text:
kdgregory.com
Green Peas on the Highway: A Week in a Rental Motorhome
Originally published: 2020-10-09
August 2020. My wife and I are faced with "use it or lose it" vacation days, with no plan to use them. COVID has made us unwilling to get on an airplane, or stay in a hotel, or even eat indoors at a restaurant. Added to that, Carly, our cockatiel, now needs twice daily medication: a process involving grabbing her and squirting the medicine into her beak from a syringe. Not something that we'd inflict on the friends that have pet-sat for us in the past.
As you can see from the picture, we rented from Fretz RV, in Souderton PA. I have no affiliation with them, but was happy with the experience and would rent from them again. Their website, however, could use some work.
While dropping my motorcycle for service, I suggested that we stop at the nearby RV dealer, which also does rentals. It seems like everybody else has the same idea: every salesperson had a customer, and people are waiting for their chance. We talked to Pete, the rental manager, and learn that yes, we can rent a Winnebago Outlook 25J (26 feet long) Class C motorhome for a week at the end of September. We put our deposit down, and went home to make plans.
I should say here that this isn't completely out of the blue. We've both backpacked, she spent a summer bicycle-camping across France, and we've gone car-camping numerous times. We've also talked about renting a small trailer that can be towed by our Subaru Outback — sleeping in a tent has moved off our list of ways to spend a weekend. Well, now we get to see if we can spend a week in a living space that's slightly larger than our galley-style kitchen.
With the vehicle secured, the next step was to secure campground reservations. I had the idea of going to Bar Harbor, staying at Lamoine State Park, which is across the bay from Mt Desert Island and a much more pleasant experience. This would be a two days out, three days there, and two days back; to break up the drive, I figured we could visit friends in Massachusetts. However, the various New England states had COVID policies that amounted to "we'd prefer that you stay home." Maine wanted a two-week quarantine for anyone coming from out-of-state, unless they presented a negative COVID test result. I respect that, and felt that it would be ethically questionable to get a test just so that we could go camping.
New York was more accepting: there's a long list of states whose residents are subject to quarantine, but Pennsylvania wasn't on the list (although it could have joined the list at any time, so I checked weekly). Given the time of year, my goal was to spend time in the Adirondacks: the foliage there is near peak in early October. However, that's a long drive, especially since we didn't know when we'd be able to pick up the unit. We ended up reserving two days at Taughannock Falls state park, in the Finger Lakes region, and three days at Crown Point state park, on the shore of Lake Champlain. The former had the benefit of providing an electrical hookup, so we could use most of the 110v appliances in the unit without running the generator.
Things to know if you haven't car-camped …
Car-camping and RV camping are different from backpacking. For one thing, you have a lot more room. For another, you have different needs, especially around meal preparation. Here are a few things that you should bring:
Several rolls of paper towels.
There's always something to clean up, and you'll also need to dry your dishes after washing them (air-drying, while it helps, isn't going to do the job). I figure on one roll for a long weekend, two for a week. More if you use them as napkins or have kids.
Plastic trash bags and a trash can.
You'll generate much more waste when car-camping, starting with used paper towels. Campgrounds have places to dispose of this waste, but you'll want to bag it rather than continually walk to the dumpster. And RVs generally don't have a trash receptacle, so unless you want an open bag getting tossed around you should bring your own. It doesn't have to be fancy, and shouldn't be too large. We have an old container that was once in a bathroom but now serves as a holder for gardening tools in our garage.
A box of disposable examination gloves.
This is RV-specific, and will become apparent a little later.
As I said, we've done quite a bit of car camping. That means that there are several plastic bins in our basement that contain everything needed: cookware (including some truly ugly orange-handled flatware that I bought for $5 at a discount store), gasoline lantern, screenhouse (mosquitoes are the worst part of any camping trip), and so on. Oh, and a gasoline-powered blender that a friend gave us as a wedding present. It makes great frozen margaritas in the middle of nowhere, but stayed home for this trip.
One thing that stayed home but should have come with us was our camping stove. A friend of ours who owns an RV had told us that she and her husband try to avoid cooking inside, but that advice didn't quite sink in. Or maybe I was too enamored of the 3-burner stove in our unit. But it wass good advice: using the inside stove heats up the unit (which is OK if it's chilly, not if it's mid-70s and humid), and it leaves the smell of whatever you're cooking to linger through the night.
I also searched the Internet and watched online videos, covering both the model that we were renting, and general tips and techniques. Most of it good, but also the typical Internet strong opinions.
My wife worked out a menu for the week, which is a great idea. Of course, as with any plan, it changed upon meeting the real world. But it ensure that we had enough food (in particular, canned food) to deal with the possibilities of losing the refrigerator or not being able to pick up provisions at a supermarket.
And lastly, I updated our EZ-Pass account with the license plate number of the unit. This didn't work out so well.
First, the website directed me to call the service center, which made sense because the website didn't provide any way to configure the type of RV. The person who answered my call couldn't find the RV was on my account, because I'd set a date range that just covered our trip. Then I learned that I would need a separate transponder, because our existing transponders identified identified the vehicle as a car. With two days to go until our trip, that was out, so I asked about whether toll-by-plate would properly recognize the vehicle. I was told yes, but only in Pennsylvania (which has eliminated tickets entirely). No problem: the only toll road that I was only planning to use was the PA Turnpike; the rest of the trip would be on secondary highways.
Unfortunately, it's been two weeks, and I haven't seen any transactions show up on my EZ-Pass account. I discussed this with Pete, and he said that this happens, and they just tell EZ-Pass who the renter is. So at some point I expect to be billed; whether that will come with a surcharge or violation, I don't know.
I think I said above that we have all of our camping gear in plastic bins. But that doesn't include food, or bedding, or clothes, or our bicycles … you get the idea. The process of moving everything into the vehicle took nearly two hours. There's a lot of work involved in figuring out where to put things so that they won't move while driving — or more important, stopping quickly (another friend who owns an RV referred to their sink cover / cutting board as "the death frisbee").
On the road, the unit handled like, well, a truck. The steering wheel seemed only tenuously connected to the front tires; it swayed alarmingly while cornering or on rough roads; it gained speed quickly while going downhill, and fought to maintain speed uphill; the gas and brakes seemed to act on a time-delay. Fortunately, I learned how to drive in a van, and 40-year-old habits are still with me: managing momentum, planning for wide turns, and most important, using my mirrors.
What I wasn't prepared for was the bizarre perspective offered by the passenger-side mirror. In a normal car, "objects are closer than they appear." The RV, mirror, however, dramatically foreshortened its view: objects appeared much closer than they actually were. Cars would appear to be right behind me when in fact they were several lengths back. I learned that it was safe to change back into the right lane when whatever you were passing had disappeared from the small fisheye mirror that showed traffic immediately beside the vehicle. I'm sure that someone cursed me for cutting in too soon, but I didn't drive anyone off the road (that I know of!) so I'll call that success.
Related, my biggest fear was arriving at the campground after dark and having to back into a small space (based on Internet reviews of our chosen site, all written by people who had trouble parking). I had planned for this eventuality: I have a portable halogen worklight, and was planning to plug it into the RV's external power outlet and have my wife point it at the spot. But it didn't get packed (as my wife said, if you have a checklist you need to check things off it; I didn't).
As it turned out, we arrived about a half hour before sunset, with plenty of light, and there was plenty of room to get the RV positioned and backed in. Then I discovered something that the reviews didn't mention: our 25' power cord wouldn't reach the outlet shared with the neighboring site. Fortunately, I was able to position the unit so that it was close enough, but the back of the unit was directly over the firepit; good thing we're not "fire people."
Lesson learned: it's great that people write reviews of individual campsites, but don't trust them.
The allure of an RV is that — unlike a hotel room or tent camping — you don't have to pack up every day. That's not quite true: anything that isn't securely stowed will move with every bump in the road. In particular, if you just leave dishes in the cabinet, you'll end up with everything in one pile, and maybe a few broken ones. Our camping dishes are metal, so breakage isn't a concern, but I didn't want to hear them bouncing around. So we repacked the cabinets, heavy items in front because they'll slide when coming to a stop. There were also a few boxes that moved from the overhead bunk (a great place to store stuff if you're not using it as a bed!) to the floor.
It took us around 45 minutes to get everything into position. If we were more experienced it may have been 15 minutes to a half hour. Then it was time for the thing that every new RV-er dreads: emptying the waste tanks before getting on the road.
You can read descriptions, you can watch videos, but hanging over you is that scene from the movie RV. It doesn't help to remember that, physically, a geyser of poop is impossible because the tanks drain by gravity (at least in the unit we rented).
What is possible, as I learned the hard way, is that the tank valves will leak, and you'll get about a half gallon of liquid draining out when you take the cover off the waste pipe (thus the need for disposable gloves!). And while your unit might not leak, other peoples' do; there's generally a puddle of unknown provenance around the dump station, so don't let your pant cuffs drag on the ground. One other word of advice is to lay out the drain hose without any kinks or loops: you want a straight path from your tank to the septic system.
After this, we had a lovely drive up the shore of Cayuga Lake, making the obligatory winery stop (we got there before they opened, so had plenty of room to turn around in the parking lot; beware pulling into a full lot unless you can see the path to your parking space). Lunch was in a parking area by the side of the road, then we drove through the Adirondacks in peak foliage.
As I've noted elsewhere, when traveling I like an ice cream break around 4 PM. And right on time, we arrived in the town of Speculator NY, which is the largest town in that part of the Adirondacks, and which has several places that sell ice cream. Unfortunately, a combination of the day of week (Monday), time of year (post summer season), and no doubt reduced tourism due to COVID meant that none of them were open. So again, we stopped by the side of the road, and I made a pot of coffee. Not quite the same experience, but it served the same purpose, and is definitely something we've never done while car-camping.
We arrived at our campsite on the shore of Lake Champlain about 15 minutes before sunset, and discovered that the water spigots near our site didn't have threaded couplings. You'll see a lot of advice online about emptying your fresh-water tank before moving, but thankfully I ignored that advice and left it just under half full. This meant that we could set up without stress. The next morning I discovered that there was exactly one spigot with a threaded coupler for our water hose, and it was in an inconvenient location (if you're going there, it's in the middle of a group of sites at the far end of the park).
Our last night in the campground, heavy rain moved in. Rain on the roof of an RV sounds much louder than rain on the roof of a house. And at times, the water running down the outside of the unit sounded like a leak pouring water inside. Just as when tent camping, it makes sleeping harder wondering what you'll find in the morning.
It turned out that there was a self-created leak, although not a major one, and certainly not the source of the noise: I had left the roof vent cracked slightly open. I had thought that it wasn't open far enough to let water in, but the wind blew some rain up under the edge. Nothing that a paper towel couldn't absorb, but a reminder that water finds its way in.
On the other hand, I've spent many a morning waking up after rain, walking to a cold, damp bathhouse, and then folding up my wet tent, It was really nice to wake up, put on a pot of water for coffee, and then turn on the furnace to take the chill out of the air. Not quite living at home, but in no way "roughing it."
Will I take another RV vacation? Sure. In fact, I suggested to a friend that we do a Finger Lakes winery tour by RV. But it definitely has limitations: once you're set up at a campground, you don't want to pack everything just to go out for dinner or food shopping. I now understand why people tow cars behind their RVs.
And, let's be blunt, it ain't cheap. The unit we rented was $225 a night, which included insurance, along with 100 miles and 1 hour of generator use per day. You can certainly find less expensive options, but I suspect that you get what you pay for: I've read nightmare stories of rattling, smelly rentals. And on top of the daily rate, filling the tank is over $100 and you only get 8 miles per gallon (less when on the highway, due to wind resistance).
Moreover, the list price of the unit that we rented was $85,000 — and it's an entry-level unit. We could rent for well over a year before hitting that price point. So owning an RV probably isn't in our future, unless we decide to live on the road full-time. Which I don't see my wife agreeing to.
However, I'm betting that a few years from now, when 2020 is just a bad memory, there will be a bunch of lightly used and reasonably priced RVs on the resale market.
Copyright © Keith D Gregory, all rights reserved
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Analysts reportedly tucked classified information about Russian hacking inside Intellipedia for safekeeping.
During the final weeks of the Obama administration, officials began to worry that the results of ongoing investigations into Russia's election-related hacking might get swept under the rug once President Trump took office. They decided to leave a trail of breadcrumbs for congressional investigators to find later, according to a report from The New York Times.
In another age, the paper trail may have taken the form of notes stuffed into a box in a forgotten archive. But this being the 21st century, some of the breadcrumbs were submitted to an online wiki. According to the Times, intelligence officers in various agencies rushed to complete analyses of intelligence about Russian hacking and file the results, at low classification levels, in a secret Wikipedia-like site for intelligence analysts. There, the information would be widely accessible among the intelligence community.
That site, called Intellipedia, has been around for more than a decade. It's made up of three different wikis, at different classification levels: one wiki for sensitive but unclassified information, another for secret information, and a third for top secret information. Each wiki can only be accessed by employees in the U.S. intelligence community's 17 agencies who have the appropriate clearance level.
Built on the same software platform as Wikipedia, Intellipedia's articles are often cribbed directly from the free encyclopedia, but with sensitive classified information added by analysts. "About everything that happens of significance, there's an Intellipedia page on," Sean Dennehy, one of the site's founders, told The Washington Post in 2009. An article about the terrorist attack in Mumbai was filled with sensitive information before it was reported in the popular press, Dennehy said.
In 2009, Dennehy and Don Burke, both CIA analysts, won a Service to America Medal for their work on Intellipedia.
Their site is meant to help analysts collaborate across agencies: Improving cross-agency communication was one of the main recommendations set forth by the 9/11 Commission, which led to the establishment of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in 2005. That's the agency that now has custody of Intellipedia.
Perhaps the best real-world example of how analysts use Intellipedia came in a recent story about Palantir, the secretive tech contractor led by Peter Thiel, published last month in The Intercept. Documents leaked by Snowden included pages from an internal wiki maintained by GCHQ, the NSA's British counterpart, which included a link to a page about Palantir on Intellipedia. Other Intellipedia pages in Snowden's leaks included links to other Palantir programs that the NSA uses, suggesting that the wiki is sometimes used for sharing technical information about intelligence software.
Intellipedia may have seen its traffic spike this week: If nothing else, the shoutout to the wiki in the Times might have sent curious analysts combing through the pages to see what intelligence was scattered there for safekeeping.


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KHN's 'What The Health?': Coronavirus Goes Viral
Can't see the audio player? Click here to listen on SoundCloud.
This was the week the coronavirus hit the U.S. in general and Washington, D.C., in particular in a big way. More than a half-dozen lawmakers are in self-quarantine after being exposed to someone who tested positive for the virus; stocks officially entered a bear market; and the White House and Congress are scrambling to try to get ahead of a fast-moving public health crisis.
In the early part of the week, while the Trump administration downplayed the threat from the coronavirus, officials issued a long-awaited set of regulations aimed at making it easier for electronic medical records programs made by different companies to talk to one another ― and to patients.
This week's panelists are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post and Kimberly Leonard of Business Insider.
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Among the takeaways from this week's podcast:
A large number of members of Congress are 65 or older — as many as 48 of the senators and more than 150 House members ― and should be taking precautionary measures to avoid the coronavirus, including not attending large gatherings. But there are no provisions for handling votes and congressional business remotely.
In his speech Wednesday night, President Donald Trump highlighted his hopes of getting Congress to pass a payroll tax holiday to help consumers affected by the virus or suffering from the illness it causes, COVID-19, and to help stimulate the economy. But that proposal seems to be running into bipartisan objections. One problem: It doesn't help people whose pay is lost because of the loss of work, such as gig workers.
Democrats have offered instead an ambitious package of initiatives to help cover expenses for workers who may be out of work because of the outbreak. But they have to hammer out many details to get Republican approval.
Insurance companies have agreed to the government's request that they cover testing at no cost to customers, but many people could still face out-of-pocket expenses for treatment.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a plan this week to upgrade consumer provisions in the Affordable Care Act. She did not take sides in the party's debate on switching to a "Medicare for All" single-payer plan versus adding a government-run public option to the ACA. But her efforts are designed to help House members campaign on health care fixes that are popular with voters.
The federal government released a rule this week to make electronic health records more easily transferrable and allow consumers to have computer apps that hold their records. Although the concept of getting records sent between medical offices more easily is broadly popular, the effort could raise privacy issues, industry groups allege.
Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read too:
Julie Rovner: The New York Times' "Strikes and Attack Ads: The Hard Roads to Universal Health Care," by Quoctrung Bui and Sarah Kliff
Kimberly Leonard: Mother Jones' "Schools Can No Longer Use Electric Shock Devices on Students, Says the FDA," by Russ Choma
Margot Sanger-Katz: The Atlantic's "Cancel Everything" by Yascha Mounk
Paige Winfield Cunningham: Politico's "How Testing Failures Allowed Coronavirus to Sweep the U.S." by Joanne Kenen
To hear all our podcasts, click here.
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There are a number of HOWL! Festival sponsorship opportunities available at different levels. Major sponsorship benefits are listed below, and other opportunities exist. To reserve or discuss your sponsorship today, and for all media partnership inquiries, please call Jane Friedman at 917-749-9210 or email her at sponsorship@howlnyc.org.
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Top Name or Logo Placement on Website and Emails Promoting the Festival Year-Round.
Promotion as Presenter by Media Sponsors and in Face Book Ads, on Twitter, and in Festival Press Releases and Videos.
Top Positioning of Logo and/or Name on Festival Banners, Projections, Posters, and in Printed Materials and Programs.
Acknowledgment in Spoken Remarks at HOWL! Events throughout the Year.
Company Name on VIP/ Green Room Tent and All-Access Passes.
20 Complimentary Tickets to Annual Gala.
20 Complimentary Tickets to Festival Special Events.
Premier Position/Seating at all HOWL! Events.
Festival Sponsors will Receive Top-Tier Billing and Acknowledgement in Event Marketing and Advertising Materials.
Prominent Name or Logo Placement on Website and Emails Promoting the Festival Throughout the Month.
High Positioning of Logo or Name on Festival Banners, Projections, Posters, and in Printed Materials and Programs.
Acknowledgment in Spoken Remarks at all Festival Events during the Month.
10 Complimentary Tickets to Annual Gala.
10 Complimentary Tickets to Festival Special Events.
Festival Supporters, and Festival Youth & KIDZ Program Supporters, will Be Acknowledged in all Event Marketing and Advertising Materials.
Name or Logo Placement on Festival Website and in Selected Emails Promoting the Festival.
Name or Logo Included on Festival Posters and in Printed Materials and Programs.
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Linux Mint Website Hacked, ISOs Compromised With Backdoor
Feb 21, 2016 3 min
Absolute security is a myth. And this has been proved once again with Linux Mint website being hacked.
Archived article from 2016.
Yes, one of the most popular Linux distribution, Linux Mint was attacked recently. Hackers managed to hack the website and replace the download links of some Linux Mint ISOs to their own, modified ISOs with a backdoor in it. Users who downloaded these compromised ISOs are at risk of hacking attacks.
Update: Linux Mint Forum has been hacked as well. The forums database has been compromised. This gives the hackers access to users' email and encrypted version of their password. Though encrypted, passwords can be brute-forced.
How was Linux Mint hacked?
As per the information available at present, attackers got hold of the ISOs through WordPress. Linux Mint uses the Open Source CMS WordPress for its website. "The breach was made via WordPress. From there they got a www-data shell".
Once they entered the website, they changed the download links to point it to a server in Bulgaria where the compromised Linux Mint ISOs with backdoor were served to unsuspecting users.
Don't panic!
Don't panic. Not just now. The hacking attack has compromised ISOs but not all of them.
Only Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon edition ISOs that were downloaded on 20th February are the victim. Rest are fine, assured Linux Mint. That too, when you downloaded directly from the website. If you used a torrent, you should be safe.
Though Linux Mint says that only Cinnamon editions should be impacted, as a precautionary measure, I suggest that all the Linux Mint ISOs downloaded after 18 February 2016 must be checked (explained later in the next section) to know if it's been compromised or not.
[Tweet "If you downloaded Linux Mint ISO after 19 Feb, you are at risk. #LinuxMintHacked"]
Check if your Linux Mint has been compromised or not?
If you still have the ISO, you should run a md5 checksum with the following command:
md5sum path_to_iso
In the end of this check, you should see a random number. Match them against their respective versions using the table below:
6e7f7e03500747c6c3bfece2c9c8394f  linuxmint-17.3-cinnamon-32bit.iso e71a2aad8b58605e906dbea444dc4983  linuxmint-17.3-cinnamon-64bit.iso 30fef1aa1134c5f3778c77c4417f7238  linuxmint-17.3-cinnamon-nocodecs-32bit.iso 3406350a87c201cdca0927b1bc7c2ccd  linuxmint-17.3-cinnamon-nocodecs-64bit.iso df38af96e99726bb0a1ef3e5cd47563d  linuxmint-17.3-cinnamon-oem-64bit.iso
If the checksum doesn't match with its corresponding edition, you have a compromised ISO.
Don't have ISO anymore but have a live USB/disk?
If you have a live USB or disk still with you, load the live session and run the following command in a terminal:
sudo ls -l /var/lib/man.cy
If it doesn't find the file, you are good. But if it finds the file, you have a compromised ISO.
What if you have the compromised ISO?
Get rid of the ISO. If you burnt it to DVD, trash the disc. If you used it on USB, do a full format of the USB stick.
If you have installed this ISO on a computer:
Put the system offline.
Backup your personal data, if any.
Reinstall the OS (with an uncompromised ISO) or format the partition (if you are dual booting).
Change your passwords for important websites such as your email, Facebook etc
How is Linux Mint handling this issue?
At the time of writing this article, Linux Mint website is down. No downloads are available for now.
Linux Mint team is backtracking the hackers and have found that the hacked ISOs are hosted on 5.104.175.212 and the backdoor connects to absentvodka.com. Both of these lead to Sofia, Bulgaria, and the name of 3 people over there.
Linux Mint stated:
We don't know their roles (those 3 people who are linked to the IP) in this, but if we ask for an investigation, this is where it will start.
What we don't know is the motivation behind this attack. If more efforts are made to attack our project and if the goal is to hurt us, we'll get in touch with authorities and security firms to confront the people behind this.
We need to wait and watch until the dust settles. This is a huge setback to the reputation of Linux Mint. But Linux Mint is not the first one to fall prey to the hackers. A few years back, Ubuntu Forums was hacked and the all user credentials were stolen.
In the cyber world, such attacks are not uncommon. I hope that Linux Mint takes control of the situation and focus more on the security of its websites and servers.
Meanwhile, have you been impacted with the malicious backdoor? What are your views on the entire Linux Mint hacking episode?
Beginner Friendly Gentoo Based Sabayon Linux Has a New Release
The team behind Sabayon Linux had issued a new release. We are going to take a quick look at what's involved in this new release. What is Sabayon Linux? First of all, some of you might be wondering what the heck is Sabayon? Sabayon is a rolling-release Linux distribution
John Paul Apr 21, 2018
Brazil Is Ditching Open Source For Microsoft
An old article from 2016. Brief: Apparently, Open Source alternatives to Microsoft Office is not good enough for Brazil and thus they are reverting to proprietary Microsoft Office and other Microsoft tools. The latest trend in Europe and developing countries was to ditch proprietary Microsoft Office and adopt an Open
Abhishek Nov 13, 2016


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Primary Education at Aberdeen produces inventive, motivated and very-skilled main teachers confident to perform with youngsters in any educational setting. Despite the fact that you will not want to pass any exams to be admitted to this degree, you will need to have to create your skills in English and reach a minimum level of B2 (for instance, by passing exams CLUC certificate , fifth course of the Official Language College or the CFC certificate) in the course of your initial year, and Level C1 ( EOI-C1 or CAE certificates) during your third year.
In the very first year of the degree course, students will study the 3 core subjects of English, maths and science, with a selection of other subjects related to the broader major curriculum. Our MA Primary Education programme is accredited by the Common Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), so on graduation you can apply for provisional registration as a main teacher.
You will cover places such as planning, implementing and evaluating studying experiences and applications the curriculum learning areas classroom management and teaching techniques theories of understanding Indigenous education and teaching kids with diverse leaning requirements.
The provision of education in Swaziland is presently guided by the 1999 'National Policy Statement on Education reviewed in 2011 MOET, 2011 and the National Constitution of 2005 Section 29 clause six on Education' 2005 which clearly states that Every Swazi youngster shall inside 3 years of the commencement of this Constitution have the proper to Free Education in public schools at least up to the end of grade 7". The National Policy and the Constitution is clear on the Government's intentions to supply BSIC Education of ten years, but inside the limits of 'Available financial and other resource capacities'.
The Primary Education degree delivers Certified Teacher Status (QTS) and is perfect for these committed to a teaching career in a main college. After graduating from the programme, you will be eligible for a 1-year induction education post in a primary school in Scotland.
The School is proud of its consistently optimistic feedback from employers who say Curtin teachers are of superb top quality and well ready for the education market. Students will continue to develop their expertise and abilities in the principal classroom by means of serial visits to schools (one particular day per week) with a final teaching placement at the finish of the year.
The principal school curriculum composed of the following subjects: – English, Mathematics, Science, Religious Education, SiSwati, French, Home Economics, Practical Art, and Physical Education. Enrolment: At the moment, there are 600 main schools like private schools in the country with an enrolment of 239,793 pupils even though the number of teachers is 4722 males and 7838 female teachers.
It shares the very same study program (objectives, subjects and curricular contents) with the degree in Primary Education in Catalan, with the aim of coaching experts ready to teach inside the context of the Catalan school system. If you are looking for a rewarding, stimulating and enjoyable career in teaching, Curtin supplies a higher good quality, well-regarded course for starting main college teachers.


Aisle seat or crammed between two large business travelers?
Would you say anything? Or would you take whatever came at you, whatever you were offered, and then stew about it later?
I usually have the perfect, polite but firm response to any given question... about three days later. And it doesn't even matter whether it's a tough question. I can put myself in a pretzel over whether the hostess would rather make tea or coffee. What would she prefer? I wouldn't want to put anyone out, after all. All of this to say: I may just be a chicken.
We have discussed here, blogishly, free range chickens (pooping on my next-door-neighbor's B&B), free-range children (not mine, usually), and the many (unfortunately unrealized on my farmette) uses for chicken poop. But we have never entered the territory of my chicken heart.
Okay, maybe once or twice I've hinted about how hard it is for me to be simply assertive. And then there was once I got miffed and called it mad and did something about it. Whew. That was fun. Go ahead and click on that last one. It's my favorite. And maybe you'll click back to hear about my latest struggle with saying what needs to be said.
I think I keep coming up against these situations because I need to, I don't know, change? Grow? Stop with the beating around the bush already?
These past couple of months we decided to homeschool the girls. I was completely terrified to inform the principal of our rural school. She is not a friend of mine, and I shouldn't be worried about hurting her feelings over this simple communication, but of course I have been. I have been worried to the extent that it resembles completely paralyzed and tongue-tied. I may have called the school district office six or seven times and been relieved that she wasn't in and further relieved that there's no voicemail.
Since that phone conversation, I must have needed some repetition of the skill. Because you know I have had two distinct and separate opportunities to practice using my words like a big girl.
I gladly admit that I'm a chicken and avoid confrontation at all costs. I will even go so far as to only go down the empty aisles at the grocery store so that I don't annoy anyone as I squeeze past them.
Although on the home front, well now, that's a different story.
Homeschool Legal Defense Organization? This is just the kind of thing they frown on.
i get to balance on both sides of the fence and let me tell you, It's a dangerous feat.
See, I hate conflict... So I avoid it like mad.
way to grow...a small set.
right there with you my chicky friend.
hey...where is the homeschooling questionnaire?


Earl Grey Vanilla Bubble Tea!
Bubble Tea is becoming more and more popular in the US. Here in Northern VA we have been seeing new bubble tea shops or existing cafes adding it to their menus all over. It is a fairly new concept, meaning it does not have deep historical roots. It's suspected origin only dates back to the 1980s when it because popular in Taiwan.
There are so many different variations of the drink. Many people caution that it is unhealthy because often times it is loaded with a lot of sugar. A lot of the time the tea is sweetened with sugary powders or sweetened condensed milk. When I was thinking about making my own tea I wanted to make a version that was much less sweet and lower in sugar.
When I order a bubble tea I find myself racing through the often very sugary drink just to get to the BOBA or tapioca ball. I sometimes joke that I just want a whole cup full of BOBA, hold the tea! I thought that it was called Bubble Tea because of the tapioca balls, a common misconception I found out when I read this article on Eat This, Not That!. The bubbles in bubble tea actually refers to the foam that forms on top of the tea when it is shaken. So, you could have bubble tea without the tapioca balls, but I don't know why you would want to!
In order to try this at home, I ordered black tapioca balls from here off Amazon. I am sure you can also find them at an Asian grocery store, or, if you are very ambitious you could make them yourself! I liked that the tapioca balls I ordered also came with the wide mouth straws because they are much larger than any straw you would find at the grocery store and they have to be in order to fit the tapioca balls through so you can enjoy some with each sip!
To make the tea, steep 4 bags of earl grey tea in 2 cups of boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Be careful not to over steep it or the tea will get bitter. Once it is steeped to your liking, remove the tea bags and bring the tea to room temperature.
Prepare the tapioca balls as instructed on the package directions (or following my instructions below) and then coat them in 2 tablespoons of honey. Once the tea is cooled, add the almond milk to the tea in a container that you can shake. Shake vigorously to mix and form foam at the top.
Scoop half the tapioca balls into each cup, pour milk tea over top.
Remember to enjoy with a wide-mouthed straw!


text:
Common Core & ELLs: Teacher Reflections ›
Meet the Teachers: Albuquerque ›
Ellen Bernstein
Albuquerque Teachers Federation
Dr. Ellen Bernstein is the President of the Albuquerque Federation of Teachers. In this interview, she discusses the importance of teacher input in the planning process for the Common Core, as well as the need for sufficient time to prepare for the new standards.
ATF President Ellen Bernstein
This whole project is about the Common Core State Standards and how to adapt those standards and ensure that English language learners have access to the same standards that the general population is expected to have access to. So what kind of teaching strategies, what kind of lesson plans, how do you start from the standard, and then be, make sure that you adapt lesson plans and have other strategies and materials so that English language learners have access.
So it ended up being a partnership between WETA, the public TV station; and Albuquerque Teachers Federation with support from the AFT Innovation Grant and it's been wonderful. We sent out applications to the teachers in Albuquerque and said, "If you have expertise in teaching English language learners and you're in first, fourth or eighth grade, please apply."
At that point in time most of the teachers in Albuquerque hadn't even ever heard of the Common Core State Standards, you know, the whole initiative was so new. And we ended up attracting just an amazing cadre of teachers working together to create what I think are exemplary materials for other teachers in the nation.
Professional development and ATF
One of the things that we've been building for years in our union is the idea that unionism and professionalism are one in the same; that we always focus on the practical needs of the people we represent, things like their working conditions and their salaries. Those are important and we will never ignore them, but in addition one of the things that is equally as important are the professional needs and the support for the kind of intellectual engagement in the work of teaching that every teacher craves.
So over the past decade or more we've been developing and adding on to this great infrastructure that is a whole part of our union where we employ teachers to teach other teachers about a variety of things, cutting-edge research in the field. We support them to get their national board certification. We focus on many different things and it's all teacher designed and teacher led and then we attract other teachers to come and learn with us.
Since we already had this professional development infrastructure in place, it was an easy fit to add on the Common Core and the focus on English language learners. So we just developed another part of a program that we're very used to working with.
I'm interested in this for a couple of reasons. One, because paramount is teacher expertise and teacher voice in anything that is expected to make a change in public education. It is only from the teacher's perspective that the changes will make a positive difference and be able to be used by other teachers.
So my first interest as a union president when this opportunity came our way was to ensure that teachers' voices are first and foremost in this reform effort. There are a lot of companies out there that are going to sell materials to districts and to teachers that don't involve teachers. So I know I'm tired and I think everybody I represent is tired of things being done to teachers rather than coming from teachers and our expertise.
And then of course in Albuquerque, New Mexico, there are a lot of teachers in this district that have expertise both in teaching English language learners and also in bilingual education. So I knew based on our history as a district and the way that we've been teaching here for a very long time that there were a lot of people with expertise in all of those areas.
Teacher ownership of Common Core State Standards
One of the reasons I personally am excited about the Common Core is because of the way they're written. For decades I've been listening to experts in education from this country and other countries talk about how in American education we have this tradition of teaching very thin but very broadly so every single grade level we're repeating and repeating and repeating. And especially in the last decade we've relied just on facts and skills and we haven't tried to build in our students the kind of understanding that is necessary to apply knowledge later in multiple situations.
So the Common Core is written with the idea that we're no longer going to go thin and wide, we're going to go deep and we're going to go deep with very few concepts. We're going to use facts and skills to support the conceptual understanding so they no longer become the means and the end but they really support student understanding. Now, if we can make that transition in American education, that is exciting to me.
And the only way that that's going to be successful is if teachers own this. Textbook companies can't own this. Politicians cannot own this. We cannot be public policied into teaching the right way. Teachers have to own this. So essential in that, I have decided, is union ownership and teacher engagement of the possibility of the Common Core to go beyond what the assumptions are.
I think every single district, every single union president has to understand that this is going to be really chaotic and messy; that we're shifting, if we do it right, we're shifting everything about norms in public education and it's going to be a benefit to every single future kid, every student we ever teach. But if we expect every, if we expect teachers to teach to high stakes tests and implement these standards well and shift the way they teach to be deep and take time for understanding, then it will be a failure because those are competing agendas.
We have to let teachers own this and the systems have to put up with the transition and the chaos and stop putting high stakes on these current tests and pressure on teachers to do it all perfectly right away.
Diane's role
One of the great things about this partnership is that in addition to the expertise of the teachers, we have brought in the expertise of Diane August, who has such a deep background and broad knowledge in English language learners and the Common Core. So bringing together her expertise along with the expertise of the teachers ensures that what we're producing for WETA is that wonderful mix of research and practice coming together that's essential for all classroom teaching.
Challenges of Common Core
One of the things that surprised me about this project is how much I've learned about how teachers have been asked to think about their practice in the last 10 years, 12 years since No Child Left Behind. I found out how fortunate I was to transition from my elementary classroom into the role of union president before No Child Left Behind where I had a lot of efficacy.
I had an incredible amount of autonomy and creativity that I was able to apply to my practice. When we started working with the Common Core Standards and we started struggling with, "What does it mean when you start with the standard and not the program that you've been told to teach with?" You start planning with a standard and you use multiple resources to support the learning activities that are focused on a standard.
I found that the teachers for the most part, that were so carefully selected for their insights and their creativity and their expertise, were in a box. The system that they had been working in, even the ones, you know, whether they'd been teaching 3 years or 33 years, they saw these ways of teaching that really they had to unlearn.
We had to start deconstructing that box of fidelity to a program, covering the curriculum. And we had to revisit something that I was so fortunate to learn when I was teaching and that is standards-based education is not standardized. When you have good, well-written standards, not lists of discreet skills but really deep conceptual understanding that are grade-level appropriate and you start with that and you bring in your creativity and your expertise and so many different resources and that can include the ones your district bought and told you to use for the last 10 years, but it doesn't exclude others.
And really kind of grappling with that I found to be harder than I ever expected.
What I noticed that the teachers found really challenging was at the beginning when we started, their frame of reference was the school district. And I was asking them to think way beyond what their school does and their principal allows and the district says they have to do. I was asking them to go way beyond the confines of their everyday life.
And it was so hard because the majority, in fact all of the teachers that are working in the project, had never had that opportunity. They had never dreamed of teaching and what lessons would look like if they weren't bound by other people's rules, if they were only asked, "Tie it to the standard." And what I saw especially in some of the newer teachers was this, "But we have to do this," and then the challenge of, "No, you don't have to because you're not doing this according to those rules. You're doing this according to best practice." And just the tension between what they live in and what could be took a while to get over.
This project has given these teachers a chance to work together and learn together. I don't think any of us ever expected to learn this much. And every single time, there is just like this, "Okay. We finished this part." Kind of like the settling down and moving on. It's like, "Oh. Let's revisit it. Let's rethink. Let's learn more and push, just push ourselves a little more to think even deeper about this work."
And so I think what the teachers enjoyed was working with their colleagues, struggling with their colleagues. And I think if you ask them in a year or two years, they're going to talk about the learning. They may feel a little tired right now, but they will talk about how much they learned.
A-ha moments
One of the things I've noticed working with this cadre of 16 teachers over this whole year is even though occasionally there's an epiphany or, "Aha. I connected to something I had learned or something I had heard," really what this is, is slow and steady work. Slow kind of engaging but difficult work.
So as the teachers have struggled with, "How do I plan a lesson that starts with the standard? How do I create the strategies that truly engage kids, give them access to complex text, but how do I ensure that access to the complex text isn't the endpoint to the lesson but a means to access complex thinking?" That has been just constant, steady progress towards putting that in a lesson, putting that in a series of lessons.
Advice for teachers on Common Core
As teachers across the nation start to read, which I think a lot of them have, but as teachers across the nation start to read the math and the English language arts standards, there are two things. One, if you're feeling overwhelmed, just keep reading and thing about what is essential for the students I teach to really know, understand, and do and look for that in the standards. Look for the way the standards are written to support that.
Secondly, rethink what you hold dear to your heart as, "But I always do it that way. But I like teaching this unit on time in this grade and they have time in this grade." It's okay. We're going to have to let go of some of that, of what we're used to. But they're written in a way to support deep conceptual understanding so we have to embrace that.
And another thing, when there's a huge shift like this in everything that we've gotten used to about public ed., and this has that potential, people tend to reassure people, "Oh, don't worry. It's really not that much of a change. You just keep doing what you've always done. You just, you know, do it a little bit differently."
If as teachers we listen to that and we think that we don't have to really reflect on our practice and rethink our assumptions and demand that the system and the policies do the same thing, then we're kidding ourselves. And these standards and the way they're written will not have the positive impact on public education that they could have.
Making time for Common Core
One of the things I'm asking my district right now on behalf of the teachers is let's really look at everything we're asking teachers to do and take something off their plates so they can focus on the Common Core. If we don't allow that focus, it will be over -- it will be overwhelming anyway because it's a huge shift in the way we have been conceiving education in America, you know, since I was a kid. Since everybody was a kid.
So what I would like to tell all teachers is keep breathing and think about your best dream for how to teach. Not coverage teaching, not transmission teaching where you open the kid's head and you pour in the right amount and you move them down the assembly line, but teaching for understanding. The kind of engagement and hands-on practice that sometimes we only kind of remember or we don't do any more.
Think of your best dreams for projects that you'd want to do that involve lots of different content area -- areas and really kids working collaboratively in groups. Think of the language development inherent in all of that. Think of the deep understanding necessary to do that and dream like that so that as you're working on changing your practice and working with the Common Core, you've got that dream and then you've got it to keep you kind of going 'cause this is a lot of work to shift the way we practice now to the way we want to practice.
Results of the project
The district came to me maybe a month or two ago and said, "We're very worried about this elementary school. It's really, you know, the school has a lot of diversity, a lot of poverty. There are a lot of English language learners. We don't think the kids there are doing well. We want to rethink this school. Would you like to do this with us?" And so the idea we came up with was instead of implementing the Common Core like the state is mandating K-3, we're going to do K-5. So it's school-wide Common Core implementation next year.
It's going to be a magnet school, hopefully a demonstration school so other teachers from around the rest of the district can come and watch. And it's going to focus on English language learners. So we've got this Common Core Standards demonstration focus on English language learners magnet school. And it's very exciting because there's going to be new leadership. We're going to advertise for teachers to either, you know, who want to stay there or to come into that school.
They're going to have more time. It's an extra-time school so that they can work collaboratively to really think deeply about their practice and be, you know, someplace where, you know, that practice is an exemplar for the rest of the district as they work on these shifts in their instructional practice. And then we're going to look at community supports and wraparound services. You know, this is a school where the kids are very transient. The parents have to move very often.
So what will it take for example to have a whole separate bus just for this elementary that goes throughout the city picking up the kids regardless of where they live and bringing them back to their home school? So we're just, we're excited. We're playing with ideas, but the core of the school will be Common Core-English language learners.
Born and raised in Albuquerque, NM, Dr. Ellen Bernstein began her career in public education as a sign language interpreter prior to becoming a classroom teacher and taught in the Albuquerque Public Schools for a total of 17 years. Over the course of her teaching career, Dr. Bernstein developed expertise in multi-age level teaching and inclusion and became a National Board Certified teacher.
Throughout her teaching career, Dr. Bernstein has been a union activist and worked her way through the ranks of involvement and leadership before being elected ATF President, an office which she has now held for 11 years. Her doctoral dissertation examined the close link between unionism and professionalism, and as ATF President, Dr. Bernstein has shown a strong commitment to building effective, teacher-led professional development structures within the union such as the ATF Teacher Leadership Foundation.
Dr. Bernstein continues to expand her role as a unionist and advocate for public education. She is active in the American Federation of Teachers as a member of the AFT Program and Policy Council. She has most recently taken on the role of co-director of the Teacher Union Reform Network (TURN) and has participated in district-wide planning for the Common Core State Standards funded by the Gates Foundation.
This project is a collaboration between the Albuquerque Federation of Teachers and Colorín Colorado, and is funded by the American Federation of Teachers Innovation Fund.


For the best part of 2 years we have been living in China, and we take every opportunity to get out of our city and explore what China has to offer. However, I don't often take the time to write about it here, and thought I would make this trip an exception.
Aside from providing an update of what we are up to, I also feel as though there is not enough information in English online about how to visit the Nanjing County tulous, and I wanted to share some of our experiences here. That said, the tulous offer a really unique insight into rural Chinese life, communal living, and alternative culture existing in China.
The Tulous (translated from Chinese as: Earth Buildings) are round houses made from natural resources. They are built up to 5 floors high and house up to 300 people. Some of them have housed the same families for over 25 generations. The houses are usually round in shape and feature a courtyard area in the centre. We were informed that the bottom floor usually features the kitchen areas so that water isn't used in abundance on higher levels. It was amazing to imagine that someone could live their whole life in one circle, surrounded by the people they know and trust.
Despite this, we learnt that the clans who live in the tulous did so for more reasons than to simply live in close proximity to each other. Instead, rival clans used to fight a lot so the round houses were built as a form of defence from rival families. Today, it seems harmonious though.
Most of the tulous we visited were still inhabited by families who were more than welcoming to curious tourists like us. However, one must presume that many of the tulou inhabitants would have recently left their ancestral home in order to seek employment and wealth when the mass migration to the coastal cities began.
Anyway, our journey began from Ningbo and after researching our trip to the tulous we decided to book a train to Nanjing County, Fujian. Most of the information online points to travelling to the tulous from Xiamen (the nearest large city), but Nanjing is closer to the clusters and many trains stop there on the way to Xiamen from Shanghai etc. In fact, the train station itself is designed in the shape of a tulou.
Despite booking our tickets for the following Saturday we managed to charm the ticket inspector into letting us on our intended train with the promise that we didn't mind standing up. In the end it turned out to be 6 hours of musical chairs as we prayed on empty seats. A flight to Xiamen would have taken us less than 2 hours, and a 3 hour bus from there would have taken us to the tulou clusters. But we decided to take the 6 hour train to take us directly and cut out the need to stay in Xiamen for the night.
Upon arrival in Nanjing, Fujian we realised that we were in the middle of nowhere. Unlike the busy city life on the East coast, there were no taxis or buses here. Instead there were touts offering us transport to the tulou clusters. We had previously booked a small hotel not far from the station (or so we thought). After a lengthy discussion with a driver we agreed to pay 220rmb our 45km drive to the hotel (as we arrived close to 10pm we took our chances on this being a good deal).
In the end we were very glad that we didn't end up going to Xiamen instead though as we would have had to pay for a night in a hotel and missed the experience of arriving in YunShuiYao ancient town late in the night. We quickly noticed that the temperature had dropped significantly and we checked into our cheap hotel promptly to find it very cosy, modern and comfortable.
It is worth noting that there are two Unesco areas here. The first, Yun Shui Yao, requires 90rmb for tourists to enter. The second, Tian Luo Keng requires 100rmb. People visiting may wish to select one or both of these locations depending on budget.
Websites recommended an 8:30 bus to the tulou clusters from Xiamen, requiring a change in Shuyang town. Yet, we found ourselves waking up right in the middle of it all. We were very lucky with the weather and went for a morning stroll through the narrow streets of the ancient town and out beside the glisteningly clean river. Here we had our first site of an ancient inhabited tulou, built on the bank of the river. We were invited in by a resident who offered us tea and allowed us to walk to the third floor to see the views from the top (she asked us for 5rmb for the privilege but we later found out we didn't need to pay. We didn't mind supporting her though).
From there we had a short walk towards He Gui Lou, a rectangular tulou with over 200 years of history. Inside many of the residence appeared to have become cigarette makers and were keen for us to buy from them.
We spent the rest of the morning walking along the river of the ancient town, taking in the fresh rural air and enjoying the morning sun. We visited another larger Tulou named Huai Yuan Lou before having an inexpensive rice cake and noodle lunch beside a mill (which supposedly featured in a famous film).
Our next step was to return to our previous hotel to pick up our luggage and make our way to Tian Lou Keng where we would be residing inside one of the ancient communal buildings. In order to get there from YunShuiYao we needed to catch the green public bus (number 6) to the tourist centre. You can catch the bus directly from the road on the opposite side of the river. The journey took about 15 minutes and cost 3rmb.
We were expecting scores of tourists at the tourist centre, particularly as we were visiting during Qing Ming (tomb sweeping) holiday. To our surprise there was hardly anyone in the centre and we had not seen a single foreigner up until this point. It is worth noting that there are no ATMs anywhere, and Alipay is currently used scarcely. We found this out the hard way.
Once we paid for the Unesco Heritage entry we waited to board a bus to the tulou cluster. We were again surprised to find that the bus needed 10 people to justify the journey and we had to wait for others to arrive. This would seem normal anywhere else, but we very rarely have to wait for people to fill up a bus in China.
The area is very well prepared for tourism, with dozens of buses waiting to take people. Yet, there were fewer than 10 people in total. We were not to complain about getting away from the crowds.
We told the driver that we would be staying in Ta Xia Village for the night, and we kindly offered us and the 8 other passengers a proposal. He suggested that, since there were so few people, he would take us to different tulou clusters and wait for us to return to the bus before moving on meaning he could 'drop the two foreigners off' at their village at the end of the trip. Everyone was happy with this convenient arrangement, especially as it meant transport for the day was sorted for 15rmb.
Our first visit was the most famous of them all, TianLuoKeng itself. This is the most famous cluster, and the image that you see most frequently on Google searches. This is mainly because it is magnificent. From above the cluster you can see the 5 earth buildings contributing to the community with the spectacular backdrop of the hills. This is known locally as '4 dishes, 1 soup' due to its layout. It was this view that I had wanted to see when persuading Nicki to visit Fujian. It now appeared that we had been successful in our mission and it felt a lot like mission accomplished.
We then descended down the hill to visit inside the tulous and observe the structures from the outside. We both found it fascinating to consider that they were fully functional homes as it would be easy to think of them attractions instead. There were people drying flowers in the sun for tea, drying laundry on lines, and sitting around chatting. We were in a community.
After hoping back on the bus we made a short journey to Yu Chang Lou, which I believe is the tallest tulou with 5 levels.
Our final stop was our final one, Ta Xia Village. We found ourselves walking along the quaint town trying to find our accommodation. When we didn't stumble across it by chance I asked a local, who offered to take us in his car instead of trusting us with his directions. It was that kind of hospitality which cemented our love for the area.
When we arrived at the accommodation we were not disappointed. We stayed at Nanjing QingDeLou Inn, which is a historic earth building converted into a very hospitable homestay for visitors. Its main selling point is that you get to spend the night in tulou-esque accommodation, in a room surrounding a nice courtyard. We were given a ground floor room, which meant we heard every creak from the movement above as the wooden structure had no noise or heat insulation. This may sound like a negative, but it is not. It really added to the authenticity of our stay. During the night the hosts allowed for guests to socialise in the middle of the courtyard, which is perhaps how social living should be. We woke up the next day satisfied with the knowledge that we had spent the night in an ancient tulou.
We spent the next day relaxing in our calm surroundings and did not leave Ta Xia village. We walked along the river in the morning towards De Yuan Yang, an ancestral monument towering above the village where spires representing ancestors stand proudly.
Reminding ourselves that we were on holiday, we took the time to relax in the afternoon, taking full advantage of the suntrap courtyard of our tulou, taking in the atmosphere of a riverside restaurant, and indulging in a few local beers.
It was then time for our final night in Fujian before the kind host offered to take us on the 90-minute journey back to Nanjing Station for 200rmb, rather than leaving the evening before (which would be required for a public bus).
So many things could have (and probably should have) gone wrong on this trip. However, with a bit of luck, kindness, and research we came away with one of our favourite memories from our time in China. I would not be surprised if tourism really took off in Nanjing County, but a little part of me hopes that it stays as unique and special as it is now.
Previous Ubud, Bali: Endlessly Eating.


Tip off at Crisler Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. tonight. Join the discussion in the attached thread.
Umhoops getting a shout out by the broadcast team!
Maybe X should try the hook from 3.
Don't get the Charles hate, he's clamping down on defense tonight.


text:
CSS Coding Standards
====================

Consenso acerca de nuestros estándares de codificación para:

* Sintaxis y formato de CSS.
* Convenciones para nombrar.
* Arquitectura de nuestro CSS, incluyendo objetivos, errores a evitar y buenas prácticas.

## Tabla de Contenidos

  1. [Sintaxis y formato](#sintaxis-y-formato)
  1. [Orden y especificidad](#orden-y-especificidad)
  1. [Uso de whitespace](#uso-de-whitespace)
  1. [Comentarios](#comentarios)
  1. [Lectura adicional](#fuentes)

## Sintaxis y formato

A manera general queremos:

* Indentar con **2** espacios, no tabs.
* Uso significativo de espacio en blanco.
* Uso de minúsculas y nombres en inglés para selectores por clase.
* Cambio de palabra separado por un guión (-), ejem. `.menu-item`
* Columnas con ancho no mayor a 80 caracteres; configure su IDE o editor de texto.
* Cuide el [orden y especificidad](#orden-y-especificidad), evite darle *estilo* a IDs y sobrecalificar selectores.
* Evite el uso del * wildcard selector.
* Como regla general, evite anidación innecesaria, y nunca anidar más de tres niveles. Si no puede evitarlo, de un paso atrás y reconsidere su estrategia.
* Evite anidar selectores: [selectores descendientes son los selectores más lentos](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Guide/CSS/Writing_efficient_CSS#Guidelines_for_Efficient_CSS).
* Evite especificar unidades cuando el valor es 0 (cero), ejemplo,
  * `margin: 0;` en lugar de `margin: 0px;`
  * `border: 0;` en lugar de `border: none;`
  * `background-position: 0 0;` en lugar de `background-position: 0% 0%;`
* Siempre que aplique, utilice shorthand, `margin: 20px 0;` en lugar de `margin: 20px 0 20px 0;`
* Pero evite utilziar shorthand cuando es innecesario, `margin-bottom: 20px;` en lugar de `margin: 0 0 20px;`
* Use shorthand para valores hex cuando sea posible, ejemplo, `#fff` en lugar de `#ffffff`
* Use minúsculas para todos los valores hexadecimales, ejem., `#fff`.
* Todas las declaraciones deben terminar con un punto y coma (;).
* Propiedades que tienen valores separados por coma, deben incluir un espacio despues de cada coma (ejem. rgb(0, 0, 0)).
* Todo archivos de extensión **.css** debe estar incluido en el folder /css del proyecto.

#### Anatomía de una regla:

```css
selector {
  propiedad: valor;
  [<--declaración--->]
}
[<--Regla o ruleset--->]
```

### Convenciones para nombrar

* [Principios](#principios)
* [Namespaces](#namespaces)
* [Abreviaciones](#abreviaciones)

#### Principios:

Cualquier nombre que se utiliza directamente en el HTML (class/id) deben tener en cuenta [estos principios](https://github.com/stubbornella/oocss/wiki/FAQ):

* **Claridad** - comportamiento esperado / estilo debe ser inmediatamente obvio.
* **Semántica** - lo que un objeto es (funcionalidad), importa más que como se ve.
* **Genérico** - el nombre debe aplicar para la mayoría de los sitios. Nombres demasiado específicos reducen el número de casos de uso, ó causa que clases semánticas sean utilizados en una forma no semántica.
* **Brevedad** - cada byte cuenta, así que mantenga nombres tan cortos como sea posible, pero siempre y cuando sea necesario. Nombres más de 5-7 caracteres deben ser abreviados.

Siempre usamos minúscula, y el cambio de palabra separado por guión (*-*). Esto aplica para: selectores por clase ó id:

```css
// Mal
.main_top {
  color: #FFC20E;
}

// Bien
.main-top {
  color: #ffc20e;
}
```

#### Namespaces:

* Cuando seleccionamos elementos en el DOM con Javascript lo ideal es hacerlo via: ID's (preferiblemente) y, cuando son multiples elementos, usamos clasess con el prefijo **js-** , por ejemplo `js-submenu`. Estas clases **nunca** deben ser utilizadas para *styling*.
* Sugerimos usar [BEM](http://getbem.com/naming/) como convención para nombrar Clases.

#### Abreviaciones:

Como regla general, nombres de más de 5-7 caracteres deben ser abreviados, sin embargo, no sacrificamos la **claridad** por brevedad. Algunas ideas de abreviaciones:

* configuration => config
* introduction => intro
* subcategory => subcat
* category => cat

## Orden y especificidad
Las reglas se deben escribir de tal manera que, utilicemos la Cascada y la Herencia a nuestro favor, y siempre tratar de que la Especificidad este a un nivel similar (en la medida de lo posible).

#### Especificidad

* Escribir los bloques de reglas en un orden específico: reset, third party, elementos, patrones, objetos, componentes, etc **No** escribir las reglas según el orden en que los elementos se muestran en la página.
* En la medida de lo posible, las reglas subsecuentes deben heredar no sobreescribir.
* Selector por Etiqueta - sólo usarlas cuando sabemos que a nivel global se van a utilizar.
* Selector por Clase - siempre es preferible darle *estilo* a selectores de tipo clase (.nombre-selector).
* IDs - evitar darle *estilo* a IDs. Incluso si el ID ya existe en la página, es mejor añadir una clase y darle *estilo*.
* Evitar sobrecalificar selectores, esto incrementa la especificidad, limita la reutilización y son menos eficientes (más trabajo para el browser)
* Evitar anidar innecesariamente. `.header .menu .item a {}`
* Evitar *encadenar* selectores. `.nav-item.expanded`

```css
// Evitar sobrecalificar selectores

// Mal
p.intro {

}

// Bien
.intro {

}
```

```css
// Evitar anidar innecesariamente

// Mal
.slide .panel-slide {

}

// Bien
.panel-slide {

}
```

```css
// Evitar encadenar selectores

// Mal
.message.error{

}

// Bien
.msj-error {

}
```

#### Orden
Ordenar de forma alfanumérica, a excepción de donde se puede romper la Cascada.

* En la hoja de estilos: pseudo-selectores (:after, :active, :before, :hover, :link, :visited), etiquetas antes que clases y antes que ids - orden natural de la especificidad.

**Etiquetas y clases:**
```css
// Mal
.product-list {

}

p {

}

a:hover {

}

ul {

}

// Bien
a:hover {

}

p {

}

ul {

}

.product-list {

}
```

## Uso de whitespace

#### Indentación
Indentamos con **2 espacios**, no tabs. Puede configurar su editor para que lo realice de manera automática.

```css
// Mal
selector {
    propiedad: valor;
}

// Bien
selector {
  propiedad: valor;
}
```

#### espacios
Una declaración (propiedad y valor) por línea.

```css
// Mal
selector {
  propiedad: valor; propiedad: valor; propiedad: valor;
}

// Bien
selector {
  propiedad: valor;
  propiedad: valor;
  propiedad: valor;
}
```

Un espacio antes **{** (*bracket que abre*).

```css
// Mal
selector{

/* Bien */
selector {
```

Cierre en su propia línea **}** (*bracket que cierra*).

```css
// Mal
selector { }

// Bien
selector {

}
```

Espacio después de **:** (dos puntos), **;** (punto y coma) y **,** (comas).

```css
// Mal
selector {
  color:red;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;
}

// Bien
selector {
  color: red;
  font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
}
```

#### nueva línea
Después de cada regla incluimos nueva línea

```css
// Mal
selector {
    propiedad: valor;
}
selector {
    propiedad: valor;
}

// Bien
selector {
  propiedad: valor;
}

selector {
  propiedad: valor;
}
```

Cuando agrupamos selectores, cada selector en su propia línea

```css
// Mal
selector, selector2, selector3 {
    propiedad: valor;
}

// Bien
selector,
selector2,
selector3 {
  propiedad: valor;
}
```

#### strings comillas dobles (" ")

```css
// Mal
selector {
    font-family: 'Goudy Bookletter 1911', sans-serif;
}

// Bien
selector {
  font-family: "Goudy Bookletter 1911", sans-serif;
}
```

## Comentarios
El código es escrito y mantenido por personas. Asegúrese de que su código sea descriptivo, este bien comentado, y sea accesible por otros. Un código bien comentado transmite contexto o propósito. No se limite a reiterar un nombre de componente o clase.

Asegúrese de escribir en oraciones completas para comentarios más grandes y frases concisas para las notas generales.

Siempre dejamos un espacio antes del comentario.

```css
// Mal
selector {
    width: 100% !important; /* Sobreescribo */
}

// Bien
selector {
  width: 100% !important; /* Comentario explicando porque el uso de !import */
}
```

Debido a que, vamos a eliminar los comentarios de las hojas de estilo en la versión de producción, no se preocupe por la longitud de lo que escribe. Al mismo tiempo, nuestro objetivo debe ser: escribir código que se autoexplique sin necesidad de comentarios.

## Fuentes

* [CSS Style Guides - CSS-Tricks ](https://css-tricks.com/css-style-guides/)
* [Writing efficient CSS - MDN ](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Guide/CSS/Writing_efficient_CSS)
* [Code Guide by @mdo](http://codeguide.co/)
* [BEM](http://getbem.com/naming/)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Customers who are residents of the USA, please fill in the Declaration form.
Customers who are residents and not citizens of the USA, please fill in the W-8Ben form.
Scan all the requried files for uploding to E-Payment purchasing Application (extensions has to be png ,jpg or pdf with maximun size 1MB per file).


text:
Nashville Funeral and Cremation
Nashville Crematorium
Convenient to I-24/I-40/I-65 and all area hospitals
210 McMillin Street
Hospice/Caregivers
Begin Planning Now
Richard (Ric) Allan McCue
Richard (Ric) Allan McCue, 66, of Hermitage, TN, died March 24, 2019, following a two-year battle with lung cancer.
He was born January 25, 1953, to the late James and Mary McCue in Sycamore, IL. Ric graduated with a bachelor's degree from Northern Illinois University. He served in the U.S. Army in Germany, Korea, Washington, and Virginia, finishing out his military career as a captain.
Ric had an affinity for computers and worked with them after returning to civilian life. He progressed from software developer to systems analyst and ultimately managed a quality assurance team for Sprint, moving from Kansas City to Nashville for his work.
Ric also loved motorcycles and one of his prized possessions was a Harley Dyna. He was known for his generosity: one small example is the motorcycle trailer he donated for the Lois Layton-Noriega Memorial Wheelchair Relay, destination St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.
Ric is survived by his wife, Carol Jaquith McCue, and two children from his marriage to Chae Ferguson: Katherine (Kat) McCue, of Brooklyn, NY; and Robert (Bobby) McCue, of Overland Park, KS. He is also survived by: his son-in-law, Evan Ruster; his brothers, John McCue and James (Jim) McCue, both of Sycamore; their wives; and two nieces and two nephews. His sister, Vicky McCue, predeceased him.
In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made to Greatest Needs at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. Family services will be held at a later date.
Offer Condolence for the family of Richard (Ric) Allan McCue
Please share your message of condolence with the family, It will be visible to the public but your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Obituary Guidelines
First, locate the condolence form to the left and below any other condolences. Then you will need to fill out some basic information prior to typing your message. (We will not share your e-mail address with anyone). Once you are finished typing your message, simply click the submit condolence button. It may take up to 24 hours for your message to appear.
Copyright © 2020 Nashville Funeral and Cremation 2019, All Rights Reserved
Nashville Funeral and Cremation | 210 McMillin Street | Nashville, TN 37203 | (615)256-1605


Optus is continuing to ramp up its regional mobile coverage, installing additional satellite small cells across five different locations in the Northern Territory and six locations in South Australia.
The South Australian satellite small cell locations include Cadney Park, Marla, Dalhousie Springs, Mt Dare hotel, Wilpena Pound, and Maralinga.
Meanwhile, the Northern Territory satellite small cell locations cover Kulgera, Mt Ebenezer Roadhouse, Ross River Homestead, Simpsons Gap Visitor Centre, and Glen Helen Homestead.
The investment follows the Federal Government's announcement of funding for the second round of its Mobile Black Spots Program, which saw Optus responsible for building 13 sites across Northern Territory to address mobile black spots.
According to Optus, these small cells units provide the potential for an "inexpensive and flexible alternative" to traditional mobile towers. The company said that the technology delivers mobile phone coverage up to a three kilometre radius depending on the surrounding topography.
When used in conjunction with satellite connectivity and existing backhaul, it expands mobile broadband coverage in a concentrated local area in rural, remote and previously unserviced locations.
Optus Networks acting managing director, Dennis Wong, said the company has invested significantly in this technology to strengthen and broaden its mobile network coverage in regional areas.
"This rollout is a natural progression following the small cell infrastructure that was successfully delivered in the Northern Territory earlier this year.
"We've seen that this technology delivers a choice in mobile services for workers and residents in and around key locations, as well as providing for visitors, making it a vital improvement to our network in remote regions," he said.
Wong also added that Optus will continue to expand and innovate in providing mobile and satellite solutions for its customers across Australia.
The company most recently also boosted its 4G services at more than 10 sites across Canberra to improve data coverage, download speeds and voice quality for its mobile customers in October last year.
This is in addition to the distribution deal it inked with regional distributor, NAS Australia, in November 2016 to push its SatSleeve product range into regional and remote parts of Australia.


The Kiko goat was developed as a maternal breed of meat goat by its developers in New Zealand. One of the primary objectives was excellent milk production. Another was frame size and muscling. Hardiness, disease resistance and productivity are the Kiko goats strengths. Thousands of does were evaluated and only the does who met the developers goals were allowed to continue, this selection process resulted in a breed with excellent mothering ability and the ability to wean many healthy kids during her reproductive lifespan. Here at Gold Country Kikos, I put a heavy emphasis on the quality of my does so as to maintain and improve the characteristics that the Kiko goat was developed for. All of my does are selected for production first, conformation and temperament are a close second and third. The doe, in my opinion, is the most important factor in a successful meat goat program and I value them very highly. I keep my does as close to nature as possible with very little supplemental feeding, I do of course provide a mineral and protein block from time to time. I choose to challenge my does so as to identify any weakness that may be present and prevent the weakness from being established in future generations. Only the very best are allowed to reproduce. Below you can see pictures of my current foundation does and a few doelings that I believe will impact the future. I want to thank Paul and Bonnie Murphy for providing excellent stock to the California Gold Rush sale,the "Golden Boy" genetics are well represented and appreciated here at Gold Country Kikos. I am currently using two daughters of "Little Joe" one full sister to "Little Joe", and three direct daughters of " Golden Boy", in my line breeding program.
This is "Wild Thing" a excellent daughter from " Little Joe". Her dam is Buffy a non registered high % Kiko from the old WACO herd via Cow Pony Kikos.Wild Thing is a 1/2 sister to my herd sire Rising Star. Wild Thing bred two very fine doelings with her first kidding they have excellent conformation.Wild Thing has been sold.
This is Buffy, a super mother and a fine dam. Buffy is a old line, high % Kiko from the old WACO herd. Currently exposed to Rising Star. Buffy bred two fine bucklings that are very fast growing and colorful. Buffy was sold in the summer of 2013.
Buffy and Wild Thing, Wild thing is 3/4 the size of her mother and still nursing!
This 50% Kiko 50% Boer doe is " Dobie" a non registered doe currently exposed to 'Rising Star". I bred some excellent 3/4 Kiko kids from this pairing in 2012. A son and a daughter both are tan linebacks with white points, her son may be the fastest growth animal on the ranch, her daughter is a keeper for sure! Dobie bred a outstanding buckling in 2012, a tri color that we call "Tre".
Tre is already servicing does at 8 mos old.
kidded a single buckling, he is a spotted buckling with great conformation and fast growth we call him "3 Spot"
3 Spot served as a excellent herd sire in 2012.
Here is a very fine doeling from CPK, 100% NZ, she is tall, full bodied and correct. She is very close to my ideal doe. She was exposed to "Rising Star" for linebred Golden Boy kids. In 2012 she produced triplets, all blue eyed,one paint and two white. This was her first time kidding and she is doing a great job. This doe is exposed to "Nate" a fine half Kiko half Savanna buck .
"CPK Painted Lady" is a direct daughter of "Little Joe" and dam to "Aztec's Gold". Painted Lady has been sold.
The large doe on the right is V18 100% NZ, another proven doe who always produces twins. V18 is pictured with her doeling from "Titans Aztec". Titans Aztec has sired some excellent kids, his sire "Titan" has the highest Average Daily Gain on record .Titan sired Hammer who posted gains of .91 daily in the second 30 day period of a forage only test. These two represent some genetic diversity to my tight genetic pool.


text:
Yemen's legitimate government reject cooperating with UN team of experts
File photo of Yemeni foreign minister at the United Nations. (Supplied)
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Saturday 29 September 2018
The Yemeni legitimate government announced on Saturday that it will "not cooperate" with the United Nations team of experts after the UN Human Rights Council voted Friday to extend the mandate of the investigative mission.
The Yemeni government said in a statement that it would "not cooperate with the group in terms of its right as a member state of the United Nations not to interfere in its internal affairs."
On Friday, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain issued a joint statement on the failure of the Human Rights Council to adopt a unified draft resolution on the situation in Yemen, stressing its commitment to put its measure under the tenth item of the agenda of the Human Rights Council.
The new joint statement stressed the failure of the Human Rights Council to adopt a unified draft resolution on the situation in Yemen despite the care and cooperation shown by the delegation of the Yemeni legitimacy and the concerned countries to reach a compromise formula that reflects the unity of the international community towards the situation in the country. Read more
The Arab allies also announced that it would invite the Office of the High Commissioner to continue to provide technical assistance and capacity building to the Yemeni government and the Yemeni National Committee for Investigation.
The allies added that the division among member states was evident during the Human Rights Council's adoption of the resolution submitted by the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg and Ireland.
The Arab allies stressed that the report of the international and regional experts was clearly flawed and that many contradictions were contrary to Security Council resolutions.
UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Yemen president at UN says talks with Houthis 'doomed to fail'
UN's Martin Griffiths discusses latest developments on Yemen talks
Gargash says UAE will support UN proposals for new Yemen peace talks


Having one single dedicated system allows us to manage both our unit linked funds and portfolio bonds while streamlining our business processes and providing a better user experience. The Invest|Pro™ system delivers an integrated asset and fund management system. The team at FRS are dedicated specialists in this area. We look forward to a long and rewarding relationship.
The Hawthorn Life investment administration delivery is a landmark in a new era of cloud based computing. Capita, working with FRS, is leading this industry and is proud of the delivery of this ambitious project.
CTIS provide a complete range of outsourced insurance and fund services to international life insurance companies. Their services enable their clients to operate and manage their businesses more effectively as well as reducing their costs. CTIS are also one of the most active acquirers and consolidators of international life insurers through their sister company LCL International.
FRS's unrivalled experience in the life assurance investment administration space is reflected in its Invest|Pro™ system. The broad range of functionality it provides for both unitised funds and portfolio bond administration is unique, and has hugely benefitted our business operationally. Given the number of life assurance companies we integrate into LCL international, having the ability to manage our own data migrations is a huge advantage to us. The integrated dealing platform which is part of the latest release is helping us further improve straight-through-processing, making our processes even more coordinated than before.
Forester Life provides a range of straightforward financial solutions to help address life's challenges for protection, saving, investing and pension planning. They are responsible for funds under management of over £3bn and is part of Foresters, the international financial services organisation. Internationally, Foresters has over £14bn assets under management and has been assigned an 'A' excellent rating by A.M. Best.
Friends First has a long-standing presence in Ireland and a reputation as one of Ireland's leading financial services groups. They provide a comprehensive range of pension, investment and protection products and services to companies, organisations and individuals throughout Ireland. The company manages total assets of €4.6bn and generated Total Premiums of €430m in 2012.
Investment administration operations have changed so much over the years and our legacy systems were old and unable to provide the functionality we required. We chose Invest|Pro™ to automate and consolidate our administration functions and the 35% cost savings and efficiencies that have resulted have been exceptional. These efficiencies have also allowed us to provide our clients with better service and products – which is where our core competencies lie.
Hansard offers a range of around 200 flexible, unit-linked, long term savings and investment funds in tax efficient life assurance policy wrappers. These are sold exclusively through more than 540 independent financial advisors to over 42,000 policyholders in over 120 countries. The administered assets exceed £1bn.
Hawthorn Life Limited ("HLL") are based in Swords, Co Dublin, Ireland. HLL focuses on supporting and managing an existing book of variable annuities (investment and retirement products) for a UK customer base.
Through our adoption of InvestGRC™ being able to view and report on our investments and funds not only helps us meet our regulatory requirements but also benefits our overall business – and we have been able to do this quickly, efficiently and at minimal cost to our business. The process of adopting the software from FRS was seamless and efficient, which means that we are now 15 months ahead of our regulatory deadline and can concentrate on our main business of serving our clients.
Investors Trust specializes in medium to long term unit-linked investment products tailored to international investors around the world. Investors Trust offers a range of flexible, tax-efficient products, designed to suit various income levels and financial planning needs.
Working with FRS and their technology allowed Investors Trust Assurance to launch a successful portfolio bond into the market securely and in a short period of time. This offering is currently being scaled in several markets, which is one of the many benefits of the technology solutions that they provide. Working with the team at FRS helped us benefit from their experience and knowledge of the life assurance industry and we look forward to a long relationship into the future.
Mobius Life is a UK life insurance company. They operate an institutional investment platform specifically configured to meet the needs of advisers to defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes. Further they specialize in fund management outsourcing. Mobius Life Limited offers a diverse range of funds from a life-company platform to enable pension schemes to easily access and tailor their investment choices to meet their own investment objectives.
Invest|Pro™ provides a robust solution to manage Mobius Life pension scheme investments into our unit linked funds and onwards to the investment markets. Invest|Pro™ adds significant tangible value through increased automation and control.
Having one dedicated system to manage everything around our unit-linked business is a real step forward in terms of efficiency. Invest|Pro™ from FRS will also give us the opportunity to continue to scale our business efficiently as many activities will now be completely automated. The Invest|Pro™ system is delivering exactly what we need and the specialist experience of the team at FRS is impressive.
Retirement Advantage is a UK based, award-winning company which specialises in retirement income solutions. They currently have over £1.4bn of funds under their management by working closely with selected Fund Managers. Retirement Advantage are true innovators in the retirement income market.
RL360° is an Isle of Man based company which provides a variety of savings, investment and protection products. The company operates globally and look after some £2.2 billion in assets for their clients. Last year RL 360 recorded 24% new business growth. Further they were voted Best Financial Adviser portal in the Professional Adviser International Fund and Product Awards 2013.
Prior to the implementation of Invest|Pro™ the preparation of a set of investment accounts from multiple different systems was quite inefficient. Having a single database of investment transactions and a single Invest|Pro™ general ledger from which to extract a trial balance has significantly reduced timescales and greatly improved the robustness of the process. Invest|Pro™ has completely transformed our operations.
SEB Life International Assurance Company Limited, trading as SEB Life International is a life insurance company incorporated and regulated in Ireland which engages in the cross border distribution of insurance based investment products under the EU Third Life Directive.
InvestGRC™ will enable us to meet our Solvency II investment reporting requirements in an easy-to-use format. The cloud-based solution is easy to deploy so there is minimum disruption for the team yet maximum benefit for the business. Both the technical and the actuarial teams at FRS really understand our business and the impact of Solvency II on our operations which should contribute to a smooth implementation.
The team from Financial Risk solutions did an excellent job implementing Invest|Pro™, their industry knowledge added hugely to the project. The system has made a significant improvement to our entire investment administration department by increasing controls, improving processing times and facilitating significant scalability. Invest|Pro™ has been very well received by users and management.


text:
BT: Only smart network infrastructure can deliver the ubiquitous connectivity that consumers demand
Chris Kelly
Tuesday 18 June 19
Mobile, fixed line, WIFI - who cares? Customers just want seamless connectivity, according to senior figures at BT
Consumers in the UK are now demanding ubiquitous, ultrafast connectivity and are not fussy about how they receive it, according to BT's senior network architect, Neil McRae. Speaking at the Connected Britain event in London on Tuesday, McRae said that UK consumers were raising their expectations and operators must adapt to meet them…
Consumers in the UK are now demanding ubiquitous, ultrafast connectivity and are not fussy about how they receive it, according to BT's senior network architect, Neil McRae.
Speaking at the Connected Britain event in London on Tuesday, McRae said that UK consumers were raising their expectations and operators must adapt to meet them.
"Customers are essentially tech agnostic – they don't really mind how that are connected, they just want their connectivity to work – they just want to be able to use Uber and Netflix with no complications," he said.
McRae said that BT would look to harness the combined power of 5G, fixed line fibre and WIFI services to provide its customers with the seamless, ubiquitous connectivity that they now demand. While consumers may not mind whether they are connected via a mobile, fixed line or WIFI basis, McRae said that it behoved upon operators to invest in all three, leveraging smart network infrastructure technology.
"When you launch 5G as we've done – and by the way I just did a speed test in this building [BDC, Angel, London] and I'm getting speeds of 290Mbps – you have to be prepared for the scale and the number of people demanding 290Mbps speeds. You need to think really differently about how you build the core and the backhaul network," he said.
"Last night we hit 13Tbps on our fixed line network and around 500Gbps on the mobile side.
"The thing with 5G is that on some parts of our network, you can get speeds of 800Mbps, you've got to build a network that is intelligent and smart and can manage those sort of demands, while giving customers the experience they expect," he added.
McRae said that mobile gaming and the arrival of ultra high definition TV streaming services would be the driving forces that encouraged uptake of 5G, and that network hardware and software needed to be able to manage the demands that this will create.
"Mobile gaming is obviously a huge driver for 5G. I'm a big video game player. Keep in mind that when Fortnite puts out a patch, it adds 25 per cent traffic to our network – humans can't cope with that but AI was able to cope with it, with no problem at all. We are going to see much more of that in the networks of tomorrow," he said.
Also in the news:
Connected Britain 2019 - What's next for the UK's fledgling 5G and FTTH networks
EE starts up its 5G networks in the UK
Vodafone to launch 5G in early July
» BT: Only smart network infrastructure can deliver the ubiquitous connectivity that consumers demand
Connected Britain 2019: What's next for the UK's fledgling 5G and FTTH networks?
Connected Britain Awards 2019 celebrate innovation and ambition in the UK
Vodafone tightens its belt as it prepares to splash the cash in 2019
Truespeed to launch 10Gbps broadband services to residential customers in the UK


Deliciously smooth, light golden in colour, full-bodied aromas of vanilla and banana and a lingering aftertaste.
Deliciously smooth, light golden in colour, full-bodied aromas of vanilla and banana and a lingering aftertaste. This yeast produces a silky mouthfeel and rich body. Suitable for brewing Hefeweizen, Kristal Weizen, Dunkel Weizen and more.