brian, Nathan, Jackie, and Lexie; nieces, nephews, and many friends. He was preceded in death by his parents.
Memorial Services celebrating Doug's life will be held at 11a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013, at the WHITCOMB-LYNCH FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICES, with Deacon John Houseman officiating. Military rites will immediately follow the service. Friends may call on Monday evening from 4 until 7 p.m., or on Tuesday morning from 10 until 11 a.m. at the FUNERAL HOME.
Whitcomb-Lynch Funeral Home & Cremation Services
21 S. Austin Rd., (608)752-2444


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dbf is an easy-to-use command line tool to show and convert the content of dBASE III, IV, and 5.0 files, as well as of FoxBase and Visual FoxPro. It reads xBASE-compatible databases and prints the content to the screen or converts it to comma-separated (*.csv) files which can be opened in Excel, StarOffice, and most other spread sheets. It can also be used to show some statistics about the content.
yuck is a command line option parser for C that works on a minimal set of dependencies - only a C compiler and the m4 macro processor are required. It supports all the standard use cases: GNU-style long options (--option), condensable short options (-xab for -x -a -b), and optional arguments to long and short options (--foo[=BAR]), multiple occurrence of options (-vvv). Most importantly, it does not depend on libc's getopt() nor getopt_long().
RemoteBox is a graphical tool which lets you administer guests or virtual machines running under VirtualBox on a remote server or even your local machine if desired. You may, for example, have a root server on the Internet, a server at home, or a server at work running VirtualBox but want to have the convenience of managing the guests easily from your local machine. The virtual machines run in headless mode, which means you don't need an active graphical display on the server but you can still connect and view the displays of the guests. The goal of RemoteBox is to provide a GUI that should be familiar to VirtualBox users while allowing them to administer a remote installation of VirtualBox. It does this via the VirtualBox API and SOAP interface, which are exposed when running the VirtualBox Web service. You can also use RemoteBox simply as an alternative interface for managing VirtualBox on your local machine.
Performance Co-Pilot (PCP) is a framework and set of services for supporting system-level performance monitoring and performance management. It provides a unifying abstraction for all of the interesting performance data in a system, and allows client applications to easily retrieve and process any subset of that data using a single API. A client-server architecture allows multiple clients to monitor the same host, and a single client to monitor multiple hosts. Archive logging and replay are integrated so that a client application can use the same API to process real-time data from a host or historical data from an archive.
Monit is a utility for managing and monitoring processes, programs, files, directories, and devices on a Unix system. It conducts automatic maintenance and repair and can execute meaningful causal actions in error situations. It can be used to monitor files, directories, and devices for changes, such as timestamps changes, checksum changes, or size changes. It is controlled via an easy to configure control file based on a free-format, token-oriented syntax. It logs to syslog or to its own log file and notifies users about error conditions via customizable alert messages. It can perform various TCP/IP network checks, protocol checks, and can utilize SSL for such checks. It provides an HTTP(S) interface for access.
An OpenGL library for image-based CSG rendering.
A Linux/Unix/Win32 driver for 5DT Data Gloves.


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Thank you Brian!
data is a root of everything...
Hi from pdx
Thanks Brian, well worth the time going to the archive.
Hello all from Edmonton, Alberta and late again.
Thanks Brian
@vishalzie - agreed. And in there is opportunity
Understanding the nature and meaning of unstructured information presents significant challenges that far exceed the capabilities of typical business intelligence tools that were, for the most part, designed and built for handling that is structured.
@theokowd: Sorry you had issues, all of the classes are now on archive. thank you.
@theokowd - hopefully the audio for the first three days is still available and you can go back and listen at your leisure.
Oreo compression. What a concept!
see you tomorrow! thx again
Thank you Brian I was able to get audio today however it kept cutting out costantly in the begining I just kept clicking the forward button for the first few miniuts and the audo began to work. It was intermittent several times during the whole lecture however I was able to hear the presentation. I lost the first three days of audio. We should have good telecomunications from now on.
Good by fron Toronto you all have a good day
If you "pack" or "compress" them, you can get more than 8 per byte, honestly!
Now is an Oreo a byte, or do we need 8 Oreos to a byte??
So true re: util companies. Nor would we want them to given current tech. what would be fascinating is to see a modeling effort re: the ramp of energy demand driven by IT over time. Obviously we are going to need some really powerful tech calvary to come to the rescue before the brown stuff hits the fan!
Very thought provoking - thanks Brian. See you tomorrow
thx @vishalzie --> reminded me i'm hungry and now have one more piece of nerd material to "impress" my kids. I love it!
Consider what is happening today - Google wantred to build a new data center in WA. We have plenty of hydro power in the NW, but still to get all of the power they needed they bought an aluminum smelter that had power rights. They closed the factory down to get the power.
If you were to stack an exabyte of regular Oreo cookies (not the Double Stuf kind) into a neat tower of pleasure, the height of the tower would be the equivalent of 19,041,819 round trips to the moon.
For people wondering about batteries and renewable energy see the following:
A Nation sized battery. AN intersting document indeed.
thx again for hosting this! looking forward to tomorrow's and any more in the future
have a great day!
The problem with going heavy on utility stocks is they cant afford to build the infrastructure to deliver that kind of power.
@BrianBailey - yes, they do but it's like buying things in brown paper wrappers. It's a huge question we deal with every day. Not only the social engineering issues from hackers, but legal issues should i leak financial transaction data.
Thanks bstains - I will take a look at it.
thanks for the link - I'll check it out
Intel processors - as an example, cannot run at maximum speed all the time. They would get too hot. They can do it for short bursts - I think they call this reserve power or something like that.
As for power usage, for the first time I recently heard someone give a presentation about effectively managing power end production of electricity. This is an awesome idea and interesting approach to solving it.
i am a student and dont know how to answer your questions on companies and their use of data....:/
Or should I just plan to go extra heavy on my utility stock portfolio?? ;>)
Power in chips is still a problem. In many chips if the entire thing were to be powered up at the same time, the chip would melt.
bstains: I believe that today there is nothing stopping them from selling that information.
Thank you Brian and Caleb
Thanks Mr. Brian
??? Does the current arc of development in IC's resolve this power issue or at least make it manageable?
Impact on education: Knowing how to find information, how to extract information is more valuable than having information. You must know how to extract value from the things around you.
nice presentation..thankyou brian
Thank's a lot!
the power is staggering in how quickly it has been growing and will continue to grow. Even with tiny power sipping devices, there will be billions and it all adds up.
@jrochow441 - which example? Are you referring to the one about data mining and privacy?
thank Brian, Good
Brian and Celeb, thanks
Thank you very much, see you tommorrow
Thank you for nice presentation
Thank you Brian.
what is the impact on the education sector?
Thanks Brian.
Staggering info re: future power demands of IT environment!
good question bstains. That is a really tough one.
If your mobile carrier (MC) can tell that you shopped at merchant A and merchant B who are competitors, can the MC sell that intel (minus the actual personal PMI info) to those merchants? You're the target for posting real-time "value add services" to your device. Do you feel that's invasion of your privacy? Note that financial targeting of mobile devices (in lieu of your email address) is driving innovation (funding it) much like Google data mining pays for broadband advancements. Not only phones, but now your TVs, media centers, etc. are also targets.
especially here in the states!
slide 16
This is a confusing example.
Our last product had issues with heat. We definitely took that into consideration when designing our current product line. >70% power decrease.
developing portable instruments drives us to do whatever it takes to make devices run at least 8-12 hours on one charge; implication: minimized devices active and lower processing frequencies
In our RADAR application low power usage is of no concern - the faster the better!
haha "marketting booboo"
Power is not currently a requirement, but expect that to change in the future.
to the chattters: What steps is your company taking to reduce power in the chips, systems, software that you produce. Has it become a primary design consideration?
banwidth come into play here
Our company is a financial processor, so we interact w/ POS systems, mobile pay, etc. all the way to banks and card associations. In between there, it's all about the data, fraud risk, integrity, compliance, legal issues, marketing, data mining, and oh yes......taps by gov'ts.
We both create sensor data and then process the terabytes of stored data off-line (RADAR application).
then rather
audio stucked... refreshed than ok
We create the devices that create data.
We are a user of data that is created during system tests from sensors, meters, scopes, etc.
our company largely creates data by selling sensors. unfortunately, few of them are digitally networked. most output data via a 4-20 mA current loop output
We collect data from casino gaming machines for accounting and performance analysis.
We make the technology that automates your plant and we can provide terabytes of data about your plant.
We cover the spectrum. Generating, transporting, analyzing, and storing the data.
to the chatters: How does you company fit into this. Is it a company that will primarily create data, such as being a maker of sensors, A user of data in that you extract value from a data source, or an infrastructure provider that produces the tools that enable either of the other two?
I'm an infrastructure provider/integrator.
Good afternoon, everyone
Hi, Brian From Doral, Miami
slide 8
slide 6
Can you Brits opt out of the ubiquitous cameras in Briton? If its bad for private industry to do it, it's also bad for the government to do it to its citizens!
i agree @bstains
slide 5
Of interest also is how diffent parts of the world consider who owns the data. Business vs. gov't vs. individuals.
slide 4
What slide are we on? Thanks.
100% Without data, we don't have a business. We generate and consume large quantities of data.
The data I handle is related to the process being controled which is of value only to those controling the process at the moment. It has no frame of reference to anyone who is not familiar with the equipment.
Test data on a prototype system being developed is very important to help improve the design.
What percentage of your companies value though?
It is very valuable, specially when dealing costomers personal information.
Data is paramount to the business.
to our chatters: How valuable do you think data is? Think about your company. What percentage of your value is tied to information, knowledge that your company holds. Take a guess? What percentage would you place on it?
Audio is up, here we go!!
Good morning from Scottsdale, AZ
Good morning from Leduc, AB
Hello from Rockwell Automation.
hello everyone!!
hi all
The streaming audio player will appear on this web page when the show starts at 12:00 pm Eastern today. Note however that some companies block live audio streams. If when the show starts you don't hear any audio, try refreshing your browser. Firefox and Chrome have been working the best.
Be sure to click 'Today's Slide Deck' under Special Educational Materials above right to download the PowerPoint for today's session.
Good Morning from Calgary, AB
Good morning from CA
Are we all ready to get lost today?
Good Morning!
Hello from Albuquerque
Greeting from Toronto
Hello from Binghamton, NY
Greeting from Sunny and Humid Boston!
Looks like I need to get another cup of coffee and try and wake up a little...
Ah - a man with no sense of direction...
Well the subject is "getting lost", I think I can handle that!
Not I, good morning from Panama City FL.
Hello from DFW! Thanks but no thanks on your request... ;>)
OK - Who wants to give the talk this morning?
Good morning from Tennessee
Good Morning from GA
Hola desde Michigan.
Slides good, Later.
Test Tool Finds Ethernet Wiring Errors
Martin Rowe Post a comment
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Local Electronics Store Supplies Engineers and Hobbyists
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Rochester, N.Y. — Tucked away in this western New York city known for its optics is Goldcrest Electronics, a local store that's supplied businesses and individuals with electronic ...
How to Transform a Technology University (Book Review)
Martin Rowe 1 Comment
The Presiding Genius of the Place by Alison Chisolm. WPI, Worcester, Mass., 234 pp., 2016.
Engineers love to discuss, and often criticize, engineering education. They often claim ...
Aloha from EEWeb
Max Maxfield Post a comment
Just a few minutes ago as I pen these words, I posted this blog about this month's Cartoon Punchline Competition over on EEWeb.com.


text:
Blitzer88 wrote:Love how he is repping the Levis jeans in the commercial too.
Tru2RedNGold25 wrote:Us as Niners fan have every right to rep Niners all day everyday when we have the hardware to back it up do can u guys say that???
Tech Worlds wrote:Whatever. You can have my cell phone when you pry it from my cold, dead, hands.
JSeahawks wrote:Just got a ticket for texting while driving last month. Damn you Wilson!
Hasselbeck wrote:It's a great campaign, I'm guilty of texting while driving and have nearly gotten into some serious accidents..
BTW Seahawks.net is hard to post on while you're doing 85 down the freeway.
Hawkstorian wrote:I texted while driving while wearing my new Russell Wilson jersey. AWKWARD!
HunnyBadger wrote:I love the fact that Russell has not only become our Seattle Seahawks quarterback, but that he has really adopted our city (general Seattle-Bellevue area) as his home away from home (Virginia). He lives here, he patronizes the local stores and restaurants, he visits the Children's hospital (regularly I might add), and continues to progress as a citizen of our community!
JSeahawks wrote:Just got a ticket for texting while driving last month. Damn you Wilson!
Return to [ THE OFFICIAL NET NATION FAN FORUM ]


text:
Last month's Boston bombings drew attention to the expiration of the federal backstop for terrorism insurance that occurs at the end of next year. While the end of 2014 may seem distant, companies will have to start thinking about their alternatives if Congress doesn't reauthorize the backstop when they start shopping for insurance policies that take effect at the start of next year.
"There is a misleading focus on the Dec. 31, 2014 date," said Robert Hartwig, president and economist of the Insurance Information Institute. "In September or so, companies begin to negotiate their coming-year insurance packages and insurers negotiate their reinsurance. They will all reflect the possibility that anything renewing in 2014 could face the possibility of TRIA no longer being in existence."
The federal backstop for terrorism insurance, known as the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, or TRIA, was passed in 2002, renewed in 2005 and renewed again in 2007, when it was renamed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, or TRIPFA.
To date, the government has not paid out on the backstop. The federal government has yet to say whether it will certify the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15 as a terrorist act. It would take such a certification, plus losses totaling $100 million, to result in the payout of federal funds. Risk modeler RMS has estimated property losses from the Boston bombings are unlikely to exceed $1 million.
A recent report from insurance broker Marsh shows 62% of U.S. companies currently buy terrorism coverage, and Marsh says the take-up rate has been in the low-60% range since 2009. Seventy-seven percent of companies in the Northeast purchase property terrorism insurance, versus just 53% of companies in the West and 58% in the Midwest. Media companies (81%), educational organizations (75%) and financial institutions (75%) are more likely to buy terrorism coverage than manufacturing companies (48%), energy and mining companies (43%) and chemical companies (42%), according to Marsh.
If Congress fails to extend TRIA, "we expect the availability of terrorism insurance to drop off and we expect pricing probably to increase," said Ben Tucker, a senior vice president at Marsh Inc. and leader of its property specialized risk group.
Will the Boston bombings convince Congress to renew TRIA? "I think it shows Congress and the general public that programs like this are still needed," said Carolyn Snow, a member of the board of RIMS, the risk management society, and director of risk management at Humana. "It's just such an awful thing that it occurred, but it does focus people's attention on the need for the program."
Snow added that renewing TRIA is RIMS' "No. 1 legislative priority."
Hartwig expects a fight over renewing TRIA, noting that many members of Congress weren't around in 2007, "so they're not familiar with the issue." Some legislators from rural areas "may misperceive it as a big city issue," he said. "And then there's a misunderstanding about the program – some people throw it into the same category as national flood insurance, which is plagued with cost overruns."
In fact, Hartwig said, TRIA is "almost the only federal program that I can name that has achieved all of its goals and has achieved those goals at effectively no cost to taxpayers."
Although a couple of measures have already been introduced in Congress to extend TRIA, opposition is already building. Last week, the Consumer Federation of America issued a statement arguing that the insurance industry's current $586.9 billion in surplus means that it could easily handle the cost of a terrorist event, noting that 9/11 resulted in insured losses of $24 billion in 2013 dollars. The group suggested that insurers have become "nervous nellies."
The insurance industry argues that terrorism risk is too random to be modeled and insured.
Marsh's Tucker, pictured at left, notes that when it comes to natural disasters, insurers have hundreds of years of data to use to model the risks and price their coverage. "And wind and flood or earthquake, there's no human element," he said. "With terrorism, thankfully there haven't been so many events that you could create a good model, and the human element brings in an unpredictability that we believe makes modeling from a probability perspective very difficult."
Given that Congress is unlikely to have made any decision on TRIA by the end of this year, insurers will have to decide whether contracts with a start date of Jan. 1, 2014, offer terrorism coverage regardless of what happens to TRIA, or have a sunset clause that ends terrorism coverage if TRIA isn't extended, Tucker said.
Companies that buy terrorism insurance as a standalone policy rather than part of their property-casualty coverage could consider a capacity commitment contract, which allows them to reserve capacity for a future date, or the flip approach, which involves buying excess capacity that could fill the gap if TRIA is not extended.
Companies could also choose to self-insure for terrorism, Tucker said, but that increases their risk exposure. And real estate and construction companies are often required by their lenders to have terrorism insurance, so self-insurance would leave them in breach of their lending requirements.
Tucker said another key area will be workers compensation insurance, and noted that workers compensation policies aren't allowed to exclude terrorism. As a result, insurers try not to write too much coverage in areas seen as high risk, like central business districts.
"What they are already seeing right now in New York City and they expect it to happen in other areas, insurers are monitoring their aggregate [workers compensation] exposure to terrorism to closely," he said. "If TRIA goes away, that will have an impact on the way that market operates with regard to monitoring of terrorism aggregates."


text:
A Study With Aleglitazar in Patients With a Recent Acute Coronary Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
This study has been completed.
Hoffmann-La Roche
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First Posted: January 6, 2010
Last Update Posted: November 2, 2016
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Hoffmann-La Roche
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
No Study Results Posted on ClinicalTrials.gov for this Study
|Study Status:
|This study has been completed.
|Study Completion Date:
|November 2013
|Primary Completion Date:
|November 2013 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Certification or Request for Extension to Delay Results Submission:
|July 20, 2016
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
Lincoff AM, Tardif JC, Schwartz GG, Nicholls SJ, Rydén L, Neal B, Malmberg K, Wedel H, Buse JB, Henry RR, Weichert A, Cannata R, Svensson A, Volz D, Grobbee DE; AleCardio Investigators. Effect of aleglitazar on cardiovascular outcomes after acute coronary syndrome in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: the AleCardio randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2014 Apr 16;311(15):1515-25. doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.3321.
Lincoff AM, Tardif JC, Neal B, Nicholls SJ, Rydén L, Schwartz GG, Malmberg K, Buse JB, Henry RR, Wedel H, Weichert A, Cannata R, Grobbee DE. Evaluation of the dual peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α/γ agonist aleglitazar to reduce cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus: rationale and design of the AleCardio trial. Am Heart J. 2013 Sep;166(3):429-34. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2013.05.013. Epub 2013 Jul 26.


text:
M for member – V for visitor service
The membership season begins in autumn, when the subscription forms for the coming year are sent out. At no other time of the year are we inundated with so much news from our members: people moving house, emigrating, moving in together or getting married - and then on top of this come enquiries from those wanting to make a gift of membership for forthcoming birthdays. In the membership office I often have the feeling that I'm personally involved in the lives of our members.
Once the subscription forms have been sent it is time for the members to pay their subscriptions. And it isn't long before the money starts to flood in. During the high season from the end of October up until the end of December we print between 300 and 700 membership cards per day. These are all packed by hand and then sent out. Most members have paid by mid January. In February/March we send out a reminder to all those who have still not replied. During the major exhibitions we gain a lot of new members – on a busy Sunday we can have as many as up to 50 new subscriptions. In recent years we have seen an average increase of around 1,000 new members per year. Today total membership stands at approximately 21,000 – a figure we are very proud of.
By the start of March the main membership season is over and I can concentrate increasingly on other projects: visitor services.
At the information desk visitors will receive informed, professional information. The desk staff can help, for example, if you want to know whether a specific picture is hanging in the Collection, have a question about how to book a private tour, if you need a taxi or you're a journalist looking for a press folder, or if you have an appointment with a member of the Kunsthaus staff.
You don't need a ticket to visit the café and shop, and to allow this freedom of movement we needed to come up with another means of checking admission. Naturally, we didn't want to ask visitors to show their ticket at every staircase, lift and entrance. So now instead of a ticket visitors will receive a smart little tinplated badge which can be easily attached to lapels without a needle. The new membership cards (with the holder's name on the back) are also designed to be worn. This means that attendants can be sure that you have paid, and at the shop your member status will be instantly visible, enabling you to get your discount without having to ask.
M for member is also an M for more service, more efficiency and more comfort for the benefit of all visitors.


text:
Rambus: From dark to light (bulb)
21 comments
Invention and intellectual property company Rambus has had its difficulties over the past few years, and garnered an unfortunate reputation in the media as something of a patent troll, but the firm is determined to change its image by making good on its technology inventions.
At CES the firm was showing off two technologies; a completely reinvented LED lightbulb with an open top to allow for thermal dissipation, and a mobile TV platform which combines visual search with a plethora of social features.
Rambus said its LED lightbulb design combined high efficiency with longevity and ease-of-use, designed to provide consumers with the quality and lighting distribution of traditional incandescent bulbs using close to one-quarter the power and lasting up to 25 times longer.
The firm said the bulbs were also unique in terms of their fundamentally different design, which includes an open top to allow for thermal dissipation.
The bulb family also boasts Rambus MicroLens optical technology, allowing for the use of a cylindrical light guide inside the bulb to produce a consistent, spherical distribution of light. MicroLens optics are already used in backlighting cell phones, computer screens, televisions and other displays.
Rambus said it has also designed the bulbs to have a very low bill of materials, ensuring the product would cost less than any other bulb on the market.
Since Rambus only deals in IP, the firm has partnered with a Canadian company out of Montreal, called Elite, to bring the bulbs to big retail stores in North America within the next two quarters.
That is the new model of Rambus; to license technology and patents when appropriate, but also to bring that into product, noted Jerome Nadel, Rambus CMO.
At CES, Rambus was also showing off its new Imerz platform which combines visual search with a plethora of social features.
The firm said it saw mobile as a replacement for television and that Imerz would allow consumers to interact with and access over the top video in a personalized, immersive way. That includes being able to connect ones mobile to the TV and use the handheld almost like a remote control. It also allows for on-screen interactivity with video and broadcast content, including frame-by-frame synchronization of temporal/spatial tags for story-telling, product information and e-commerce content tagging.
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Design: Researchers tout shatter-proof alternative to fluorescent lights


text:
Here's the second video that Restrap's put out showcasing their Horizontal straps.
First off: read this post.
Who is the Radavist?
A group of individuals who share a love of cycling and the outdoors. We will always stop for a photo, or to hit a rope swing… Rubber side up!
Where did Prolly is Not Probably go?
It is still here, and then some. PiNP was one person's opinion and voice. Now we are a collective – a community of diverse opinions and rich stories.
What does the Radavist mean?
Rad + Atavist = RADAVIST
Why does a porpoise surf a wave, or a sea otter slide down a rock? Atavism is a primal trait in humans and animals that drives us to do what we do – what ought to come naturally. Atavism is why we ride the way we ride; From mashing the city on a track bike to shredding the trails on full suspension. Take the time to get rad.
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Here's the second video that Restrap's put out showcasing their Horizontal straps.
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text: Our Vanguard Claw Cluster is a highly efficient, easy to use setup for your milking machine. The Vanguard Claw has a single shutoff (which will shut off milk flow on both milk lines). If you would like individual milk line shutoffs, please order inline shutoffs separately. Our Vanguard Claw Cluster includes 1 Vanguard claw, 2 silicone inflations and 2 plastic shells (designed for Vanguard Claw), milk and vacuum lines from shell to claw. This Cluster will milk one goat. Shipping on the Vanguard Claw Cluster is $10.00 anywhere in the Continental United States.


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London Calling: Should Apple buy ST-E or Renesas Mobile?
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If it wants to keep up with Samsung, Apple needs LTE/3G/2G modem capability as the next piece of the mobile device jigsaw puzzle.
LONDON -- Apple should be looking at acquiring either ST-Ericsson or Renesas Mobile for the sake of their LTE/3G/2G modem technologies, according to Will Strauss, president and principal analyst with Forward Concepts.
Both are commercially distressed companies with parents STMicroelectronics and Renesas Electronics, respectively who need to make radical changes to try and stem losses and turn larger semiconductor businesses around. Both have excellent European modem technology but are struggling to achieve full value for that technology through a lack of significant design wins. Which of course leads back to the great success of relatively few players in the mobile device market, Samsung, Apple, Qualcomm.
In his latest newsletter Strauss makes the point that the recent news that Samsung has developed an internal LTE/3G capability which it has deployed alongside a quad-core Exynos application processor, should be a source of concern for Apple. The CMC221S LTE/3G/2G modem is shipping in Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphones. Strauss expects the Via Telecom CDMA modem IC to carry on being included in Galaxy S3 phones for some networks but said that he expects the Samsung modem will be integrated with the Exynos application processor either late in 2013 or early in 2014.
Like Samsung, Apple designs its own applications processors based on the ARM architecture the A5, A6 and A6X but fabless Apple gets them manufactured by Samsung. And Strauss observes that Apple has no in-house modem capability. In the past Apple has used 3G modems from Infineon then Intel and more recently has deployed Qualcomm modems.
Samung's potential for integration shows how pressure may be brought to bear on Apple. It might be possible for Apple to license in LTE capability and include it in a future system-chip but not necessarily the best technology. Integration issues might be much easier if it was a wholly-owned technology.
"There are few opportunities to acquire an advanced modem design like Samsung's, so Apple has to be exploring possible in-house design (no easy task) or casting eyes on LTE/3G/2G modems from ST-Ericsson or Renesas Mobile," said Strauss, in the newsletter.
There are several TD-LTE-only modem houses that Apple could acquire, but this would only provide a partial solution with more work needed to add FD-LTE plus 3G and 2G capability, he added.
Of course both ST-Ericsson and Renesas Mobile are about a lot more than just LTE modems. They have had to develop complete mobile phone platforms with much software; almost complete phone designs to try and capture phone companies' interest. Which of course is part of the problem. Consumers don't want a lot of mobile phone or tablet computer choice. They want either the i- or Galaxy versions of a seductive mobile dream. So could Apple buy the modem technology from one or other company and leave the rest behind?
I doubt that would suit either STMicroelectronics or Renesas, at least at first blush, but innovative deal making is what makes the world go around. So it could be that one of the last events of 2012 could be a beauty contest between Renesas Mobile and ST-Ericsson with Apple as the admiring swain.
Loss-making ST is close to Apple by way of design wins for MEMS sensors and is expected to make an announcement of a strategic plan for the company on Dec. 10.
Related links and articles:
News articles:
Galaxy S3 teardown reveals Samsung LTE modem
ST sets date for strategy announcement
Is Renesas Mobile's LTE gambit paying off?
Report: Renesas Mobile up for sale in re-org


text: Our two goat bucket assembly features a 7 gallon stainless steel milk bucket and lid. It is set up to milk 2 goats with milk and vacuum lines, 4 silicone inflations, 4 plastic shells, and pulsator. "Caprine Style" comes with 4 stainless elbows and 4 plastic shutoffs. "European Style" that substitutes four goat claws for the plastic shutoffs, and our "Vanguard Style" substitutes 2 high-volume Vanguard claws each with a single shutoff for the plastic shutoffs. You will need to choose the Caprine, European, or Vanguard style. Two Goat Bucket Assemblies range in price from $569.00 - $685.00, depending on the style you choose. You can also substitute a 3 gallon stainless steel bucket (for the 7 gallon bucket) which costs $60.00 less. If you want small inflations and shells (for Nigerian Dwarf goats or sheep) instead of the regular size, please make that choice. Otherwise we will ship our normal inflations and shells. Shipping charge is $24.45 anywhere in the continental United States.


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John Louis "Jack" Schumacher, Edgerton, WI (1929-2014)
April 17, 1929 - January 11, 2014
John Louis "Jack" Schumacher, age 84, of Edgerton, passed away Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014, at his home. He was born April 17, 1929, in Edgerton, the son of the late John C. and Emma (Fritzke) Schumacher. After high school, Jack served his county by joining the Army. When he came home he married Dolores Goede June 27, 1951, at St. John Lutheran Church. Jack drove whey trucks to area farms for about 10 years before going to work at Burns Brothers Bus Company. He did mechanic work, drove school buses and later became manager. He retired in 1997, after 35 years of service. He loved to go fishing, hunting, camping and sailing. He was a member of the Edgerton Bowhunters.
Jack is survived by his two children, John G. (Debbie) Schumacher of Milton, WI, and Ann (David) Schemel of Racine, WI; four grandchildren: Beth McGovern, Michael Schumacher, Abby Schemel and Sara Schemel; five great-grandchildren: Landen Michael Schumacher, Kiera Ann Schumacher, Michael John Schumacher, II, Cameron Zachary McGovern and Jackson Luvern Schumacher (due 3/9/14); a niece, Susan Peehl; and nephew, Doug Peehl. Jack was preceded in death by his parents, John and Emma; his wife, Dolores; and a sister, Betty Smith.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, at ST. JOHN LUTHERAN CHURCH with Pastor Carl Seeger officiating. Burial will be in Fassett Cemetery, Edgerton. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until time of services Tuesday at the CHURCH.


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Death Notices for Nov. 29, 2013
Russell "Pops" Heritage, 77, Edgerton, died Sunday at home. Services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at United Methodist Church, Edgerton. A celebration of life will be held from 11 a.m. until the time of services Saturday at the church.
James D. Keith, 91, Janesville, died Tuesday at Our House Memory Care, Janesville. Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Henke-Clarson Funeral Home, Janesville. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until the time of services Monday at the funeral home.
Joseph J. LaFleur, 87, Brodhead, died Tuesday at Edgerton Care Center, Edgerton. Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Henke-Clarson Funeral Home, Janesville. Visitation will be from 12:30 p.m. until the time of services Saturday at the funeral home.
Gladys Lentine, 92, Myrtle Beach, S.C., formerly of Beloit, died Tuesday at home. Arrangements are pending at Brian Mark Funeral Home, Beloit.
Richard Sheridan, 82, Janesville, died Wednesday at St. Mary's Janesville Hospital. Services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. William Catholic Church, Janesville. Visitation will be from 3 to 7 p.m. Monday at Schneider Apfel Schneider & Schneider Funeral Home and Crematory, Janesville.
Sophie Tesch, 94, Delavan, died Wednesday at Holton Manor, Elkhorn. Arrangements are pending with Monroe Funeral Home, Delavan.
JoAnne Marie Zick, 83, Naperville, formerly of Lake Geneva, died Monday at home. Services will be Friday at 9:30 a.m. at St. Benedict Church, Fontana. Toynton Funeral Home, Walworth, is assisting the family.


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According to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), there are more than 25,000 corporate pension plans in the United States.1 For each of these plans, managers in the sponsoring company make decisions on a regular basis about how much and how frequently to contribute to the plan and what investment strategy to pursue with plan assets. Until recently, the most common approach to these decisions taken by plan sponsors could be loosely characterized as: Let's make contributions at the minimum level permitted by regulation, and let's use a growth-oriented investment approach, trusting that over time the combination of market returns and legislative smoothing will lead the plan to be fully funded at a reasonable—and reasonably stable—cost.
That approach doesn't necessarily work anymore. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) redefined how contributions are calculated, moving in the direction of marked-to-market valuations and also reducing the time period over which funding shortfalls need to be made good. Statement of Financial Accounting Standards SFAS 158 had a similar impact on how pension plans are captured on corporate balance sheets. These changes increased the complexity of managing pension plans' impact on the sponsor's financials.
There are several ways in which pension plans impact the corporations that sponsor them: by requiring funding contributions from the sponsoring company, by changing that organization's income statement and balance sheet as asset and liability values rise and fall, by subjecting the company to costs imposed by the PBGC, and potentially by limiting benefits to both plan participants and corporate executives if a plan's funded ratio falls below certain thresholds. A company's funding and investment decisions around its pension plan present a multifaceted challenge. Two seemingly identical plans may have significantly different impacts on their sponsoring organizations as a result of differences in their corporate situation and financial status.
Contribution Decisions: Balancing Costs of Defined Benefits
The high costs and growing risk associated with running a defined-benefit plan have spurred a general trend toward plan closures. Although the majority of plans (59 percent) remain open, many sponsors have chosen to close their plans to new participants or freeze benefits for current plan participants. Thirty-two percent of plans now offer no accrual of benefits at all.2 For a frozen plan that will incur no further benefit accruals, company contributions are required only to the extent that existing assets cannot cover the benefits already promised. Even in this situation, however, contribution decisions are not always straightforward.
Although the PPA represented a legislative shift toward mark-to-market valuation for pension assets and liabilities, and increased the minimum level of contributions for most plan sponsors, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) of 2012 was a step in the other direction. MAP-21 was primarily designed to fund highway repairs, but it also reduced the size of contributions that corporations are required to put into their defined-benefit plans. The logic behind this rule change was that if corporations contribute less money to their pension plans, they will claim less tax relief for their pension contributions, which means the federal government will bring in more revenue, ultimately enabling more highway repairs.
There is a catch, though. At the same time that it reduced minimum pension plan contributions, MAP-21 raised the premiums plan sponsors must pay to the PBGC. The variable-rate portion of the premium for companies with underfunded plans is rising from 0.9 percent of the funding shortfall to 1.8 percent by 2015, with further increases beyond that. This means that if a plan is underfunded, every dollar that the company keeps in its corporate account, rather than putting it into the plan, will incur what is in effect a 1.8 percent tax in the form of an increased PBGC premium. Although corporations in general will continue to prefer to hold money in their corporate account rather than their pension plan because doing so gives them greater flexibility, an analysis of net present value under the new rules usually comes out in favor of funding sooner rather than later because of the drag caused by the increased PBGC variable-rate premium.
Individual situations vary, of course. Financing costs and tax considerations are important. The argument in favor of funding early is strongest for a corporation that has access to capital and that would incur an immediate tax benefit from contributing to the plan. The balance sheet composition, plan asset allocation, and the opportunity cost of other uses for corporate cash may also play into the decision.
A typical plan that was 80 percent funded prior to the passage of MAP-21 might have seen that funded status jump to 100 percent using the new calculation basis. That has a big impact on required contributions. Indeed, among the U.S.-listed corporations with the largest pension liabilities, about two-thirds have said that they are not required to make any contributions to their primary U.S. pension plans in 2013, mainly thanks to MAP-21. Nevertheless, most have said they expect to make contributions. In Boeing's quarterly earnings statement on July 25, 2012, CFO Greg Smith summed up the attitude of many executives: "[MAP-21] certainly does give [us] some flexibility in the years to come, but I don't see our plan on how we will fund [our pension plan] changing." Ultimately, the impact of MAP-21 on pension funding may be the opposite of lawmakers' intention. Despite the lower minimum contribution levels, MAP-21 may push companies to contribute more to their pension plans, if they can afford to do so, in order to save money in the long run.
1. Single employer plans insured by the PBGC as of 2011. Source: PBGC databook.
2. Single employer plans insured by the PBGC as of 2011. Source: PBGC databook.
Another important consideration in contribution decisions is the possibility that capital may become trapped in the plan if market conditions become more favorable and the plan's funded status improves. This is mainly a concern for frozen plans, which are no longer accruing benefits and so cannot use the surplus to offset the cost of future accruals. Withdrawing money from a pension plan can be difficult and tax-inefficient, so possible upswings in asset values should be a factor in contribution decisions.
Once the funded ratio approaches 100 percent, the possibility of trapped capital starts to loom. To manage this risk, funding policy and investment policy need to work in harmony. This is a major reason why liability-responsive asset allocation (LRAA) is growing in popularity. LRAA ties asset allocation to the plan's funded status. As the plan's funded status improves, the plan makes less-risky investments. In other words, the plan takes risks only when they would have a useful payoff. If success would simply lead to trapped capital, then a plan has nothing to gain from a risk-oriented investment policy.
Watching the Funded Status Trigger Points
In addition to its role in decisions about contribution levels, a pension plan's funded status under the PPA requires particular attention when it's near either 60 or 80 percent. If funded status falls below 80 percent, this means (among other things) that a notice must be sent to members and to the PBGC, that freedom to make lump sum payments may be restricted, that further calculations must be carried out to determine whether the plan is "at risk," and that benefit improvements may be possible only if they are funded immediately. At a funded status below 60 percent, things become even more serious. Benefit accruals are frozen; no lump sum payments are permitted; and executive non-qualified benefits are restricted, even though those benefits would not be paid from the plan. For plans with a funded status near 60 percent or 80 percent, it makes sense for plan sponsors to seriously consider bumping up contributions to the plan in order to bring the funded status over the threshold.
Since contribution decisions today are often a question of judgment ("How much do we want to contribute?") rather than formula ("How much does the law require us to contribute?"), contribution policy and investment policy interact in interesting new ways. Each needs to be considered in light of the other, and in light of decisions' effect on the plan sponsor's financial statements.
Impact on the Income Statement
A pension expense is part of the plan sponsor's income statement. The company calculates this expense based on SFAS 873, which was produced more than 25 years ago and is now showing its age. The calculation of the income statement's pension expense is thorny because it is based on a company's expected return on plan assets (EROA). In other words, it requires the company to make an assumption about how asset values will change over the long term. In most areas of accounting, a reward that is earned for taking risk is credited only if and when it materializes. In contrast, EROA allows a company to take the credit now for an expected future reward. A higher EROA leads to higher recorded corporate earnings in the current reporting period, even though changing the assumption about pension assets' value does not generate any real profit for the organization. Obviously, this creates an incentive for a plan sponsor to prefer a higher EROA over a lower one, within reason.
This accounting issue has a real impact on pension plans' investment policy. Sometimes sound investment policy involves reducing risk, but choosing less-risky assets might reduce the expected return on plan assets that the company uses to calculate earnings. In this environment, companies may find it difficult to change their investment policy to lower their portfolio risk because there may be a misalignment of incentives between the plan and those responsible for choosing the EROA assumption. Companies need to recognize the potential for misalignment of incentives and take steps to preclude it from leading to inappropriate investment decisions.
Meanwhile, International Accounting Standard (IAS) 19 recently changed to have plan sponsors fully recognize market fluctuations in the year in which they occur. These fluctuations do not appear in the quarterly or annual profit-and-loss (P&L) statements. Instead, they're accounted for annually in the Statement of Other Comprehensive Income (OCI). Under this approach, a stable element of investment earnings is treated as interest (and included in the P&L) and the remainder—the fluctuations due to market variation—is treated as an unanticipated gain or loss (and included in OCI). There is a strong possibility that the U.S. standard will move in a similar direction within the next few years.
Pre-empting this possible move, some corporations—most notably AT&T, Verizon, UPS, and Honeywell—have chosen to adopt more mark-to-market approaches in their income statement calculations. This is permitted, although not required, by current U.S. accounting standards. The details of these corporations' changes vary, as—to some extent—do the rationales given. The general sense that they improve transparency and represent better accounting is captured in an observation by AT&T's CFO Rick Lindner, in a conference call discussing that company's change: "The more we looked at different methods, the more complex the amortization and the benefit accounting became, and we finally stepped back from it and said, 'Let's go in the opposite direction: Let's make this simpler.'"
3. SFAS 87 and SFAS 158, which covers balance sheet disclosure, both now form part of Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 715.
Compared with its effects on the corporate income statement, a pension plan's implications for the balance sheet are fairly straightforward. The corporate balance sheet must include a net pension asset (or liability) equal to the current surplus (or deficit) of asset value over liability value in the pension plan. In some unusual situations, the balance sheet calculation can be more complicated—for example, if the plan has a surplus that is too large to offset against future contributions.
Because the pension plan's value on the balance sheet swings with the market, there is a possibility that it could lead to a breach of debt covenants. A more common concern is the question of how stock analysts will interpret balance-sheet volatility. In general, analysts expect volatility in the net pension asset when asset values or interest rates fluctuate. For most corporations, this need not cause alarm. However, for companies in which the plan's balance sheet impact is unusually large—for example, if the pension plan is large in relation to the size of the corporation—closer attention needs to be paid. Thus, it is no surprise that many of the corporations taking the lead in reducing risk within their pension plans are those with the largest plans, especially those—such as auto manufacturers and airlines—whose corporate valuations have not grown as fast as those of their plans.
On the flip side, because the calculations behind the balance sheet numbers are marked-to-market, they tend to provide the most objective basis for investment-related activities, such as monthly or quarterly reporting in connection with a liability-driven investing program, and they may serve as the basis for an LRAA glide path.
Using a selective yield curve to calculate the present value of plan liabilities complicates the interpretation and use of the balance sheet numbers. In short, this approach involves choosing a discount rate based on a subset of the bond market rather than the average yield across all high-quality bonds. The bonds in the subset are chosen for their higher yields (an indicator of higher risk), which allows the plan sponsor to disclose a lower liability value. In reality, the plan's actual investment portfolio may not be able to match the performance of the balance sheet liability. Use of selective yield curves has increased in recent years, but it's far from universal.
The PBGC, which protects pension plan participants in the event of a plan sponsor's failure, is funded by the premiums plan sponsors pay. Unfortunately, the PBGC is currently in a weak financial position: The latest annual report disclosed a shortfall as of September 30, 2012, amounting to $34 billion. (This calculation uses more conservative assumptions than most corporate plans do, and some industry groups have argued that the PBGC overstates its weakness as it seeks better funding and lower liabilities.) Concerns over the strength of the PBGC translate into greater demands on plan sponsors. In addition to the substantial premium increases introduced by MAP-21, there have been proposals to link a plan sponsor's premium level to its corporate credit rating, which would further increase pension costs for many organizations.
Plan sponsors have two primary approaches to managing their PBGC-related costs. The first, which we have already described, is to reduce funding shortfalls and hence reduce the size of their variable-rate premium. The second is to reduce the number of plan participants, which would reduce the fixed-rate portion of their premium. This might be done by offering lump sums to terminated vested members in lieu of their pension benefits. Another risk-transfer option is to buy out retiree liabilities with an insurance company, purchasing annuities to transfer responsibility for payment of future pension benefits to the insurance company.
Best Practice: Balancing Diverse Considerations
Clearly, U.S. companies' decisions about contributions to their pension plans and investment policy for plan assets are complicated by the diverse—and sometimes conflicting—pressures created by the different laws and regulations that govern plan funding, investments, protection, and accounting. Therefore, plan sponsors, pension staff, and investment staff must understand the importance of each of these pressures within the context of their organization's unique circumstances. Decision-makers need to be able to answer questions such as:
- Is our company's balance sheet a material pressure point?
- Is the flexibility to defer contributions offered by MAP-21 useful to our business?
- What would our earnings statement look like under a marked-to-market approach?
- How does each available choice affect the interests of participants in our plan?
Different organizations have different priorities, and best practices begin with knowing what those priorities are. Knowing where risk lies for your organization and understanding the impact of the ever-changing regulatory environment are critical. Increasingly, these are priorities that are being discussed at the highest levels. The potential impact of a pension plan on the sponsoring corporation is larger today than it has ever been, and many treasurers and CFOs have found themselves learning far more than they ever thought they would need to about the details of pension funding and accounting.
In a complex world, pension plan sponsors and staff must constantly balance an assortment of disparate goals as they manage the plan. Best practices involve making every decision with all of these goals in mind.
Bob Collie is chief research strategist in Russell Investments' Americas institutional business. Collie is responsible for the strategic advice delivered to the various parts of Russell's institutional client base, as well as for working with the manager research team, product groups, and other research efforts across Russell. He is also the lead author of the Fiduciary Matters blog.
Hal Bradford is a senior consultant in Russell's Americas institutional business. Bradford is responsible for providing advice to large institutional fund clients on investment policy and strategy, asset allocation, asset class structure, manager selection, and performance measurement and analytics.
David Phillips is a senior investment strategist in Russell's Americas Institutional business. Phillips is responsible for strategic allocation and risk analysis for advisory and investment outsourcing clients and prospects.
Gary Stentz is a portfolio manager in Russell's Americas institutional business. Stentz is responsible for the development of strategic, full-service solutions and overall management of investment outcomes for some of Russell's largest investment outsourcing clients.


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AAAA Outstanding Logistics Support Unit of the Year Award
- Deadline for submission of Nomination Packet is August 1st of the subsequent year.
- All information in the Summary and Support Documents must have occurred between August 1 and July 31 of the year that the nomination is being submitted.
Sponsored by AAAA, this Award will be presented "to the Active Army or Reserve Component aviation unit that has made an outstanding contribution to or innovation in the logistic support of Army Aviation during the awards period encompassing August 1 and July 31. A candidate for this AAAA Functional Award may be any logistics support unit that has met the foregoing criteria. Membership in the AAAA is not a requirement for consideration.
Outstanding Logistics Support Unit Of The Year Criteria
Outstanding Logistics Support Unit Of The Year Nomination Form
Sample Of Completed Nomination Form
Nomination Packet Requirements
Submission Stipulations For Nomination Packets
Historic List Of Award Recipients


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Death notices for Dec. 12, 2013
Thursday, December 12, 2013
David F. Byerley Jr., 80, Delavan, died Tuesday at Beloit Memorial Hospital, Beloit. Arrangements are pending at Brian Mark Funeral Homes, Clinton.
Lyle A. Fuller, 70, Stoughton, formerly of Beloit, died Wednesday at Nazareth Health and Rehabilitation Center, Stoughton. Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Beloit. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until the time of services Friday at the church. Brian Mark Funeral Home, Beloit, is assisting the family.
Virginia A. "Ginny" Stone, 83, Janesville, died Monday at Agrace HospiceCare, Fitchburg. Services will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at Henke-Clarson Funeral Home, Janesville. Visitation will be from 2 p.m. until the time of services Sunday at the funeral home.


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David's Store
Holocaust survivor David Katz uses prose and photographs to tell his story online. His site also includes an easy fill-out form through which readers can send him questions and comments.
Eyewitness: A North Korean Remembers
This is the online autobiography of Kim Young Sik, a North Korean participant in the Korean War. Read his stories, and email him questions and comments.
The International Education and Resource Network connects young people around the world to work collaboratively on social and global issues. The site includes a section for teachers and descriptions of current and ongoing projects.
Multicultural Forum
The Multicultural Pavillion's forum for dialogue on multicultural education and related issues.
Multicultural SuperForum
The McGraw-Hill Multicultural Supersite houses this discussion board on multicultural education for teachers and teacher educators.
"Cyberkids Connection is a virtual place for kids to share their thoughts and ideas with each other. Cyberkids readers from all over the world are forming a global community which we hope will improve communication and understanding among all the world's kids."
Encyclopedia of Women's History
Initially a project designed to house the writings of a single class, this site has become an international publishing opportunity for students writing essays about women in history. This is a great way to include student voices in the interpretation, and telling, of history.
Sojourn to America
Sojourn to America is a forum through which students share stories about how and why they, or their relatives and ancestors, came to America. Hundreds of entries are divided into continents, then countries of origin.
Voices/Multicultural Poetry and Prose Exchange
Part of the Multicultural Pavilion, this site houses a collection of poetry and other creative writing about multicultural issues, identity, and teaching, written by and for educators. Submit your writing, or learn from the experiences and voices of others.
Voices of Women Journal and Resource Guide
Voices of Women is an online collection of writing by women, about, and for women. Users are encouraged to contribute to the project by sharing their stories, information, and resources.
Cybrary of the Holocaust
This online multimedia library of resources pertaining to the Holocaust includes photographs, a teacher's guide, poetry, and myriad other diverse learning experiences for both teachers and students.
National Civil Rights Museum Interactive
http://wwww.midsouth.rr.com/civilrights /
Though online a small sampling of the 100,000 square feet of documents and other media housed at the actual museum in Atlanta, Georgia, this interactive tour combines photographs and panoramic views of many of its permanent exhibits.
United Nations Cyber School Bus
The United Nations hosts this colorful multimedia virtual tour page. The site also includes lessons and materials on global issues, human rights, the environment, and poverty.
The Global Schoolhouse
Global Schoolhouose hosts several collaborative teaching opportunities to engage students in the active exchange of information and knowledge. Current projects include "Field Trips," in which students exchange information about trips they have taken, and "Online Expeditions" in which students take virtual trips to places around the world.
Multicultural Passport
http://18.104.22.168/passport /index.html
Compiled and created collaboratively by teachers from Jefferson County, Colorado, Passport houses a compendium of multicultural lesson plans and ideas arranged by subject area, region, and identity dimension.
Nicknacks Telecollaborate Site
This site facilitates educational collaboration among teachers in the "global" classroom by sponsoring a lesson plan exchange, hosting discussion forums, and connecting educators who are looking for collaborative opportunities.
Includes a database of lesson plans from which to pull or to which to contribute resources as well as a forum for requesting plans and resources on a specified topic.
Advice for Effective Curriculum Transformation
This article was published in Diversity Digest, the print and online journal of DiversityWeb,. It provides useful starting points and steps for transforming curriculum at an institutional level.
Curriculum Guidelines for Multicultural Education
Prepared by the National Council for the Social Studies, this position statement lays out clear guidelines for the development and implementation of multicultural curricula. Though it is specific to Social Studies, this piece does a good job of framing the need for, and the approach for, an overall transformation of the curriculum.
Multicultural Supersite: Curriculum Transformation
McGraw-Hill's Multicultural Supersite includes this collection of informational resources that help teachers and teacher educators develop theoretically and pragmatically sound conceptualization for multicultural curriculum transformation. Among the resources available on this site are a "Q&A" through which the site author answers users' questions about multicultural curriculum and an article on steps for transforming curriculum.
Discovery Channel School
The Discovery Channel hosts this site which includes resources for teachers, students, and parents. The tachers section includes a collection of lesson plans, many with multicultural themes. The student section includes several online learning activities as well as an online history encyclopedia.
Clearninghouse for Multicultural/Bilingual Education
Maintained by Weber State University, this site serves as an index of commercial and non-commercial resources on multicultural and bilingual education.
Multicultural Pavilion
The purposes of the Multicultural Pavilion are to provide resources for educators to explore and discuss multicultural education; to facilitate opportunities for educators to work toward self-awareness and development; and to provide forums for educators to interact and collaborate toward a critical, transformative approach to multicultural education. The site offers a plethora of theoretical and practical resources including awareness activities, dialogue forums, collections of original papers and research, an intercultural poetry exchange, and a host of collaborative opportunities for teachers and students.
New Horizons 8th Floor: Multicultural Education
The 8th Floor represents just one of several sets of resources housed within the New Horizons Web site. Its is primarily a collection of articles and short papers on multicultural education and related topics.
Center for Multilingual Multicultural Research
This Center, located at the University of Southern California, conducts and facilitates research on bilingual, multicultural, and crosscultural education. The Center also serves as a starting point for teachers seeking information about these educational approaches.
Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence
Through research, publication, and education, CREDE works to assist linguistic and cultural minority students in their attempts to achieve academically to their highest potentials.
National Association for Multicultural Education
NAME is the largest organization in the world specifically dedicated to the ideals and principles of multicultural education. The site contains information on NAME's national conference, quarterly journal, and national listserv on multicultural issues in education.
National Multicultural Institute
First created in the early 1980s to answer a nationwide need for more information and training opportunities related to diversity, NMCI remains one of the leaders in this field through conferences, trainings, and publications.
Southern Poverty Law Center: Teaching Tolerance
Teaching Tolerance, published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, is a magazine through which teachers share ideas and resources about how to encourage appreciation of differences among students.
Diversity Database
The University of Maryland offers this massive collection of resources and links related to diversity. Resources are organized several different ways, including by specific diversity topic including Age, Class, Religion, Sexual Orientation, Disability, Gender, National Origin, Race, and Ethnicity.
Inclusion: Yours, Mine, Ours
Rush Services hosts this collection of resources designed to help teachers more effectively include children with special needs in their classrooms. Register for their free newsletter that includes specific and practical information on classroom inclusion.
K-5 Cyber Trail: Multicultural Curriculum Resources
K-5 Cybertrail, an index of sites and materials for educators, includes this section to specifically highlight multicultural resources.
LD Online
this interactive guide contains information and resources for students, teachers, and parents on various learning disabilities. The site includes first person accounts, audio clips, discussion forums, and other teaching and learning tools. Teachers are encouraged to submit the work and stories of their own students with regards to learning disabilities.
Electronic Magazine of Multicultural Education
EMME is a purely electronic magazine that publishes curricular tools and ideas, reviews of multicultural media, and scholarly essays on multicultural education. Each issue focuses on a particular theme, the most recent being "Understanding One's Own Culture through Cultural Artifacts."
Multicultural Graffiti
Available in Spanish, Italian, and English, this online magazine, focuses on multiculturalism, internationalism, and social disintegration. Multicultural Graffiti has an international staff of editors and contributors with representatives from Columbia, Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Singapore, and Brazil.
Multicultural Review
Though this site serves mostly as an advertisement for this quarterly journal for all people interested in remaining informed about trends and publications related to cultural diversity and multiculturalism, it also contains each issue's reviews of books, videos, and other educational resources .
A Brief History of Multicultural Education
Part of the Multicultural Supersite's Multicultural Philosophy Series, this article by Paul Gorski examines the roots of multicultural education and how its focus has become increasingly more progressive.
Defining Multicultural Education
Paul Gorski provides a holistic definition of multicultural education that focuses on three levels of transformation: 1) the transformation of self; 2) the transformation of schools and schooling; and 3) the transformation of society.
Enhancing Multicultural Education with Technology
http://www.coe.uh.edu/insite/elec_pub /HTML1997/di_alle.htm
Kay W. Allen of the University of Central Florida explores ways in which Internet technologies can supplement multicultural teaching and learning.
ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education
A host of articles and resources are categorized under headings that include "Community Involvement," "Curriculum and Instruction," "Equity and Cultural Diversity," and "School Reform."
Multicultural Education
Keith Wilson provides this introductory look at the pros and cons of education, and at what the results of multicultural education should look like.
Multicultural Education: A Blueprint for Acton
The National Council on Educating Black Children wrote this strategic plan for implementing multicultural education. The article is organized around a chronology of five implementation tasks.
Multicultural Education in Elementary and Secondary Schools
Michael Webb wrote this article about the implementation of multicultural programs in K-12 schools. He explores the goals of these programs and their effect on students.
The Multicultural Pavillion International Project
This collection of original articles and essays on multicultural education and related topics is one of the most popular sections of the Multicultural Pavillion Web site.
NCBE's Online Library
The National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education hosts this online library of hundreds of articles and publications related to curriculum and instruction, language and culture, education research, and many other related topics.
Preparing Educators for Multicultural Classrooms
Carolyn M. Penny, Albert Forney, and Tanya Millner Harlee, graduate students in Education Leadership at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill collaborated on this examination of current oppressive trends in education and practical suggestions for how to counteract them through multicultural education.
Varieties of Multicultural Education
ERIC's Clearinghouse on Urban Education includes this article by Gary Burnett about different conceptualizations of multicultural education and how understanding them can help all of us develop more effective programs.
What Makes a School Multicultural?
Caleb Rosado explores the meaning of "multiculturalism" and how it relates to school change. He moves this conversation into a conceptual framework for multicultural education.
Whites in Multicultural Education: Rethinking Our Role
Gary Howard challenges white educators to think more critically and reflectively about transformative approaches for multicultural education. He does this, in part, by sharing his own powerful and intriguing experiences with multicultural teaching and learning.
A to Z Teacher Stuff Thematic Units Index
A to Z Teacher Stuff provides this collection of hundreds of resources organized into thematic units. Some units include Me, Family, Around the World, and Ancient Egypt.
The Academy Curriculum Exchange
A consortium of teachers from 14 states created the core of this lesson plan database, Now, The Academy Curriculum Exchange houses over 700 lesson plans in all subject areas. Many of these have a multicultural flavor, including "Awareness to Culture by Self-Esteem," and "Critical Thinking Skills." Users are encouraged to expand the site by donating their ideas and lesson plans.
AskERIC Lesson Plans
Over 1,100 lesson plans are housed in this section of the ERIC's Web site. These plans have been submitted and reviewed by teachers all over the world and cover all subject areas. Search by subject area or keyword.
Hall of Multiculturalism
The Texas Education Network hosts this index of sites, organized around racial and ethnic identities. Categories include "African/African American," "Asian American," "Indigenous People," "Latino/Chicano/Hispano/Mexican," and "Native American."
Multicultural Paths
Multicultural Paths is the Multicultural Pavilion's index of related sites. Entries are divided into categories and subcategories including "Culture," "Language," "Online Journals," "Social Action and Human Rights," and "Online Literature."
Multicultural Perspectives in Mathematics Education
University of Georgia's Department of Mathmetics hosts this resource directory to help educators understand the role of multicultural teaching and learning in mathematics education. The site includes an annotated bibliography, dissertation references, and Web links.
Profile of Equitable Mathematics and Science Classroom and Teacher
Joy Wallace of the Columbia Education Center developed this set of equity guidelines for math and science classrooms and teachers. Special attention is given to physical environment, curriculum, language, pedagogy, behavior management, and assessment.


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Levodopa/Iron Salts, Oral Interactions
This information is generalized and not intended as specific medical advice. Consult your healthcare professional before taking or discontinuing any drug or commencing any course of treatment.
Medical warning:
Serious. These medicines may interact and cause very harmful effects. Contact your healthcare professional (e.g. doctor or pharmacist) for more information.
How the interaction occurs:
When these two medicines are taken together, the absorption of levodopa may decrease.
What might happen:
The effects of your levodopa may decrease and cause an increase in your symptoms of Parkinsonism.
What you should do about this interaction:
Contact your healthcare professionals (e.g. doctor or pharmacist) about taking these two medicines together. They may already be aware of this interaction and may be monitoring you for it. If your doctor prescribes these medicines together, it may be necessary to separate the times that you take each medicine. If you experience an increase in your symptoms of Parkinsonism, contact your doctor. Your dose of levodopa may need adjusting. Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any medicine before checking with them first.
- 1.Campbell NR, Hasinoff B. Ferrous sulfate reduces levodopa bioavailability: chelation as a possible mechanism. Clin Pharmacol Ther 1989 Mar; 45(3):220-5.
- 2.Campbell NR, Rankine D, Goodridge AE, Hasinoff BB, Kara M. Sinemet-ferrous sulphate interaction in patients with Parkinson's disease. Br J Clin Pharmacol 1990 Oct;30(4):599-605.


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Home » Classic in Field » BAILEY, Denio & Palmer: The Gospel Record
BAILEY, Denio & Palmer: The Gospel Record
Amy and sometimes Dennis sing Gospel songs. Derek plays the guitar, Dennis Synthesiser and Samples. This is not improvised music, as known, it is rather stretched arrangements of Gospel music. It's great to hear Derek in this context - as with the great 'Ballads', it's a rare occasion on which he leavens the abstractly free with the generic, melodic and harmonic and it suits him. More of this. Palmer orchestrates with taste and imagination. Amy does some daring and some risky things and holds everything together. Altogether a fine release. Short. 7 songs. But who need quantity when there's quality to be had. L
Code: SRRCD004
Price: £12.50


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In an important opinion regarding standing for false advertising suits in the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court on March 25 this year ruled that Static Control Components Inc. had standing to sue Lexmark International Inc. for false advertising.
The Court's decision in Lexmark International Inc. v. Static Control Components Inc. marks an important turning point in a long running battle for Static. It has other benefits, including effectively doing away with Circuit Court forum-shopping — a problem that had plagued defendants against false advertising claims until the ruling.
As early as 2002, printer company Lexmark had accused ink cartridge remanufacturer Static Control of selling components incorporated into the latter's third-party replacement printer cartridges that infringed Lexmark's intellectual property — specifically, a microchip on the cartridge that replaced Lexmark's own, thus allowing purchasers of Static Control's remanufactured cartridges to use them in Lexmark's printers.
Static Control fought back with counterclaims alleging Lexmark had violated antitrust laws by forcing consumers to buy only Lexmark-brand ink. Static also accused Lexmark of falsely telling customers that Static Control's components infringed Lexmark's intellectual property. Each company eventually lost its respective claims against the other. However, in August 2012, the 6th Circuit revived Static Control's false advertising counterclaim, reversing the trial court's finding that Static Control lacked standing to bring it.
The 6th Circuit's ruling brought to a boil an issue that had been simmering between the circuit courts for years. At the time of the 6th Circuit's ruling, to maintain standing to bring a false advertising claim the 7th, 9th and 10th Circuits required plaintiffs to be a direct competitor of any defendant. This so-called categorical test represents a standard that Static most likely could not have met had it brought its suit in one of these districts.
In contrast, the 3rd, 5th, 8th and 11th Circuits at the time used a series of five factors — the so-called "Contractors of California test" — borrowed from federal antitrust laws to determine standing in such cases. Interestingly, the Contractors of California test was pulled directly from an opinion written in Associated Gen. Contractors of California v. Carpenters by one Samuel A. Alito Jr., now an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Alito apparently had a change of heart, however, since he signed on to the court's most recent unanimous opinion.
The 2nd Circuit presented still a third test: that plaintiffs show a reasonable interest to be protected against the alleged false advertising and a reasonable basis for believing that the false advertising would harm their interest. The 6th Circuit adopted the 2nd Circuit's reasonable interest test in finding that Static Control had standing in its current suit. Of the three, the reasonable interest test most favored plaintiffs. The categorical test most favored the defense.
The briefs in Lexmark Intl. v. Static Control rehearsed this circuit split anarchy, and the case could have easily gone sideways at the Supreme Court. The Court could have declined to adopt a single standing test. It could have issued a fractured set of opinions without a clear consensus. It could have adopted a single standing test but articulated the standard in a confusing way. Or it the court could have articulated a clear standing test but applied it to the facts in a way that leaves everyone baffled.
Fortunately, in rejecting all of those various tests, a unanimous Supreme Court held that to show standing to bring a false advertising claim, the plaintiff must prove that its interests fall within "the zone of interests" protected by the Lanham Act, and that the alleged injury was "proximately caused" by the violation at issue. Under this simplified zone of interest and proximate cause approach, the court made clear that Lexmark's alleged statements about Static Control's chips were sufficiently harmful to the latter to grant it standing in a false advertising case, even if the companies were not competitors.
The court, clearly in a helpful mood, went further. It gave several examples of situations where members of a market ecosystem that are not necessarily direct competitors can still be considered to disparage one another through advertising in the way the Lanham Act is designed to prevent.
Plaintiff's attorneys are energized by the court's ruling. They hope that if one of their clients is suffering as the result of false advertising, especially to the extent that it may cause them to lose sales or damage its business reputation, they can now sue anywhere. The court's ruling has led many to conclude that we could be in for an increase in litigation by indirect competitors. Now, parties going to court over federal false advertising have one, clear standing test: They must show an injury to a commercial interest in sales or business reputation proximately caused by the defendant's misrepresentations.
I think I can speak for my colleagues who are litigators when I say, "Print this in bold, black ink: We'll take clarity over forum-shopping, any day of the week."


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A desire to participate in corporate strategy decisions at the highest level led Mark Okerstrom first into corporate law, at London firm Freshfields; then to investment banking at UBS; then to Bain Consulting; and then to his current role as CFO and executive vice president of Expedia. The $3.5 billion online travel company was once a unit of media mogul Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp, and Diller still holds sway as its chairman.
Since arriving at Expedia in 2006, Okerstrom, 39, has presided over more than 20 transactions, including last year's divestiture of travel review and advice site TripAdvisor, as well as Expedia's most recent acquisition, in December, of a $632 million majority stake in trivago, a German online travel company. Expedia is striving to expand its reach internationally and build its market share in travel bookings from a current 3% of the $1 trillion industry.
When Okerstrom joined Expedia in 2006 as a senior director on the corporate development team, he was responsible for leading its corporate strategic planning and mergers and acquisitions activities globally. He was able to put his previous M&A experience to good use immediately, he recalls.
"We were looking at a number of acquisitions that could help with international expansion and with building up our TripAdvisor business," he says. "It was very much a continuation of the work that I had been doing, either as a lawyer, banker or consultant, but it was very focused on one industry, and one strategic problem. That made it pretty rewarding for me because I could really focus, and really have an impact."
Okerstrom continues to have an impact, most recently by identifying the strategic areas where Expedia must excel in order to continue to grow.
What was it like to work inside a corporation for the first time after leaving professional services?
I was a little bit nervous about it. Corporates often have a reputation for being slower paced, with a lot of 9-to-5-ers. Expedia wasn't like that. It was filled with people who had done things like I had done, and were very much like-minded. They wanted to make themselves better and constantly learn. It was a pretty easy transition for me.
You're currently CFO, but also still have a great deal of interest in and responsibility for corporate development. How do you find that combination of roles?
I find it incredibly fun, to be able to think strategically and then as CFO to be able to actually put that strategic thinking into practice, through controlling, with the CEO and the board, the capital allocation decisions. To make sure we effectively put those strategies into place is very rewarding. It helps me marry the short-term versus the long-term view.
What's an example of that thinking in action?
The TripAdvisor spin-off is a great example of that. TripAdvisor was a business that continues to be very fast-growing, and it was a business that we really liked having. If you only took the very short-term view of Expedia, you might not spin it off. It was really driving a lot of our growth and driving good quarterly performance for the business. But we, and our board, had the ability to say that the long- and medium-term prospects for Expedia are strong on their own. To the extent that we suffer some short-term volatility, that was a very acceptable trade-off to make.
What was the most challenging aspect of the TripAdvisor spin-off?
Just the decision to do it.
We took a look at our $1 trillion travel industry, and realized we do just over $30 billion in travel bookings. We're the largest travel company in the world, and we've only got 3% of the market. That's a huge amount of opportunity in front of us.
We really thought about what it is going to take for us to win in this industry, to take 3% in market share and make it something much more significant. It really boiled down to a few things. One is that the bulk of the value in the online travel industry is in the hotel industry, because you've got hundreds of thousands of small hotels that can't necessarily afford the marketing reach and the technology necessary to reach the traveler in Japan who wants to come stay in Rome. We can do that for them.
It's all about geographic expansion. It's about showing consumers around the world the hotels we already have, in the U.S. and in Europe, and adding new supply. If you can build the biggest network of consumers on one side, and all of the geographies and hotels on the other side, that creates something very compelling for suppliers, for consumers and for the industry as a whole. Geographic growth is a core part of it.
And all of this is enabled by technology. Expedia created an industry on the back of technology. We recognize that for us to continue to have a leadership position in this industry, we really need to maintain that, that technological edge. The most accurate rates and inventory, the fastest Web sites, translated perfectly in every language. We need to invest in that, in order to win.
Lastly, as consumers move to new distribution channels like mobile, we need to be in a leadership position there as well.
It's a huge industry. The three things that are really going to drive us are geographic expansion, technology and product investments, and really being the best as new distribution channels emerge. This is a very attractive business. It can be hugely profitable and can generate a huge amount of cash flow for shareholders.
Finance-wise, are there any special initiatives that have gone along with the strategic imperatives?
As we expand geographically, we have put a pretty significant focus on our foreign exchange operations. We've got a great team who have built up a great FX hedging program. They've done a terrific job. We're able to pretty nicely control the economic risk associated with foreign exchange.
The other focus for us more recently has been around building out the financial infrastructure to be able to support the global platforms. We've been essentially rewriting and implementing a new ERP system. They're tough things to do, but it's something we needed to invest in, and implement.
The third thing is that we've announced recently a pretty significant initiative whereby we're changing the way consumers are able to book hotels on our Web site. Consumers have only been able to pay us directly with their credit card, under the merchant model. We're beginning to introduce Expedia travel preference [an agency model], where consumers have a choice. They can pay us up front or pay hotels at the time of stay.
How did you manage through the economic downturn?
You've got to be pretty disciplined around your cost structure, and we were fairly effective on that front, especially on discretionary spending items. But the great thing about the travel industry, especially online travel, is that we're somewhat countercyclical. Consumers like to travel. They will scale back, but they still like to travel. For example, in Europe, where there have been significant economic challenges, they still take their vacations and still like to travel.
What do you think is among the most important lessons you have learned along the way?
It's about pushing yourself. One of the things I say to young people whom I mentor is you need to get comfortable feeling uncomfortable. Once you get comfortable with that feeling, it empowers you to take on new challenges. For example, you're never a public company CFO until you are. No one is experienced doing analyst calls, for example, or investor days. You just don't do that unless you're a public company CFO. The thing that prepared me best for that is that comfort in knowing that it's going to be uncomfortable for a bit. You'll get more comfortable over time, with experience.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part is keeping up with the travel. Expedia has operations on every continent, and some pretty significant operations in a few places. I've got a wife and two kids [5 and 9], and it's sometimes tough to be on an airplane all the time.
Have you had mentors?
I've had mentors along the way. I think it's incredibly important, and I try always to mentor people informally. Also, I have always tried to work for people I admire, and that's very true for Dara Khosrowshahi, our CEO, and for Barry Diller.
For the complete 2012 30 Under 40 list, see Ascending the Corporate Ladder. For last year's list, see Ready to Take Charge.