of the float period (cheque kiting) to delay the notice of non-existent funds. This often involves trying to convince a merchant or other recipient, hoping the recipient will not suspect that the cheque will not clear, giving time for the fraudster to disappear.
Sometimes, forgery is the method of choice in defrauding a bank. One form of forgery involves the use of a victim's legitimate cheques, that have either been stolen and then cashed, or altering a cheque that has been legitimately written to the perpetrator, by adding words and/or digits to inflate the amount.
Identity theft[edit]
Since cheques include significant personal information (name, account number, signature and in some countries driver's license number, the address and/or phone number of the account holder), they can be used for fraud, specifically identity theft. In the US until recent years the social security number was sometimes included on cheques. The practice was discontinued as identity theft became widespread.
Dishonoured cheques[edit]
A dishonoured cheque cannot be redeemed for its value and is worthless; they are also known as an RDI (returned deposit item), or NSF (non-sufficient funds) cheque. Cheques are usually dishonoured because the drawer's account has been frozen or limited, or because there are insufficient funds in the drawer's account when the cheque was redeemed. A cheque drawn on an account with insufficient funds is said to have bounced and may be called a rubber cheque.[51] Banks will typically charge customers for issuing a dishonoured cheque, and in some jurisdictions such an act is a criminal action. A drawer may also issue a stop on a cheque, instructing the financial institution not to honour a particular cheque.
In England and Wales, they are typically returned marked "Refer to Drawer"—an instruction to contact the person issuing the cheque for an explanation as to why the cheque was not honoured. This wording was brought in after a bank was successfully sued for libel after returning a cheque with the phrase "Insufficient Funds" after making an error—the court ruled that as there were sufficient funds the statement was demonstrably false and damaging to the reputation of the person issuing the cheque. Despite the use of this revised phrase, successful libel lawsuits brought against banks by individuals remained for similar errors.[52]
In Scotland, a cheque acts as an assignment of the amount of money to the payee. As such, if a cheque is dishonoured in Scotland, what funds are present in the bank account are "attached" and frozen, until either sufficient funds are credited to the account to pay the cheque, the drawer recovers the cheque and hands it into the bank, or the drawer obtains a letter from the payee stating that they have no further interest in the cheque.
A cheque may also be dishonored because it is stale or not cashed within a "void after date". Many cheques have an explicit notice printed on the cheque that it is void after some period of days. In the US, banks are not required by the Uniform Commercial Code to honour a stale-dated cheque, which is a cheque presented six months after it is dated.[18]
Consumer reporting[edit]
In the United States some consumer reporting agencies such as ChexSystems, Early Warning Services, and TeleCheck have been providing check verification services that track how people manage their checking accounts. Banks use the agencies to screen checking account applicants. Those with low debit scores are denied checking accounts because a bank can not afford an account to be overdrawn.[53][54][55]
In the United Kingdom, in common with other items such as Direct Debits or standing orders, dishonoured cheques can be reported on a customer's credit file, although not individually and this does not happen universally amongst all banks. Dishonoured payments from current accounts can be marked in the same manner as missed payments on the customer's credit report.
Lock box[edit]
Main article: Lock box
Typically when customers pay bills with cheques (like gas or water bills), the mail will go to a "lock box" at the post office. There a bank will pick up all the mail, sort it, open it, take the cheques and remittance advice out, process it all through electronic machinery, and post the funds to the proper accounts. In modern systems, taking advantage of the Check 21 Act, as in the US, many cheques are transformed into electronic objects and the paper is destroyed.
See also[edit]
 - Allonge - slip of paper attached to a cheque used to endorse it when there is not enough space.
 - Blank cheque - cheque where amount has been left blank, figuratively a vague or open ended amount.
 - Certified check - guaranteed by a bank.
 - E-check - electronic fund transfer.
 - Hundi - historic Indian cheque like instrument.
 - Labour cheque - political concept to distribute goods in exchange for work.
 - Negotiable cow - urban legend where a cow was used as a cheque.
 - Remote deposit - scanning of cheques and transmitting to the bank electronically.
 - Routing transit number - explanation of the numbers on checks
 - Substitute check - the act of scanning paper cheques and turning them into electronic payments.
 - Traveler's cheque - a pre-paid cheque that could be used to make payments in stores.
 1. ^ See the negotiable cow—itself a fictional story—for discussions of cheques written on unusual surfaces.
 2. ^ Although cheques are regulated in most countries as negotiable instruments, in many countries they are not actually negotiable, viz., the payee cannot endorse the cheque in favour of a third party. Payers could usually designate a cheque as being payable to a named payee only by "crossing" the cheque, thereby designating it as account payee only, but in an effort to combat financial crime, many countries have provided by a combination of law and regulation that all cheques should be treated as crossed, or account payee only, and are not negotiable.
 3. ^ James William Gilbart in 1828 explains in a footnote 'Most writers spell it check. I have adopted the above form because it is free from ambiguity and is analogous to the ex-chequer, the royal treasury. It is also used by the Bank of England "Cheque Office"'.[3]
 1. ^ "Cheques and Bankers' Drafts Facts and Figures". UK Payment Administration. UKPA. 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
 2. ^ "Cheque, check". Oxford English Dictionary. London: Oxford University Press. 2009. p. 350.
 3. ^ Gilbart, James William (1828). A practical treatise on Banking, containing an account of the London and County Banks... a view of Joint Stock Banks, and the Branch Banks of the Bank of England, etc (2nd ed.). London: E Wilson. p. 115.
 4. ^ Cheque - Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary
 5. ^ Harper, Douglas. "check (n. 1)". Online Etymology Dictionary. Archived from the original on 9 March 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
 6. ^ "check". Unabridged. Random House. Archived from the original on 2 April 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
 7. ^ a b c d "Evolution of Payment Systems in India =Reserve Bank of India".
 8. ^ Durant, Will (1944). Caesar and Christ : a history of Roman civilization and of Christianity from their beginnings to A.D. 325. The story of civilization 3. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 749.
 9. ^ Glubb, John Bagot (1988), A Short History Of The Arab Peoples, Dorset Press, p. 105, ISBN 978-0-88029-226-9, OCLC 603697876
 10. ^ Islamic inventions (17)
 11. ^ "Guide to Checks and Check Fraud". Wachovia Bank. 2003. p. 4.
 12. ^ Cheque and Credit Clearing Company (2009). "Cheques and cheque clearing: An historical perspective". Retrieved 19 June 2010.
 13. ^ Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, The Evolution of the Check as a Means of Payment: A Historical Survey, 2008
 14. ^ Domett, Henry Williams. A history of the Bank of New York, _PHONE_ (1884)
 15. ^ "Newly Discovered Oldest Surviving American Checkbook
 16. ^ APACS (26 Nov 2007). "Understanding cheques". British Bankers Association. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
 17. ^ Lex Mercatoria, Law Faculty of the University of Tromsø, Norway
 18. ^ a b "Uniform Commercial Code § 4-404". United States Congress. A bank is under no obligation to a customer having a chequing account to pay a cheque, other than a certified cheque, which is presented more than six months after its date, but it may charge its customer's account for a payment made thereafter in good faith.
 19. ^ "Cheque Clearing FAQ, question 7". Canadian Payments Association. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
 20. ^ "Legal Issues Guide for Small Business: How long is a cheque valid for


text:
Fundamentally, tonglen is a practice for dissolving the armor around the heart. It opens a person up to love, allowing the natural love within us to flow.
By wishing that good things happen, and bad things don't happen, for ourselves and for others, we can slowly contact our compassion and forgiveness.
If you are feeling stuck, cold, alienated, loveless, or alone, tonglen can be a very powerful practice for reawakening yourself to love and connection with others.
On each in-breath, visualize negativity disappearing into a white light in your heart. On each out-breath visualize the white light radiating love and compassion outward.
- Settle into a comfortable meditation posture
- Breathe deeply and come to a centered, grounded awareness.
- Visualize a sphere of brilliant, pure, clean white light in the center of your chest. This is the light of perfection, joy, healing, love, and compassion.
- Now bring to mind all the troubles in your life. Any illness, discomfort, problem, difficulty, worry, negative emotional state, and so forth. Picture these as a dark cloud.
- With each in-breath, imagine you are breathing this dark cloud into the white light, where the dark cloud is completely and totally extinguish without a trace.
- With each out-breath, imagine all darkness being dispelled, and the joy and relief you feel. Imagine the infinite light of your heart flooding every cell of your body, filling you completely with happiness, love, and fulfillment.
- Continue this process for as long as you wish.
- If you want to go further with the practice of tonglen, you can repeat these steps for other people, animals, the earth, etc. Imagine taking all the negativity into the light in your heart, where it is dissolved. Then imagine your heart radiating love and happiness to that person/animal/etc.
- When you are ready to finish the practice, expand your awareness to include the entire world. Again, on the in-breath, draw all the negativity into your heart, where it is extinguished forever. On each out-breath, radiate love and compassion to all beings.
- Finally, release all images and desires, and simply rest in awareness for a few moments.
Tonglen is a practice of Tibetan Buddhism. The term tonglen means "giving and receiving" in the Tibetan language.
Some people worry that taking the negativity into themselves could be somehow harmful. This is not the case. The power of the practice is to remove depression, anxiety, and alienation. There is no danger of, say, contracting an illness.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
This cemetery has 22 tombstones from _PHONE_.
BOOK: Chajes, H. P. Juedische und juedisch-indisch Grabschriften aus Aden" (Jewish and Jewish-Indian graves inscriptions in Aden)in Sitzungbericht der Philodophisch-Historischen Klasse der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. BD.147 nr.3. Vienna, Austria 1904. 30 pages in German. PV181, 147, III. Source: Tagger, Mathilde. Printed Books on Jewish Cemeteries in the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem: an Annotated Bibliography. Jerusalem: The Israel Genealogical Society, 1997.
Jewish history. [August 2009]
Jewish Tombstones in Aden. "Four Jewish cemeteries are known to have existed in the Aden area. Two of them were ancient and were closed to funerals before the nineteenth century. The third one was in the center of the city in the 'Crater' area, so-called by the British. This cemetery was still in use at the time of British occupation. The Ma'ala cemetery is the new cemetery. In addition to these cemeteries there is a memorial tomb in the Holkat-Bay area.... The cemetery at Ma'ala was used by the Jewish community of Aden from 1860 until 1967, when the Jewish community was dissolved. Today there are hundreds of graves with tombstones of different shapes and sizes at this cemetery. The earliest date of burial found in the Ma'ala cemetery was from the year 1863 CE (tav, res, lamed, gimel). The latest date was from 1967 CE " [August 2009]
One of the first sights on coming from the airport was a large Jewish cemetery along one of the mountainsides. Row after row of raised stone sarcophagi can be seen, facing north. Source [January 2010]
|Last Updated on Saturday, 16 January 2010 19:03|

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
Provide A Planning Process That Allows Public
Participation For A Consistent, Open Approach To Determine Community Needs
Setting Goals & Priorities
- Develop a Town plan for
consistent local government decisions on land uses.
- Develop Town plans that
benefit and protect
- The Land & Ground Water (both quantity and
- Residents' Safety, Health and Welfare
- All Land Owners
- The Environment
- Establish and implement
joint planning efforts between the Town, the City of Onalaska, the Village of
Holmen, the Town of Holland, the School District of Holmen and Lake Onalaska
- Provide programs that
preserve the open space and the rural quality of life.
- Assess the impacts of
proposed developments on the environment, on traffic and roads, on the net
tax revenue generated, and on the overall quality of life for residents.
- Implement sound and
effective storm water management standards and practices to protect ground
water and property.
- Engage in soil and water
conservation policies and practices.
- Preserve and protect
wetlands and the resources of Lake Onalaska and the Upper Mississippi National
Fish and Wildlife Refuge. Work in collaboration with the United States
Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) to protect, enhance, and expand the Refuge.
- Establish and enforce
appropriate development density thresholds and locations for agricultural,
residential, commercial, and industrial development.
- Employ Smart Growth
principles such as those that encourage residential, commercial and light
industrial development to be located where a full range of public services
(water, sewer, fire, police, HAZMAT, etc.) and adequate transportation systems
are available or can be easily extended from existing service areas.


text:
Located in downtown San Salvador, this architectural marvel from the nineteenth century has witnessed some of the most important events in the political history of El Salvador.
The first national palace was built from 1866 to 1870 but a fire wiped-out the structures on December 1889; years later the government of Pedro José Escalón (1903) conducted a public contest for the design and construction of the new palace. The winner of the contest was José Emilio Alcaine, engineer and master builder Pascasio González Erazo.
Considered the first building of the Republic, it was also called "The Coffee Palace ", because a legislative decree taxed coffee exports to pay for the construction. 1 Columbus per 1 Quintal (100 kilograms) was charged, in total 50 thousand Colones were collected.
The main portal is composed of six towering columns that are accompanied by the statues of Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabel the Catholic, donated by King Alfonso XIII in 1924.
The Palace has an eclectic style, with Ionic, Corinthian and Roman columns and elements.
This beautiful building retains most of its original materials like glassware from Belgium, marble from Italy and wood from El Salvador. Over the years this building was abandoned, but in 1980 it was declared a National Monument, which prompted restoration work to rescue this historic treasure. The National Palace was opened to the public in 2008.
Nowadays you can visit 101 rooms (out of 105 rooms) that make-up this masterpiece and look at the colorful floors and walls made out of stamped sheets brought from Belgium.
- Red Room: This room served to hold social and political events. Here are you will see 14 medallions that represent the 14 departments that make up El Salvador. There are also portraits of presidents General Fernando Figueroa, Francisco Morazán, Francisco Menendez, Rafael Campos, Captain Gerardo Barrios and Manuel Enrique Araujo, who after his assassination in 1913,was mourned in this room.
- Pink Room: This is where the Supreme Court met until 1974 and guards the original Salvadoran coat of arms.
- Yellow Room: This room served as the president's office until 1930, important meetings and negotiations took place in this room.
- Blue Room: perhaps the most important of the rooms as it currently holds the original 28 desks and chairs where the congressmen sat to discuss El Salvador's legislative matters.
-The Jaguar Hall; has impressive murals depicting indigenous culture themes. Among the many corridors there is a permanent exhibition of photographs which displays the evolution of the building from 1889 onwards.
Inside the Palace there is a central patio with varied vegetation. There are 5 araucaria pine trees representing the five nations of Central America. As part of the restoration process, the original floor of the first building was recovered. There are also three canons used in the war led by Gerardo Barrios.
Currently the Palace is a tourist attraction and a place for special social gatherings. It is under the management of the Ministry of Culture of the Presidency and houses "El Archivo General de la Nación" (National Archives), in addition to carrying-out several exhibitions each year.
Visit this national treasure in the heart of San Salvador and discover a facet of El Salvador's impressive history.
How to get there:
This National Palace is located on Calle Rubén Darío, across from Plaza Gerardo Barrios, near the Metropolitan Cathedral and The National Library in downtown San Salvador.
If driving there is parking available in The National Library or in the parking lots nearby at US$ 0.50 per hour.
- Bus Routes available: Route A, R-1, 2, Route 6-A, Route 11, 11-B, 11-C, Route 22, Route 23 Route 26.
Ticket US$ 0.20, US$ 0.25, US$ 0.35
Other routes: 3, 9, 34, 38-And, 41-A, 42, 42-A, 42-B.
Ticket US$ 0.20, US$ 0.25, US$ 0.35
- Opening hours: Monday to Friday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. Admission:
- Salvadoran or Central American US$ 1.00 USD
- Foreign US$ 3.00 USD
- School and university tudents and staff: FREE
- Phone (503) 2222-7674 (503) 2222-9415
Elevation 2203 feet
N 13 ° 41,862 '
In 89 ° 11,495 '
NOTICEThe information presented in this Promotion Listing Services and destinations of El Salvador is a reference guide. Prices, rates, promotions or details such as the number of people, opening hours, input or output times, meal times, Cymbal ingredients, duration of tours, Sites on tour etc.. and phone numbers, websites or email addresses and physical, and other data can change without prior notice of the hotels, restaurants, Tour operators, inns and other businesses in the tourism industry in this digital catalog. The Ministry of Tourism and the Salvadoran Tourism Coorporación, and its advertising agency and any other company or individual subcontracted for lifting and collection of this information has no responsibility for any variation in the data. It is always suggested to respective queries to verify.


text:
Educational Service Delivery
This chapter reviews the educational service delivery system of Venus Independent School District (VISD) in the following sections:
- Student Performance
- Instructional Resources
- Gifted and Talented Education
- Compensatory Education
- Special Education
- Bilingual/English as a Second Language Education
- Career and Technology Education
- Library/Media Services
- Student Discipline and Alternative Education Programs
- Computer Technology
J. COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
The Texas Legislature has long recognized technology's importance in education and administrative support. In 1987, the Legislature directed the State Board of Education to develop a Long-Range Plan for Technology. This plan called for the establishment of a statewide electronic transfer system (TENET), expansion of integrated telecommunications systems (T-STAR) and a center for research in educational technology (TCET).
Subsequent legislation has created funding to help districts meet the state goals for technology. The technology allotment provides approximately $30 per student per year in state funding for technology. House Bill 2128 of the 1993 Legislature created the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF).
This fund derives revenues from the Telecommunications Utilities Account and the Commercial Mobile Service Providers Account to provide $150 million in grant funds each year for 10 years to public education, higher education and telemedicine centers for computer infrastructure, distance learning and training.
Another grant fund that is available to public school districts is the Technology Integration in Education (TIE) grant, which provides funding for teaching and learning, educator preparation, administration and support and technology infrastructure. This state-level focus on technology in education has allowed some of even the smallest school districts to develop state-of-the-art computer networks and computer labs. VISD, its four peer districts, 32 other districts and seven colleges worked with Region 11 in a cooperative effort to receive a TIE grant to establish a distance learning program through the Region 11 Telecommunications Network (RETN). The RETN allows VISD students to take advanced math, science and foreign language courses. In addition, the RETN allows students to take dual-enrollment courses. To date, 34 students have completed dual enrollment courses and received college credit prior to graduating from high school.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 includes provisions for schools to receive special rates for telecommunications services. VISD qualifies for an 80 per cent discount on basic phone service, data circuits and Internet service.
VISD has a technology coordinator who oversees the district's technology program and the campus technology coordinators. As a former language teacher, the technology coordinator understands the classroom needs of the teachers and works with them to solve their problems. The technology coordinators at the schools are teachers, aides or other members of the school staff. They receive a stipend for work as technology coordinators at their individual schools. The backgrounds and interests of the VISD technology coordinator and the technology coordinators at the individual schools enable the technology staff to understand and concentrate on fulfilling the needs of the students and teachers.
The VISD technology committee members come from administration, the classroom, library, the district staff and the community. To ensure that the VISD technology plan they developed was complete, they reviewed the Texas State Long-Range Plan for Technology; the State Board of Educator Certification: Technology Applications Standards for All Teachers; and the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. The school board approved the plan on February 20, 2003.
Technology programs progress through the following phases: needs assessment, design and maintenance. The needs assessment phase determines the feasibility, value and the expected outcome of a potential program. The design phase consists of preparing plans and the acquisition costs and maintenance cost of the potential program. The maintenance phase involves the continued support and evaluation of the effectiveness of the program. All evaluations are tied to outcomes contained in the needs assessment.
The VISD is connected to the Internet by a T-1 data line capable of transmitting 1.5 million bits of digital electronic data every second, which is 24 times as much data as a typical telephone line. Region 11 provides this line and it is connected at Venus High School. The middle school is connected to the high school by a fiber optical cable. The primary school, elementary school and the district offices are connected to the high school through a wireless communications link.
To protect the district from computer viruses, the Technology Department has anti-virus software on all computers and servers. In addition, all e-mail coming into the district must pass through Region 11 where it is scanned for viruses. The region strips the e-mail of any virus and passes the message on to the district.
Each school has a secure computer server located on site for storing data that is backed-up daily onto a tape. In addition, a weekly backup is made the last workday of the week. An annual backup is made at the end of the last school day for the year. All backup tapes are stored off site to ensure their safety.
In 1998, VISD had only a few Mac computers for use in the Special Education Department. In 2003, the district has 11 computer labs with 226 computers, 32 computers in the libraries and 426 computers in classrooms. With an enrollment of 1,871 students, the district has an average of 4.3 students per classroom computer, which is close to TEA's School Technology and Readiness (STaR) recommended ratio of 4 or less students per computer and only slightly higher than the state average of 4.1 students per computer.
VISD evaluated the current status of technology within the district by using TEA's Texas School Technology and Readiness (STaR) program developed by the state Educational Technology Advisory Committee. The STaR program helps determine a district's progress toward achieving the goals outlined in the four key areas of the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology. Exhibit 2-30 provides the results of the VISD self-evaluation and shows how VISD compares with Region 11 and state averages.
VISD Technology Progress Scores and
Comparison with Region 11 and State Averages
Long Range Plan for Technology Key Areas Teaching and Learning Educator Preparation and Development Administration and Support Services Infrastructure for Technology VISD* 8 7 11 8 Region 11 Average Score** 12 12 12 12 State Average Score* 12 12 11 12 Maximum Possible Score** 24 24 20 20 *Source: VISD Technology Plan, 2003, and Texas STaR Chart, 2002.
**Source: TEA Texas STaR Chart Region 11 Summary.
VISD allows teachers and staff to improve their technology skills. Additionally, the district consistently upgrades Internet connectivity and expands the availability of computers for student use.
The results of STaR self-evaluation show that VISD ranks highest in the administration and support services areas. This is due to the district's Internet connectivity and speed, as well as the district's Local Area Network/Wide Area Network. These two items allow VISD to reach higher levels of technology and attain the goals of the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology. Future applications for state-funded technology grants will request a completed campus or district Texas STaR Chart profile to be filed with the application as an indicator of current status and progress.
VISD has used a variety of funding sources to buy computers and associated training for the teachers, administrators and staff. The district applied for and received a number of grants from the TIF Program. Exhibit 2-31 shows the amounts of the TIF grants received by VISD and the peer districts.
Amount of TIF Grants Received
VISD and Peer Districts
1996-97 through 2000-01
District Number of TIF Grants Received Total Amount Received Dublin 5 $326,013 Godley 5 $316,040 Grandview 4 $690,000 Rio Vista 4 $757,003 Venus 5 $401,889 Peer Average 4.5 $522,264 Source: _URL_.
These grants enabled VISD to move from below the state average of students per computer to almost equal to the state average in just five years. The funds have been used to pay for online technology training for all middle and high school teachers. The district added its own funds to extend this online technology training to all primary and elementary school teachers. This online training called, "Learn at Gateway" provides intensive instruction in many different software applications. Employees are required by the district to meet minimum program training requirements in Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint. However, employees may continue to take additional courses until the end of the program. This program, which began in August 2002 and is available through August 2003, provides teachers the opportunity to receive instruction, demonstrations and critiques in a self-paced format that can be completed at their convenience. This flexibility allows the training to be completed at a time convenient to the employee rather than having to conform to a rigid formal training schedule.
VISD initiatives provide all teachers and staff members the opportunity to improve their technology skills, upgrade the district's Internet connectivity and buy computers for student use to achieve key focus areas in the Texas STaR Program.
The VISD has implemented several innovative programs to improve the use of technology in the classroom. The elementary school campus technology coordinator was one of two teachers from the VISD selected to participate in the "Teach to the Future" program sponsored by Intel Corporation. After receiving complimentary training and equipment at Intel Corporate facilities, these teachers are training 20 VISD teachers per year for the next two years. To make this training more effective, an experienced teacher who understands TEKS and curriculum is teamed with one of the newer teachers who usually have a broader range of computer skills. This teaming concept facilitates the cross-transfer of experience between the two individual teachers and enhances


text:
Picture - Ethnos newspaper
Greek supermarkets are reducing food prices, but at a rather slow pace. The reason is the economic crisis, or more precisely the fact that many consumers are struggling to buy even essential products.
Data from the Ministry of Development's Observatory of prices are extremely indicative. The last analysis makes it clear that despite the average increase of 0.32 per cent in prices of products from 56 major categories over the last year, there has been a 1.60 per cent decrease in consumption in the first half of 2012.
The recession made supermarket chains begin adjusting their prices according to the negative changes on the labour market after salaries fell by around 23 per cent, cuts in pensions exceeded this rate, and unemployment reached 22 per cent. If we add over-taxation on income with very high taxes to all this, it is clear that in the coming months supermarkets will be forced to make even "bolder" price reductions.
What the data show so far:
- The only product category where there is still a price increase are fresh fruit and vegetables. In particular, in the first half of the year their prices rose by about 6.32 per cent, considering that last year they had fallen by about 11 per cent. Analysts, however, highlight that the prices of fruit and vegetables are highly dependent on climatic conditions and production volume. Furthermore, very recently their prices have been liberalized and it is not excluded that supermarkets will use this fact to account for the losses from price reductions of other goods.
- In the first half of the year, consumption of food products fell by 2.27 per cent, whereas last year the prices of this category had increased by about 1.64 per cent.
- The prices of goods for personal use decreased by 1.37 per cent vs. a 1.87 per cent fall in the period June 2011 - June 2012. Alcoholic beverages are down by 0.07 per cent vs. a 0.39 per cent decrease over the past 12 months, and products for quick consumption - by 0.07 per cent against an overall decline of 0.52 per cent.
- There is an impressive change in soft drinks' prices, which fell in the first half of the year, although last year they had risen. The total drop amounts to 1.77 per cent, despite the jump of 5.79 per cent in the period June 2011 - June 2012. Mineral and table water, juices and soft drinks are down by 1.13 per cent vs. last year's increase of 7.88 per cent. The prices of coffee, cocoa and tea have also fallen by 2.56 per cent, although last year they rose by 3.24 per cent.
- Since the beginning of the year, dairy produce prices have declined by 0.58 per cent. In the period June 2011 - June 2012 they jumped by 1.64 per cent. Oat flakes and their derivatives recorded the largest drop - 2.64 per cent vs. 0.57 per cent last year. Olive oil, butter, margarine and oil, whose prices "jumped" by 0.76 per cent last year, fell by 3.89 per cent in the period from January to June 2012. After they rose to 1.67 per cent, prices of sugar, sweets, chocolates and ice cream fell by 1.32 per cent.
- Compared to these large deviations, prices of meat products have remained almost unchanged. From June 2011 to June 2012, they fell by 0.66 per cent, and since the beginning of the year to date - by 0.58 per cent. Prices of vegetables have also registered a drastic drop - from 0.12 last year to 8.68 per cent during the first six months.
- During the same period, the rest of the products were down by 1.20 per cent, although from June 2011 to June 2012 prices increased slightly by 0.06 per cent. Prices of fresh and frozen fish have followed suit. In the first six months of the year, they fell by 3.52 per cent, and over the past 12 months - by 2.27 per cent.
At the same time, in May, the main index of consumer prices rose by 1.4 per cent compared to the same period last year. Food and soft drinks have increased by 1.75 per cent, which means that supermarkets have reduced the prices of their goods. According to the National Statistical Office's data, in May the price of alcohol rose by 0.42 per cent.
With a 0.9 per cent harmonized index of consumer goods, Greece occupies the 29th place in the European ranking among 32 countries. As representatives of the Ministry of Development note, "lately, Greece is below the average values for the European Union and the euro area, which are 2.6 and 2.4 per cent, respectively. In May, the country was last among the eurozone countries".
According to them this is mostly due to the increase in the rate of VAT on food products from 13 to 23 per cent, the excise duty on heating oil and the international oil prices. They add, however, that "our position compared to the other European countries is improving and this proves that the reforms, "the awakening" of the consumer and reduced consumption are exerting pressure on prices".


TOC(depth=2, manual, tcpreplay, tcpliveplay, tcpprep, tcprewrite, tcpbridge, tcpcapinfo, flowreplay, commonargs, usage, FAQ)?
tcpreplay has evolved quite a bit over the years. In the 1.x days, it merely read packets and sent then back on the wire. In 2.x, tcpreplay was enhanced significantly to add various rewriting functionality but at the cost of complexity, performance and bloat. Now in 3.x, tcpreplay has returned to its roots to be a lean packet sending machine and the editing functions have moved to tcprewrite and a powerful tcpreplay-edit which combines the two.
Basic Usage
To replay a given pcap as it was captured all you need to do is specify the pcap file and the interface to send the traffic out interface 'eth0':
# tcpreplay --intf1=eth0 sample.pcap
Replaying at different speeds
You can also replay the traffic at different speeds then it was originally captured. Some examples:
To replay traffic as quickly as possible:
# tcpreplay --topspeed --intf1=eth0 sample.pcap
To replay traffic at a rate of 10Mbps:
# tcpreplay --mbps=10.0 --intf1=eth0 sample.pcap
To replay traffic 7.3 times as fast as it was captured:
# tcpreplay --multiplier=7.3 --intf1=eth0 sample.pcap
To replay traffic at half-speed:
# tcpreplay --multiplier=0.5 --intf1=eth0 sample.pcap
To replay at 25 packets per second:
# tcpreplay --pps=25 --intf1=eth0 sample.pcap
To replay packets, one at a time while decoding it (useful for debugging purposes):
# tcpreplay --oneatatime --verbose --intf1=eth0 sample.pcap
Replaying files multiple times
Using the loop flag you can specify that a pcap file will be sent two or more times:
To replay the sample.pcap file 10 times:
# tcpreplay --loop=10 --intf1=eth0 sample.pcap
To replay the sample.pcap forever or until CTRL-C is pressed:
# tcpreplay --loop=0 --intf1=eth0 sample.pcap
If the pcap file(s) you are looping are small enough to fit in available RAM, consider using the --enable-file-cache option. This option caches each packet in RAM so that subsequent reads don't have to hit the slower disk. It does have a slight performance hit for the first iteration of the loop since it has to call malloc() for each packet, but after that it seems to improve performance by around 5-10%. Of course if you don't have enough free RAM, then this will cause your system to swap which will dramatically decrease performance.
Another useful option is --quiet. This suppresses printing out to the screen each time tcpreplay starts a new iteration. This can have a dramatic performance boost for systems with slower consoles.
Advanced Usage
Splitting Traffic Between Two Interfaces
By utilizing tcpprep cache files, tcpreplay can split traffic between two interfaces. This allows tcpreplay to send traffic through a device and emulate both client and server sides of the connection, thereby maintaining state. Using a tcpprep cache file to split traffic between two interfaces (eth0 & eth1) with tcpreplay is simple:
# tcpreplay --cachefile=sample.prep --intf1=eth0 --intf2=eth1 sample.pcap
Alternatively, if you have already split your traffic into two filesas in the case of capturing traffic using a network tap, then tcpreplay can read two files at the same time, one for each interface:
# tcpreplay --dualfile --intf1=eth0 --intf2=eth1 side-a.pcap side-b.pcap
Viewing Packets as They are Sent
The --verbose flag turns on basic tcpdump decoding of packets. If you would like to alter the way tcpreplay invokes tcpdump to decode packets, then you can use the --decode flag. Note: Use of the --verbose flag is not recommended when performance is important. Please see the tcpdump(1) man page for options to pass to the --decode flag.
Editing Packets
tcpreplay now comes in two flavors: tcpreplay and tcpreplay-edit. The only difference between the two is that tcpreplay-edit embeds all the packet editing functionality found in tcprewrite. This is nice because you can edit and send all in one step, but it does have a performance hit.
Choosing a Timing Method
tcpreplay as of v3.3.0 now supports multiple methods for creating delays between two packets.
First a refresher:
 - There are 1,000 milliseconds (msec) in 1 second
 - There are 1,000,000 microseconds (usec) in 1 second
 - There are 1,000,000,000 nanoseconds (nsec) in 1 second
And a little math:
Let's say you want to send 125,000 packets/sec (pps). That means you need to send a packet on average every 8usec. That's doable on most hardware assuming you can find a timing method with 1usec accuracy. The problem gets a lot more difficult when you want to send at 130,000 ppsnow you need 7.7usec delay, requiring.1usec accuracy! That's a 10x increase in accuracy for a small change in performance. Most timing methods on general purpose hardware/software can't do that.
So what are the expected accuracies of each timing method?
 - nanosleep() - Theoretically 1nsec accuracy, but is probably closer to 1usec. Can be off by up to +/- 10msec depending on the operating system.
 - gettimeofday() - 1usec accuracy at best
 - OS X's AbsoluteTime() - 1nsec accuracy
 - select() - Theoretically 1usec accuracy, but tends to be off by +/- 10msec
 - IO Port 80 - 1usec accuracy, but can cause system crashes with certain versions of hardware/OS's
 - Intel/AMD/SPARC RDTSC - Theoretically better then 1usec accurate, but many recent multi-core Intel CPU's are horribly inaccurate and unusable
 - Intel HPET - A 10Mhz timer giving.1usec accuracy
As you see above, only AbsoluteTime and the HPET provide the necessary resolution to hit our 130,000pps mark. Hence, if you're using one of the other methods, I'll use weighted averages or rounding to provide better accuracy. What that means is, when each packet is being sent at a constant rate (packets/sec) I'll sleep 8usec 7 times, and then 7usec 3 times to average out to the necessary 7.7usec. If you're using a variable timing method (Mbps or multiplier) then I'll round to the nearest 1usec (8usec in this case of 7.7usec)- the hope is that over many packets, it will average out correctly.
So what does this all mean? Well, if you're running OS X, then using --timer=abstime is the clear winner. After that it gets more complicated. AbsoluteTime is currently the only timing method which doesn't need weighted averages or rounding.
First, tcpreplay currently doesn't have native support for the Intel HPET. The good news is that some operating systems (like recent Linux kernels) use the HPET for calls to gettimeofday(). So while you loose some accuracy (gettimeofday() is accurate to 1usec no matter what the underlying implementation looks like), it's probably the best option for non-OS X users. If your gettimeofday() isn't backed by the HPET, you can still use it, just realize it might be a bit unreliable. Even if your gettimeofday() uses the HPET, you still only get 1usec accuracy, so part about using weighted averages and rounding still applies. Specify --timer=gtod to use gettimeofday()
Some implimentations of nanosleep() are good, others are horribleit even may depend on how long you're sleeping for since the implementation might switch between going to sleep (bad) or using a tight loop (good). Generally speaking it's worth trying: --timer=nano
Using the RDTSC via --timer=rdtsc. This tends to work great on some hardware and is completely worthless for others. I've got an Intel P4 3.2Ghz box which it works great on, but my Core2Duo MacBook Pro is really bad. If you don't specify a --rdtsc-clicks value, tcpreplay will introduce a short delay on startup in order to calculate this value. If your hardware has a properly working RDTSC it's usually the speed of the processor (expressed in Mhz, so a 3.2Ghz CPU == --rdtsc-clicks=3200) or a fraction thereof.
IO Port 80
I don't have much experience with this, so give it a try and let me know what you find: --timer=ioport
This is crap for 99% of the situations


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Wood rotting fungi
There are many fungi, both saprotrophic and parasitic, that decay wood and youll find a great deal of information in the reference given in the button.
Examples of saprotrophs found on dead wood lying on the ground are Chlorociboria aeruginascens (which often stains the wood the same colour, as shown here ), Plectania campylospora, Polyporus arcularius and Stereum ostrea. The densely clustered caps of Coprinus disseminatus are often found around the bases of old stumps that have been colonised by the mycelium of this species.
When you look at a majestic forest eucalypt remember that the bulk of the tree is the dead heartwood. The living parts are the roots, leaves and relatively thin layer under the bark. Thus, live trees also provide scope for many saprotrophs and Laetiporus portentosus is an example of a saprotrophic fungus, feeding on the dead heartwood in living trees.
On the other hand, Armillaria luteobubalina is an aggressive parasite, capable of attacking and killing many plant species after which it feeds on the dead wood. It often produces dense clusters of mushrooms on dead wood or at the bases of live trees of various species. The fungus is an endemic Australian species and is widespread through south-eastern Australia. Armillaria is a problem in the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra, where it has killed mature trees in several garden beds. In the botanic gardens it spreads mostly by root-to-root contact and one way of controlling its spread is to put a physical barrier between the roots of infected and healthy trees. This photo shows a bitumen road between the Gardens' Rainforest Gully (out of the picture, to the left) and (on the right) a garden bed with an Armillaria infestation. In order to keep Armillaria out of the Rainforest Gully, a trench was dug along the edge of the road, a physical barrier put in and the trench then re-filled and re-bitumened. You can see the later strip of bitumen on the right hand side of the road (just to the left of the white, concrete gutter).
However, mushrooms growing from tree bases dont always mean trouble. Gymnopilus pampeanus also often produces dense clusters of mushrooms on dead wood or at the bases of various live trees. Some people mistakenly believe they have an Armillaria problem when they see Gymnopilus, for the two have similar growth habits. However, the Gymnopilus mycelium feeds largely on dead wood and is, at most, a mild parasite that may inflict damage to a tree that is already otherwise stressed.
White rot and brown rot
The major constituents of wood are the polymers cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. A polymer is a bit like a long chain. While a chain can be quite long and heavy, it's just a series of simple links joined together. In a similar way, each of the above polymers is built up by joining together a string of much simpler chemical compounds. In the case of cellulose and hemicellulose the basic building blocks are various simple sugars. For example, the basic building block in cellulose is glucose - a simple sugar that turns up in many foods, as you can see from the ingredients labels on various jars, cans or packets that you buy during your grocery shopping. The building blocks of lignin are more complex and lignin helps protect cellulose against microbial attack.
There are two broad classes of wood-rotting macrofungi. Fungi which decompose cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin leave the wood very pale in colour and often with a fibrous to stringy consistency. These are called white rot fungi and this photo shows an example of wood with white rot. Fungi which can decompose only cellulose and hemicellulose leave the wood coloured brown and, rather than fibrous, cracked into cubical fragments, which break off readily. These are the brown rot fungi. The next photo shows what you get when you crumble, or rub, white and brown rot woods in your hands. There are several types of white rot and you can find out more here: [_URL_
There are more species of white rot fungi than there are of brown rot fungi. In the northern hemisphere many of the brown rot fungi are found on conifers in the boreal areas but in Australia there has been no systematic study into the geographic or host preferences of brown rot species. However, there is some evidence of a preference for cool-temperate areas.
Fairly often, when you cut open a piece of dead wood that's still fairly firm, you'll see black lines marking out zones of varying size. These black zone lines mark out the extremities of the separate mycelia. Such wood, called spalted wood, is often sought after by craftspeople working with wood, for the irregular lines add to the attractiveness of the finished item. The following photos show, first, numerous fruiting bodies of the polypore Trametes versicolor growing out of a tree-stump and, second, the wood inside the stump.
Ornament using spalted wood.
Some white rot fungi, such as Trametes versicolor, decay lignin and cellulose simultaneously whereas others decay lignin first, leaving a residue of cellulose and hemicellulose for later decay. In Chile, Nothofagus wood that has been selectively de-lignified by Ganoderma australe is fed to cattle, for the lignin-free residue is easily digested with the help of the micro-organisms found in cattle guts. Such wood is called palo podrido and you can find out a bit more about it here. [_URL_ There is also evidence of moose in Alaska feeding on logs decayed by Ganoderma tsugae.
Wood rotting fungi, nematodes and bacteria
Nitrogen is an essential element for all living organisms, but wood has a low nitrogen content. Many wood-rotting fungi can grow at very low nitrogen levels and are very efficient at both scavenging and re-cycling nitrogen, but some have additional strategies. The mycelia of some wood-rotting fungi also trap and feed on nematodes that can often be found in decaying wood. By trapping nematodes (using hyphae with sticky knobs, for example), these fungi supplement their nitrogen intake. Species in the genus Hohenbuehelia and Pleurotus trap nematodes. These fungi produce stemless-mushrooms as fruiting bodies, the caps being attached directly to the wood either at the top or side of the cap.
Pleurotus ostreatus on a toilet roll.
Bacteria are also common in rotting wood and laboratory experiments with the mycelium of Pleurotus ostreatus have shown that this fungus will destroy and feed on bacterial colonies. Pleurotus ostreatus is widely cultivated (in many colour variations) and sold in supermarkets as the Oyster Mushroom. This fungus can grow on a variety of cellulose-containing materials - even toilet rolls, as shown at the right.
An excellent source of authoritative information about all types of predatory, wood-rotting fungi is in this site, written by George Barron, who has spent many years studying these fungi [_URL_
Forest litter and woodchips
Many fungi exploit the leaf and twig litter that can be found on forest floors, with the mycelia confined just to the litter layer extending neither to the soil below nor to the larger pieces of fallen wood. This is especially the case in the tropics, but also in sheltered temperate areas (where the litter layer is protected against the drying effects of sun and wind). Many of the fungi that exploit the litter layers produce tiny fruiting bodies, but at times in great abundance. For example, you may find hundreds of Marasmius haematocephalus mushrooms popping up from the forest litter. The individual caps are under a centimetre in diameter and there are many litter decomposers that produce mushrooms with caps only a couple of millimetres in diameter. You can also find various polypores, ascomycetes and corticioid fungi on leaf and twig litter. Here is a close-up view of the toothed fruiting body of a species of the corticioid genus Sistotrema that was growing on some long-dead, eucalypt leaves lying on the ground. The spines are one to two millimetres long. The fruiting body grew on the underside of the leaf, so the spines were pointing down.
Turning now to a suburban setting, think of all the wood that is spread around parks and home gardens in the form of woodchip mulch. Hypholoma aurantiaca is a common mushroom in woodchip-mulched gardens in Canberra. The species is well-known in Europe and may have been introduced to Australia. Some may think nothing much of the fungi on woodchip mulch but Peter Shaw, of the University of Surrey in England, writes: "It seems that the combination of deep woody litter and regular disturbance provides a habitat with no natural equivalent, so that the fungal community which appears is unusual." You can find more about his investigations in this link. [_URL_
LINKS TO OTHER SECTIONS
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comparator fires, and the timer's value is recorded. Timed ramp converters require the least number of transistors. The ramp time is sensitive to temperature because the circuit generating the ramp is often just some simple oscillator. There are two solutions: use a clocked counter driving a DAC and then use the comparator to preserve the counter's value, or calibrate the timed ramp. A special advantage of the ramp-compare system is that comparing a second signal just requires another comparator, and another register to store the voltage value. A very simple (non-linear) ramp-converter can be implemented with a microcontroller and one resistor and capacitor. Vice versa, a filled capacitor can be taken from an integrator, time-to-amplitude converter, phase detector, sample and hold circuit, or peak and hold circuit and discharged. This has the advantage that a slow comparator cannot be disturbed by fast input changes.
- The Wilkinson ADC was designed by D. H. Wilkinson in 1950. The Wilkinson ADC is based on the comparison of an input voltage with that produced by a charging capacitor. The capacitor is allowed to charge until its voltage is equal to the amplitude of the input pulse (a comparator determines when this condition has been reached). Then, the capacitor is allowed to discharge linearly, which produces a ramp voltage. At the point when the capacitor begins to discharge, a gate pulse is initiated. The gate pulse remains on until the capacitor is completely discharged. Thus the duration of the gate pulse is directly proportional to the amplitude of the input pulse. This gate pulse operates a linear gate which receives pulses from a high-frequency oscillator clock. While the gate is open, a discrete number of clock pulses pass through the linear gate and are counted by the address register. The time the linear gate is open is proportional to the amplitude of the input pulse, thus the number of clock pulses recorded in the address register is proportional also. Alternatively, the charging of the capacitor could be monitored, rather than the discharge.
- An integrating ADC (also dual-slope or multi-slope ADC) applies the unknown input voltage to the input of an integrator and allows the voltage to ramp for a fixed time period (the run-up period). Then a known reference voltage of opposite polarity is applied to the integrator and is allowed to ramp until the integrator output returns to zero (the run-down period). The input voltage is computed as a function of the reference voltage, the constant run-up time period, and the measured run-down time period. The run-down time measurement is usually made in units of the converter's clock, so longer integration times allow for higher resolutions. Likewise, the speed of the converter can be improved by sacrificing resolution. Converters of this type (or variations on the concept) are used in most digital voltmeters for their linearity and flexibility.
- A delta-encoded ADC or counter-ramp has an up-down counter that feeds a digital to analog converter (DAC). The input signal and the DAC both go to a comparator. The comparator controls the counter. The circuit uses negative feedback from the comparator to adjust the counter until the DAC's output is close enough to the input signal. The number is read from the counter. Delta converters have very wide ranges and high resolution, but the conversion time is dependent on the input signal level, though it will always have a guaranteed worst-case. Delta converters are often very good choices to read real-world signals. Most signals from physical systems do not change abruptly. Some converters combine the delta and successive approximation approaches; this works especially well when high frequencies are known to be small in magnitude.
- A pipeline ADC (also called subranging quantizer) uses two or more steps of subranging. First, a coarse conversion is done. In a second step, the difference to the input signal is determined with a digital to analog converter (DAC). This difference is then converted finer, and the results are combined in a last step. This can be considered a refinement of the successive-approximation ADC wherein the feedback reference signal consists of the interim conversion of a whole range of bits (for example, four bits) rather than just the next-most-significant bit. By combining the merits of the successive approximation and flash ADCs this type is fast, has a high resolution, and only requires a small die size.
- A sigma-delta ADC (also known as a delta-sigma ADC) oversamples the desired signal by a large factor and filters the desired signal band. Generally, a smaller number of bits than required are converted using a Flash ADC after the filter. The resulting signal, along with the error generated by the discrete levels of the Flash, is fed back and subtracted from the input to the filter. This negative feedback has the effect of noise shaping the error due to the Flash so that it does not appear in the desired signal frequencies. A digital filter (decimation filter) follows the ADC which reduces the sampling rate, filters off unwanted noise signal and increases the resolution of the output (sigma-delta modulation, also called delta-sigma modulation).
- A time-interleaved ADC uses M parallel ADCs where each ADC samples data every M:th cycle of the effective sample clock. The result is that the sample rate is increased M times compared to what each individual ADC can manage. In practice, the individual differences between the M ADCs degrade the overall performance reducing the SFDR. However, technologies exist to correct for these time-interleaving mismatch errors.
- An ADC with intermediate FM stage first uses a voltage-to-frequency converter to convert the desired signal into an oscillating signal with a frequency proportional to the voltage of the desired signal, and then uses a frequency counter to convert that frequency into a digital count proportional to the desired signal voltage. Longer integration times allow for higher resolutions. Likewise, the speed of the converter can be improved by sacrificing resolution. The two parts of the ADC may be widely separated, with the frequency signal passed through an opto-isolator or transmitted wirelessly. Some such ADCs use sine wave or square wave frequency modulation; others use pulse-frequency modulation. Such ADCs were once the most popular way to show a digital display of the status of a remote analog sensor.
There can be other ADCs that use a combination of electronics and other technologies:
- A time-stretch analog-to-digital converter (TS-ADC) digitizes a very wide bandwidth analog signal, that cannot be digitized by a conventional electronic ADC, by time-stretching the signal prior to digitization. It commonly uses a photonic preprocessor frontend to time-stretch the signal, which effectively slows the signal down in time and compresses its bandwidth. As a result, an electronic backend ADC, that would have been too slow to capture the original signal, can now capture this slowed down signal. For continuous capture of the signal, the frontend also divides the signal into multiple segments in addition to time-stretching. Each segment is individually digitized by a separate electronic ADC. Finally, a digital signal processor rearranges the samples and removes any distortions added by the frontend to yield the binary data that is the digital representation of the original analog signal.
Commercial analog-to-digital converters
Commercial ADCs are usually implemented as integrated circuits.
Most converters sample with 6 to 24 bits of resolution, and produce fewer than 1 megasample per second. Thermal noise generated by passive components such as resistors masks the measurement when higher resolution is desired. For audio applications and in room temperatures, such noise is usually a little less than 1 μV (microvolt) of white noise. If the MSB corresponds to a standard 2 V of output signal, this translates to a noise-limited performance that is less than 20~21 bits, and obviates the need for any dithering. As of February 2002, Megaand giga-sample per second converters are available. Mega-sample converters are required in digital video cameras, video capture cards, and TV tuner cards to convert full-speed analog video to digital video files. Commercial converters usually have ±0.5 to ±1.5 LSB error in their output.
In many cases, the most expensive part of an integrated circuit is the pins, because they make the package larger, and each pin has to be connected to the integrated circuit's silicon. To save pins, it is common for slow ADCs to send their data one bit at a time over a serial interface to the computer, with the next bit coming out when a clock signal changes state, say from 0 to 5 V. This saves quite a few pins on the ADC package, and in many cases, does not make the overall design any more complex (even microprocessors which use memory-mapped I/O only need a few bits of a port to implement a serial bus to an ADC).
Commercial ADCs often have several inputs that feed the same converter, usually through an analog multiplexer. Different models of ADC may include sample and hold circuits, instrumentation amplifiers or differential inputs, where the quantity measured is the difference between two voltages.
Music recording
Analog-to-digital converters are integral to current music reproduction technology. People produce much music on computers using an analog recording and therefore need analog-to-digital converters to create the pulse-code modulation (PCM) data streams that go onto compact discs and digital music files.
The current crop of analog-to-digital converters utilized in music can sample at rates up to 192 kilohertz. High bandwidth headroom allows the use of cheaper or faster anti-aliasing filters of less severe filtering slopes. The proponents of oversampling assert that such shallower anti-aliasing filters produce less deleterious effects on sound quality, exactly because of their gentler slopes. Other experts prefer entirely filterless analog-to-digital conversion, finding aliasing less detrimental to sound perception than pre-conversion brickwall filtering.


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Celebrate Valentine's Day with your family by making Valentine's Day Marshmallow Pops. The marshmallows served on lollipop sticks are covered in a candy coating and decorated with heart sprinkles.
Celebrating Valentine's Day is always fun with kids. You get to make cute crafts and enjoy yummy treats like Pretzel Bites or Puppy Chow. Another easy kid friendly treat you can make are my Valentine's Day Marshmallow Pops. The marshmallows on lollipop sticks are covered in a white or red candy coating and decorated with heart sprinkles. Valentine's Day Marshmallow Pops are a cute, family friendly treat that kids will love.
- 20 marshmallows
- 8 oz. bag of red melting wafers
- 8 oz. bag of white melting wafers
- Wilton Candy Melts EZ Thin Dipping Aid, shortening or oil for thinning
- 20 lollipop sticks
- Heart sprinkles
- Melt white or red wafers in the microwave on 50% power for 30 second intervals. Stirring after each interval until melted. If mixture is thick, thin by using Wilton Candy Melts EZ Thin Dipping Aid, or mixing in 1 tsp. shortening or oil at a time until desired thinness.
- Dip ½ inch of a lollipop stick into the melted wafers and insert it almost half way into a marshmallow. Allow the marshmallow pop to rest for 30 seconds or a minute to let the melted wafers harden onto the stick.
- Dip the marshmallow fully into the melted wafers while holding onto the stick.
- After dipping, gently tap and rotate the stick to remove the excess candy coating.
- Sprinkle small heart sprinkles onto the marshmallow pop or press on a big heart sprinkle onto the marshmallow pop before the candy coating hardens.


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Why Does Water Freeze Before Alcohol Does?
We recently explained that one reason wine's freezing point is much lower than water's is because of its alcohol content. But we didn't explain why alcohol has a much lower freezing point than water. Let's explain that now (hint: water molecules are "stickier.")
A substance freezes when its molecules become "stuck" in a fixed array as a solid. That substance's freezing point is the temperature at which the force of attraction between its molecules becomes strong enough to overcome the energy of motion that its molecules have when the substance is in its liquid state. One factor that influences this freezing point is the strength of the attractive forces between the molecules – the stronger the forces, the higher the freezing point. In other words, a substance whose molecules are very attracted to each other will freeze at a warmer temperature than a substance whose molecules are less attracted to each other.
Water molecules are more attracted to each other than ethanol (alcohol) molecules, because water has more hydrogen atoms bonded to oxygen. A hydrogen bonded to an oxygen is more "attractive" than a carbon bonded to an oxygen. So, water molecules are "stickier" than ethanol molecules – making it easier for water molecules to get "stuck" (i.e., freeze.)
Since ethanol molecules aren't as sticky as water molecules, the temperature has to be a lot lower before the forces of attraction overcome the energy of motion and fix the molecules into their array sites. So, that's why alcohol has a much lower freezing point – -114.7 degrees Celsius (-174.6 degrees Fahrenheit), as opposed to water's freezing point of 0 degrees C (32 degrees F.)
Note: Many thanks to Dr. Kay Sandberg, associate teaching professor of chemistry at NC State, for taking the time to talk to The Abstract about the science of freezing. Any errors in the above post are mine, and mine alone.


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The impact of inflation and interest rates
Global Listed Infrastructure
Vaccine rollouts and government stimulus have led to expectations of higher economic growth, inflation and interest rates. This has put pressure on listed infrastructure returns with the asset class significantly underperforming global equities over the past 12 months. But with over 70% of the investible universe able to pass through the cost of inflation to consumers, are these fears overblown? Global Listed Infrastructure Portfolio Manager Trent Koch explains why inflation can be positive for many infrastructure assets and how market uncertainty has created a compelling investment case for the asset class.
Why are investors concerned about higher inflation today?
The COVID-19 pandemic caused the deepest global economic recession in nearly a century. Global growth slowed, unemployment increased and the transportation of people and goods were severely disrupted. In response, central banks and governments are now seeking to aggressively stimulate their economies. The likely results of this stimulus are increased global growth and higher inflation.
It's important to note that not all inflation is bad. Governments around the world often target a 2-3% inflation range and most countries have been trending well below that 'ideal' target band. Inflation is concerning when it is sustained and aggressive, because this can lead to economies becoming overheated. When economies overheat, central banks often raise interest rates in order to contain inflation.
Should rising interest rates worry investors in infrastructure?
The characteristics of infrastructure assets (stable, long-life; cash generative; low sensitivity to the economic cycle) makes them relatively sensitive to changes in interest rates, compared to global equities.
Importantly, the impact tends to vary depending on whether rising rates are being driven by higher inflation, or by real economic growth.
Where rising interest rates are a reflection of higher inflation, listed infrastructure fares relatively well. Infrastructure companies have a proven ability to pass through higher inflation to their customers (typically with a 6 -12 month lag). Most infrastructure assets have an explicit link to inflation through regulation, concession agreements or contracts. Those assets without an explicit link often have the pricing power to deliver a similar (or better) outcome, reflecting their strong strategic position.
Transurban is a good example of a stock with this pricing power. The company owns 21 toll roads in Australia and North America, most of which have the ability to increase tolls by inflation or better.
Toll increases compared to CPI components | Australia
CPI component indices rebased to CityLink toll A$
Source: Bloomberg and First Sentier Investors
Data as at 31 December 2020
Real growth
Where rising interest rates reflect accelerating real economic growth, listed infrastructure tends to lag as investors shift from defensive to growth equities. Evidence of this is illustrated in the following chart.
Performance in Rising/Falling Bond markets
Benchmark is FTSE Global Core Infrastructure 50-50 Net TR USD Index from 1 April 2015
(previously UBS Global 50-50 Infrastructure & Utilities Index Net TR, USD).
US 10-year Bond Yields
^MSCI World Net TR USD
Source: First Sentier Investors
Monthly data from 31 Oct 2007 to 31 March 2021
The two halves of this chart show how global equities and listed infrastructure have performed during periods of rising and falling interest rates (represented here by US 10-Year Treasury yields) respectively.
The right hand side of the chart shows that in every discrete month since October 2007 in which US 10-year Treasury yields fell, global equities returned -0.1%, on average. The global listed infrastructure index performed better in this environment, rising by an average of +0.6% as infrastructure assets benefitted from the tailwind provided by lower rates.
In contrast, when US 10-year Treasury yields rose, global equities delivered an average return of +1.2%. The global listed infrastructure index also on average delivered a positive return, but to a lesser extent, returning +0.2% on average in these months.
Are infrastructure assets vulnerable to higher inflation?
Some investors have taken the view that rising inflation will lead to higher interest rates. This has put pressure on listed infrastructure valuations. There are concerns that listed infrastructure companies may be forced to spend a higher proportion of their earnings on interest payments; and that profits could be eroded by rising inflation.
However, we estimate that more than 70% of the assets we invest in have the ability to pass inflation through to the end customer, insulating investors from its impact.
Degree of inflation protection by sector
Source: First Sentier Investors
Data as at 31 March 2021
What impact could higher inflation have on infrastructure assets?
The impact of inflation on listed infrastructure assets depends on a number of factors, including:
Type of asset
Regulated assets such as utilities are more likely to have government agreements in place that dictate how costs can be passed onto consumers. They tend to be less sensitive to both dips and peaks in economic activity, making them more defensive and well-positioned for a slowing economy. The benefit of including such assets in a portfolio was demonstrated in 2020, when usage remained stable (relative to roads, air and rail) and revenue did not contract significantly.
For example, UK water utilities earn a real return on regulated assets, with inflation essentially being a pass-through. US electric and gas utilities operate within regulatory frameworks which enable them to earn an allowed rate of return on money spent maintaining or improving their asset base. While this rate is fixed for each regulatory cycle (which tend to last between one and three years), the allowed rate of return of the next cycle can be adjusted upwards if needed, to reflect a higher inflation environment.
Agreements in place
Some contracts explicitly allow user costs to rise when inflation does. Others are more complex and look at a range of factors beyond inflation, such as operating and capital expenses. The nature of these contracts depends on the country, the type of asset and the regulations in place. Many toll roads, for example, have concession agreements that specify how prices can be increased, with an option to follow the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or an agreed percentage – whichever is higher.
Revenue drivers
In growth assets such as road transport, airports and rail, revenue is based on volume of users, and is therefore more sensitive to economic activity. If the contract allows inflation and other increased expenses to be passed on, then they are particularly well-positioned in a rising inflation environment.
Inflation rate
For assets with an agreed price rise in their contracts, the actual inflation level matters. For example, some mobile towers include price escalators in their contracts at a set amount, e.g. 3%. If inflation is lower than this, the asset owner benefits from the price increase. Conversely, an inflation rate higher than this will disadvantage the owner.
How does your portfolio change depending on inflation expectations?
Part of our job as active managers is to take interest rate expectations into account when positioning portfolios. We are able to shelter portfolios from the impact of rising rates by tilting away from "income" infrastructure sectors such as utilities; and increasing holdings in "growth" infrastructure sectors such as roads and railways.
While macroeconomic conditions play a part, the impact of inflation also depends on particular companies and their assets. As bottom-up investors, we look at the dynamics of the asset and the sector, including barriers to entry, pricing power and structural growth opportunities.
What are your thoughts on leverage for infrastructure companies today?
It is understandable that investors are becoming concerned about debt levels with potential interest rate hikes on the horizon.
Whether you are looking at a toll road, a tower or an airport, if you take that defensive asset and put too much leverage against that balance sheet, it is no longer defensive. So assets with too much leverage are removed from our investible universe. We take a universe of roughly 250 companies and screen that down to ~125 core infrastructure assets that we consider to be investible. Part of that screening process addresses leverage, but we also eliminate assets based on other factors. These include our view on management quality, the capital structure and corporate governance frameworks.
Strong balance sheets
When analysing company leverage (and hence sensitivity to changes in interest rates) we focus on a range of measures including Net Debt to EBITDA1, forward interest coverage ratio and refinancing risk. The strategy's current weighted average Net Debt to EBITDA ratio is ~4.0x; a level we are comfortable with given the predictable nature of the cash flows being generated by our holdings' underlying assets.
Further, many infrastructure companies have taken steps to take advantage of current low interest rates. We have seen significant refinancing of existing debt to lock in reduced rates, lengthen maturities, spread refinancing risks, and diversify funding sources. The weighted average debt maturity on our top 10 holdings is currently over 10 years2. That means debt has been locked in at very low levels for the next decade.
It's important that infrastructure companies maintain appropriate debt structures so that when inflation does increase, they have the ability to increase prices and see that flow through to the bottom line. It's one thing to be able to pass on the costs of inflation to the end customer, but if debt costs are rising by as much or more, the asset will be in a weak financial position.
1 Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization
2 As at 30 April 2021
How has listed infrastructure performed relative to inflation over time?
Global listed infrastructure has proved capable of delivering returns well in excess of inflation. For the 15 years to March 2021, listed infrastructure has delivered


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Supporting parents in the Canary Islands
In the Canary Islands, we're helping parents of children aged between 6 and 13 to be good role models when it comes to drinking alcohol.
In 'Los Padres Tienen la Plabra' ('It's over to the Parents'), Petra Maria Pérez, Professor of Education at the University of Valencia, gives advice on how parents can talk to their children to discourage them from drinking alcohol.
The guide is distributed at educational centres and in collaboration with parents' federations, including the National Catholic Federation of Family Parents and the Spanish Confederation of Associations of Parents of Pupils, with support from the Ministry of Agriculture.
Our campaigns: Parental education
Drink drive awareness campaign in the Canary Islands
In the Canary Islands, we've been working with The Brewers of Spain to send drivers a strong message: if you're planning to drive, drink a non-alcoholic beverage. Or take public transport.
In 2004, the European Commission selected 'La Cerretera Te Pide Sin' ('The Road Demands You Are Alcohol Free') to be part of the European Road Safety Charter.
The programme is sponsored by the Department for Transport and is supported by the National Confederation of Driving Schools, the Spanish Association of Operators of Petroleum Products, the Royal Automobile Club of Spain, the European Automobile Commission and others.


A new generation of practitioners are challenging our definitions of experts and expertise and calling for more diverse voices to be heard. Citizen talks to some of the innovators and entrepreneurs who are working across and beyond professional boundaries to improve city life.
Alice Barnard: The Edge Foundation
Alice Barnard
Alice Barnard is chief executive of the Edge Foundation, a charity pursuing a unified and holistic education system that supports social equity and enables young people to fulfil their potential and come away with a skill set suited to the 21st century.
What drives you?
Edge believes all young people should have access to a broad and balanced curriculum, including technical and creative subjects, taught in a way that makes learning meaningful and relevant. The culture of high-stakes testing in schools stifles creativity and limits opportunities to develop skills such as communication, problem-solving and teamwork. The government is stubbornly adhering to a curriculum designed in 1904; young people now need different skills and knowledge. Our current education system disadvantages young people from the most deprived backgrounds and we are wasting huge amounts of talent, which our society and economy desperately needs.
How did you come to be doing what you're doing?
I've been a reporter, the head of an organisation campaigning on rural issues and run my own business, but my route to Edge was via the Peter Jones Foundation where I was chief executive. That organisation is all about supporting young people to be enterprising and successful, so it was a short step to Edge, it's just that we're tackling it from a policy perspective and trying to effect systemic change.
What's your business model?
Edge is fortunate in that we have an endowment, meaning we are not reliant on public money, not subject to influence from government, and can be selective in which donations we accept. This means we have a truly independent voice.
What's the biggest challenge you face in trying to do your job?
The intransigence and reactionary thinking of Nick Gibb (then schools minister). He is so entrenched in 19th-century ideas about education.


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Research project INSITU
|Coordinator||Dr. Sebastian Knop, Kriminaltechnisches Institut des Bundeskriminalamtes|
|Duration||01.07.2018 – 30.06.2021|
|Grantor||Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung|
Our civil order and security are constantly at risk from crime, terrorism and extremism. If a security-relevant event occurs, it is the task of criminal prosecution to determine the perpetrator or perpetrators and the context of the crime and to prevent future criminal offences. The collection of all findings, their compilation, evaluation and transmission are time-critical processes. At present, there is no technical tool that allows a coherent on-site recording and description of complex location situations. In addition, crime scene and investigation work is often characterized by a large number of manual process steps. A demand-oriented, informatic and process-logical support of these activities does not take place so far.|
The aim of the research project is to close this gap by developing a mobile computer-based system (INSITU) for the on-site description of complex search situations. INSITU is characterized by the four core functions "networked", "multimodal", "quality-assured" and "mobile computer-based". The central element of INSITU is a spatial-semantic data model based on technologies and concepts of Building Information Modeling. This model serves to combine all data collected on site and is complemented by a formalized process model of the activities to be performed. The recording of the data takes place multimodally with the help of mobile computers and sensors (e.g. depth sensors, cameras). The networked provision of the model allows parallel data acquisition by several persons. Supplemented by mechanical testing mechanisms, the quality of the data and processes is ensured and the fast, context-sensitive transmission of information is made possible.


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Dorado - interesting?
Also known as Mahi-Mahi or Dolphinfish, Dorado is a surface dwelling ray-finned fish found in temperate tropical and sub-tropical waters worldwide.
The Golden Dorado (differently) is a large river fish that lives in central and east-central South America.
Dorado is a constellation in the southern sky, labelled in the sixteenth century and now one of the 88 modern constellations. Its name refers to the Dolphinfish, which is known as Dorado in Spanish.
Dorado is notable for containing most of the Large Magellanic Cloud, the remainder being in the constellation Mensa.
Dorado is a small town on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, 24 Km west of San Juan. It is best known as a tourist destination with world class golf courses, hotels and beaches.
El Dorado is Spanish for "the golden one" and is a legend that began with the story of a South American tribal chief who covered himself with gold dust and would dive into a lake of pure mountain water.


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SGO1 but not SGO2 is required for maintenance of centromere cohesion in Arabidopsis thaliana meiosis
- First Online:
- Cite this article as:
- Zamariola, L., De Storme, N., Tiang, C. et al. Plant Reprod (2013) 26: 197. doi:10.1007/s00497-_PHONE_-x
- 511 Downloads
Shugoshin is a protein conserved in eukaryotes and protects sister chromatid cohesion at centromeres in meiosis. In our study, we identified the homologs of SGO1 and SGO2 in Arabidopsis thaliana. We show that AtSGO1 is necessary for the maintenance of centromere cohesion in meiosis I since atsgo1 mutants display premature separation of sister chromatids starting from anaphase I. Furthermore, we show that the localization of the specific centromeric cohesin AtSYN1 is not affected in atsgo1, suggesting that SGO1 centromere cohesion maintenance is not mediated by protection of SYN1 from cleavage. Finally, we show that AtSGO2 is dispensable for both meiotic and mitotic cell progression in Arabidopsis.


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The Swedish Environmental Code
- Publication date:
- Ministry publications series
- Ministry of the Environment
The Swedish Environmental Code was adopted in 1998 and entered into force 1 January 1999. The rules contained within 15 acts have been amalgameted in the Code. As many similar rules in previous statutes have been replaced with common rules, the number of provisions has been reduced. The
Environmental Code is nonetheless a major piece of legislation. The Code contains 33 chapters comprising almost 500 sections. However, it is only the fundamental environmental rules that are included in the Environmental Code. More detailed provisions are laid down in ordinances made by the Government.
The translation takes account of amendments that have been
made since the Code entered into force up to 1 August 2000.
References to the laws adopting the amendments are given in
parantheses and show the reference number of the law in question. However, laws regulating transitional arrangements
or dates of entry into force have not been included.
The two annexes specifying the environmental classes of petrol and diesel fuels are not included in the translation.
The Ministry of Environment publishes the translation as a
service to interested persons but takes no legal responsibility for the translation or for any consequenses arising from its use.


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Within a given coaching framework and methodology, we help individuals set and realise relevant and realistic goals for themselves.
- Individuals take a complete look at their current state, understanding the patterns activating their current behaviour
- Being 'conscious of' and 'accepting what is'. They learn to deal with issues or challenges differently at stake.
- Through 'tasking' and recurrent practice they start doing things they never did before
- Continuous development by reflecting on one's actions and sharing feedback with others along the way.
Other business services
Our workshop Cultivating Ownership creates an open environment to develop new patrons of behaviours and beliefs. Enabling individuals and teams to take ownership of their performances and growth.
Aligning teams for a collaborative culture


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A number of our labs are workbook-style labs, where instructions and questions are contained in a PDF workbook. If you would like to fill out the workbook on your computer instead of on paper, Adobe (the creator of the PDF format) has a free software solution called Adobe Acrobat Reader which makes this easy.
To use this feature, follow these instructions:
- Install the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. You will need a recent version, as older versions do not include the capability to edit PDFs. You can download the free "Reader" software from Adobe's website. (NOTE: There is a professional version of Adobe Acrobat which costs money, but that version is not needed in order to fill out SimBio workbooks.)
- Launch the Adobe Acrobat Reader application, and open the SimBio Virtual Labs workbook.
- Under the Tools menu, select Comment. A commenting toolbar will appear.
- In the Comment toolbar, find the Add Text Box tool —. You can hover over the different tools with your mouse until you see the Add Text Box tooltip appear.
- In the area where you want to type an answer to a question, drag out a box with the mouse and start typing.
- If the question asks you to make a drawing, you can use the Draw free form tool — — and the Drawing Tools —
- When you are done filling out the workbook (and periodically as you are working through it, just to be safe), save it using the Save or Save As commands in the File menu.
- You can then email that file to your professor to turn in your completed workbook.


Word puzzles for Android
ArtWords WordSearch
ArtWords is a game for Android tablets and mobile phones. You are about to start finding words in a maze of letters. The words are associated with a theme and art and the quest for you is to find them.
Academie Libre
Find words related to art created by members of Academie Libre.
ArtWords Designer
AWD is an educational tool for pattern recognition, language and spelling. You can make word games with languages and pronunciation.
An easy word puzzle game where you search for the spelling of a visualized object


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Int J Surg 2017 Dec 10;48:180-188. Epub 2017 Oct 10.
Division for Endocrine and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Department of Human Pathology in Adulthood and Childhood "G. Barresi", University Hospital G. Martino, University of Messina, Via C. Valeria 1, 98125, Messina, Italy. Electronic address:
Purpose: The increasing use of intraoperative neural monitoring (IONM) of the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) during thyroid surgery imposes an evaluation of cost-effectiveness.
Methods: The analysis estimated the cost versus utility of different alternatives that simulate nerve injury course and the consequences for the following cohorts of patients: (1) no RLN injury, or vocal fold palsy (VCP) recovery within 1 month (2), 2 months (3), 6 months (4), and after 12 months (5). In the model applied, the average simulated cohort consisted of a young female patient, 40 years old, employed, daily voice user, who underwent elective, conventional total thyroidectomy via cervical incision using a standardized intermittent IONM technique, for an operable benign, bilateral, diffuse, multinodular, non-toxic, non-retrosternal goiter. Read More


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- College of Sciences
Dr. Joanna Mishtal
The Medical Anthropology minor develops students' understanding of health from the perspective of human cultural and biological diversity. Current trends in education and employment show a growing need for medical anthropology knowledge and expertise in a variety of national and international career directions. This Minor therefore prepares students for future graduate studies and work in health professions, including medicine, global health, nursing, and social work.
- The minor is not open to anthropology majors.
- Students must earn a grade of "C" (2.0) or better in all courses used to satisfy the minor.
- At least 15 hours used in the minor must be earned at UCF within the Department of Anthropology.
- Only two anthropology courses can overlap for students enrolled in multiple anthropology programs (minors or certificates). (Note: The myKnight Audit cannot capture overlapping courses between two or more programs; therefore, students should have their program reviewed by the department before filing for graduation.)
- Students must satisfy each course's prerequisites before enrolling in the class.
Tuition and Fees
$212.28 per credit hour
The approximate tuition cost for one year in this program at UCF based on a full time schedule (30 credit hours per year)


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1. DEFINITION OF TERMS
1.1.1. "Administration of the website of the Internet booking (hereinafter referred to as the Site Administration)" - authorized employees on the site management, acting on behalf of LTD "OVERTURE TECHNOLOGIES", who organize and (or) perform personal data processing, and determine the purposes of processing personal data, Data to be processed, actions (operations) performed with personal data.
1.1.2. "Personal data" means any information relating directly or indirectly to a specified or determined individual (subject of personal data).
1.1.3. "Personal data processing" means any action (operation) or set of actions (operations) performed using automation tools or without using such tools with personal data, including collection, recording, systematization, accumulation, storage, updating (updating, modification), Extraction, use, transfer (distribution, provision, access), depersonalization, blocking, deletion, destruction of personal data.
1.1.4. "Confidentiality of personal data" is a mandatory requirement for the Operator or other persons who have access to a personal data to prevent their dissemination without the consent of the subject of personal data or other legal grounds.
1.1.5. "User online booking site (hereinafter referred to as User)" is a person who has access to the Site through the Internet and using the Online Booking site.
1.1.6. "Cookies" is a small piece of data sent by a web server and booking on a user's computer that the web client or web browser sends to the web server each time in an HTTP request when they try to open the page of the corresponding site.
1.1.7. «IP-address» is a unique network address of a node in a computer network built on the IP protocol.
2.4. The site administration does not verify the authenticity of the personal data provided by the user of the online booking site.
3.2.1. Surname, first name, patronymic of the User;
3.2.2. Contact phone of the User;
3.2.3. E-mail address;
3.2.4. The delivery address of the Goods;
3.2.5. Place of residence of the User.
3.3. Online reservation protects Data that is automatically transmitted during the viewing of ad units and when visiting pages on which the statistical system script ("pixel") is installed:
- IP address;
- Information from cookies;
- Information about the browser (or other program that provides access to the display of advertising);
- access time;
- the address of the page on which the ad unit is located;
- referrer (address of the previous page).
3.3.1. Disabling cookies may result in the inability to access parts of the online booking site that require authorization.
3.3.2. Online booking collects statistics about the IP-addresses of its visitors. This information is used to identify and solve technical problems, to control the legality of financial payments.
4.PURPOSE OF THE USER'S PERSONAL INFORMATION
4.1. The personal data of the User The administration of the online booking site can use for:
4.1.1. Identification of the User registered on the online booking site for placing an order and (or) entering into the Goods Purchase Agreement remotely with mybooking.uz.
4.1.2. Providing the User with access to the personalized resources of the Site of the online booking.
4.1.3. Establishment of feedback from the User, including sending notifications, requests concerning the use of the Online Booking Site, rendering services, processing requests and applications from the User.
4.1.4. Definitions of the location of the User for security, prevention of fraud.
4.1.5. Confirmation of the authenticity and completeness of personal data provided by the User.
4.1.6. Create an account for booking and purchasing, if the User has agreed to create an account.
4.1.7. Notifications of the User of the Online Booking Site on the status of the Order.
4.1.8. Processing and receipt of payments, confirmation of tax or tax benefits, disputing payment, determining the right to receive a credit line by the User.
4.1.9. Providing the User with effective client and technical support in case of problems related to the use of the Online Booking Service.
4.1.10. Providing the User with his consent, product updates, special offers, information on prices, newsletters and other information on behalf of online booking or on behalf of online booking partners.
4.1.11. Implementation of promotional activities with the consent of the User.
4.1.12. Granting access to the User to the sites or services of online booking partners in order to obtain updated services.
5.WAYS AND TERMS OF PERSONAL INFORMATION PROCESSING
5.1. The processing of the User's personal data is carried out without any time limit, in any legal way, including in personal data information systems using automation tools or without using such means.
5.2. The User agrees that the Site Administration has the right to transfer personal data to third parties, in particular courier services, postal organizations, telecommunications operators, solely for the purpose of fulfilling the User's order issued on the online booking site "_URL_".
5.3. Personal data of the User can be transferred to the authorized bodies of the government of the Republic of Uzbekistan only on the grounds and in the order established by the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
5.4. In case of loss or disclosure of personal data, the Administration of the site informs the User about the loss or disclosure of personal data.
5.5. The site administration takes necessary organizational and technical measures to protect the User's personal information from unauthorized or accidental access, destruction, modification, blocking, copying, distribution, as well as from other illegal actions of third parties.
5.6. Administration of the site together with the User takes all necessary measures to prevent losses or other negative consequences caused by loss or disclosure of the User's personal data.
6.OBLIGATIONS OF THE PARTIES
6.1. The User is obliged:
6.1.1. Provide information about the personal data required to use the Online Booking Service.
6.1.2. Update, supplement the provided information about personal data in case of changing this information.
6.2. The site administration is obliged to:
6.2.3. Take precautions to protect the confidentiality of the User's personal data in accordance with the procedure normally used to protect such information in the existing business.
6.2.4. To block personal data related to the relevant User from the moment of the request or request of the User, or his legal representative or authorized body for protection of the rights of subjects of personal data for the verification period, in case of revealing unreliable personal data or illegal actions.
7.RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PARTIES
7.2. In case of loss or disclosure of Confidential Information, the Site Administration is not responsible if this confidential information:
7.2.1. Became public property before its loss or disclosure.
7.2.2. It was received from a third party until it was received by the Site Administration.
7.2.3. Was disclosed with the consent of the User.
8.SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES
8.1. Before applying to the court with a claim for disputes arising from the relationship between the User of the online booking site and the Site Administration, it is mandatory to file a claim (a written proposal for the voluntary settlement of the dispute).
8.2. The receiver of the claim within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of the claim shall notify the applicant in writing of the claim about the results of the examination of the claim.
8.3. If the agreement is not reached, the dispute will be referred to the judicial authority in accordance with the current legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Last Updated on 10 01 2018


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Atlas de Jordanie
The Atlas of Jordan provides 17 thematic maps on social and environmental issues, distributed over various areas and over time, including expansion of drought, water balance and polarization; population growth, density and distribution; migration and urbanization trends; land use planning and settlement patterns.
These maps contribute to identify existing and future physical and social vulnerabilities to disasters, such as land use plans, migration patterns and water shortage. The maps can serve as a source for sustainable development planning, with integrated disaster risk reduction measures.
The work combines different scales of analysis (localities, urban areas, subdistricts, districts, governorates and regions) to present the dynamics of the Jordanian territory in a new way.
The work on the Atlas of Jordan began in January 2006 with a team of researchers from the French Institute of Near East Studies, under the supervision of Dr. Myriam Ababsa. The 17 main plates of the Thematic Atlas of Jordan were exhibited in Amman in 2009. The project is finalized and the Atlas is expected to be published in 2011.
The Atlas is the result of cooperation with several Jordanian institutions including the Royal Geographic Centre, the Department of Statistics, the Ministry of Town Councils, the Ministry of Water, the Centre of Natural Resources, and the Land Registry Department.
The publication is supported by the French National Centre for Scientific Research, the National Research Agency (Citadain project), the Academic Agency of French speakers and the Delegation of the European Union in Jordan.
- Themes:Climate Change, Environment, Food Security & Agriculture, GIS & Mapping, Risk Identification & Assessment, Urban Risk & Planning, Water
- Hazards:Drought, Earthquake, Flood, Heat Wave