A condom manufacturer has stopped donating condoms to the AIDS Coalition in Cape Breton, jeopardizing its free condom program.The AIDS Coalition of Cape Breton said it hands out about 10,000 condoms per year.
The company was bought by a large American conglomerate that said giving away its product wasn't good business.The Nova Scotia government has said it does not want its funding used to supply condoms.
Christine Porter, executive director of the real time Location system, said access to condoms means a healthier community."We look at HPV now as being one of the big things that could lead to cervical cancer and now you're not just preventing HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancies, but now you're even preventing cancer," she said.
Cathy Penny, the head of Cape Breton's Centre for Sexual Health, said losing the condom program could mean more unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases."To have a condom program close down has an impact because a lot of times younger men and women won't take the money they have to spend and use it on something like that because they feel they are at a very low risk," she said.The AIDS Coalition needs to raise between $8,000 and $10,000 to hand out the condoms anonymously.
Tech sector startups aren’t the only folks “disrupting” things in the Bay Area as of late. Social justice activists are mounting their own creative, grassroots responses to unjust practices – and while they don’t often have deep pockets, they’ve got the collective momentum of people who give a damn propelling them onward. Below, a few examples of what’s percolating on this front.
Earlier this year, we told you about Jeremy Mykaels, a tenant and disabled senior living with AIDS who has rented his apartment in the Castro for more than four decades, and is now battling eviction. Here’s his story, posted to a website he created where he also lists other properties where seniors have been targeted with evictions.
Eviction Free Summer, a group of tenant activists who made a splash at the San Francisco Pride Parade this past June with a faux-Google bus, has started rallying people together to show up outside the homes and offices of landlords after they issue eviction notices. On Sat/10, they’re planning to caravan to Union City, where they’ll stage a protest outside the homes of the property owners who are Hands free access. More information can be found here.
From Aug. 5 until Sept. 1, a billboard at 10th and Howard streets will proclaim: “Hate Has No Place in Our City: San Francisco Embraces Diversity and Acceptance, Not Hate and Bigotry.”
The effort was crowd-funded through Louder, a platform for crowd promotion, through about $3,000 in donations from 100 individuals from throughout the country. It was spearheaded by San Francisco resident Christie George, who teamed up with New Yorker Ateqah Khaki to get the project off the ground.
“When I read about the ads in other cities, I was horrified by how hateful they were. But when I learned that they were coming to San Francisco, I felt like I couldn’t be silent, and was compelled to do something to celebrate how much this city embraces diversity,” George said.
Next Thursday, Aug. 15, the “No Place For Hate” team will host a meet-up for contributors and supporters, featuring talks from the campaign organizers and some comments by Louder founder Colin Mutchler.
Meanwhile, in Oakland, the effort to hack Oakland’s budget with a ballot measure that would put discretionary spending in the hands of ordinary people is starting to pick up speed.
As Community Democracy Project co-director Sonya Rifkin explained in this interview with Shareable: “We care about a wide range of issues and lot of problems come back to questions of power – access to resources and self-determination and being engaged in decisions that affect our lives. Problems arise in politics from the right people not being invited to the table. The strength of this process is people getting connecting and understanding each others' perspectives and empowering communities, which can have far reaching potential for enabling people to solve their own problems.”
Lastly, the Pacifica Radio Archives has received a $128,000 matching grant from the National Archives – the largest-ever grant for a public radio project, according to spokesperson Stephenie Hendricks -- to restore historic recordings of powerful women. Once completed, the recordings will be made available – for free! – to colleges and universities through the archive’s "Campus Campaign." Pacifica doesn't accept corporate funding, and it's hoping to fundraise a matching amount from its listeners.
The recordings were made between 1963 and 1987, and we even have a sample for you. This is the voice of Bella Abzug, a member of the House of Representatives and leader of the women’s movement, recorded in 1981.
Showing posts with label message claimed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label message claimed. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Monday, August 5, 2013
Tybee Island Maritime Academy Charter School
Friday, Tybee Island Maritime Academy officials were busy unloading boxes of sports equipment, inventorying laptop computers and fielding phone calls from parents all over the county who are interested in enrolling their children in the remaining seats.
Principal Patrick Rossiter signed for indoor Tracking, fielded phone calls and helped teachers fill salt water tanks with creatures from Tybee Beach. The 34-year educator was as excited as a first-year student.“These lap tops are cool,” Rossiter said as he navigated the chairs and crates of supplies in the gleaming halls of the newly renovated school. “And look at this — these are the signal flags they use on those big container ships. Each one represents a different letter. That’s a unique way for a kindergartener to learn the alphabet.”
When the new maritime-themed charter school opens Aug. 12 it will be the first time that Tybee has had a public school in 22 years. The old Tybee Public School closed in 1988 as part of a desegregation plan and dwindling enrollment forced St. Michael’s parochial school to close its doors in 2010.
But the absence of a school made the grey hair on the heads of Tybee’s large retirement community really stand out. So the community pooled their resources and talent to organize an innovative maritime-themed charter school designed to attract more young families to the island. State law allows community groups to use public school funding to independently operate tuition-free schools that are open to all residents. Tybee’s charter school was organized by concerned citizens who wanted to see more children on the island. Everyone on Tybee seemed to buy in.
“Our community effort is coming together,” said Perb Fortner, a retired Jackson Hewitt Tax Service executive who volunteers as the school’s chief financial officer.
St. Michael’s Church officials made major renovations to the old St. Michael’s School facilities so the charter school could be housed there. Residents donated their time and money to the effort, many sold off goods and services to generate funds. Plans for integrating the Common Core Curriculum into a hands-on, project-based academic program for grades K-5 were developed by local educators, including Tybee Mayor Jason Buelterman, retired Atlanta educators Carolyn Jurick and Cindy Cupp, as well as professors from Savannah State University. Buelterman heads up the successful International Baccalaureate program at Johnson High, Jurick was principal of Georgia’s first charter school and Cupp served as state curriculum director and authored a reading instruction program called Cupp Readers and Journal Writers.
The school will offer maritime-themed lessons that focus on soft skills, reasoning, problem solving and independence. Students will track the origins of products they use in school and research where the raw materials came from, how the final products were manufactured, shipped and distributed for retail sale. Patrick Rossiter, a popular educator who previously served as principal of Garden City Elementary School, will lead the school. There will be a 17 to 1 student-to-teacher ratio; every child will have his own laptop and access to an iPad lab.
Officials expect to enroll about 166 students in grades kindergarten through four next year and 200 in grades kindergarten through five the year after that. Seats are still available and the community is working on the finishing touches before the students return to the Island on Aug. 12. After three years without a school, blinking school zone warning lights have to be re-installed on the roads and staff has to refresh the playground mulch.
The awards celebrate the achievements of firms and individuals working across the spectrum of trading and technology in the European financial markets, from stock exchanges and alternative trading platforms, to brokers, software vendors and in-house electronic trading teams.
Regulatory forces have continued to transform and reshape the financial landscape over the past 12 months, threatening traditional business models but presenting opportunities for visionary and nimble operators. Similarly, technological progress continues to reshape the sector, allowing true innovators to thrive.
The London-headquartered exchange group’s strategy to diversify and become a broad-based market infrastructure company continues to pay off, with the LSE Group’s share price up 40% in the year to date. In May, the company completed its acquisition of a 58% stake in clearer LCH.Clearnet, which positions the exchange to benefit from new derivatives trading reforms.
The Swiss bank has long been regarded as a pioneer of electronic trading, and it continues to rank highly on the buyside’s broker lists. The bank has also bucked the market trend by maintaining traditional execution channels, such as electronic and program trading.
Read the full products at http://www.ecived.com/en/.
Principal Patrick Rossiter signed for indoor Tracking, fielded phone calls and helped teachers fill salt water tanks with creatures from Tybee Beach. The 34-year educator was as excited as a first-year student.“These lap tops are cool,” Rossiter said as he navigated the chairs and crates of supplies in the gleaming halls of the newly renovated school. “And look at this — these are the signal flags they use on those big container ships. Each one represents a different letter. That’s a unique way for a kindergartener to learn the alphabet.”
When the new maritime-themed charter school opens Aug. 12 it will be the first time that Tybee has had a public school in 22 years. The old Tybee Public School closed in 1988 as part of a desegregation plan and dwindling enrollment forced St. Michael’s parochial school to close its doors in 2010.
But the absence of a school made the grey hair on the heads of Tybee’s large retirement community really stand out. So the community pooled their resources and talent to organize an innovative maritime-themed charter school designed to attract more young families to the island. State law allows community groups to use public school funding to independently operate tuition-free schools that are open to all residents. Tybee’s charter school was organized by concerned citizens who wanted to see more children on the island. Everyone on Tybee seemed to buy in.
“Our community effort is coming together,” said Perb Fortner, a retired Jackson Hewitt Tax Service executive who volunteers as the school’s chief financial officer.
St. Michael’s Church officials made major renovations to the old St. Michael’s School facilities so the charter school could be housed there. Residents donated their time and money to the effort, many sold off goods and services to generate funds. Plans for integrating the Common Core Curriculum into a hands-on, project-based academic program for grades K-5 were developed by local educators, including Tybee Mayor Jason Buelterman, retired Atlanta educators Carolyn Jurick and Cindy Cupp, as well as professors from Savannah State University. Buelterman heads up the successful International Baccalaureate program at Johnson High, Jurick was principal of Georgia’s first charter school and Cupp served as state curriculum director and authored a reading instruction program called Cupp Readers and Journal Writers.
The school will offer maritime-themed lessons that focus on soft skills, reasoning, problem solving and independence. Students will track the origins of products they use in school and research where the raw materials came from, how the final products were manufactured, shipped and distributed for retail sale. Patrick Rossiter, a popular educator who previously served as principal of Garden City Elementary School, will lead the school. There will be a 17 to 1 student-to-teacher ratio; every child will have his own laptop and access to an iPad lab.
Officials expect to enroll about 166 students in grades kindergarten through four next year and 200 in grades kindergarten through five the year after that. Seats are still available and the community is working on the finishing touches before the students return to the Island on Aug. 12. After three years without a school, blinking school zone warning lights have to be re-installed on the roads and staff has to refresh the playground mulch.
The awards celebrate the achievements of firms and individuals working across the spectrum of trading and technology in the European financial markets, from stock exchanges and alternative trading platforms, to brokers, software vendors and in-house electronic trading teams.
Regulatory forces have continued to transform and reshape the financial landscape over the past 12 months, threatening traditional business models but presenting opportunities for visionary and nimble operators. Similarly, technological progress continues to reshape the sector, allowing true innovators to thrive.
The London-headquartered exchange group’s strategy to diversify and become a broad-based market infrastructure company continues to pay off, with the LSE Group’s share price up 40% in the year to date. In May, the company completed its acquisition of a 58% stake in clearer LCH.Clearnet, which positions the exchange to benefit from new derivatives trading reforms.
The Swiss bank has long been regarded as a pioneer of electronic trading, and it continues to rank highly on the buyside’s broker lists. The bank has also bucked the market trend by maintaining traditional execution channels, such as electronic and program trading.
Read the full products at http://www.ecived.com/en/.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Hockey sizes up for the top job
But it's not just the Treasurer's job he wants - he wants Tony Abbott's job too. Eventually. Over the past few months, Hockey has been telling people in Sydney and Melbourne that he is now "serious" about replacing Abbott should the opportunity arise at some stage.
This is what he told guests at Peter FitzSimons and Lisa Wilkinson's Australia Day barbecue at their waterfront home in Sydney. And he has said the same thing to several senior business leaders in private meetings and boardroom discussions in recent months.
He's also told colleagues: "I won't make the same mistakes that Peter Costello made on the leadership. Unlike Peter, I won't die wondering."
But Hockey's renewed leadership ambitions are safely parked for now. Abbott has been an effective Opposition Leader. The Coalition maintains a strong lead over Labor in the polls. Abbott looks all but guaranteed to become prime minister in September.
The leadership turmoil within Labor means that any hint of disunity in Coalition ranks is, as one opposition MP put it to this column, "one bone that is buried deep". Labor's perpetual leadership angst has strengthened Abbott's hold on the leadership.
The Coalition is determined to do all it can to avoid any sign of instability. Any frontbencher seen to be "angling for the leadership", another Coalition MP told this column, will earn the wrath of their rtls.
They know how damaging it has been to Labor. In the past three years, Labor has endured three major leadership convulsions: Kevin Rudd's removal in 2010, his challenge last year and the aborted putsch in March. Between each crisis, Labor has been gripped by leadership speculation.
All leaders are tested in government. Yet leadership instability is a permanent feature of modern politics. In the past 30 years, every prime minister from Malcolm Fraser to Julia Gillard has faced either a direct leadership challenge or the threat of one.
Hockey's loose lips about being a future leadership contender - confirmed by several of his colleagues and senior business figures - provide an insight into his increasing confidence.
It is far removed from the ridicule he received after vacillating on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in late 2009, when he was favoured to replace Malcolm Turnbull.
The purpose of Hockey setting out leadership markers now is to position himself as the heir apparent to Abbott, whenever that time comes. Critical to this is cementing his place as the clear No 2 right now. Julie Bishop is the Liberal deputy leader and deputy Coalition leader, even though National Party leader Warren Truss will be deputy prime minister in government. Hockey does not see Bishop as becoming a threat.
He is suspicious about Turnbull, who has buried the hatchet with Abbott. He is acutely aware of how Turnbull, as a backbencher and minister, undermined Costello as treasurer. And he is keeping a close eye on Scott Morrison, who is also in the future leaders frame.
For the past decade, Abbott has been a leader among the conservative wing (dries) of the Liberal Party while Hockey has been a leader among the moderates (wets). But Hockey's tough stand on the budget and his promise to end "the culture of universal entitlement" has won him respect from conservatives.
Hockey's principal backer in the Liberal partyroom is South Australian MP Jamie Briggs, a well-known dry. Briggs is to Hockey what another South Australian MP, Christopher Pyne (a wet), was to Costello.
Peter Dutton, another social conservative, is also close to Hockey. Formerly assistant treasurer to Costello, he regularly talks to Hockey about economic policy. They ran on a leadership ticket in 2009. A future Hockey-Dutton ticket is expected.
Coalition MPs say they are witnessing Hockey transform his political persona. It is not just about shedding weight. Once taunted as "sloppy Joe", known for gaffes and often short on detail, he is working harder. He is more disciplined, focused and effective in the media.
Hockey understands the budgetary challenge. Last week two independent reports - from the Parliamentary Budget Office and Treasury - revealed that a structural budget deficit was expected for the rest of the decade. Further cuts to spending and tax increases are likely to be needed to return the budget to structural surplus. Hockey has already ruled out tax cuts for the foreseeable future.
This will be difficult, given Abbott's endorsement of big spending policies such as his $4.3 billion paid parental leave scheme and his poorly designed $3.2bn Direct Action climate change policy. Hockey also needs to ensure his messages are consistent with Abbott's, given they have contradicted each other in the past on PPL, carbon tax compensation and returning to surplus.
As with all leadership contenders, Hockey will determine his future by his performance. He needs to keep faith with his promise to curtail middle-class welfare and repair the budget's bottom line. It won't be trouble-free. He has already been rolled in shadow cabinet several times.
Hockey also has a tendency to feign outrage, which grates with colleagues. And he talks down Australia's overall economic performance, which rankles some senior business figures.
Some Coalition MPs are highly critical of opposition finance spokesman Andrew Robb's communication skills. It therefore falls mainly to Hockey to sell the Coalition's economic messages. How effective Hockey is as a communicator will also determine whether or not he gets to the top job he is talking so openly about.
This is what he told guests at Peter FitzSimons and Lisa Wilkinson's Australia Day barbecue at their waterfront home in Sydney. And he has said the same thing to several senior business leaders in private meetings and boardroom discussions in recent months.
He's also told colleagues: "I won't make the same mistakes that Peter Costello made on the leadership. Unlike Peter, I won't die wondering."
But Hockey's renewed leadership ambitions are safely parked for now. Abbott has been an effective Opposition Leader. The Coalition maintains a strong lead over Labor in the polls. Abbott looks all but guaranteed to become prime minister in September.
The leadership turmoil within Labor means that any hint of disunity in Coalition ranks is, as one opposition MP put it to this column, "one bone that is buried deep". Labor's perpetual leadership angst has strengthened Abbott's hold on the leadership.
The Coalition is determined to do all it can to avoid any sign of instability. Any frontbencher seen to be "angling for the leadership", another Coalition MP told this column, will earn the wrath of their rtls.
They know how damaging it has been to Labor. In the past three years, Labor has endured three major leadership convulsions: Kevin Rudd's removal in 2010, his challenge last year and the aborted putsch in March. Between each crisis, Labor has been gripped by leadership speculation.
All leaders are tested in government. Yet leadership instability is a permanent feature of modern politics. In the past 30 years, every prime minister from Malcolm Fraser to Julia Gillard has faced either a direct leadership challenge or the threat of one.
Hockey's loose lips about being a future leadership contender - confirmed by several of his colleagues and senior business figures - provide an insight into his increasing confidence.
It is far removed from the ridicule he received after vacillating on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in late 2009, when he was favoured to replace Malcolm Turnbull.
The purpose of Hockey setting out leadership markers now is to position himself as the heir apparent to Abbott, whenever that time comes. Critical to this is cementing his place as the clear No 2 right now. Julie Bishop is the Liberal deputy leader and deputy Coalition leader, even though National Party leader Warren Truss will be deputy prime minister in government. Hockey does not see Bishop as becoming a threat.
He is suspicious about Turnbull, who has buried the hatchet with Abbott. He is acutely aware of how Turnbull, as a backbencher and minister, undermined Costello as treasurer. And he is keeping a close eye on Scott Morrison, who is also in the future leaders frame.
For the past decade, Abbott has been a leader among the conservative wing (dries) of the Liberal Party while Hockey has been a leader among the moderates (wets). But Hockey's tough stand on the budget and his promise to end "the culture of universal entitlement" has won him respect from conservatives.
Hockey's principal backer in the Liberal partyroom is South Australian MP Jamie Briggs, a well-known dry. Briggs is to Hockey what another South Australian MP, Christopher Pyne (a wet), was to Costello.
Peter Dutton, another social conservative, is also close to Hockey. Formerly assistant treasurer to Costello, he regularly talks to Hockey about economic policy. They ran on a leadership ticket in 2009. A future Hockey-Dutton ticket is expected.
Coalition MPs say they are witnessing Hockey transform his political persona. It is not just about shedding weight. Once taunted as "sloppy Joe", known for gaffes and often short on detail, he is working harder. He is more disciplined, focused and effective in the media.
Hockey understands the budgetary challenge. Last week two independent reports - from the Parliamentary Budget Office and Treasury - revealed that a structural budget deficit was expected for the rest of the decade. Further cuts to spending and tax increases are likely to be needed to return the budget to structural surplus. Hockey has already ruled out tax cuts for the foreseeable future.
This will be difficult, given Abbott's endorsement of big spending policies such as his $4.3 billion paid parental leave scheme and his poorly designed $3.2bn Direct Action climate change policy. Hockey also needs to ensure his messages are consistent with Abbott's, given they have contradicted each other in the past on PPL, carbon tax compensation and returning to surplus.
As with all leadership contenders, Hockey will determine his future by his performance. He needs to keep faith with his promise to curtail middle-class welfare and repair the budget's bottom line. It won't be trouble-free. He has already been rolled in shadow cabinet several times.
Hockey also has a tendency to feign outrage, which grates with colleagues. And he talks down Australia's overall economic performance, which rankles some senior business figures.
Some Coalition MPs are highly critical of opposition finance spokesman Andrew Robb's communication skills. It therefore falls mainly to Hockey to sell the Coalition's economic messages. How effective Hockey is as a communicator will also determine whether or not he gets to the top job he is talking so openly about.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
What determines the Price of Gold
There were two main influences when I was growing up in the 1970s and 80s. We went through a period of very high inflation in the United States. President Nixon imposed wage and price controls in a misguided, or perhaps very cynical, attempt to fight inflation. And Nixon’s successor, President Ford, handed out these silly little lapel buttons that said “Whip Inflation Now”. I remember seeing a young man on the TV news who had reported a chain store for the economic crime of raising the price of one of their products. He was being given some kind of award for this.
The second historical event was the gold bull market of the late 70s. Then Reagan came in along with Paul Volker who he inherited from the former president, Carter. I wasn’t paying much attention at the time but it stuck with me that gold had made this huge move.
Those two things came together and had a life-long influence on me. From that time I took away a curiosity about inflation. And that led me eventually to be curious about the whole field of economics. I was lucky that I came upon the Austrian School of Economics. I started reading Austrian economics in high school. The Austrian School emphasized gold as the basis of the monetary system and how well that has worked out over the course of human history.
The popular perception of China an economic juggernaut on a path to eclipse the economies of the developed world. And how did that happen? Because their wise central planners chose an export-driven growth strategy. Many people now think that this strategy has gotten them to a point where they are deficient in domestic consumption, so they need to switch to a consumption-driven mode of economic growth; and that this also will be accomplished by the same wise central planners through a series of carefully designed five-year plans.
I think almost everything about this view is wrong; it is still largely a centrally planned economy and we know from the economics of the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises, central planners cannot allocate resources.
If you have a very simple economy where people make consumption goods with their bare hands, this can be done with central planning. But Mises was trying to explain the economic growth that has occurred in the world from small villages to vast modern economies with millions of goods and a complex division of labor. How could this type of growth occur? The process requires the development of a complex inter-relationship of capital goods, natural resources, and division of labor.
In a modern economy, the number of things that could be produced is nearly unimaginably large. And the number of different production methods for even a single good is incalculable. Take gold for example – finding a deposit is quite complex. There are many ways to look for it. Magnetic fields, chemistry, electrical, drilling. How much drilling and where? And then, when you have the deposit, should it be open pit or underground? Should a resource estimate be established first or start mining and follow the vein? And what about the metallurgy, the chemistry? What type of electrical power? What types of labor? Refine the ore on site, or partially refine? Build roads, rail, or ship the ore? There are millions of decisions and each one needs to be fully answered down to the hire or purchase of specific pieces of capital and individual workers.
Only with prices can you have accounting, which is the ability to calculate profit and loss. In a market economic system, the important decisions are made on the basis of an anticipated profit and loss, which is the difference between the expected prices received on sales and the costs.
Mises had the insight that prices of capital goods are only a meaningful tool for resource allocation if they are established by a competitive bidding process among entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs must choose how much they are willing to pay to acquire a specific capital asset and hire the skilled workers they need. Entrepreneurs are people who put at risk their own capital, and will either earn a profit or suffer a loss.
The diversity of entrepreneurs is a key part of this. Each business firm or company founder has a unique view of their own market, which may be highly detailed and based on years of experience. Mises also noted that each entrepreneur has his idea about what the customer will want. The market is a decentralized process in which the entrepreneur who has the best plan for each particular asset, along with some cash, will end up in a position to choose how that asset gets used.
In my own former job, I worked for a company that was in a small sub-sector of a sub-sector. There are perhaps half a dozen people in the world who truly understood our industry, maybe fewer. The entire world is full of experts like this, people who understand a particular industry or product really well.
Can you imagine, for example, that we would have iPhones or Kindles if the technology industry was planned by a central committee? Before the iPhone, competition in the mobile industry was primarily over how many minutes per month you got on weekdays or weekends. When Steve Jobs decided to develop the iPhone, he risked $150 million of his shareholder’s money and took on the US mobile industry, who did not want a disruptive phone taking away the spotlight from their monthly plans.
Central planning means the abolition of this type of competition. And that is the problem that Mises identified. There is no way to replace this competitive bidding process with a single planner or a planning committee. The central committee cannot bid against itself for the opportunity to acquire specific capital goods and labor. That would be nothing more than the left hand bidding against the right hand. They could assign fake prices to resources and pretend to calculate the best projects, but the numbers that would come out of this process would not be prices, they would be arbitrary numbers that did not reflect the best possible use of scarce productive resources. Mises showed that a central planner has no basis for making economic decisions, even if the process did not become entirely politicized, as it always does.
The second historical event was the gold bull market of the late 70s. Then Reagan came in along with Paul Volker who he inherited from the former president, Carter. I wasn’t paying much attention at the time but it stuck with me that gold had made this huge move.
Those two things came together and had a life-long influence on me. From that time I took away a curiosity about inflation. And that led me eventually to be curious about the whole field of economics. I was lucky that I came upon the Austrian School of Economics. I started reading Austrian economics in high school. The Austrian School emphasized gold as the basis of the monetary system and how well that has worked out over the course of human history.
The popular perception of China an economic juggernaut on a path to eclipse the economies of the developed world. And how did that happen? Because their wise central planners chose an export-driven growth strategy. Many people now think that this strategy has gotten them to a point where they are deficient in domestic consumption, so they need to switch to a consumption-driven mode of economic growth; and that this also will be accomplished by the same wise central planners through a series of carefully designed five-year plans.
I think almost everything about this view is wrong; it is still largely a centrally planned economy and we know from the economics of the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises, central planners cannot allocate resources.
If you have a very simple economy where people make consumption goods with their bare hands, this can be done with central planning. But Mises was trying to explain the economic growth that has occurred in the world from small villages to vast modern economies with millions of goods and a complex division of labor. How could this type of growth occur? The process requires the development of a complex inter-relationship of capital goods, natural resources, and division of labor.
In a modern economy, the number of things that could be produced is nearly unimaginably large. And the number of different production methods for even a single good is incalculable. Take gold for example – finding a deposit is quite complex. There are many ways to look for it. Magnetic fields, chemistry, electrical, drilling. How much drilling and where? And then, when you have the deposit, should it be open pit or underground? Should a resource estimate be established first or start mining and follow the vein? And what about the metallurgy, the chemistry? What type of electrical power? What types of labor? Refine the ore on site, or partially refine? Build roads, rail, or ship the ore? There are millions of decisions and each one needs to be fully answered down to the hire or purchase of specific pieces of capital and individual workers.
Only with prices can you have accounting, which is the ability to calculate profit and loss. In a market economic system, the important decisions are made on the basis of an anticipated profit and loss, which is the difference between the expected prices received on sales and the costs.
Mises had the insight that prices of capital goods are only a meaningful tool for resource allocation if they are established by a competitive bidding process among entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs must choose how much they are willing to pay to acquire a specific capital asset and hire the skilled workers they need. Entrepreneurs are people who put at risk their own capital, and will either earn a profit or suffer a loss.
The diversity of entrepreneurs is a key part of this. Each business firm or company founder has a unique view of their own market, which may be highly detailed and based on years of experience. Mises also noted that each entrepreneur has his idea about what the customer will want. The market is a decentralized process in which the entrepreneur who has the best plan for each particular asset, along with some cash, will end up in a position to choose how that asset gets used.
In my own former job, I worked for a company that was in a small sub-sector of a sub-sector. There are perhaps half a dozen people in the world who truly understood our industry, maybe fewer. The entire world is full of experts like this, people who understand a particular industry or product really well.
Can you imagine, for example, that we would have iPhones or Kindles if the technology industry was planned by a central committee? Before the iPhone, competition in the mobile industry was primarily over how many minutes per month you got on weekdays or weekends. When Steve Jobs decided to develop the iPhone, he risked $150 million of his shareholder’s money and took on the US mobile industry, who did not want a disruptive phone taking away the spotlight from their monthly plans.
Central planning means the abolition of this type of competition. And that is the problem that Mises identified. There is no way to replace this competitive bidding process with a single planner or a planning committee. The central committee cannot bid against itself for the opportunity to acquire specific capital goods and labor. That would be nothing more than the left hand bidding against the right hand. They could assign fake prices to resources and pretend to calculate the best projects, but the numbers that would come out of this process would not be prices, they would be arbitrary numbers that did not reflect the best possible use of scarce productive resources. Mises showed that a central planner has no basis for making economic decisions, even if the process did not become entirely politicized, as it always does.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Real-Time Mystery Alt-Minds Takes Root in Europe
Five brilliant young scientists collectively known as “MHD-6″ disappear from Belgrade University. Shortly after, a video of the kidnapping makes its way to the foundation that sponsored them. A mysterious person known only as “The Donetsk Voice” feeds bits and pieces of information relating to the disappearance of the MHD-6. As the investigation progresses, the Alvinson Foundation puts out a global call for help solving the mystery. Players who respond to the call are thrown headfirst into the European-based transmedia experience Alt-Minds, an eight week long paranormal mystery that incorporates puzzles, websites, geo-locative content, and a Facebook game.
French telecommunications corporation Orange joined the French game development studio Lexis Numérique to create the Alt-Minds experience, which launched on November 12th, in four languages: French, German, Spanish, and English. According to a press release by Orange, “Alt-Minds is a cohesive set of films, games, monitoring tools and web documentaries.” The story unfolds live over the game’s eight week span, using the web series format as the framework for players stepping into the role of investigator.
Lexis Numérique is no stranger to this kind of transmedia product. In 2004, the studio launched the game In Memoriam, published by Ubisoft. In Memoriam incorporated a network of websites, film footage, and real-time emails into its game play, where the player matched wits and interacted with a serial killer in order to achieve the game’s objectives. Those familiar with In Memoriam will easily spot its influence on the Alt-Minds game structure.
Alt-Minds allows players to choose whether to interact with the game through the main website or via their mobile devices, and those who are located in Europe can enter their mobile number for additional layers of interactivity. An Alt-Minds app for Android and Apple devices, available to European users, allows players to follow the story in real-time. Non-European users may also follow along, although their experience is limited to the website’s content.
Logging on to the main website, players access their dashboard, which shows their progress through the experience. Documents and videos are provided to the players to help them solve the puzzles and advance the content. The interfaces provide tools that players can use to analyze videos and documents, such as a zoom function or sliders that alter brightness, contrast, and saturation. Players may send puzzle solutions through the in-game messaging system, earning experience points in the game, or they may skip ahead to the next part of the narrative. As the game progresses, more content becomes available, such as the geo-locative content or the related Facebook game. Alt-Minds is also releasing a series of mini documentaries that explore some of the themes and questions raised by the narrative.
The creators of Alt-Minds have experimented with the “pay-to-play” model by offering the first week of story, puzzles, and clues for free, then charging a fee for each week following, much like buying episodes of a television series from week to week. The full series can be purchased for EUR 14.99 or per episode at EUR 2.59. After the live stream ends, the Alt-Minds experience will still be accessible by those who purchase episodes or the whole game, through the system’s “catch-up” mode that allows players to replay past episodes and events. According to the Alt-Minds FAQ, game play can exceed 50 hours if players opt to take on the secondary missions.
It's very difficult to really speculate at this moment what may be the outcome of these talks. On the one hand, I think it's good that the two parties meet. Its always good when confronting parties decide to try to find a negotiated solution which otherwise might quickly escalate into another armed conflict. But we have also seen since the past 9 months that the agreements lack the will to implement and so far neither the parties nor their international advisors nor the United Nations or the security council have found a convincing method to ensure that agreements are honored and implemented. I am very very doubtful that we will see sort of a breakthrough or that we see a major substantive change. According to my information I think we will see this round of negotiations but we will not see fundamental changes on the ground, which would means the parties whole heartedly commit to what they have agreed.
I think you are alluding to the internal leadership rivalries within the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). I don't think that we are seeing a major rift within the SPLM, I think it's the fundamental distrust which continues and which will not be resolved unless we have a political breakthrough which would include a resolution of the armed conflict of the Nuba mountains, Blue Niles and this areas. And we have more stability also in the border area. It is all highly fragile, and it depends on the time of the year, If you have the rainy season, if you have the dry season, the dry season is the fighting season and this is the way it has been going all along. So I am very skeptical that we are witnessing a major change as I said before I think we are seeing some cosmetics. Some tactical maneuvers but we are not seeing a major shift that we can say the North and the South are really determined to now make sure that the economic development is starting and people feel safe and secure. It's all highly highly fragile.
Santa's work may have been completed on Christmas Eve, but for Montezuma County birders it was Dec. 26 that offered an opportunity for making a list and checking it twice.
Despite a fresh layer of snow on the ground and frigid temperatures, 12 volunteers gathered at the Cortez Cultural Center last Wednesday to participate in the National Audubon Society's 113th Christmas Bird Count. The goal of the day was simple, albeit ambitious: count all the avian creatures visible in a 15-mile diameter circle centered on Totten Lake.
Local count organizer Carolyn Gunn met with volunteers to explain the purpose of the count and hand out route maps. She stressed the amateur nature of the count and the safeguards in place to protect against errors.
"The beauty of this count is it is built for amateurs," she said. "Every year we collect data and after decades any inaccuracies become such a small percentage of the total count they are basically weeded out. All the data is useful."
The count originated at the turn of the 20th century with what was called the Christmas "Side Hunt." People would choose sides, grab their favorite firearm and bring back to the table as many birds as they could bag. Over time, concern over conservation prompted avian enthusiasts to leave the guns at home and instead track the feathered friends with paper and pen.
"People would try to kill as many birds as they possibly could and then they tallied those numbers and that was supposed to be a good thing," Gunn said. "One hundred years ago that was the accepted thing, the idea that we need to kill birds to learn about them. Then, there came the realization that highly populated bird species were declining and we really needed to know what these birds were doing instead of shooting them. So people went out to count them instead of kill them."
Matis said he has always considered himself an environmentalist and the bird count affords an opportunity to be part of the science of the environment.
The two took their time looking for birds, and though the local preserve seemed an ideal location, only a few starlings, a junco, two sparrows and a Cooper's hawk were sighted. The two were somewhat disappointed as they packed up their gear, but expressed optimism that the next site may be home to numerous species, and perhaps even a rare sighting.
French telecommunications corporation Orange joined the French game development studio Lexis Numérique to create the Alt-Minds experience, which launched on November 12th, in four languages: French, German, Spanish, and English. According to a press release by Orange, “Alt-Minds is a cohesive set of films, games, monitoring tools and web documentaries.” The story unfolds live over the game’s eight week span, using the web series format as the framework for players stepping into the role of investigator.
Lexis Numérique is no stranger to this kind of transmedia product. In 2004, the studio launched the game In Memoriam, published by Ubisoft. In Memoriam incorporated a network of websites, film footage, and real-time emails into its game play, where the player matched wits and interacted with a serial killer in order to achieve the game’s objectives. Those familiar with In Memoriam will easily spot its influence on the Alt-Minds game structure.
Alt-Minds allows players to choose whether to interact with the game through the main website or via their mobile devices, and those who are located in Europe can enter their mobile number for additional layers of interactivity. An Alt-Minds app for Android and Apple devices, available to European users, allows players to follow the story in real-time. Non-European users may also follow along, although their experience is limited to the website’s content.
Logging on to the main website, players access their dashboard, which shows their progress through the experience. Documents and videos are provided to the players to help them solve the puzzles and advance the content. The interfaces provide tools that players can use to analyze videos and documents, such as a zoom function or sliders that alter brightness, contrast, and saturation. Players may send puzzle solutions through the in-game messaging system, earning experience points in the game, or they may skip ahead to the next part of the narrative. As the game progresses, more content becomes available, such as the geo-locative content or the related Facebook game. Alt-Minds is also releasing a series of mini documentaries that explore some of the themes and questions raised by the narrative.
The creators of Alt-Minds have experimented with the “pay-to-play” model by offering the first week of story, puzzles, and clues for free, then charging a fee for each week following, much like buying episodes of a television series from week to week. The full series can be purchased for EUR 14.99 or per episode at EUR 2.59. After the live stream ends, the Alt-Minds experience will still be accessible by those who purchase episodes or the whole game, through the system’s “catch-up” mode that allows players to replay past episodes and events. According to the Alt-Minds FAQ, game play can exceed 50 hours if players opt to take on the secondary missions.
It's very difficult to really speculate at this moment what may be the outcome of these talks. On the one hand, I think it's good that the two parties meet. Its always good when confronting parties decide to try to find a negotiated solution which otherwise might quickly escalate into another armed conflict. But we have also seen since the past 9 months that the agreements lack the will to implement and so far neither the parties nor their international advisors nor the United Nations or the security council have found a convincing method to ensure that agreements are honored and implemented. I am very very doubtful that we will see sort of a breakthrough or that we see a major substantive change. According to my information I think we will see this round of negotiations but we will not see fundamental changes on the ground, which would means the parties whole heartedly commit to what they have agreed.
I think you are alluding to the internal leadership rivalries within the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). I don't think that we are seeing a major rift within the SPLM, I think it's the fundamental distrust which continues and which will not be resolved unless we have a political breakthrough which would include a resolution of the armed conflict of the Nuba mountains, Blue Niles and this areas. And we have more stability also in the border area. It is all highly fragile, and it depends on the time of the year, If you have the rainy season, if you have the dry season, the dry season is the fighting season and this is the way it has been going all along. So I am very skeptical that we are witnessing a major change as I said before I think we are seeing some cosmetics. Some tactical maneuvers but we are not seeing a major shift that we can say the North and the South are really determined to now make sure that the economic development is starting and people feel safe and secure. It's all highly highly fragile.
Santa's work may have been completed on Christmas Eve, but for Montezuma County birders it was Dec. 26 that offered an opportunity for making a list and checking it twice.
Despite a fresh layer of snow on the ground and frigid temperatures, 12 volunteers gathered at the Cortez Cultural Center last Wednesday to participate in the National Audubon Society's 113th Christmas Bird Count. The goal of the day was simple, albeit ambitious: count all the avian creatures visible in a 15-mile diameter circle centered on Totten Lake.
Local count organizer Carolyn Gunn met with volunteers to explain the purpose of the count and hand out route maps. She stressed the amateur nature of the count and the safeguards in place to protect against errors.
"The beauty of this count is it is built for amateurs," she said. "Every year we collect data and after decades any inaccuracies become such a small percentage of the total count they are basically weeded out. All the data is useful."
The count originated at the turn of the 20th century with what was called the Christmas "Side Hunt." People would choose sides, grab their favorite firearm and bring back to the table as many birds as they could bag. Over time, concern over conservation prompted avian enthusiasts to leave the guns at home and instead track the feathered friends with paper and pen.
"People would try to kill as many birds as they possibly could and then they tallied those numbers and that was supposed to be a good thing," Gunn said. "One hundred years ago that was the accepted thing, the idea that we need to kill birds to learn about them. Then, there came the realization that highly populated bird species were declining and we really needed to know what these birds were doing instead of shooting them. So people went out to count them instead of kill them."
Matis said he has always considered himself an environmentalist and the bird count affords an opportunity to be part of the science of the environment.
The two took their time looking for birds, and though the local preserve seemed an ideal location, only a few starlings, a junco, two sparrows and a Cooper's hawk were sighted. The two were somewhat disappointed as they packed up their gear, but expressed optimism that the next site may be home to numerous species, and perhaps even a rare sighting.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
The Real Cyberforensics Used To Snoop On Petraeus
In an increasingly weird and tangled affair, Former CIA director David Petraeus, Marine General John R. Allen, Paula Broadwell, Jill Kelley, an unnamed FBI Agent, and others all used various anonymous accounts and message-masking techniques pioneered by terrorists and teens alike. They thought they were communicating with each other with discretion and secrecy.
That's because they're practiced in the field of cyberforensics--detailed Internet and technology detective techniques used every day all around the world. When it comes to the vast majority of activity by Internet users, it's amazingly easy to trace fake email addresses and anonymous blogs back to their owners. Or, put another way, if the director of the CIA's undercover ops can be cracked, so can yours. Here's how.
Cyberforensics firms regularly show up on retainer or on the payroll of law enforcement, lawyers of all stripes, lobbyists, and even intelligence agencies. Every activity on the Internet leaves identity breadcrumbs in the form of activity logs, cookies, GPS activity from mobile phones, and even logs of camera activity and keyboard use secretly copied from targets' computers. Given enough manpower hours, cyberforensics experts can reconstruct the tiniest minutiae of any phone or computer owner's lives. Law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies also retain their own in-house cyberforensics experts.
The FBI gained access to anonymous Gmail accounts traced to Petraeus and Broadwell through a law, more than 25 years old, that gives law enforcement carte blanche to snoop in email accounts. Provisions of 1986's Stored Communications Act (SCA) allow “government entities” to access email records in storage for less than 180 days “if there is reasonable cause to believe a crime has been committed.” For email records that are older than 180 days, a warrant is required. Using the SCA, FBI investigators were able to obtain access to emails Broadwell and Petraeus wrote via Gmail over the past six months. Google routinely discloses government queries into Gmail's archives, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation and others have raised concerns over the SCA, an email bill written back in the halcyon days of Compuserve and GEnie.
Both Petraeus and Broadwell were savvy enough to use Gmail accounts with fake names. But while Petraeus knew his way around email, he wasn't savvy enough for Broadwell and him to take precautions that could have hidden any incriminating emails. Neither used identity-obscuring VPNs and rerouting solutions such as the Tor Project, which could have hindered the FBI from tracing, for instance, Broadwell's fake email account back to her North Carolina home. Apart from Tor, commercially available end-user solutions such as Hotspot Shield and LogMeIn Hamachi obscure the origination points of email messages with varying levels of success. It is important to note that many of those services, especially those that use American servers, may keep IP address logs that are accessible to investigators or hackers.
Darren R. Hayes, the head of Pace University's Computer Information Systems program and a computer forensics expert, tells Fast Company that there are numerous ways for anonymous email accounts to escape detection, or to at least make the process much harder. Commercial services such as GuerillaMail and Mailinator offer disposable, throwaway email addresses whose data can be held on foreign servers outside the reach of the American government; VPNs also make tracing emails much harder.
The FBI, NSA, local police departments, and other government entities can all access email account records and histories via sending requests to Google, AOL, and others. These accounts customarily request all information associated with an IP address--meaning that all the email addresses from a household, whether involved in an investigation or not, are culled by law enforcement.
Cyberforensics, though not regularly discussed in the press, are a booming industry. “These days, virtually all cases involve digital evidence. Whether the case is counterterrorism, kidnapping, drugs, or a white collar crime, digital evidence is key,” AccessData's Erika Lee tells Fast Company. AccessData, which sells computer forensics software to investigators parsing electronic records and corporations tracing the perpetrators of hacking attacks, is part of a field that does everything from parse the physical locations Facebook status updates were posted from to uncovering the Chinese cybercafes where multimillion dollar attacks on banks were launched from.
That's because they're practiced in the field of cyberforensics--detailed Internet and technology detective techniques used every day all around the world. When it comes to the vast majority of activity by Internet users, it's amazingly easy to trace fake email addresses and anonymous blogs back to their owners. Or, put another way, if the director of the CIA's undercover ops can be cracked, so can yours. Here's how.
Cyberforensics firms regularly show up on retainer or on the payroll of law enforcement, lawyers of all stripes, lobbyists, and even intelligence agencies. Every activity on the Internet leaves identity breadcrumbs in the form of activity logs, cookies, GPS activity from mobile phones, and even logs of camera activity and keyboard use secretly copied from targets' computers. Given enough manpower hours, cyberforensics experts can reconstruct the tiniest minutiae of any phone or computer owner's lives. Law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies also retain their own in-house cyberforensics experts.
The FBI gained access to anonymous Gmail accounts traced to Petraeus and Broadwell through a law, more than 25 years old, that gives law enforcement carte blanche to snoop in email accounts. Provisions of 1986's Stored Communications Act (SCA) allow “government entities” to access email records in storage for less than 180 days “if there is reasonable cause to believe a crime has been committed.” For email records that are older than 180 days, a warrant is required. Using the SCA, FBI investigators were able to obtain access to emails Broadwell and Petraeus wrote via Gmail over the past six months. Google routinely discloses government queries into Gmail's archives, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation and others have raised concerns over the SCA, an email bill written back in the halcyon days of Compuserve and GEnie.
Both Petraeus and Broadwell were savvy enough to use Gmail accounts with fake names. But while Petraeus knew his way around email, he wasn't savvy enough for Broadwell and him to take precautions that could have hidden any incriminating emails. Neither used identity-obscuring VPNs and rerouting solutions such as the Tor Project, which could have hindered the FBI from tracing, for instance, Broadwell's fake email account back to her North Carolina home. Apart from Tor, commercially available end-user solutions such as Hotspot Shield and LogMeIn Hamachi obscure the origination points of email messages with varying levels of success. It is important to note that many of those services, especially those that use American servers, may keep IP address logs that are accessible to investigators or hackers.
Darren R. Hayes, the head of Pace University's Computer Information Systems program and a computer forensics expert, tells Fast Company that there are numerous ways for anonymous email accounts to escape detection, or to at least make the process much harder. Commercial services such as GuerillaMail and Mailinator offer disposable, throwaway email addresses whose data can be held on foreign servers outside the reach of the American government; VPNs also make tracing emails much harder.
The FBI, NSA, local police departments, and other government entities can all access email account records and histories via sending requests to Google, AOL, and others. These accounts customarily request all information associated with an IP address--meaning that all the email addresses from a household, whether involved in an investigation or not, are culled by law enforcement.
Cyberforensics, though not regularly discussed in the press, are a booming industry. “These days, virtually all cases involve digital evidence. Whether the case is counterterrorism, kidnapping, drugs, or a white collar crime, digital evidence is key,” AccessData's Erika Lee tells Fast Company. AccessData, which sells computer forensics software to investigators parsing electronic records and corporations tracing the perpetrators of hacking attacks, is part of a field that does everything from parse the physical locations Facebook status updates were posted from to uncovering the Chinese cybercafes where multimillion dollar attacks on banks were launched from.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Whisper App Allows Anonymous Dialogue
Whisper’s founder Michael Heyward further clarified how the app allows users to make connections locally. “The most important thing to remember is that Whisper is 100% anonymous. And we encourage people who download the app to enable [its] location feature because it makes the app more exciting. You can set it up so you get a notification anytime someone has whispered nearby you, keeping you engaged in the on-campus network. You can make your location or Whisper identity as private or public as you like. For instance, even if the location setting is enabled, you can put your location as broad as “Massachusetts” or as specific as “Mortimer Rare Book Room in Smith College Library.”
Heyward was careful to emphasize the positive aspects of anonymity when it comes to building supportive college communities. He believes that the app can be particularly useful for college students, especially those who feel isolated from their larger communities.
“So far, Whisper has been used to help people connect with each other about the realities of their campus experience,” Heyward said. “A lot of Whisper users respond to one another expressing shared feelings and compassion, so in this way it’s been a great tool for students to support one another in a safe manner. There are also starting to be instances of people on Whisper meeting up in “real life.” At UCLA, several students from Whisper “met” on the app and ended up meeting in person by the campus Bruin Bear statue.
Madeline Britvec ’15, however, questioned the safety of allowing users to give away their exact location. “Although the app seems to form a sense of community it seems a little invasive and possibly unsafe,” Britvec said. “I, personally, wouldn’t want to meet up with strangers who knew my ‘deepest darkest secrets.’” Past issues with the Smith College ACB and conflicts over the Smith Confessional have also led to concerns over anonymous bullying and harassment.
Heyward’s positive characterization of the app can be seen in many local – within about 50 miles – postings. In one exchange, a local Whisperer wrote, “My therapist is sending me to a psychiatrist today. I’m terrified,” to which others responded with encouragements such as, “Don’t be scared. You’re exactly where you need to be at this moment of time. Best wishes for your recovery.” But not all posts are so serious. Another Whisperer proudly posts a picture of his/her cat and the text reads, “My cat is my best friend.”
One reality that the app does not seem to address is socio-economic diversity, because the app is a mobile-only platform. Heyward expressed concern over this problem and explained the decision to create an iPhone app rather than a Web site.
“Creators chose to make it an app because they wanted it to be extremely interactive,” Heyward explained. “Whisper is more like its own social network. On the app, users are having dialogues by responding to each other’s posts. In terms of eliminating lower socio-economic classes, we certainly had no intention of this happening and we are actively working on a version of Whisper for non-iPhone users such as Android.” In such a case, the app would still require users to own a smart phone.
Losses suffered by businesses have been more difficult to quantify, with hundreds affected initially by evacuations that forced retailers, restaurants and other companies to shut down for more than a week and hundreds more losing bookings in the weeks after the 18,000-acre blaze. Lodging and tourism appear to have felt the brunt of the economic impact, with the occupancy rate in local hotels falling in July from the year before by the largest percentage in more than a decade.
Volunteers from the Colorado Springs Small Business Development Center, Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) and the Colorado Springs Community Alliance contacted or were contacted by more than 1,500 businesses since June 29 in areas that were either evacuated or put on notice of potential evacuation. Based on those calls, the center estimates those businesses lost $7.1 million in sales as a result of the fire, but that estimate could increase as businesses close out their books for the year. More than 30 local businesses sought special loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration available to businesses hurt by the fire.
Here are the stories of five businesses who sought help from the Small Business Development Center and got assistance with marketing, legal issues, business and flood insurance, seeking new loans or restructuring existing loans. In the wake of the fire, each suffered sales losses totaling thousands of dollars that forced owners to cut back on hiring workers, delay paying some bills and cut back on new inventory purchases. All report that sales have come back in recent weeks, but each is still recovering from the financial losses they suffered as a result of the fire.
Heyward was careful to emphasize the positive aspects of anonymity when it comes to building supportive college communities. He believes that the app can be particularly useful for college students, especially those who feel isolated from their larger communities.
“So far, Whisper has been used to help people connect with each other about the realities of their campus experience,” Heyward said. “A lot of Whisper users respond to one another expressing shared feelings and compassion, so in this way it’s been a great tool for students to support one another in a safe manner. There are also starting to be instances of people on Whisper meeting up in “real life.” At UCLA, several students from Whisper “met” on the app and ended up meeting in person by the campus Bruin Bear statue.
Madeline Britvec ’15, however, questioned the safety of allowing users to give away their exact location. “Although the app seems to form a sense of community it seems a little invasive and possibly unsafe,” Britvec said. “I, personally, wouldn’t want to meet up with strangers who knew my ‘deepest darkest secrets.’” Past issues with the Smith College ACB and conflicts over the Smith Confessional have also led to concerns over anonymous bullying and harassment.
Heyward’s positive characterization of the app can be seen in many local – within about 50 miles – postings. In one exchange, a local Whisperer wrote, “My therapist is sending me to a psychiatrist today. I’m terrified,” to which others responded with encouragements such as, “Don’t be scared. You’re exactly where you need to be at this moment of time. Best wishes for your recovery.” But not all posts are so serious. Another Whisperer proudly posts a picture of his/her cat and the text reads, “My cat is my best friend.”
One reality that the app does not seem to address is socio-economic diversity, because the app is a mobile-only platform. Heyward expressed concern over this problem and explained the decision to create an iPhone app rather than a Web site.
“Creators chose to make it an app because they wanted it to be extremely interactive,” Heyward explained. “Whisper is more like its own social network. On the app, users are having dialogues by responding to each other’s posts. In terms of eliminating lower socio-economic classes, we certainly had no intention of this happening and we are actively working on a version of Whisper for non-iPhone users such as Android.” In such a case, the app would still require users to own a smart phone.
Losses suffered by businesses have been more difficult to quantify, with hundreds affected initially by evacuations that forced retailers, restaurants and other companies to shut down for more than a week and hundreds more losing bookings in the weeks after the 18,000-acre blaze. Lodging and tourism appear to have felt the brunt of the economic impact, with the occupancy rate in local hotels falling in July from the year before by the largest percentage in more than a decade.
Volunteers from the Colorado Springs Small Business Development Center, Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) and the Colorado Springs Community Alliance contacted or were contacted by more than 1,500 businesses since June 29 in areas that were either evacuated or put on notice of potential evacuation. Based on those calls, the center estimates those businesses lost $7.1 million in sales as a result of the fire, but that estimate could increase as businesses close out their books for the year. More than 30 local businesses sought special loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration available to businesses hurt by the fire.
Here are the stories of five businesses who sought help from the Small Business Development Center and got assistance with marketing, legal issues, business and flood insurance, seeking new loans or restructuring existing loans. In the wake of the fire, each suffered sales losses totaling thousands of dollars that forced owners to cut back on hiring workers, delay paying some bills and cut back on new inventory purchases. All report that sales have come back in recent weeks, but each is still recovering from the financial losses they suffered as a result of the fire.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Google Unveils New Nexus 4 Smarthphone
Instead of what was to be a fun gala on a New York City pier, Google debuted its new hardware in a post on the Google Official Blog.
"Today, we’re excited to announce three great new Nexus devices … in small, medium and large," wrote Andy Rubin, Google's senior vice president of mobile and digital content, in the Oct. 29 post. "And they all run Android 4.2, a new flavor of Jelly Bean—which includes the latest version of Google Now and other great new features."
The new Nexus 4 phone, which is built by LG, features a quad-core processor, a 4.7-inch display running at 320 pixels-per-inch (PPI) and wireless charging that allows it to be charged by placing it on a charging surface, according to Google.
The Nexus 4 also features the latest version of the Android Jelly Bean operating system, which is being called Android 4.2. Under Android 4.2, Google has "reinvented the photo experience with Photo Sphere, which lets you capture images that are literally larger than life," wrote Rubin. "Snap shots up, down and in every direction to create stunning 360-degree immersive experiences that you can share on Google+ with friends and family—or you can add your Photo Sphere to Google Maps for the world to see."
The Nexus 4 starts at $299 for the 8GB model or $349 for the 16GB model, and is available unlocked and without a contract starting Nov. 13 on the Google Play store in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain and Canada. The 16GB version will also be available through T-Mobile for $199 with a two-year contract.
Also included in Android 4.2 is the rumored feature, Gesture Typing, which allows users to glide a finger over the letters they want to type on the keyboard. Instead of lifting a finger, users can glide their finger from letter to letter across the screen without lifting from the surface.
Android 4.2 also adds support for wireless displays so users can wirelessly watch movies, YouTube videos and play games right on a Miracast-compatible HDTV, according to Google.
The new Nexus 7 tablets are available in several models, including 16GB of storage for $199 or 32GB of storage for $249 for the WiFi versions. A mobile version with built-in Evolved High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+) mobile data is also available at $299 for a 32GB model that can operate on more than 200 GSM providers worldwide, including AT&T in the United States, according to Google.
The new Nexus 10 tablet, built by Samsung, is aimed at giving users a suitable device for watching movies or reading magazines on its display. "The Nexus 10 is the highest-resolution tablet on the planet with a 10.055-inch display at 2560-by-1600 (300ppi)," Rubin wrote. "That's over 4 million pixels right in your hands." The Nexus 10 battery is expected to give users up to nine hours of video playback and more than 500 hours of standby time.
With the Nexus 10 and Android 4.2, now multiple users can share the same device and log in using their individual profiles to access their own email, apps, bookmarks and more. "That way, everyone can have their own home screens, their own music, and even their own high scores," wrote Rubin.
Google also announced that starting Nov. 13 the Google Play Store is now open to purchases from consumers in Canada, the U.K., France, Spain and Australia. Users in those countries will also be the first to get a new Google music matching feature. Google will scan a user's music collection and any song we match against the Google Play catalog will be automatically added to your online library without their needing to upload it on their own.
The feature will come to the United States in the near future, according to Google. "This will all be for free—free storage of your music, free matching, free syncing across your devices and free listening," wrote Rubin.
In addition, new content from Time Inc., including InStyle, People, Time and other publications, will soon be available, as well as new music offerings from Warner Music Group. More content will continue to be added, Rubin reported. "We’re now working with all of the major record labels globally, and all the major U.S. magazine publishers, as well as many independent labels, artists and publishers."
"Today, we’re excited to announce three great new Nexus devices … in small, medium and large," wrote Andy Rubin, Google's senior vice president of mobile and digital content, in the Oct. 29 post. "And they all run Android 4.2, a new flavor of Jelly Bean—which includes the latest version of Google Now and other great new features."
The new Nexus 4 phone, which is built by LG, features a quad-core processor, a 4.7-inch display running at 320 pixels-per-inch (PPI) and wireless charging that allows it to be charged by placing it on a charging surface, according to Google.
The Nexus 4 also features the latest version of the Android Jelly Bean operating system, which is being called Android 4.2. Under Android 4.2, Google has "reinvented the photo experience with Photo Sphere, which lets you capture images that are literally larger than life," wrote Rubin. "Snap shots up, down and in every direction to create stunning 360-degree immersive experiences that you can share on Google+ with friends and family—or you can add your Photo Sphere to Google Maps for the world to see."
The Nexus 4 starts at $299 for the 8GB model or $349 for the 16GB model, and is available unlocked and without a contract starting Nov. 13 on the Google Play store in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain and Canada. The 16GB version will also be available through T-Mobile for $199 with a two-year contract.
Also included in Android 4.2 is the rumored feature, Gesture Typing, which allows users to glide a finger over the letters they want to type on the keyboard. Instead of lifting a finger, users can glide their finger from letter to letter across the screen without lifting from the surface.
Android 4.2 also adds support for wireless displays so users can wirelessly watch movies, YouTube videos and play games right on a Miracast-compatible HDTV, according to Google.
The new Nexus 7 tablets are available in several models, including 16GB of storage for $199 or 32GB of storage for $249 for the WiFi versions. A mobile version with built-in Evolved High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+) mobile data is also available at $299 for a 32GB model that can operate on more than 200 GSM providers worldwide, including AT&T in the United States, according to Google.
The new Nexus 10 tablet, built by Samsung, is aimed at giving users a suitable device for watching movies or reading magazines on its display. "The Nexus 10 is the highest-resolution tablet on the planet with a 10.055-inch display at 2560-by-1600 (300ppi)," Rubin wrote. "That's over 4 million pixels right in your hands." The Nexus 10 battery is expected to give users up to nine hours of video playback and more than 500 hours of standby time.
With the Nexus 10 and Android 4.2, now multiple users can share the same device and log in using their individual profiles to access their own email, apps, bookmarks and more. "That way, everyone can have their own home screens, their own music, and even their own high scores," wrote Rubin.
Google also announced that starting Nov. 13 the Google Play Store is now open to purchases from consumers in Canada, the U.K., France, Spain and Australia. Users in those countries will also be the first to get a new Google music matching feature. Google will scan a user's music collection and any song we match against the Google Play catalog will be automatically added to your online library without their needing to upload it on their own.
The feature will come to the United States in the near future, according to Google. "This will all be for free—free storage of your music, free matching, free syncing across your devices and free listening," wrote Rubin.
In addition, new content from Time Inc., including InStyle, People, Time and other publications, will soon be available, as well as new music offerings from Warner Music Group. More content will continue to be added, Rubin reported. "We’re now working with all of the major record labels globally, and all the major U.S. magazine publishers, as well as many independent labels, artists and publishers."
Sunday, October 28, 2012
“It’s Delicate, But Potent”
Every now and then, I’ll get sucked into the distracting, immersive, emotional habit of flipping through pictures online. Rifling through albums can stop time. It’s disorienting, like stumbling upon an old photograph in your drawer, the type of visually arresting trigger that takes you back through time. For me, I keep a small cigar box full of all my old photographs, dating back to childhood. They’re all warped now, fading in color. I keep the box tucked away under the bed, forgetting about it because I know going through it will take me places for hours.
Maybe you’ve heard a song that triggered a memory locked up in the corner of your brain. Maybe you run into someone from your past in real life, and you just stop in place. Or, maybe you see a photograph that ties it all together, jarring and powerful. If you’ve watched Mad Men, you’ll no doubt recall the famous carousel scene in the final episode of the first season, a classic moment where Don Draper talks about a consumer product, based on photographs, that had the rare chance to create a sentimental bond with people.
Back in the Mad Men days, that product was a Kodak Carousel. More recently, that product is Instagram, using filters to manipulate photographs and give them a tinge of nostalgia. And, while we all may be tired of yet another photo-based service, I must admit that I’ve been fascinated by and addicted to Timehop emails for a while.
The triggers used by Timehop have been subtle and measured. It started with a daily morning email sent at the same time, a reminder about what I was doing a year ago that day. Then people started referencing their receipt of their Timehop email on Twitter, but without explicitly sharing the content. Recently, they adopted a technique popularized by Instagram to create a web page for each memory they surfaced to make sharing with friends easier. The folks at Timehop have been gently beating the drum of nostalgia and created a product I want to interact with at least once a day.
And now, with their brand becoming more well-known, with a small but lively installed base of users primed by weeks of subtle emails, and a social sharing rhythm in place, Timehop has launched a new iPhone app into a crowded app marketplace. The app takes what the simple email reminders did, but now has the ability to send push notification based not only on time, but also your location and what your other friends were doing years ago or at certain places. Timehop for iPhone will also access photographs you’ve taken on your phone, many of which don’t make it to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram — and then surface them for you at just the right time.
I could go on and on about the other cool things Timehop could do on mobile, but perhaps the best thing about the service is its ability to draw out emotion through such a simple concept. Aside from the design, there’s no earth-shattering technology here, though tuning which data to resurface is an interesting contextual challenge. The information Timehop surfaces already exists on your other social streams, but there’s no easy way to access or present it. There are also some data structure and organizational hurdles in presenting this data, and so far the app shows no sign of fatigue. Not surprisingly, it is a service I’ve seen many of my non-early-adopter friends mention and remember in conversation, leading me to believe it has the potential to spread naturally because it simply gives people what they want in a new form — the place where you can keep your memories. The carousel of old slides, the cigar box of warped pictures, and the Instagrams you’ve taken, now in your pocket, delivered to you in just the right way.
Maybe you’ve heard a song that triggered a memory locked up in the corner of your brain. Maybe you run into someone from your past in real life, and you just stop in place. Or, maybe you see a photograph that ties it all together, jarring and powerful. If you’ve watched Mad Men, you’ll no doubt recall the famous carousel scene in the final episode of the first season, a classic moment where Don Draper talks about a consumer product, based on photographs, that had the rare chance to create a sentimental bond with people.
Back in the Mad Men days, that product was a Kodak Carousel. More recently, that product is Instagram, using filters to manipulate photographs and give them a tinge of nostalgia. And, while we all may be tired of yet another photo-based service, I must admit that I’ve been fascinated by and addicted to Timehop emails for a while.
The triggers used by Timehop have been subtle and measured. It started with a daily morning email sent at the same time, a reminder about what I was doing a year ago that day. Then people started referencing their receipt of their Timehop email on Twitter, but without explicitly sharing the content. Recently, they adopted a technique popularized by Instagram to create a web page for each memory they surfaced to make sharing with friends easier. The folks at Timehop have been gently beating the drum of nostalgia and created a product I want to interact with at least once a day.
And now, with their brand becoming more well-known, with a small but lively installed base of users primed by weeks of subtle emails, and a social sharing rhythm in place, Timehop has launched a new iPhone app into a crowded app marketplace. The app takes what the simple email reminders did, but now has the ability to send push notification based not only on time, but also your location and what your other friends were doing years ago or at certain places. Timehop for iPhone will also access photographs you’ve taken on your phone, many of which don’t make it to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram — and then surface them for you at just the right time.
I could go on and on about the other cool things Timehop could do on mobile, but perhaps the best thing about the service is its ability to draw out emotion through such a simple concept. Aside from the design, there’s no earth-shattering technology here, though tuning which data to resurface is an interesting contextual challenge. The information Timehop surfaces already exists on your other social streams, but there’s no easy way to access or present it. There are also some data structure and organizational hurdles in presenting this data, and so far the app shows no sign of fatigue. Not surprisingly, it is a service I’ve seen many of my non-early-adopter friends mention and remember in conversation, leading me to believe it has the potential to spread naturally because it simply gives people what they want in a new form — the place where you can keep your memories. The carousel of old slides, the cigar box of warped pictures, and the Instagrams you’ve taken, now in your pocket, delivered to you in just the right way.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Mounting Fears of ‘Cyber-Pearl-Harbor’
From Bank of America to HSBC and from JPMorgan Chase to Wells Fargo bank a growing wave of cyber attacks has disrupted and crippled the customer-facing online presence of some of the biggest and most powerful high-profile Western financial institutions over the past several weeks. Ally Financial, BB&T, Capital One Financial, PNC Bank, Regions Financial, SunTrust Bank and US Bank have also been targeted. Customers trying to use the online systems of those banks after the latest digital attacks were denied access or faced long delays. Some of the digital attacks appear to have originated in Iran and Russia. Security experts now believe that multiple well-organised digital attackers rather than a single attacker are behind the events that caused day-long slowdowns and, at times, complete online outages at various top banks.
The US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has warned that the country could face a ‘Cyber-Pearl-Harbor’ in the near future and has drafted new rules which would enable the American military to move quickly to thwart any such attacks. Panetta is also concerned that the “scale and speed” of the bank attacks is unprecedented. The digital attacks have continued this week despite a warning from him that America has the ability to determine who is responsible. Specifically, Panetta said, “Potential aggressors should be aware that the United States has the capacity to locate them and hold them accountable for actions that harm America or its interests” to business executives in New York.
Panetta also said that Iran has “undertaken a concerted effort to use cyberspace to its advantage.” Panetta added that digital attacks emanating from foreign soils could paralyse the country’s power grid financial networks and transportation system saying that a cyber attack had the potential to “paralyse and shock the nation and create a profound new sense of vulnerability.” “If we detect an imminent threat of attack that will cause significant physical destruction in the United States or kill American citizens, we need to have the option to take action against those who would attack us, to defend this nation when directed by the president,” Panetta said in the speech to top business executives in New York.
Panetta also added that the “Shamoon” virus which attacked Saudi Arabia’s state oil company, Aramco, was probably the most destructive attack the business sector has seen to date. The virus also struck a joint venture between the US oil firm ExxonMobil and state-controlled Qatar Petroleum. Iran is suspected of taking revenge for US sanctions by targeting oil companies with cyber attacks, knocking out Saudi Arabia’s Aramco’s computers for two weeks. A disruption to Saudi Arabia’s oil exports could cause oil prices to spike from their already elevated prices and tip the fragile global economic recovery into recession.
If there ever was a time for any major organisation’s board of directors to listen carefully to their Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) that time has now arrived. Call an emergency board meeting and please pay close attention to the advice of your CIO and CISO in regard to online security matters. Your online reputation, trust in your brand, customer confidence and share price may soon depend on the swiftness of your attention to this urgent matter. Companies have to be very aware of what’s going on in regard to this latest round of cyber attacks on banks of 100+ billion bytes per second and they have to start thinking about a Plan B and Plan C beyond Plan A if financial chaos is manifest in the near future.
The mi2g Intelligence Unit (mIU) and the ATCA 5000 Research & Analysis Wing (A-RAW) have become concerned about the latest round of digital attacks because US and Western large capital financial institutions have some of the best network security defences of any industry. Sustained attacks could disrupt customer confidence in industries beyond banking and may have a much larger cascading fallout given that Systemically Important Financial Institutions — SIFIs — are also coming under sustained attack. The latest campaign of digital attacks appears to have been near-100 percent effective, at least in bringing the targeted financial institutions some level of visible duress. The attackers are adapting to the banks’ defences and becoming more sophisticated in their tactics with every passing week. Is it plausible that the next flash crash which manifests in the global financial markets may be traced back to these swiftly escalating cyber attacks?
A hacktivist group calling itself the “Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters” took credit for the cyber attacks against banking giants in a Pastebin post, which has since been removed. The group, perhaps Iranian, has claimed that it is protesting the presence of the anti-Islamic video ‘Innocence of Muslims’ on the Internet, which has helped spark outrage in the Middle East against the United States in particular and the West in general. There is scepticism that fringe Islamist groups are sufficiently organised to mount these colossal digital attacks on their own without nation-state assistance.
The US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has warned that the country could face a ‘Cyber-Pearl-Harbor’ in the near future and has drafted new rules which would enable the American military to move quickly to thwart any such attacks. Panetta is also concerned that the “scale and speed” of the bank attacks is unprecedented. The digital attacks have continued this week despite a warning from him that America has the ability to determine who is responsible. Specifically, Panetta said, “Potential aggressors should be aware that the United States has the capacity to locate them and hold them accountable for actions that harm America or its interests” to business executives in New York.
Panetta also said that Iran has “undertaken a concerted effort to use cyberspace to its advantage.” Panetta added that digital attacks emanating from foreign soils could paralyse the country’s power grid financial networks and transportation system saying that a cyber attack had the potential to “paralyse and shock the nation and create a profound new sense of vulnerability.” “If we detect an imminent threat of attack that will cause significant physical destruction in the United States or kill American citizens, we need to have the option to take action against those who would attack us, to defend this nation when directed by the president,” Panetta said in the speech to top business executives in New York.
Panetta also added that the “Shamoon” virus which attacked Saudi Arabia’s state oil company, Aramco, was probably the most destructive attack the business sector has seen to date. The virus also struck a joint venture between the US oil firm ExxonMobil and state-controlled Qatar Petroleum. Iran is suspected of taking revenge for US sanctions by targeting oil companies with cyber attacks, knocking out Saudi Arabia’s Aramco’s computers for two weeks. A disruption to Saudi Arabia’s oil exports could cause oil prices to spike from their already elevated prices and tip the fragile global economic recovery into recession.
If there ever was a time for any major organisation’s board of directors to listen carefully to their Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) that time has now arrived. Call an emergency board meeting and please pay close attention to the advice of your CIO and CISO in regard to online security matters. Your online reputation, trust in your brand, customer confidence and share price may soon depend on the swiftness of your attention to this urgent matter. Companies have to be very aware of what’s going on in regard to this latest round of cyber attacks on banks of 100+ billion bytes per second and they have to start thinking about a Plan B and Plan C beyond Plan A if financial chaos is manifest in the near future.
The mi2g Intelligence Unit (mIU) and the ATCA 5000 Research & Analysis Wing (A-RAW) have become concerned about the latest round of digital attacks because US and Western large capital financial institutions have some of the best network security defences of any industry. Sustained attacks could disrupt customer confidence in industries beyond banking and may have a much larger cascading fallout given that Systemically Important Financial Institutions — SIFIs — are also coming under sustained attack. The latest campaign of digital attacks appears to have been near-100 percent effective, at least in bringing the targeted financial institutions some level of visible duress. The attackers are adapting to the banks’ defences and becoming more sophisticated in their tactics with every passing week. Is it plausible that the next flash crash which manifests in the global financial markets may be traced back to these swiftly escalating cyber attacks?
A hacktivist group calling itself the “Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters” took credit for the cyber attacks against banking giants in a Pastebin post, which has since been removed. The group, perhaps Iranian, has claimed that it is protesting the presence of the anti-Islamic video ‘Innocence of Muslims’ on the Internet, which has helped spark outrage in the Middle East against the United States in particular and the West in general. There is scepticism that fringe Islamist groups are sufficiently organised to mount these colossal digital attacks on their own without nation-state assistance.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Acworth Police Ready for Upgrade
To hear Det. Jonathan Sampson tell it, the Acworth Police Department's current record management system has some deficiencies.
Officers still have to save investigative reports on USB drives. They can't cross-check seemingly basic information while in the field. And the system's search function has limitations.
That's why Sampson made the pitch Monday night for a new system.
It's called CourtWare, and it won't cost the city anything. But more than that, it will eliminate redundancies and better assist the Acworth Police Department in investigations, Sampson told Mayor Tommy Allegood and the Board of Aldermen.
Currently, the police department, the court and the jail use different record systems.
"Not one of them," Sampson said, "communicates with the other."
So if an officer stops someone, that officer can't check jail or court records during the stop.
"The only way to use the jail software is to drive back to the (police) station, sit down at a terminal and use it," Sampson said.
That's not the only limitation of USA Software, the system the city currently uses.
"For example," Sampson said, "Cherokee County calls us and says, 'Hey, you've got any dealings with so and so?' We can only search the people who've been to our jail system as arrestees and we can only search (the) people who have been reported as victims of crimes."
With CourtWare, the police department will be able to pull up the names of anyone it has dealt with, whether they've been arrested or not. And it will also allow law enforcement personnel to quickly search reports for keywords.
"For example," Sampson said, "Cherokee calls again and says, 'Hey, we've just recovered six iPads, four cell phones and a GPS. Currently, unless someone in the detective division remembers the report about stolen iPads or stolen electronics, we can't find that report without looking through each report individually. This new system allows us to search through the narrative for 'iPads,' greatly aiding our investigative ability."
Entering and maintaining reports can also a hassle, Sampson said.
"Under the current system, there are five different saves for one report to make it from the police officer to the citizen. An officer saves it in his car, then he saves it onto a USB drive and walks it into the police department. Saves it onto a computer in the police department. His sergeant pulls up the report, reviews it and saves it into another location. Then the records division pulls that report up, reviews it, and saves it into its final resting place.
"Under the new system, there will not be multiple saves. Everything will be saved in the cloud so to speak. In real time. And once the file's created it will stay in its location until it reaches records and the end user."
The police department has looked at three software providers: CourtWare, USA Software and OSSI. More than 50 percent of the law enforcement agencies in Cobb use OSSI, Sampson said.
While Acworth liked that software "more than we liked the one we have here," he said, the price tag was "out of our reach."
"The cost for OSSI is an initial investment of $300,000 financed over three years with an annual maintenance cost of $28,000 per year."
USA Software, the software the city currently uses, quoted Acworth a one-time upgrade cost of $80,000 a year with an annual maintenance cost of $24,000 a year.
With CourtWare, there's no upfront cost and upgrades are free.
"The way their price works is they take a certain dollar amount off of each paid citation through the court system," Sampson said. "Our current rate is $4 per paid citation. The increase would be four more dollars, raising it to $8 per paid citation to finance this software. And that $8 per paid citation would cover ... everything about the software. There would be no other investment."
The police department will need $20,000 to outfit the department with new hardware to get the software up and running by Jan. 1, 2013. It will also need $4,000 to convert its old data from USA Software into the new system.
None of the money will come out of the city's general fund. The police department will pay for those expenses with money collected from drug seizures.
Officers still have to save investigative reports on USB drives. They can't cross-check seemingly basic information while in the field. And the system's search function has limitations.
That's why Sampson made the pitch Monday night for a new system.
It's called CourtWare, and it won't cost the city anything. But more than that, it will eliminate redundancies and better assist the Acworth Police Department in investigations, Sampson told Mayor Tommy Allegood and the Board of Aldermen.
Currently, the police department, the court and the jail use different record systems.
"Not one of them," Sampson said, "communicates with the other."
So if an officer stops someone, that officer can't check jail or court records during the stop.
"The only way to use the jail software is to drive back to the (police) station, sit down at a terminal and use it," Sampson said.
That's not the only limitation of USA Software, the system the city currently uses.
"For example," Sampson said, "Cherokee County calls us and says, 'Hey, you've got any dealings with so and so?' We can only search the people who've been to our jail system as arrestees and we can only search (the) people who have been reported as victims of crimes."
With CourtWare, the police department will be able to pull up the names of anyone it has dealt with, whether they've been arrested or not. And it will also allow law enforcement personnel to quickly search reports for keywords.
"For example," Sampson said, "Cherokee calls again and says, 'Hey, we've just recovered six iPads, four cell phones and a GPS. Currently, unless someone in the detective division remembers the report about stolen iPads or stolen electronics, we can't find that report without looking through each report individually. This new system allows us to search through the narrative for 'iPads,' greatly aiding our investigative ability."
Entering and maintaining reports can also a hassle, Sampson said.
"Under the current system, there are five different saves for one report to make it from the police officer to the citizen. An officer saves it in his car, then he saves it onto a USB drive and walks it into the police department. Saves it onto a computer in the police department. His sergeant pulls up the report, reviews it and saves it into another location. Then the records division pulls that report up, reviews it, and saves it into its final resting place.
"Under the new system, there will not be multiple saves. Everything will be saved in the cloud so to speak. In real time. And once the file's created it will stay in its location until it reaches records and the end user."
The police department has looked at three software providers: CourtWare, USA Software and OSSI. More than 50 percent of the law enforcement agencies in Cobb use OSSI, Sampson said.
While Acworth liked that software "more than we liked the one we have here," he said, the price tag was "out of our reach."
"The cost for OSSI is an initial investment of $300,000 financed over three years with an annual maintenance cost of $28,000 per year."
USA Software, the software the city currently uses, quoted Acworth a one-time upgrade cost of $80,000 a year with an annual maintenance cost of $24,000 a year.
With CourtWare, there's no upfront cost and upgrades are free.
"The way their price works is they take a certain dollar amount off of each paid citation through the court system," Sampson said. "Our current rate is $4 per paid citation. The increase would be four more dollars, raising it to $8 per paid citation to finance this software. And that $8 per paid citation would cover ... everything about the software. There would be no other investment."
The police department will need $20,000 to outfit the department with new hardware to get the software up and running by Jan. 1, 2013. It will also need $4,000 to convert its old data from USA Software into the new system.
None of the money will come out of the city's general fund. The police department will pay for those expenses with money collected from drug seizures.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Mike O'Brien square off for first time
Before the time starts, if I may, please. I'd like to thank Western Michigan University, MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette, WMUK and all of you for participating in our democracy. This is what it's all about — you folks coming out tonight. Congressman and I stand before you, putting a little skin in the game and let you guys kick the tires. So, thank you to everyone who is hosting the event, the moderators and go Broncos. Um … I'm sorry can you repeat the question?
Yes, so, number one, looking at the facts, if you will, we have to put people back to work. There is nothing that lifts the economy quicker than Americans having good, meaningful work. Income disparity is a result of unemployment. It's not having the pieces in place for folks to have good meaningful work to pursue that American dream. I believe in the iconic words carved at the base of the statue of liberty: "Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses" and from that, we've built a nation. We have a role as Americans to look after each other. That's what we do when we're at our best. We are that bright shining city on a hill, if you will, when we take care of each other as Americans. I think we need to put people back to work and we need to make sure that everyone and every corporation pays its taxes so that the revenue is coming into the system and we do everything in our power to make sure that the least among us has everything they need.
I, too, want to thank the host and the preparation folks that are here tonight. Thanks very much. As you think about, income disparity really has been my focus since I've been in congress, that is jobs and the economy. When I sit with my UAW folks in my office, as I do every year, we talk about how our goals are the same: bring jobs to our district. We talk to our business leaders and we talk to our educators as I did today about jobs and the economy. Those people that have a job are the ones that are doing pretty well right now, particularly as we have gone through some mighty tough times. Here in Michigan, we had 38 consecutive months of double-digit unemployment. We're still above the national average. That's not right. One of the things that I have done is to really work as a team.
To partner with businesses large and small so we can create the jobs we want families to have. Tomorrow, I'm going to be down in Three Rivers. They're giving a pretty big check to the city of Three Rivers because of the expansion of what they've been able to do with American Axle. A $100 million plant expansion, their number one plant in the country. They're proud of that. They're proud because they were able to do that because of the bipartisan work that we first did with President Bush and then with President Obama with helping the auto industry survive. Because they had an issue of bankruptcy where they paid the money back with interest like Chrysler has done and hopefully GM does, or liquidation, actually shutting the doors and turning it to dust and not being able to work. We want people to go back to work and that's what our focus should be as we look at the income levels of all americans.
The facts speak pretty clearly. In 2000, this country had a lot smaller deficit and $236 billion in surplus and we were heading toward reducing our deficit. In 10 years under President George Bush, Congressman Upton, and our Congress, we lost all that advantage and are sitting on $10 trillion in debt. You bring jobs back home in part by getting rid of tax incentives that allow companies have us subsidize them to move jobs overseas. Day one, I'd look to reverse that tax incentive and create a tax incentive that brings jobs back here and puts people back to work. That's a meaningful program we could do now. We should also eliminate subsidies that we pay to big oil — billions and billions to big oil and gas. Take that money and, from day one, put it into infrastructure jobs. We had the warmest winter on record. People could have been out on our highways and bridges with jobs.
Yes, so, number one, looking at the facts, if you will, we have to put people back to work. There is nothing that lifts the economy quicker than Americans having good, meaningful work. Income disparity is a result of unemployment. It's not having the pieces in place for folks to have good meaningful work to pursue that American dream. I believe in the iconic words carved at the base of the statue of liberty: "Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses" and from that, we've built a nation. We have a role as Americans to look after each other. That's what we do when we're at our best. We are that bright shining city on a hill, if you will, when we take care of each other as Americans. I think we need to put people back to work and we need to make sure that everyone and every corporation pays its taxes so that the revenue is coming into the system and we do everything in our power to make sure that the least among us has everything they need.
I, too, want to thank the host and the preparation folks that are here tonight. Thanks very much. As you think about, income disparity really has been my focus since I've been in congress, that is jobs and the economy. When I sit with my UAW folks in my office, as I do every year, we talk about how our goals are the same: bring jobs to our district. We talk to our business leaders and we talk to our educators as I did today about jobs and the economy. Those people that have a job are the ones that are doing pretty well right now, particularly as we have gone through some mighty tough times. Here in Michigan, we had 38 consecutive months of double-digit unemployment. We're still above the national average. That's not right. One of the things that I have done is to really work as a team.
To partner with businesses large and small so we can create the jobs we want families to have. Tomorrow, I'm going to be down in Three Rivers. They're giving a pretty big check to the city of Three Rivers because of the expansion of what they've been able to do with American Axle. A $100 million plant expansion, their number one plant in the country. They're proud of that. They're proud because they were able to do that because of the bipartisan work that we first did with President Bush and then with President Obama with helping the auto industry survive. Because they had an issue of bankruptcy where they paid the money back with interest like Chrysler has done and hopefully GM does, or liquidation, actually shutting the doors and turning it to dust and not being able to work. We want people to go back to work and that's what our focus should be as we look at the income levels of all americans.
The facts speak pretty clearly. In 2000, this country had a lot smaller deficit and $236 billion in surplus and we were heading toward reducing our deficit. In 10 years under President George Bush, Congressman Upton, and our Congress, we lost all that advantage and are sitting on $10 trillion in debt. You bring jobs back home in part by getting rid of tax incentives that allow companies have us subsidize them to move jobs overseas. Day one, I'd look to reverse that tax incentive and create a tax incentive that brings jobs back here and puts people back to work. That's a meaningful program we could do now. We should also eliminate subsidies that we pay to big oil — billions and billions to big oil and gas. Take that money and, from day one, put it into infrastructure jobs. We had the warmest winter on record. People could have been out on our highways and bridges with jobs.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Wife of Chinese politician gets suspended death sentence
The wife of a disgraced Chinese politician was given a suspended death sentence Monday after confessing to killing a British businessman by poisoning him with cyanide in a case that rocked the country's top political leadership.
A suspended sentence is usually commuted to life in prison after two years.
Sentenced along with Gu Kailai was a family aide who was given nine years' imprisonment for his involvement in the murder of Neil Heywood, a former family associate, Hefei Intermediate People's Court official Tang Yigan told reporters.
Four policemen accused of covering up the crime were given sentences from five to 11 years.
The sentencing closes one chapter of China's biggest political crisis in two decades, but also leaves open questions over the fate of Gu's husband, Bo Xilai, who was dismissed in March as the powerful Communist Party boss of the major city of Chongqing for unspecified violations.
Bo's dismissal and his wife's murder trial come at a sensitive time in China, with party leaders handing over power soon to a younger generation. At one time Bo was considered a candidate for a top position.
State media say Gu, 53, confessed to intentional homicide at a one-day trial held in this eastern China city on Aug. 9. The media reports — the court has been closed to international media — say she and Heywood had a dispute over money and Heywood allegedly threatened her son.
Gu was accused of luring the victim to a Chongqing hotel, getting him drunk and then pouring cyanide into his mouth.
He Zhengsheng, a lawyer for the Heywood family who attended the sentencing, said he had to discuss the verdict with the family and did not know if they would lodge an appeal.
"We respect the court's ruling today," he said.
Tang said Gu and the family aide, Zhang Xiaojun, told the court they would not appeal.
State broadcaster CCTV showed Gu dressed in a white blouse and black pants suit briefly addressing the court from inside the dock surrounded by waist-high wooden columns.
"This verdict is just. It shows special respect for the law, reality and life," Gu said in calm, measured phrases.
Tang said the court considered Gu's testimony against others, her confession and repentance, and her psychological impairment as mitigating factors in sentencing. But he said it rejected claims that Heywood's threats had prompted the crime, saying there was no evidence he intended to make good on them.
During Gu's trail, the court was told she had suffered from chronic insomnia, anxiety and depression and paranoia in the past, and that she had been dependent on medication, but it found that she was willfully carried out the murder.
An amendment to China's criminal law in 2011 said that criminals with life sentences who show proper conduct can have their life sentences cut to 25 years in jail.
For their part in the cover-up, former deputy Chongqing police chief Guo Weiguo was sentenced to 11 years, leading officer Li Yang was given 11, and officers Wang Pengfei and Wang Zhi were given five years each.
Former Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun, whose February flight to a U.S. consulate revealed suspicions that Heywood had been murdered, is expected to go on trial soon. Gu allegedly told Wang about her crime, but it isn't known if he'll be charged in relation to the murder.
Security was tight outside the court on Monday, with police officers standing guard around the building and at least a half dozen SWAT police vans parked on each corner.
Any ruling in the Gu case would have been politically delicate, and Chinese leaders may have decided to impose a lengthy prison term instead of death for fear that a more severe penalty might stir outrage or make Gu look like a scapegoat for her husband's misdeeds, political and legal analysts say.
Cheng Li, an expert in Chinese elite politics at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said the verdict was fair.
"My sense is that the Chinese public, including the legal profession, the majority will think it is well deserved," he said.
Li said the ruling against Gu will set expectations for Bo to be dealt with severely.
"If Bo does not get put through the legal process in the next few months, Gu will be seen as a scapegoat," he said.
The British Embassy, which had consular officials attend the trial, issued a statement Monday saying it welcomed the fact China had tried those it had identified as responsible.
The statement said Britain had told China it "wanted to see the trials in this case conform to international human rights standards and for the death penalty not to be applied."
Gu's arrest and the ouster of her husband sparked the biggest political turbulence in China since the bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests in 1989.
Lawyers and political analysts said politics appeared to weigh heavily on the verdict.
Beijing-based rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang said the outcome ignored legal strictures that would have required the death penalty, given that Gu had admitted to committing premeditated murder.
"Although I welcome this verdict, it doesn't actually stand up from a legal standpoint," Pu said.
Peking University law professor He Weifang said political considerations were clearly behind the relative leniency shown to Gu.
"If the murderer was an ordinary person who killed someone, not to mention killing a foreigner, the criminal would be sentenced to immediate execution," He said.
Bo was not called as a witness in the Gu trial and neither the verdict nor the evidence presented made any mention of him. The charges against Gu and Zhang also scrupulously avoided any mention of corruption or abuse of power to shield to the party's image, said Dali Yang of the University of Chicago Center in Beijing.
A suspended sentence is usually commuted to life in prison after two years.
Sentenced along with Gu Kailai was a family aide who was given nine years' imprisonment for his involvement in the murder of Neil Heywood, a former family associate, Hefei Intermediate People's Court official Tang Yigan told reporters.
Four policemen accused of covering up the crime were given sentences from five to 11 years.
The sentencing closes one chapter of China's biggest political crisis in two decades, but also leaves open questions over the fate of Gu's husband, Bo Xilai, who was dismissed in March as the powerful Communist Party boss of the major city of Chongqing for unspecified violations.
Bo's dismissal and his wife's murder trial come at a sensitive time in China, with party leaders handing over power soon to a younger generation. At one time Bo was considered a candidate for a top position.
State media say Gu, 53, confessed to intentional homicide at a one-day trial held in this eastern China city on Aug. 9. The media reports — the court has been closed to international media — say she and Heywood had a dispute over money and Heywood allegedly threatened her son.
Gu was accused of luring the victim to a Chongqing hotel, getting him drunk and then pouring cyanide into his mouth.
He Zhengsheng, a lawyer for the Heywood family who attended the sentencing, said he had to discuss the verdict with the family and did not know if they would lodge an appeal.
"We respect the court's ruling today," he said.
Tang said Gu and the family aide, Zhang Xiaojun, told the court they would not appeal.
State broadcaster CCTV showed Gu dressed in a white blouse and black pants suit briefly addressing the court from inside the dock surrounded by waist-high wooden columns.
"This verdict is just. It shows special respect for the law, reality and life," Gu said in calm, measured phrases.
Tang said the court considered Gu's testimony against others, her confession and repentance, and her psychological impairment as mitigating factors in sentencing. But he said it rejected claims that Heywood's threats had prompted the crime, saying there was no evidence he intended to make good on them.
During Gu's trail, the court was told she had suffered from chronic insomnia, anxiety and depression and paranoia in the past, and that she had been dependent on medication, but it found that she was willfully carried out the murder.
An amendment to China's criminal law in 2011 said that criminals with life sentences who show proper conduct can have their life sentences cut to 25 years in jail.
For their part in the cover-up, former deputy Chongqing police chief Guo Weiguo was sentenced to 11 years, leading officer Li Yang was given 11, and officers Wang Pengfei and Wang Zhi were given five years each.
Former Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun, whose February flight to a U.S. consulate revealed suspicions that Heywood had been murdered, is expected to go on trial soon. Gu allegedly told Wang about her crime, but it isn't known if he'll be charged in relation to the murder.
Security was tight outside the court on Monday, with police officers standing guard around the building and at least a half dozen SWAT police vans parked on each corner.
Any ruling in the Gu case would have been politically delicate, and Chinese leaders may have decided to impose a lengthy prison term instead of death for fear that a more severe penalty might stir outrage or make Gu look like a scapegoat for her husband's misdeeds, political and legal analysts say.
Cheng Li, an expert in Chinese elite politics at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said the verdict was fair.
"My sense is that the Chinese public, including the legal profession, the majority will think it is well deserved," he said.
Li said the ruling against Gu will set expectations for Bo to be dealt with severely.
"If Bo does not get put through the legal process in the next few months, Gu will be seen as a scapegoat," he said.
The British Embassy, which had consular officials attend the trial, issued a statement Monday saying it welcomed the fact China had tried those it had identified as responsible.
The statement said Britain had told China it "wanted to see the trials in this case conform to international human rights standards and for the death penalty not to be applied."
Gu's arrest and the ouster of her husband sparked the biggest political turbulence in China since the bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests in 1989.
Lawyers and political analysts said politics appeared to weigh heavily on the verdict.
Beijing-based rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang said the outcome ignored legal strictures that would have required the death penalty, given that Gu had admitted to committing premeditated murder.
"Although I welcome this verdict, it doesn't actually stand up from a legal standpoint," Pu said.
Peking University law professor He Weifang said political considerations were clearly behind the relative leniency shown to Gu.
"If the murderer was an ordinary person who killed someone, not to mention killing a foreigner, the criminal would be sentenced to immediate execution," He said.
Bo was not called as a witness in the Gu trial and neither the verdict nor the evidence presented made any mention of him. The charges against Gu and Zhang also scrupulously avoided any mention of corruption or abuse of power to shield to the party's image, said Dali Yang of the University of Chicago Center in Beijing.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Back to class, with laptops in duke
Every adolescent in Manitoba schools will accept a laptop or book on his or her board aural the next few years, adept academy administrator Brian O'Leary predicts -- but it has to be a akin arena acreage with adequate accessories for everyone.
And the accessible academy arrangement has to accommodate those accessories for kids, he said.
"It's the way of the future. The catechism is the aisle we chase to get there," said O'Leary, administrator of Seven Oaks Academy Division. "In the next few years, every kid will accept a laptop in his hands."
Provincial Apprenticeship Department admiral are accessible to allocution with the public-school educators about the role of cyberbanking accessories in classrooms, including funding, agent apprenticeship abbot Gerald Farthing said Wednesday, but anybody aboriginal needs to be bright on how abundant laptops advice acceptance learn.
"We charge to yield a abutting attending at that. How can we appearance or apperceive that that contributes to learning?" he said.
O'Leary acclaimed Louis Riel Academy Analysis for a apprentice affairs that now requires every apprentice in grades 9 and 10 at Dakota Collegiate to accept a laptop. But, he cautioned, "The disinterestedness affair has to be addressed."
It's not adequate if "someone's got a auto of a computer and someone's got a MacBook Pro," he said.
Relying on alfresco donors won't cut it system-wide, nor can the accessible academy arrangement apprehend lower-income parents to buy laptops or tablets, even admitting some are $200, and the amount continues to drop, O'Leary said.
"This is a absolute concern," Farthing said. "Equity has to do with admission to resources. People allocution about the agenda bisect -- we don't wish to accord to that, we wish to attenuated that divide," the agent abbot said.
O'Leary said every administration in North America that's experimenting with authoritative laptops binding in chic has provided them to students.
"The accompaniment of Maine provides a laptop to every Grade 7 student," and Alberta has a pilot activity in 15 of its schools, O'Leary said.
"There are some account tradeoffs you can make," he said.
If a academy is spending $100,000 retrofitting old computers or $80 for anniversary archetype of a new textbook, or putting money into a academy computer room, that's money that could buy alone cyberbanking devices, he said.
O'Leary said iPads could action added options than laptops, and admitting that would accomplish it difficult for schools to block admission to some websites as capacity do now on tabletop academy computers, "Are we bigger to block, or to brainwash kids about the able usage?" he asked.
Manitoba Teachers' Society admiral Paul Olson said he's heard about problems at Dakota, about abstruse headaches from application a array of accessories in one classroom. "The abecedary ends up getting the troubleshooter," he said.
Theoretically, it's a adequate abstraction for learning, said Olson, but it depends on how far a analysis goes in administering whether laptops will be acclimated at all times, or if added methods, including pens and paper, could aswell be used.
"The abecedary is the able in the school. The abecedary should exercise freedom to adjudge what the best apparatus is to use and when," he said.
Said Farthing: "I accede with Paul on that. Teachers acutely charge to be allotment of that. The abecedary is the being on site."
Financially and socially, Olson said, "They accomplish me a little anxious. Some families will acquisition it onerous. There's consistently been the kid who has a box with 64 crayons and the kid who has a box with eight crayons -- this takes it to a accomplished altered level."
Tory apprenticeship analyzer Cameron Friesen said technology has an important role in learning, but it's not adapted to apprehend parents to pay for something that big-ticket and again accomplish it mandatory. "If we're all-embracing technology in the classroom, we've got to accommodate it," Friesen said.
The Amusing Planning Council of Winnipeg opposes any plan that armament parents to abide a agency analysis or acknowledge themselves clumsy to allow something for their kids, said action analyst Marianne Cerilli.
Already, said Cerilli, schools are affective to cyberbanking assignments, communicating with parents by email, and online newsletters, all of which accept a ancestors has a home computer.
Schools have to be accurate about the banking and amusing pressures imposed on families for big-ticket equipment, University of Manitoba ancestors economics Prof. Karen Duncan said.
If one ancestors can allow a advanced model, and a classmate's ancestors needs to await on a donated, earlier model, "There's absolutely abeyant for a amusing stigma a part of students," Duncan said.
And the accessible academy arrangement has to accommodate those accessories for kids, he said.
"It's the way of the future. The catechism is the aisle we chase to get there," said O'Leary, administrator of Seven Oaks Academy Division. "In the next few years, every kid will accept a laptop in his hands."
Provincial Apprenticeship Department admiral are accessible to allocution with the public-school educators about the role of cyberbanking accessories in classrooms, including funding, agent apprenticeship abbot Gerald Farthing said Wednesday, but anybody aboriginal needs to be bright on how abundant laptops advice acceptance learn.
"We charge to yield a abutting attending at that. How can we appearance or apperceive that that contributes to learning?" he said.
O'Leary acclaimed Louis Riel Academy Analysis for a apprentice affairs that now requires every apprentice in grades 9 and 10 at Dakota Collegiate to accept a laptop. But, he cautioned, "The disinterestedness affair has to be addressed."
It's not adequate if "someone's got a auto of a computer and someone's got a MacBook Pro," he said.
Relying on alfresco donors won't cut it system-wide, nor can the accessible academy arrangement apprehend lower-income parents to buy laptops or tablets, even admitting some are $200, and the amount continues to drop, O'Leary said.
"This is a absolute concern," Farthing said. "Equity has to do with admission to resources. People allocution about the agenda bisect -- we don't wish to accord to that, we wish to attenuated that divide," the agent abbot said.
O'Leary said every administration in North America that's experimenting with authoritative laptops binding in chic has provided them to students.
"The accompaniment of Maine provides a laptop to every Grade 7 student," and Alberta has a pilot activity in 15 of its schools, O'Leary said.
"There are some account tradeoffs you can make," he said.
If a academy is spending $100,000 retrofitting old computers or $80 for anniversary archetype of a new textbook, or putting money into a academy computer room, that's money that could buy alone cyberbanking devices, he said.
O'Leary said iPads could action added options than laptops, and admitting that would accomplish it difficult for schools to block admission to some websites as capacity do now on tabletop academy computers, "Are we bigger to block, or to brainwash kids about the able usage?" he asked.
Manitoba Teachers' Society admiral Paul Olson said he's heard about problems at Dakota, about abstruse headaches from application a array of accessories in one classroom. "The abecedary ends up getting the troubleshooter," he said.
Theoretically, it's a adequate abstraction for learning, said Olson, but it depends on how far a analysis goes in administering whether laptops will be acclimated at all times, or if added methods, including pens and paper, could aswell be used.
"The abecedary is the able in the school. The abecedary should exercise freedom to adjudge what the best apparatus is to use and when," he said.
Said Farthing: "I accede with Paul on that. Teachers acutely charge to be allotment of that. The abecedary is the being on site."
Financially and socially, Olson said, "They accomplish me a little anxious. Some families will acquisition it onerous. There's consistently been the kid who has a box with 64 crayons and the kid who has a box with eight crayons -- this takes it to a accomplished altered level."
Tory apprenticeship analyzer Cameron Friesen said technology has an important role in learning, but it's not adapted to apprehend parents to pay for something that big-ticket and again accomplish it mandatory. "If we're all-embracing technology in the classroom, we've got to accommodate it," Friesen said.
The Amusing Planning Council of Winnipeg opposes any plan that armament parents to abide a agency analysis or acknowledge themselves clumsy to allow something for their kids, said action analyst Marianne Cerilli.
Already, said Cerilli, schools are affective to cyberbanking assignments, communicating with parents by email, and online newsletters, all of which accept a ancestors has a home computer.
Schools have to be accurate about the banking and amusing pressures imposed on families for big-ticket equipment, University of Manitoba ancestors economics Prof. Karen Duncan said.
If one ancestors can allow a advanced model, and a classmate's ancestors needs to await on a donated, earlier model, "There's absolutely abeyant for a amusing stigma a part of students," Duncan said.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
The abstruseness in Oswaldo Paya's death
With the afterlife of Oswaldo Paya, a key baton of the Cuban autonomous opposition, Cuba has suffered what the biographer Yoani Sanchez alleged "a affecting blow for its present and an irreplaceable blow for its future." The affairs surrounding Paya's afterlife Sunday accept sparked altercation agnate to that acquired in October by the afterlife of Laura Pollan, the baton of the much-acclaimed Ladies in White, just weeks afterwards she was attacked at a beef advance by a government supporter.
The Cuban government said that Paya died in a cartage blow abreast the city-limits of Bayamo if his car airtight into a tree, killing him and addition commuter and abasing two others. But Paya's daughter, Rosa Maria Paya, anon challenged that version, adage that the ancestors had accustomed advice from the survivors that their car was again rammed by addition vehicle. "So we anticipate it's not an accident," she said, according to CNN en Espanol. "They capital to do abuse and again concluded up killing my father."
The ancestors aswell said that Oswaldo Paya was targeted in a agnate adventure two weeks beforehand in Havana. In retrospect, they now see that adventure as a admonishing from the regime.
Why would the Cuban government attention Paya as abundant of a blackmail to wish him killed? He was one of the a lot of arresting opponents of the Cuban dictatorship, a Catholic activist who founded the Christian Liberation Movement in 1988. He is best accepted for the Varela Project, a address drive he launched in 2002 that alleged for chargeless elections and added rights. That angered the Cuban government, which responded by banishment through the National Assembly a built-in alteration authoritative the antipathetic arrangement in Cuba irrevocable. It followed that with the 2003 "Black Spring," arresting 75 of the a lot of arresting Cuban activists that March.
But the government didn't arrest Paya, because of the all-embracing acclaim that he had achieved. The European Parliament awarded him its Sakharov Prize for Abandon of Thought in 2002; that year he was aswell nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by hundreds of parliamentarians in a attack led by his acquaintance Vaclav Havel, the Czech Republic president. Unlike Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma and Liu Xiaobo of China, for whom Havel aswell campaigned, Paya never accustomed the Nobel Prize. But he was an activist in the aforementioned cast — a centrist aural the opposition, committed to nonviolence and reconciliation. Paya adjoin the U.S. embargo adjoin Cuba, for which he was criticized by some opponents of the Castro regime.
Although added activists had replaced Paya in contempo years at the acid bend of the Cuban capitalism movement, he afresh affronted the government on two issues of abundant sensitivity. In May, Paya bankrupt a continued blackout if he acutely criticized an commodity in a lay Catholic advertisement that had dedicated the chat of the abbey of Havana, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, with the administration and had attacked the cardinal's critics. Paya accused the article's authors of gluttonous to actualize "an bogus battle amid the action and the church," calling them "political commissars" who were allurement "for a vote of aplomb for Raul Castro's government."
Paya, the country's a lot of arresting Catholic voice, beyond a red band in arduous the government's relations with the church, which had become a colonnade of the government's action of survival. He aswell did so at a time if the regime, emboldened by the cardinal's blackout at the accumulation arrests during the pope's appointment to Cuba in March, was not about to abide criticism.
Visiting Bayamo with foreigners — the two survivors of the blast were adolescent Catholics from Spain and Sweden — beyond addition red line. The city-limits is the centermost of the cholera beginning in the eastern allotment of Cuba, and for the regime, the ache is not just a medical botheration but aswell an bread-and-butter and political threat. The arising of advice about the beginning threatens biking to Cuba and tourism, above sources of harder currency, which the administration badly needs.
The advance of the ache aswell challenges Cuba's self-image as a medical superpower and could agitate acrimony in citizens who accept that sending Cuban doctors to Venezuela and added countries detracts from the affliction they accept at home. The actuality that Bayamo has accomplished activity agitation the accomplished two years and was a insubordinate bastion during Cuba's war of ability adjoin Spain and the insurgence adjoin Batista added arouses the regime's anxiety.
In the advancing days, added facts are acceptable to appear about Paya's death. The affidavit of the two survivors will be critical. As the United States and added autonomous governments ache Paya, it is capital that they — and apple assessment - be active to the dangers faced by democrats in Cuba. Without all-embracing solidarity, added martyrs are acceptable in the attempt for Cuban freedom.
The Cuban government said that Paya died in a cartage blow abreast the city-limits of Bayamo if his car airtight into a tree, killing him and addition commuter and abasing two others. But Paya's daughter, Rosa Maria Paya, anon challenged that version, adage that the ancestors had accustomed advice from the survivors that their car was again rammed by addition vehicle. "So we anticipate it's not an accident," she said, according to CNN en Espanol. "They capital to do abuse and again concluded up killing my father."
The ancestors aswell said that Oswaldo Paya was targeted in a agnate adventure two weeks beforehand in Havana. In retrospect, they now see that adventure as a admonishing from the regime.
Why would the Cuban government attention Paya as abundant of a blackmail to wish him killed? He was one of the a lot of arresting opponents of the Cuban dictatorship, a Catholic activist who founded the Christian Liberation Movement in 1988. He is best accepted for the Varela Project, a address drive he launched in 2002 that alleged for chargeless elections and added rights. That angered the Cuban government, which responded by banishment through the National Assembly a built-in alteration authoritative the antipathetic arrangement in Cuba irrevocable. It followed that with the 2003 "Black Spring," arresting 75 of the a lot of arresting Cuban activists that March.
But the government didn't arrest Paya, because of the all-embracing acclaim that he had achieved. The European Parliament awarded him its Sakharov Prize for Abandon of Thought in 2002; that year he was aswell nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by hundreds of parliamentarians in a attack led by his acquaintance Vaclav Havel, the Czech Republic president. Unlike Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma and Liu Xiaobo of China, for whom Havel aswell campaigned, Paya never accustomed the Nobel Prize. But he was an activist in the aforementioned cast — a centrist aural the opposition, committed to nonviolence and reconciliation. Paya adjoin the U.S. embargo adjoin Cuba, for which he was criticized by some opponents of the Castro regime.
Although added activists had replaced Paya in contempo years at the acid bend of the Cuban capitalism movement, he afresh affronted the government on two issues of abundant sensitivity. In May, Paya bankrupt a continued blackout if he acutely criticized an commodity in a lay Catholic advertisement that had dedicated the chat of the abbey of Havana, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, with the administration and had attacked the cardinal's critics. Paya accused the article's authors of gluttonous to actualize "an bogus battle amid the action and the church," calling them "political commissars" who were allurement "for a vote of aplomb for Raul Castro's government."
Paya, the country's a lot of arresting Catholic voice, beyond a red band in arduous the government's relations with the church, which had become a colonnade of the government's action of survival. He aswell did so at a time if the regime, emboldened by the cardinal's blackout at the accumulation arrests during the pope's appointment to Cuba in March, was not about to abide criticism.
Visiting Bayamo with foreigners — the two survivors of the blast were adolescent Catholics from Spain and Sweden — beyond addition red line. The city-limits is the centermost of the cholera beginning in the eastern allotment of Cuba, and for the regime, the ache is not just a medical botheration but aswell an bread-and-butter and political threat. The arising of advice about the beginning threatens biking to Cuba and tourism, above sources of harder currency, which the administration badly needs.
The advance of the ache aswell challenges Cuba's self-image as a medical superpower and could agitate acrimony in citizens who accept that sending Cuban doctors to Venezuela and added countries detracts from the affliction they accept at home. The actuality that Bayamo has accomplished activity agitation the accomplished two years and was a insubordinate bastion during Cuba's war of ability adjoin Spain and the insurgence adjoin Batista added arouses the regime's anxiety.
In the advancing days, added facts are acceptable to appear about Paya's death. The affidavit of the two survivors will be critical. As the United States and added autonomous governments ache Paya, it is capital that they — and apple assessment - be active to the dangers faced by democrats in Cuba. Without all-embracing solidarity, added martyrs are acceptable in the attempt for Cuban freedom.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Stephens Academy academy teaches girls
Ayres Brathwaite knows there are affluence of humans traveling athirst in New York City, but it took a cruise to Columbia to affect her to do something about it.
The ascent seventh-grader is one of nine acceptance from Girls Prep, Lower East Side Average Academy accessory a administration academy at Stephens Academy this week. While volunteering at the Aliment Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri, Ayres said she heard belief about accouchement traveling after food. She now affairs to apostle for added efforts to augment the athirst if she allotment home.
"New York is all about recycling and accepting humans to aces up garbage," she said. "That's important, but it doesn't augment people."
Helping the girls apprentice to admit how they can be leaders in their association is one ambition of the weeklong camp. Although Stephens captivated a blur academy for Girls Prep acceptance endure year, the administration affairs is the aboriginal of its kind.
"We absolutely just wish them to apprehend what characteristics they accept and what ancestry they accept that they can yield with them aback to school," said Brooke Warren, a Stephens chief who is acceptable with the camp.
Eighth-grader Taiya Edwards said she took a analysis that appear her strengths are benevolence and getting a able thinker — ancestry she hopes appear in accessible as she pursues her dream of either alive with dolphins as a abyssal biologist or aperture a pet hotel.
Although the girls are seventh- and eighth-graders, they're already authoritative academy and career plans, said Alex Newfield, administrator of top academy admissions and academy achievement at the average school. It's her job to accomplish abiding the girls get into the appropriate top schools — there are hundreds in the city-limits — and clue them as they get into and complete college. This year's eighth-grade chic will be the aboriginal to accomplish the alteration to top academy from the allotment school, which opened in 2009.
Stephens Academy President Dianne Lynch has offered one of this year's participants a full-ride, four-year scholarship if the almsman meets bookish requirements through top school.
"That's astounding for families," Newfield said. "Families were floored."
During the academy, girls are demography morning classes, benumbed horses through Stephens' equestrian affairs and accommodating in extracurricular activities. Yesterday, they corrective stars at Hands On Ceramics while acquirements about the Ten Ideals Stephens embodies.
Getting into the affairs appropriate a résumé, claimed essay, references and a video account with Lynch via Skype, said Brianna Carnagie, who will be a seventh-grader this fall.
During the interviews, acceptance were asked what they appearance as a claiming at their school. Blowing alike as the No. 1 concern, Newfield said. The affected is now allowance acceptance apprentice how to be leaders and anticipate blowing if they acknowledgment to academy in the fall.
Being in Missouri, far removed from their routines, has helped the girls bigger appraise situations, Newfield said. "It takes an acquaintance like this to yield them out of their abundance zones and see problems and issues in the absolute apple and in their circadian lives."
The ascent seventh-grader is one of nine acceptance from Girls Prep, Lower East Side Average Academy accessory a administration academy at Stephens Academy this week. While volunteering at the Aliment Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri, Ayres said she heard belief about accouchement traveling after food. She now affairs to apostle for added efforts to augment the athirst if she allotment home.
"New York is all about recycling and accepting humans to aces up garbage," she said. "That's important, but it doesn't augment people."
Helping the girls apprentice to admit how they can be leaders in their association is one ambition of the weeklong camp. Although Stephens captivated a blur academy for Girls Prep acceptance endure year, the administration affairs is the aboriginal of its kind.
"We absolutely just wish them to apprehend what characteristics they accept and what ancestry they accept that they can yield with them aback to school," said Brooke Warren, a Stephens chief who is acceptable with the camp.
Eighth-grader Taiya Edwards said she took a analysis that appear her strengths are benevolence and getting a able thinker — ancestry she hopes appear in accessible as she pursues her dream of either alive with dolphins as a abyssal biologist or aperture a pet hotel.
Although the girls are seventh- and eighth-graders, they're already authoritative academy and career plans, said Alex Newfield, administrator of top academy admissions and academy achievement at the average school. It's her job to accomplish abiding the girls get into the appropriate top schools — there are hundreds in the city-limits — and clue them as they get into and complete college. This year's eighth-grade chic will be the aboriginal to accomplish the alteration to top academy from the allotment school, which opened in 2009.
Stephens Academy President Dianne Lynch has offered one of this year's participants a full-ride, four-year scholarship if the almsman meets bookish requirements through top school.
"That's astounding for families," Newfield said. "Families were floored."
During the academy, girls are demography morning classes, benumbed horses through Stephens' equestrian affairs and accommodating in extracurricular activities. Yesterday, they corrective stars at Hands On Ceramics while acquirements about the Ten Ideals Stephens embodies.
Getting into the affairs appropriate a résumé, claimed essay, references and a video account with Lynch via Skype, said Brianna Carnagie, who will be a seventh-grader this fall.
During the interviews, acceptance were asked what they appearance as a claiming at their school. Blowing alike as the No. 1 concern, Newfield said. The affected is now allowance acceptance apprentice how to be leaders and anticipate blowing if they acknowledgment to academy in the fall.
Being in Missouri, far removed from their routines, has helped the girls bigger appraise situations, Newfield said. "It takes an acquaintance like this to yield them out of their abundance zones and see problems and issues in the absolute apple and in their circadian lives."
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Gore has added in abundance admitting solid start
It has taken Shawn Gore two amateur into the 2012 agenda to bifold his touchdown assembly from all of endure season.
The 25-year-old non-import receiver out of Bishop's University bent two touchdown passes in the aboriginal bisected to advice the B.C. Lions cheep accomplished the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 39-36, in what angry out to be a agitated afterpiece for the Canadian Football League's Friday night double-header showcase.
However, Gore, who alleged his achievement just "OK," abacus there was allowance for alone and aggregation improvement, larboard the bold and did not acknowledgment for the additional bisected because of a artificial hamstring.
"Any time you get afflicted it's acutely frustrating," Gore said afterward Friday's game.
"We like to compete. I'm actuality to compete. I don't like sitting on the sidelines watching added humans play. I wish to be in there, so it's frustrating."
He aswell told reporters in his post-game scrum that he expects to be accessible to play Saturday in Regina adjoin the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Lions accepted administrator Wally Buono didn't aphorism that out during a buzz account Mon-day, but Gore's cachet is still questionable.
"I'm a big accepter in authoritative abiding they can convenance first, afore they can play," said Buono.
A year ago, the Lions feasted on the Roughriders' canyon defence, casual for 899 yards in three regular-season meetings. Gore was no slouch, communicable nine passes for 115 yards, as B.C. swept Saskatchewan in the division series.
But it may appear as a abruptness that Gore's absolute abhorrent out-put a year ago amounted to alone a individual touchdown. That mile-stone came in the final regular-season bold on Nov. 5 adjoin the Montreal Alouettes.
In his aboriginal division as a starter, Gore emerged as a depend-able ambition in a accomplished Lions accepting band that included - and still does - Geroy Simon, Arland Bruce and Akeem Foster, to name a few.
Gore accomplished additional on the Lions with 60 catches and 836 yards, abaft alone Simon in anniversary of those categories.
Yet, he managed alone one above score.
Now, it appears accessible abrasion may be the alone blackmail captivation him aback from accepting a blemish green year.
"I anticipate it's the actuality he played 18 amateur endure year," said Buono of Gore, who could potentially become one of the premiere receivers not alone aural the Lions, but the CFL.
"He was able to get all those reps and - that's allotment of the advance amid a first-year guy and a third-year guy."
Helping his could cause is the actuality Gore spent a allocation of the off-season alive with quarter-back Travis Lulay, continuing to body on the affinity the duo began to develop.
"I see it every day in convenance - just the compassionate of the offence," said Gore. "Us, as players, accepting to apperceive anniversary added over the off-season absolutely helped us on the field."
Individually, Gore isn't necessarily adored with optimal size, but there aswell isn't abundant to accuse about the six-foot, 198-pound receiver who possesses abundant abstract qualities - atomic acceleration getting the a lot of prevalent.
He ran the 40-yard time of 4.5 abnormal at the 2010 CFL Evaluation Camp, but his 10-yard time of 1.44 abnormal was additional a allotment of all players who took allotment in that drill.
"Shawn Gore has both backbone and speed," said Buono. "Not everybody has to be [the fastest], but that's a ambit that you accept to accept on your team."
Injuries axle up: The B.C. Lions on Monday con-firmed that abhorrent lineman Jesse Newman, who has been out aback training affected with a knee injury, has been put on the nine-game afflicted account afterwards adversity what Buono alleged a "setback" endure week.
According to Buono, larboard bouncer Jon Hameister-Ries is advanced from a knee abrasion that occurred during training affected and appropriate arthroscopic anaplasty about four weeks ago. Hameister-Ries dressed for Friday's game, but didn't start. Buono did not say if Hameis-ter-Ries would be demography allotment in practices this week.
Dean Valli, addition abhorrent lineman who has been kept off the Lions' alive roster, is aswell accepting analysis for a knee injury.
Defensive aback Ryan Phillips is ambiguous for Saturday's bold adjoin Saskatchewan.
Phillips larboard Friday's bold adjoin Hamilton with what the aggregation said was a sprained appropriate ankle, which occurred in the fourth quarter.
Lions' appropriate teams captain Jason Arakgi, who sat out Fri-day's bold afterwards abasing his wrist in Anniversary 1 adjoin the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, told Buono on Monday morning that he thinks he can play this weekend, but his cachet is still ambiguous awaiting convenance this week, the GM said.
Despite the adventurous of injuries, Buono said he was not in the bazaar to accomplish a barter or assurance a chargeless agent.
Week 3 showdown: Endure year, it took the B.C. Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders a accumulated 12 amateur just to ability a accumulated two wins.
By abrupt contrast, both teams are 2-0 to activate the 2012 sea-son, but that will change Saturday if the two clash.
"For this aboriginal in the sea-son, it's traveling to be fun," said Buono, who expects a "hostile" army at Mosaic Stadium. "Hopefully guys are accessible for it."
The 25-year-old non-import receiver out of Bishop's University bent two touchdown passes in the aboriginal bisected to advice the B.C. Lions cheep accomplished the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 39-36, in what angry out to be a agitated afterpiece for the Canadian Football League's Friday night double-header showcase.
However, Gore, who alleged his achievement just "OK," abacus there was allowance for alone and aggregation improvement, larboard the bold and did not acknowledgment for the additional bisected because of a artificial hamstring.
"Any time you get afflicted it's acutely frustrating," Gore said afterward Friday's game.
"We like to compete. I'm actuality to compete. I don't like sitting on the sidelines watching added humans play. I wish to be in there, so it's frustrating."
He aswell told reporters in his post-game scrum that he expects to be accessible to play Saturday in Regina adjoin the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Lions accepted administrator Wally Buono didn't aphorism that out during a buzz account Mon-day, but Gore's cachet is still questionable.
"I'm a big accepter in authoritative abiding they can convenance first, afore they can play," said Buono.
A year ago, the Lions feasted on the Roughriders' canyon defence, casual for 899 yards in three regular-season meetings. Gore was no slouch, communicable nine passes for 115 yards, as B.C. swept Saskatchewan in the division series.
But it may appear as a abruptness that Gore's absolute abhorrent out-put a year ago amounted to alone a individual touchdown. That mile-stone came in the final regular-season bold on Nov. 5 adjoin the Montreal Alouettes.
In his aboriginal division as a starter, Gore emerged as a depend-able ambition in a accomplished Lions accepting band that included - and still does - Geroy Simon, Arland Bruce and Akeem Foster, to name a few.
Gore accomplished additional on the Lions with 60 catches and 836 yards, abaft alone Simon in anniversary of those categories.
Yet, he managed alone one above score.
Now, it appears accessible abrasion may be the alone blackmail captivation him aback from accepting a blemish green year.
"I anticipate it's the actuality he played 18 amateur endure year," said Buono of Gore, who could potentially become one of the premiere receivers not alone aural the Lions, but the CFL.
"He was able to get all those reps and - that's allotment of the advance amid a first-year guy and a third-year guy."
Helping his could cause is the actuality Gore spent a allocation of the off-season alive with quarter-back Travis Lulay, continuing to body on the affinity the duo began to develop.
"I see it every day in convenance - just the compassionate of the offence," said Gore. "Us, as players, accepting to apperceive anniversary added over the off-season absolutely helped us on the field."
Individually, Gore isn't necessarily adored with optimal size, but there aswell isn't abundant to accuse about the six-foot, 198-pound receiver who possesses abundant abstract qualities - atomic acceleration getting the a lot of prevalent.
He ran the 40-yard time of 4.5 abnormal at the 2010 CFL Evaluation Camp, but his 10-yard time of 1.44 abnormal was additional a allotment of all players who took allotment in that drill.
"Shawn Gore has both backbone and speed," said Buono. "Not everybody has to be [the fastest], but that's a ambit that you accept to accept on your team."
Injuries axle up: The B.C. Lions on Monday con-firmed that abhorrent lineman Jesse Newman, who has been out aback training affected with a knee injury, has been put on the nine-game afflicted account afterwards adversity what Buono alleged a "setback" endure week.
According to Buono, larboard bouncer Jon Hameister-Ries is advanced from a knee abrasion that occurred during training affected and appropriate arthroscopic anaplasty about four weeks ago. Hameister-Ries dressed for Friday's game, but didn't start. Buono did not say if Hameis-ter-Ries would be demography allotment in practices this week.
Dean Valli, addition abhorrent lineman who has been kept off the Lions' alive roster, is aswell accepting analysis for a knee injury.
Defensive aback Ryan Phillips is ambiguous for Saturday's bold adjoin Saskatchewan.
Phillips larboard Friday's bold adjoin Hamilton with what the aggregation said was a sprained appropriate ankle, which occurred in the fourth quarter.
Lions' appropriate teams captain Jason Arakgi, who sat out Fri-day's bold afterwards abasing his wrist in Anniversary 1 adjoin the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, told Buono on Monday morning that he thinks he can play this weekend, but his cachet is still ambiguous awaiting convenance this week, the GM said.
Despite the adventurous of injuries, Buono said he was not in the bazaar to accomplish a barter or assurance a chargeless agent.
Week 3 showdown: Endure year, it took the B.C. Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders a accumulated 12 amateur just to ability a accumulated two wins.
By abrupt contrast, both teams are 2-0 to activate the 2012 sea-son, but that will change Saturday if the two clash.
"For this aboriginal in the sea-son, it's traveling to be fun," said Buono, who expects a "hostile" army at Mosaic Stadium. "Hopefully guys are accessible for it."
Monday, July 9, 2012
The amusing action is a myth
And assumption what? Contrary to aggregate that amusing action wonks acquaint us, bacon and career progression appear out way aloft added factors for this group. Should that surprise? No.
I accept had this altercation with abounding 'social anything' promoters and the catechism I consistently accession is: 'When humans appear into a accurate company, what are they actually searching for?' I get a aggregation of answers but they about consistently centermost about the abstraction that somehow, humans wish to carbon their clandestine lives through admission to amusing tools, they wish bead asleep simple solutions with which to do their job all captivated up in a abundant aggregation adeptness that ethics advancing learning. I altercate this is the amiss answer.
Instead, I altercate that new hires wish actually what I see in this blueprint - a abundant bacon and the befalling to beforehand (i'e. enhance position and paycheck.) They may anticipate that what the amusing army says is what they'll get but that doesn't appear in the absolute world. It is alone as humans get earlier that they amount things like plan activity antithesis added than added factors. I appropriately altercate that in adjustment to beforehand one's career, the one affair that will actually authority humans aback is getting confusing in any way. The burden to accommodate is able in abounding companies and even added so in ambiguous times area captivation assimilate a job comes aloft appealing abundant aggregate else.
Recently, I arrested in with one of our grandchildren who is 22 and works in a alarm center. The aggregation uses an SAP arrangement which he describes as 'crap' because it takes always to do things. I asked how this affects his adeptness to do the job. The acknowledgment was not surprising. 'You acquisition means to plan about the 50 odd clicks bare to get something done.' I asked whether a bigger arrangement would be welcome. That catechism had never occurred to him and afresh it doesn't surprise.
Contrary to what I apprehend from 'social anything' folk, the all-inclusive majority of humans go to plan to get paid and hopefully beforehand their careers. They're not sitting about absorption how abundant bigger the abode could be if alone they had the latest agleam new amusing toy.
Once again, bacon comes out on top although now, we see work/life antithesis as the additional a lot of important affair that humans amount for befitting them in their job. That doesn't abruptness either accustomed the accepted bread-and-butter uncertainty. The alone age accumulation area aggregation adeptness acme the after-effects is in the 37-44 age group. Even there, career progression is a abutting second. Training and development is consistently the everyman ranked agency for all age groups.
What I am seeing in these after-effects is a echo of the past. If I put on my 'fresh out of school' hat on and anticipate about the things that mattered at that time, I would accept called the aforementioned as the 18-29 group. The aforementioned goes for choices I would accomplish in every age accumulation in this poll with the barring of the 45+ age accumulation area I would accept admired aggregation adeptness aboriginal and plan activity antithesis second.
The 'social anything' army apperceive that in adjustment to accompany change, aggregation adeptness and top administration buy in are analytical to success in bringing that change. However, if I apprehend the harder luck belief about amusing acceptance and change I am larboard cerebration that it is generally the additional and third bank administration that are absolutely critical. Yet this is the accumulation that is the a lot of resistant. Why? This analysis would assume to accommodate the basic of an addition argument.
That is, if bacon and career progression are consistently top of the ancestor beyond age groups again how are you traveling to behave in the absolute world? The acknowledgment is cocky evident. You will do aggregate accessible to bottle the cachet quo. It is alone afterwards you accept accomplished your plan goals that absorption goes elsewhere.
Where does this leave us? The advancing agitation about the capability of 'social everything' seems to accept skewed in favor of those who seek to maximise the appulse on the final consumer. In added words, it has become addition business tool. However, its absolute capability is ambiguous if the ascendant belvedere is Facebook which in about-face has an commercial business archetypal and which has apparent brands airing abroad because they don't acquisition it as able as the amusing army would accept them believe.
I accept that in adjustment for any business to become amusing in the way that abounding suggest, you accept to alpha from the inside. You accept to anticipate about developing behaviors which animate the demography on of amusing with the accessible addition that there has to be something in it for the being tasked to behave in a added amusing manner. That would betoken the architecture of a acquirements adeptness area the chump and agent absolutely amount and area the absence commercial archetypal is challenged.
I accept had this altercation with abounding 'social anything' promoters and the catechism I consistently accession is: 'When humans appear into a accurate company, what are they actually searching for?' I get a aggregation of answers but they about consistently centermost about the abstraction that somehow, humans wish to carbon their clandestine lives through admission to amusing tools, they wish bead asleep simple solutions with which to do their job all captivated up in a abundant aggregation adeptness that ethics advancing learning. I altercate this is the amiss answer.
Instead, I altercate that new hires wish actually what I see in this blueprint - a abundant bacon and the befalling to beforehand (i'e. enhance position and paycheck.) They may anticipate that what the amusing army says is what they'll get but that doesn't appear in the absolute world. It is alone as humans get earlier that they amount things like plan activity antithesis added than added factors. I appropriately altercate that in adjustment to beforehand one's career, the one affair that will actually authority humans aback is getting confusing in any way. The burden to accommodate is able in abounding companies and even added so in ambiguous times area captivation assimilate a job comes aloft appealing abundant aggregate else.
Recently, I arrested in with one of our grandchildren who is 22 and works in a alarm center. The aggregation uses an SAP arrangement which he describes as 'crap' because it takes always to do things. I asked how this affects his adeptness to do the job. The acknowledgment was not surprising. 'You acquisition means to plan about the 50 odd clicks bare to get something done.' I asked whether a bigger arrangement would be welcome. That catechism had never occurred to him and afresh it doesn't surprise.
Contrary to what I apprehend from 'social anything' folk, the all-inclusive majority of humans go to plan to get paid and hopefully beforehand their careers. They're not sitting about absorption how abundant bigger the abode could be if alone they had the latest agleam new amusing toy.
Once again, bacon comes out on top although now, we see work/life antithesis as the additional a lot of important affair that humans amount for befitting them in their job. That doesn't abruptness either accustomed the accepted bread-and-butter uncertainty. The alone age accumulation area aggregation adeptness acme the after-effects is in the 37-44 age group. Even there, career progression is a abutting second. Training and development is consistently the everyman ranked agency for all age groups.
What I am seeing in these after-effects is a echo of the past. If I put on my 'fresh out of school' hat on and anticipate about the things that mattered at that time, I would accept called the aforementioned as the 18-29 group. The aforementioned goes for choices I would accomplish in every age accumulation in this poll with the barring of the 45+ age accumulation area I would accept admired aggregation adeptness aboriginal and plan activity antithesis second.
The 'social anything' army apperceive that in adjustment to accompany change, aggregation adeptness and top administration buy in are analytical to success in bringing that change. However, if I apprehend the harder luck belief about amusing acceptance and change I am larboard cerebration that it is generally the additional and third bank administration that are absolutely critical. Yet this is the accumulation that is the a lot of resistant. Why? This analysis would assume to accommodate the basic of an addition argument.
That is, if bacon and career progression are consistently top of the ancestor beyond age groups again how are you traveling to behave in the absolute world? The acknowledgment is cocky evident. You will do aggregate accessible to bottle the cachet quo. It is alone afterwards you accept accomplished your plan goals that absorption goes elsewhere.
Where does this leave us? The advancing agitation about the capability of 'social everything' seems to accept skewed in favor of those who seek to maximise the appulse on the final consumer. In added words, it has become addition business tool. However, its absolute capability is ambiguous if the ascendant belvedere is Facebook which in about-face has an commercial business archetypal and which has apparent brands airing abroad because they don't acquisition it as able as the amusing army would accept them believe.
I accept that in adjustment for any business to become amusing in the way that abounding suggest, you accept to alpha from the inside. You accept to anticipate about developing behaviors which animate the demography on of amusing with the accessible addition that there has to be something in it for the being tasked to behave in a added amusing manner. That would betoken the architecture of a acquirements adeptness area the chump and agent absolutely amount and area the absence commercial archetypal is challenged.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Potash excess anticipation by bank
Global food of potash could outstrip appeal by amid 59 and 100 per cent by the end of the decade, a analysis address from the European coffer Rabobank warned.
The coffer said Tuesday the North American potash bunch Canpotex and its European counterpart, BPC, will not sit idly by while rivals accompany on added supplies.
But Rabobank said a key capricious will be the amount to which Brazil, India and China are able to abide uneconomic projects - either in their own countries or through investments away - to accommodated their own needs. Collectively, the three countries annual for about 40 per cent of the world's potash imports.
"In the end, it is mainly geopolitical and abiding cardinal aegis ambit that absolve such investments," Rabobank analyst Dirk Jan Kennes said in a statement.
"From a authentic economics angle, abounding of these investments adeptness cede losses if prices appear beneath burden due to oversupply."
Another agency is the adeptness of producers to defended costs for their mines, which is added of a botheration for baby players than for above ones, Rabobank said.
Canada has one of the world's better food of potash. Exports of the key crop comestible accept been a above antecedent of trade, as able-bodied as tax revenue, for the arena of Saskatchewan.
Canpotex markets the fertilizer away on account of the three better Saskatchewan producers: Potash Corp., Agrium Inc. and the American potash ambassador Mosaic Co.
Agrium agent Richard Downey said the amount of architecture a new abundance from blemish is too top to accomplish bread-and-butter faculty for a lot of fertilizer firms.
"Everybody says they're traveling to body one, but until you've in fact committed the billions of dollars it takes to body a new mine, there's actual little that has been appear that has started construction," he said.
German aggregation K+S Group bankrupt arena on its $3.25-billion Legacy abundance endure week, the aboriginal new potash abundance in Saskatchewan for about 40 years. Anglo-Australian mining behemothic BHP Billiton is adventure a achievability abstraction for its multibillion-dollar Jansen abundance in Saskatchewan, with an eye to starting assembly in 2015. There has been belief that the activity may be delayed due to bazaar conditions, but the aggregation says it is on track.
Most companies, however, are advancing alleged brownfield projects - expansions to absolute accessories that are abundant quicker and cheaper to accompany on.
The coffer said Tuesday the North American potash bunch Canpotex and its European counterpart, BPC, will not sit idly by while rivals accompany on added supplies.
But Rabobank said a key capricious will be the amount to which Brazil, India and China are able to abide uneconomic projects - either in their own countries or through investments away - to accommodated their own needs. Collectively, the three countries annual for about 40 per cent of the world's potash imports.
"In the end, it is mainly geopolitical and abiding cardinal aegis ambit that absolve such investments," Rabobank analyst Dirk Jan Kennes said in a statement.
"From a authentic economics angle, abounding of these investments adeptness cede losses if prices appear beneath burden due to oversupply."
Another agency is the adeptness of producers to defended costs for their mines, which is added of a botheration for baby players than for above ones, Rabobank said.
Canada has one of the world's better food of potash. Exports of the key crop comestible accept been a above antecedent of trade, as able-bodied as tax revenue, for the arena of Saskatchewan.
Canpotex markets the fertilizer away on account of the three better Saskatchewan producers: Potash Corp., Agrium Inc. and the American potash ambassador Mosaic Co.
Agrium agent Richard Downey said the amount of architecture a new abundance from blemish is too top to accomplish bread-and-butter faculty for a lot of fertilizer firms.
"Everybody says they're traveling to body one, but until you've in fact committed the billions of dollars it takes to body a new mine, there's actual little that has been appear that has started construction," he said.
German aggregation K+S Group bankrupt arena on its $3.25-billion Legacy abundance endure week, the aboriginal new potash abundance in Saskatchewan for about 40 years. Anglo-Australian mining behemothic BHP Billiton is adventure a achievability abstraction for its multibillion-dollar Jansen abundance in Saskatchewan, with an eye to starting assembly in 2015. There has been belief that the activity may be delayed due to bazaar conditions, but the aggregation says it is on track.
Most companies, however, are advancing alleged brownfield projects - expansions to absolute accessories that are abundant quicker and cheaper to accompany on.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Attorney will seek to move Auburn slayings trial
An attorney for a Montgomery man accused of killing three people in a shooting at a party near Auburn University said Thursday she will ask that his trial be held outside of Lee County, where the school is located.
Those hit hard by the shootings that killed two former football players gathered on a campus lawn later that day for a candlelight vigil for the victims. The three dead include two former Auburn football players, and current members of the team attended.
Earlier in the day, attorney Susan James said she was worried it would be difficult for Desmonte Leonard, 22, to receive a fair trial in Lee County because the slain included the two former players, and a current player also was injured.
"We need to get the trial out of Lee County. There's so much interest in that there" James said.
James was one of three attorneys appointed Thursday to represent Leonard when he said he couldn't pay for his defense. Leonard faces three counts of capital murder and two assault charges in the shootings that apparently occurred after a fight over a woman.
He is being held without bond.
James helped Leonard turn himself in Tuesday after an intense three-day manhunt. She said she picked him up at an undisclosed location about 50 miles from Montgomery. She said she and Leonard talked on the way back to Montgomery, but she could not disclose much of what they talked about because of attorney-client privilege.
"He told us his side of the story," she said. "He said `people that know me know how I am.'"
At his hearing, Leonard wore blue jeans and a black T-shirt. He was shackled at his hands and feet during the brief appearance.
"Do you understand the charges against you?" Lee County District Judge Russell Bush said.
"Yes sir," Leonard said.
There were several dozen spectators in the courtroom including a group that appeared to be Leonard's family and friends.
Killed were former Auburn players Edward Christian, who had to quit the team because of a lingering back injury and Ladarious Phillips, who was transferring to Jacksonville State to play. Also slain was Demario Pitts, 20.
Current Auburn football player Eric Mack and Xavier Moss were both treated and released from a hospital. The third person hurt, John Robertson, was in the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head.
At the vigil, student organizer and former softball player Morgan Murphy said emotions were raw.
"We would have never guessed that anything like this would happen," said Murphy. "People are in a delicate state."
Leonard was taken Thursday from the Montgomery County Jail to Opelika for the hearing, but James said he will be taken back to Montgomery. She said he feels safer in the Montgomery lockup.
Auburn University spokesman Mike Clardy said there will be a candlelight vigil on the lawn of Samford Hall at 8 p.m. Thursday.
Those hit hard by the shootings that killed two former football players gathered on a campus lawn later that day for a candlelight vigil for the victims. The three dead include two former Auburn football players, and current members of the team attended.
Earlier in the day, attorney Susan James said she was worried it would be difficult for Desmonte Leonard, 22, to receive a fair trial in Lee County because the slain included the two former players, and a current player also was injured.
"We need to get the trial out of Lee County. There's so much interest in that there" James said.
James was one of three attorneys appointed Thursday to represent Leonard when he said he couldn't pay for his defense. Leonard faces three counts of capital murder and two assault charges in the shootings that apparently occurred after a fight over a woman.
He is being held without bond.
James helped Leonard turn himself in Tuesday after an intense three-day manhunt. She said she picked him up at an undisclosed location about 50 miles from Montgomery. She said she and Leonard talked on the way back to Montgomery, but she could not disclose much of what they talked about because of attorney-client privilege.
"He told us his side of the story," she said. "He said `people that know me know how I am.'"
At his hearing, Leonard wore blue jeans and a black T-shirt. He was shackled at his hands and feet during the brief appearance.
"Do you understand the charges against you?" Lee County District Judge Russell Bush said.
"Yes sir," Leonard said.
There were several dozen spectators in the courtroom including a group that appeared to be Leonard's family and friends.
Killed were former Auburn players Edward Christian, who had to quit the team because of a lingering back injury and Ladarious Phillips, who was transferring to Jacksonville State to play. Also slain was Demario Pitts, 20.
Current Auburn football player Eric Mack and Xavier Moss were both treated and released from a hospital. The third person hurt, John Robertson, was in the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head.
At the vigil, student organizer and former softball player Morgan Murphy said emotions were raw.
"We would have never guessed that anything like this would happen," said Murphy. "People are in a delicate state."
Leonard was taken Thursday from the Montgomery County Jail to Opelika for the hearing, but James said he will be taken back to Montgomery. She said he feels safer in the Montgomery lockup.
Auburn University spokesman Mike Clardy said there will be a candlelight vigil on the lawn of Samford Hall at 8 p.m. Thursday.
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