text:
Netflix to Stream More First Run Movies Thanks to New Deals
by Chris Ullrich, Dec 2 2010
Love Netflix but not always completely satisfied with the number of first run movies the service offers for streaming? Same here. Fortunately, it seems the company is taking steps to remedy the situation in the form of a new content partnership agreements.
Back in August, Netflix closed a deal with Epix, a a joint venture between Viacom, Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate. And now, as of yesterday, the company entered into another agreement with new partner with producer/distributor FilmDistrict. Under the terms of the deal Netflix will license movies from FilmDistrict during what's knows as the "pay TV window," or the period of time when the films would have normally appeared on premium cable TV channels such as HBO or Showtime.
The first two movies to come to Netflix as a result of this partnership will be Drive, starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan, and Lockout, starring Guy Pearce and Maggie Grace. Both films are set to be released early next year.
This is good news as other services like Google TV seem to be struggling a bit to make content deals. Netflix offers a good service for a decent price and I, for one, hope they can continue to do so. They do need more first run movies, however, and these deals do seems like steps in the right direction. Lets hope they can keep it going.
Click through for the full press release announcing this latest content deal.
NETFLIX AND FILMDISTRICT ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT TO STREAM FIRST-RUN THEATRICAL FILMS TO NETFLIX MEMBERS
First Movies to be Included Under the Deal in 2011 are the Crime Drama 'Drive' and the Sci-Fi Adventure 'Lockout'
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Dec. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) and FilmDistrict, a multi-faceted acquisition, distribution, production, and financing company, today announced a multi-year agreement through which first-run, theatrically-released films distributed by FilmDistrict will be licensed to Netflix for streaming over the Internet in the "pay TV window" a few months after their release on DVD.
Under the deal, major motion pictures that traditionally would have been licensed to premium cable channels will flow instead from FilmDistrict to Netflix for streaming to its members, beginning in 2011.
Among the first films to be covered under the deal are "Drive," director Nicolas Winding Refn's adaptation of the James Sallis' crime tale starring the Academy Award®-nominated duo Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan, and the sci-fi action adventure film "Lockout," starring Guy Pearce and Maggie Grace, produced and co-written by Luc Besson, and co-directed by James Mather and Stephen St. Leger.
Broadening the variety and timeliness of content available for Netflix members to watch instantly is among the company's highest priorities as it rapidly transforms itself into a service focused on streaming movies and TV shows over the Internet.
FilmDistrict was created earlier this year by Oscar®-winning producer Graham King and his business partners Tim Headington and Peter Schlessel, who became FilmDistrict's CEO. Recently, film industry veterans Bob Berney and Adrian Alperovich joined FilmDistrict as president of film distribution and president of acquisitions and operations, respectively.
Said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix: "Netflix has a long and successful history working with Peter Schlessel and Bob Berney, and I have long admired Graham King's amazing production success with movies like 'The Departed' and 'Blood Diamond,' which are among the most watched and highly rated movies of all time by Netflix members. We are thrilled to be in business with these proven tastemakers and entertainment business leaders."
"We are very excited about this new relationship with Netflix," said Mr. Alperovich. "The innovative and flexible entrepreneurial spirit they have demonstrated makes them a perfect partner for us as we build FilmDistrict into a strong independent distributor."
"Netflix has strategically developed a bold business model and they love movies," added Mr. Berney. "They have cultivated a loyal audience that gives FilmDistrict great opportunities for growth."
Posted in: Deals and Dealmaking · Movies · News · Tech
Tagged: Carey Mulligan, Deals, Drive, Epix, FilmDistrict, Guy Pierce, Lockout, Maggie Grace, Netflix, Netflix Streaming, Ryan Gossling, Tech
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The title is a bit of a mouth full! Basically with NetScaler 11 onwards, Content Switching is now supported for both web applications and NetScaler Gateway. This is great news which will allow people to conserve more services behind less IP addresses.
Firstly I completed the NetScaler Gateway Wizard and ensured that I could authenticate and launch desktops from my XD7.11 lab.
Next I followed Dave Bretty's blog to Content Switch the NetScaler Gateway VS and a newly created VS for OWA.
Then I created an Authentication VS, then created a policy which say any requests to the AAA address would go to the authentication VS. Lastly I went to bind the policy to my Content Switch VS. I received the titled error message.
This left me scratching my head for a while. The VPN server that is mentioned is the NetScaler Gateway VS. Then it struck me, the NetScaler Gateway is completing pre-authentication, I should just be able to use this VS.
I went into the LB VS for OWA and under authentication I chose Form Based Authentication, Authentication FQDN needs to be the NS gateway address. Lastly ensure that the NetScaler Gateway VS is the one that is being used for NS gateway.
After saving this, when trying to go to email URL (email.domain.com) the NetScaler should redirect this to the NS Gateway URL (xendesktop.domain.com). After successfully authenticating, the NetScaler should redirect to the email URL (email.domain.com) and if you have IWA enabled on your exchange server, you should be presented with your inbox!
Being in IT or architecture generally means using Visio, FACT!
I have been completing lots of work in Visio recently as part of document migration into a Enterprise Architecture tool called iServer. This required me to dust off my knowledge of VBA and creating lots of macros. I am not a massive fan of macros, they seem really archaic.
In the more recently iterations of these scripts, I realised that I could use PowerShell to complete the same tasks. PowerShell is something I am far more comfortable with and because it sits outside of the application itself, there is more opportunity to run scripts against a larger set of files.
Rather than bore you with some of the scripts I created for my business process diagrams, the below example is a script which you can use to update IT related documents.
Below I have a rack diagram I created in Visio. It has four servers and one router with their names added to ShapeData and a Data Graphic which shows this as a bubble.
Now, wouldn't be cool if you could update all of your documents with IP address without having to sit there typing it in? Well that is what I did!
$location = read-host "Where are the files stored"
To see what else you can do programmatically with Visio, please see the MSDN page.
Got any tedious Visio task that you could do with automating? Let me know in the comments.
Using a password manager has been something I have toyed with for a number of years. The more and more that services are being hacked and data is being exposed, my normal approach of just tiering passwords per application importance just wasn't cutting it anymore.
You only have to follow haveibeenpwnd on twitter to see how many data breaches have been loaded into the service run by Computer Security legend Troy Hunt.
Now my biggest concern of using a password manager was the user experience, especially when using it on a machine that I cannot load extensions on e.g. My work XenApp server.
I had a quick look through the options and initially tried 1Password as it had a 6 month free trial. I quickly dismissed this as an option for a couple of reasons.
1. The login process on the webpage was a bit too complicated then it needed to be. When going to the web interface, you had to enter my in the below text box and press continue. Seems odd, I suspect it might be due that you could host the vault in your own location.
2. There isn't a full featured Windows application or Chrome extension on Windows. This made it pretty laborious to add new passwords or auto sign in to applications.
I was immediately more impressed. The 14 day trial was nice but only allowed access to use from one device, which was frustrating. The pro service is only $12 a year though, so I stumped up the cash and really went to town.
Now...I would love to show you some screenshots and talk you through my setup, but I don't really fancy publicly showing which sites and services I use!
Below is a screenshot from the lastpass website which shows the interface of the websites you have saved. You can use this as a launchpad to open your web applications.
So far so good, but what about machines without the ability to install extensions etc? Well, going to lastpass.com and logging in with your master password brings up the same interface. Now you can't launch the applications natively, but you can copy the passwords to the clipboard and paste them in.
Some services will try and stop password from being pasted in to try and makes things more "secure". This isn't a great idea and if you want to read more on this, check out this blog from none other than Troy Hunt.
When logging in to an existing website, you will be presented with the banner asking to save this site. If this is not appropriate, you can say never which will stop this from popping up.
What about Mobile? Well I was very impressed here. The mobile app comes with a built in browser which can be used to auto login to web applications. But what about native apps or you just prefer using something like Chrome?
In practice, you can see that logging into the MyFitnessPal app, you can open the LastPass helper and it will either auto fill the screen, or let you copy/paste the password.
LastPass also allows you to use Google Authenticator as two factor authentication when logging into your vault from a new device. As you are putting a large emphasis on one master password, two factor authentication is an absolute must!
The process of moving old accounts over to using new randomly generated passwords took a bit of time, but overall I am very pleased. I think having a password manager has taken a lot of stress away from me when signing up for new services.
I don't have to try and categorise a website and choose an appropriate password. I don't have to worry about websites weird password policies and whether I have had to make odd variations to an existing passwords.
I just sign up, use a random generated password, save it, forget about it.
Now is LastPass the right platform? It works well for my needs but I am sure others would work perfectly well for others. Let me know if you use a password manager and how it works for you.
Google recently introduced a new faster method of 2 step verification. Instead of using Google Authenticator or SMS as a mechanism to enter a verification code, they simply send a push notification to your mobile device.
It is simple and if you don't use it, you should turn it on!
Now you can see that my phone is locked, but the whole code is visible. This got me very paranoid, imagine being away from your phone for 5 minutes and someone guessing your password and then using this to bypass two factor authentication? Or thinking about it, my bank uses one time passcodes (OTP) before transferring large amounts of cash....scary!
I tested the two factor authentication again after turning this setting on and results are below. A lovely hidden SMS!
I have come across the need for a simple output of MX records for each domain in an Office 365.
An Office 365 tenant can contain multiple domains in a verified or unverified state.
This script simply outputs the MX records for each domain that has been verified into a CSV file named after the tenant ID. The CSV file is output to the %temp% by default.
You will need to run the script inside a PowerShell session connected to Office 365.
#This script collects the MX records for all domains which have been verified in an O365 tenant.
#Run the script from within an O365 PowerShell session.
What have I learnt in the last week or so?
I had an old Exchange 2010 lab environment which I needed to use to test some TLS settings. I booted it up, typed my password and bam.....not accepted.
This blog post describes how you can use the Windows ISO to open command prompt on the DC, replace utilman.exe with cmd.exe. Boot up the DC again and then click the Accessibility option on the login screen.
Instead of launching utilman.exe it launches cmd.exe. More crucially, it does this under the SYSTEM context. So basically you have access to the whole machine. A net use command later and the admin password is reset.
Alert if machine are rebooted. Clearly DCs shouldn't be rebooted unless there are planned updates or similar. This will not stop the attack, but will inform you that something is fishy.
Restrict physical access - easier said than done, especially if VMs are involved. I did this whilst remotely connected to my home lab miles away!
Encrypt the local drives - this will stop someone from see the local file system when mounting an ISO.
Google released a simple VC application called Duo. I guess this is mechanism to compete with FaceTime. Feature wise it does overlap with Hangouts, but the Duo seems far simpler.
As you can see above, after opening the application, you have one option "Video Call". Once you press this, you are presented with a list of people in your phone book who have the application running. Easy!
I found a piece of software called FolderMill. This software is designed to sit on a file server, monitor a specific folder for files and then complete a set of actions.
These actions could include, converting to PDF or printing.
This looks like a really useful application for small businesses who want to automate parts of their business processes without having to complete custom development or buy some hefty expensive off the shelf product.
Whilst 5GHz channels do not overlap, it all depends on how your access points are configured. We found that setting up different APs on adjacent channels seemed good, but realised that the APs was broadcasting 80mhz wide and therefore caused overlap.
We reduced this down to 40Mhz which decreased the interference but it is also worth bearing in mind that narrowing this channel will slightly decrease total throughput.
I found this decent webpage which covers the above and other Enterprise WiFi considerations.
On this, I updated my WiFi logging powershell script. It collects data every 2 seconds and includes channel being used which is useful for the above.
Write-Host "Response Time is $Ping , $Signal , $BSSID , $Channel"
$ping = "Request Timed Out"
By the way, I use http://hilite.me/ to add this code to the blog.
I saw that Troy Hunt had verified another data breach, one with a huge amount of records that includes items like Card Verification Values (CVV). This is that little 3-4 number code which is on the back of credit/debit cards (or front of AMEX).
Under PCI DSS rules, companies should not actually store this value on their systems. This is why some web providers ask you for your CVV even though you have stored your main number and the expiry date.
But some retailers do not store this value and you can still make payments without any issue (Amazon one click anyone?). Troy shares the following link in his article.
So it looks like you don't actually require the CVV to make a payment, but companies are often provided a discount by their bank/payment processor for transactions with CVV. This encourages its usage and decreases fraud.
Amazon have clearly taken the decision to ignore the CVV and pay a slightly higher fee per transaction. They can keep fraud low by completing checks on all of the other information you need to provide for an account and tracking your history of purchases. The money that Amazon makes because of the convenience one click must outweigh the costs of fraudulent purchases easily.
Someone asked me this week how to export some contact information from Public Folders, specifically the titles for a huge contact list. My mind immediately went to Powershell on the server side, but after a little searching around it appeared there wasn't an obvious cmdlet for it.
Using Powershell on a client computer with Outlook installed can be used to get at all of the information in all of your folders. I adapted the example provided in the link above for my example.
The output is what we needed for this data migration exercise.
It needs some cleansing obviously!
I had planned on completing one of these blog posts each day, but it became apparent on Friday that this was clearly a step too far.
Work has been crazy busy at the moment and when I get home I would rather spend time with the family than make blogging my number 1 priority!
Anywho, the plan is to make these a little less regular, maybe once a week.
Amazon released the Amazon Dash button in the UK last week. The idea is that you put a branded button in certain locations around your home. When you run out of a specific item (e.g. washing powder) you press the Ariel Amazon Dash button on your washing machine. This will contact Amazon and get your Ariel product delivered the next day.
Neat idea, slightly overkill I think, but neat!
But how does it work? How long do they last?
Well I came across this pretty decent teardown blog post from Matthew Petroff.
The button only uses a single AAA battery which is soldered in. The way the button works means it only uses minimal energy. The button should easily last longer than the button will be useful.
Interestingly, if you pair the button with an Android device, it will use WiFi. But if you have an iOS device, it uses Ultrasound. That is cool.
A large part of last week was spent troubleshooting WiFi issues in one of main offices. We use a system from a company called Meru (recently purchased by Fortinet). Their offering utilises a Single Cell architecture.
This means that all Access Points broadcast their SSIDs on the same channel. This can be really useful to easily provision sites as there is less need to do site surveys and plan your channel layout when provisioning a new office. In my experience, office moves usually involve IT being left way down the list people with advance notice, so having something which can be rolled out relatively quickly and require less physical resource is a thumbs up.
But, there is some concerns around throughput which this blog post goes into.
Our issue wasn't throughput related, but congestion related and the sheer amount of people in our tiny office. We are running a programme of work to implement an ERP system which involves many people from the business, system integrators and third parties.
In the last week, the WiFi performance has gone off a cliff. Lots of dropped packets between laptops and APs. We used spectrum analyser to see if there was any external interference, but nothing.
We then took a new AP and published a different SSID on a different 5GHZ channel. This worked perfectly. If I moved this SSID onto the 5GHZ channel used by our other APs, the performance was also terrible. This also tallies up with an increase of people who are working in the office on a permanent basis.
So it seems that if you have Single Cell Architecture, be really careful of the density of devices in small offices. Someone suggested more APs, but I think this would just contribute to the problem more than anything.
Our current plan is to change half of the APs to one channel and the other half to something else to try and ease the congestion in the air.
To try and help troubleshoot this, I used the following Powershell script. This would ping Google's DNS servers every 2 seconds and if the response time is greater than 200ms (or timed out) it would add the response time, signal strength, the station connected to and SSID to a csv file. If 5 of these occur in a row, it would add something to the CSV to this affect.
Write-Host "Response Time is $ping"
$output = "SLOW OVER LAST TEN SECONDS"
HIIT (High Intesity Interval Training) has been discussed as a shortcut to exercise for years. Last week, the BBC ran the following article which is also part of the TV series "Trust Me I'm a Doctor".
They ran tests to help prove or disprove HIIT as a credible alternative to the standard mantra of 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week.
The Results were pretty impressive. The group who completed 15 minutes of HIIT across three sessions a week actually had a 17% greater VO2 max than the group who did 150 minutes of moderate exercise.
So you may remember that a couple of days ago I blogged that it was only possible to have one domain associated with an Azure AD tenant. Well this is kind of true, but not entirely.
In fact, in Azure AD you can add the same domain name to different AD tenants without any error message whatsoever. It is only at the point where you verify the domain that it pops up with this error.
There is a piece of software called Crossover which is currently in preview. It will allow you to run Windows applications on Intel based Chromebooks. I wrote a blogpost a while back which explained why I wouldn't buy a Chromebook. This piece of software will potentially eliminate these type of concerns.
I am currently looking at purchasing a cheap laptop to replace my Asus UL20a which is pretty old now. The laptop is fine, but the battery is fairly knackered (2 hours max). I was looking at HP Streams, Lenovo 100s ideapads and the like, but a Chromebook could be a good option now!
Here are some Chromebooks for sale....Shall I?
I read a tweet shortly after the Windows anniversary update stating that lots of webcams have stopped working. I didn't think too much of it until I tried to join a VC this morning using Polycom RealPresence Desktop app. It kept crashing when joining the VC and my brain kicked into gear.
I found the following link and applied the workaround registry settings and my webcam worked again!
EnableFrameServerMode, and its DWORD value should be set to 0 (zero).
The background is that in previous versions of Windows, only 1 application was able to access a webcam at any one point. This release introduces a service called Windows Camera Frame Service. The idea is that all applications will be able to access the webcam at the same time. This is particularly useful for the new authentication methods Microsoft have been advertising on the TV.
To introduce this service, Microsoft had to turn off compression of the webcam stream to stop the inevitable CPU increase of a bunch of different applications all trying to uncompress the stream at the same time.
The downside of this is that most USB webcams and even integrated cameras are connected using USB2 interfaces which can only transmit 480MB/s. Using compression allows HD to flow quite freely over USB2, but turn off compression and you have a big problem. The above registry key disables this new mode.
There has been talk for quite some time about a mythical hack of Dropbox which happened in 2012. Well this morning the mythical status was stripped away as top notch security guru Troy Hunt validated the dumps as real. There are 60M records inside the dump but fortunately passwords with weaker hashes have been salted and the strong hashes are unsalted. If this has been the other way around, it could have been carnage!
If you haven't come across Troy's website haveibeenpwned, I recommend you go visit it and see if your details are contained in the many numbers of hacks which have taken place over the years.
It is the bacteria which lives on your skin that feeds on the oily sweat from certain areas (!) which creates the odour.
When I am really busy at work, it can seem as though I haven't developed or learnt anything at all. After a few weeks of this, you can end up feeling stale or unenthusiastic about your job.
In actual fact, even through those really busy days where you attend meetings which don't necessarily require your input, you do repetitive tasks or just don't have time to think, you still learn things.
I think it is really important to learn new skills and this set of blog posts will help me reflect on the little things I pick up on a day to day basis.
Most of the time they will be technical tidbits, but there might be the odd random fact too.
I will call these posted "What Have I Learnt Today?" or WHILT.
I needed to do some research into Azure AD topologies to help with some merger work we have coming up.
The main takeaway is that you can only have one FQDN namespace (fabrikam.com) associated with a single AD tenant. If you have a merged organisation, you can either have different AD tenants but you will need to use different UPNs or you will need to sync the AD objects to the same AD tenant.
I was working somewhere with a poor wifi connection which had a really high latency. When I realised it was rubbish, I ran a continuous ping to help notice when it occurred.
Fantastic, the result of this command makes the information easily accessible . This will come in really useful for other scripts too.
I have no idea what Tottenham Hotspur's transfer strategy is, they seem to be selling all of our players!
Recently we had a request to be able to share calendar with an external organisation that we are working on a project with. In the old days of Exchange, the only way of achieving this in a seamless way was to setup trusts or use things IIRU and IIFP.
Since Exchange 2010, Microsoft have introduced the Microsoft Federation Gateway. This allows companies to setup a trust to Microsoft which can be used to gain scheduling information with a third parties once policies have been configured on both parties Exchange environment.
This looked like a pretty straight forward task and certainly a LOT easier than setting up direct trusts or sharing keys. Unfortunately it wasn't quite that straight forward.
These were the Issues we ran into and the relevant fix.
1. Cannot create Organisational Relationship for third party. Also when running get-federationinformation Powershell cmdlet, it errors.
FIX = Allow unauthenticated proxy server access from CAS servers to autodiscover address of third party exchange.
2. Cannot successfully complete a Test-OrganizationRelationship powershell cmdlet.
FIX = Enable WSsecurity for EWS and Autodiscover virtual directories. This was already set to true, but resetting this to true fixed this issue.
3. Lastly, Free/Busy information worked one way, but not the other.
FIX = Enable Outlook logging, attempt the Free/Busy test and in resultant FB log file it shows a proxy 407 authentication issue. The fix is to allow unauthenticated access to the EWS path from all the CAS servers.
I found the two following blogs very useful through this process. If you are struggling and the above doesn't work for you, then go check these links out.
Recently I blew the dust off my lab environment and decided to look into configuring ADFS proxy through Netscaler. The first task of this install is to install a publicly trusted SSL certificate on the Netscaler.
When importing the files onto the Netscaler, I kept getting the following error message.
"Invalid private key, or PEM pass phrase required for this private key"
Quick Google search reveals an old CTX article.
The resolution is to export the private key to a new file on the shell of the Netscaler. This didn't really satisfy my curiosity as to why this error was occurring.
After a bit more Googling I found the following CTX.
This article explains that you can manually import the PFX file, but in a format that the Netscaler will be able to use.
Once this task was completed, adding the certificate bundle to this PFX file worked perfectly.


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Filter the video selection to the left by selecting the Artist below.


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Nord-Ubangi är en provins i Kongo-Kinshasa, som bildades ur den tidigare provinsen Équateur enligt planer i konstitutionen 2006, genomförda 2015. Huvudstad är Gbadolite och officiellt språk lingala. Provinsen har omkring 1,5 miljoner invånare på en yta av 56 644 km².

Nord-Ubangi delas administrativt in i territorierna Businga, Bosobolo, Mobayi-Mbongo och Yakoma samt staden Gbadolite. Det har fått namn efter Ubangifloden.

Källor

Kongo-Kinshasas provinser
Kongo-Kinshasas tidigare distrikt

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Penalties for unpaid support may be harsher than you think | Law Offices of Kelley A. Joseph, P.A.
On behalf of Kelley Joseph of Law Office of Kelley A. Joseph, P.A. posted in Child Custody & Support on Friday, April 8, 2016.
Paying child support is an obligation that parents all across Florida must fulfill. Every month, they write checks or have money deducted from a paycheck to support a child they might not have a relationship with or see as much as they'd like to. Even more frustrating is the fact that the other parent receiving this money may be someone the paying parent hates, distrusts or resents.
Considering all the negative emotions that can come with child support obligations, it can be tempting for people in this position to just stop making payments and avoid the whole situation. However, if this sounds like something you are considering, you should be aware that doing so will only make matters worse for you and your child.
Parents who fail to pay child support (either because they can't or don't want to) will face some aggressive enforcement actions from the state.
It should also be noted that not paying support can destroy any your relationship you have with your children. They might see you as not caring about them or being unable to do you are supposed to in order to support them.
Failing to pay child support could also damage your reputation in your community and at your job, not to mention your credit score.
Considering how much damage can be done by delinquency, it should be clear that paying child support is in your best interests. If you find that you cannot keep up with payments or if you feel that a current order is unfair, you should still do your best to comply with current orders while working with your attorney to seek a modification.
Related Posts: What reduces your obligation to pay child support during college?, Charlie Sheen falls behind in child support payments, Understanding the 'best interests of a child', Establishing paternity: do I really need to worry about it?


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entertainmentyoga.com
Crown Princess Mette Marit of Norway, 47, breaks tailbone skiing
Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, 47, breaks her tailbone in an accident jumping out of a ski lift with daughter Princess Ingrid over Christmas
Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, 47, broke her tailbone in a ski accident
Mother-of-two got injured as she jumped out of a ski lift with Princess Ingrid, 16,
Reportedly happened before Christmas, with royal spending night in hospital
Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway has broken her tailbone in an accident jumping out of a ski lift shortly before Christmas, according to reports.
The mother-of-two, 47, who lives with husband Crown Prince Haakon, 47, and their children Prince Sverre Magnus, 15, and 16-year-old Princess Ingrid Alexandra, was practicing the winter sport when the accident happened.
According to Norwegian magazine Se & Hør, the accident happened as she jumped out of a ski lift with Princess Ingrid.
She was then transported to a nearby hospital where she spent one night, and is now back at the Skaugum estate in Oslo.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, 47, has broken her tailbone in an accident jumping out of a ski lift shortly before Christmas, according to reports
The royal is an active outdoors woman, and often shares snaps as she enjoys the mountains on her Instagram page.
Although it is not known where the royal had her accident, Norwegian ski resorts have been open for weeks.
Leading resorts, Hemsedal and Trysil, reopened their lifts on December 11.
The royal's accident comes weeks after the Norwegian royal family released their traditional Christmas photograph, in which they socially distanced from each other.
According to Norwegian magazine Se & Hør, the accident happened to the mother-of-two as she jumped out of a ski lift with Princess Ingrid (pictured, with Crown Prince Haakon and Prince Sverre Magnus)
The family were all smiles as they posed in front of a Christmas tree at the royal palace in Oslo – but took precautions after King Harald was admitted into hospital with breathing difficulties in late September.
Mette-Marit looked typically polished in a floral black and red dress with statement shoulder pads, teamed with neutral heels.
Her daughter Ingrid Alexandra appeared just as stylish as her mother in a fashionable black chiffon frock, teamed with matching shoes.
The royal family has had a challenging year after King Harald was admitted into hospital with breathing difficulties in late September.
The royal is an experienced skliier and outdoors woman, often sharing snaps as she enjoys the mountains on her Instagram page
He tested negative for Covid-1 the palace later announced in a statement.
In the wake of his father's condition, Crown Prince Haakon had been stepping in and taking over his father's duties.
King Harald, who ascended to the throne after the death of his father King Olav on January 17 1991, was also admitted to hospital last year and underwent two weeks sick leave.
Speaking at the time, Crown Prince Haakon said it was a difficult period for the family and his father was recovering from dizziness but no serious illness was found.
Weeks ago, Crown Princess Mette-Marit posed alongside and Crown Prince Haakon, 47, and their children Prince Sverre Magnus, 15, and 16-year-old Princess Ingrid Alexandra for their Christmas photo
Crown Prince Haakon has stepped in for his father on several previous occasions including when he became ill in April 2018 with congestion and pain in one foot.
King Harald, who is the country's first native-born king since the 14th century, won the nation's hearts when he married a commoner.
He was also praised globally for a 2016 speech showing support for gay rights, saying: 'Norwegians are girls who love girls, boys who love boys, and girls and boys who love each other.'
Tags Crown Marit Mette of Princess
Channel your inner 'Queen's Gambit' with this chess mastery training
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491 F. 2d 1122 - Twin City Federal Savings Loan Association v. Transamerica Insurance Company
491 F2d 1122 Twin City Federal Savings Loan Association v. Transamerica Insurance Company
TWIN CITY FEDERAL SAVINGS & LOAN ASSOCIATION, Appellee,
TRANSAMERICA INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant.
United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.
Decided Feb. 14, 1974.
Robert S. McKenzie, Kansas City, Mo., for appellant.
Keith Witten, Kansas City, Mo., for appellee.
Before MEHAFFY, Chief Judge, WEBSTER, Circuit Judge, and HARPER, Senior District Judge.1
MEHAFFY, Chief Judge.
This is a diversity action involving Missouri law brought by plaintiff Twin City Federal Savings & Loan Association against defendant Transamerica Insurance Company under a savings and loan blanket bond. The paramount issues involve: (1) the applicability of the election of remedies defense; (2) the propriety of a district court entering judgment on the basis os a statement of questions of law submitted by the parties. The district court found the election of remedies defense inapplicable and entered judgment for plaintiff on the basis of a submission by the parties of a statement of questions of law. For reasons hereinafter set forth we affirm the district court as to the inapplicability of the election of remedies defense but vacate and remand as to the judgment entered for the plaintiff on the basis of the court's conclusions of law and findings of fact.
Because of the complexity of this case a more extensive discussion of the facts is set forth which will make for a better understanding of the issues involved.
Twin City Federal Savings & Loan Association (hereinafter 'Twin City') is a federally chartered savings and loan association that was insured under a blanket savings and loan bond issued by a predecessor company of Transamerica Insurance Company (both companies hereinafter referred to as 'Transamerica'). Twin City advanced construction loan moneys to Investment Corporation of Missouri in 1961 taking as security liens on eight lots. Later that year after both the maker and assignor of the notes became insolvent, Twin City learned that there were prior liens on the eight lots. These prior liens were subsequently foreclosed and the subject loans made by Twin City totaling $61,120.25 never repaid.
Prior to the loans being made, Investment Corporation of Missouri submitted mortgagee interim title insurance binders to Twin City which had been issued by American Title Insurance Company (hereinafter 'America Title'). When the subsequent payouts were requested, Investmtne Corporation of Missouri submitted disbursement memoranda to Twin City which also appeared to have been issued by American Title. Neither the title insurance binders dated December 29, 1960, nor the disbursement memoranda dated February 2, 1961, disclosed the prior existing liens. The binders were signed by Dan Hayes who had been a registered agent of American Title since April 29, 1959. The disbursement memoranda purported to update the title binders and were also signed by Dan Hayes but in a different manner in that it was not clear whether he signed as a validating officer of American Title or as an officer of Title Facilities, Inc. Title Facilities, Inc. is a title company incorporated by Dan Hayes and two others on January 18, 1961, and was at no time authorized to serve as an agent of American Title. On February 13, 1961 American Title mailed a letter of cancellation of Hayes' license to the Insurance Commission of Missouri which became effective on the Commission's records on February 15, 1961.
Twin City mailed notice of probable loss under the savings and loan blanket bond to Transamerica on March 27, 1962 and a statement of loss totaling $170,610.252 on July 16, 1962. By letter dated March 14, 1963 Transamerica responded by letter to Twin City's attorneys advising that in its view there was no coverage under the bond and, even if there were, United Pacific, as well as American Title, should precede them.
On September 11, 1962 Twin City filed an action against American Title by a complaint containing two counts. The first sought recovery for breach of the title insurance contract. The second count sounded in tort alleging negligence on the part of American Title in examining the title to the subject eight lots. On October 16, 1963, in response to Twin City's request for admissions, American Title raised the question of Dan Hayes' authority as a validating officer at the time the disbursement memoranda were executed. Twin City amended its complaint on November 15, 1963 by adding a third count which alleged that Dan Ahyes was clothed with actual and apparent authority from American Title when he fraudulently misrepresented to Twin City that the eight lots were free of encumbrances. Consequently, American Title amended its answer to each of the three counts on November 26, 1963 by asserting that Twin City knew or should have known that the disbursement memoranda were not prepared by authorized agents of American Title. The parties entered into a compromise settlement with Twin City receiving $32,500.00 and the action was dismissed by order filed December 31, 1963.
On February 7, 1963 Twin City instituted a suit against United Pacific Insurance Company under a fiscal agent's bond which was settled on April 28, 1965 for $60,000.00. Of this amount $15,540.00 was allocated to the losses on the loans secured by the eight lots.
Twin City then initiated this action by complaint filed April 20, 1966 seeking recovery from Transamerica under its savings and loan blanket bond for its total losses less the applicable amounts received from American Title and United Pacific. The complaint was accompanied by Twin City's demand for a jury trial. The parties stipulated to certain facts and filed cross motions for partial summary judgment on the issue of coverage under the fraud and dishonesty insuring clause. The bond excludes from the fraud and dishonesty insuring clause any losses resulting from the nonpayment of loans. The trial court granted partial summary judgment in favor of Transamerica and Twin City appealed. The judgment was affirmed by this court on July 25, 1969 and is reported at 413 F.2d 494. Twin City continued with the action claiming a right of recovery on the basis of forgery. Transmerica raised the defense of election of remedies and the parties submitted this issue to the court on stipulation pursuant to Rule 42(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. By memorandum and order filed April 23, 1971 the district court held that the doctrine of election of remedies was not applicable to the stipulated circumstances of this case and ordered pretrial proceedings to resume. The parties entered into further stipulations of uncontroverted facts and waiver of objections to admissibility of exhibits on the ground of lack of identification and submitted issues of law to the district court on June 23, 1971 on the basis of stipulated facrts. On December 29, 1972 the district court made several findings of fact and conclusions of law and judgment was entered for Twin City in the amount of $40,226.84. Twin City's motion to increase the judgment by $2,592.93 for additional interest was granted. Transamerica's motion for a new trial was denied and appeal then made to this court.
Transamerica's arguments fall into two categories: (1) that the district court erred in ruling that Twin City had not made an election of remedies in bringing and recovering in two prior suits; and (2) that the court erred in its findings of fact, conclusions of law and disposition of the case on the basis of the issues submitted to it by stipulation.
* The doctrine of election of remedies has long been recognized in Missouri law and is defined as follows:
'Election is simply what the term imports-- a choice shown by an overt act between two or more inconsistent rights, either of which may be asserted at the will of the chooser alone. * * * The doctrine is applicable where an aggrieved party has two remedies by which he may enforce inconsistent rights growing out of the same transaction and, being cognizant of his legal rights and of such facts as will enable him to make an intelligent choice, brings his action by one of the methods. Under such circumstances, the law says he shall not thereafter adopt the alternate remedy, for a suitor cannot pursue a remedy which predicates his case upon one theory of right and thereafter seek a remedy inconsist with such prior proceeding.' 18 Am.Jur., Election of Remedies, 3, pp. 129, 130.
Berger v. Mercantile Trust Co., 352 S.W.2d 644, 647 (Mo. 1961).
The purpose of the doctrine of election of remedies is not to prevent recourse to any remedy, but to prevent double redress for a single wrong. 25 Am.Jur.2d Election of Remedies, 1, p. 647 (1966).
Transamerica contends that the doctrine should apply to bar Twin City from obtaining any recovery under the forgery clause of the blanket bond. Although Transamerica argues that Twin City made an election in the American Title and United Pacific Insurance Company cases, Transamerica admits that United Pacific involved other issues. The crux of Transamerica's argument is that Twin City's suit against American Title rested squarely on the proposition that the disbursement memoranda were executed by an authorized agent of American Title. Therefore, Twin City should not now be permitted to assert that the disbursement memoranda were forgeries because they were not executed by an authorized agent. The district court held that the defense was inapplicable because there was no inconsistency between Twin City's positions in the American Title suit and the present action. We agree with the district court and affirm its ruling on this issue.
The facts stated hereinabove were before the district court by stipulation when it ruled on this issue. It is obvious on the face of these facts that when Twin City amended its complaint against Transamerica to assert fraudulent misrepresentations it had become aware of American Title's position that execution of the disbursement memoranda was not authorized. This explains the assertion in Count III which was added by the amendment that Dan Hayes was clothed with apparent authority to act as agent for American Title. Recovery from American Title on the basis of apparent authority is not inconsistent with Twin City's present position that the disbursement memoranda were not executed by an agent with actual authority. Nor would recovery for negligence under Count II necessarily be inconsistent with Twin City's present position. It is not disputed that the title insurance binders which failed to disclose the prior liens were validly issued. Although causation would have been a critical issue, it is not inconceivable that American Title could have been held liable to Twin City on this basis alone, even if American Title was not responsible for any negligence with regard to the disbursement memoranda. It cannot be said that Twin City's recovery in the compromise settlement was not on either of these bases. Consequently, the election doctrine fails to apply here for lack of the necessary element of inconsistency. See Transit Cas. Co. v. Transamerica Ins. Co., 387 F.2d 1011 (8th Cir. 1967); Davis v. Hauschild, 243 S.W.2d 956 (Mo.1951).
It is also worthy of notice that the doctrine requires that the party electing a remedy be cognizant of his legal rights and such facts as will enable him to make an intelligent choice at the time of election. In the action against American Title, Twin City did not become aware of the issue of authorized execution of the disbursement memoranda until approximately a year after the original complaint was filed.
During the course of the pretrial proceedings the parties submitted statements of questions of law to the district court as provided by Rule 20 of the local court rules. The court made several findings of fact and conclusions of law. The primary issue of law under submission was whether Dan Hayes had authority to execute the subject eight disbursement memoranda. It is obvious from a reading of the district court's conclusions of law that the court correctly ascertained that this was not the decisive issue in the case, but rather the critical question was whether Hayes executed the disbursement memoranda on behalf of Title Facilities, Inc. The court found as a matter of fact that Dan Hayes did not sign the memoranda as an individual but intentionally signed in a manner to create the impression that Title Facilities, Inc. was an agent of American Title, which the court further found as a matter of fact was false and fraudulent. The court went on to conclude as a matter of law that by the manner in which Dan Hayes signed the disbursement memoranda he falsely represented that Title Facilities, Inc. was an agent of American Title and as such constituted forgeries within the meaning of the subject blanket bond.
Transamerica argues that the court exceeded the scope of the submission in many of its findings of fact and conclusions of law. We agree. Each of the findings of fact made by the court to which the parties had not stipulated earlier in the pretrial proceedings, and each conclusion of law drawn by the court which was not in answer to issues of law submitted to it, were made in error; for example:
1. The court erred to the extent that it found as a matter of fact that Hayes did not sign as an individual because there were no question of fact before the court, only issues of law which the court was requested to conclude on the basis of stipulated facts.
2. The court further erred in concluding as a matter of law that Hayes fraudulently represented Title Facilities, Inc. to be an agent of American Title by his manner of execution, inasmuch as this question was not submitted to the court and remains a question of fact for the jury.
We do not say, however, that this issue or any of the other issues of fact here involved are substantial enough to withstand a motion for summary judgment for that we do not find it necessary or appropriate to decide at this time.
Although a district court may assist through pretrial proceedings in sharpening the issues, a court may not pose the issue and then proceed to decide the same without a motion for summary judgment. Twin City argues that the district court should be deemed to have treated the submission as a motion for summary judgment. This may have been the intention of the district court, but, if so, it was error. Rule 56 provides for service of the motion for summary judgment, an opportunity for service of opposing affidavits and a hearing. Fed.R.Civ.P., Rule 56, 28 U.S.C. There is some authority for permitting a district court judge to enter summary judgment sua sponte at the conclusion of a pretrial conference when the pretrial procedures disclose the lack of a disputed issue of material fact and the facts so established indicate an unequivocal right to judgment favoring a party. Wirtz v. Young Electric Sign Co., 315 F.2d 326 (10th Cir. 1963); Green v. Kaesler-Allen Lmbr. Co., 197 Kan. 788, 420 P.2d 1019 (1966). Courts of the eighth circuit have not so viewed the summary judgment procedure but have taken a position of strict compliance with the provisions of the rule. See Parmelee v. Chicago Eye Shield Co., 157 F.2d 582 (8th Cir. 1946); Taylor v. Royal Ins. Co., 34 F.R.D. 132 (W.D.Mo.1963).
The district court also concluded as matters of law that the word 'forgery' when used in a savings and loan blanket bond includes an unauthorized signature and that intent to defraud within the meaning of a criminal statute is not a necessary element in establishing forgery under the concerned bond. These conclusions were precedurally proper because they answered questions which were submitted to the court. As to the substantive correctness of these conclusions we need not decide inasmuch as Transamerica neither raised this issue in its brief nor in oral argument before this court. Trailmobile v. Whirls, 331 U.S. 40, 50, 67 S.Ct. 982, 91 L.Ed. 1328 (1947); Pedicord v. Swenson, 431 F.2d 92, 93 (8th Cir. 1970).
Transamerica argues that the district court erred in its inclusion of prejudgment interest in the judgment entered for Twin City. Due to the disposition which we make of this case, neither this issue nor the propriety of permitting recovery for the loan commitment fees and attorneys' fees incurred in Twin City's collateral litigation are properly before this court.
The determination by the district court that this action is not barred by the doctrine of election of remedies is affirmed. The judgment entered for Twin City on the basis of the findings of fact and conclusions of law made in error is vacated and the cause remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
The Honorable ROY W. HARPER, Senior District Judge, Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri, sitting by designation
This amount includes losses from other construction loans not here relevant


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Home»News»Business»NNPC declares ₦141.96 billion trading surplus in June
NNPC declares ₦141.96 billion trading surplus in June
Muhammad A. Aliyu Follow on Twitter December 12, 2021
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NNPC towers
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has announced a huge leap in trading surplus of ₦141.96billion recorded in June 2021 compared to a deficit of ₦37.46Billion in May 2021.
This is contained in the June 2021 figures of the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR).
A trading surplus or trading deficit is derived after deduction of the expenditure profile from the revenue for the period under review.
In June 2021, NNPC Group operating revenue as compared to May 2021, decreased by 9.07% or N89.27billion to stand at N894.64billion. Similarly, expenditure for the month decreased by 29.32% or N299.44billion to stand at N721.93billion.
Thus, in the period under review, expenditure as a proportion of revenue was 0.81%, compared to the figure in May which stood at 1.04%.
The report also noted that the increase in trading surplus was due mainly to the increased sales of crude oil and gas by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), an Upstream subsidiary of the NNPC, and the increased gas sales and depreciation postings by the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC).
The positive outlook was further bolstered by the performance of Duke Oil and the Nigerian Gas Marketing Company (NGMC) which also added to the improved bottom line.
According to the report, to ensure continuous supply and effective distribution of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) across the country, a total of 1.63bn litres of PMS translating to 54.50mn liters/day were supplied in June 2021.
The report indicated that in June 2021, 47 pipeline points were vandalized representing 26.56% decrease from the 64 points recorded in May 2021. Port Harcourt Area accounted for 43%, while Mosimi and Kaduna Areas accounted for 51% and 6% respectively of the vandalized points.
In the gas sector, a total of 223.77billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas was produced in the month of June 2021 translating to an average daily production of 7,459.88million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd).
For the period of June 2020 to June 2021, a total of 2,890.11bcf of gas was produced representing an average daily production of 7,321.36mmscfd during the period.
Period-to-date production from Joint Ventures (JVs), Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and NPDC contributed 59.84%, 20.26% and 19.90% respectively to the total national gas production.
The 71st edition of the MFOR highlights NNPC's activities for the period of June 2020 to June 2021.
In line with its commitment to transparency and accountability, NNPC has continued to sustain effective communication with stakeholders through this report via publications on its website, independent online news portals and in national dailies.
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Do you remember believing that adults know everything? One believes a lot of silly things as a child, and perhaps a lot of sensible things that ought to be remembered.
Statistically speaking, I am over halfway through this life. The longer I live, the less I seem to know, but the less it seems to matter. Take times tables, for example. Some people have a knack for ball sports, and some for line drawings. In either case there's a certain amount of progress to be made through practice, but essentially you either have it or you don't. Quite so with mental arithmetic.
In my day, it was implied that without an intimate knowledge of The Tables, one would be cast out of society, or remain unemployed at the very least – as though an interviewer might do a spot check, and could not be trusted to choose one of the friendlier numbers. With tens, fives, twos, most of the elevens and threes, I could get by. Fours would be pushing it, and anything else would be disastrous.
"You can't carry a calculator around with you everywhere," the teachers would say. That was a valid point in the seventies, when calculators were the weight of roof tiles, with buttons the size of postage stamps. True, sometimes I'll be asked what six nines are, or eight sevens, but clearly only because the person asking has forgotten, so I dare admit I haven't the faintest idea. Not knowing the time of day can be swiftly remedied by taking out a smartphone. So also the gaps in my times tables can be bridged at will.
We surely live in a fortunate age. Information can be gleaned or shared quickly when necessary, but analog methods are still open to us. One only need type a word into a box for its past and present to be revealed in more detail than is even necessary. Arguably that's progress, at least in a sense. I don't look back entirely fondly on history, but I do also fear losing its values. Given a reasonable choice I'll still read from a printed book. There can be no virtual substitute for the whisper of a page turning, the scent of paper, the weight in the hand.
A friend recently got me hooked on Cadfael – a fictional medieval monk with a talent for solving crimes. One story surrounds the value of books in the 1100s. There was no paper as such, but only vellum, painstakingly fashioned from animal skins. Messages were thus rarely written down. Instead they were learned and repeated by couriers on horseback or foot. To read was a great privilege in itself, and to write yet more so. An illustrated book could be a work of art so priceless a person may literally kill to own it. (Or may not in a given case – let us have no spoilers here).
When I was growing up, our most valuable reading matter was the encyclopaedia. Probably it was sold to my parents by a travelling salesman who knocked on the door. What pressure must have been on that generation to retain as much information as possible! You either knew a thing or you didn't. There was no finding out without the encyclopaedia, or a trip to the library. Even then, to unearth the right book might need assistance from expert librarians with microfiches.
The encyclopaedia had a finality and a gravity to it, partly as a single volume could only just be lifted with two small hands. It had the peculiar aroma of must and almond sweetness that books acquire in time. The covers were of black faux-leather, hard and scaly to touch. Opening a volume was like opening a small tomb where a fading past was buried. It was approached with almost funereal reverence.
Mars could properly be found in the same book as marsupials, mollusks and Monroe, Marilyn. Babylonia was correctly filed with Beethoven and the bubonic plague. If certain people became important, or significant things were suddenly discovered, they would have to wait for the yearbook. Over time, the neat order and classification would thus be increasingly disturbed. I found that disturbing. The all-knowing encyclopaedia was, by its very nature, incomplete and out of date.
I suspected I'd need to absorb all the contents of that collection on the long journey to adulthood, so as to arrive equipped for anything. Who knew when I might need to distinguish between a freshwater perch and a pike, demonstrate semaphore and sailing knots, or identify the flags of Tanzania and Mozambique. But there was plenty of time for that.
Meanwhile I would dwell mostly on the anatomy sections, as they had more than their share of coloured plates. There were leaves of transparent paper that stuck to the fingers, displaying layers of the body from skin to skeleton. I imagined turning back my own skin like the page of a book, to find tendons and muscles, impressive arteries and bones with funny names written next to them.
Nowadays I have little space for keeping books, and usually pass them on once finished. Sri Chinmoy's writings are the exception, though I only own a fraction of those printed. My favourites are the Seventy-Seven Thousand Service-Trees. Naturally I will always wish there were more of them – as with any of Sri Chinmoy's creations – but that's just human greed. Actually there is more instruction, illumination, inspiration in a single volume than one could need in a lifetime.
In a sense, I even like the fact that the series is "unfinished" – a sort of ellipsis leading to timelessness, at the end of the fiftieth book. The poems are eternally relevant, so there can be no real beginning or ending to them anyway. On the surface they may be simple – a single one might take a moment to comprehend mentally, and to learn by heart a little longer – but to live its essence authentically is another matter, and therein of course is its highest value.
Sometimes I read a volume in sequence, but more often I open one at random. Turning each page is like turning back layers of spiritual anatomy. I recognise doubt, pride, insecurity, as I know my own skin, blood and bone. Aspects of human ignorance are peeled away further to reveal their transcendent solutions. These are in turn strict and consoling, forthright and comforting, sometimes humorous and others almost melancholic in their understanding of human struggles. Always they are fresh and lively.
And not the choice of precise knowledge.
What a wonderful piece of prose! I stumbled upon your blog once again and find myself engrossed in your new pieces. It's always a pleasure. Even if your posts are not as frequent today as they once were (remember those glorious days of the inspiration group?) they haven't lost anything of their richness and finesse. I guess what I'm trying to say is: please keep writing! It is deeply appreciated.
Thank you so much for your visit, Abhinabha, and for your very kind words! Yes, I do miss the stream of inspiration so many of us enjoyed in those days. Encouragement can be a great source of inspiration though, especially from a fellow writer. I thus very much appreciate your comment. Thanks again, and I hope your own writing is going well!


Ozil started just his second game since Boxing Day as the Gunners beat BATE Borisov 3-0 on Thursday night to progress to the last 16 of the Europa League.
Having lost 1-0 in Belarus, Unai Emery's side had to turn the tie around and managed to do so with ease as an early Zakhar Volkov own goal and headers from Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis secured safe passage into the next round.
Their European campaign will continue against Rennes, after Friday's draw in Nyon, Switzerland pitted the Ligue 1 club against the north Londoners on March 7 and 14.
Ozil, who ended the night as captain after Laurent Koscielny limped off with a minor muscular injury, has been on the fringes of the first team as Emery looks to implement his philosophy at the Emirates Stadium.
The 30-year-old has also been told by the Arsenal boss that he needs to shake off minor injuries and illness if he is to command a regular place in his side – but Sokratis believes Ozil improves the team when included.
"He played very good," Sokratis said of Ozil's display.
"Mesut is a fantastic player and when he is fit he is one of the most important players in the team. Of course when something is not going good, everybody is there to criticise but we have to see also what Mesut did in the last years for this team.
Greece international Sokratis is only just back from his own ankle injury, scoring on his comeback against the Belarusian champions having not played since the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United on January 25.
He defended Ozil's injury record and insists the former Real Madrid man is still training with a smile on his face – even if he still polarises the opinions of those who watch Arsenal on a regular basis.
"He was sick, he had some problems but after he came back for training," he said.
"Now, he is good. He did well yesterday and I hope in the next games he will go forward like this. He enjoys (himself) and we enjoy that he is with us.
Arsenal will next come up against Rennes as Emery looks to guide them to a trophy at the end of his first season in charge.
The Spaniard lifted the Europa League in three successive seasons as manager of Sevilla and Sokratis believes that track record can only help Arsenal claim the prize for themselves.
"It (the Europa League) is very important, of course," he added.
"We have to go until the end and try to win it. Our coach won this trophy a lot of times and that is good for us.


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News and Events Tabs
Daemen Voice
Contact Paula Witherell, director of institutional communications, at 716-839-8472 or witherell@daemen.edu.
AllAcademicsAlumniCollege NewsCommunityEventsFaculty and StaffStudents
Daemen Launches New Certificate in Executive Leadership
AMHERST, N.Y. – Daemen College will launch in January a new advanced certificate program in executive leadership and change (ELC), which is designed to prepare working professionals for leadership positions in business, health professions, higher education, and nonprofit organizations.
Daemen to Host Public Session of Governor's Common Core Task Force
AMHERST, N.Y. -- Daemen College will host the second meeting of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's Common Core Task Force scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. Nov. 18 in the Wick Campus Center Social Room on Daemen's campus at 4380 Main St., Amherst.
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Daemen Named a Top Military Friendly School in the Nation
AMHERST, N.Y. – Daemen College has been selected by Victory Media for the seventh consecutive year as a Military Friendly School.
Daemen Presents Distinguished Alumni Awards
AMHERST, N.Y. – Daemen College celebrated the accomplishments of five outstanding graduates at the 2015 Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner held in their honor on Nov. 6.
Experts to Examine Russia's Intervention in Syria and Refugee Crisis
AMHERST, N.Y. – Experts will address the ongoing Syrian civil war and the resulting refugee crisis in Europe and Russia's intervention in the troubled nation in a roundtable discussion scheduled for 7 p.m. Nov. 16 in the Daemen College Wick Campus Center Alumni Lounge.
The Daemen Voice is Daemen College's electronic newsletter that highlights the latest news and events of interest to the college and external communities. It is distributed via email and published online.


Update! Preview the course here and here.
The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) offers an online course on biophilia, "Biophilic Design: Improving Health and Well-Being in the Built Environment," for interior design. Co-developed with Terrapin Bright Green, the course applies Terrapin's research in the publication 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design to interior design. It reviews the science behind biophilia and discusses how interior designers can apply the 14 patterns to a wide range of projects, from residential interiors to offices to healthcare facilities. This hour-long course is available to anyone wishing to earn 0.2 IDCEC CEU credits, 2 AIA LUs, expand their skills, or understand more about this burgeoning field of green design.
An introduction to biophilia and its scientific support.
To take the course (available to anyone at any time), please follow this link.


FIBRESHIP achieves significant advances in the most innovative project for European Shipbuilding. Read more.
Compass is pleased to have participated in the Tech4Corporates session at MWC2019 .
See the Compass interview after receiving the I4MS Disruptors Award 2018 , in the following link .
New Tdyn v15 offers higher computation speed , improved and attractive graphic user interface and new post-processing tools . The new composite material model 'Serial/Parallel RoM' stands out, allowing accurate analyses of non-linear behaviour and different failure modes with local damage factors for laminated composites . Laminated materials creation user interface and materials' library have been enhanced and improved. Tdyn v15 also incorporates a new tool for direct import of CAD/CAE structural models in FORAN format.
I4MS Disruptors Award 2018 Winners!!
Compass IS has been honored with the I4MS Disruptors Award 2018 , announced in Warsaw 27th November during Digital Innovation Hubs Annual Event from the EC Commissioner Mariya Gabriel and Jadwiga Emilewicz Polish Minister of Entrepreneurship and Technology.


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Matthew McConaughey impressed kids with Shawn Mendes friendship
Matthew McConaughey won points with his children after striking up a friendship with pop star Shawn Mendes.
The singer was spotted with a copy of the actor's memoir, Greenlights, last month (October 2020), and the Dallas Buyers Club star reveals he saw the photo and considers Mendes a pal and "good young man".
"He reached out a while back and he and I have taken contact and will continue to," McConaughey tells Entertainment Tonight. "I know my kids have seen him and know his music and etcetera."
Did you know McConaughey was a part of the virtual reading of Fast Times At Ridgemont High?
The relationship has impressed young Levi, Livingston, and Vida, who are all big fans of the In My Blood hitmaker.
"My kids are like, 'You got his number? You got his number?' 'Yeah, yeah!' And I'm like, 'Do you want to call him?' And they're like, 'No, no, no, no. I got to think about what I'm going to say'."
#Greenlights
#MatthewMcConaughey
#friends
#shawn-mendes


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We are the UK's leading Savings, Retirement, Investments and Insurance business, helping 18.5 million customers across our core markets of the UK, Ireland and Canada
To make the most out of life, plan for the future and have the confidence that if things go wrong we'll be there to put it right
It takes Aviva
Download the full annual report 2021
A message from our Group CEO
Delivering our promise
Our chair
Our performance shows Aviva has what it takes to deliver strong, sustainable returns for shareholders.
Amanda Blanc
Group CEO
Watch our Group CEO, Amanda Blanc's 2021 full year results video
Read Amanda Blanc's 2021 full year results video transcript
Sarah Applegate
Thank you for having me here today to talk about the results with you.
So, Amanda, are you pleased with the progress so far that Aviva's made under your leadership?
Sarah, good to be with you again.
Yeah, I'm really pleased with today's results. I think that we've made great progress in the three areas of the strategy that we said we would.
We've completed the disposal programme, which I think is terrific.
We've actually rebuilt our financial strength, which is something that we committed to do, less than 20 months ago.
But I think today I'm so pleased about the actual performance of the group.
If you look at the growth results, they're really strong, but also we've seen the cost reduction that we've committed to.
So I think overall, really good operating momentum, and I'm very, very pleased with that.
Can you give us an update on how much capital we're going to be returning to shareholders?
I can. If you remember, we said that we would be returning at least £4 billion to shareholders but I'm really pleased that today we can say that we will be returning £4.75 billion to shareholders, which I believe is a very, very good outcome.
And as well as that, I'm very pleased that due to the value that's being created by all of the people, all of our colleagues at Aviva, each of our colleagues will get £1,000 of free shares, which shows that we really value their commitment to the group.
So even after returning £4.75 billion, we have the capacity and the confidence to invest in the business and what we show today is that we will invest £300 million to accelerate some of the great growth opportunities that there are in the market. But we will also invest £200 million in the cost and efficiency of the business which will help us of course to grow the profitability.
So how did Aviva's core businesses perform in 2021?
Each of the core businesses made a really great contribution to 2021.
So let's look at each of them in turn.
If we look at the Life company and the Savings and Retirement business, £10 billion of net flows in 2021, that's a really terrific achievement.
We saw robust margins in the BPA business and volumes at over £6 billion, which I think is great.
In the General Insurance business, both in Canada and in the UK, the volume is now £8.8 billion of gross written premium, which I think we're all incredibly pleased with.
Aviva Investors made good progress on reducing their costs, which was a key challenge for them during 2021 and their fund performance improved.
And overall, we saw our costs come down because I think we were always conscious of the fact that we needed to be more efficient for the benefit of our customers and I think we've started to really see that come through.
Of course, cash is key to Aviva's results, Sarah, and the cash remittances are up 22%. So a very, very strong performance.
So given Aviva's performance and outlook, what does this mean for shareholder dividends?
Well, today we're announcing that the final dividend for 2021 is just over 22p, which is 5% up on 2020.
So I think that's very good news for our shareholders.
We're also today announcing an updated dividend policy. And I think it shows the real confidence that we have in the group going forward. It's very attractive but also sustainable.
What are the main priorities for 2022 and beyond for Aviva?
We see so many opportunities in the markets in which we operate, UK, Ireland and Canada, in the wealth space and in the general insurance space and the opportunity for the Life company to work together with Aviva Investors I think really plays to that.
So we're really confident that the macro growth opportunities and the Aviva capabilities sit side by side.
So we've announced today the acquisition of Succession Wealth.
One of the areas that we've long spoken about is our desire to really bolster our capabilities in the advice space and Succession Wealth does just that. So we're really pleased to welcome the Succession team to the group.
I'm very excited that this gives us a great enhancement to our current capabilities in this area.
So the second priority for Aviva is around our customers. We have over 18 million customers across the group. And what we want to do is make their experience of dealing with Aviva easier.
So whether that's in the way that we transact our business with them, whether that's digitally or over the phone, or in the simplicity of the products that we provide to them.
We know that financial services can be a complex space. We have a real opportunity to make a big difference to our customers in the way that we present those products to them.
In the way that we build those products sustainably, I think that that is what customers are looking for.
We have a very strong ESG proposition and we're making sure that we would build that into the products that we develop.
Our third priority area is around efficiency. Aviva is often being accused of being a complex organisation. It's not so complex today. We have the UK, Ireland, Canada and Aviva Investors.
So we've simplified the portfolio, now we need to simplify the businesses within the portfolio and you'll have seen we've made great progress on the cost reduction.
That means that we have less products. It means we have less systems. So we're simplifying the business, and that will have a good impact on our customers because our cost to serve those customers will be reduced.
And finally, our fourth priority is sustainability.
Aviva has a strong history in this area, and we don't want to become complacent. We want to continue to build on that. We're building sustainable products in the wealth business. We are having fantastic success in the funds that the Aviva Investors team are launching and we will continue to look for more opportunities, as we'll have seen in the last week with the launch of Aviva Zero, which is our net-zero proposition for motor insurance.
So we continue to build upon that and I think play a really important role in society by our infrastructure investment, which is, of course, all part of the levelling up agenda in the UK.
So you announced some upgraded targets today. Can you tell me a bit more about those?
Yes, so I think it shows the confidence we have in the outlook for the group that we've been able to do that.
The first is cumulative cash remittances, over the next three years of greater than £5.4 billion.
The second target is a growth target. It's a new target and it's on own funds generation and the target is to be at £1.5 billion by 2024.
The third target is on cost reduction, where we've upgraded our current target to £750 million gross of inflation.
So if you could possibly whittle it down to a few key takeaways for people listening to our 2021 results, what would they be?
So we've made really rapid progress and I think that's a good thing because that allows us to now move on.
And the next phase is about delivering Aviva's promise. And that's where the whole of Aviva, whatever part of the organisation you work in is going to come together to deliver for our customers.
So I guess the final thing I would say is just thank you to everybody for everything that they've contributed to get us this far.
This year we have made good progress on our journey to transform our performance. We have built strong growth momentum across our core businesses, enhanced our customer experience and materially reduced our cost base. At the same time, we have strengthened the Aviva masterbrand, invested in innovation and launched a market-leading sustainability ambition. Looking ahead to 2022, our focus will be on accelerating the next phase of our transformation.
Download Delivering our promise
Targeted growth
In General Insurance we have opportunities across UK, Ireland and Canada. In UK Commercial, we aim to increase our share in mid-market and expand across corporate & speciality. In UK Personal, we are aiming for market leadership, focusing on retail and speciality. In Canada we are focused on digital direct and growth across commercial lines.
In our Life business, we have a number of exciting growth opportunities. We will build a leading Wealth business by strengthening our Workplace and Retail propositions. We will grow our BPA business in a capital efficient manner and support our social purpose by investing in the UK. In Protection & Health, we will grow through extending our distribution reach.
In Aviva Investors we will capitalise on growth opportunities both with UK Life and externally through our strengths in ESG, real assets, solutions, multi-assets, sustainable equities and credit.
Our progress in 2021
GI GWP of £8.8bn
Life PVNBP of £36.7bn
increase in S&R net flows to £10.0bn
increase in Aviva Investors external net flows to £3.3bn
As the most trusted UK insurance brand, we have outstanding brand strength. We will look to drive value from this through further deepening the emotional connection to the brand and leveraging this across our businesses.
We are enhancing our customer experience through improving digital customer journeys, building engaging mobile-led experiences and harnessing data to better meet customer needs.
We are innovating to meet the changing needs of our customers. We are doing this through a combination of venture building, where we work closely with InsurTechs and FinTechs to build new customer propositions, in-house rapid proposition development and venture capital investing.
year-on-year increase in MyAviva registered customers
year-on-year increase in MyAviva logins
£70m
of capital deployed into start ups
Top quartile efficiency
We have made significant progress on efficiency, reducing costs1 by £244 million and putting in place all of the actions required to meet our £300 million target in 2022, one year earlier than planned. Efficiency will continue to be a key focus going forward, with all of our business units targeting top quartile efficiency by 2024.
We will continue to simplify our technology estate, removing legacy systems and applications, and improving our overall operational resilience, customer service and agility. We will digitise and automate our customer journeys, making it easier for our customers to interact with us.
Simplification of our product portfolio will remain a key focus area as we rationalise the number of product variations we offer. We will also continue to reduce our property footprint and focus on the simplification of our organisation through optimised outsourcing and improved cost discipline.
1 Controllable costs from continuing operations, excluding cost reduction implementation and IFRS 17 costs.
reduction in UK IT applications
of UK customer journeys digitised and automated
reduction in property footprint
(by square ft)
Leading on sustainability
We are at the forefront of taking action against climate change, with a market-leading ambition. We will make progress towards our ambition through tangible actions across our operations, investments and underwriting.
Our sustainability ambition also encompasses building stronger communities. We will do this through investing £10 billion in UK infrastructure and real estate, investing 2% of our profits in the community, and helping the UK with their savings and retirement needs.
We will also ensure we continue to operate as a sustainable business, and will always strive for the highest standards of ethical conduct, acting responsibly and transparently at all times.
major insurer globally to commit to Net Zero by 2040
2021 pre-tax profits invested in communities
£4.3bn
invested in UK infrastructure and real estate
Our purpose is 'with you today, for a better tomorrow'.
It demands Aviva acts as industy leader and ultimately becomes the UK's 'go-to customer brand'.
More about our purpose
Performance highlights 2021
As we emerge from the pandemic, I am confident that we have positioned Aviva to succeed.
Jason Windsor, Chief Financial Officer
Financial highlights 2021
Cash remittances‡, R
2020: £1,500m
Solvency II operating own funds generation‡, R
Estimated Solvency II
Shareholder cover ratio‡,R
2020: 202%
Group adjusted operating profit‡,1,R
IFRS profit for the year
Solvency II debt leverage ratio‡
Non-financial highlights 2021
Operational carbon emissions reduction since 2010
Customer Net Promoter
Score® (NPS®)R
Number of markets2 at or above average:
R Symbol denotes key performance indicators used as a base to determine or modify remuneration.
‡ This is an Alternative Performance Measure (APM) which provides useful information to enhance the understanding of financial performance. Further information on APMs, including a reconciliation to the financial statements (where possible), can be found in the 'Other Information' section.
1 Group adjusted operating profit is an APM which is used by the Group to supplement the required disclosures under IFRS. Please see note B in the 'Accounting Policies' section of IFRS Financial Statements and the 'Other Information' section for further information.
2 Total markets is 5. Excludes discontinued businesses for 2021 and 2020.
Key performance review
"2021 was the year Aviva began to deliver on its promise to become the business that our customers, people and shareholders deserve it to be. In many ways it feels like a new Aviva. Our work to focus the portfolio is now complete and we're concentrating our efforts where we are best placed for success."
George Culmer
Annual Report and Accounts 2021
PDF 10.3 MB 313 pages
PDF 2.7 MB 55 pages
Climate-related Financial Disclosure 2021 (TCFD)
Reporting criteria 2021
PDF 343.5 KB 14 pages
PDF 83.8 KB 2 pages
Chief Executive Officer's report
PDF 138.8 KB 3 pages
Our business and what differentiates us
PDF 68.8 KB 1 page
Delivering on our commitments


text:
Mark Padoen (Oekraïens: Марк Падун) (Donetsk, 6 juli 1996) is een Oekraïens wielrenner die anno 2022 rijdt voor EF Education-EasyPost.

Carrière
In 2014 werd Padoen nationaal kampioen tijdrijden bij de junioren. Drie maanden later werd hij zestiende op het wereldkampioenschap in die discipline.

In 2015 won Padoen de laatste etappe in de Ronde van Friuli-Venezia Giulia, met aankomst bergop in Resia. Hierdoor nam hij de leiding in het bergklassement over van Giulio Ciccone.

In 2016 werd Padoen voor de tweede maal in zijn carrière nationaal kampioen tijdrijden, ditmaal bij de beloften. Ruim twee weken later werd hij achter Fausto Masnada tweede in de Giro del Medio Brenta. Nog eens drie dagen later stond hij namens een Oekraïense selectie aan de start van de Ronde van de Aostavallei. Hier wist hij de tweede etappe te winnen, waardoor hij de leiding in het algemeen klassement overnam van Taylor Eisenhart. Na de vierde etappe verloor hij deze trui aan Kilian Frankiny, die uiteindelijk de ronde op zijn naam zou schrijven. Padoen eindigde als derde, met elf seconden achterstand op Frankiny. Wel won hij zowel het berg- als het jongerenklassement.

In 2017 won Padoen de Trofeo Piva, een Italiaanse beloftenwedstrijd. Zijn ploeggenoot Seid Lizde werd 24 seconden later tweede. Eind mei werd de Oekraïner, met een achterstand van drie seconden op Matija Kvasina, tweede in het eindklassement van de Flèche du Sud. Wel schreef hij het jongerenklassement op zijn naam. Twee weken later won hij de derde etappe in de Ronde van Italië voor beloften, waardoor hij naar de tweede plaats in het algemeen klassement steeg. In de overige vijf ritten verloor hij drie plaatsen, waardoor hij vijfde werd in het eindklassement. Vanwege zijn prestaties mocht hij vanaf eind juli stage lopen bij Bahrain-Merida. Namens die ploeg reed hij onder meer de Coppa Agostoni, waarin hij op plek 46 eindigde. Namens zijn club won hij tijdens die periode ook nog de GP Capodarco. Zijn stagecontract werd in oktober omgezet in een tweejarig profcontract.

Padoen werd in 2019 Oekraïens kampioen tijdrijden.

Overwinningen

2014
 Oekraïens kampioen tijdrijden, Junioren
2015
3e etappe Ronde van Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Bergklassement Ronde van Friuli-Venezia Giulia
2016
 Oekraïens kampioen tijdrijden, Beloften
2e etappe Ronde van de Aostavallei
Berg- en jongerenklassement Ronde van de Aostavallei
2017
Trofeo Piva
Jongerenklassement Flèche du Sud
3e etappe Ronde van Italië, Beloften
GP Capodarco
2018
 5e etappe Ronde van de Alpen
2019
 Oekraïens kampioen tijdrijden, Elite
2e etappe Adriatica Ionica Race
Eind- en jongerenklassement Adriatica Ionica Race
2021
7e en 8e etappe Critérium du Dauphiné
Bergklassement Critérium du Dauphiné
2022
4e etappe (ITT) Gran Camiño

Resultaten in voornaamste wedstrijden

|
|}

Ploegen
 2017 –  Bahrain-Merida (stagiair vanaf 28-7)
 2018 –  Bahrain-Merida
 2019 –  Bahrain-Merida
 2020 –  Bahrain McLaren
 2021 –  Bahrain-Victorious
 2022 –  EF Education-EasyPost
 2023 –  EF Education-EasyPost

Oekraïens wielrenner


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What are some key "red flags" to look for when interviewing candidates for regional sales?
one show stopper for sales has been their targets and actual earnings year over year. if their earnings has decelerated this is red flag they aren't as "hungry". Regardless of the sales role (e.g. hunter , closer, etc.) their earnings should always be increasing. Hope this helps.
Do they understand how they will be compensated? Also, ask them what their process is for entering info into a CRM system. Most folks stink at that. Those who are good take great pride and will give you chapter and verse about how they stay on top of it.
I think a key consideration is personality fit based on the industry and product. (Do you need someone who is gregarious (car sales) or more technical (I.T. services), etc.?) There are several tools out there. Harvard Business Review blogged on this last year ("Seven Personality Traits of Top Salespeople" by Steve W. Martin), and Inc. magazine ran an article a couple of years before that ("Personality Testing for Sales Recruits" by Susan Greco). It's obviously a very good question that has garnered a lot of discussion.


Humble Bundle gets us back into it with another quality giveaway. For the next 48 hours you can get a free Steam key for the tactical RPG The Red Solstice.
As always, the key will expire after a limited time (Jan 31) so get it and activate it or you lose it.
Is there anyone who loved critical ops like me? thank you.
So cool. You did a great job. Thanks a lot to you for your job.
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WORKTECH 11 West Coast: Where Will I Work?
by Isabel Dewhurst-Marks
An effective workplace culture and working environment are more important than ever for today's leading companies. Companies are using the workplace itself to inspire innovation, save money, and attract and retain employees.
Unwired Ventures, organizers of WORKTECH11 West Coast, sat down for a chat with Jeremy Neuner, CEO of NextSpace; Kevin Kelly, Senior Architect, Public Buildings Service Center for Workplace Delivery, U.S. General Services Administration; and Collin Burry, Principal, Gensler.
Unwired Ventures: What do you think are the top trends for the workplace in 2012?
Jeremy Neuner
Jeremy Neuner: 2012 will see an acceleration of the disaggregated workforce as large companies attempt to decrease real estate overhead and increase the productivity, innovation, and happiness of their employees. Simultaneously, we'll see a rise in the spaces, tools, and technologies needed to effectively and efficiently re-aggregate the workforce around common interests, common purposes, and common communities.
Kevin Kelly: Especially with the recent economic and political drama, governmental entities which would never have considered a major move to mobility are now seriously exploring it to save on real estate and to reach mandated environmental goals.
Luckily, because there has also been a huge growth in the field of workplace strategy — a new discipline if you will — and because of the ubiquity of mobile technology, this can be a much more sensible "space diet" for the U.S. Government than the poorly thought-out one executed in the 1980's. Because the government is such a huge pool of knowledge workers, this is bound to affect the workplace industry overall.
President Obama's June 2010 call for $3 billion in savings in unused Federal real estate has given this reduction traction and major U.S. agencies are definitely getting the message — working to change a 1980's culture wedded to "the cubicle" as the only yardstick of workplace quality.
While there is a trend toward a cut in the quantity of personal space, there is a counter-vailing realization that people are far more expensive than real estate. When they come to the office, primarily to work with others, they need to have greater variety of settings and an excellent quality of workplace in order to perform optimally.
These trends will continue in 2012 and as necessity forces cultural change, the change-over to a new view of the workplace — and of work — will only accelerate.
Collin Burry: The user experience, while in the office, is more important than ever. Design as we've known it is dead. Even though technology has enabled us to work anytime anywhere, workers want to come to the office, employers encourage it; it is the place that communicates culture and a sense of connection to the company. Distributed offices become more popular, rather than a centralized headquarters in suburban areas. Workers want to work where they live and avoid horrible commutes.
Unwired Ventures: How can the workplace be used as a tool to attract and retain the most talented people?
Jeremy Neuner: Rather than a single place, the workplace is becoming an ecology of places — the corporate campus, the neighbourhood coffee shop, the downtown coworking space — that collectively provide the infrastructure and the community that people need to be their most creative, most innovative, most productive selves. Companies that can successfully blend infrastructure with community will be the ones that can attract and retain the best talent and get the best results from that talent.
Kevin Kelly: Choice and personal control are huge issues. We know that when they are combined with agile technology, they contribute to the effectiveness and satisfaction of workers.
But I am enough of an architect to realize that effective lighting, excellent acoustics, a strategic use of color and branding create the un-ostentatious but professional environment which conveys well-being and a sense of purpose to the workforce — especially the young workforce.
I believe they tend to see "throne room offices" hogging the light at the exterior and other quaint entitlements of my baby-boom generation as slightly ridiculous. I believe they feel that the workplace should display greater democracy and common purpose. Savvy leaders are picking up on that and feel the same way. At GSA, for instance, the Administrator (who answers directly to the President of the United States) works in a workstation and the Commissioner of the Public Building's Service has transformed his huge legacy office from a solitary "throne room" to a "war room" housing his deputies and other decision- makers in close proximity. This kind of "leading by example" is much admired and is starting to be emulated elsewhere in Government.
Collin Burry
Collin Burry: Today the workplace must be more robust than ever. It needs to be highly responsive to the user's needs and build a sense of belonging to the company. Â An experience not replaced by technology.
Unwired Ventures: Where is your favourite place to work and where do you feel most inspired?
Jeremy Neuner: My favorite place to work is the open, collaborative cafe© space at any of our NextSpace locations. It's impossible not to feel inspired when I'm surrounded by dozens of creative people who are all working on cool stuff: mobile apps, screenplays, software, game design, or the latest super-stealthy, world-changing start-up.
Kevin Kelly: I can't say that I have a favorite place to work. I live in a beautiful part of the world (Sonoma County, California) and have a marvelous garden where I often work on my veranda almost year round.
But I love to work in my 1911 office in San Francisco with great colleagues, in coffee shops, on airplanes, even in coastal wildernesses. The fact of the matter is, (dare I say it?) I love to work and do it far more than eight hours a day. Part of that love arises from the freedom I have in doing it.
My love of my work is far greater than it was when I was holed up in a cubicle and had neither daylight nor choice. This is the future I would hope for those whose work is amenable to greater mobility that technology affords.
Collin Burry: I love coming to our office. I feel most inspired interacting with other people; the location is not as relevant as being face to face.
Jeremy, Kevin, and Collin will be speaking at WORKTECH11 West Coast at the Nokia HQ, Sunnyvale on 11 October 2011. The event is a forum for all those involved in the futures of work and the workplace as well as real estate, technology and innovation. WORKTECH will offer a unique blend of ideas, case studies, workplace innovations and visions of the future. Join senior professionals from real estate, facilities, technology, and executive management, architecture, design and other professional advisors to further knowledge and share expertise. For more information, visit www.westcoast.unwired.eu.com, email [email protected], or call 011 44 (0)20 8977 8920.
Isabel Dewhurst-Marks
More from Isabel Dewhurst-Marks
WORKTECH12: New York – May 16
Check out what will be happening at WORKTECH12: New York, May 15-16,...
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