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Russian hacking group Fancy Bears' Hack Team on Tuesday claimed to have accessed the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) database, alleging that American tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams and four-time Rio Olympics gold medallist gymnast Simone Biles have been allowed to consume banned substances.
The hacking site claimed to have leaked dozens of files allegedly relating to United States athletes on the internet, reports Sputnik.
The site claimed former No.1 Serena was allowed to take banned substances such as oxycodone, hydromorphone, prednisone and methylprednisolone in 2010, 2014 and 2015.
The hacking site also claimed that Simone Biles failed a doping test yet avoided disqualification.
Serena's sister Venus was allowed to take prednisone, prednisolone and triamcinolone among others in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. The documents do not reveal the diagnoses of the athletes which led to WADA allowing them to take the substances.
Simone Biles tested positive for methylphenidate in August, but she was not disqualified. In 2013 and 2014, she was allowed to take dextroamphetamine.
Simone Biles, also a ten-time world championships gold medallist, tested positive in August 2016.
"After detailed studying of the hacked WADA databases we figured out that dozens of American athletes had tested positive," the Fancy Bears' group claimed on its website.
"The Rio Olympic medallists regularly used illicit strong drugs justified by certificates of approval for therapeutic use," it said.
"In other words they just got their licenses for doping. This is other evidence that WADA and IOC's Medical and Scientific Department are corrupt and deceitful."
"As predicted, the USA dominated the 2016 Olympics medal count with 46 gold, 37 silver, 38 bronze for 121 total," Fancy Bears' continued. "The US team played well but not fair."
The site also claimed American basketball star Elena Delle Donne's drug test revealed that she had also used amphetamine. In addition, since 2014 she has been taking hydrocortisone that is also classified as doping.
The entire Russian athletics team was barred from competing in Rio after systemic doping breaches were exposed earlier this year.
Since then, several hacking groups have threatened to hack WADA.
- 14/09/2016 13:47 - Florence Kiplagat eyeing record at Chicago Marathon defence
- 14/09/2016 09:57 - India's Javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia wins Gold at Rio Paralympic Games
- 13/09/2016 21:10 - World Chess Olympiad: Indian Men finish 4th, Women come in 5th


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Funding Circle Small Business Loan Review
Editorial Note: The content of this article is based on the author's opinions and recommendations alone. It may not have been previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed by any of our network partners.
Written By
Updated on Wednesday, July 29, 2015
If you're looking for a quick way to borrow money to run your business, FundingCircle may be the answer. Funding Circle is an online marketplace that connects investors with small businesses that need funding to expand, purchase new equipment, hire new employees or market products.
The loan terms offered are 3 to 120 and you can borrow $25,000 to $500,000. Interest rates are available from 4.99% to 24.90%. The Funding Circle application process is fast and painless plus its terms are transparent.
Loan Details
During the application process at Funding Circle, you have to turn in 3 years of recent business tax returns, a recent personal tax return and 6 months of recent bank statements. If you need to borrow over $200,000 you'll also have to provide a YTD balance sheet and income statement
To take out a loan, first you complete the online application. Afterwards you'll hear from a loan specialist within 2 hours who will help you gather documents for final verification. When your paperwork clears you can receive funding within 1 to 2 weeks.
At minimum to qualify you must have the following:
- 2 years of operating history
- A FICO score of 620 or above
- Annual revenue over $150,000
- No bankruptcies in the last 7 years
- No more than five tax liens in the past 10 years
According to Funding Circle, during the underwriting process both technology and a representative will review your application for loan offers. Online customer reviews and real-time cash flow are factors, other than your credit score, that an underwriter may use to weigh your application.
Loans through Funding Circle are secured so you'll have to pledge an asset as collateral for the loan. This means the lender can take ownership of your property if your loan falls into default. Funding Circle allows you to pledge home equity, vehicles, equipment, accounts receivable or cash savings to secure your debt.
Fees and Gotchas
The Funding Circle loan is very straightforward without many fees or fine print. It charges an origination fee of 3.49% - 6.99% based on your credit strength. Your origination fee is deducted from the loan amount, so it only applies if you're approved and your loan is funded. There are no fees for prepayment of a loan. The late fee is 10% of your missed payment amount and the non-sufficient fund fee is $35.
Pros and Cons
Funding Circle has competitive rates especially if you have an excellent credit score and a solid business. You can also receive funding quickly and you're assigned a loan specialist who will personalize loan offers to meet your business needs.
Another perk of the application process is it's handled entirely online so you don't have to deal with the hassles of getting approved from a brick-and-mortar bank. And the terms are stated very clearly on the Funding Circle website; you won't have to worry about any surprises.
One downside of Funding Circle is the collateral requirement applies to all loans. Of course pledging your assets as loan collateral won't impact you, if you can pay off your small business loan without incident (which everyone plans to do). But you risk loss of assets in the future if something happens and you can't pay.
In addition, just like any other small business loan if your credit score is average or your business isn't performing well you'll have a higher interest rate.
Alternatives to Funding Circle
Thankfully, you have many small business loan options online with easy applications and low interest. Two you may want to consider are Lending Club and Swift Capital.
Lending Club offers loans from $5,000 to $500,000 for 12 to 60 months. And you're not required to offer collateral for loans under $100,000. Loan interest is fixed and starts at 9.77% APR. Origination fees are 3.49% - 7.99%. To qualify you must be in business for at least 2 years and have $75,000 in annual sales.
Swift Capital gives funding from $5,000 to $500,000 and you can receive up to $10,000 within an hour of approval. Terms are available from 3 to 12 months. Rates start at 9.90%. The origination fee is 0.00% - 2.50%. To qualify you must be in business for at least 1 year, have monthly revenue of over $5,000 and a credit score of at least 550.
Who Will Benefit the Most From a Funding Circle Small Business Loan?
Small business owners can benefit from both Lending Club and Funding Circle because they have similar terms. Funding Circle does allows you to borrow more money than Lending Club, so it's your best option if you need to borrow more than $500,000.
However, Lending Club does offer $100,000 unsecured. You shouldn't be completely deterred by Funding Circle because it requires asset collateral, just make sure you understand the implications if your loan should go into default.

subset: commoncrawl


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Christopher Lee
One Man's Museum
The Exiled Collector: William Bankes and the Making of an English Country House
By Anne Sebba
John Murray 308pp £20 order from our bookshop
When William John Bankes began to travel, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the rest of the world was poor. Thus the Englishman could get by on very little and put his learning, and especially his Protestant arrogance, to good use. Whilst at Cambridge, where he encouraged choristers in certain rituals (or so it was said), and when not corrupting Byron, Bankes became well grounded in the Classics. After Cambridge, everyone travelled. War tourism was fashionable and Bankes headed for the Iberian Peninsula. Wellington, a friend of the family, found him well motivated and tenacious. He then moved on, shopping for trinkets in a zigzag through Europe, to the Balkans, to Asia Minor and on to Egypt.


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Castlevania Symphony of the Night: Maria Goes to Saturn
It's difficult to cover something that's been done to death, but I've always wanted to do something on Symphony of the Night. Hopefully I've provided something somewhat new and original by exploring a very specific aspect of the Saturn version of Dracula X: Nocturne in the Moonlight– the ability to play as Maria Renard. Enjoy! You'll also […]Continue Reading


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Melissa & Doug
Underwater Floor Puzzle - 48 Pieces
Explore the wonders of the deep blue sea in this vibrantly illustrated cardboard puzzle. 2' x 3' when assembled, the 48 extra-thick pieces feature an Easy-Clean surface to keep this undersea puzzle scene looking like new.
- Made using the highest quality materials
- Tested to be safe and durable
- Great fun for your baby and child
- Illustration of underwater sea life
- 48 piece floor puzzle
- Helps develop matching skills
- Recommended Age Range 3 Years and up
Dimensions: 24"L x 36"W Assembled


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Withdraw Paypal Indonesia to US Bank Completed
Last Friday, I withdraw my money from my Paypal to my US Bank Account. Please see my post: Withdraw PayPal Indonesia to US Bank.
Fortunately, I got my money on my US Bank account on October 26, 2006. Paypal made deposit to my bank. Great…. 😀
I use US Bank from Accent Banking to withdraw my money from my PayPal account.
Paypal Withdraw Status Completed
US Bank Statement Transaction
Well done… Have a great day!


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Polo Ralph Lauren is the essence of American style. Striking a balance between "timeless" and "modern," Ralph Lauren creates collections that express a unique sense of personal style inspired by the rich visual imagery around him: the rustic beauty of the American West, the golden age of Hollywood glamour, the sleek innovation of automotive design or an authentic equestrian heritage.
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Guest post by George Roberts
August 27, 2012. The first day of school for the 2012–13 school year. The sun was shining; the sky was a brilliant blue; the air was thick with the smell of freshly cut grass; the students were wearing their best back-to-school clothes; and the schoolhouse was filled with a palpable sense of excitement that only the first day of school can bring. Little did I know that three hours later the smell of gunpowder would fill the cafeteria, the smiles would turn to tears, and the excitement flipped to fear.
Any principal, teacher, or student who has faced the trauma of a school shooting event will understand these descriptions and rapid change of emotions. For me, it was all of these things and so much more as principal of the largest high school in my district and the one responsible for the well-being and safety of more than 2,000 students and 200 staff. (more…)


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The community of Eabametoong First Nation (Fort Hope) is situated on the north shore of Eabamet Lake, which is part of the Albany River Drainage basin. Located 360 kilometers north of Thunder Bay, the nearest road/railway town is Armstrong, 155 km southwest. Eabametoong is 362-air km North of Thunder Bay; 347-air km Northeast of Sioux Lookout; & 217-air km northwest of Geraldton. Local roads are maintained by the First Nation, while the airport and main streets are maintained by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. Community transportation is provided by private vehicles.
Location of Eabametoong First Nation, in traditional lands of Matawa-member First Nations:


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Broadway's Hands on a Hardbody to Shut its Hood on April 13
The tuner about hard-on-their-luck truckers will end its run on Broadway.
Based on true events and the acclaimed 1997 documentary by S.R. Bindler, the show is produced by Bindler and Kevin Morris and features a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Doug Wright (Grey Gardens), lyrics by Amanda Green (Bring It On: The Musical), music by Trey Anastasio (Phish) and Amanda Green, direction by Neil Pepe (Speed-The-Plow), and musical staging by Sergio Trujillo (Memphis).
The Broadway production features the entire cast from the out-of-town La Jolla Playhouse engagement: Keith Carradine (Tony Award nominee, The Will Rogers Follies), Allison Case (Hair), Hunter Foster (Tony Award nominee, Little Shop of Horrors), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Catch Me If You Can), David Larsen (American Idiot), Jacob Ming-Trent (Shrek The Musical), Kathleen Elizabeth Monteleone (Tales of the City), Mary Gordon Murray (Into the Woods), Jim Newman (Curtains), Connie Ray (Next Fall), Jon Rua (In the Heights), Keala Settle (Priscilla Queen of the Desert), Dale Soules (Grey Gardens), Scott Wakefield (Ring of Fire), and William Youmans (Wicked).
Hands on a Hardbody also boasts a design team of award winners including Tony Award-winning scenic designer Christine Jones (American Idiot), Tony Award-winning costume designer Susan Hilferty (Wicked), Tony Award-winning lighting designer Kevin Adams (Spring Awakening), and Tony Award-winning sound designer Steve Canyon Kennedy (Jersey Boys). Orchestrations are by Trey Anastasio and Don Hart, and vocal arrangements/musical direction are by Carmel Dean (American Idiot).
The La Jolla Playhouse production of Hands on a Hardbody is produced by Broadway Across America — Beth Williams, Barbara Whitman/Latitude Link, Dede Harris/Sharon Karmazin, Howard & Janet Kagan, and John & Claire Caudwell, Rough Edged Souls, Joyce Primm Schweickert, Paula Black/Bruce Long, and Off The Aisle Productions/Freitag-Mishkin.
Tickets for Hands on a Hardbody range from $55-$155 and are available at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre and at Ticketmaster.com (877-250-2929). The schedule of performances is as follows: Monday at 7:30pm, Tuesday at 7:30pm, Wednesday at 2pm and 7:30pm, Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday at 8pm, and Saturday at 2pm and 8pm.


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Sweet snacks and chocolate are synonymous with halloween, and indulging on the fruits of a hard evening's trick or treating is a tradition kids and parents alike look forward to.
But in truth, the impact on the body of consuming too much sugar is much more frightening than you might expect. And I'm not even talking about the long-term effects of a consistently poor diet, such as obesity and diabetes; the results in just the first hour following a one-off sugar binge are scary enough.
Perhaps the most worrisome prospect of being faced with an abundance of snacks is that you'll lose track of how much you've eaten; unless you have someone sitting next to you reminding you or taking notes, it's very easy to get carried away and have more than you should.
The effects of consuming too much sugar don't become outwardly apparent right away, so it's naturally not always obvious when you've overstepped the mark.
Behind the scenes however, the body has to work to a herculean degree to deal with a high influx of sugar.
To highlight this, we've put together a timeline of what takes place inside the body during the first 60 minutes following a sugar binge.
(Click on the image to see a larger version.)
What constitutes a binge?
For the purposes of this exercise, we've looked at what would likely occur in an adult body following a helping of sugar equivalent to 100g in one sitting.
However, there is no clear cut definition of what constitutes a sugar binge. Everyone's metabolism is different, and the effects of the same amount of sugar on a child may be even more pronounced than those described above.
The recommended daily intake for an adult of total sugars is 90g, and this is the figure you'll see referenced on food packaging.
What many people don't realise though is that total sugars refers to sugars from all foods, and a different set of rules apply when it comes to added sugar.
Products that contain added sugar, such as chocolate, sweets, cakes and even fruit juices, should make up no more than five per cent of daily calorie intake, according to the NHS.
So this makes the upper RI from products with added sugar somewhere closer to 30g.
That's less than the amount of sugar found in a can of Coke (36g) or a small 55g bag of Skittles (49g).
Responsible snacking
One of the more dangerous aspects of sugar is that people tend to underestimate its effects on the body, and don't realise how just how little too much is.
There's nothing wrong with having the occasional treat. But even on special occasions such as halloween, it's important to keep track of how much you've eaten so you don't overdo it.
'Moderation' is a term which has been the moral of several recent diet-related news stories, and it's a term which applies here too. Indulging on sugary snacks should not be something undertaken to excess on a habitual basis.
Parents should keep in mind that what they view as acceptable practice rubs off on their children. The more they see overindulging on sugary treats as standard, the more likely they are to do it regularly themselves and carry on doing so in later life.
So as well as practising that great mantra of moderation, it's a good idea to educate your children on it too.
Popular snack reference table
Calories per 100g
Sugar (g) per 100g
Calories per (serving)
Sugar (g) per (serving)
|Mars Bar
|230 (51g)
|30.5 (51g)
|Peanut M&Ms
|210 (41g)
|22 (41g)
|Haribo Tangastics
|173 (50g)
|25 (50g)
|Tesco Marshmallows
|76 (3 sweets)
|14.9 (3 sweets)
|130 (1 piece)
|36 (1 piece)
|Fruit Pastilles
|74 (7 sweets)
|11.8 (7 sweets)


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No creatives found in last month for this app
What makes it so different? My Online Gym is an online gym that caters for the needs of professional coaches and their clients in a way that no other site does, for a price which is exceptional value for your money. Signing up is free, with varying memberships available to clients if they would like access to more features. This is a new way of engaging between coach and client. My Online Gym includes a central area, called the Club Hause. This is where all the information lives, articles on training, nutrition and the odd workout. Then there is the Food Hause, here you can find a food diary, a recipe builder, a shopping list builder and nutritional information. The Group Hause is where the trainers can build virtual groups and share information with their teams. Looking for a Trainer? We have a marketplace where you can browse trainers and find one that suits you. My Online Gym offers a way to engage with coaches, clients and other fitness professionals and keep track of all the programs in a way that offers a new way of training. My Online Gym takes the remote out of virtual training. 3 months free access as a Coach when you graduate a course from the AIF. Recently graduated? Congratualtions! Contact us and we'll send you a coupon code to use when you sign up. My Online Gym is proudly affiliated with PSA as our official supplier of protein suppliments and naturally, locally made supplies for hard working coaches and clients. My Online Gym is proudly affiliated with Hyperbeat as our official supplier of quality compression and dry-fit fabric garments, sourced and produced locally.
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So, I'm not as savvy under the hood of Windows 8.1 as I'd like to be and not finding this very intuitive. It's been a long time since I installed all the software and drivers on my Win XP laptop which is now to be retired and I'm starting over with a new computer. Is there an installer for the Peaberry driver that David modified? I've downloaded the folder and unzipped it. Now what? HDSDR is also installed. Nothing shows up in Device Manager that I recognize as being related to the Peaberry operation.
The new computer is one of those little HP Stream Minis. This is a bit of an experiment. Its a tiny computer but would make a nice devoted computer for SDR if it proves itself worthy. I'm having good luck running SDR Sharp on it along with an RTL SDR dongle and operating my meteor radar with this rig. It just about maxes out the processor but I think if I keep it devoted to one task at a time it will handle it.
Any tutoring on installing the drivers to WIN 8.1 would be appreciated. I also have the little HP computer set up for dual boot between Windows and Linux Mint 17.2. Don't know much about Mint yet but wanting to learn. I think Quisk may be my next experiment once I get the Peaberry running with Win 8.1.


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Issue 16-37: Exports
March 4, 2016
- B.C. exports climbed 2.0% in January compared to the same month a year earlier.
- Solid wood product exports jumped 20.1% in January compared to January 2015.
- Energy product exports fell 27.9% in January compared to the same month in 2015.
By Destination
The value of B.C. origin commodity exports increased 2.0% in January, compared to the same month in 2015. There was strong growth in shipments to B.C.'s largest trading partners, the United States (+6.5%) and Mainland China (+8.4%), but shipments to Japan (‑34.8%), India (-31.4%) and Hong Kong (-21.3%) have dropped significantly. There was a substantial jump in exports to Australia (+45.6%) as well as Taiwan (+17.2%), while shipments to South Korea (+2.1%) and the European Union (+0.4%) experienced more moderate growth.
By Commodity
There was robust growth of 20.1% in shipments of solid wood products in January, compared to the same month a year earlier. All major wood categories experienced an increase, with the exception of logs, which saw exports fall 26.1%. There was a double-digit rise in exports of softwood lumber (+19.1%), softwood plywood and veneer (+28.8%), other panel products (+28.2%), selected value added wood products (+41.1%) and cedar shakes and shingles (+25.8%), while shipments of other solid wood products more than doubled (+120.2%).
Elsewhere in the forest sector, pulp and paper product exports rose 1.8% in January. Most of the increase was due to a 5.1% boost in shipments of pulp, as exports of newsprint (-25.1%) and other paper and paperboard (‑7.5%) fell. Shipments of other paper product shipments also contributed to the overall growth, climbing 17.0%.
Exports of energy products continued to slump in January, falling 27.9% compared to January 2015. Exports of electricity bucked the trend, jumping 38.4%; however, shipments of natural gas (-35.6%), coal (-31.3%) and other energy products (-24.0%) all experienced double-digit declines.
The value of metallic mineral product shipments fell 12.2% year-over-year from January 2015 to January 2016, despite a 21.1% rise in exports of unwrought aluminum and a 14.9% increase in shipments of unwrought lead. A 4.5% drop in exports of copper ores and concentrates, combined with substantial declines in shipments of molybdenum ores and concentrates (-88.6%), unwrought zinc (-17.2%) and other metallic mineral products (-69.1%) drove the overall decrease.
Exports of machinery and equipment jumped 24.1% in January, driven largely by a 117.6% boost in shipments of motor vehicles and parts and a 134.8% expansion in exports of aircraft and parts. Other commodity groups to experience considerable export growth included chemicals and chemical products (+15.6%), plastics and articles of plastic (+39.5%), fabricated metal products (+18.2%) and fish products (+19.0%). However, there was a 3.7% dip in shipments of agriculture and food products.
Seasonally Adjusted Exports
Seasonal adjustment provides a means of making month-to-month comparisons by removing the periodic seasonal fluctuations that occur. Variations from normal seasonal patterns are revealed in the seasonally adjusted series.
The value of B.C.'s commodity exports grew 2.0% in January as a 4.7% rise in shipments to the United States more than offset a 0.8% dip in exports to the rest of the world. A 16.0% jump in exports of energy products was the most significant driver of the overall increase, but there was also strong growth in shipments of forestry products and building and packaging materials (+1.9%) and industrial machinery, equipment and parts (+10.0%). Growth was tempered somewhat by a 26.4% slump in exports of farm, fishing and intermediate food products.
The same drivers of the overall expansion were instrumental in the increase in shipments to the United States. Exports of energy products (+30.1%), forestry products and building and packaging materials (+3.3%) and industrial machinery, equipment and parts (+15.2%) all had robust growth. The primary reason for the decline in shipments to the rest of the world was a 56.9% plunge in the value of exports of farm, fishing and intermediate food products.
More information about British Columbia exports is available.
Did you know?
Almost 80% of British Columbia's commodity exports are shipped to just three countries: The United States, Mainland China and Japan.


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- Managed DaaS
- Happy End Users
- Industries
- Global
- #OneDizzion
Virtual desktops are popping up on school campuses around the country, typically in the form on on-site virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). Northeast Mississippi Community College implemented their VDI in 2013 and the University of Arkansas and Biloxi Public School District both followed more recently (just to name a few).
The benefits of virtual desktops are appealing to educational institutions:
These benefits hold true for both in-house (or on-campus) VDI and desktop as a service (DaaS) – a solution schools might be over looking to their detriment. As implied by the "as a service" name, DaaS is a fully-managed virtual desktop solution that in many cases may be a better fit for the education field.
In-house VDI requires the installation, monitoring, maintaining and eventual upgrading of infrastructure specifically tuned for virtual desktop deployments. (Retrofitting existing infrastructure isn't a good idea because virtual desktops have very unique requirements to ensure high performance.) Additionally, on premise infrastructure typically needs to be refreshed every three to five years, increasing the school's capital expense. This could put a large strain on the project budget and have on-going cost implications.
If the student population swells, new infrastructure may need to be added. This unpredictable capital expense can leave many schools in a bind if they're unable to find the money in an already tight budget or secure a grant.
With a DaaS solution, highly-tuned infrastructure is already in place and ready for your use. When upgrades need to be made to the infrastructure, that cost is incurred by the DaaS provider. DaaS represents a more predictable, service-based cost that schools can work into on-going budgets, drastically reducing the potential of unexpected sticker shock.
While scalability is important to many industries, it's a requirement for educational institutions. Why pay for infrastructure you don't need and aren't using during long breaks, like summer vacation. The size of each incoming class also fluctuates, meaning you may not need to support as many students next year – leaving the infrastructure you already paid for sitting idle. With DaaS, you can easily spin up the exact number of desktops you need and spin implementations down during quiet seasons. You only pay for what you need, maximizing your investment.
Going the other way, a large spike in need (such as a large in-coming class) can be hard to meet on short notice. One of the major benefits of DaaS is its scalability. In-house VDI has natural scaling limitations based on the infrastructure in place. Since it's a service, DaaS gives you more infrastructure to tap into whenever needed.
Among the IT crowd, VDI is known as being notoriously difficult to implement well. While many IT professionals are well versed in a vast array of skills, VDI requires a special degree of expertise to ensure it meets performance standards. With VDI experts increasingly difficult (and more costly) to hire, many schools are likely left without in house expertise.
DaaS essentially lets you "outsource" the expertise needed to properly implement and maintain virtual desktops. Fully-managed DaaS vendors also provide post-implementation support, helping the school's IT team ensure the virtual desktops continue running as expected.
Virtual desktops require specific licensing (particularly around Windows) as well as the traditional security software such as antimalware, antivirus, etc. When implementing an on-campus VDI solution, the school is responsible for attaining, implementing and maintaining all these components.
With DaaS, vendors can provide guidance on the necessary licensing and even acquire Microsoft licensing on your behalf via their Service Provider Licensing Agreement (SPLA). Management of antimalware and antivirus are also provided as part of the DaaS service, taking this crucial component off of IT's list of concerns.
The demand for mobility is increasing world-wide, and schools aren't isolated from this consumer trend – that's clear with the rise of student portals and mobile devices. Couple that with increasingly strapped school budgets and institutions may find it hard to make technology changes to keep up with demand.
Virtual desktops offer a way to both contain costs while giving students and faculty better access to the software and resources they need to be successful. The key for schools interested in implementing virtual desktops will be making the right decision to help maximize the return and increase the longevity of the program. Understanding the ultimate cost and responsibilities associated with both on-campus VDI and DaaS solutions gives schools options that can lead to a more successful program best fit for that campus' needs.
Nov 15, 2018
As the year comes to an end, spend time auditing your virtual desktops and planning for the future so you can have a smooth, productive 2019. READ MORE
Nov 08, 2018
Learn how Dizzion helped Mindseeker create a secure, HIPAA compliant, easily scalable environment for remote medical coders. READ MORE
Nov 06, 2018
Under the right circumstances and scenarios, these two surprising business personas can become major advocates for desktop virtualization. READ MORE


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Copyright © 2019 A. PRINCEWILL LAW FIRM | All Rights Reserved
Due to the Corona Virus, the Courts are hearing only urgent matters, effective
While our physical locations are closed, we are still operating our regular business hours remotely.
We are conducting Mediations, Client Meetings, and Consultations via video conference, Skype and telephone.
Telephone: 905-492-7662
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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A beautiful lady identified as, Abimbola Sogbesan, was crushed to death by a truck yesterday along Sagamu Abeokuta express road in Ogun state.
Three persons – including Abimbola Sogbesan – were crushed to death in the ghastly auto-crash, which occurred while a rescue operation was going on.
It was gathered that while a rescue team was carrying out a rescue operation, an oncoming truck on full speed left the cordoned off road to the road shoulder where it crushed the three persons to death.
Friends and colleagues have taken to social media to mourn the loss of Abimbola Sogbesan, a friend wrote on Facebook;
Speaking on the incident, the state sector commander, Clement Oladele, said that three vehicles were involved in the accident, a blue Mack truck with registration number KJA931XH, black Honda Accord NRK186EM and Toyota Corolla FST04ER, while six persons – three male adults and three female adults – were involved in the accident.


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Activity Wristband Required
Purchase your ON GROUNDS ACTIVITY WRISTBAND in the Family Camp Office.
Weekly Rate: $13 per person or $39 maximum per immediate family
Daily Rate: $10 per person or $25 per immediate family
Liability Release and Parental Permissions
Every participant in Family Camp recreation activities needs to have a parental permission form on file for each child and/or a liability release for each adult. Please note, all minor guest not accompanied by their parent or legal guardian will require the medical release portion filled out prior to arriving.
If you did not complete the online liability release and parental permission forms when you registered for family camp, you may click here to download a fillable form and return to us via email at firstname.lastname@example.com. You are welcome to print, fill out, sign, and submit upon check-in.
Water Activities
1:00-5:00 pm
Boat Dock: Canoes, Row Boats, Paddle Boats, Kayaks
Spencer Lake Swimming Area: Swimming, Aqua Track, Aqua Glide, The Blob
Outdoor Sports
8:30-10:00 am & 1:00-6:30 pm
These open selection activities are on your own. All equipment is checked out at the Family Camp Office.
Disc Golf
Miniature Golf
Obstacle Course
Indoor Sports
Game Room: Carpetball, Pool, Ping Pong, Foosball, Table Games, Video Arcade
BB Gun Range: Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.


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Graduate student discovers yeast, identifies misclassification
Former University of Wisconsin-Madison student Max Haase discovered a new strain of yeast and a 30 year-old mistake in the identification of a common strain.
The new strain was found on a piece of bark in Green Bay's Baird Creek Nature Preserve and is named Y. laniorum to reflect its origin: The Latin word, "laniorum" translates as "butchers" or "packers." Y. lanorium had similar genes to Candida tenuis (C. tenuis), a yeast that was originally thought to ferment xylose into ethanol.
"Yamadazyma laniorum is a close relative to Candida tenuis and we were excited about Max's discovery," says Chris Hittinger, professor of genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
But after further research and testing on C. Tenuis, Hittinger and Haase discovered it does not ferment xylose. It had been misidentified in 1984.
"Xylose is rare." Hittinger says. "Cellulosic ethanol is one of the major challenges we need to overcome in order to sustain biofuels and one of the most major challenges with producing cellulosic ethanol is that it is the second most abundant sugar in the cell walls of plants.
"The discovery of Y. laniorum and the misidentification of C. tenuis prove how little we understand about yeast and how much there still is to discover," Hittinger says. With this discovery, Hittinger and his lab have conducted 2,000 experiments and have discovered a couple dozen new species, with the potential to find even more. "We have eager students (in) our Wild YEAST Program." he says.
Haase was a part of the Wild YEAST (Yeast Exploration and Analysis Science Team) Program and has helped contribute to many classifications of newly discovered yeast. Haase will attend New York University this upcoming fall for his Ph.D. in biomedical sciences.


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A recent photographic job in Byron Bay inspired the sketch book to come out and play… at home where we were staying and at the markets. Gravitating to the music groove of Tim Stokes I sat in the light rain and sketched the guys punching out the tunes. Of course these guys are not drawn to scale. Maybe I was just 'closer to the beat'.
If you really want to stay in a cool place in Byron try the relaxing Barbara's Guest House in Burns Rd. Just over the track from 'The Rails' it is a short walk to everything.


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Some topics require specific characters that just aren't very accessible on your keyboard. Let's say you're trying to include a mathematical equation in your app and you are looking for the the ∜ sign, or trying to translate your onboarding course to German and looking for the ß "eszett or "sharp S" sign. Or maybe you just want to spice things up with an emoji or two.
An often used solution is booting your text editor and inserting the sign or even googling words/sentences that include your wanted sign. That's not very effective…
Some try finding the alt-number combinations, but that is also quite a hassle.
In order to easily insert your desired special character or symbol, we recommend using a copy&paste based website.
Try using a dedicated website like http://copypastecharacter.com/ that will help you track down characters and conveniently copy&paste them directly into your tex box without a unwanted html styling.
Have fun personalising your texts and keep it classy ☻💪 ⧑ 👓 ☜


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Written by: Terry Link
Primary Source : Possibilitator, March 23, 2017
We now have less than 30 days to finish up our federal tax forms and get them to the IRS and state capitols. As I noted recently in this blog, "taxes are dues for living in a civilized society". So why do we all seek every advantage to reduce those taxes? We want deductions for our home (interest on mortgage, property taxes, etc.), for our charitable contributions, for state and local taxes paid, the list goes on.
There is an entire industry focused on how not to pay taxes – accountants, tax lawyers, tax preparation firms, all promising big savings if you know where to look and how to manage your affairs to minimize the dues we supposedly pay for a civilized community. Can we deduct our travel expenses for volunteer work, how about the tax credit for our solar installation, or the new energy efficiency changes made to the home?
Of course these are relatively small deductions that save many in the middle class a few hundred, or maybe even a couple thousand dollars in taxes per year. How can we actually minimize our overall tax rate we have to pay? Simple – by managing our funds so that more of our income arrives through capital gains than real work. Not surprisingly capital gains are almost entirely in the hands of the wealthiest. The wealthiest 1% make more than a third of their income from capital gains. The New York Times reported that "estimates show that nearly 70 percent of all capital gains benefits go to the top 1 percent."
While the plutocrats and their neighbors cash in at lower income tax rates than middle class citizens with larger deductions and the lower capital gains rate, it seems like nearly everyone is hooked on the notion that paying taxes is something you must avoid. And if you are wealthy enough, you can afford the services of the aforementioned tax consultants to help you do so.
Of course the corporate world, also run by the wealthiest among us, takes tax avoidance to a whole new level, whether it's from hiding income in offshore tax havens, or having their hired lobbyists create a specific tax loophole for them, in exchange of course for a nice little contribution to the legislators that are willing to fill their pockets. Oh yes, again let's not forget how they use their accumulations to take advantage of that low capital gains tax rate.
While I'll admit I don't own a PhD. in economics, looking at changes in the tax rates since World War II shows a striking parallel shift in income inequality. Every time we make yet another reduction in the taxes for the wealthiest, we increase the inequality. The trickle down "voodoo economics" plan boosted by Ronald Reagan never really trickled down. Surprise!!!
Mr. Trump's recent budget proposal accomplishes this not simply by cutting rates directly, which he is certainly aiming to do, but as a recent analysis, reported by the New York Times last week of the TrumpCare proposal indicates, that $1 Trillion in tax cuts embedded in it will over a decade will find their way into the pockets of the richest Americans.
The House Republican Tax plan as reviewed by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities shows visually how the tax code may be further loaded to the wealthiest.
So the reduction in progressive taxation that gained steam with Ronald Reagan's "Voodoo Economics" continues. Or does it actually get worse? If one looks at the holes collectively engineered into the social safety net by the Trump budget proposal, we can see more and more people falling through it. But in Speaker Ryan's world, "it's their choice".
If we are to live in a civilized society, that doesn't let our brothers and sisters fall through our porous safety net, we need to all consider paying taxes as our dues. Making that system fairer, i.e., more progressive, is essential to that end. The security of each of us is entangled with the security of all of us.
Latest posts by Terry Link (see all)
- Beginnings and Endings - October 29, 2019
- Enough Already!! - April 18, 2019
- Attitude of Possibility - March 1, 2019


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You might know us from our famous I Love Public Schools t-shirts. We also make films about public schools.
Nebraska Loves Public Schools is dedicated to supporting public education one documentary film at a time. We've made over 100 films that share the stories of schools, students, and educators doing amazing things across the state. Want to know what's happening in our public schools? Take a look. We've never had a shortage of inspiring stories to share. We invite you to explore the films, share what you learn, and discover how to take action with our toolkit.
In 2011, Nebraska Loves Public Schools began with one mission — to change the persistent, negative narrative about public schools. From short films about the positive, unexpected happenings in today's classroom to feature films about societal issues impacting students and families, we document the stories of public schools across Nebraska to build awareness, empathy, and support. Through our short films and features, countless TV and radio spots, a quickly-growing social media following, PBS-affiliate TV series, and strong rally cry with our original I Love Public Schools t‑shirts, we help friends and neighbors better understand what's happening in the classroom, build pride Nebraska has in its public schools, and ignite the I Love Public Schools conversation nationwide.
Nebraska Loves Public Schools deserves a lot of credit for this expanded camaraderie and collaboration [between our state's public schools]. They've helped unite public educators all across the state. They've helped share our stories. They've shown that they appreciate the work that we do every day for every student."
— Dr. Mike Lucas, Westside Public Schools Superintendent
Over the past year, a movement has grown throughout the educational community in Nebraska and has brought together those who are passionate about sharing the story of public schools throughout the state. And while this movement continues to spread through the tremendous films and social media campaigns Nebraska Loves Public Schools puts together, the spark has been a simple shirt with three words and a symbol."
— Brandon Mowinkel, Milford Jr/Sr High Principal
We make films about whypublic schools matter.
People are passionateabout their public schools.
Logos, images, and graphicsto spread the word.


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Y Connect – Helping Women with Disability
Posted on: Wed 6 Dec 2017
Following the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, YWCA Adelaide have introduced a new program to help empower women with disabilities.
CEO Liz Forsyth talks to Breakfast about the aims of the program.
You can read more on Y Connect at their website.
Produced by Morgan Burley
Image by Cheryl Holt (Pixabay)


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Arsenal mustered up a performance that will live long in the memory against Manchester United last weekend, winning 3-0 in style with a dominating performance, both offensively and defensively. But does this win make a statement that they truly are title contenders?
It is widely known and regularly reported that Arsenal have not won the Premier League for 10 years, since that famous invincible season. What's more though, is that they haven't really competed for it in so long either, despite never finishing outside of the top four. However, on the back of 2 successive FA Cup victories, are Arsenal finally ready to mount a proper challenge for the biggest prize in domestic football?
Arsenal are a sleeping giant
Arsenal are a "sleeping giant" according to Graeme Souness, who believes that Arsenal should be on the same level as Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Real Madrid, as one of the biggest forces in European football. I am sure that many fans would agree, and simultaneously love to see Arsenal reaching such heights, but before they compete for the Champions League, they must surely be able to compete for the Premier League.
In the words of legend, Thierry Henry, Arsenal "must win it this year", as the Frenchman doesn't think they will have a better opportunity than they do now. Chelsea's atrocious start to the season sees them lying around the bottom of the table with just two wins from eight. While Liverpool and Tottenham have the same struggles as usual, Manchester City look like the only team who will pose a real threat to our dreams, having seen off the only other real contenders, Manchester United, with relative ease at the weekend. However I am wiser than to completely write United off at this early stage.
They must win the Premier League this season
The form of the Premier League teams in Europe goes a long to show how poorly our home nation teams are playing this year, compared with the biggest in Europe. We play in the most competitive league, but it appears not the best. And with that, it shows how none of the teams in England have really taken the initiative in the league. Even Man City have struggled at times without captain Vincent Kompany, or other members of their spine, resulting in us sticking fairly close to them for now. No doubt they will be favourites for the league, though.
Yet it is this struggling from which all teams are currently suffering that makes this our best opportunity to win. As Thierry said, "They must win the Premier League this season", because you know that next year, these other teams will expend a huge amount of resources in order to comeback. Something Arsenal won't do in the same way.
We can all agree that Arsenal have the basis for a great team, but time and time again they have fallen just short. They have been a nearly-team, a near miss. For years now, pundits and fans alike have cited certain positions in need of improvement. Today though we are finally starting to see things lining up. Theo Walcott and Francis Coquelin appear to have come to our saviour in those pivotal central roles, however a lack of cover for them could prove a big problem should injury strike.
With so many games to be played, rotation will be key to our success. We remain in every competition, for now, but face a huge uphill battle to stay in the Champions League as we reside bottom of the group after embarrassing defeats to Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiacos, with two games against Bayern Munich to come next.
Yet could our failures in the Champions League, work out positively? We saw Liverpool come close to winning the League two season ago, when they did not have to play in Europe at all. Similarly Arsenal finish the season strong regularly, once they have been knocked out of the Champions League, in the Round of 16.
Perhaps exiting the Champions League at the group stage for once, would allow the team to push on for the Premier League, without having to worry about resting players, rotation, or fatigue, as much as normal.
While this would be a positive out of a shambolic Champions League campaign, I do not condone us going out with ease, and I believe we should push for the maximum points we can to try and qualify for the next round, because this is the Champions League we are talking about after all.
To win in a big game is always a statement, we are in it, we are two points off the leaders. I hope the result today will give us belief, and ambition to fight for it.
-Arsene Wenger
To take an impartial outlook on the situation, I believe Arsenal can win the League, but Manchester City have to be considered favourites for it. They have the experience and mentality for it, whereas thus far this season Arsenal have lacked the consistency needed. They would need Man City to show similar inconsistencies.
Arsenal's chances of winning it would be greatly improved were they to be knocked out of the Champions League, but that is not something I want nor hope to see; especially with this coefficient problem, and all the English teams looking fragile at best. Plus those Champions League nights at the Emirates against some of the world's greatest are some of the best nights of the year.
The final variable will come down to Arsenal's biggest enemy. Injuries. Keeping the likes of Sanchez, Ozil, Coquelin, Walcott, Cech, fit. We will need our star players to play and deliver week in week out.


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Are You a Fornicator?
will the year anew mean for you?
The Firpo Files
(Sentinel, December 22-28, 2011)
no mistake about it, fornication is flourishing. It could be that you're caught up in fornication
yourself. If so, you certainly aren't alone. After all, fornication is fun. And with the new year approaching,
as the saying goes, 'there's going to be a whole lot of shaken going on'! But, I'm writing to
help shake you to your senses.
Be warned, you and your fornicating
friends will only "enjoy the short-lived pleasures of sin," then it'll be all over. (Hebrews 11:25, Weymouth
New Testament) If, on the other hand, you're not a fornicator, read on anyway. God doesn't want you to become one. The
world is already overstocked.
But what exactly does fornication
entail? You may be surprised at the answer. And, on a personal note, I'm just the messenger. What I'll be quoting here was
written in the first century and beyond, way before I was born. Granted, although I'm beginning to gray a little, I promise
I'm not a few thousand years old. You can ask my mother.
Up: According to Insight on the Scriptures, fornication is "Illicit sex relations outside of Scriptural
marriage. The Hebrew verb za‧nah′ and its related forms convey the idea of
harlotry, immoral intercourse, fornication, or prostitution. ... The Greek word translated 'fornication' is por‧nei′a.
Regarding the meanings of por‧nei′a, B. F. Westcott in his book
Saint Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians (1906, p. 76) says: 'This is a general term for
all unlawful intercourse, (1) adultery ... (2) unlawful marriage.'"
word por‧nei′a is where we get the word "pornography."
Insight continues: "Bauer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament ... defines por‧nei′a
as 'prostitution, unchastity, fornication, of every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse.' Porneia is understood
to involve the grossly immoral use of the genital organ(s) of at least one human; also there must have been two or more
parties (including another consenting human or a beast), whether of the same sex or the opposite sex.
(Jude 7) The unlawful act of a rapist is fornication, but, of course, that does not make the person
who is forcibly raped also a fornicator."
"The Greek for 'infirmity' is malakia--a derivative of the word malakos
('soft' or 'effeminate')--and means a sickness or condition that weakens or 'softens'
the victim. At 1 Corinthians 6:9 one finds the only occurrence of the related word malakos in
Scripture. This clearly refers to a 'soft' or 'effeminate' man, the passive partner in a same-sex situation.
Whether Jesus is characterizing homosexuality--both male and female--as an 'infirmity' of some
sort is beyond the scope of this [article].
is interesting to note, however, that up until the latter part of the 20th-century the American Psychological
Association (APA) considered male and female homosexuality an 'infirmity' or mental illness. Additionally,
it may or may not be significant that Jesus mentions the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah--known
as centers for same-sex encounters in connection with malakia--just a relatively few verses
later at Matthew 10:1, 15." (Modern Matthew: Good News for Today.) Still, the Sodomites were still better
off than some whom Jesus preached to.--Matthew 10:15; 11:23.
Insight defines bestiality as "Unnatural sexual intercourse of a man or a woman with an animal. The Mosaic
Law emphatically condemned this perverted practice, sentencing the guilty person and the beast to death.
'Where a man gives his seminal emission to a beast, he should be put to death without fail, and
you should kill the beast. And where a woman approaches any beast to have a connection with it, you
must kill the woman and the beast.'"--Leviticus 20:15, 16.
Together Before Marriage: "Living together before marriage is like a trial run of what
it is like to live with your future spouse," says one Web site. "The firsthand knowledge obtained
during this time can be beneficial. However, it can also lead to broken marriage proposals or act as a harbinger
for divorce. In fact, studies have found that people who live together are more likely to divorce than those who did not
live together before marriage." Why? Conditional "love."
Conclusion: Porneia is pandemic. So, "flee from fornication."
(1 Corinthians 6:18, New World Translation) Nowadays sex can kill. Stay right, and you have
nothing to fear in the new year. Also, keep me in your prayers too, why don't you.--1 Corinthians 9:27.
Peace and blessings to all. Amen.


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How to Make It
Boil 2 cups water, wine, and 1 tsp. salt in a medium frying pan. Simmer fish just until opaque. Drain, cool, skin, and flake.
Pour oil into pan over medium heat. Cook shallots, garlic, and ginger until softened. Stir in curry paste; cook 1 minute. Whirl mixture in a food processor with coconut milk, cream cheese, sugar, and 1 tsp. salt until smooth. Pulse in salmon, then lime juice. Serve chilled, topped with chives.
Top Wine Picks:
Curran 2009 Grenache Blanc (Santa Ynez Valley; $22). Orange and apricot with river rocks beneath and a spicy lemon-drop finish.
Jaffurs 2009 Thompson Vineyard Grenache Blanc (Santa Barbara County; $30). Delicate jasmine and Asian pear open to stone fruit and zesty lemon.
Tangent 2009 Paragon Vineyard Grenache Blanc (Edna Valley; $17). Loads of juicy melon, plus tart, refreshing grapefruit and peach with an edge of minerality.


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Identify the bogus item.
By Daniel Oliver
The American Spectator
May 5th 2010
In this contest, readers are asked to identify the bogus news item. All three items are "reported" in similar style, from The American Spectator News Service. Two of them record actual events reported by other news outlets. (Certain telltale aspects of the real stories have been altered in order to prevent sneaky contestants from finding the items on the web.)
Item 1
TAS NEWS SERVICE, MADRID (APR. 15, 2010): Antonio Tajani, the European Union Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry, has announced a new human right: taxpayer-subsidized vacations. "Traveling for tourism today is a right," Tajani said. "The way we spend our holidays is a formidable indicator of our quality of life."
The pilot project, which is to begin in 2013, could cost up to half a billion dollars a year. Tajani said he believes that subsidizing holidays for seniors, the disabled, young adults, and poor families will build pride in European culture, prop up resorts in the off-season, and bring north and south closer.
A Tajani spokesman said, "Why should someone from the Mediterranean not be able to travel to Edinburgh in summer for a breath of cool, fresh air? Why should someone from Edinburgh not be able to travel to Greece in winter?"
In a related development, Greece reached an agreement with other euro-zone countries and the International Monetary Fund for a three-year, €110-billion ($146.5-billion) bailout. "We have no other choices and no time, so accessing the bailout is inevitable," Prime Minister George Papandreou said, vowing that his government won't "allow the country to become bankrupt."
Item 2
TAS NEWS SERVICE, NEW YORK (APR. 20, 2010): The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) today announced the election of the Islamic Republic of Iran to a four-year term on the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The Commission is dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women. The election of Iran to CSW came one week after the country withdrew its bid to join the UN Human Rights Council.
In related news, a respected Iranian cleric, Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, speaking on the record, said that "Many women who do not dress modestly…lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity, and spread adultery in society, which consequently increases earthquakes." The U.S. Geological Survey, an unbiased, multidisciplinary U.S.-government organization that focuses on geography, geology, and geospatial information, has offered no comment on the accuracy of Cleric Sedighi's statement.
Item 3
TAS NEWS SERVICE, WASHINGTON, D.C. (APR. 30, 2010): The Democratic-controlled Congress today reauthorized the Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides vouchers to poor students in the District of Columbia. The popular program, which was enacted by Republicans in 2004, provides scholarships of up to $7,500 a year to enable students to attend the school of their parents' choice. The per-pupil cost in the D.C. public schools is $14,400 on average, among the highest in the country.
Democratic Party Whip Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D., D.C.) worked tirelessly to reauthorize the program. Congress is thought to have been influenced by a recent U.S. Department of Education study that found that Opportunity Scholarship Program students are performing at higher academic levels than their peers who are not in the program, and are better off by virtually every important measure in their chosen schools. Teachers' unions concurred in the study's findings.
In a related development, President Obama has announced that he and Mrs. Obama are considering sending their two children to a yet-undisclosed Washington, D.C., public school next year. The two children currently attend the exclusive Sidwell Friends School in Washington, where the tuition is $29,000 a year.


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Raymond James (RJF) announced Monday that it had named Bill Van Law as the new head of its RIA custody unit, the Investment Advisors Division (IAD). The appointment, Van Law said in an interview with AdvisorOne on Friday, "represents a renewed focus" on that business that comes directly from Raymond James Financial CEO Paul Reilly and the Raymond James board.
Van Law (left) said that the firm had been "looking at this business pretty extensively for a year or so," hiring an outside consultant to help it do so, and while Raymond James "considered going outside" to hire a new executive for the RIA custody unit, it finally decided to go with himself, an internal candidate who "knows the culture" at RJ.
Van Law knows more than just the culture. He joined Raymond James in 2003 as a senior VP in the firm's employee broker-dealer, Raymond James & Associates (RJA), and since October 2006 has served as chief recruiter for Raymond James Financial Services (RJFS), the independent contractor BD. He also worked on developing strategy for RJFS and helped build the IAD. Van Law began his career as an FA at Merrill Lynch, where he spent 18 years in various leadership positions, including district sales manager.
"I've thought for a long time we haven't been capitalizing on it as we should," Van Law said in referring to the RIA unit, which has about 100 RIA firms custodying $7 billion in assets under management. As for which advisors he sees as potential additions to the RJ fold, he suggested that it would "probably not be existing RIAs," but advisors presently at wirehouses or other independent BD reps who are considering forming their own RIA firms. "We're in a unique position to focus on this," he said, noting that "80% of the people we've recruited have come over from the national firms."
The needs of those wirehouse brokers, Van Law said, were complex, and some other independent BDs were not able to meet those needs, which would include access on the Raymond James platform to cutting-edge technology, alternative investments and lending—"all areas that high-end clients need and are using already" at the national firms. He said the IAD would focus on providing the "best-experience for the fee-based advisor and their clients" in terms of technology and pricing but also in helping them transition to the RIA space. "They've had to pull together" all the pieces of starting a new business, he said. "If we can do it for them, it will make it an easier process."
Noting that most RIAs have multiple custodial relationships, Van Law said that while "we have a solid platform, we need to enhance it further and to get the word out." To help determine what form those enhancements should take, Van Law said RJ hopes to gain insights from a survey it commissioned of advisors who had considered affiliating with Raymond James but eventually decided against doing so. He also pledged to spend the first 60-90 days in his new position talking to existing advisors "and those thinking of making a move" to help guide IAD's strategic focus.
One of Van Law's statements seemed to suggest that beyond IAD recruiting new advisors to the Raymond James platform, the increased focus on the RIA channel would help Raymond James in its retention efforts among existing reps. "Because we have such a high productivity level in the independent space, we're a natural fit" for those reps considering making a switch to a full-blown RIA model.
Mike Di Girolamo (left), who has been in charge of the IAD division as managing director, will now report to Van Law, focusing on strategy and operations. In a statement, Chet Helck, Raymond James Global Private Client Group CEO, said Di Girolamo will continue to build "on the foundation he helped establish," at IAD. Van Law spoke highly of Di Girolamo as well, saying "his knowledge in this space is second to none."
Van Law will report directly to Helck as head of IAD.


text: Daniel Defoe (1659/1661-1731) was an English writer, journalist and spy, who gained enduring fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe (1719). Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest practitioners of the novel and helped popularise the genre in Britain. In some texts he is even referred to as one of the founders, if not the founder, of the English novel. A prolific and versatile writer, he wrote over five hundred books, pamphlets, and journals on various topics (including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology and the supernatural). He is also a pioneer of economic journalism. His most famous novel, Robinson Crusoe (1719), tells of a man's shipwreck on a desert island and his subsequent adventures. He also wrote Captain Singleton (1720), which portrays the redemptive power of one man's love for another; and Moll Flanders (1722), a picaresque first-person narration of the fall and eventual redemption of a lone woman in 17th century England.


text:
Exact details remain to be established. The spectre of Austrian police officers (for instance) being able to spy on UK health or biometric records seems pretty remote - let alone the idea that, say, the Turkish government would have their own copies of UK databases as the Tories suggest. On the other hand, it isn't hard to imagine even a quite innocuous implementation of STORK protocols creating some interesting records.
Suppose you did go to France and tax a car using your UK.gov login - forget about ID cards. The French system would need to check with the Brit one that your eID was real, and a record of that check would exist in the relevant logs if nowhere else. A British official wishing to know what you were up to could easily search these files, and say "aha - chummy has just taxed a car in France", or been to see a doctor in Iceland**, or paid property taxes in Slovakia.
Likewise, our own Home Office might soon - if research next year determines that Stork-type ideas are feasible - have a somewhat better handle on just how many Estonians, Slovakians and Spaniards (etc) are using British government services and/or paying British taxes: and whether or not these people have a) obtained their mandatory foreign-resident ID cards and b) been truthful when submitting their details.
Lots of food for thought here. And it has to be said, those worried about the potential for catastrophic errors, bugs, leaks or backdoors in the government IT networks of the future may not find the compliant, ID-card-loving Belgians' choice of tech partner reassuring. ®
Update: Since publication the Home Office have been back in touch. They'd like to reassure everyone that there are "no plans" to share usage information between governments (except as necessary to authenticate eIDs). They also say that the UK Government Gateway doesn't keep any records of transactions "other than temporary ones" (though somebody in the government does - eg the tax people or the DVLA). Finally they say, in answer to whether you could use STORK eID checks to track an individual's activities is "categorically no."
So that's all right then.
*Breaks every rule of Acronym Club, we say. Nobody the Reg spoke to could say who came up with it. Presumably something like Secret Tracking And Law-Enforcement Kommissariat (STALK) didn't seem cuddly enough.
**Iceland is on board with Stork, though not an EU nation.


text:
5 minute read
Fall in engineering attractiveness triggers concern
Peter Marsh, Founder of Made Here Now, an initiative to change perceptions of UK manufacturing and attract more talent to the sector takes a look at a fall in the number students choosing engineering courses.
The number of students choosing engineering at university has started to fall, reversing a ten-year rising trend, a finding likely to bolster efforts to increase the effectiveness of engineering promotion schemes.
Since 2015, the intake of students accepted for UK undergraduate university engineering courses has slipped for two years in a row, signifying that engineering has fallen behind other academic subjects in recruitment rates.
Enrolment of female engineering students – a key target in a male-dominated industry – has continued to grow but at a slower rate than previously.
An analysis by Made Here Now, based on data from the university admissions body Ucas, shows that between 2007 and 2017 the number of people accepted by universities for engineering courses rose by almost half, bolstering hopes that the UK was starting to challenge the belief that engineering was a declining profession.
But the 2016 and 2017 intakes both shrank despite the efforts of roughly 600 organisations to encourage more young people to study or work in technology-based disciplines.
While in 2015, new registrations for engineering courses rose by 6 per cent on the previous year, in 2016 there was a 0.3 per cent drop, followed by a 0.6 per cent fall in 2017. During 2007-17, numbers of women accepted on engineering courses rose by an average of 7.3 per cent a year. In the final two years of this period the annual increase fell to just 1.4 per cent.
The overall trends for engineering have been weaker than those for the broad level of university admissions – even though virtually all subjects have been hit by several negative pressures including a slide in applicants from other European Union nations and the rising costs for taking a place at university. In 2016, acceptances across all subjects monitored by Ucas showed a 0.5 per cent rise, followed in the next year by a 0.2 per cent reduction.
Engineering seems to have been more affected than other disciplines by the EU issue and a reduction in the number of "mature" students who start academic courses in their 20s and later.
Despite the caveats, Terry Scuoler, chairman of the Institute of Export and International Trade who has recently stepped down as head of the EEF manufacturing organisation, expressed unease at the findings. "I am disappointed to see the drop-off [in numbers]….Government and industry must work together to ensure this does not become a longer-term trend by reinforcing the messaging that a career in engineering leads to highly-paid rewarding jobs in a number of dynamic and growing sectors."
Engineering has suffered from the same pressures that have led to a marked slowing in demand for university courses of all kinds, notably the increasing cost of studying for a degree and growing interest in vocational training plus the effects of the UK's planned departure from the EU. But relative to the other subjects the Ucas data reveal a slowdown similar to engineering in other science and technology disciplines – for example physical and biological sciences – which is likely to intensify concerns.
Encouraging more people to study these subjects is seen as crucial in raising the UK's economic performance by helping business growth and reducing skills shortages.
While Prof Elena Rodriguez-Falcon, provost at the New Model in Technology & Engineering, a new university being set up in Hereford, called the data "very worrying", others have cautioned against placing too much weight on just two years of data, especially considering the positive trend previously.
Rhys Morgan, education director at the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: "Yes, it is a downward trend and it's not great but it's not a catastrophic fall." Even so, he says the numbers underline the message that industry and education need to step up their efforts to encourage more people to study technical subjects. "The combined [promotional] activity of the [engineering and scientific] community is not having the impact at the scale and pace required to meet the needs of the UK."
The Department for Education said: "We want to see even more people, particularly women, studying STEM [science, technology, engineering and maths] subjects …whether it's through a technical or academic route. It is important for the lifeblood of our economy and will give people the skills they need to get good jobs." The DfE is among the government departments that have declared 2018 "the year of engineering", during which they plan to increase the promotional drive among young people.
The "engineering promotion" industry spends tens of millions of pounds a year and has been stimulated by concerns about potentially serious skills shortages. The same concerns prompted the setting up of Made Here Now to project a more attractive image of manufacturing.
According to the lobby group EngineeringUK, the supply of engineering graduates in the UK falls short of demand by about 22,000 a year. Virtually everyone in technology-based industries highlights the need to recruit more women: in 2007 just 12 per cent of those admitted to engineering courses were women and while the proportion reached 17 per cent in 2017, this is still regarded as far too low by most in the engineering community.
In sharp contrast to the situation in engineering, women far outnumber men on courses of all kinds. In 2007 women accounted for 54 per cent of acceptances, with the figure rising to almost 57 per cent in 2017.
Detailed data for engineering show overall acceptances were impacted by an annual fall in both 2016 and 2017 of more than 2.4 per cent in the numbers of students taking engineering aged 19 and above, while engineering was hit in 2017 by a 4.8 per cent drop in students from the rest of the EU, more than twice the rate of fall for all Ucas subjects.


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Categories: Microsoft Solutions
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And how digital transformation can help overcome them
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What a great week it was at the American Manufacturing Summit in Chicago! This year's attendees were a who's who of manufacturing excellence. The sessions were outstanding – with so many success stories of companies that have made progress on Industry 4.0, digital transformation, and smart connected devices and equipment.
Categories: Manufacturing Industry Insights, News + Events
Tags: Manufacturing, Microsoft, Digital Transformation, Smart Factory, Digital Factory, Operational Excellence, Systems Integration, Factory Automation, Modern Workplace
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Episode 20 transcript
ASIC podcast – Episode 20 transcript
Host: Hello and welcome to the official podcast of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. On today's episode we'll be discussing ASIC's recent RegTech Roundtable, held on the 8th of February, and the themes and priorities that came out of the event. My name is Andrew Williams and joining me this time around is Mark Adams, Senior Executive Leader, Strategic Intelligence and the coordinator of the ASIC Innovation Hub at ASIC. Mark, thanks very much for your time on the podcast.
Mark Adams: Thanks Andrew, pleasure to be here.
Host: Before we talk about the roundtable itself, explain to us – what is RegTech? What does RegTech mean?
Mark Adams: Technology's always been a part of risk and compliance frameworks for a financial system, however RegTech refers to the use of new technologies in solutions to address regulatory risk and compliance requirements in a way that's more efficient and more effective. Now let me illustrate that if I can – just think of computing power is now so much stronger than it was before, we've now got applications of big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence which I think brings the RegTech environment into a different world today. Now the kind of things it can be used for is near term, or near time, or predictive identification of potential misconduct or concerning behaviours, so that could track transactions, that could monitor service provisions, even the culture within a firm. Another area where it could perhaps be very useful is supporting the provision of information, including regulatory requirements, to regulators such as ASIC.
Host: Right, so it's a big area – it's a big, wide-ranging area, then.
Mark Adams: It is a significant development, I think, a step above the use of previous technologies with great potential.
Host: So I guess that leads into my next question, which is why did ASIC hold this RegTech roundtable event?
Mark Adams: So as I say, I think ASIC thinks the RegTech sector has enormous potential to help financial firms build a culture of compliance and identify learning opportunities and save time and money relating to regulatory matters. But ASIC also thinks it has potential to complement the work that we do in many ways. So it's against that backdrop – we've got a focus on RegTech – and this roundtable was really an opportunity to bring together a whole range of stakeholders and give them an opportunity to talk about where things might go and what might be the issues or barriers to the implementation of RegTech.
Host: And it was a big event – it wasn't just eight people around a desk, this was a significant undertaking – can you tell us how it worked?
Mark Adams: It was a huge event. We had to turn people away. In fact we had probably over about 120 people attend, the majority of those were in Sydney. We held a VC conference between the two venues, and we split the event into two sessions. One session was about what the opportunities might be and the drivers towards those, and the second session was around what might be the issues or barriers towards its implementation. In those two sessions we had a couple of industry people present – warm up the audience – before we then had facilitated discussion for around an hour in each case on those topics.
Host: And what were some of the topics that came out of that discussion – some of the issues and priorities that were brought up again and again?
Mark Adams: Well, there were a lot – so let me just mention a few. At the foundational level I think a number of them raised issues around digital identity and data. So on the digital identity, a number of the people in the audience said that Australia has a long way to go to the environment we have that supports effective and efficient identification and verification of individuals. Then there was data, which was also seen as foundational – that again, the work that Australia needs to proceed quickly on is what is the framework around access to data, consumer data, regulatory data – how might it be used; the standards around that data, the protections around that data – that's an exercise, amongst other things, the Productivity Commission is looking at at the moment, which a report due in March. Then a lot of people talked about the opportunities of RegTech, in particular in the financial services sector. And I think it was really interested what a few people said: really wanted to move away from a rear-view mirror approach to something more about learning and predictive. And a person in the financial advice sector really made an interesting comment: he thinks RegTech is a really good opportunity to change from being policeman to being coach. So I thought that was a really interesting comment. So it was clear amongst the audience that many people really saw RegTech as having a great opportunity to assist the supervision, monitoring and the improvement of culture within firms.
And I think the last area I'll probably talk about is that clearly people said 'Hey, this has to be something important for regulators' – we need to keep an open mind and reap the benefits of RegTech. Now that can be done a number of ways, in the way we approach regulation, can we be as technologically neutral as possible? We need to be proactive in the way we think about the uses of RegTech, including through the use of trials. And the last bit, I think, is how best to promote, inform and support collaboration with industry to nudge the use of RegTech in current risk management and compliance implementation. So, you know, that was just some of the issues.
Host: There are a lot of opportunities with RegTech, as you've mentioned over the course of the podcast, but where there's opportunities, there's always going to be an element of risk. Were there any sort of risks associated with RegTech that arose as part of this discussion?
Mark Adams: Well, again, I think risks are pertinent to any form of compliance management processes, and I think people did identify some that were certainly pertinent to RegTech. And it's probably no surprise, information and cyber security were mentioned as paramount – people need to have confidence in the holding of data and its use. Then, clearly another point was that there should not be reliance on RegTech as simply a 'tick and flick' process – that it was really important that entities identify where human judgement is still needed to play a role in making use of RegTech – i.e. RegTech needs to be seen as an enabler rather than the complete solution. And then a little bit like outsourcing and operational risk, people suggested that people need to check the technologies are actually fit for the purpose. You don't want to deploy an algorithm around RegTech which is flawed and can give rise to problems. So they were just a range of some of the things that people mentioned.
Host: Apart from the roundtable, what else is ASIC doing in the RegTech area at the moment?
Mark Adams: Well before I go on about what the next steps might be and so on, I probably just want to touch on what we're doing now. Under the Innovation Hub that ASIC administers, we have been pretty clear towards the latter part of last year that we wish to engage with the community. So since then we've had over 35 meetings with RegTech providers. We have also indicated that we are prepared to provide informal assistance to RegTech providers, and they only need to contact us via the Innovation Hub.
Going forward, I think this roundtable was a seminal event in informing us about our future approach. So, we intend to reflect on that, I think we intend to issue a report with a summary of the content of the roundtable as well as to outline what might be some options for the future approach of ASIC. And I think we want to hear from people about what they think could be the preferred way to go forward for ASIC. So quite a lot ahead.
Host: If people didn't attend the event, and do want to get in touch with ASIC about RegTech, about innovation, where should they go?
Mark Adams: The Innovation Hub has a dedicated e-mail address – that's the best place to go. Go to our website, look up Innovation Hub, go to that e-mail address and send in information about yourself and why you would like to talk with us. That's probably the simplest.
Host: Fantastic. Mark, thank you very much for your time.
Mark Adams: My pleasure.
Host: We'll be back with another ASIC podcast very shortly, thank you very much for listening.


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Alright, that's our first conference of E3 2018 down. And it was awful. Seriously, that was eighty minutes of nothing. If you thought Nintendo's Metroid Prime 4 announcement of "Here's a logo, be excited" was low-effort, at this show EA just cut to a man in the crowd to tell us about a game he's making. Next year they're just going to have someone write the name of a game on a piece of paper, scrunch it up and throw it at the camera.
So, for those of you playing at home, Amy Hennig was making a Star Wars cinematic action game, and after years of waiting for it we saw like four seconds of it at E3 2016 (I think?). Since then, EA has taken it away from her, rebooted it to fit more GaaS rubbish in, and now it's back to nothing again. No sign of it at E3. The only Star Wars footage they had was of Battlefront 2. Jesus wept.
OK I'm going back to sleep, and maybe I'll dream of a better show than the one I just watched. See you all tomorrow for Microsoft's show, which will probably have more footage of EA's games than EA's did!


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Method of obtaining information about enemy or potential enemy by stealing their secret data. Espionage is strictly forbidden in most countries and heavily punished as work against the state security, but many countries still perform such actions against others, nevertheless.
The spy is one of the oldest occupation in history. The importance of accurate data about enemy was pointed in Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Having knowledge about its weak and strong points allows to prepare better to fight and thus destroy enemy forces with smaller losses.
The Intelligence is state force that is responsible for espionage, but also gathering information that are not secret, but can be useful for military purposes.
The espionage can also mean acts of sabotage on enemy territory, performing assassinations against enemy leaders, destroying communication lines, halting weapon factories, secretly spreading propaganda to lower morale of enemy troops, or preparing bases for strike-forces like commandos, Rangers or the Spetsnaz. A secret agent can also be used for just reconnaissance purposes.
Spies can recruit other spies from enemy's citizens by using such methods like bribery and blackmails.
Spies operate both during peace and wartime. They are recruited both from men and women. In modern times techniques like breaking into enemy's computer networks by some sort of hackers are also performed.
The police or military force intended to fight enemy spies and keep own secrets is called counterintelligence.
Spies that are caught are usually treated as traitors and are punished very strongly. In wartime typical punishment is death. In previous eras, to frighten other enemy spies, also tortures were committed. However, sometimes, it is more useful to simulate that the spy has still not been discovered and use him to send false information to the enemy (so-called double-agent). Sometimes spies are not punished, but exchanged by own spies that were caught on enemy territory.
In modern times also industrial espionage occurs. It is when company attempts to steal its competitor secrets to improve own market position.
The popular culture view on spies is much over-rated. Fictional characters like James Bond have almost nothing related to real espionage world.
Some famous spies:
- Mata Hari, Dutch dancer spying France for Germany in ww1, executed in 1916,
- Vladimir Lenin, German spy against Russia in ww1, performed revolution
- Die Rote Kapelle, Soviet ring of spies against Nazi Germany,
- Kim Philby, Soviet spy on United Kingdom during and after ww2,
- Ryszard Kukliński, US spy in Poland,
- Marian Zacharski, Polish spy against USA during the cold-war, exchanged for some American spies,
- Victor Suvorov, Soviet spy on NATO, who escaped to the United Kingdom,
- Anna Chapman, Russian spy in the USA.
Notable institutions (former and still acting) responsible for spying:
- Abwehr, Nazi-Germany
- Bundesnachrichtendienst, BND, Federal Republic of Germany
- Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, United States
- KGB and GRU, Soviet Union and Russia
- Mossad, Israel
- Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, United Kingdom
Questions tagged with espionage should be related to history of this method of obtaining information. Also questions about famous espionage actions are accepted. You can mark with this tag questions about some persons who were spies, secret agents or supervisors of espionage forces.


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Nathaniel Matthews is an independent publisher from New York city, specialising in releasing bootleg excerpts from out-of-print photography classics and zines featuring his own photographic imagery.
Nathaniel's 'Coonskin' zine features a series of photographs of Ralph Bakshi's seminal 1975 animated feature-film of the same name.
However these are not simply screen-grabs, these images are captured straight from a television screen creating an element of distortion. The TV's refresh rate, the angle of the camera to the screen, and reflections caught upon the glass all contribute to the uniqueness of these photographs. The series of images plays with the concept of re-photography and capturing a still from a moving image, a still which did not exist until that moment.
- Full colour print
- 52 pages
- 8.25"x10.5"
- limited to 30 copies
- priced $20.00
Buy a copy here: Nathaniel Matthews Shop


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Hand-Safe – Non-Fragranced Anti-Bac Flowing Hand Soap
Fresh & Clean Hand-Safe Flowing Hand Soap is a non-fragranced flowing hand soap – particularly suitable for bulk fill dispenses in food service, clean hands. Hand-Safe also contains quality skin conditioning properties, and antimicrobial agents for enhanced and responsible hand hygiene.
Main Features & Benefits
- NZFSA Approved
- Contains anti-microbial agents for enhanced hand hygiene
- Non-fragranced formula for use in food service and food process establishments
- White pearlescent colour for easy identification
- Nationally accepted formulation
- Kind to hands, but tough on dirt
Apply onto the hands directly from the dispenser. Lather well and rinse off. Repeat if required. Research shows the best antibacterial action results from hands being lathered and rinsed for at least 20 seconds. Wet hands should be properly dried to prevent cross-contamination.
Download Specification sheet