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How Depositphotos was created: big history of the corporate group
19 February, 2021, 09:28
Depositphotos has $8 million of investment, an external valuation of $100 million, and almost 500 staff under its belt. The company's history began in a basement on Mezhyhirska street in Kyiv and continues in offices in eight countries across the world.
Today, Depositphotos is a group of content-related projects: a photo/video stock, an online advertising template editor, on-demand studio pavilions, entertainment YouTube channels, and media.
"I want to become a global content platform, with our team retaining control over the business and developing further. As a marketplace, we have traveled quite a long way. As creators of our own content, we are just getting started. We are constantly experimenting," says Dmitry Sergeev, founder and CEO of the Depositphotos group of companies.
AIN.UA tells the full story of Depositphotos: not only about its success, but also about downfalls and crises, missed opportunities, project closures, and new endeavors that have not yielded a profit yet, but can once become The Next Big Thing.
The first entrepreneurial experience
Dmitry Sergeev first learned about the Internet in 1999. Back then, there were no ICQ, QIP, or Skype, and Google had just been launched. He earned his initial capital by making websites and simple online ads, buying and reselling all sorts of traffic.
Here and elsewhere, collages by Slava Avramenko
"It is a pretty special feeling for an Internet entrepreneur back at the time: you whip up some stuff in an HTML editor to later upload it via a dial-up connection so that it can earn you some money.
Your wife is close by, the baby is crying in the kitchen, and then suddenly, you get a check for that from the US. You don't know where to go: which bank will cash it. The check is for $52 – and that's a hell of money! Because you have earned this money through a plug, to put it crudely," Sergeev recalls.
Sergeev's first significant project was the file hosting service DepositFiles. The entrepreneur explains its success quite simply: they entered the niche at the right time, riding on the hype, and offered users an interface that was convenient and easy to understand. Back then, there were some large online storage providers already, so Sergeev just took the existing model and improved it.
"We didn't work with pirates or porn resources, nor did we generate traffic on purpose – we just made the whole thing a little better than others," Sergeev comments.
Initially, there was just one programmer working on DepositFiles, besides Sergeev. He had come from Dnipro (still called Dnipropetrovsk back then), and he single-handedly, working in Sergeev's kitchen, managed to do what is done by whole development offices nowadays: a project with millions of users per month.
Like everyone, they profited off download speed. It was deliberately limited, and if the file was large, a free user could wait 24 hours for it to load. But by paying a small amount of money via SMS – generally, less than $1 – he or she would get high speed and multiple transmission streams. Today this model is called "freemium;" the vast majority of mobile and desktop applications are monetized through micropayments.
DepositFiles soon rose to the top 5 but never took the lead. However, Google, PayPal, and other today's Internet giants worked with the Ukrainian company, and some potential investors offered to unite.
A basement is a Ukrainian-style garage
The office was based in an old Khrushchev-style residential building not far from the Okruzhna beltway. DepositFiles was becoming widely known, and people wanted to work there, so Sergeev started to hire "people off the street" for the project. They were coming to the interview from all across Ukraine and even from other CIS countries. The team grew to 8 people, so the "khrushchyovka" felt too small.
Even before his online business, Sergeev had bought a basement on a downtown street, Mezhyhirska; he wanted to open a nightclub there but did not have enough money and failed to agree with the neighbors. So he decided to convert it into an office. A friend helped him with refurbishment, and the employees moved the furniture and belongings themselves in a van.
The basement before renovation, 2008. Photo courtesy of Dmitry Sergeev
This basement was where the company's corporate culture began to take shape, although the term was not yet in use in those days. The walls were decorated in the style of the then-popular House, M.D. series.
The basement after renovation, 2008. Photo courtesy of Dmitry Sergeev
The absence of windows, the monotonous hum of the engine, and the exhaust system did not bother anyone: it was a place where they stayed late into the night, celebrated the New Year and birthdays.
At the same time, several people slowly and enthusiastically were working on Depositphotos.
"We were constantly trying something new, testing some kinds of models. A photobank was one of such experiments," the entrepreneur says.
A beautiful adventure comes to an end
In the early 2000s, the file-hosting sector began to collapse amid the anti-piracy drive. Sergeev tried to transform DepositFiles and redirect its enormous traffic to the social media sector. At that time, VKontakte was booming on Runet, and the team tried to occupy this niche, but the attempt was unsuccessful. People just wanted to download or send over a file. And there was a lot of "trash" among those files, as Sergeev puts it.
"We were constantly receiving letters demanding to remove something. We were deleting files by hundreds of thousands every day; it was very bad," Sergeev recalls.
"You couldn't call DepositFiles piracy. It was a beautiful adventure. As soon as it became clear that the market was in trouble, I withdrew from the business."
Many similar projects had been sold for hundreds of millions of dollars. Sergeev was less lucky. He sold DepositFiles not to make money but to get rid of the burden in Sergeev's telling. DepositFiles was sold as a set of scripts and a user base-priced at approximately 0.03 cents apiece. Sergeev does not reveal the exact amount. Media have previously suggested a sum in the region of $2 million, but the entrepreneur calls that an overestimate.
"I was lucky to pick the right moment and find a buyer. Following that, file-sharing platforms ceased to exist as a business sector, and the remaining projects were sold for a song – if they were sold at all."
Sergeev admits he has not visited the DepositFiles website for nearly ten years. Today any mass-scale uncontrolled file sharing is banned, so the model that was followed by DepositFiles, RapidShare, and other file hosting services that were popular back in the Aughties, is gone for good. Silicon Valley has come up with a new file sharing method: cloud storage platforms like Dropbox or Google Drive. Copyright has prevailed.
New Deposit. The beginning
The sale of DepositFiles was completed in 2009. The same year, Sergeev launched a new project with a similar name, the photobank Depositphotos.
This time again he did not offer anything revolutionary: by the time Depositphotos was launched, there had been some large photobanks on the market: GettyImages, Istockphoto (later bought by GettyImages), and others. They were also selling box scripts allowing users to build their own photobank. One such script was used as a foundation to build Depositphotos. Sergeev bought it for $250.
He admits he did not pay much attention to Depositphotos for a long time – just visited it to see how it was going and kept himself busy elsewhere. Meanwhile, the service was acquiring unique designs, features, and a user interface of its own.
As a way to attract photographers, they were simply paid for uploads: 10 cents per shot, which added up to tens and hundreds of dollars per person. According to Sergeev, about a million dollars were spent to stock up on photographs. Another $150,000 was put into the office and salaries.
Users were drawn in for a free trial period.
"Now it is a standard model that no Internet project can launch without. But back in the days, it was viewed as something next to fraud. You asked for their credit card details in advance, then people forgot to unsubscribe, you charge them money, and PayPal comes to you to find out who you are," Dmitry recounts.
Many of those attracted by the free trial stayed, and Depositphotos hit its stride. An unsophisticated SEO brought good organic traffic to the website. The brand continuity also helped: everybody on the Internet knew DepositFiles, as it was the fifth most visited file hosting service in the world, and people were interested to see what the new project was all about.
Competitors did not hesitate to take advantage of DepositFiles' "pirate" aura.
"They slung mud at us on web forums, signaling that the photobank market was being invaded by Russian pirates, who would now rob you. We mobilized our PR guys to deal with this wave of negativity properly from the start. And eventually, it worked in our favor because Depositphotos is actually pure copyright."
Shares for sale. Expensive!
Depositphotos was growing "out of pocket" for two years, following which, TMT Investments put $3 million into the company in exchange for a 27% stake in 2011. Back then, the entire business was valued at $10 million.
Now, Sergeev says, he regrets not having raised investments earlier. But in 2009–2010, he vastly overvalued his company: when Depositphotos was 20 times smaller, Sergeev asked investors for 20 times more funding.
"When Instagram was acquired for a billion, I couldn't sleep at night: I didn't understand how this rubbish can be acquired for such huge sums of money. Riding on the hype, we went to a roadshow and put the value at $250 million while earning $1 million per year. When they asked us why so much, we told them, because! They replied they would think about it – and didn't invest."
Depositphotos core team, 2012. Photo courtesy of Dmitry Sergeev
One of the most generous offers that Depositphotos declined was to enter at 30% with a valuation of $50 million. This would be a $15 million investment, much more than the company eventually raised.
Another offer that Sergeev rashly declined had come from Fotolia, already a popular photo service at that time. Its founder Oleg Tscheltzoff wanted to buy part of the Ukrainian photobank's stock at an early stage, but Dmitry would not sell.
After a while, Fotolia itself was sold to the giant Adobe for almost a billion dollars.
"If we had agreed then, it could have been a nice deal. I would make more money than I have now," Sergeev recalls.
Depositphotos goes out into the world
Depositphotos used TMT Investments' money to hire PR experts, prepare first bases for users, and enter all forums. The service attracted attention in the USA; Americans started to invite the company to conferences and offer partnerships.
"On top of that, Getty Images wanted to buy us," Sergeev recalls. Obviously, he did not sell the service.
In 2011, Depositphotos already had 40 employees, and there was no room for all in the basement. Sergeev rented another semi-basement office nearby and then – several apartments. The team kept growing, and Depositphotos moved to a 5-story building in Podil. Within it, the company grew to 150 people.
In 2012, Yevgen Sysoyev, AVentures' managing partner, joined the Board of Directors. It was he who explained to Sergeev that it had been a mistake to decline the above offers. He also introduced the founder to several journalists: Depositphotos began active life in the public eye.
DP top management. Photo courtesy of Dmitry Sergeev
By that time, the company's annual earnings had already reached $6 million. Depositphotos had organic growth of 100% per month. In 2013, Forbes Ukraine valued Depositphotos at $100 million. As for Sergeev himself, he said that $70–75 million was a more realistic figure.
Depositphotos raised the next round of investment in 2015 when it received $4 million from the EBRD and $1 million from TNT. In March 2016, the company was valued at $82 million during TNT's partial cashout: the fund sold a part of its stake to an undisclosed European investor. According to Sergeev, before 2017, Depositphotos was growing at an annual rate of 50%.
Despite his success with Depositphotos and an increasing amount of work, Sergeev remained true to his entrepreneurial habit of trying new things all the time. In 2013, he attempted to harness the fast-growing smartphone market and launched Clashot, a bank of amateur photos. But the app didn't make it a scalable project.
"We can acknowledge our failure. Although it seemed to me then that I had invented a new Facebook," Dmitry says.
"Literally all photobanks, with no exceptions, did the same thing, but no one was able to monetize the collected content."
During the ICO hype, Sergeev wanted to reanimate Clashot, but part of the Board did not approve of the initiative. The project was shut down and archived.
In 2014, Depositphotos turned to the media industry and began to publish an online art and photography magazine, Bird In Flight. It was headed by Eugene Safonov, the first editor-in-chief of The Village's Ukrainian version. The launch of a specialized magazine gave Depositphotos an opportunity to raise brand awareness in the Russian and Ukrainian markets.
The edition was successful: BiF was praised as the best in its subject area. Inspired by this success, Sergeev launched another media outlet: WAS, an online popular history magazine with BiF's Ivan Siyak as editor-in-chief.
In addition to WAS, the company launched two more projects in 2017: the Lightfield photo studios and the Crello image editor.
"Crello was a logical step in the development of Depositphotos within the content sector. We had a photobank with a colossal amount of images. Then our market was invaded by Adobe which bought Fotolia with a bank of 60 million images, for $800 million. Photobanks responded by launching online editing tools, so-called 'browser photoshops.' Shutterstock was the first one to do it. We also launched our own editor, Crello."
By using templates, Crello allows you to put together ads and promotional materials, with no design skills required. At launch, the service was completely free. According to Sergeev, about 60,000 new users registered with Crello on launch day. At first, the editor grew by 100% per year while gradually introducing paid features. This led to a slowdown in the growth.
With a 2,500 square meter area, Lighfield was the largest photo studio in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Depositphotos had invested UAH 40 million in its launch and planned to put up another 150 million, eventually investing about a third of this amount. But the plans changed in 2020.
Lightfield had two business streams. The first one was something like a coworking space for photographers, with an option to rent equipment and premises or organize a full working cycle of photo and video production. Lightfield also worked as a production facility for major customers: it handled large orders from agencies and companies. To do it, the company employed its own specialists and producers.
Everything went well until late 2019 when the world was hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic changes the plans
Lightfield was affected by the pandemic more than Sergeev's other projects. Projects were shut down, and studio pavilions stood idle. Neither did the coworking space pay off: for a photographer, an hour of work in Lightfield cost UAH 400, but these earnings were too little.
"With those immense spaces, we were just standing by and paying for them," says Sergeev.
We decided that, instead of closing the project, we should reinvent it. We laid off part of the employees, half of the premises were given up. The remaining part was used to shoot stock content: short-themed clips that users could combine to create complete videos for sale. It was then that Sergeev paused to think: why not create the end product independently?
"Having produced stock content on a wholesale scale, we shoot a lot and have a wealth of experience in it, anyway. We are familiar with the greater part of the filming process. We have begun making our video content more sophisticated and are trying to reach a wider audience with it. Now, it is a range of channels on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. It is the only text for now; we shall see what can grow out of it."
One of such projects will be the YouTube channel "How it WAS: popular history," a reincarnation of the closed WAS. The magazine has lost all advertising revenue, and its investor has decided to remodel it.
According to Sergeev, this area has required but minimal investment: so far, they have been delivering the very cheapest DIY entertainment content; if it works out, the team will go for more complex filming.
Bird In Flight has suffered less than WAS: according to Sergeev, its adverting revenue has fallen dramatically, but not to zero. Today BiF pays back 50% to 70% of the allocated budget.
"BiF is quite complex content. It may pay off, but it doesn't have to. The project has different objectives," Dmitry says.
BiF has 20 editorial staff, its readership comprising about a million users. Sergeev has no plans to disband the project.
Crello also continues to develop, currently being an unprofitable startup. And that in addition to being quite expensive: according to Sergeev, nearly a third of Depositphotos' budget is spent on Crello.
Crello remained free of charge from its launch until 2019 when the board decided to start monetizing it. This led to a churn of users.
"Canva costs $9 per month with a trial period of 30 days, and we offer $8 per month with a trial period of 15 days. But in terms of the product, Canva is ten steps ahead," Sergeev explains.
Crello has now turned to the freemium model: the basic service is free of charge, but some features are only available for a fee. This way, Sergeev wants to gain customer traction.
"I am sure that now profit is not the most important thing for Crello. In our pursuit of money traction, we risk losing time and missing the market. We need to become more visible, and we are getting closer to that," he explains.
"Now we need a user base more than money. We need to gain a firmer foothold in the market, and then we can start the monetization."
Before the pandemic, Sergeev planned to raise investments in Crello, but he has dropped the idea now: "Until there is clear traction, it will be very difficult to talk to investors. Money-wise, you gain a 20% annual growth rate, but the user base is shrinking. Or the user base is growing rapidly, whereas monetization is falling. This would raise many questions. Investors should see a clear strategy and the point."
The pandemic has taken a terrible toll on the small and medium-sized businesses that Depositphotos focuses on. Sales fell by up to 20%, depending on the market, with the maximum drop in March and April. In March, the most noticeable slowdown occurred in the EU (Italy, Spain, and Poland), and in April, in Russia and the CIS. Besides the global pandemic, the Latin region experienced a political and financial crisis related to the devaluation of the Brazilian currency.
The sales recovered only by September 2020. According to Sergeev, there was even a slight increase of about 10% compared to last year.
However, very few employees use the company's 3,500-square-meter office, costing the company almost $500,000 a year. In fact, 90% of the employees work from home, but Sergeev refuses to give up the office.
Depositphotos currently employs 450 people, with about 400 of them working in Kyiv. Although Depositphotos is legally a US group of companies with offices in Ukraine, the US, the UK, Germany, Russia, Poland, Italy, and Cyprus, in fact, it is a Ukrainian company.
"There are about 50 people in all these counties. In this way, we keep the minimum required for the proper legal structure of the European representation and business security in general.
In Cyprus, we have 20+ people – the Depositphotos sales department, part of the Crello marketing team, and part of the Crello developers hired outside of Ukraine. In the US, we have an API team, sales representatives, and management. There are also a few representatives in Western and Eastern Europe, England, China. There are up to 20 people for all Western regions and Asia," Sergeev explains.
The foreign staff may soon grow significantly. Despite the difficulties the pandemic has caused, it has its advantages.
"We do like hiring all over the world now, and it's becoming the norm. Previously, you had to show a job candidate the office, a coffee machine, a sea view from the window, a parking lot, nametags, smoothies, and a three-course lunch, and a lot of people turned their noses up and said, "It's hot in here." And if you wanted the staff to come to you from Spain or Egypt, you had to surprise them with some meeting room and a sleeping bag right there. And now everyone has an equal footing, a kitchen. I don't know how long we can operate like this. But I have the feeling it has gotten better.
By the way, I also have a small child sitting on my lap most of the time while I work. So I would not say that I like remote working just because I'm so privileged and have a bigger apartment," Sergeev says.
Unconquered China
The pandemic is not the only difficulty; the competition has also intensified. Canva entered the market with huge resources, which, among other things, provides a free image database in its service. FreePic with $250 million from good investment firms, a newcomer Storyblocks, and others – all of them eat away market share, slowing the growth of Depositphotos and other players.
"I can't say what market share we have today. If we talk only about micro stocks, the volume of the global market is about $12 billion a year, and we occupy up to 1% of the market," Sergeev estimates.
The primary income of Depositphotos comes from the markets of English-speaking countries (including the US) and Europe, which account for 65% of the company's business. Ukraine and the CIS countries, where Depositphotos has a leading position, 12% of the company's income, take second place. The rest comes from Asia and Latin America. According to Sergeev's estimates, China could double the company's turnover if Depositphotos entered that market directly. The market is huge and rich, and there is a significant uncovered demand for the service. But all attempts by Depositphotos to open a representative office in China have failed. Therefore, the company still works there through resellers, similarly to the largest competitors, including Canva.
"An American or Ukrainian cannot start a company in the PRC; only a Chinese citizen can do it. You have to go there, look for people who won't steal your business, get a license, and register a company. All this takes a very long time," says Sergeev.
But that's not the most challenging part. China has its regulatory agency, similar to Roskomnadzor, which closes down everything without warning from time to time. Not just any particular page, but the whole project at once.
Now the growth of Depositphotos has significantly slowed down. If in 2019 the service grew by 20% compared to 2018, then in 2020, Sergeev does not expect the result to be more than 10-15%. Nevertheless, the company has enough income to support itself and its startups.
In December 2020, Depositphotos rebranded for the first time since its founding. The new visual identity for the company was developed by the CREVV agency. It changed the logo, font, communication, and positioning. "Ordinary Stock for Unordinary People" is the new concept of the rebranded Depositphotos now.
Image credits: CREVV
"In the 11 years that our service has been in operation, we have been able to understand our users well. They are brave in their expressions. At the same time, they are in constant search not only for inspiration and ideas but also for simple and effective solutions for their tasks. That's why we have strengthened our communication with a new visual identity, which is based on simplicity and creativity, emphasizing the diversity of the content of our platform," explained Depositphotos CMO Alina Volchek, who was in charge of the rebranding.
Sergeev has no plans to leave the business and calls himself an "involved founder," that is, a founder who personally leads the team. Sometimes he does this haphazardly, but it has worked so far. However, he says that he has never received any offers to buy the business that would satisfy him.
"I don't see an opportunity to get out of the business at the current moment. You can get out a little bit, lose control and start building a rocket to Mars and then it turns out that this niche is occupied.
When the time comes to get out, I will get out. When there are more powerful ideas for the future and serious proposals, I think I will agree. But not right now. I feel the way things work, and I realize that right now is not the time.
I'm thankful for the current investors who are also with me and don't want to exit the business and reject the offers that they receive sometimes," Sergeev explains.
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Your kitchen = your new Sephora.
It's time to toss the face toner with ingredients that you can't pronounce and go all natural this season. We spoke with expert Alexis Wolfer, founder of the popular natural beauty website, The Beauty Bean, about how champagne, yogurt, and even coffee grounds can do wonders for the skin. Take a look at Alexis' top food-inspired beauty treatments that are guaranteed to leave you feeling fresh-faced and your regimen chemical free.
"Apply a dab of full fat Greek yogurt to a blemish to reduce redness, balance bacteria, and loosen the clogged pore. The lactic acid gently loosens dead, dull skin cells while the fat hydrates. It's important to use full fat opposed to skim or nonfat to achieve these benefits."
"Gently scrub your teeth with an orange peel to naturally help whiten them. The citric acid will help to breakdown plaque and stains while the spongey peel helps scrub it away. Rinse well with water after but do not brush your teeth for at least one hour since the acids can weaken enamel, which you want to be careful not to scrub off."
"It make your skin smell like salad dressing, but if your skin is acne prone, it's worth it! Apply with a cotton pad to clean skin and let it dry to help tighten pores and kill bacteria."
"Add a drop of raw honey to your evening dose of moisturizer. It's a humectant—meaning it helps pull moisture deeper within your skin's cells—helping your favorite moisturizer work even better."
"Use a fresh beet as the perfect lip and cheek stain. Run a slice of freshly cut beet on the lips or cheek or dab coconut oil on a cotton swab then run the beet on the swab before applying."
"When your hair is looking dull and even a double shampoo isn't cutting through all the product residue, add a teaspoon to your next serving of shampoo to help break through product build up and reveal cleaner hair. But don't do this more than once a week!"
"Apply sake with a cotton swab to age spots. This will help fade dark spots. It is a secret of Geishas—the sake has properties that prevent the formation of melanin, the compound responsible for darkened skin."
"Add cooled caffeinated coffee grounds to your body scrub for a cellulite-fighting exfoliant. Caffeine works by constricting blood vessels when applied topically, while also increasing circulation to your skin's surface—it's why you find it in de-puffing eye creams, too—both of which help to temporarily reduce the appearance of cellulite. Combined with an invigorating scrubbing motion for manual stimulation, this is the perfect way to scrub up before you strip down."
"Take store bought oats, grind them in a blender (keep the grounds larger for a more rigorous treatment) and then mix the grounds in with your regular facial cleanser immediately prior to use. Gently massage the mixture onto your face, avoiding the eye area, in small, circular motions before rinsing as usual. This is particularly great for people with sensitive skin."
"Champagne is packed with anti-aging grape seed extract making it an ideal anti-aging toner. It is high in antioxidants due to the grape seed extract, which has vitamins C and E. This helps in protecting the skin's vital collagen and elastin from environmental free radicals and oxidative stress."
"Use coconut oil to remove stubborn eye makeup. It will instantly dissolve even the most waterproof formulas while gently exfoliating and moisturizing the delicate eye area. Use fingers to very gently massage eyes before using cotton pads to wipe to excess off. Pro tip: Try leaving some on overnight for even more magic to happen."


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Britney's Biggest Regret
From E! Online, "Too bad time travel doesn't exist! Viewers watched Britney Spears fall in love with Kevin Federline when Britney and Kevin: Chaotic aired on UPN from May 17 to June 14, 2005. The five-episode reality series, culled from home videos during the European leg of the singer's Onyx Hotel Tour, was skewered by critics and lost 1.6 million viewers during its short run on the now defunct network.
(Ben Rose/WireImage.com)
Speaking to the U.K.'s Telegraph, Spears acknowledges that it was a mistake to put her love life on camera like that. "I would never do something like that again," she says. "Actually, that was really bad. That was probably the worst thing I've done in my career."
Asked if she feels the same way about her 2002 movie Crossroads, Spears clutches her hand to her heart. "No!" she shouts, getting animated. "I like Crossroads! F–k you!"
Spears, 32, doesn't have anything bad to say about her one-season stint on Fox's The X Factor, however. (Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio have joined veterans Demi Lovato and Simon Cowell for Season 3.)
"I did have trouble being overly critical at times but then I'd simply remind myself to be constructive and positive versus mean," Spears says of her time as a judge. "Being able to mentor young singers was the main plus point. I think overall it was a positive experience."
The "Perfume" singer doesn't regret much during her 20 years in the spotlight—including the matching denim looks she and Justin Timberlake wore to the 2001 American Music Awards. "It was a pretty carefree time," she says. "We were just, like, 'We look great, let's go!' I have great memories of that time: there were a lot of rehearsals, but there was also a lot of clubbing and a lot of dancing."
"It was a long time ago," she adds. "But it was fun.""

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Category Archives: Grade Five Piano Repertoire
Relaxing Music for Piano Solo
September 8, 2015 | Piano Mama
Teachers across Australia and New Zealand have been joining our review team to provide real life reviews of new publications.
Winston Hills teacher Dianna writes…
Thank you so much for sending me the book 'Relaxing Music for Piano Solo' to review. I think it has to be one of my favourites!
It says "40 soothing selections including Beautiful Dreamer, Claire de Lune, Fur Elise, Londonderry Air, Pie Jesu, The Swan, To a Wild Rose".
The pieces range in difficulty from 3rd grade to 6th grade.
There is no fingering on any of the pieces (not necessarily a bad thing though). Most of the pieces are two pages long, but some are longer and page turns can be tricky, but easy to copy the page that needs to be turned and tape it in for performance purposes (except the piece that goes for 6 pages).
The arrangements of the pieces are fantastic though. Some of my favourites are 'Nimrod' (Elgar), 'Largo' (Handel), 'The Ash Grove' (Old Welsh Air), 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusic' Second Movement (Mozart) and 'Jupiter' (Holst).
I was asked to play last minute at a wedding recently. Usually I play the violin, but this time they wanted the piano, and this book was full of pieces just perfect to play.
The selection of repertoire is great. Lots of classical pieces that aren't too difficult, but well known.
Looks like this would make an ideal book for 40 Piece Challenge students. Older students would find some 'quick win' repertoire and younger students would have a plethora of repertoire to continually work on. A handy book full of useful pieces for any pianist to know!
Order code is 130679 $29.95 from your favourite music retail store!
40 Piece Challenge Grade Five Piano Repertoire Grade Four Piano Repertoire Grade Six Piano Repertoire Grade Three Piano Repertoire
Piano Music of Sonny Chua
July 28, 2015 | Piano Mama
Piano teachers across the USA are travelling to Chicago this week to attend the NCKP. As a special treat this year in the exhibitor hall there is an Australian Music Booth! If you are one of our US readers attending the NCKP, go along and check out Australian composer, Sonny Chua's music.
If you are not lucky enough to be in Chicago this week, here is a sneak peak inside Sonny Chua's collection: Piano Music of Sonny Chua. This collection would be fabulous for 40 Piece Challenge students as it includes pieces at a range of levels, so some quick wins as well as some pieces to work towards.
Sonny Chua writes of his Piano Music Collection…
These miniatures were created to taunt, tickle and teach. I wrote these pieces to amuse myself, as much as for the student to perform, and for the audience to participate as our unsuspecting victims.
Even though these works are preceded by descriptive titles, I hope the music itself is just as evocative without its extra-musical references. I believe music is a unique language and can perhaps communicate more richly and mightily than words.
These pieces were great fun to write as they allowed me to explore many aspects of pianistic technique and timbre. It was also immensely enjoyable to dabble as a "sonic character actor" with a range of musical concepts and styles. I hope you will enjoy the craft and the bluff in this quirky collection of piano music.
Piano Music of Sonny Chua (order number 0101340976) is available through these great stores in Australia and available from all good stores in the US via Hal Leonard. The collection includes:
You Dirty Rat (from a Gangster Suite)
Angel (intermezzo from Sonatina)
No. 3 (from Waltz it All About?)
No. 12 (from Waltz it All About?)
Hoonmobile (from Bogus Boogies)
Headache Crawl (from Bogus Bogies)
TV Zombie (from Bogus Boogies)
T-Rex Hungry (from a Day in the Life of T-Rex)
Jamaican Fumble (from Red Hot Rhapsodies)
Theme & 12 Deviations
40 Piece Challenge Grade Eight Piano Repertoire Grade Five Piano Repertoire Grade Four Piano Repertoire Grade One Piano Repertoire Grade Seven Piano Repertoire Grade Six Piano Repertoire Grade Three Piano Repertoire Grade Two Piano Repertoire	Australian Music BoothPiano MusicSonny Chua
Relaxing Music – Grade 5/6+
May 11, 2015 | Piano Mama
The 'Relaxing Music' volume contains a wonderful selection of well-known classics for the piano (such as Debussy's 'Claire de Lune') and also features some excellent arrangements of orchestral pieces (such as Elgar's 'Nimrod' variation and Holst's 'Jupiter').
As the name of the volume suggests, all of the pieces portray a mood of reflection and tranquillity.
This compilation is mostly suitable for late intermediate to advanced pianists (Grade 6 and above) (containing pieces such as), however there are some 'easier' pieces such as Fur Elise which is typically graded at around Grade 5 difficulty.
It would be an excellent addition to any young pianist's music library.
Big thanks to reviewer Samantha Coates!
Air (from WATER MUSIC), Air On The G String (from ORCHESTRAL SUITE NO. 3), Aria (from THE ENGLISH PATIENT), The Ash Grove, Ave Verum (Jesu, Word Of God Incarnate), The Bamboo Flute, Barcarolle (from THE TALES OF HOFFMANN (LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN)), Beautiful Dreamer, Canon In D (from ORDINARY PEOPLE), Clair de Lune, Dance Of The Spirits (from ORFEO ED EURIDICE), Eine Kleine Nachtmusik ("Romance") – Second Movement, Flow Gently, Sweet Afton, Fur Elise, Gymnopedie No. 1, How Can I Keep From Singing, Intermezzo (from CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA), Jesu Joy Of Man's Desiring, Jupiter (from THE PLANETS), Largo (from XERXES), Londonderry Air, Mazurka In A Minor Op. 17 – No. 4, Meditation (from THAIS), Minuet, Morning (from PEER GYNT), Nimrod (from ENIGMA VARIATIONS), Pastorale (from CHRISTMAS CONCERTO, Op. 6, No. 8), Pie Jesu, Prelude in B Minor Op. 28 – No. 6
Prelude in C Major (from THE WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER, BOOK 1), Prelude in E Minor Op. 28 – No. 4, Reverie, Sakura (Cherry Blossoms), Solvejg's Song, The Swan (Le Cygne) (from CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS), Symphony No. 5 In C-sharp Minor ("Adagietto") Fourth Movement Excerpt, To A Wild Rose (from WOODLAND SKETCHES), Traumerei, Waltz In A-Flat Major Op. 39 – No. 15, Water Is Wide.
This publication is available from all these fabulous stores. The Australian RRP is $29.95 (inc GST) and the item code for ordering is 130679.
40 Piece Challenge Grade Five Piano Repertoire Grade Six Piano Repertoire	40 Piece ChallengeGrade 5Grade 6Grade FiveGrade SixRepertoire Ideas
Mini Jazz by Manfred Schmitz
March 31, 2014 | Piano Mama
Mini Jazz Book 1 – 50 Easy Pieces is ideal 40 Piece Challenge repertoire.
This collection features little pieces of jazz designed to introduce syncopations and melodic jazz inflections to piano students still in the early stages of learning.
Hello, Mister MINI, the first piece in the collection, is featured in the P Plate Piano series and Old Movie Man (number 34) is in Getting to Grade One. The final pieces are reaching a Grade 3 standard.
Schmitz introduces a range of jazz gestures in pieces small enough to not be overwhelming. And, with each piece being perfectly interesting, and (if a student hasn't played much music with syncopation before) perfectly challenging in its own way, more advanced students (Gr 4 – 8) will gain much from learning these pieces too.
20130447 • From your favourite music store
40 Piece Challenge Challenge Ideas Grade Five Piano Repertoire Grade Four Piano Repertoire Grade One Piano Repertoire Grade Seven Piano Repertoire Grade Six Piano Repertoire Grade Three Piano Repertoire Grade Two Piano Repertoire
Twenty Years of Triple J's Hottest 100
January 31, 2014 | Piano Mama
Can you believe it's been over 20 years since the Hottest 100 began?
Selections from 20 Years of Triple J's Hottest 100 would be ideal for older 40 Piece Challenge students (Grade 5+) who want to play all the new rock/pop classics.
This book is in PVG format with chord symbols and a vocal line, so it's great for experienced pianists who perhaps want to play with friends who are guitarists/singers.
Wonderwall: Oasis
Seven Nation Army: The White Stripes
Last Goodbye: Jeff Buckley
These Days: Powderfinger
Paranoid Android: Radiohead
Skinny Love: Bon Iver
Tomorrow: Silverchair
Knights of Cydonia: Muse
Bullet with Butterfly Wings: The Smashing Pumpkins
Brick: Ben Folds Five
Sweet Disposition: The Temper Trap
Brother: Matt Corby
Into My Arms: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
No Aphrodisiac: The Whitlams
Monsters: Something for Kate
Video Games: Lana Del Rey
To order, quote item code 20138001 at your favourite Australian or New Zealand retail store. Click here to find a store listing!
Grade Five Piano Repertoire Repertoire Ideas


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accompaniment of incendiary music
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Komsomol leaders went to Italy
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Shaman on Stage Jim Morrison
In Jim's personal life, an important event also occurred: he met Pamela Carson. She will be devoted to most of his poems and many of the songs. The popularity of…
POP-DIVA KRISTINA AGILERA
Christina Aguilera's voice is one of the most recognizable among all American vocalists, and she herself has long received the title of pop diva from her colleagues and fans. Christina…
Inflammatory shakira
Hot as fire, energetic, like an erupting volcano, talented, like all the gods of Olympus, a loving mother and beloved wife. All this is Shakira, which in fact does not…
« POP-DIVA KRISTINA AGILERA
Inflammatory shakira »
GRAND SCENE RAPHAEL
Rare vocal, fantastic energy of creativity and the magnificent choreography of Raphael can not be compared with any known world performer. The idol of millions, the god of musical Olympus, the singer, actor, dancer, the owner of the "uranium" disc and hundreds of other awards and awards each time at their concerts collects notices.
The boy from the church choir
For more than half a century, Rafael gives his work to all fans of real music. Concerts, tours, recording of records and CDs, TV shows, filming in films and music programs – this is an endless series of performances that the artist is not going to stop. He says that he does not accept the word "pension" and does not plan to leave the scene.
Raphael was born in the south of sunny Spain on May 5, 1943 in the town of Linares. There were five children in the family, the father worked as a builder, so there was not a lot of income and it was not possible to give expensive education to his offspring Raphael. Miguel Rafael Martos Sanchez (and this is the full name of the future singer) lived in his hometown for only three years, after which the parents moved to Madrid with relatives.
There Rafael was attached to the parish school, where he demonstrated his vocal abilities in the church choir. Thanks to his early talent and abilities, the boy attended school for free. And the church also received a good income from the parishioners, who went to the temple not only to pray, but also to listen to the wondrous little boy.
By the way, he did not differ in particular diligence, so several times he was expelled from school, but after a while they even asked to return. Yet the desire to have in their ranks a talented chorister prevailed.
Best children's voice
At the age of 9, the gifted boy dared to try his hand at the international vocal competition in Salzburg, the birthplace of genius Mozart. There Rafael won the prize and was recognized as the winner of the best children's voice. A few years later, his desire to become a true artist, singer Raphaelstal was so serious that even the persuasion, arguments and arguments of his parents could not convince him.
Moreover, over time, his father instilled in Rafael a love of dance and taught him to accompany his performances with plastic movements, considering that dance on the stage is not inferior to vocal.
The young man began to earn his living by playing musical compositions in night cabarets, then he made his way into small concert halls and so began his professional career more than 50 years ago.
Film producers did not disregard his work and invited him to play a cameo role in the film "Twins". Before Rafael opened another side of multi-faceted art.
Rafael – solo pioneer
Ahead of him was a real success. In 1962, he participated in the competition of his native Spanish song in the city of Benidorm. Among several songs performed by him was Llevan, which earned him the title of "Best Performer". The second, third, fifth, eighth and ninth places also took his compositions. Six songs in the top ten of the then popular competition – it was more than a victory. Singer Raphael
Rafael became a real revolutionary in the music field of his homeland. And the thing is that in 1965 he invested all his savings in organizing a large solo concert in one of the best theaters in Madrid – Zarzuela. Prior to this, in Spain, no one practiced solo concerts, because Raphael became a pioneer.
There were many skeptics who believed that he would burn, having invested such money in such a dubious event, even called him a madman. However, the grand success of the concert quickly cooled the ardor of ill-wishers – there was a full house, after each song the audience stood shouting "bravo" standing. And this significant fact of his biography was even used in the film "When you are not", in which Raphael played the main role.
Spanish nightingale
Rafael climbed one more step up the stairs to Olympus after participating in the famous Eurovision Song Contest. True, he won no prizes either in 1966 or in 1967, because then the Hispanic performers were not held in high esteem by record companies, but for Spain itself the singer became a national hero, the whole Madrid Shelphevets Raphael met him at the airport after contests. Since then, in his homeland, he has been called nothing less than "Divo Linares" or "Nightingale".
However, participation in Eurovision helped him to conclude promising contracts and start participating in interesting international projects.
Then the best concert halls of the world — the famous New York Paramount, Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden and Radio City, the Olympia in Paris, the Palladium of London and the Sydney Opera House — already conquered him. More actively, he began to act in musical cinema, and the film "Let Them Talk" made him a favorite of the public in the USSR.
He was simply adored in the Union, he made a serious competition to Soviet performers and even became the singer Raphaelih overshadowed, that the relevant authorities in the Ministry of Culture could not help noticing.
Posted in all fans of real music, Before Rafael opened, performances with plastic movements
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Robertino Loretti
STAS NAMIN – A SOVIET ROCK CULTURE INNOVATOR
From amateur to popularity
Eternal youth Cher
JOHN LENNON – IDLE FOR ALL TIMES
Making The Police and Sting's Solo
"KING OF KINGS OF PIANISTS" VLADIMIR HOROVITS
Whitney Houston: "A miracle is possible, if you believe"
STEVI WANDER – THE BLIND MIRACLE
Ladder of success Vitaly Kozlovsky
addition to success to feel light and natural in passion performed with great success charming Netta performer from Israel participate in the city competition bring him much income awarded top honors learn musical notation becoming manager of the band and very soon the newly-made acquaintance with Nikolai Pogodin music and television industry but the guard did stage but the pop star Charming t happened in Belgium in the town Etterbik causing the parents cinema the weekend all the time more sensual pleasures promoted which he missed in the music school he signed group created by David Thirdly inspired by a line green light talent extraordinary Bowie always had Vladimir Polyakov Italian song festival in San Remo Gordy was an ordinary prudent exiled Andrei Makarevich to chase Bowie dubbed David-chameleon after school you always enjoy the songs competition ardor in love but not in my personal life but did not ruin him beautiful mother fell in love with her charming funny Even without understanding French
Mireille Mathieu became the "ambassador of the French song."
Mireille Mathieu is a flawless page haircut, sleek eyebrows, invariably coral lipstick. She seems to be the same eternal impersonation of France as the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and champagne.…
ANDREY MAKAREVICH - "MACHINIST" ROCK-PAROVOZ
Andrei Makarevich is first of all known as the founder of the legendary "Time Machine", from which he went from the musical underground to the status of the master of…
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Rochester, N.Y. – Continental Service Group, Inc., d/b/a ConServe, has been named to the annual Inc. 5000 list for the sixth time - the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list spotlights America's independent small businesses and conveys a unique perspective of the most successful companies within the U.S. economy's most dynamic segment. A ranking on this prestigious list has become a symbol of entrepreneurial success.
"ConServe is proud to once again be recognized on the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation" states Rich Klein, Chief Financial Officer at ConServe. He continues: "Our organization is committed to doing the right thing, at the right time, the right way, and our team of talented professionals embrace the concept that when we work as a team, together we can accomplish anything. Our passion for ethics, compliance and Client satisfaction, strengthened by our innovative recovery solutions and state-of-the-art technology, provides both our consumers and our valued Clients with superior performance via the ConServe Advantage. We are honored to celebrate our sixth appearance on the prestigious annual list and the tremendous team accomplishment it symbolizes."
The Inc. 500|5000 is a list of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation. Started in 1982, this prestigious list of the nation's most successful private companies has become the hallmark of entrepreneurial success.
Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today's innovative company builders. Winner of the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in both 2014 and 2012. Total monthly audience reach for the brand has grown significantly from 2,000,000 in 2010 to over 13,000,000 today.


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Geothermal – The Unknown Energy Under Our Feet
Utilization of Geothermal Energy – from the Romans to the Present
by Dr. Jörg Baumgärtner, former Socomine, Soultz-sous-Forêts, Alsace (1994)
The squeaking of primitive wooden winches drowns even the faraway noise of the fizzling steam. The smell of sulfur fills the air. Sweat is pouring from the faces of the two men standing by the drill. Out of breath, they are trying to pull up the heavy drill with the help of a wooden spindle.
1904 - Count Piero Ginori Conti devised the first geothermal energy plant in Larderello, Italy. (Geothermal Education Office)Around 1850, in Tuscany, Italy, geothermal energy is still recovered with such comparatively primitive means as hot temperature water and steam. Above the well site, a ten to twelve meter tall wooden tower has been erected. The drill string is rotated manually and laboriously driven into the ground. Two additional men operate the cable winch attached to the drill. By means of this rather simple technology, drilling depths of up to twenty meters were reached. It was in Tuscany, where, only a few years ago, the industrial utilization of the locally abundant geothermal energy began. But this is only a recent development, since the exploitation of geothermal resources began much earlier.
Tuscany is situated in a region in Western Italy where the earth crust was ruptured in the collision of two larger tectonic plates, the Eurasian and African continental plates. In these rupture zones, hot and liquid rock advanced to the surface. The subsequent heating of the underground also reached the groundwater carrying layers, creating "Lagones" (natural hot water springs) and "Soffiones" (natural hot water outlets, geysers). Already 600 years BC, Etruscan artists used the boric acid that accumulated on hot water springs for the beautiful enamel decorations of their vases. Half a millennium later, the highly developed bath culture and housing of the Romans lead to the first use of geothermal energy. In Tuscany and in other places in their empire, Romans began to heat their baths and living quarters with the water of warm springs (even in some regions of present-day Germany, such as the Lower Rhine). Only little of this civilization has been conserved. Reports of natural disasters and drawings of the Roman thermal springs in Tuscany have been preserved in the "Table of Peuting," a kind of Roman map dating back to the third century AD. Nevertheless, the descriptions on the table are detailed enough to identify a number of these famous and still existent thermal springs. With the demise and the subsequent repartition of the Roman Empire, however, this elaborate culture had come to an end.
Geothermal resources and their exploitation were of little importance until the early Middle Ages, when they became economically and culturally significant. Again, this development started out in Tuscany. Sulfur, vitriol and alum were recovered from the Tuscan "Lugones" and "Soffiones." Henceforward, the considerable economic worth of these reservoirs led to repeated wars between the different Tuscan republics. Nevertheless, their industrial exploitation only began in 1702, when Franz Hubert Hoefer, head of the state board of pharmacies in the grand duchy of Tuscany, discovered boric acid in the local "Lagones," a medicinal product which has since been known as "Sedative Salt of Homberg." After that, it should take over a century until in 1812 an extraction method for the 'industrial' recovery of boric acid had been developed. In a rather cumbersome process, the boric solvent was first collected from the "Lagones" to be vaporized in heated iron vessels, and later crystalized in wooden barrels. In 1827, the French engineer François Larderel had the decisive idea to accelerate this process. The firewood formerly used to vaporize the boric solvent was initially substituted with superheated steam generated in the Soffiones, and later replaced by the geothermal vapor recovered from the boreholes. This was the beginning of a flourishing chemical industry that owed its success to the consistent exploitation of naturally abundant superheated steam, and which lasted until the onset of World War II.
1931 – Exploitation of the fumarole "Soffionissimo" (rock storage basin) in Larderello, Italy (ENEL).
The abundance and accessibility of hot water steam as well as the rapid industrialization of the late 19th century, led rather early to a subsequent utilization of geothermal energy in Italy, particularly for power generation. Already in 1904, Duke Piero Genori Conti used a steam-powered dynamo to illuminate light bulbs. In 1913, Conti (by then director general of the local boric-acid factories) installed the first geothermal energy plant, with an output of 250 kW. Unfortunately, and despite its promising beginnings, geothermal energy production in Tuscany was moderate during the first years and only gained importance in the mid-1930s, when power generation became a permanent fixture in the area. Today, the "Direzione Attitiva Geothermische" of ENEL (national Italian electricity supplier) has an electrical output capacity of more than 630 MW, electricity which is solely generated by geothermal energy (steam and hot water). Modern geothermal energy plants in Italy are based on standardized and particularly environmentally friendly generating units of 20 MW(e) and 60 MW(e), each equipped with several water supply and re-injection bores. In this way, the various standardized thermal power units can be differently combined with one another when necessary. An additional advantage of these plants is that both the generating units as well as the connected supply bores do not require operating personnel, which means that several units at different sites can be remote-operated from one central control station. Depending on the depth of a particular reservoir, the number of supply bores and the age of the respective plant, the costs of geothermal energy production vary between 2, 5 and 7 pfennigs per kW (and between 21 and 56 Lira, all data based on base load plants, average fix costs and variable costs in 1992). Currently, investigations are under way to develop deeper steam reservoirs (at 3000 -5000 meters depth) for energy production, and to replace older plants of the 1950s and 60s with modern ones. (Note: By act of parliament, Italy completely abandoned the option of nuclear energy.)
Beyond Italy
Geothermal energy is being used broadly across Europe, however only in places where underground water reservoirs are large enough to be used as geothermal carrier. These underground water formations are also known as aquifers, which are generally classified as low temperature (25-40 °C), hot water (40 – 100°C) or high temperature and steam (> 100°C). The geothermal formations in Italy described above are exclusively high temperature and steam reservoirs, with temperatures well above 300°C in depths of 3000 to 4000 meters. Nevertheless, low-temperature and hot water deposits can still be valuable resources for heating, for instance, as process heat in drying plants, in thermal baths, greenhouses and as service water. In Iceland, for example, geothermal water has been used in greenhouses since 1888, and a geothermal heating system has serviced large parts of the country's capital Reykjavík since 1928. It is in France, however, where geothermal energy is used in an exemplary manner for heating purposes. 66 plants have been installed so far, and 54 for of them in the basin of Paris alone. The total investment sum amounted to roughly 6 billion D-mark. At the moment, these 66 plants supply heat to about 200,000 individual units. For environmental reasons, all these geothermal doublet plants are based on a closed-cycle process in which the geothermal fluid is completely pumped back into the underground formation through a second bore installed at a distance from the production well.
A second very interesting example for meaningful utilization of geothermal energy in Europe is Switzerland, because it shows how a country's economic conditions can positively influence a growing market. Even though at first sight, Switzerland is not abundant in geothermal resources (no volcanic activity, no geothermal anomalies), the introduction of more and more stringent environmental regulations led the government to grant no-risk guarantees (a unique measure in Europe) for geothermal exploration, with the intention of providing funding for a small but very active high-tech industry that focuses solely on low-temperature and hot water aquifers. These state guarantees insure technical and geological drilling risks (in case no reservoir is found) and cover at least 50 percent of the drilling expenses, in individual cases up to 80 percent. In Switzerland, two geothermal extraction methods apply: the development of hot water-bearing layers (about 100°C) in depths of 3000 meters, mainly used for large-scale heating projects, and shallow-drilling (also known as borehole heat-exchangers), for deposits lying close to the surface in depths of up to 150 meters. In this second method, cold water is pumped into a single tube heat-exchanger, and heated to a temperature of 10 to 12 °C. A heat-pump further increases the temperature up to 50°C, high enough for low-temperature heating. In 1988, at least 1,500 of these units had been installed. Compared to customary oil-heating, in 1988, these geothermal heating systems paid off within a period of 15 years (based on a price of 100 Swiss franc per meter drilled), not considering the environmental advantage of this method.
Germany has only been moderately active in geothermal power generation as the country does not dispose of truly profitable geothermal reservoirs. Elevated underground temperatures have been regionally observed in the Upper Rhine Graben, in certain areas of the Swabian Mountains, in the southern Molasse Basin and in some sedimentary rock formation in Northern Germany. Given the country's economic conditions, geothermal energy in Germany is mainly used in thermal baths in Lower Bavaria (Füssing/Birnbach/Griesbach) and the Rhine rift (Baden-Baden). Only in the former GDR, serious attempts were made to use geothermal energy for larger heating systems, efforts which were primarily driven by the need to secure the country's energy supply. In the cities of Neubrandenburg, Waren and Prenzlau, three geothermal district heating units were installed, each with a (thermal) capacity of roughly 22 megawatts, which operated – like the French plants – on a closed-cycle doublet system. Following Germany's reunification, these East-German plants played a decisive role in initiating research projects on low-temperature and hot-water reservoirs in Germany. Last September, initial planning for a modern combined heat and power plant began in Neustadt-Glewe, about 25 kilometers to the South of Schwerin (a geothermal heating system with one block-heating station). Planning foresees heat supply for a residential area, including space heating and hot water, as well as process heat for a nearby industrial district. While the planned capacity of this plant is 12 megawatt, 6.5 megawatts will be generated by geothermal energy alone. Fifty percent of this project, with a total investment of 18 million D-mark, is being funded by the federal ministry for Research and Technology in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. A fixed price of 85 D-mark per MWH has been proposed.
Outside of Europe
There are, of course, other regions near the tectonic interfaces of our globe, that offer similar or more favorable conditions for the use of geothermal energy as does, for instance, Italy. The United States of America, the Philippines, Mexico, Japan and New Zealand are particularly prominent examples in this regard. Geothermal alligator farm in Idaho, USA. (Geothermal Education Office)All of these countries possess natural hot water resources that are used directly for power generation. The order, in which the countries are listed, corresponds to the amount of electrical power they generate (1990). In 1992, "The Geysers", a steam field situated in the Western United States, about 120 km to the northwest of San Francisco, already produced 2,979 MW of electricity. These plants are operated by several private companies and provide energy for the highly technologized region of San Francisco. Nevertheless, fierce competition between the individual operators led to a long period of unmonitored exploitation of the steam field (mainly due to the reinjection of process water and uncontrolled heat loss). Only in recent years, and after federal intervention, a cooperation agreement was reached between the different operating companies. Japan, which does not possess any natural resources, is planning on a drastic upgrading of its geothermal power plants (270 MW already installed in 1992, and 456 MW are planned for 1995). A major obstacle in this process is, however, the fact that a large part of these geothermal deposits is located in national parks and Japanese law does not allow drilling and construction in these areas. As a consequence, time and money had to be spent on directional boreholes, a laborious and expensive process which requires long distance drilling from a location outside of the parks to reach the fringe of these reservoirs. Worldwide, more than 200 geothermal energy plants have been installed, with a combined wattage of more than 6,200 MW. Currently, the annual increase rate is at almost 10 percent.
Is that all?
From the perspective of geothermal science, this question has to be answered with a clear 'no'. The recent developments in the use of geothermal energy in the different countries described above show all known aspects and problems in this regard. In comparison to the advanced exploitation of other natural resources, however, only a small fraction of the geothermal reservoirs worldwide has been tapped into.
There are a number of reasons that contributed to this situation. First, development is generally dependent on the given economic and legal frameworks as well as the local cost structures in a country, and less determined by geological conditions. The word 'deposit' already indicates a general problem that applies to all natural resources. Deposits have to be located and their development always implies exploration risks, particularly during the initial prospecting of a region. The cost of drilling, which may, in individual cases, go into the millions, is an important aspect, especially when facing a limited profit margin. National insurance programs, as provided by the Swiss government, can balance some of these risks. Nevertheless, due to the comparatively high initial investments required in geothermal extraction projects (for drilling and the installation of the plants), there are generally only two cost determinants – which are almost entirely independent of the underground conditions:
the interest rates to which the capital is tied, and
the interval between the first drilling and the generation of energy, that is, the period during which the invested capital is unproductive
In addition, what has to be considered in this context is the fact that geothermal extraction projects always have to compete with the cost structures of a market that is dominated by powerful oil and gas industries, whose profit margin is generally much higher than that of alternative energy producers. Only an oversupply of raw oil on the world market led in recent years to a cost reduction and even to decreasing costs. Naturally, this oversupply of raw oil also resulted in extremely low oil prices. At first sight, then, the burning of oil seems currently and in our region at least, a much more economically efficient method of energy production than the use of geothermal resources. This perspective does, however, have its drawbacks. The oil price is, to begin with, also a politically determined price, which is subject to considerable fluctuations. The political instability in North Africa and the Middle East makes it difficult even for experts to predict long-term trends on the market. Investments in energy plants and heating systems are, however, always long-term and require anticipatory planning. Another factor in this equation is the legitimate interest of a country in securing its energy supply. Strong fluctuation in the oil price can have dramatic consequences for an economy, of which the oil crises of 1979 gave us ample proof. In contrast, geothermal energy is a local resource that is always to our disposal, independent of the weather or the time of day. Also, when used appropriately, geothermal energy is always environmentally friendly. A closed-cycle geothermal power plant is non-polluting and free of emissions (see ozone depletion, forest dieback).
To invest in meaningful and systematic geothermal energy projects means, therefore, to invest in our future and the future of our children. But how can we expedite the use of geothermal energy? As with other mining technologies, initially, development has always focused on deposits that were easily available and accessible. Meanwhile, due to enhanced information and more advanced technologies, it was possible to drill into low-lying and hotter areas, which are energetically more efficient. A hindrance in this process has been the dependence on nearby water reservoirs in the underground, so that the possibility of geothermal energy was limited from the beginning to a few regions only, which meet the geological requirements for geothermal extraction. The much larger amount of hot but 'dry' formations has therefore been left untouched. Ironically, it was physicists at the "Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory," a nuclear research center in the United States, who, in the early seventies, first came up with a concept for using the geothermal energy stored in hot and dry rock formations ("Hot Dry Rock"). The development of this technology, its setbacks, achievements and its prospects for the future will be the focus of the last article in this short series.
Rummel, F. & Kappelmeyer, O. (1993): "Erdwärme, Energieträger der Zukunft? Fakten, Forschung, Zukunft", Verlag C. F. Müller, Karlsruhe
Weber, R. (1990): "Heizwärme aus der Tiefe", Olynthus Verlag, Oberbözberg, Schweiz
Allegrini, G. & Capetti, G. (1990): "Economic Analysis of Geothermal Projects", G.R.C. Transactions, vol. 14, part I


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Clara Bae
VIDEO: RightsTech Summit Keynote with Benji Rogers
Keynote Conversation with Benji Rogers, Founder & Chief Strategy Officer, PledgeMusic Interviewed by: Robert Levine, Contributor, Billboard / Author, Free Ride
Video courtesy of SlidesLive.com
RightsTech 2016 Audio Recordings from Panels and Keynotes
Thanks to all that attended Digital Media Wire and Concurrent Media's inaugural RightsTech Summit in New York City! Whether you were in attendance or not, we are happy to provide you with audio of some of our panels and keynotes from the event. Special thanks to 3 Pillar Global for the recordings!
PANELISTS: Robert Norton, CEO, Verisart; Kevin McCoy, CEO, Monegraph; Greg McMullen, Director, IPDB Foundation; Paul Jessop, Founder & Director, County Analytics Ltd; Moderator: Larry Miller, Clinical Associate Professor & Director, Music Business Program, NYU Steinhardt
MACHINE-READABLE RIGHTS
PANELISTS: Jesse Walden, Co-Founder, Mediachain Labs; David Hughes, CTO, RIAA; Bill Wilson, Vice President of Digital Strategy, Music Business Association; Karl Floersch, Lead Developer, Ujo Music; Henrik de Gyor, Chief Consultant, Another DAM Consultancy; Luis Bonilla, Director of Distribution Services, SoundExchange; Moderator: Cortney Harding, President, Cortney Harding Consulting
KEYNOTE CONVERSATION
Keynote Conversation with Benji Rogers, Founder & Chief Strategy Officer, PledgeMusic; Interviewed by: Robert Levine, Contributor, Billboard / Author, Free Ride
THE RIGHTSTECH TECHNOLOGY STACK
PANELISTS: Greg Pizzuti, Global Director of Cognitive Solutions – Media & Entertainment Industry, IBM; Andres Gebhard, Head of Global Programming, Getty Images; Jason Kassin, Founder & CEO, FilmTracks; Scott Moore, Director, Content Systems Architecture, Discovery Communications, LLC; Moderator: Edward Klaris, Managing Partner, Klaris IP, LLC
PANELISTS: Cedric Cobban, Co-Founder, PeerTracks; Adi Chikara, Solutions Management, 3Pillar Global; Steven Nerayoff, Founder & CEO, Maple Ventures; Moderator: Michael Terpin, CEO, Transform Group
LUNCHEON: UNLOCKING VALUE THROUGH MEDIA AUDITING
Presenter: Bruce Lazarus, CEO, MAI Global
Keynote conversation with Tim Dubois, Award-Winning Songwriter, former VP, ASCAP and President, Arista Records; Interviewed by: Jon Potter, Principal, RPG Strategies
RIGHTSTECH IN THE ENTERPRISE
PANELISTS: Bill Colitre, VP & General Counsel, MusicReports; Kristin Kliemann, Formerly Wiley & Sons; Sam Gilchrist, CEO, PluraVida; Alisa Coleman, COO, ABKCO Music & Records; Chris Reed, Strategic Advisor, Orangenius; Moderator: Vickie Nauman, Founder, CrossBorderWorks
The Inaugural RightsTech Summit: Forward-Thinking Optimism, With Few Music Publishers In Sight
Forbes reports "Dozens of technology, law and music professionals gathered at the Japan Society in New York on Tuesday for the inaugural RightsTech Summit, determined to brainstorm how partnerships between tech companies and content creators could drive smarter rights management and monetization. The resulting debates were notable as much for their innovation and optimism as for who was absent.
During his keynote, Benji Rogers, Chief Strategy Officer at PledgeMusic and founder of the Dot Blockchain Music Project, asked the music publishers in the audience to raise their hands. Only a few people budged—which alluded to a larger, more urgent question raised throughout the summit: how can we build these new technologies if publishers see no incentive in taking part?" Read More
5 Questions With: PluraVida's Sam Gilchrist
As part of a new interview series on Digital Media Wire's industry news site, RightsTech Summit panelist Sam Gilchrist talks about PluraVida, payment settlements, rights management, distribution solutions and more. Check out the excerpt below and read the full post here.
Digital Media Wire reports "PluraVida is an emerging company at the forefront of the RightsTech movement for digital content distributors, focused on the need for more accurate rights and ownership tracking and payments administration. After two decades in the industry, CEO and founder Sam Gilchrist sought to fill that need with the launch of PluraVida in 2014.
In the complex ecosystem of partners and channels that digital media companies operate in, PluraVida provides platforms that allow content creators and distributors to manage things like analytics, data, and revenue settlement. In the world of movies, video, music and video games, PluraVida plays a critical role in tracking rights and ensuring fair payment to artists and rights owners.
Prior to founding PluraVida, Gilchrist was President of Tradescape, and before that, he was Chief Information Officer at The Harry Fox Agency, and held leadership positions at SoundExchange and British Telecom. Digital Media Wire had the chance to ask Sam some questions about PluraVida and about his inspirations and goals as a company founder." Read More
When Content Moves Faster Than The Money: Paul Sweeting Talks Rights Technology
If you think attribution when the term "Rights" comes up in the context of digital media, then you're missing an important piece of the puzzle as far as how tech breakthroughs have impacted content distribution. On July 26, Digital Media Wire (DMW) will present a Rightstech Summit in NYC to address this blind spot. For now, let's chat with panel participant Paul Sweeting, Principal of Concurrent Media Strategies, LLC, to get a download on the subject.
What the Heck is a Merkle Tree?
First a cheat-sheet for some of the terms used below. In 20 seconds, you'll have a working knowledge of Bitcoin, blockchains, Merkle trees, nodes, hashing, and The DAO. (These terms are spitballed here, to bring you up to speed quickly use links above.) Alternative currency Bitcoin is mined with what can be considered a long chain of digital handshakes that verify and validate the "blocks." There is a currency exchange to "fiat currencies" worldwide. Fiat Currency is government-backed, think Euro, Dollar, Pound. The twist with digital currencies is to create a stable monetary standard that is not finite, like gold-backed currency was — ironically Bitcoin has a finite number attached to it (think of it the same way you would IPO stock, limited shares hold value in place). Expansion of Bitcoin is in process, which is why there are many unanalyzed long-term facets to this digital currency concept.
Paul Sweeting on Why Rightstech is Key
Meanwhile, forget all that, just think "Smart Contracts" and listen to Paul Sweeting discuss the au courant ideas to be unveiled at DMW's July 26 summit that have real world applications.
Q: Most people think "right" refers to copyright protection in terms of usage, how is the Rightstech Summit offering something different? Well, our sort of starting premise is that much of the media value chain, meaning the way media value content is created and consumed, has been changed by digital platforms, digital technology. That is not news, but there's the business-to-business piece in the middle. That is, the concept of who owns the rights has not undergone the same sort of transformation.
Q: You mean monetization? Yes, fundamentally yes — that middle piece of the pipeline is still operating under the old analog models. The result, is the content moves much faster than the money. That causes a lot of stress for the industry — people who are supposed to be getting paid are not getting paid when you map out the stakeholders.
Q: Stakeholders you define as… Content creators, artists, musicians, filmmakers, and you have the publishers of that content — whether they are book publishers, studios, record companies whomever — then you have the distributors and exhibitors of that content at the other end. But there's that piece in the middle where the value of the content is supposed to be translated into (profit).
Q: Nobody really pays for music anymore, for one thing, right? If you are listening to Pandora for free, Pandora is paying. They are conducting business and selling advertisers.
Music Copyright Infringement Cases | PrettyFamous
Q: The MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) is always upset about piracy, so what can the movie studios do? The focus of what we are doing is not so much on piracy — this is traditional digital rights copy protection. What we are talking about is, if you have a catalog of movies and some event happens in the world, a famous actor dies, and suddenly there is a demand for clips from that actor's career, somebody owns those clips and uses of those clips. Usage of those movies have contractual obligations, all sorts of permissions are supposed to happen. If this can not happen at the same speed as things explode across Facebook, that's an issue. We're trying to move this mushy process at the same speed as viral media.
Q: Where is the technology for this coming from now? A lot of this is coming out of the start-up world. There is quite a lot of interest in technology such as blockchains. People are working on side-chains which operate at bigger scales and more quickly than the Bitcoin blockchain, but then can be reconciled with the Bitcoin blockchain — dedicated blockchains for a specific industry.
Q: Can you give an example? Ethereum sits atop the black chain, a second-generation block chain. The Bitcoin chain is fairly limited in its applications; it was designed for a specific purpose which was Bitcoin. Ethereum is almost an operating system layer than can sit atop a blockchain layer and allows people to write all kinds of block-chain applications.
One of their big areas of focus are smart contracts, which are a way of embedding business rules in with a piece of content; it becomes a self-executing contract. All the terms of who is supposed to get paid is baked in — whatever the business model is. All of the business stuff that is supposed to happen behind it happens without human intercession. Block chain payments can be automatically paid to the appropriate rights owners.
Q: Bitcoin has fluctuated so wildly, lost so much value, how does that figure into this? One of the things it can do is shield people from currency values and fluctuations. There is a view out there that Bitcoin could become the sort of universal medium of exchange for business conducted on a block chain.
It's still trading at about $600 USD, but not all of this needs to involve crypto-currencies. You can build apps for a block chain that deal in tokens, which sort of take the place of Bitcoin on a block chain.
Q: Like casino chips? Sort of like that.
Q: How did the Rightstech Summit come about? This is the first rights tech we've held, I mean people have held other ones, held conferences and focused on specific industries. Like in the music industry, around blockchains, or different segments of the media industry, such as book publishers, film and video. Because all of those industries are struggling with the same fundamental problems that the content can move much faster than the money. They're all looking to the same technologies to solve that problem. Our goal is to get some dialogue going across different silos.
Q: Meaning what? There is a whole layer of companies that are enterprise-scale rights management platforms. There are a number of companies — for example Fadel in New York, they have built an enterprise scale rights (system). FilmTrack is widely used in Hollywood. The music industry has developed Music Reports, also Pluravida, for the music industry. They do rights management for record labels, basically.
Q: Who attends, and what happens at Rightstech? Our ideal scenario is that people who are working on rights management for photographers, for instance, will learn something that might be useful for them from learning how similarly situated companies are working to solve rights management in the music business, or the online video business. There are certain elements of this that are generic; I mean 'a contract is a contract is a contract.' If you are thinking about smart contracts, how do contractual (agreements work).
Q: Is Ethereum open source? Ethereum is an open sourced project. A lot of the block chain (development is being done). The Linux Foundation is actually overseeing a project called HyperLedger which is hoping to create inter-operable standards around block chain. They are not focused exclusively on the media business — a lot of it is focused on the financial industry — where fintech meets copyright.
Ethereum Transactions per Day – 12 Months | Credio
Q: How did you get into this aspect of the business and what's your connection to Ned Sherman who runs Digital Media Wire? Concurrent Media Strategies is my own consultancy and newsletter and blog. My background is in journalism. I wrote forBillboard and Variety. I came up with this concept of rights tech, and I needed a partner on it. I've known Ned for years. We kind of said 'we should really do something together one day.' We would have the same conversation every year. He liked it right away.
Q: To recap, when is it, and how long is it? It's July 26, a one-day summit. We didn't want to do a long conference. We've been surprised how much interest and support there is. There's a lot of technology being brought to bear on this problem — (similar to) what's happened to intermedia and tech since the BetaMax case. You need some factors aligned when you are talking about technology to better manage rights. More to the point, the creators of the content and the rights owners are on the same side as the guys coding things. That has not often been the case. Since the time of Napster they have been at odds with each other.
Q: That almost never happens, thanks Paul.
by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent
This article also appears on Screenmancer.
5 Questions With: Benji Rogers of PledgeMusic
As part of a new interview series on Digital Media Wire's industry news site, RightsTech Summit keynote speaker Benji Rogers talks about PledgeMusic, the music industry, the blockchain and more. Check out the excerpt below and read the full post here.
Digital Media Wire reports "PledgeMusic is a direct-to-fan music platform that enhances the fan-artist dynamic from the creation of music to its experience in digital and live formats. The platform allows fans to play a part in the actual music making side of an artist's work while the creators get a better, more intimate understanding of the people that support their careers. In short, PledgeMusic has created a digital environment that breaks from all traditional production-to-distribution channels in today's hyperconnected world.
A key feature of PledgeMusic allows artists to sell a project straight to their fans before it comes to fruition. In a campaign artists can take preorders for albums, for instance, or offer other products or experiences to their super fans as incentives for funding an idea. Another way PledgeMusic is revolutionizing the creation and distribution of music is through direct purchases and the implementation of blockchain.
Benji Rogers is the co-founder and chief strategy officer of PledgeMusic and the lead musician behind the band Marwood. A public speaker, investor, and musician from London and New York, Rogers was the recipient of the A&R Worldwide "Digital Executive of the Year" award, and in 2013 he was named to Billboard's 40 Under 40 Power Players list. Digital Media Wire had the chance to ask Benji some questions about PledgeMusic, the music industry, and the role of blockchain in this new model." Read More
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Now reading: Organic Vitamin C vs. Synthetic Vitamin C: What's the Difference?
Organic Vitamin C vs. Synthetic Vitamin C: What's the Difference?
By The Ora Crew
Is synthetic vitamin C as effective as natural vitamin C? Ora breaks down the facts and delves into the sources of each.
Fun fact: Humans are unable to synthesize vitamin C endogenously (in the body), so, we need to consume it via our diet or through supplementation.
While vitamin C is naturally present in some foods, largely fruits and vegetables, we all know how tough it can be to meet our daily vitamin quotas.
This is where supplements come into play. Because going into flu season with a poor immune system is like going to battle without armor - NOT favorable.
Provided you are taking a quality supplement, vitamin C supplementation is a sure-fire way of keeping you, and your immunity, on top of its game.
So what kind of characteristics define a "quality" vitamin C supplement?
Well, a lot of things really, but here at Ora Organic it comes down to these simple standards:
Choose a vitamin C supplement, in its whole food form, that's high in bioflavonoids, is made cleanly, and is 100% certified organic
Vitamin C Isn't Made from Oranges
Most vitamin C supplements on the market use synthetic vitamin C or ascorbic acid. The majority of this synthetic vitamin C is originally derived from GMO corn and processed with chemicals like acetone (think: nail polish remover) that are not used in the production of organic certified products.
Synthetic vitamin C is often derived from GMO corn.
To make matters worse, supplements containing synthetic vitamin C are often advertised as "natural" and are added to other organic foods as a preservative.
A growing amount of evidence shows a correlation between high consumption of synthetic ascorbic acid and health implications such as thickening arteries and the formation of genotoxins that can even lead to cancer.
Yikes - the flu isn't sounding so bad then!
Organic Vitamin C Is Complete
Organic, truly au naturel, vitamin C refers to whole food vitamin C occurring in its natural state.
Synthetic vitamin C is simply a stripped down, isolated version of vitamin C; devoid of the micronutrients, dietary fiber and phytochemicals (eg. bioflavonoids) found in vitamin-rich wholefoods.
Vitamin C in its wholefood form contains bioflavonoids (bioavailable flavonoids). Bioflavonoids are powerful antioxidants which enhance the use of vitamin C by improving its absorption and prolonging its effectiveness.
Flavonoids in and of themselves provide a myriad of health benefits, so much so that although not technically a vitamin. They are collectively referred to as "vitamin P" in recognition of their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiallergenic, antiviral, and anti-carcinogenic properties.
Best Sources of Vitamin C
At Ora Organic they source their vitamin C supplement from organic acerola cherries.
The acerola cherry has an extremely high vitamin C content. In fact, it has one of the highest vitamin C contents of any other food, topped only by camu camu (which has an extremely bitter flavor, making it difficult to make yummy products with #teamtasty).
Acerola is loaded with over 150 phytonutrients. In other words, it has a complete vitamin C complex.
How to Check If a Vitamin C Supplement Is Organic
You'd think that the easiest way to tell if a supplement is organic is to see if it has the USDA or CCOF Organic symbol on it, however, having this certification doesn't necessarily mean that all the ingredients in the product are organic.
The best way to check whether or not a supplement source is organic is to look at the supplement facts on the label and see what the wording is next to the nutrient (Vitamin C in this case).
If it's from an organic, real food source, it will specify the source right there e.g. "from organic acerola extract," or will be similar to "from organic whole food blend." If the source has been produced synthetically, it will say "from ascorbic acid."
Here's an example from one of our organic supplement products and a conventional vitamin c supplement to help you spot the difference.
Not every supplement manufacturer follows this formatting, so if you're not sure about a product's source, it's always okay to ask! Make sure you get a clear answer - and if you don't, then steer clear of the product in question.
Source: https://www.ora.organic/blogs/news/organic-vitamin-c-synthetic-vitamin-c
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Much has changed since the 1820's when Rix Robinson first established his fur trading post at the confluence of the Grand and Thornapple rivers and laid the foundation for modern day Ada. Or has it?
Sure Ada has a booming residential market, big plans to dress up the village center, and the global headquarters of the multi-billion dollar Amway Corporation.
But the community's wild and wooded character, and its prime location outside the busy county seat of Grand Rapids, continues to attract entrepreneurs, residents, and visitors. The challenge in the coming decades is to maintain the high quality of life that's stood for nearly 200 years.


Ah! geeks(); hate traveling, we just want to sit in front of our PCs. While social networks open in our tabs we think for the next line of code. We just hate any type of interruption at that point and especially if the interruption is aimed to take you out of your room.
But there is always a time when you have no other option than to leave. Whether it's a family holiday, a business trip, relative's wedding or you yourself feel captive.
Control your urge to carry all your prized possessions with you during your trip. Carrying a dslr is totally not suggested unless you are a photography geek, you can get more than your want from smartphones these days! You can carry a ultrabook or a light weight laptop, if smartphones and tablets does not satisfy all of are needs and even some of your needs effectively specially when you're hunting for a solution to last night's java problem.
XE covers almost every currency conversions. Go to xe.com/apps and select the for your smartphone.
For any new place you visit, inevitably there are bound to be a lot of questions mostly regarding which place to visit. Ask A Nomad lets you ask a question and get answers from other users who may have some idea about the subject. This is a lot more interactive than just searching for information on the web. Also, you can answer questions about places you have been to.
Another must have app, it will surely have information on the hotel that you plan on staying in. Considering over, 1,70,000 hotels worldwide are a part of this database, users can search for hotels based on pricing and type, and even get special deals. This service also lets you book using a credit card, along with special offers and deals from time to time.
If you have a number of friends who're explorer's in their own right, this may just be the app for you. Utilise the knowledge base of your friends to get information about a place you're going to visit, or have already checked in to. Also get recommendations from others users who've visited the place and written reviews about it.
OS(s): iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone and Symbian.
This GPS app will guide you on an easy-to-read map as you walk, providing street names, a compass, audio guides, POI's, and details of your average speed, elevation and duration.
This is one of those all-in apps. The app includes flight, hotel and car search and booking, as well as Flight Tracker. You can also, convert currency and check out tours and attractions around your destination.
OS(s) iOS, Android, webOS, Windows Phone and Symbian.
Confused with a sign board in a unknown place, don't worry just push the handwriting button and simply write what you want to translate. It can translate words and phrases between more than 64 languages. And, for most languages, you can speak your phrases and hear the corresponding translations.
Navigation is a great technology. But it render you helpless if it doesn't work. The best alternative is to have maps on your phone that don't need a data connection to update. Thankfully, there is an option to download offline maps at offmaps.com and mapsdroyd.com.
Plan your travel around these biggest tech events held yearly.
This exhibition attracts observers, analysts, and journalists of computer and information industries from all over the world to discover and report the latest technologies, developments, and trends.
It is Asia's biggest electronic event held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. One of the fair's highlights is the Hall of Fame – a special section dedicated to high-quality electronic products that are distinguished by their design and function.
Electronic Entertainment Expo, commonly known as E3, is an annual trade fair for the computer and video games industry presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It's an ultimate destination for a gamer. E3 allows video game publishers to show off their upcoming games and other gaming gadgets.
CES is the world's biggest consumer electronics show and the place were the tech world's good and the bad show off their big wares. You can expect big celebrities, plenty of announcements and, plenty of things to look forward to. Every year, the most cutting-edge innovations can be seen in one place.
MWC is the biggest mobile phone trade show and the place where big companies like Samsung, LG, Nokia, HTC, Sony Ericsson, and others announce the phones of the year. Expect announcements about all inventions in smartphone world.
Mostly held in Feburary at Barcelona.
Other popular tech events SITEX IT (Singapore), CeBIT (Hanover, Shanghai, Sydney, Istanbul, New York City).


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COVID-19: Paediatric Association Kicks Against Planned Reopening Of Schools
The Paediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN), has kicked against the plan by the Federal Government to reopen schools in the country in September 2020, despite the ravaging effects of Covid-19.
It suggested that the minimum criterion for considering the reopening of schools in Nigeria should be a steady and consistent decline in the spread of the pandemic in most parts of the country.
PAN, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt yesterday, expressed surprise at the absence of public health physicians, infectious disease experts and other child and adolescent healthcare specialists amongst the stakeholders listed as having been consulted in arriving at the decision to possibly reopen schools in September, 2020.
The statement, which was signed by Professor Edward Alikor and Dr. Petronila Tabansi, President and Secretary, respectively, said the safest place for children at this time is at home under the care of their parents.
It reads in part: "Paediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN) has followed with concern the current debate in the public space on the advisability or otherwise of reopening schools in Nigeria at this time of Covid-19 pandemic, especially the Basic and Secondary schools.
"PAN notes the announcement on 2nd July of the planned opening of schools in August, 2020 and the reversal of this decision by the Honorable Minister of Education on 9th July, 2020. This was quickly followed by the recent release of the "Guidelines for Schools and Learning Facilities Reopening after Covid-19 Pandemic Closures" published by the Federal Ministry of Education on 13th July 2020.
"PAN supports the continued closure of Nigerian schools and urge that the schools should remain closed until conditions are safe. The minimum criterion for considering the reopening of schools in Nigeria should be a steady and consistent decline in the spread of Covid-19 in most parts of the country. It is then and only then, we believe, that the other criteria as laid down by the Guidelines for Schools and Learning Facilities Reopening after Covid-19 Pandemic Closures can now be considered.
"PAN observes, with surprise, the absence of public health physicians, infectious disease experts and other child and adolescent healthcare specialists amongst the stakeholders listed as having been consulted in arriving at the decision to possibly reopen schools in September, 2020.
"We urge that this error be corrected to enable the decision-makers arrive at a fact-oriented, balanced and independent decision on such an important issue bordering on the health of our children.
It is our considered opinion that, to a large extent, the safest place for children at this time is at home under the care of their parents.
"Many parents now have to undertake the extra duty of controlling, protecting and (in some cases) supervising the academic work of the children, duties which have traditionally been shared with teachers and school administrators."
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