text:
Call center management systems
A call center management system employs out-of-band signaling, such as provided by ISDN telecommunications technology, to manage outbound calls from a call center. By communicating with a central office of the PSTN in this way, it is possible to exercise a great degree of control over outbound calls originating from the call center. This control may be used, for example, to insert a meaningful caller identification label into the outbound call, or to manage dead air time within limits established by law, custom, or convenience, and to provide detailed reporting of outbound call activity.
Haug V Jr., Lawrence (Topsfield, MA, US)
Fieldman, Dennis H. (Billerica, MA, US)
Castel, Inc. (Beverly, MA, US)
379/265.06
379/265.01, 379/207.15
H04M3/51; H04M7/00; (IPC1-7): H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M5/00
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NGUYEN, QUYNH H
ROPES & GRAY LLP (BOSTON, MA, US)
1. 1-35. (canceled)
36. A method for managing caller identification in outbound telephone calls comprising: obtaining a record for an outbound call to be made from a call center to a receiving party, the record including a caller identifier for transmission to the receiving party in the outbound call as an identifier of a calling party; transmitting an out-of-band message to initiate the outbound call, the out-of-band message including a telephone number used to connect to the receiving party through a telecommunications network, and the message including the identifier for transmission to the receiving party; receiving an out-of-band message that the outbound call has been answered; and connecting an agent to the outbound call.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Prov. App. No. 60/434,925, filed Dec. 18, 2002. The teachings of that application are incorporated herein by reference.
Call centers have been used for decades to centralize the process of calling a number of related parties from a centralized physical location where a number of telephone agents work, or to handle incoming calls where a large volume of calls is expected. In order to assist call center agents, a number of technologies have been developed to assist in the operation and management of these call centers. This includes automated dialers that place outgoing calls using records retrieved from a database, as well as software to distribute information about each called party or incoming calling party for display at work stations where agents are located.
The growth in telemarketing and other applications for outbound call centers has created a need for more careful management of each call. For example, anyone who has received a call from a busy call center will recognize the tell tale "dead air" pause between their greeting (such as "hello") and a response from an agent. During this time, the call center searches for an available agent to connect to the called party. There may also be difficulties for the called party when dial tone is not returned to the called party's telephone, which can prevent the called party from placing outbound calls for an extended time, even after the telephone has been hung up. In addition to creating a nuisance for called parties, these inefficiencies in conventional call centers can create cost and inconvenience for call centers and commercial providers within the Public Switched Telephone Network ("PSTN").
While the Integrated Services Digital Network ("ISDN") standard provides one established technique for connecting a call center to the PSTN, it has been widely ignored in call centers that make outbound calls. Generally, outbound call centers employ the cheaper and technologically simpler analog dialing alternatives, where digital signal processing is coupled with legacy local loop electronics to dial outbound calls and analyze in-band audio signals to detect the presence of a person at the receiving terminal. As a significant disadvantage, these local loop systems rely on in-band control signaling for operations such as dialing, on-hook detection, and off-hook detection. As a further disadvantage, they cannot independently control, for example, call tear down or the caller identification associated with an outbound call. These latter functions are under control of the PSTN core that interconnects central of fices. While it is possible to send control messages to a central office concerning any of these telephone functions, it is not possible to do so using local loop, in-band signaling.
There remains a need for a system that brings the capabilities of out-of-band signaling to bear on managing the dead air and other inconveniences otherwise associated with analog-based call centers.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be appreciated more fully frorn the following further description thereof, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 depicts a telecommunications system including a call center;
FIG. 2 is a data structure for storing data in a database at the call center;
FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing operation of the call center; and
FIG. 4 shows a report that may be generated for the call center.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)
To provide an overall understanding of the invention, certain illustrative embodiments will now be described, including a call center system for automatically generating outbound calls to a central office using ISDN. However, it will be understood that the systems and methods described herein may be usefully applied to a number of telecommunications systems, such as a call center using the out-of-band signaling provided by Global System for Mobile Communications ("GSM"), Voice Over Internet Protocol ("VoIP") or Signaling System 7 ("SS7") technology, and to different telecommunications devices, such as a device for dynamically inserting caller identification information into outbound calls.
FIG. 1 depicts a telecommunications system including a call center. The telecommunications system 100 includes a call center 110 with a computer 112, a database 114, and a telecommunications switch 116 that interconnects a plurality of agent stations 118 to a central office 120. The central office 120 controls calls through a Public Switched Telephone Network ("PSTN") 122 to one or more receiving parties 124.
The call center 110 may include a building or other structure for housing agents (not shown) who work at the agent stations 118. Optionally, the call center 110 may be a virtual call center 110 in which remote agent stations 118 are connected through a private or public network to the telecommunications switch 116, the computer 112, and the database 114.
The computer 112 may be any computer suited in processing capability and fault tolerance to control the telecommunications switch 116 while communicating with the database 114 and the agent stations 118 to match inbound and outbound calls with agents. In general, the computer 112 reads a record from the database 114 to initiate an outbound call and to present data about the receiving party 124 to a display (not shown) at one of the agent stations 118. Any wireless or wired local area network ("LAN") connection or other communication medium may be used to transfer data and commands between the agent stations 118 and the computer 112 and the database 114. The computer 112 may also monitor the progress of calls and manage incoming calls to the call center 110. In addition, the computer 112 may execute, or communicate with, one or more business-aware processes executing at the call center 110 to control overall management of the call center 110. One suitable computer for use with the system described herein is an IBM AS/400.
The database 114 may be any database having suitable capacity and speed to provide timely call data to the call center 110. This may include a database or other storage system locally associated with the computer 112, or an external database or database service suitable for use with the computer 112. The data structure of records stored in the database 114 is described in greater detail below. The database 114 may also include one or more pre-recorded messages that may be used interactively or as announcements by the call center 110. In this sense, the database 114 may be considered to include any analog or digital form of voice storage used for pre-recorded messages, such as cassette tapes. Voice synthesis may also, or instead, be used.
The telecommunications switch 116 may be any switch or other device capable of creating connections between the central office 120 and the agent stations 118. The telecommunications switch 116 may communicate voice or in-band signals with the central office 120, through which channels telephone conversations are conducted, as well as command or out-of-band signals through which status and command information are exchanged between the telecommunications switch 116 and the central office 120. The telecommunications switch 116 may include one or more private branch exchanges. Suitable telecommunications switches for use with the systems described herein include an Avaya G3 switch or a Cisco VCO Switch.
Each agent station 118 includes a telephone connected to the telecommunications switch 116 and a display connected to the computer 112 for use by an agent. The agent stations 118 may also include cubicles, desks, chairs, drawers, file cabinets, or other items for use by agents working at the agent stations 118.
The central office 120 serves as an interface to the PSTN 122. The central office 120 is a telecommunications office that handles the telephone service for a particular locality. Telephone lines from the central office 120 may carry local loop analog traffic as well as ISDN signals and other signals such as Digital Subscriber Line ("DSL") broadband connections. It will be appreciated that while ISDN is one standard that may be used for digital telephonic communications as described herein, other standards are used in other countries or with different transmission media. Digital standards such as E1, T1, or any Digital Subscriber Line ("xDSL") standard, as well as cable telephony standards such as Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification ("DOCSIS"), may be used to carry voice traffic as described herein.
The ISDN standard is now described in more detail. The ISDN standard is an international communications standard for sending voice, video, and data over digital telephone lines or normal telephone wires. There are two types of ISDN. Basic Rate ("BRI") ISDN consists of two 64-Kbps B-channels and one D-channel for transmitting control information. Primary Rate ISDN consists of 23 B-channels and one D-channel (U.S.) or 30 B-channels and one D-channel (in Europe). The original version of ISDN employs baseband transmission. There is another version of ISDN, B-ISDN, that uses broadband transmission and is able to support transmission rates of 1.5 Mbps. This standard is established but not widely used or available. The B-channel, short for Bearer-channel, carries voice traffic when used for telephonic communications. The D-channel, short for Data-channel, carries control and signaling information.
The hardware for use with an ISDN-based system and the protocols for communicating control and status information in an ISDN-based system are well known in the art, and it is not necessary or helpful to repeat them here. For the purposes of this description, it will suffice to describe several messages that may be used within the out-of band D-channel of an ISDN system.
A call origination message may be used to request that the central office 120 initiate a call through the PSTN 122. This message may include the request to initiate the call, as well as the telephone number of the receiving party 124 that is to receive the call and a caller identification, typically used to provide the telephone number of the calling party (although other uses may be made of this field, as described below).
An off-hook message may be transmitted from the central office 120 to the call center 110 that originated the call. This message may include data provided by another central office (using, e.g., SS7) through which the receiving party 124 connects to the PSTN 122. The message may include an acknowledgement that the call has been answered by the receiving party 124, as well as a time stamp indicating when the receiving party 124 telephone went off-hook.
An on-hook message may be transmitted from the central office 120 to the call center 110 that originated the call. This message may include data provided by another central office (using, e.g., SS7) through which the receiving party 124 connects to the PSTN 122. The message may include an indication that the call has been terminated by the receiving party 124, as well as a time stamp indicating when the receiving party 124 telephone went on-hook.
A call tear down message may be used to request that the central office 120 terminate a call through the PSTN 122 and return a open line (or dial tone) to the receiving party 124 for a call. This message may include the request to terminate the call, as well as the telephone number of the receiving party 124 that received the call.
The receiving party 124 is any telecommunications device that might be connected to calls to and from the call center 110. This includes telephones, cellular phones, facsimile machines, answering machines, and so forth. It will be appreciated that, as used herein, the term "receiving party" may refer to one of the above devices, or to a person using one of the devices for telephonic communications.
Operation of the system is now described in general terms. Using the information from the database 114, the computer 112 may provide commands to the telecommunications switch 116, to which the computer 112 may be connected through a local area network ("LAN") or other communications medium. The commands may be in any form suitable for processing by the telecommunications switch 116. Pursuant to the local commands from the computer 112, the telecommunications switch 116 may issue an ISDN command to the central office 120 to place a call to a receiving party 124 indicated by the record. When the receiving party 124 answers the call, an off-hook signal is communicated through the PSTN 122 to the central office 120, and from the central office 120 to the telecommunications switch 116 through a signaling channel such as an out-of-band ISDN message. This message may be forwarded to the computer 112 for subsequent processing.
At some time during this call origination process, a call is connected to the receiving party 124 and to an agent at one of the agent stations 118 (or to an agent proxy such as a pre-recorded message). The computer 112 may provide data concerning the receiving party 124 to the agent station 118 of the agent handling the call, so that the agent can have a display of any information relevant to handling the call. In general, a new agent enters the system by registering at one of the agent stations 118, such as through a login procedure. The computer 112 manages allocation of a pool of available agents, and may pace outbound calls so that an agent is available whenever an answer is received from one of the receiving parties 124. It will be appreciated that a number of pacing algorithms are known in the art and used in call centers to time the placement of outbound calls consistent with available agents. Any such pacing algorithm or algorithms may be used with the systems described herein, and the details of such pacing algorithms are not important to the claimed invention. When an agent station 118 is not available for an outbound call that has been answered, the computer 112 may tear down the call (through appropriate commands to the telecommunications switch 116 and central office 120) before some predetermined amount of time has passed. Operation of the call center 110 in this and other respects is described in greater detail below.
Each call that is conducted between an agent at an agent station 118 and a called party at a receiving party 124 device may include a dialogue between the parties concerning some business as indicated in data for the outbound call. The agent may update information through the agent station 118, or provide information to the called party, or some combination of these, resulting in a conclusion of the call, at which time both parties may bang up.
FIG. 2 is a data structure for storing data in a database at the call center. The data structure 200 may be for a record in a database that includes fields for a name 202, one or more numbers 204, one or more addresses 206, other biographical data 208, a calling party 210, calling rules 212, and other call information 214. It will be appreciated that the order of these fields is of no significance, and that other fields may be included in a record in addition to the data described herein, as necessary or helpful to the operation of a call center.
The name 202 includes a name of a person or other entity that is to be called at the receiving party 124 associated with the number 204.
The number 204 includes a telephone number for calling the receiving party 124 through the PSTN.
The address 206 may include one or more entries for an address of the receiving party 124 or a person or other entity associated therewith. This may include, for example, a post office box, a street address, an apartment or suite number, a town, a state, a zip code, and any other information useful for specifying an address.
The other biographical data 208 may include any descriptive data suitable for the purposes of a call, such as age, birth date, social security number, sex, height, weight, income, family status, hobbies, interests, educational background, account information, and/or any other information.
The calling party 210 may include a numeric or alphanumeric identifier of a source of the call. The calling party 210 may include an Automatic Number Identification ("ANI"), familiar to telephone users as the vernacular "Caller ID" that identifies a source of a telephone call. The source may be, for example, a party who operates the call center 120, or any third party associated with an outbound call, such as a customer of the call center 120 who engages the services of the call center 120 to place one or more calls. In such third-party cases, the identifier may include a telephone number by which the third party may be contacted. It is also possible to include a text identifier such as the name of a calling party, although at present this service is not commonly used with outbound calls from call centers.
The calling party 210 identifier may be included with a call origination message to the central office 120, so that it appears as the caller on any device with caller ID service and capability. Using this data, a caller identification may be dynamically assigned to each outbound call according to data in the calling party 210 of a record, and may identify the caller in some meaningful way to the receiving party 124. Thus the call center 110 may present a different caller ID to different receiving parties 124 according to the purpose of each call, and agents may be dynamically assigned to different calls or call campaigns as appropriate while remaining compliant with any applicable rules or regulations requiring use of caller ID with outbound calls.
The calling rules 212 may specify one or more rules applicable to an outbound call. For example, a call to a certain state may require a specific type of caller identification to be included in a call. Another state may establish a maximum allowable period of dead air between a verbal answer by a receiving party and a response by, or connection to, a live agent. Even without mandated rules, a call center may apply certain rules to telephone calls according to desired practices of the call center or a customer of the call center. These rules may be included symbolically in the calling rules 212 so that they may be queried, interpreted, and applied automatically by the call center. In another embodiment of the systems described herein, calling rules may be inferred from the number 204 or the address 206 of the called party, either through a geographic look-up table of current rules for different regions that is applied when each call is made, or through a program that examines each record when it is created and stores any applicable rules in the calling rules 212 field.
Other call information 214 may include any other information helpful to an agent handling an outbound call or applicable to a called party, such as account balances, account transaction history, payments, product orders, shipping and fulfillment information, and so forth. This may also include, for example, a description of a customer question or complaint that is to be handled by an agent from the call center.
An agent may have read/write access to each record or a portion thereof, such as other call information 214, so that the record can be updated while a call is in progress.
FIG. 3 depicts a process for managing a call center. It will be appreciated that the process 300, and the call center 110 generally, may be realized in hardware, software, or some combination of these, provided connections are included for the agent stations and the central office. The process 300 may be realized in one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, embedded microcontrollers, programmable digital signal processors or other programmable device, along with internal and/or external memory such as read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electronically erasable programmable read-only memory, random access memory, dynamic random access memory, double data rate random access memory, Rambus direct random access memory, flash memory, or any other volatile or non-volatile memory for storing program instructions, program data, and program output or other intermediate or final results.
Any combination of the above circuits and components, whether packaged discretely, as a chip, as a chipset, or as a die, may be suitably adapted to use with the systems described herein. It will further be appreciated that the above process 300 and call center 110 may be realized as computer executable code created using a structured programming language such as C, an object oriented programming language such as C++, or any other high-level or low-level programming language that may be compiled or interpreted to run on one of the above devices, as well as heterogeneous combinations of processors, processor architectures, or combinations of different hardware and software. Finally, while the process 300 is depicted as a single flow of steps, it will be appreciated that any number of similar or identical processes may be executed in parallel, according to the call volume of the call center and the capabilities of the computer(s) that manage operation of the call center.
The process 300 may begin by obtaining outbound call data, as depicted in step 305. This may include retrieving the records described above from a database. This may also, or instead, include receiving call data from a queue of outbound calls. The queue may be provided as messages or commands from a computer within the call center, or may be provided to the call center from a remote data source. In this manner, third parties may provide a calling queue to the call center of calls to be serviced by agents at the call center.
Once outbound call data has been obtained, one or more dead air parameters may be established, as shown in step 310. Dead air parameters may be, for example, definitions of when a dead air measurement should begin and end, and a maximum allowable dead air duration for an outbound call from the call center to the receiving party. These parameters may be determined, for example, by reading dead air rules directly from a record for the outbound call. This may also, or instead, be accomplished by drawing inferences from called party geographic information such as a telephone number or address. This may include analyzing one or more digits of a telephone number for the outbound call. Or a look-up table may be provided in which a called party's location is mapped to one or more dead air parameters. Thus, while not explicitly shown in FIG. 3, it will be appreciated that the process 300 may include an interim step of determining a location of a called party, such as by using address or telephone information as suggested above, and applying the location to determine applicable calling rules. In addition to rules concerning dead air, it will also be appreciated that other rules applicable to the call, such as abandonment or caller identification rules, may be similarly applied.
As shown in step 315, once call rules have been established, an outbound call may be initiated. Where the call rule relates to, for example, including a caller identification, there may be an additional step (not shown) of retrieving caller identification data for the call. An outbound call may be initiated by directing a telecommunications switch at the call center to send an out-of-band message to a central office connected to the call center. This message may be, for example, the call origination message described above, and may include caller identification information.
Once an outbound call has been initiated, the process 300 may proceed to detect an answer, as shown in step 320. This may be, for example, the off-hook message described above, and it may include a time stamp indicating when the receiving party went off-hook.
Once the receiving party is off-hook, a dead air measurement may begin, as shown in step 325. Dead air may be defined and measured in a number of different ways, with specific rules being optionally provided in the outbound call record as described above. For example, dead air may begin when a greeting by the receiving party ends. In this case, some form of digital signal processing may be provided by the call center to analyze in-band voice signals for the beginning and end of a called party greeting. Dead air may instead begin when the receiving party telephone goes off-hook. Although not a presently preferred embodiment, dead air may also begin when the call outbound call is initiated, in which case ring time would be included in a dead air measurement. Dead air for an outbound call may end when an agent (or an agent proxy such as a pre-recorded message) replies to a greeting from the receiving party. Or dead air may end when the receiving party disconnects the outbound call. Dead air may instead end when dial tone is returned to the receiving party after call termination (by either party). Dead air may be measured in whole or in part using time information included in out-of-band messages. It will also be appreciated that this dead air "measurement" may be calculated or measured continuously or at discrete intervals, according to the hardware and software within the call center performing the measurement.
When a dead air measurement has begun, the dead air measurement may be checked to determine whether a dead air limit established by the call rules (from step 310) has been reached, as shown in step 330. If the dead air limit has not been reached, the process 300 may proceed to step 335 where the process 300 may check to see whether an agent is available for the connected call. If no agent is available, the process 300 may return to step 330 where dead air may be checked again. If an agent is available, the call may be connected to the available agent, as shown in step 340.
After a call has been connected to an agent, the process 300 may determine whether the called party has hung up before the agent was connected to the call, as shown in step 345. A called party hang up may be detected, for example, by detecting an on-hook message from the central office 120 to the call center 110 that originated the call. This message may include data provided by another central office (using, e.g., SS7), including an indication that the call has been terminated by the receiving party 124, as well as a time stamp indicating when the receiving party 124 telephone went on-hook.
If the called party has not hung up, the agent and the called party may conduct the business related to the call, as indicated in step 350. If the called party has hung up before the agent was connected to the call, then the call may be considered "abandoned", depending on the applicable rules determined in step 310. In one embodiment, an abandonment occurs when a dead air time for one of the outbound calls exceeds a predetermined time period. In another embodiment, an abandonment occurs when one of the outbound calls is disconnected before the outbound call is connected to an agent. Optionally both of these, and/or other events may be considered call abandonments.
Returning to step 330, if the dead air limit is reached for a call, the process 300 may initiate a tear down of the call, as shown in step 360. This may be accomplished, for example, using the call tear down message to request that the central office 120 terminate a call and return an open line (or dial tone) to the called party.
In an optional embodiment, an agent proxy, such as a pre-recorded message, may be provided when the dead air limit is about to be reached an no agent is available. It will further be appreciated that initiating new outbound calls (step 315) may be paced to reduce or eliminate the possibility of having no agent to field a connected call. In another optional embodiment, only agent proxies may be used for a particular call type. As with call rules, this information may be stored in a record associated with the call. In another optional embodiment, an agent may be connected to a call even after the dead air time has been exceeded, with a record stored of the outbound call as a dead-air-time-exceeded call.
As shown in step 365, the process 300 may then check to determine whether the call was successfully taken down before the dead air limit was exceeded. If the tear down was not completed in time, then the call is "abandoned", as shown in step 355.
If the call was taken down before the dead air limit was exceeded, then the process 300 may update dead air and abandonment statistics for the call as appropriate, as shown in step 370, and proceed to the next call, as shown in step 380. Similarly, if a called party has hung up before an agent is available in step 345, the call is "abandoned" as shown in step 355 and the process 300 may proceed to update dead air and abandonment statistics for the call as appropriate, as shown in step 370, and proceed to a next call, as shown in step 380. It will be appreciated that whether any particular call is abandoned, and the amount of dead air for each call, will depend on rules applicable to a call, and as such, may vary from call to call as described above. In step 380, a next call is initiated by returning to step 305 and obtaining new outbound call data.
It will be appreciated that many steps of the process 300 may be implemented using a number of different hardware and software designs. For example, steps 325-340 may be realized as an interrupt-driven state machine (i.e., where an "agent available" signal interrupts a dead air limit routine) or a program loop, or using some other technique. In addition, the order of some of the steps is arbitrary. For example, a next call (step 380) may be initiated before statistics have been updated (step 370). All such embodiments are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure.
FIG. 4 shows a report that may be generated for the call center. It will be appreciated that a number of useful reports may be generated from the data collected in step 370. For example, a summary report of dead air for all outbound calls from a call center may be generated. Optionally, the dead air report may itemize dead air statistics for each agent associated with the call center. Similarly, a summary report of abandonment may be generated showing one or more abandonment statistics for the call center, or for a calling campaign from the call center. A campaign or calling campaign, is any group of outbound calls having a common origin, which may be particular customer of the call center, or a particular informational campaign, sales or marketing campaign, promotional campaign, political campaign, fundraising campaign or other effort that can be usefully undertaken from a call center. A campaign may, for example, identify particular customers eligible for a sales offer, voters with a known political affiliation, people who have expressed an interest in some subject matter, or any other individuals fitting a description to which the campaign may be applicable.
As shown in FIG. 4, a report 400 may include descriptive data 402, company identification 404, and a title 406, as well as tabulated data including a project name 408, a date 410, connects 412, and dead air time 414.
The descriptive data 402 may include any data about the report, such as a page number, a date, and a time. The company identification 404 may include a name of a company running the call center or generating the reports, and may include a statement of copyright or other proprietary interests in the report 400 or the data contained therein. The title 406 may be user-provided, or automatically provided by the system, and may describe the contents of the report. While the report 400 depicted in FIG. 4 is a "Dead Air Report", it will be appreciated that other reports may be generated with other titles, such as "Abandoned Calls" or "Call Length", and may be sorted by calling campaign, by agent, or by any available data concerning called parties.
The tabulated data, may include a project name 408, such as the name of a particular calling campaign, or the name of a particular call center customer. A customer or call campaign associated with the project name 408 may be further divided into inbound and outbound call data, depicted in FIG. 4 as rows labeled "INHOURS" and "OUTHOURS" respectively. The date 410 may be a date upon which the data was collected, and is distinguished from the date in the descriptive data 402, which would typically be the date on which the report 400 is generated. The connects 412 may include, for each row, data corresponding to a number of calls, inbound or outbound. Other data, such as inbound or outbound minutes, may also be gathered and provided in another column.
Dead air time 414 shows a number of connects 412 corresponding to each one of a number of ranges of dead air. For example, as depicted in FIG. 4, a first column of dead air time 414 is labeled "100", and shows a number of calls (for inbound and outbound calls, separately) having dead air time of one hundred milliseconds or less. A next adjacent column of dead air time 414 is labeled "200", and corresponds to a number of calls having dead air time in the adjacent range of more than one hundred milliseconds up to two hundred milliseconds. A number of calls in each range of dead air time 414 may be provided, with an open ended final range of over two thousand milliseconds. It will be appreciated that these ranges are exemplary only, and that other ranges may be provided according to convenience, customer requirements, or legal requirements.
The end of the report 400 may be prominently demarked, so that numerous reports may be aggregated on a single print out or other medium.
The report may be rendered in printed form or on a computer screen, and an interface may be provided for querying underlying data to generate reports covering different statistics, data sources, campaigns, time periods or ranges, dead air durations, and so forth. Thus, while an example report is provided for purposes of illustration, it will be appreciated that a wide range of reports are contemplated by this disclosure, and may be generated by the systems described herein.
While the invention has been disclosed in connection with the preferred embodiments shown and described in detail, it will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the embodiments disclosed herein, but is to be understood from the following claims, which are to be interpreted as broadly as allowed under the law.
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text:
#import "OBASearch.h"
#import "OBAStopV2.h"
#import "OBAPlacemark.h"
#import "OBAAgencyWithCoverage.h"
#import "OBANavigationTargetAnnotation.h"
#import "OBAProgressIndicatorImpl.h"
#import "OBASphericalGeometryLibrary.h"
#import "OBAJsonDataSource.h"

static const float kSearchRadius = 400;

NSString * kOBASearchTypeParameter = @"OBASearchTypeParameter";
NSString * kOBASearchControllerSearchArgumentParameter = @"OBASearchControllerSearchArgumentParameter";
NSString * kOBASearchControllerSearchLocationParameter = @"OBASearchControllerSearchLocationParameter";

@interface OBASearch (Internal)

+ (OBANavigationTarget*) getNavigationTargetForSearchType:(OBASearchType)searchType;
+ (OBANavigationTarget*) getNavigationTargetForSearchType:(OBASearchType)searchType argument:(id)argument;

@end

@implementation OBASearch

+ (OBANavigationTarget*) getNavigationTargetForSearchNone {
    return [OBASearch getNavigationTargetForSearchType:OBASearchTypeNone];
}

+ (OBANavigationTarget*) getNavigationTargetForSearchLocationRegion:(MKCoordinateRegion)region {
    NSData * data = [NSData dataWithBytes:&region length:sizeof(MKCoordinateRegion)];
    return [OBASearch getNavigationTargetForSearchType:OBASearchTypeRegion argument:data];
}

+ (OBANavigationTarget*) getNavigationTargetForSearchRoute:(NSString*)routeQuery {
    return [OBASearch getNavigationTargetForSearchType:OBASearchTypeRoute argument:routeQuery];
}

+ (OBANavigationTarget*) getNavigationTargetForSearchRouteStops:(NSString*)routeId {
    return [self getNavigationTargetForSearchType:OBASearchTypeRouteStops argument:routeId];
}

+ (OBANavigationTarget*) getNavigationTargetForSearchAddress:(NSString*)addressQuery {
    return [self getNavigationTargetForSearchType:OBASearchTypeAddress argument:addressQuery];
}

+ (OBANavigationTarget*) getNavigationTargetForSearchPlacemark:(OBAPlacemark*)placemark {
    return [self getNavigationTargetForSearchType:OBASearchTypePlacemark argument:placemark];
}

+ (OBANavigationTarget*) getNavigationTargetForSearchStopCode:(NSString*)stopIdQuery {
    return [self getNavigationTargetForSearchType:OBASearchTypeStopId argument:stopIdQuery];
}

+ (OBANavigationTarget*) getNavigationTargetForSearchAgenciesWithCoverage {
    return [self getNavigationTargetForSearchType:OBASearchTypeAgenciesWithCoverage];
}

+ (OBASearchType) getSearchTypeForNagivationTarget:(OBANavigationTarget*)target {

    // Update our target parameters
    NSDictionary * parameters = target.parameters;
    NSNumber * searchTypeAsNumber = parameters[kOBASearchTypeParameter];

    if( ! searchTypeAsNumber )
        searchTypeAsNumber = @(OBASearchTypeNone);

    switch ([searchTypeAsNumber intValue]) {
        case OBASearchTypeRegion:
            return OBASearchTypeRegion;
        case OBASearchTypeRoute:
            return OBASearchTypeRoute;
        case OBASearchTypeRouteStops:
            return OBASearchTypeRouteStops;
        case OBASearchTypeAddress:
            return OBASearchTypeAddress;
        case OBASearchTypePlacemark:
            return OBASearchTypePlacemark;
        case OBASearchTypeStopId:
            return OBASearchTypeStopId;
        case OBASearchTypeAgenciesWithCoverage:
            return OBASearchTypeAgenciesWithCoverage;
        default:
            return OBASearchTypeNone;
    }
}

+ (id) getSearchTypeParameterForNagivationTarget:(OBANavigationTarget*)target {
    NSDictionary * params = target.parameters;
    return params[kOBASearchControllerSearchArgumentParameter];
}

@end

@implementation OBASearch (Internal)

+ (OBANavigationTarget*) getNavigationTargetForSearchType:(OBASearchType)searchType {
    return [self getNavigationTargetForSearchType:searchType argument:nil];
}

+ (OBANavigationTarget*) getNavigationTargetForSearchType:(OBASearchType)searchType argument:(id)argument {
    NSMutableDictionary * params = [NSMutableDictionary dictionary];
    params[kOBASearchTypeParameter] = [NSNumber numberWithInt:searchType];

    if( argument )
        params[kOBASearchControllerSearchArgumentParameter] = argument;

    return [[OBANavigationTarget alloc] initWithTarget:OBANavigationTargetTypeSearchResults parameters:params];
}

@end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Earning from AdSense should not be too difficult, but it may be better by making sure you follow some obvious points. Every web site should have a purpose and an ... Read more..
SEO website level ranking factors that are important to search engines are a closely guarded secret. However many experts find that the following are considered among the most important factors. ... Read more..
Your adding content, maintaining the basic design, a good balance of images and crawl-able text, yet you are not getting the traffic that you feel that should be coming your ... Read more..


By getting a flu shot, you can "help me protect myself and my family. It means everything to me, really," said a mom with an autoimmune disease.
Ads urging people to get their flu vaccines are starting to pop up at local pharmacies.
Fall has arrived, and with falling leaves come flu and virus season. I was never afraid of fall until I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. It's an autoimmune disease and immunosuppressant drugs became my new reality.
All practical advice told me to avoid communicable diseases. That sounded logical enough, if I chose to live in a bubble. But as a wife and mother, that wasn't plausible.
My iron stomach never succumbed to the 24-hour bug that ran rampant through my daughter's school. No worries here. My supermom cape doubled as an antiviral shield.
Once my immune system had its vaccinated boost, I began to search for more preventatives. Hand sanitizer was on clearance at the grocery. I purchased a bottle for every room of the house, both cars and every backpack.
I'd shrink away from a sick child instead of holding them close for comfort. It was scary. While pneumonia is always dangerous, it would almost certainly kill me. At the first sign of a cold you'd find me in bed, pushing fluids.
I felt defeated, and survival was no longer a given.
My supermom cape found new use as a naptime blankie. I feared my children would suffer as I required them to toughen. I had to be cautious at every turn. I no longer opened doors with my bare hands and I let my feminist edge roll off of me just a little, hoping others would open the door for me.
It's been a few years since that first viral season, and I'm not as fearful these days. I've dealt with a few oddball infections and a lot of common colds that have just held on for too long. Both come packed with a healthy dose of fear to which I'm still getting accustomed.
I've also become an outspoken mom for getting your family vaccinated.
If your kids aren't vaccinated, they can't come to my house. It's funny how we become passionate about something once it really hits home. I am saddened when I learn of someone unnecessarily getting sick or dying from a preventable illness. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last year's flu season was one of the worst we've ever seen. A record-breaking total of 180 pediatric deaths were reported. Approximately 80 percent of these deaths occurred in children who had not received a flu vaccination.
Please. Please! Don't think it can't happen to you or your family.
We all benefit from your good health decisions. Get your flu, hepatitis and other recommended vaccines. I'll be sure to get mine. Protect yourself and your family. By doing so, you'll also help me protect myself and my family. It means everything to me, really.
Bonnie Jean Feldkamp is a freelance writer and regular contributor to the Cincinnati Enquirer's Education and Family Roundtables. She is communications director for the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and is a member of Parent Media Association, Journalism and Women Symposium and the Society of Professional Journalists. Based in Kentucky, she is a wife and mother of three.


text:
First Malaria Indicator Survey in Myanmar kicks off in Yangon
Early August saw the start of the first nationwide malaria survey of its kind in Myanmar, where the spread of drug resistance to antimalarial drugs is a growing obstacle to the elimination of the disease. The Malaria Indicator Survey (MIS) will provide data on the overall malaria burden and measure coverage of malaria control interventions throughout the country, allowing prioritisation of services to areas where they are needed and informing future strategic planning.
The survey, which will be led by the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) in partnership with Malaria Consortium and with funding support from the President's Malaria Initiative, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Three Millennium Development Goal Fund (3MDG), will seek to fill gaps in current malaria data in the country.
The opening ceremony was led by Dr Aye Mon Mon Kyaw, Assistant Director of the Department of Public Health (Yangon Region). In her speech, she highlighted the fact that 60 percent of Myanmar's population live in endemic regions, with many working in areas that are particularly vulnerable – such as forests, gold mines and rubber farms. She mentioned that the Department of Public Health is working to strengthen care for malaria as well as carrying out testing in migrant areas, distributions of nets and training of village malaria workers to act as points of contact for their communities.
In attendance were also several key stakeholders, such as Dr Myo Min, Director of the Myanmar Medical Association (MMA), and Dr Kay Thwe Han, Deputy Director and Head of the Parasitology Research Division, Department of Medical Research (DMR). MMA is providing the survey enumerators, NMCP are providing doctors who will test households for malaria and draw blood spots, and DMR is leading the training on drawing blood effectively.
Following the ceremony, the MIS kicked off with a one-week interactive training course involving more than 130 field workers and stakeholders – consisting of malaria testers, interviewers, supervisors, team leaders and representatives from partners. Training began with an overview of the survey led by Dr Ei Ei Khin, (MIS Survey consultant) and introductions. Subsequent sessions included an overview of protocols, roles, responsibilities, safety, ethics and a guide to good practice when in the field.
Later in the week, groups were split up according to their roles and the sessions became more detailed – focusing on subjects from blood-taking protocols to questionnaire practice. Finally, following the completion of the training, field workers were deployed across the country to collect data for the nationwide survey. This work will be completed by mid-October, with a final report expected by early 2016.
All participants completed the training and were provided certificates by Dr Aung Thi, NMCP Programme Manager and co-investigator of the MIS who reinforced the importance of the MIS as the first nation-wide malaria survey that will help shed light on the true malaria burden in the country.
Country: Myanmar
Keywords: Drug resistance | Elimination
DFID called to increase support to Myanmar
Malaria Consortium conducting Myanmar's first Malaria Indicator Survey
Helping to fight malaria with positive deviance volunteers
Type: Blog post

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Summary: We all know what is considered 'beautiful' is a highly personal concept and varies greatly around the world. Mary Kay is a global beauty brand with local businesses in 38 different countries with over 3 million women selling our products. The one-size-fits-all approach to global branding is no longer enough. Local markets are demanding that their individual market nuances are met. How can a global brand thrive in the new brand reality- remain globally consistent and regionally relevant?
Consumers now expect a seamless experience as they engage more actively with retailers in-store, online and on the go. From inventory availability to loyalty programs and synchronized support, both in-store and across devices, retail brands are in a unique position to build meaningful customer affinity on the path to purchase and beyond. Savvy retailers understand these changing dynamics and the power their physical locations have to drive e-commerce growth and how discovery online can increase traffic back to their stores. After taking stock of the latest omni-channel retailing trends and loyalty program strategies, we'll challenge our panelists for predictions about what customer experience, brand engagement and loyalty may look like for retailers in the not-so-distant future.
While personalization has been a hot topic among brand marketers, live implementations in the market are few and far between. This presentation will discuss why and how brands facilitate individualized communications and rewards based on consumer behaviors to foster lasting loyalty.
Keynote – Transformation begins within.
Diversity of thought creates breakthrough ideas. Finding innovative top talent is a rare and difficult process—especially in a big corporate environment. Corporations have a tendency of missing the mark when determining the right traits to look for in a candidate, and when they do happen upon talent, they can miss even further by being unable to retain them. Building loyalty with your consumer starts first with inspiring the people who make it happen. We will discuss how defying the odds of traditional team assembly and creating a culture that fosters innovation can unlock unprecedented growth.
All marketers want to engage customers in the most personal and profitable way while they are "in the moment" – online, in store, or in app. Many are saddled by legacy technology and processes that prevent them from capturing value in moments that matter. With more data coming from more channels at a faster pace then ever before, are you equipped to take fast action on fast data?
Today more than ever we're seeing innovation and fast paced developments in emerging media and technologies. Each of these new media offer novel ways for brands to connect with and interact with audiences. These emerging technologies also make a habit of drastically altering the ways in which people shop, consumer media, and interact with each other and the world. Keeping up can be exhausting, even for the most savvy of digital marketers. From mobile games to virtual reality to messaging apps to ephemeral media, which trends are real and which are fads? Which provide opportunities for marketers to innovate and get closer to consumers? How can brands tap into these developments to gain deeper understandings of who their customers are and what they want?
Keynote – The Future is Now. From one-to-many to one-to-one.
Mobility and new technologies have changed the digital marketing game as we knew it until only a few years ago. Our targeting strategies have moved from audiences to individuals, and our geographical boundaries are now defined by the GPS signals of our target individuals. Under the current conditions, personalized consumer-driven experiences are the key to success and to brand & message relevancy. Ivonne will speak about how Avocados From Mexico has challenged the "traditional digital" tactics, to embrace a more modern approach centered on a one-to-one approach.
The mass market is changing. Are you ready? Some brands are finding out the hard way with advertising missteps turning into PR nightmares. Others are maximizing the opportunity to connect to a rapidly browning America to great dividends. Find out about the power of what AT&T's L. Michelle Smith calls "inclusion marketing." She will share 5 keys to this new approach to marketing and share how it can benefit your brand.


Your body is composed of atoms. Water and hydrogen atoms make up 95% of the human body. Usually the hydrogen atoms within the body spin at random. When you have an MRI, you are placed in a strong magnetic field that is up to 8,000 times stronger than that of the earth, which causes these atoms to realign and spin all in the same direction. Like CT, MRI acquires images that are a "slice" of anatomy. Using the magnetic fields and radio waves, remarkably detailed cross-sectional images of the body can be obtained. A computer processes these images to produce detailed pictures of the anatomy.


text:
Learn Something Interesting
Education For the Pure Joy of Learning
Pablo Picasso's Politically Charged Guernica Painting
On April 26, 1937, Guernica, Spain was severely bombed due to civil conflict brought on by World War II. The Basque town of Guernica was openly hostile towards General Francisco Franco's ideologies, and because of this, Franco unleashed a 3.5 hour bombing raid upon this defenseless city, with help from German allies. In total, 1650 people were killed, 900 injured, and most of the township was destroyed, an event which sparked international outrage. Pablo Picasso created a piece of artwork as sentiment towards anti-war and anti-violence entitled "Guernica". Picasso understood that artwork and politics rarely go together hand in hand and so he created not a piece of aircraft and bombs but rather of horses and swords, as he was determined not to create artwork which could be used as propaganda in the future. The bull depicted within the painting is designed to represent Franco and his military powers and the suffering horses and weeping woman symbolize the people of Spain. Picasso's Guernica work became a timeless masterpiece and a copy of it is on display at the United Nations world headquarters in New York City, United States of America. The Guernica painting was covered briefly with a veil during 2003 when U.S. General Colin Powell announced the United States' decision to invade Iraq. The Guernica image was seen as incendiary commentary and therefore intolerable during this chaotic period. The Guernica painting has become a symbol of protest to violence, war, and military regimes, not just for every country in the world, but of the 20th century and beyond
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Posted in: Art, Cultural Anthropology, History, Military, Pharmacology, Polemology, Politics, Thanatology | Tagged: 1650 people killed, 2003, 20th century, 3.5 hour bombing raid, 900 people injured, aircraft, anti-violence, anti-war, April 26 1937, artwork, Basque, bomb, bull, civil conflict, covered by a veil, General Colin Powell, German ally, Gernal Francisco Franco, Guernica, horse, incendiary commentary, international outrage, intolerable, invade, Iraq, masterpiece, Military, most of the township destroyed, New York City, Pablo Picasso, Politics, propaganda, Spain, sword, symbol to protest violence war and military regimes, United Nations, United States of America, weeping woman, world, World War II
The Effects of Hydrocephalus
Elon Musk's Innovative Tesla Battery
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Arenology
Aromachology
Cetology
Dendorology
Ethnochoreology
Hieroglyphology
Hoplology
Hydrometeorology
Kalology
Ludology
Montology
Polemology
Thanatology
Zymology
The Ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt
Ancient Roman Emperor Julius Caesar's Contribution to Time Keeping
The Discovery of the Sunken S.S. Titanic
The First Text Message Ever Sent
The Test Subject and Scientific Experiment Which Proved the Fear Response in Human Beings Does Not Solely Reside Within the Amygdala
The Invention of Star Luminosity Mapping to Measure Immense Distances in Space
The Chinese Political Practice of Panda Diplomacy
The Accidental Liberation of the Soviet Union and the Tearing Down of the Berlin Wall
The Future Technology of Carbon Nanotubes
The First Musician to Routinely Break Their Instrument on Stage
Herbivore vs. Carnivore Vision
Photographic Evidence of Lewis Carroll's Alleged Pedaphilia Involving Alice Liddell, the Protagonist of Alice In Wonderland
Chinese Landscape Painting
The Financial Costs of High Society Dinner Parties During the Victorian Era
The Revolutionary Iron Age Technology of the Rotary Quern
The Commonality Between Herbivores and Size
The First Use of Forensic Science to Resolve a Murder
The Mathematical Inventions of Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi


text:
Thailand All Galleries
Saphan Taksin BTS Station to Close
11 images Created 28 Oct 2014
Saphan Taksin, one of the busiest stations on the BTS system is scheduled to be closed. While there are two train tracks for most stretches of the Skytrain system, the portion on the Saphan Taksin Bridge spanning the Chao Phraya River has just one track due to limited space, causing a bottleneck when an outbound train and inbound train arrive at the bridge at the same time. The Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) had sought permission from the Department of Rural Roads to expand the Taksin Bridge in order to make way for an additional track, but the department had said it was not possible. The Saphan Taksin station is a connecting station for the Chao Phraya River boats used by Thai commuters coming into the city from neighboring provinces and tourists who use the boats to go upriver into the old parts of Bangkok from the central business district. More than 4,000 commuters a day use the station. The BMA plans to build an elevated moving sidewalk to the river from Surasak BTS station about one kilometer away. Surasak is the nearest station to Saphan Taksin.
SaphanTaksinStationClosing005.jpg


text:
Michael Henson's
Glossary of Computer Science Terms
Index | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
name components: substrings of a name that are separated by a delimiter
name resolution: looking up a name to obtain the associated attributes
name service: a service that resolves resource names to communication identifiers by holding copies of names and their translations
name space: the set of all names recognized by a name service
naming context: an abstraction that maps a name to a set of attributes or to another naming context
naming domain: a name space with a single authority for assigning names
navigation: the process of locating data for name resolution from among multiple name servers
nibble: four bits; half a byte
null RPC: an RPC without parameters


Signed for the 2005-06 season by BC Uniona Oimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia) juniors.
On October'05 loaned to KK Postojna.
Signed for the 2008-09 season by KK Split.
Back to Slovenia for the 2010-11 season, signed by BC Olimpija Ljubljana.
On January'11 moved to Greece, signed by Peristeri.
Moved to Italy for the 2011-12 moved to Italy, signed by Biancoblu Bologna.
On January'12 moved to Croatia, signed by KK Zadar.


The University of Florida was represented at the State Capitol today for UF Gator Day. The individual colleges and programs within the University set up displays showing off their work and achievements.
Glenn Good, Dean of the School of Human Development and Organization says this year UF has a lot to brag about.
"Well were hoping for continued support. This last year, UF broke in to the top ten among public universities and we're not resting on that, we're looking to get into the top five and we'll need their help in making that happen," said Good.
Last year UF enrolled more than 52,000 students, accepting just shy of 40% of student who applied.


INSULADD – Insulating Additive for House Paint!
A Visual Reference to how Insuladd works .... here!
Answers to common questions about Insuladd .... here!
Insuladd is a paint additive that you mix in with ordinary house paint to insulate and reflect heat from your home during warm months and to keep heat in during the cold months. It's an insulating paint additive specifically designed for interior house paint when used inside your home and exterior house paint when used outside of your home.
Insuladd will save you money on your heating and cooling bills by turning home paint surfaces into home insulation. It turns ordinary home paint into thermal paint on walls and ceilings because it becomes a reflecting radiant barrier. It keeps the elements out and more money in your pocket!
Simply mix into your house paint and apply as usual.
Simply mix Insuladd into all home paint; exterior house paint or interior house paint. We detail how it becomes additional home insulation in our 'How It Works' section.
Reducing heat gain by as much as 40 percent has been seen in the summer by using Insuladd paint additive. Heat loss in the winter will drop dramatically by using this ceramic paint additive making chilly rooms become comfortable.
Safe, non-toxic and environmentally friendly!
There are some basic environmental issues that connect us all. Everyone wants to do their part to help the environment and using Insuladd paint additive is a great way to start because it creates a more energy efficient home.
When unwanted heat enters a house during the summer, or heat escapes a home during the winter, there is an impact on the environment because the home is using more energy for heating and cooling that it needs to and is wasting energy.
The use of Insuladd will save energy because it acts as a radiant barrier and blocks unwanted heat gain in warm months and unwanted heat loss the cold winter months. Insuladd acts as an extra layer of insulation when mixed into paint, creating a more energy efficient home.
Even rocket scientists agree; Insuladd makes a difference.
The results of a test on reducing radiant energy and heat at a United States rocket launching range were conclusive, "Insuladd had lower temperatures during the test." The test proved that Insuladd helps keeps heat out 'at every location'!


William Adams receives many requests to support our local community via donations or sponsorship. In order to ensure our limited funds reach the most worthy causes we ask that you apply by completing the following Event, Sponsorship and Donation Request Form.
Due to volume we cannot guarantee that we will respond to each and every request. We would like to thank you for visiting our website and wish you every success with your endeavours.
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Striker Andy Has Been Cooking Up A Treat For Tranmere!
If Tranmere Rovers are to succeed in the play-offs, they'll need an in-form Andy Cook. So it's good news for Rovers that their star striker is red hot at the moment.
The forward scored seven goals in the month of April to help Rovers secure second place in the National League table and home advantage in the play-off semi-finals.
Not much surprise, then, that he's been named the Vanarama National League Player of the Month.
He started the month with the opener in the victory over rivals Chester before scoring all four in the 4-2 win against Gateshead at Prenton Park.
Cook also grabbed the winner in the crucial fixture at Dover Athletic before scoring in the 2-0 success at FC Halifax Town.
Undoubtedly a fan favourite, Cook could write his name into club folklore if he helps them safely navigate the play-offs.
 Magic Man Matt Has Magpies Of Chorley Flying High Again! Nine games inside a month is not easy, even when you have the best resources in football.
Devonshire Dances Off With Manager of the Month Award!  It's fair to say Maidenhead United and their manager usually enjoy April.


I was searching for a Property and found this listing (MLS® #ML81745867). Please send me more information regarding 73 Summit Way, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, 94132. Thank you!
I'd like to request a showing of 73 Summit Way, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, 94132 (MLS® #ML81745867). Thank you!


It's a candidate-driven market. The national unemployment rate is the lowest it's been in 17 years. Employers are filtering through hundreds of candidates. You need to find a way to stand out to hiring managers and recruiters if you even want to be given the opportunity to interview.
But how will you stand out in a sea of qualified candidates? Blogging is a fun and relatively easy way to rise to the top of your fellow job applicants. Here are four benefits of blogging that will help you catch the attention of recruiters.
Showing up on LinkedIn is simply not good enough anymore. You know why? It's finally 2018, and everyone has a LinkedIn page! But do you know what not everyone on the job market is doing? Yup, you guessed it. Blogging.
Writing blog posts is a great way to be found by recruiters on LinkedIn. If you are sharing your blogs on LinkedIn or posting your blog posts natively to your LinkedIn profile, recruiters and hiring managers will notice you.
You can create your own blog using one of many free blogging sites (WordPress, Medium, or Blogger, just to name a few). Or, to make your life easier, you can just post blog posts directly to your LinkedIn page. All you need to do is log in to LinkedIn and press "Write an article." Choose a header image, a title, and start plugging away. It's that simple.
When searching for new candidates, recruiters will check out your LinkedIn page. If you have published blog posts on your profile. it will increase your chances of standing out in the crowd of candidates.
You don't have to be an accomplished author to write a blog post. Just start writing about your industry or something you are passionate about. Show recruiters that you are an expert in your industry. Discuss new trends or issues within your industry and propose solutions on how to address them. Or you can even talk about a complex problem that you were faced with in the workplace and how you overcame it.
Blogging will help demonstrate your communication and writing skills to potential employers. Sharing your thoughts with your professional network will get you noticed by recruiters searching for applicants. Recruiters love to see you doing what you do best.
Writing and publishing blog posts will help you illustrate your personality and your personal brand with potential employers. As we all know, it can be difficult to show your personality on a resume or even a cover letter. However, writing blog posts provides a medium to showcase who you are and how you communicate with others in a professional manner.
When recruiters or HR read through your blog posts, they will be able to get an idea of who you are before they even bring you in for an interview. This is great because potential employers can assess whether you would be a good culture fit for their organization before you even step foot into their building.
When you are fortunate enough to get offered an interview, your blog posts may provide valuable talking points during your interview. You can reference one of your blog posts when answering a question that the hiring manager is asking you. Or you can even discuss an applicable accomplishment that you are proud of.
The interviewers may even bring up your blog in the interview and ask you about it! Blogging will help you not only stand out during the recruiting process but will make you memorable in the eyes of your interviewers during the decision process.


text:
Q: UOW and Repository Pattern in EF5 This is about some confusion I have about some of the entity framework material I have found from here:
https://www.asp.net/
On this Page it explains how to wrap a dbcontext using a repository and to wrap a repository using a a unit of work class:
http://www.asp.net/mvc/overview/older-versions/getting-started-with-ef-5-using-mvc-4/implementing-the-repository-and-unit-of-work-patterns-in-an-asp-net-mvc-application
However, on this page it states that a dbcontext is already a combination of both the UOW pattern and the repository pattern:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.data.entity.dbcontext(v=vs.103).aspx
So if the problem that these patterns solve are already solved by dbcontext, why re-implement these patterns with EF5?
Also, in the tutorial, the UnitOfWork class doesn't seem to show any benefit that UOW is supposed to give. for instance it states: "That way, when a unit of work is complete you can call the SaveChanges method on that instance of the context and be assured that all related changes will be coordinated. "
but all it seems to do is wrap the dbcontext for no reason. I think I am missing something. I don't see any co-ordination in this implementation... And how do thing "rollback" if something goes wrong?

A: Don't use another UoW/repository abstraction layer
As OP correctly pointed out, Entity Framework (similar to e.g. NHibernate and other ORMs) already provide an abstraction of the database for you with both a transactional "unit of work" and "repositories" that are available to you.
The extra UoW / repository abstraction layer is an anti-pattern, that should be avoided at all cost. There are numerous problems with it, the most important of them being:

*

*they prevent you from using the full power of the underlying ORM (lazy load, eager load, complex queries, ....)

*if they want to provide any added benefits beyond simple CRUD, they will be leaky (i.e reflect the capabilities present in the underlying ORM).

But, but, but ...

I need to be able to unit test by mocking my repositories

No, you don't. Just use a database with content specific for your test for that. Use an in-memory database (e.g. SQLite, Effort, ...) if you want this to be faster.

EF does not enforce business logic which is not expressed in data relationships ... To enforce this type of logic, you have to build a OUW/Repository/both of some sort around the EF context.

No, you should't. To implement your business logic in an infrastructure abstraction layer such as a unit of work or repository is just plain wrong.

*

*Valuable business logic belongs in domain entities, domain services, domain commands or for long running business processes, sagas.

*Simple validations (i.e. not null, value between x and y) don't: those should be solved at your system interface boundaries.

Also note that simple CRUD style actions without any valuable business logic don't need to go through all the "layer hoops", i.e. avoid this pattern:

*

*Database → Entity without behavior → DTO → View Model → View

*Edit fields

*View → View Model → DTO → Entity without behavior → Database

Just load it directly from your ORM in your controller in the "View Model" shape needed for the view, and save it directly from your controller.
On abstractions
Unnecessary abstractions and layer hoops such as these are evil. They obfuscate your code, tie your hands, leak, increase your code size and therefore the amount of bugs in your code without providing any added value.
Use abstractions when they offer you added value, e.g. when you need them in solving cross-cutting concerns, capturing/managing recurring patterns in your architecture, ...
Creating abstractions for the sake of abstracting is a waste of time.

A: I've already written extensively on this here, but I'll summarize for your benefit. Yes, Entity Framework already implements the UoW (DbContext) and repository (DbSet) patterns. There is no benefit in re-implementing them yet again. In fact, there's great detriment as it adds significantly to the maintenance overhead of your project.
Why did Microsoft include this in the introductory tutorials? Honestly, I'm not sure, but it was a mistake that has plagued countless new MVC developers, myself included when I was just getting started.
There is benefit in some sort of abstraction, such that your project is not dependent on any one particular way of getting data. However, this abstraction should return the specific data that your actions need, no more, no less. For lack of a better word, I refer to this as a "service", although Microsoft has grafted quite a different meaning onto that word via SOA. Simply, it's like you're just creating an API for your application to use, much as if you were creating a web API, only entirely code-based (not requiring an actual HTTP connection). This then goes into your DAL layer (class library or similar) that your project can reference.

A: The thing about EF is that there is no business logic in the OUW or Repository functionality it exposes. If you call SaveChanges it will happily save all changes. However, it there is a requirement that when adding say a Widget the addition of a Frobber for the Widget is necessary you are out of luck (unless there is a FK dependency involved). For any bit of business logic which is not expressed in data relationships, EF out of the box does not enforce it.
To enforce this type of logic, you have to build a OUW/Repository/both of some sort around the EF context. That's the only reason you'd do it to my knowledge.

A: unit of work and repository pattern has no concern with entity frame work. it is one of the design pattern. so it is used to make your code more readable, re-usable and efficient and also these pattern are used to achieve singelton (one time object instanciation) and also for avoid inversion of control.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Are you stumped to think of a new and fun recipe for your next cookie exchange party? I was too! I started by going through the cookbooks I already had and nothing inspired me so of course, I head to Amazon. I was hoping there would be at least one free e-cookbook but there were a whole bunch!
More than 200 recipes for cookies of all kinds – bar cookies, brownies, cookie balls, holiday cookies, macaroons, meringues, no-bake cookies, refrigerator cookies and more. All your favorites are here in multiple varieties – oatmeal cookies, ginger cookies, peanut butter cookies, pecan cookies, sugar cookies – and lots and lots of chocolate.
The books above were free on Amazon as the date we wrote this post but sometimes they are only Free on Kindle Unlimited which is offering a free 30-day trial subscription.
All of these cookbooks had 4-star ratings or above.. There are lots of wannabe "chefs" on Amazon so it's a good idea to look at the customer reviews posted on each book.
Of course, if you really want to get the gold star at your next cookie exchange you might want to purchase one of the standards.
Each tantalizing recipe is accompanied by a lush, full-color photograph, so you never have to wonder how the cookie will look. Beautifully designed and a joy to read, Martha Stewart's Cookies is rich with helpful tips and techniques for baking, decorating, and storing. My favorite part of this book were the lovely gift-packaging ideas in standout Martha Stewart style.
I just adore the Gooseberry Patch line of Cookbooks for the Holidays which is where I found the idea for these Lemon Cloud Cookies for my Cookies Exchange this year. They paired very well with my standby Salted Mock Toffee Bars too.
Cookies of every type and description are taken from their best-selling magazine and reprinted into this roundup cookie cookbook. From the homey (Aunt Sis's Strawberry Tart Cookies) to the exotic (Grand Marnier-Glazed Pain d'Epice Cookies), including balls, bars, refrigerator cookies, drop cookies, even deep-fried cookie confections.
Cookies from around the world, from Dutch Jan Hagels to Irish oatmeal sandwich cookies filled with cream and Irish whiskey, to Scandinavian Rosettes.
Dozens of Christmas cookies: Old-Fashioned Christmas Butter Cookies, star-shaped Moravian White Cookies, Chocolate Peppermint Bar Cookies.
We also saw these amazing deals on silicone molds for beautiful cookies candies and other DIY projects.


All this turmoil in the world of official politics is the expression of a deeper malaise. Capitalist society is rotting on its feet and offers no perspective for the future. The ruling bourgeoisie increasingly resembles a bunch of petty gangsters out for number one. The Hazel Blears episode is typical of this 'each for themselves' attitude which is quite prepared to put the desire for personal revenge or ambition above loyalty to party or nation. There is a profound tendency for bourgeois political structures to disintegrate: in many of the weakest countries of the planet, this results in civil wars and 'failed states'. In the more advanced ones, conflict between individuals, clans and factions is not yet so openly violent but no less relentless. In such a situation, it is becoming more and more difficult for the bourgeoisie - even one as sophisticated as the British ruling class - to keep control of its political game.
But even when it's shaken by the decomposition of its social and political institutions, the bourgeoisie is not about to throw in the towel. It is still capable of coming up with political strategies aimed at hiding the bankruptcy of its system from those who least benefit from it. Above all, it can devise all kinds of false solutions which stop people looking for the real problems.
The Prime Minister has no charisma, he's a liability for the next election? Get rid of him then - a decision that seems to have already been taken by a growing element within the Labour Party.
The party in power is tainted with corruption and failed policies? Let's have an election and get the opposition in. Or if you think the major parties are all tarred with same brush, why not try a protest vote and put a cross next to one of the smaller parties (not the BNP of course)?
But perhaps the problem really does go deeper. Perhaps there are some fundamental flaws in 'our' political system and we need what The Guardian is enthusiastically calling 'a New Politics'. Let's have a robust, nationwide dialogue about how to reinvigorate democracy: maybe we need a written constitution, or proportional representation, or to get rid of the Lords, even the monarchy, devolve power to the regions and to local councils. We need to make the executive more responsive to parliament and MPs more accountable to their constituents.
In short: we need to reform the existing democratic state. Because what the ruling class does not want is any questioning of the underlying article of the democratic faith: the sacred belief that the people rule, even though, in reality, the people are divided into classes with irreconcilable interests.
In truth, the role of democracy is not to let us 'have a say' in how society is run. Rather it is to disguise the dictatorship of the capitalist class. It is this class and this class only that 'has a say' and it organises its rule through the power of the state. Democracy simply serves to present this state power to the working class with an egalitarian gloss. But whoever is elected to manage the state has to defend the national capital, increase profits and improve competitiveness on the world market. It can only do this by the continued ruthless application of state control over all areas of the economy, whether this is overt (as in the case of Stalinism and Fascism) or concealed but just as extensive (as in the case of neo-liberalism).
In a period where the economic crisis is the driving force in the development of society, this state will have no choice but to attack the working class. The attacks that are carried out against the working class by the bourgeoisie and its state are not the product of bad leadership, or the wrong party being in power. They are the products of the inexorable economic crisis which has no solution within the capitalist framework. In other words, whoever the workers elect will immediately exercise state power to defend the economy - and it will be the working class that has to pay.
Today the "Continent" is the whole planet. The most democratic parliamentary forms of government have shown themselves to be entirely subordinate to capital and cannot be taken over by the exploited to be wielded in their own interests. The revolution that is needed to overthrow moribund capitalism will be obliged to dismantle the bourgeois state from top to bottom. And the resistance struggles of today that pave the way for the revolution of the future will have to organise themselves outside and against the organisms of the state, including the most democratic ones.


After a quick early morning look at the new May J.Crew arrivals, I ordered a few items that immediately caught my eye, including the No. 2 Pencil Skirt in Paisley and the Cotton Off-The-Shoulder Top in Stripe. I was excited to finally see a cotton printed pencil skirt (and at a reasonable price point!) in the latest rollout. With the regular length showing a measurement of 25″ (hooray!) I ordered the regular length in this skirt and decided on my regular size 12 due to the cotton/elastane mix. I have had to size up with the non-stretch skirts of late, but most of the J.Crew cotton pencil skirts in my closet are a size 12.
I also have the Short-sleeve Popover in Stripe and will try that pairing as well, similar to the website styling. The fit on this is perfect so I'm pleased to say it is true to size – the waistband hits at the higher end of the waist, and I'm thrilled that it actually hits at my knees (I'm 5'8″). The cotton is a textured cotton and lined with what I'm guessing is polyester (the tag doesn't specify). I personally don't mind the poly lining as I'm not usually wearing these types of skirts anywhere but work in the summer time. I know some of my older cotton pencil skirts are either unlined or lined with cotton. Overall, bravo, J.Crew. Please make more skirts like this! Here's the skirt with a (slightly wrinkled) lavender Tippi sweater.
Next up, the Cotton off-the-shoulder top in stripe. I wasn't necessarily waiting for these tops to come out, as others were, but I like the look on others, and I was looking forward to trying a new silhouette for summer. I ordered the 12 and 12 Tall in this top, as I was worried about the top being too short. the 12 Tall ended up being a bit too long and large, so the regular 12 is the right size for me. Before I pulled the shirt down off the shoulder, I could see thinking it was too short, but…since this is an off-the-shoulder top, the length is just right. The cotton is lightweight shirting material, similar to the cotton popover I referenced earlier.
Talk about an easy go-to summer outfit! There's something to be said for a good collar bone. I didn't play around much with jewelry, the pendant I tried looked awkward but when I tried it on yesterday with a simpler necklace, I liked that look. However, I don't think a necklace is a must with this type of top, some fun bracelets may be the way to go.
Here's another shot from the side.
I don't think I'd go down another size in this top, so I'll say it's true to size. The only thing I'm not totally looking forward to is having to pull out the strapless bra to wear with this top. But, like I said, it's a different shape than we've seen in the past few years for summer tops so I'm looking forward to switching it up a bit.
So, these were two wins from the latest rollout. Have you tried either of these items? Would love to hear what you think and thanks for visiting!
I just got the paisley skirt in the mail today and I was expecting a more muted color palette. Regardless, I am excited about this skirt and looking forward to wearing it. J Crew pencil skirts always gets me.


text:
Microsconsia limpusi is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cassidae, the helmet snails and bonnet snails.

Description

Distribution
This marine species occurs off Queensland, Australia.

References

External links

Cassidae
Gastropods described in 2008

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
EMC €20m investment 'strategically important' for new products
25 Jul 200862 Views
The decision to create 50 new software development jobs at storage giant EMC's operations in Cork is of great strategic importance to the company, especially in relation to its plans in the areas of virtualisation, data centre automation and new consolidated services.
The global head of human resources for EMC, Jack Mollen, told siliconrepublic.com:
"This is a very strategic decision for EMC and Ireland. It's around creating software development positions over the next five years. These will be in a number of areas.
"We will have a number of positions in the operating systems, our large SIM products and software development in new efforts like data centre automation and the virtualisation of data centres. And we will also have software development in some of our advanced solutions.
"When we bring different products together, we will offer consolidated services, so there will be positions in those areas too. The investment touches on some very strategic things for EMC and also in an important space of software development, which is key to Ireland," Mollen said.
The €20m investment is being rolled out with the support of IDA Ireland and will initially focus on software development for EMC's storage systems and resource management software products.
EMC employs 1,600 people in Ovens in Cork, 90pc of whom hold third-level qualifications.
The Cork operation conducts manufacturing for EMC, as well as customer support, technical solutions and international finance.
"EMC is a key reference site for IDA in selling Ireland's value proposition to other IT companies looking to invest here. EMC's decision to make this R&D investment is a very significant commitment to Cork," said the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheal Martin TD.
"The proposed up-skilling will strengthen the Oven's Campus position to effectively compete for a broader range of future technologies within EMC, as this technical expertise develops and is enhanced on-site.
"Investment in R&D and innovation is at the centre of the Government's policy for economic growth and this is excellent news from a highly innovative company," Minister Martin added.
"The decision to make this R&D investment in Cork is in no small part due to the positive business experience EMC has had in Iireland since the establishment of its manufacturing facility in 1988, coupled with the quality and commitment of our workforce and the support of IDA Ireland and the Irish Government," said Bob Savage, the vice president of EMC's operations in Cork.
Related: storage, jobs, IDA Ireland, EMC, Cork, software development, virtualisation, R&D
Pfizer to create 300 new jobs across Irish sites
2 Nov 20201.1k Views
€78m Qualcomm Technologies R&D lab will bring hundreds of jobs to Cork
Plenty of new tech jobs were unveiled across Ireland this week
Major investment brings 60 skilled jobs to Dublin
Varadkar announces 206 new jobs at 'high-growth' IDA-backed companies


"The father of lies" always hates the truth, but he does not always oppose it by the same methods. If he fails to succeed as a roaring lion he may appear as an angel of light, suggesting that surely a God of love will not condemn Christ-rejectors forever. Sinners, he will contend, are not responsible for their sins anyway, for does not Eph. 1:11 teach that "[God] worketh all things after the counsel of His own will"? And thus God Himself is supposed to have conceived the idea of sin as "a gracious means to a glorious end," and to have caused man to fall into sin so that He might finally save him from it!
Why an almighty, all-wise, all-loving God permitted sin to enter the universe must, for the time being, remain an impenetrable mystery to us, but one thing is certain: He is not the author of sin, and never accepts the responsibility for it — except that in grace and love He bore its penalty for man.
God calls sinners "children of disobedience" and "children of wrath" (Eph. 2:2,3), explaining in the clearest language that He hates sin and that His anger is kindled against it (Rom. 1:18; Eph. 5:6; John 3:36). But if God meant man to sin and caused him to sin, how was man disobedient and what cause could God have to be angry? Those who would shift the responsibility for sin from themselves to God should remember that He proclaimed His standards of righteousness in the Law "that every mouth may be stopped and that all the world may be brought in guilty before God" (Rom. 3:19).
"BUT GOD, who is RICH IN MERCY, for His GREAT LOVE wherewith he loved us… hath quickened us… raised us up… and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages to come He might show THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARD US THROUGH CHRIST JESUS" (Eph. 2:4-7).