text:
Horn camp plays waiting game as wheels spin on Manny rematch
American Jesse Vargas could be given the chance to get back his WBO welterweight title should Jeff Horn's proposed rematch with Manny Pacquiao fail to come to fruition in coming months.
Horn snatched the WBO belt from Pacquiao in a stunning win at Suncorp Stadium in July and the pair seemed set for a November 12 sequel after the Filipino fighter initially wanted to activate the rematch clause in their contract.
That fight now appears in some doubt, at least for this year, as Pacquiao wavers on committing to the fight, which could now be shuffled to a date in 2018 to fit in with his duties in the Philippine senate.
The delay stands as a source of frustration for Horn's promotional arm, Duco Events, which have secured all of the required funding and planning for the fight to take place in the Australian spring.
Horn, meanwhile, has been back in the gym and wants to fight before the end of the year. Pacquiao remains the preferred opponent and it could yet come together in a hurry, with Top Rank's Bob Arum heading to Manila to clarify the situation in the next week.
"Manny is deciding if he wants a rematch this year or next year. If he decides to postpone it, we will make a fight for Jeff in November against a good opponent in Brisbane," Arum told ESPN.
"I imagine he has many duties as a senator, he is no longer a young guy and the last fight was very physical, and he may need more time to get ready for a rematch. We'll know in the next few days."
Horn was the winner of a controversial unanimous decision but, regardless of the verdict, he gave Pacquiao a torrid time in the ring, with both men bloodied and battered at the fight's conclusion.
Pacquiao will be 39 in December and appears to be in no hurry to put himself through a draining training camp and brutal fight so quickly, particularly with a lead-in time of just over two months.
Financially, another Pacquiao bout would be by far the best result for Horn and his backers. But that doesn't mean Australian fight fans would be served up a second-rate helping if the deal couldn't be completed in time.
Arum has signalled he would find a strong welterweight opponent for Horn to take on, with that fight likely to again be in Brisbane but more likely to be at a smaller venue.
One candidate would be Californian Vargas, the man who relinquished the WBO title to Pacquiao when the future Hall of Famer came out of retirement in 2016.
Pacquiao beat Vargas ((27-2-0) in a unanimous decision in Las Vegas to steal the title, only to be upset by Horn a little over six months later in what would end up being one of the most memorable moments in Australian sport.
Vargas also fights in Arum's Top Rank stable and doesn't have an opponent booked for his next fight. Arum may see him as the perfect test for Horn as he eyes elite assignments in the welterweight division such as Keith Thurman and Errol Spence.
Category: 南京夜网 Comments closed
Russell locks in more Supercars starts
ROAD TO GLORY: Aaren Russell checks out work on the Newcastle Supercars track in Watt Street on Thursday. Newcastle driver Aaren Russell has a shock Supercars race victory on his mind after securing a deal to contestthe three Enduro Cup rounds this year.
Russell had already locked in drives with Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport at July's Townsville 400, the Bathurst 1000 next month and the season-ending Newcastle 500 in late November.
But he will also race the Sandown 500 from September 15 to 17 andGold Coast 600 from October 20 to 22 after extending his contract this week. The deal amounts to completing the remaining Australian rounds of the Supercars series, and he could also drive at the Auckland SuperSprint in early November.
Russell, who ran near the back of the field in Townsville, said it was difficult to compete with the series frontrunners in shorter races, but anything could happen in the Enduro Cup events.
The Novocastrian was competitive at Bathurst last year with co-driver Andre Heimgartner before a busted transaxle ended their race on lap 115.
Their LDM teammates, Nick Percat and Cameron McConville, finished third.
The 26-year-old is still waiting to hear who will co-drivewith him in the Enduro Cup but is relieved to add Sandown to his program.
"It was going to be quite funny, because I was going to race Townsville, then do a couple of go-kart meetingsthen go straight into Bathurst," he said.
"Now I have Sandown in between and a test day at Winton on Tuesdayas well."
Russell drove around parts of the partially built Newcastle 500 track on Thursday morning and said it would be "really interesting".
"The humps and bumps and undulations everywhere is going to be tricky, but I think that adds character to it," he said.
"It does look a bit like a war zone, but it's all for a good cause, not only for the round but for the town as well.
"They're building all these roads, and hopefully they don't have to touch them for the next 15 years."
Russell has launched a range of supporter packs on the family's Go-Karts-Go website, including merchandise, seats in a grandstand beside the Nobbys hairpin, hospitality in the nearby surf club and on-car sponsorship.
Opposite numbers race grand final clock
WAIT: Lambton's Jobe Wheelhouse playing against Edgeworth earlier this season. Picture: Jonathan CarrollThey may line upon opposite sides but Lambton skipper Jobe Wheelhouse and Edgeworth defender Aaron McLoughlin are both racing the same grand final clock.
The injured duo are doing "allthey can" and will be "given until the last minute" to run out at McDonald Jones Stadium forSaturday night's Northern NSW NPL decider according to Jaffas and Eaglescoaching staff.
The pair played in their respective semi-final wins on the weekend butWheelhouse has spent much of the last few days recovering from a right ankle issue in ahyperbaric chamber while McLoughlin, who has a hamstring tear, made a surprise return to the training paddock on Wednesday night.
INJURED: Edgeworth defender Aaron McLoughlin (left). Picture: Simone De Peak
"Aaron McLoughlin was back running last night [Wednesday], which surprised us," Edgeworth coach Damian Zane told the Newcastle Herald on Thursday.
"He's still going to be a game time decision and we'llgive him as long as possible. He deserves that and he's a vital part ofus."
Lambton assistant coach Scott McCarter held a similar view for Wheelhouse, who hasn't trained but was in a similar situation leading into the Jaffas maiden grand final victory of 2014.
"Jobe is touch and go at this stage," McCarter said.
"He's been spending all week in the chamber and it'stoo early to say for him, but we'll certainly give him every opportunity to make himself available."
Grand final countdown @nplnnsw with Josh Evans @EdgeworthFC + Michael Sessions @[email protected]@[email protected]南京夜网/mTS4oINMVv
— Josh Callinan (@joshuacallinan) August 31, 2017
On Thursday both Edgeworth skipper Josh Evans and Lambton vice-captain Michael Sessions got their first close-up look at the stadium surface as the big game moves to the Broadmeadow venue for the first time.
"It's a really big eye opener, the stadium is massive," Sessions said.
"It should be good on Saturday night withplentyof peoplehere."
Evans, striving for Edgeworth's third straight minor-major premiership double, echoed those same sentiments.
"It's absolutely brilliant to get the opportunity to play on here," he said.
"The pitch is amazing."
Elsewhere andMerewether won the NSW Combined High Schools open football knockout competition with a 1-0 victory over Terrigal in Sydneyon Wednesdaynight.
Merewether survived eight knockout games to lift the Puma Cup.
The state's sports high schools played in a separate final, which Westfields won 4-1 over The Hills.
POSSIBILITY: Wheelhouse in familiar territory
UNCERTAIN: McLoughlin feels hamstring tear
PREVIOUS: Griffiths eyes grand finale
EDGE: Rivals tip Eagles trifecta
Casual employees no answer to APS underperformance
If a focus group of the well-intended, including a few officials, were to be convened to identify the most urgent problems in the Australian Public Service, you could bet your socks that so-called "staff under-performance" would be prominent on its list.
It may well be a problem, but it's of the third or fourth order and usually accompanied by whingeing inversely proportional to its seriousness. So it is unsurprising that a recent audit of eight agencies by the Australian National Audit Office found that between 0.1 and 3.1 per cent of staff were rated as "less than effective". That may understate matters but it's good enough to give the matter a rough dimension. Add to it the ANAO's finding that a high proportion of those going through "structured performance assessment" have lifted their games and you're left with a mouse that's roared.
The ANAO report titled Managing Underperformance in the Australian Public Service was released in May this year. It's anyone's guess as to how this got onto the priority audit list when there are much more pressing personnel management problems.
The report is conscientious and is worth a pass grade. There are, however, shortcomings.
ONE: Critical terms are not properly explained. While the auditors say that "the key purpose of managing underperformance is to assist the employee to consistently meet the performance expectations of their job", "underperformance" is not defined. Does it mean staff who are unsatisfactory or those who are underperforming against their potential? The drift of the report is about those whose performance is unsatisfactory and too much time is spent on how to deal with that problem rather than how to prevent it.
Underperformance is about more than those who are unsatisfactory. Indeed, the more serious problem is likely to be why those who are satisfactory are not good and why those who are good are not very good. The audit report would have been more useful if it had addressed underperformance in this broader sense. Sure that could open up a great range of things affecting staff motivation but these could be put aside in favour of an examination of the working of staff appraisal schemes and whether they are helping to improve performance. The ANAO says that it did not do this "because of ongoing work being undertaken by the Public Service Commission in???the area." That's a weird rule for the ANAO because it would enable any function to escape its scrutiny if an agency could say that "ongoing work was being undertaken" in it.
TWO: While the report alludes several times to the personnel management "culture" of the APS, it doesn't dig too much into to why it is so and why formal performance management/staff appraisal schemes struggle to be effective. A part of the explanation is that positions are filled on a market basis – that is, vacancies are advertised, people apply and selections are made from the applicant pool. By contrast, in many private sector firms people's careers are often planned using formal appraisal systems that are more robust because they are key to advancement. Career planning in the APS must take place in the context of open competitions for promotion across the entire service and often with outside advertising and where staff appraisal schemes play a lesser role and therefore have less to sustain them.
To put it another way, staff appraisal/performance management schemes are more likely to thrive when they have consequences; in the public service these are not as significant as is often the case where they're closely linked to full-blooded career planning. In the past, attempts to bolster staff appraisal in the APS by linking it to performance pay ended up somewhere between unhelpful and disastrous. If it is not now being done, maybe it is time to have the formal results of staff appraisals made routinely available in competitions for promotions. That could help to concentrate the minds of those being appraised. It may also make the appraisers more conscientious as their assessments would be significantly exposed and they would be less able to avoid accountability.
THREE: The "key learnings" in the ANAO report do not get above what is already well known. For example, they talk about: the "need for transparent and clearly documented procedures"removing "barriers relating to support for managers" including from "human resource staff"better guidance on probationthe importance of "documenting performance gaps"establishing "the practice of more frequent and constructive feedback", andproviding "relevant and regular training".
So no startling new insights, rather the "learnings" say nothing more (and in some ways less) than a Management Advisory Board publication in 1992 titled The Management of Underperforming Officers in the Australian Public Service, a pithy document that seems to have escaped the attention of the auditors.
FOUR: The audit report rightly points out that unsatisfactory performance or underperformance can be the result of all sorts of things in addition to the capabilities of individuals and their willingness to work. It's surprising therefore the first question to ask when performance is not up to the mark – "why is it so?" – doesn't get a run in the ANAO's "key learnings". In many instances it's likely that the answers have nothing to do with individual inadequacy, but are down to poor supervision, unclear specification of tasks, lack of training, inadequate equipment or facilities and so on. In these instances, procedures for dragging staff up to the mark are irrelevant as their underperformance can only be fixed by better management arrangements generally outside the capacity of individuals to remedy.
In summary, the ANAO audit on "managing underperformance" gathers together some useful information on current practices in eight agencies. On the whole it is underwhelming. In terms of what to do it says nothing new and it fluffs its discussion of some aspects. Finally, while it's rightly suggested that procedures for "managing underperformance should be stripped of repetitive material", the ANAO would do well to heed its advice, for this report repeats itself over and over again. A crisper and clearer document would have got its messages through more effectively.
See the ANAO's report on underperformance here.
The Public Service Commissioner, John Lloyd, is a great worrier about staff who "underperform" and in a speech in June he's at it again. It's "important that poor performance is called out" he thunders, although without mentioning the ANAO report. Funny.
Mr Lloyd's speech is mainly taken up, however, with urgent pleas for greater "workplace flexibility" which he sees as including work that is "non-ongoing, part-time [note: not permanent part-time], casual, working from home, hot desking, job shares, independent contracting and labour hire" as well as "gig and peer modes of work", whatever that might mean.
There's something to be said for "workplace flexibility" but the question is, flexibility for what? All too often greater flexibility degenerates into greater management powers and reduced conditions for staff.
There's scope for using the categories of employment Mr Lloyd lists in the public service. That's limited, however, and the vast majority of the service's work should be undertaken by staff who are employed on what we must now call an "ongoing basis" to do work that's also ongoing.
If Mr Lloyd is advocating, for example, more temporary, casual, independent contracting and labour hire work for its own sake, then he's undermining the merit standards he's supposed to be upholding and increasing the risk of underperformance. Merit assessments are of a lower order for temporary and casual employees who are likely to be less well trained and therefore less efficient and effective than "ongoing" staff, and where underperformance of the transient is "managed" in a gutless way by showing them the door at the end of their engagements. Staff of independent contractors and labour hire firms are not subject to public service merit tests and where they are undertaking work indistinguishable from that done by public servants the basis of their engagements may very well be illegal.
In his June speech, Mr Lloyd also says that a "basic requirement is effective and direct employer-employee relationships." But why does he therefore in the same breath seemingly urge the greater use of employment arrangements that will make those relationships more attenuated? That's not merely ironic – it's wholly inconsistent.
The commissioner doesn't seem to realise that the neo-liberal bus on which he's apparently been a merry passenger for many years has run off the road, hit a brick wall and looks as if it's about to be written off. The unrestrained neo-liberal labour market doesn't always provide happy answers and it's foolish to think of the public service as part of the "gig" economy, a sub-division of Uber or Airbnb whose virtues are a mixed blessing in any event.
Organisations stand a better chance of working well when they provide a sense of mutual commitment between employers and employees over the longer term. Most staff will appreciate the chance to take responsibility for a job rather than turning up to a chair whose seat has been kept hot by somebody else's arse. Most importantly, and there is no stronger strand in employment literature, people want a degree of security in their jobs because that is critical in giving order to their lives and the lives of those dependent on them. Neo-liberal dogmas that treated people as cogs (aka "human resources" in production no different from items in ordinary commodity markets) whose unemployment could be eliminated by decreasing pay and conditions were foolish in their heyday; now they're discredited.
The public service commissioner should lift his game. He's right about the importance of "effective and direct employment relationships" and that's why he should put aside his yearnings for temporary employment, labour hire, the gig economy and so on in the public service of all places which will give him what he doesn't want.
Clarification: Last month's column on the proposed Home Affairs behemoth said that the 1987 machinery of government changes were done "without apparent consultation at ministerial or official levels." That is not quite true as at least some departmental secretaries were asked about prospects for the amalgamation of functions in their departments. While this consultation was not significantly apparent at the time, the suggestion that there was none was misleading.
Paddy Gourley is a former senior public servant.
[email protected]南京夜网419论坛
NBN Co not going to 'jeopardise' taxpayer funds for Telstra: CEO
Telstra CEO Andy Penn announcing the full year resultsPhoto Pat Scala , Melbourne , AFRThursday the 17th of August 2017 .NBN Co's boss says it could not agree to Telstra's securitisation program because it would not bring any value to NBN but would potentially introduce more risk.
Telstra revealed on Wednesday that NBN Co had rejected its proposal to securitise about $5.5 billion in infrastructure payments it expects to receive from NBN Co in coming years.
Telstra shares, trading without rights to the company's 15.5?? a share interim dividend, fell as much as 8 per cent on Wednesday. They were up 3.5?? at $3.635 on Thursday afternoon, but still down from $3.91 at the start of the week. Telstra shares have not been this low since mid-2012.
Under Telstra's proposal, investors would have paid the telco today for bond-like access to the money it would receive from NBN Co in coming years. This would have given Telstra access to billions of dollars straight away, but would make NBN Co directly responsible for repaying the investors.
"This is really something Telstra should be dealing with," NBN chief executive Bill Morrow said on Thursday at the release of NBN Co's latest corporate plan.
"I can assure you there is no difference in the capital payments that we intend to make with Telstra."
Telstra's proposal reduced the flexibility NBN had in its deal with Telstra, introduced uncertainties and made decisions more complex, Mr Morrow added.
"If we see something that is neutral or potentially negative then we will consider it, but if it turns out that we cannot be convinced there is value or if it has some risk to it, then we are not going to do it."
"We see an uncertain amount of risk and we are not going to jeopardise the taxpayer investment because of that."
The latest corporate plan reaffirmed NBN Co's goal of completing the network by 2020 for $49 billion. By mid-2018, NBN Co will have used $29.5 billion of taxpayer funding. It will then start drawing down on a $19.5 billion loan from the government that must be repaid at commercial rates.
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said NBN Co had hit key targets and its completion was in sight.
"As Australia's largest and most complex infrastructure project, the NBN has been a risky undertaking," Senator Fifield said.
"Two years ago, when we released a three-year plan to reach three-quarters of Australians by mid-2018, the plan was derided by the then shadow communications minister as a 'ramp up that Evil Knevil couldn't jump'. But NBN has managed to achieve what some said was impossible."
NBN has met predictions made in 2015 of passing 5.4 million premises by mid-2017 (it has passed 5.7 million) and activating 2.3 million premises. But it has also revised down the number to be connected by July 2018 from 9.1 million to 8.7 million.
Capital expenditure has been higher than expected at $5.8 billion rather than $5 billion, and operating expenses (including subscriber payments) were $3.7 billion compared with predictions in 2015 of $3.4 billion. However, revenue of $1 billion was $200 million more than expected.
If NBN Co needs more funding from 2021, it will have to get a loan from banks or commercial markets. By this time, it expects to have revenue of $5.4 billion but high costs will reduce this to a positive cash flow of $1 million.
NBN revised down the number of total premises to be connected by 2021 because the initial target of 11.9 million was based on inaccurate geographic data that overestimated the number of premises in Australia by 300,000. The new target is 11.6 million premises.
Labor's communications spokeswoman, Michelle Rowland, criticised NBN's progress, saying Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull promised in 2013 he would deliver the NBN for $29.5 billion by the end of 2016. Mr Turnbull was opposition communications spokesman at the time.
"Today's corporate plan confirms the NBN is now due to be complete by July 2020, at a cost of nearly $50 billion to the Australian taxpayer," Ms Rowland said.
"That is 3?? years late, and $20 billion over budget. This joke of an NBN is not faster or cheaper, it is slower and more expensive."
NBN Co expects about 8.6 million active connections in 2021 out of 11.6 million serviceable premises, giving it average monthly revenue of $52 per user, up from $43 today. The increase in revenue is expected to come as people move to higher speed tiers.
In the plan, NBN revealed the cost of fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) installations for the first time. This technology will cost $2900 per premise, which is $600 more than fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) and cable connections, but $1500 cheaper than a fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) connection.
FTTC will be faster than FTTN because it brings fibre closer to the house. About 1 million premises in areas with Optus' HFC cable will get FTTC instead of upgraded cable.
The government-owned entity will also start differentiating between premises that are "ready for service" and those that are "ready for connection". There is about a six-month gap between premises declared "ready for service" and those that are "ready for connection", which may have left consumers wondering why a premise declared ready could not yet connect.
NBN will now "aim to complete all civil works before declaring a home ready to connect and accepting an order", according to the corporate report.
This means that of 8.7 million premises expected to be "ready for service" by July 2018, about 400,000 will still be six months from being able to connect.
"All we have done is rename 'serviceable' to 'ready to connect'. We want this to be the prominent measure going forward … all we are trying to do is just clean up the language," Mr Morrow said, adding all premises will be ready to connect by 2021.
NBN will stop spending money on FTTP by 2019. By 2021, FTTP will be available at 2 million (17 per cent of) premises, FTTN will be available at 4.6 million (39 per cent of) premises, FTTC at 1 million (8.5 per cent of) premises and upgraded HFC at 3.1 million premises(26 per cent). About 1 million people living in regional Australia will be using satellite or fixed wireless connections.
Internet activist Laurie Patton from Internet Australia called on NBN Co to increase the number of FTTC connections, calling the technology a "reasonable middle ground".
"At least it can be upgraded down the road whereas when it comes to FTTN, it's a case of ripping it out at great expense," Mr Patton said.
"The way it's going, whoever is in office in 2020 will have to deal with our biggest ever national infrastructure debacle. NBN Co will owe the government about $19 billion and within five to 10 years it will need to fund a very expensive replacement of the FTTN rollout."


Introduction: Powell celebrates 100 years in the rod building business with the introduction of the Endurance line of rods. These rods feature Fuji components and a purple motif that helps the rods stand out versus Powell�s other products as well as competitor offerings in general.
100 years is a long time and few companies, especially in the fishing industry, can make this claim. Powell is best known to our readers for their lineup of bass rods but the company has a long storied history in fly. In recent seasons Powell got really aggressive and dropped the price of their rods to make them even more affordable to anglers. They did this without any sacrifice to quality and anglers responded, making Powell a very popular rod option at both e-tailers and retailers.
Last season Powell partnered up with the team at Tackle Warehouse and Pro Angler Jared Lintner to introduce new application exclusive specific rods which have also been a big hit. With similar cosmetics to the Lintner application specific rods the new Endurance rods feature the same very cool looking �water spot� graphics on the split grip and right above the foregrip only instead of red these new rods are purple. The rod�s descriptions and logos are all silver and the Purple rod actually matches up surprisingly well with silver reels (the old purple JDM Alphas would look wicked on these rods).
The purple theme is further emphasized with matching thread wraps with black and silver trim and purple galvanize aluminum winding checks. The rest of the blank is matte black which contrasts nicely with the purple.
The blank itself makes use of Powell�s proprietary maxumfiber that is designed to be extremely strong and still feel light and balanced in hand. Both the casting and spinning rods both feature Fuji reel seats and Fuji Alconite guides.
The new line of Endurance rods will consist of 16 new rods (12 casting and 4 spinning) and will start hitting store shelves in early November, which gives us a little time to see just how they perform on the water.
Conclusion: Powell as a company has certainly endured through countless changes in the industry and the world as a whole. Key to the company�s success is their ability to adapt to changing trends as well as getting aggressive in an increasingly competitive environment. Bringing both performance and price to the table the new Endurance rods make use of quality components and sport an attractive design that looks cutting edge yet is consistent with Powell�s traditional clean look and feel.


For those that think iTunes is bloatware and have always preferred WinAmp or foobar2000 on Windows, meet the Music Player Daemon.
Music Player Daemon is what it sounds like: a bare-bones background application that plays music.
MPD, as it's often called, is popular with some Linux fans because it's a great example of doing one thing well – playing music.
But of course, you'll also want to control your music while it's playing. For that, you need another application, something like the venerable Sonata or the Gnome Music Player Client, which offer the basics without all the "bloat."
If you're on an older system, or you just like to keep your apps lean and fast, Music Player Daemon is an easy way to do it – it's simple and no extra bells and whistles means you won't use half your RAM just to listen to a few songs.
Unfortunately, MPD and its accompanying control apps can be a bit awkward when it comes to managing a huge library of music.
Still haven't heard of a player that's music to your ears? Well, there are literally dozens of Linux music players out there. Here are a few other options well worth investigating: Exaile, QuodLibet, Audacious, Songbird (technically no longer developed, but still available) and, if you're will to install the necessary KDE components, the ever-popular Amarok.
So which Linux music app is the best? Well, that's up to you. There is no such thing as the best piece of software, just the one that's most suited for your needs.
When it comes to music players, Linux doesn't just stack up well against the competition, it's actually well ahead of it, offering features you won't find on other platforms.


Last week, the Belgian Devoxx4Kids team went to Devoxx France in Paris to organize a special Devoxx4Kids event for the Devoxx France attendees' children.
Children were then the ones of professional software programmers.
What a great opportunity for them to be able to show to their own children what they do in a fun way through the Devoxx4Kids initiative.
The limited number of subscriptions went sold out immediately showing that programmers are really proud of what they do and would like to have their children follow their same professional path (if possible ;-)).
During that event, 70% of children were boys and 30% were girls. 9 years old on average.
Initiation of programming concepts using Scratch and Leap Motion device. Here, children not only programmed a game but they interfaced it with a LeapMotion device. Look at the video here after to see how cool it was.
Lego Minstorms EV3 robot: Showing that programming can also be applied to robotics.
NAO Humanoid Robot: A more advanced robot for which children had to program more dynamic interactivity.
We were also honored and happy to host a special guest with us that day.
You all know that Devoxx4Kids is for ALL children (boys, girls, poor, rich, children with disabilities, etc..).
That day we were really proud and happy to host a dedicated NAO workshop for a young autistic boy.
The result was outstanding and we would like to give a big thanks to Aldebaran Robotics and particularly to Nicolas Rigaud for the support.
Aldebaran Robotics (http://www.aldebaran.com/), the company developing NAO and ROMEO humanoid robots, is supporting the Devoxx4Kids initiative since the beginning and their "ASK NAO (Autism Solution for Kids)" program (http://asknao.aldebaran-robotics.com/) was used for that dedicated workshop.
At the end of the event, all parents were amazed by the various results demonstrated. They even were envious. The following days, during the conference, we receive several feedbacks from them telling us that their children were continuously dreaming of their programs and still continuing improving them at home.
Finally, we would like to thanks all the Devoxx France organization for their warm welcome and wonderful support. Without them, this event would not have been possible.


text:
Home / Tech / Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Tech September 14, 2018 08:32
- Lara Croft has been running the hearts of many gamers for 22 years now, her popularity has not gotten any worse over the years. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the final piece of a successful reboot of the series.
Already in 1996 Lara Croft, a female version of Indiana Jones, was to be admired for the first time. In 2013, publisher Square Enix blew new life with a more realistic Lara in the lead. That was a daring step. Because if you want to make Lara more realistic, you can not get around to curb her façade and stretch her waist. Precisely that appearance was an important reason for her popularity.
Fortunately, the cosmetic procedures worked out well. Female gamers were downright enthusiastic, and male gamers were less sexist than feared. In the first part, a cinema version was released this year.
Immediately afterwards the final piece of the 'new' Tomb Raider series appears. There is no lack of ambition. Lara Croft is better prepared for danger than ever before in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. For the story Jill Murray was flown in, who previously took care of Assassin's Creed IV, among other things.
This game takes place completely in South America, where Lara hunts historical objects while the godly but trickle-knit organization Trinity wants to make her a little smaller. In the meantime, a total apocalypse is threatening because Lara has accidentally captured one object too much.
After two very good parts, Square Enix wanted to build on the success in this final piece. So expect a lot of cunning, beautiful views and the inevitable battles with her hereditary enemy Trinity. Who has been entertained with the previous parts, will certainly not be disappointed.
That means that everyone who secretly hoped for a renewed Lara Croft, is disappointed. All right, there's nothing wrong with the storyline and the fact that Lara is more mature makes for more exciting action. But it would be a great honor to label the makers' choices as original.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: 406 HTTP error caused by URL on text input I have an HTML form, method='post' with enctype="application/x-www-form-urlencoded" and a text input inside where users insert a YouTube video URL.
When the URL looks like http://... or https://..., after submitting form, I receive error 406. But when it looks like www.youtube..., everything goes OK. I tried <input type="url", but it doesn't help.

A: Try using:
<input type="text"

If you need to remove the actual http:// part before submitting the form you'll want to use a regex pattern to remove it (info).

A: This worked:
<input type = "text" id = "mytextbox" onkeyup = "striphttp()">
    <script type = "text/javascript">
        function striphttp() {
            var url = document.getElementById("mytextbox").value;
            url = url.replace(/http:\/\/w/gi,"w");
            document.getElementById("mytextbox").value = url;
        }
    </script>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Creates a list of pages which are linked to but have not yet been created.
Default content may be included as the body to be shown if no links exist.
If enabled (i.e. set to true), displays the page excerpt next to the link.
The types of content to list, separated by commas. May be one or more of: page, news, comment, spacedescription, userinfo, attachment, mail, mailto, url.


text:
Canadian Friends of Hong Kong (CFHK)
Canadian Friends of Hong Kong is a non-partisan, member-funded network formed by Canadians who are HongKongers, ex-HongKongers and friends of HongKongers. Our purpose is to provide a platform conducive to intelligent and informed discussion of important issues concerning both Canada and Hong Kong. Having resided in both places, we believe we have some unique perspectives to share regarding issues concerning dinner table conversations and government policy discussions. We hope that through thoughtful and respectful exchanges, all of us can gain better insights into the many common challenges that both places are facing and to explore some possible solutions. In March 2019, the Vancouver Friends of Hong Kong changed its name to Canadian Friends of Hong Kong to reflect the reach of its network across Canada.
Principles We Stand On
Canada's democratic institution is built on our belief in a fair and just society that is anchored on democracy, human rights, civil liberties and the rule of law. They are the fundamental and shared values of Canadians, regardless of heritage or cultural backgrounds.
Multiculturalism is about creating an environment that would empower all citizens, regardless of their ethnicity, to bring in their cultural heritage to strengthen our democratic institutions and to safeguard our shared Canadian values.
Diversity is inherent to multiculturalism. Immigrants bring to Canada different cultural perspectives and life experience, providing rich resources for creative problem solving and the envisioning of a collective future as a nation. But there are also lots of room for misunderstanding and value clashes.
The PRC has manipulated our diversity and exploit our multiculturalism to advance its own agenda and to undermine our democracy. To reap the full benefits of our diversity and to counter the PRC interference in Canada, we need to articulate and reaffirm those core Canadian values to everyone who has chosen Canada home and settled here.
In this Federal election, let's take action to ensure that our future Members of Parliament would truly stand on guard for Canada, upholding our shared values but not kowtowing to a foreign dictatorship.


text:
Q: Python is writing data in csv file in list fomat I have two lists and want to write them to a csv file. I wrote the code to write the csv file. After running the program, data is get written to the csv file. But when I open the csv file, the data is stored in list format like:
[u'abc coffee'],[u'abc address']

But I want to write the csv file in the normal form like:
"abc coffee, abc address"

How can I do this?
import csv

ifile = open("ouput.csv","w")
writer = csv.writer(ifile)
company_name =["abc coffee"]
rating_count = ["abc address"]

writer.writerow([company_name,rating_count])
ifile.close()

A: company_name and rating_count are lists already and you're packing them into another list on writing. Do
writer.writerow(company_name + rating_count)

instead.

A: import csv

ifile = open("ouput.csv","w")
writer = csv.writer(ifile)

company_name =["abc coffee"]
rating_count = ["abc address"]

company_name.extend(rating_count) *add another item into the same list*

writer.writerow(company_name) *send the list to writer object which writes it to file*

ifile.close()

A: You can explicitly write the list as a concatenated string using:
writer.writerow([' '.join(company_name), ' '.join(rating_count)])

A: There is no need to include csv library and there is no need to use lists to achieve that kind of an output.
ifile = open("ouput.txt","w")
company_name ="abc coffee"
rating_count = "abc address"

ifile.write(company_name + ", " +rating_count + "\n")
ifile.close()

will be enough.

A: after spending time finally I came with the solution. I simply convert the above two list in string and then while writing them in csv i convert them in list and concatenate them. So the final code is :
 import csv

 ifile = open("ouput.csv","w")
 writer = csv.writer(ifile)

 company_name ="abc coffee"
 rating_count = "abc address"

 writer.writerow([company_name]+[rating_count])

 ifile.close()

thank so much everyone for your help.


text:
Devoted News
Profile & Biography
Jimmy Savile – later accused of sex abuse – allowed to 'roam freely' at Catholic school in Scotland
Latest News Uncategorized
LEICESTER United Kingdom – Jimmy Savile, probably the most notorious child sex abuser in the UK, was given free access to a Catholic school in Scotland in the 1960s.
Savile, a DJ and TV presenter who was on airways for more than 50 years, died in 2011. An internal inquiry at the BBC revealed he abused at least 72 victims at the broadcaster in the period from 1959 to 2006. His victims included both boys and girls, and the youngest was 10 years old.
The information was revealed in testimony on Tuesday at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry hearing on the Fort Augustus Abbey school, run by the Benedictine order, which closed in 1993.
A written statement from the brother of a now-deceased student said the celebrity often visited the school.
"Savile would park his Rolls-Royce car outside the school. Doug said Savile was allowed to roam freely at the school, even the boys' dormitories," it read, adding "the boys didn't like Savile."
"Even although he was a big star, they felt uncomfortable," the statement said.
The allegations against Saville didn't become public until after his death.
Details of Savile's 1960s' visits to the Inverness-shire boarding school emerged at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI), which heard separate claims that a child was raped by monks who had 'drugged' him.
The testimony said the same child had been sexually assaulted by a staff member at the school while in the infirmary.
In 2013, multiple allegations of historic abuse at the school were reported in the Scottish media, with the BBC claiming the school had become a dumping ground for "problem" monks. The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was established in 2015 to look into historic abuse in the country. It is a separate inquiry to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) taking place in England and Wales.
On Tuesday, the Scottish inquiry also heard testimony from a man who said he was abused while a student at the school between 1974 and 1976.
Another man claimed to have been drugged and raped while visiting Fort Augustus and the nearby Pluscarden Abbey on a trip from his Catholic school in Glasgow.
"My memory is a little hazy because I believe I was drugged at the (Pluscarden) abbey and that some kind of alcohol was made at the abbey, and I may have been given some," the witness said. "I remember being locked in a room and I think while I was in the room, I was given a drink of alcohol." He then said "very similar abuse" happened at Fort Augustus.
The Benedictines left the monastery in 1998.
Follow Charles Collins on Twitter: @CharlesinRome
Tagged Catholic Church Catholic schools Church in Scotland Church in UK and Ireland clerical sexual abuse Scotland
Africa trip planted new seeds of hope, pope says at audience
Why This Asian Presbyterian Can't Quit the White Pentecostal Church
Report: Prophet Bushiri facing widespread blackmail in S.A
'Rosary Priest' still an inspiration decades after his death
List And Profile Of Famous Atheists Who Converted To Christianity


text:
Spireon Wins IoT Breakthrough Award
January 3, 2019 • by FI Staff
IRVINE, Calif. — Vehicle intelligence provider Spireon has been recognized by the 2019 IoT Breakthrough Awards for its GoldStar GPS solution, which was named Connected Car Product of the Year. The risk-management solution was honored for new features designed to "dramatically" increase the value of GPS for customers, including a pre-built, nationwide impound lot database, and a consumer-facing mobile application called GoldStar Connect.
"Our latest advancements to GoldStar are having a big impact on dealers and lenders in two ways: first by dramatically reducing the costs associated with impounded vehicles, and second by using the power of mobile apps to stay connected to consumers, changing GPS from an expense to a revenue-generator that increases customer engagement and loyalty," said Brian Deeley, director of product management at Spireon. "We're honored to be recognized for the unique value we are delivering in the vehicle finance industry with GoldStar."
The GoldStar Impound Lots feature includes automated reports and alerts to notify lienholders when vehicles enter any of more than 10,000 impound lots across the nation. Impound fees cost the auto industry an estimated $1.1 billion per year, according to a Spireon industry report. The company reports nearly 4 million vehicles are now connected to its NSpire IoT platform.
"Previously, only a small segment of the population could afford to buy the latest connected cars that came off the factory floor preloaded with technology," said Reggie Ponsford, senior vice president of sales at Spireon. "Now anyone can transform their car into a 'smart car' with GPS-enabled features like geo-fencing, trip history, speeding and battery usage alerts, and much more. This is a game-changer for dealers who can now increase profitability and provide more value with their vehicles, while also reducing risk with GoldStar."
Green Car Reports Names Audi e-tron 'Best Car to Buy 2020'
The 2019 Audi e-tron SUV, the first fully electric Audi in the U.S., has earned Green Car Reports' Best Car to Buy 2020 Award.
Portfolio's Texas Office Earns 4th Straight Workplace Award
The Dallas office of Portfolio has been listed among the Best Companies to Work for in Texas for the fourth consecutive year.
DealerPolicy Wins Agent for the Future Award
Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance have named DealerPolicy to its list of 2019 Agent for the Future winners, a program designed to recognize innovation and advancement.
Priority One Makes 2019 One Tampa Bay List
Priority One Financial Services has been recognized as a One Tampa Bay honoree by the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
Telluride Wins Best New Model in 2020 Best Buy Awards
Kelley Blue Book has named the Kia Telluride America's best new model for the 2020-MY. A Honda vehicle won the Best Buy award in five categories, including compact car and SUV.
Auto/Mate Wins 10th Straight Best Places to Work Award
Auto/Mate Dealership Systems has been listed among Albany Business Review's 48 Best Places to Work for the 10th consecutive year.
Alpha Makes List of Utah's Fastest-Growing Companies
Alpha Warranty is among the honorees in the 25th annual MountainWest Capital Network's 2019 Utah 100.
KPA Adds to List of Training Industry Top 20 Awards
KPA has been named a Top 20 training company by Training Industry for the second time in three months, this time in the health and safety category.
Dwayne Hawkins Gives Back at Crown Automotive
The chairman and CEO of Crown Automotive Group has lived the American dream, created opportunities for thousands of employees, and offered countless car buyers a fair deal, all while devoting time, money, and resources to a long list of charitable causes.
NAE/NWAN Earns Third Consecutive Workplace Award
National Automotive Experts/NWAN is ranked among Northeast Ohio's 99 best places to work for the third straight year.


text:
Sierra 2 has two free parking lots (map) and various on-street parking options. The main lot is located behind the building off of 4th Ave. The Castro St. parking lot is only available nights and weekends, please do not park in spots reserved for Warmline.
To the north off Castro way is the nights and weekends parking lot. Permit parking only M-F from 7am-6pm.
To the south, on 4th Avenue is the main parking lot which is open during business hours.
Limited 2 hour parking is available on the East side of 24th Street.
Street parking is prohibited on the West side of 24th Street without a City neighborhood parking permit. A detailed parking map including entrances and accessible parking spots is available. Please observe parking signs and be kind to our neighbors, do not park in spots reserved for Warmline. Sierra 2 will not be held responsible for parking tickets.
Download Printable Sierra 2 Center Facility MapDownload
Directions to Sierra 2
Ride the South/Blue Line of Light Rail to the 4th Avenue/Wayne Hultgren station and walk north across the tracks then east on 4th Avenue (at the 3-way split) to 24th Street. From the Gold line exit at the 16th and R stop, then catch the bus on 15th Street heading south.
By Car: From the North
Take Business 80 toward San Francisco, exiting at P Street. Take a soft left at the end of the off-ramp onto 29th Street which runs parallel to the freeway. Follow this street around as it turns to the right and into W Street. Make a left onto 24th Street. Sierra 2 Center is 4 blocks south of Broadway on the left between Castro St. and 4th Ave. Turn left on 4th Ave. to enter our parking lot.
By Car: From the East
Take Hwy. 50 toward downtown. Take the 26th Street exit, but do not turn onto 26th Street. Instead continue straight on W Street until you reach 24th Street, where you make a left turn. Continue under the freeway on 24th. Sierra 2 Center is 4 blocks south of Broadway on the left between Castro St. and 4th Ave. Turn left on 4th Ave. to enter our parking lot.
By Car: From the South on 99
Exit on Broadway and make a left. Follow Broadway to 24th Street. Make a left onto 24th Street. Sierra 2 Center is 4 blocks south on the left between Castro St. and 4th Ave. Turn left on 4th Ave. to enter our parking lot.
By Car: From the South on I-5
Exit on Broadway and make a right. Follow Broadway to 24th Street. Make a right on 24th Street. Sierra 2 Center is 4 blocks south on the left between Castro St. and 4th Ave. Turn left on 4th Ave. to enter our parking lot.
By Car: From the West
Take the 15th Street exit off of Business 80 East, take a soft right at the end of the off ramp to get on 15th St, turn left on Broadway (your next light), then right on 24th St. Sierra 2 Center is 4 blocks south of Broadway on the left between Castro St. and 4th Ave. Turn left on 4th Ave. to enter our parking lot.


text:
Maryland gubernatorial hopeful Wes Moore raises most cash as election season approaches
Naval Academy families seek refunds from Annapolis homeowners for canceled Commissioning Week rentals
Former Meade standout Mahzi Thames leads Chesapeake College men's basketball into national rankings | NOTES
Phil Reynolds: Here's why I mediate
Wherever two or three are gathered — there is conflict. It's the human condition.
Like fire, conflict is neither good nor bad — it all depends on how it is used. Fire can be used to warm our feet or to burn down a house. Similarly, conflict can be used as an excuse to escalate tensions or as an opportunity to work out a negotiated solution to a problem.
There are many styles of dealing with conflict. Some folks simply avoid it. This can be effective if one has no direct interest but it doesn't resolve the conflict. Others compete to have their way in a conflict. They can often have their way in a survival situation, but in other situations their win can make enemies of the losers. Accommodation may save you from aggravating a police officer over a ticket, but it doesn't get your needs met.
There are two styles which feature in mediation. Compromising (50/50% split) is a good approach when collaboration is simply not possible. As you can imagine, collaboration is the ideal way of resolving conflicts, especially where long-term relationships are involved — e.g. couples, parents, neighbors, colleagues.
There are several practical ways of dealing with conflicts. By far the best is for the parties to have a face-to-face civil conversation and to agree on a solution. The worst way of resolving a conflict is aggression, which often gets you in trouble or in jail. Other options include:
Seeking a judgment from a court where an official third party decides on your case for you.
A settlement between your lawyers in or out of court, which can be expensive.
Arbitration, where the parties choose an arbitrator who will decide on their case for them.
Mediation, where a neutral mediator empowers the parties and assists them to work out their own solution. This can lead to win-win solutions, which tend to stand the test of time.
Mediation is often confused with meditation. Meditation is a process where an individual uses a technique to achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state. This brings peace to an individual like the Dali Lama. On the other hand, mediation brings peace to the community whether that is a couple, a family, a neighborhood, an office, a school or even a prison.
Here's what mediation looks like: A diminutive man (let's call him Ajrun) complained about excessive noise from his upstairs neighbor, a large man (let's call him John).
Ajrun was scared to confront John directly so he simply pounded the ceiling when the noise was too loud. This aggravated John. In the introductory part of the mediation session, Ajrun and John realized that the noise was caused by John's over-active grandchildren. Ajrun acknowledged that he also loved his over-active grandchildren. Pictures were exchanged between the proud grandfathers.
The mood changed and John and Ajrun agreed that there would be no noise after 10:00pm and that Ajrun and John would phone each other if there were any exceptions. On their way out, I heard Ajrun invite John and his family to tea. By working through mediation, both parties "won".
I have practiced mediation for over 20 years — most recently with the Anne Arundel Conflict Resolution Center in Annapolis. Fifty hours of basic Mediation Training and courses for specific types of mediation have started me off, but I learn something new from each mediation session.
[Most read] As Maryland faces growing flood threats, retreat is an unpopular solution. What would it take to change that? »
We are not always successful, but the satisfaction of helping two parties move from open, often loud, hostility to an agreed plan is its own reward. That's why I, along with about 40 volunteer mediators at the Center, keep coming back and enabling the Center to offer most of its services free.
I started as a volunteer mediator while I was still working at the United Nations in New York, but now I see it as a perfect retirement job. Mediators don't usually need to do research for a session since the less they know about the parties the less they are tempted to become involved — a taboo for neutral mediators.
The two-hour sessions are intense and emotional and that keeps this retiree active and engaged. There are no residual responsibilities except to plan for any necessary subsequent sessions. I can happily proceed with other retirement activities.
In short, being a mediator provides a way of giving back to the community while providing a truly fulfilling experience. That's why I mediate.
Herb McMillan: Anne Arundel County executive, health officer have betrayed our trust with COVID mask order | COMMENTARY
Barbara R. Arnwine and Daryl D. Jones: The work of judging people first by their character is not yet done | COMMENTARY
Phil Reynolds of Annapolis is a volunteer mediator and board member of the Anne Arundel Conflict Resolution Center. For more information, visit aacrc.info


text:
Franz X. Gabl (* 29. Dezember 1921 in St. Anton am Arlberg; † 23. Jänner 2014 in Bellingham (Washington), USA) war ein österreichischer Skirennläufer. Er gewann die Silbermedaille in der Abfahrt bei den Olympischen Winterspielen 1948.

Biografie
Gabl kam, ebenso wie sein älterer Bruder Josef "Pepi" Gabl, schon früh zum Skisport und erzielte in jungen Jahren vor allem im Skispringen einige Erfolge. So wurde er 1935 Tiroler Jugendmeister und gewann 1936 die nationale Jugendmeisterschaft. Dann musste er aber aufgrund einer schweren Verletzung das Springen aufgeben und konzentrierte sich fortan ganz auf die alpinen Bewerbe. 1940 wurde seine sportliche Laufbahn vorerst unterbrochen, da er zum Kriegsdienst eingezogen wurde. Mehrmals verwundet kehrte er im August 1945 aus kurzer sowjetischer Gefangenschaft nach Österreich zurück.

Nun begann die eigentliche Skikarriere des Tirolers. Im Winter 1945/46 musste er sich noch auf nationale Wettkämpfe beschränken, da den ÖSV-Läufern ein Antreten im Ausland untersagt war. Im nächsten Winter feierte er seine ersten größeren Erfolge: Er gewann den Slalom beim Ländertreffen in Seefeld, den Riesenslalom beim traditionellen Glocknerrennen und wurde 1947 hinter Egon Schöpf österreichischer Vizemeister im Slalom. Mit guten Leistungen bei den ÖSV-internen Ausscheidungen qualifizierte er sich schließlich für die Olympischen Winterspiele 1948 im schweizerischen St. Moritz, wo die Alpinbewerbe auch als Weltmeisterschaften zählten. Dort gewann er hinter dem überlegenen Sieger Henri Oreiller aus Frankreich die Silbermedaille in der Abfahrt. "Eine Einnahmequelle, die einem jungen Skiläufer ein veritables Auskommen sichern konnte, war der Skisport damals nicht. Es gab keine Werbeverträge oder  Auftritte in Talk Shows. In der Zeit nach dem Krieg gab es das, was für das Leben notwendig aber oftmals zu knapp war. In einem Glückwunschschreiben des Oesterreichischen Olympischen Comit heißt es:  Es freut uns, Ihnen mitteilen zu können, dass Ihnen 1 Paket Reis (5 Kilo) und 1 Paket Zucker (5 Kilo)
gewidmet wurde, welche Sie in Wien, Liechtensteinerstr. 43 beheben können."

Im Winter 1949 musste Gabl aufgrund einer Verletzung längere Zeit pausieren, konnte aber im nächsten Winter wieder mehrere Rennen gewinnen. Beim Westenpokal in Lech siegte er in der Kombination mit der Idealnote Null, in St. Anton gewann er den Hannes-Schneider-Pokal. Damit galt er als große Medaillenhoffnung bei den Weltmeisterschaften 1950 in Aspen. Er kam aber mit den ungewohnten Bedingungen nicht zurecht und erreichte keine Spitzenplätze.

Nach dieser WM blieb Gabl in den USA, feierte dort noch einige Siege und war anschließend als Skilehrer tätig. Vorübergehend übersiedelte er nach Kanada und trainierte die kanadische Olympiamannschaft der Damen von 1952 sowie vier Jahre später jene der Herren. Danach vertrieb er Skiprodukte und Skibekleidung in den USA und Kanada und wurde ein erfolgreicher Geschäftsmann. Er verstarb im Jänner 2014.

Sein Neffe ist der Meteorologe Karl Gabl. Die österreichische Skirennläuferin Gertrud Gabl war seine Nichte.

Erfolge

Olympische Winterspiele
 St. Moritz 1948: 2. Abfahrt

Weltmeisterschaften
 St. Moritz 1948: 2. Abfahrt
 Aspen 1950: 9. Slalom, 11. Abfahrt, 36. Riesenslalom

Auszeichnungen
 1996: Silbernes Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich

Literatur
 Österreichischer Skiverband (Hrsg.): Österreichische Skistars von A–Z, Innsbruck 2008, ISBN 978-3-9502285-7-1, S. 86

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise

Alpiner Skirennläufer (Ski-Club Arlberg)
Olympiateilnehmer (Österreich)
Teilnehmer der Olympischen Winterspiele 1948
Träger des Silbernen Ehrenzeichens für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich (1952)
Österreicher
Geboren 1921
Gestorben 2014
Mann
Teilnehmer einer Alpinen Skiweltmeisterschaft

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Agency Eagle works with independent insurance agencies to create websites that generate leads and provide online customer service. CAROL is our custom client portal that includes Vcheck payments for clients, online quote forms, customer service forms and a backend CRM system for the agency.
We have been a partner with Vcheck for ages and our clients love using it. It's fast to setup, easy for end customers to use and no percentage or transaction fees. Vcheck works so well for insurance agencies that we've integrated it into our website and CAROL service and since then it's been one of the agencies favorite features.
We have special features built into the Vcheck check acceptance system designed specifically for the Insurance Industry. Already in use by hundreds of Independent Agents, Agencies, and Producers, Vcheck allows you to instantly bind a new policy because you can take a check by phone, by fax or from your website and instantly print out a legally negotiable check to go along with the new application. You may also use our system to accept payments for any Accounts Receivable item.
Upon submission of the Pre-Form, your secure check form will appear and the data/agreements from the pre-form are saved with the check details. The Vcheck Control Panel even has columns in the check summary tables for the data collected in the Pre-Form.
In addition, many insurance agencies take advantage of the optional upgrade for Multiple Payees. This allows them to accept checks made payable directly to their carriers.
You can test out the actual system by going to the Live Demo page, reading the short instructions, and using the links under the Insurance Agents, Agencies and Producers section of that page. Also, a partial list of agencies that use our checks by phone, fax and online systems can be viewed on the Who Uses Vcheck? page.
Our agencies has used this product for over 5 years and love it, I have shared it many times with other agencies and our clients love your product. The biggest statement that I can make for our agency is that we have a -0- accounts receivable due to your product and I thank you for my agencies success. It is always nice to find a product that works and a company that values my success in business....keep up the good work.
Wow...what a difference your vcheck service has made for our business! You came through when all our other merchant accounts almost destroyed our business. We cannot thank you enough. Your system works perfectly just as you stated, and your customer service help is the best we have ever seen. Your service is incredible.
We really got the run-around with all of the merchant account providers. You were able to set up our Vcheck service right away without any problems. We really appreciate your customer service and personal assistance with the program. Thank you for your awesome service!
We love the convenience of Vcheck - but most importantly our insured's love the convenience of Vcheck. In our business many times we must place coverage with in a few hours of settling the contract. The ability to have the client make their payment online saves in courier, overnight charges or time away from the office picking up the payment.
This is the fastest, easiest way to receive a check. The client goes to our web site, enters check information and within 10 seconds I have the check. The new version now shows you the total amout of checks you have recived for the month and year. I was shocked to see how much money we have received using Vcheck. No more "the check is in the mail!"
VCheck is a very valuable tool for our small business. We are able to process client payments immediately. It is very efficient and easy to use. We would highly recommend the VCheck system.
We have used Vchecks for several years now and are very satisfied with the service. Since we do not accept credit cards, Vchecks give our clients the option of paying us at our website instead of having to mail their payments to us or visit our office. We are notified instantly via e-mail that there is a Vcheck waiting for us at their website, print it out, and deposit it to our bank account. The service is very simple to use and has allowed us to offer an added service to our clients.
- C. Reese, Henry D Young Insurance Agency Inc.
Checkbind / Vcheck has been extremely easy to use. It has allowed us to add further functionality to our website and allowed our clients to make an "instant payment" without any hassle. In today's "internet driven" world, so many clients are familiar with paying via the web that this has been a natural. Thanks for a great product!


SEATTLE – The Museum of Flight lost a great friend, supporter, and enthusiastic member of our Board of Trustees this morning with the passing of Kenneth H. Dahlberg at age 94.
An aviator and entrepreneur, Mr. Dahlberg flew the P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51 Mustang with the USAAF 353rd Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group Ninth Air Force in Europe. As a fighter ace, Mr. Dahlberg was credited with 14 aerial victories. During the course of WWII, Mr. Dahlberg was shot down three times behind enemy lines, escaping twice and spending the last few month of the war as a POW in Stalag 7-A in Moosburg, Germany. He received numerous awards and decorations, including the Distinguished Service Cross for leading a flight of 16 P-47 Thunderbolts (354th) against an attack of 70 German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters on December 19, 1944.
A leader in the business world as well, Mr. Dahlberg founded Dahlberg Electronics in 1948, a subsidiary of which is the Miracle-Ear hearing aids manufacturer. He went on to serve in leadership roles for a great many companies including Buffalo Wild Wings, Envoy Medical, and his venture capital firm Carefree Capital. Inducted into both the Minnesota and Arizona Aviation Halls of Fame, he continued flying into his 90s.
Mr. Dahlberg was tremendous supporter of The Museum of Flight, home of the Kenneth H. Dahlberg Center for Military Aviation History. The Dahlberg Center is the home of many of the museum's most valuable collections, including the Lee Embree Pearl Harbor Collection, the American Fighter Aces Association Collection, and the Champlin Museum Collection. Along with the museum's other research facilities, the Dahlberg Center hosted more than 1,700 researchers last year.
In addition to his wife of 64 years, Betty, Mr. Dahlberg is survived by his daughters Nancy Dahlberg and Dede Disbrow, his son K. Jeffrey (Michelle), his brother Arnold, sisters Marcella Savage and Harriet Dolny (Lenny) and sister-in-law Betty Dahlberg, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at Colonial Church of Edina at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, October 12, 2011. Burial will be in Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Minnesota Military Appreciation Fund or the Colonial Church of Edina.
"Our thoughts go out to his family and friends, among which are many Museum of Flight trustees, employees, and members," said Museum President and CEO Doug King.


text:
US-9,992,299 Technologies for network packet cache management
Technologies for identifying a cache line of a network packet for eviction from an on-processor cache of a network device communicatively coupled to a network...
US-9,992,212 Technologies for handling malicious activity of a virtual network driver
Technologies for handling malicious activity of a virtual network driver include a network computing device on which a virtual machine is being executed and the...
US-9,992,135 Apparatus and method for fusion of compute and switching functions of exascale system into a single component...
Described is an apparatus which comprises: a Network-On-Chip fabric using crossbar switches, having distributed ingress and egress ports; and a dual-mode...
US-9,992,042 Pipelined hybrid packet/circuit-switched network-on-chip
A packet-switched request from a first router of a network-on-chip is received. The packet-switched request is generated by source logic of the network-on-chip....
US-9,992,031 Dark bits to reduce physically unclonable function error rates
Embodiments of an invention for using dark bits to reduce physically unclonable function (PUF) error rates are disclosed. In one embodiment, an integrated...
US-9,991,993 Time offset validation of components with independent silicon clocks
In accordance with embodiments disclosed herein, there is provided systems and methods for time offset validation of components with independent silicon clocks....
US-9,991,913 Discrete levels envelope tracking
An envelope tracking arrangement is disclosed and includes a level select component, a chunk supply component and a power amplifier. The level select component...
US-9,991,715 Maximum power point tracking method and apparatus
A maximum power point tracking method is provided. The method includes the following steps. Perform a power conversion operation by a converter according to a...
US-9,991,243 Integrated circuit assembly that includes stacked dice
An integrated circuit assembly that includes a substrate; a member formed on the substrate; a first die mounted to the substrate within an opening in the member...
US-9,991,239 Method of embedding WLCSP components in e-WLB and e-PLB
Embodiments of the invention include multi-die package and methods of making such multi-die packages. In an embodiment a mold layer has a first surface and a...
US-9,991,223 Semiconductor package alignment frame for local reflow
Embodiments of the present disclosure describe package alignment frames for a local reflow process to attach a semiconductor package to an interposer. The frame...
US-9,991,211 Semiconductor package having an EMI shielding layer
Semiconductor packages and methods of forming semiconductor packages are described. In an example, a semiconductor package includes a shielding layer containing...
US-9,991,172 Forming arsenide-based complementary logic on a single substrate
In one embodiment, the present invention includes a method for forming a logic device, including forming an n-type semiconductor device over a silicon (Si)...
US-9,990,926 Passive enrollment method for speaker identification systems
Techniques for passive enrollment of a user in a speaker identification (ID) device are provided. One technique includes: parsing, by a processor of the speaker...
US-9,990,917 Method and system of random access compression of transducer data for automatic speech recognition decoding
A system, article, and method of random access compression of transducer data for automatic speech recognition decoding.
US-9,990,770 User-to-user communication enhancement with augmented reality
The enhancement of user-to-user communication with augmented reality is described. In one example, a method includes receiving virtual object data at a local...
US-9,990,758 Bounding volume hierarchy generation using a heterogeneous architecture
A system rapidly builds bounding volume hierarchies for ray tracing using both the CPU cores and an integrated graphics processor. The hierarchy is built...
US-9,990,748 Corner texel addressing mode
The adverse affects of using out-of-bounds texels for bilateral interpolation may be reduced by redefining the valid texel domain as having four corners defined...
US-9,990,695 Edge sensing measure for raw image processing
A method, apparatus and system for performing a demosaic operation are described. In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises: a plurality of interpolation...
US-9,990,691 Ray compression for efficient processing of graphics data at computing devices
A mechanism is described for facilitating ray compression for efficient graphics data processing at computing devices. A method of embodiments, as described...
US-9,990,287 Apparatus and method for memory-hierarchy aware producer-consumer instruction
An apparatus and method are described for efficiently transferring data from a core of a central processing unit (CPU) to a graphics processing unit (GPU). For...
US-9,989,655 On-die electric cosmic ray detector
Described is a chip comprising: a substrate; a logic unit forming an active circuit on the substrate; and a cosmic ray detector embedded in the substrate, the...
US-9,986,586 Reservation of unlicensed spectrum in a wireless communications network
Spectrum reservation circuitry for use in a source electronic device (e.g. eNB or UE) of a wireless communication system is provided. The availability of an...
US-9,986,566 Apparatuses, computer readable medium, and method for multi-user request-to-send channel access in a wireless...
Methods, apparatuses, and computer readable media for MU-RTS and CTS are disclosed. An apparatus of a high-efficiency wireless local-area network (HEW) master...
US-9,986,544 Mechanism for 256-QAM capable user equipment to operate seamlessly with a node
US-9,986,522 Radio communication devices and methods for operating radio communication devices
According to an aspect of this disclosure, a radio communication device is provided including: a first transceiver configured to transmit and receive signals in...
US-9,986,477 Channel quality information feedback techniques
Various embodiments are generally directed to improved channel quality information feedback techniques. In one embodiment, for example, an evolved node B (eNB)...
US-9,986,447 User equipment and protocol and methods for device-to-device communication
Embodiments of a UE and methods for D2D communication are generally described herein. The UE may transmit, as part of an in-network communication session, a D2D...
US-9,986,373 LTE-A systems and method of DRS based positioning
A Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) location server, user equipment (UE) and evolved Node-B (eNB) are generally described. Information may be transmitted to...
US-9,986,069 Devices and methods to compress sensor data
Devices and methods to compress sensor data are generally described herein. An exemplary wearable device to compress sensor data may include a sensor including...
US-9,986,028 Techniques to replicate data between storage servers
Examples are disclosed for replicating data between storage servers. In some examples, a network input/output (I/O) device coupled to either a client device or...
US-9,986,014 Systems and techniques for web communication
Systems and techniques for web communication are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a computing device may include logic to receive a first data set...
US-9,985,958 Segmentation, handshaking, and access control solutions for Opendots technology
Apparatus, methods, and systems described herein are for segmentation, handshaking, and access control solutions for Opendots technology. One embodiment...
US-9,985,946 System, apparatus and method for safety state management of internet things (IoT) devices
In one embodiment, a device includes: at least one processor; at least one sensor to sense an environmental condition; and a storage to store instructions that,...
US-9,985,901 Apparatus, system and method of wireless communication to a plurality of stations
Some demonstrative embodiments include apparatuses, devices, systems and methods of wireless communication to a plurality of wireless stations. For example, a...
US-9,985,886 Technologies for network packet pacing during segmentation operations
Technologies for pacing transmission of network packets by a computing device to a remote computing device include performing a segmentation offload operation...
US-9,985,852 Methods and arrangements for traffic indication mapping in wireless networks
Embodiments may implement a new hierarchical data structure for traffic indication mapping to facilitate transmissions for wireless communications devices. Many...
US-9,985,831 Method and apparatus for remote modification of system configuration
A method and apparatus for updating the system configuration settings of a computer system. Embodiments include a remote system configuration system that...
US-9,985,815 Signal processing chain switching
A signal processing device including a first signal processing chain having a first output signal; a second signal processing chain comprising a second output...
US-9,985,811 PAPR reduction for IQ RFDAC
Disclosed herein is an apparatus and methodology for reducing peak-to-average-power ratio (PAPR) for IQ radio frequency digital-to-analog converter (RFDAC)....
US-9,985,797 Appliance state recognition device and methods
Embodiments herein relate to recognition of an appliance state based on sensor data and determination of a response based at least in part on the appliance...
US-9,985,740 Apparatus, system and method of multi-user wireless communication
Some demonstrative embodiments include apparatuses, devices, systems and methods of multi-user (MU) wireless communication. For example, a wireless station may...
US-9,985,637 Phase frequency detector
Described is an apparatus comprising: a first phase frequency detector (PFD) to determine a coarse phase difference between a first clock signal and a second...
US-9,985,612 Time borrowing flip-flop with clock gating scan multiplexer
An apparatus is provided which comprises: a multiplexer which is gated by a clock; and a flip-flop coupled to the multiplexer, wherein the flip-flop has a chain...
US-9,985,611 Tunnel field-effect transistor (TFET) based high-density and low-power sequential
Described is an apparatus which comprises: a first p-type Tunneling Field-Effect Transistor (TFET); a first n-type TFET coupled in series with the first p-type...
US-9,985,481 Dynamic power adjustment mechanism for mitigating wireless power interference
Wireless charging, such as that conducted according to standards formed by the AirFuel Alliance and/or various other industry standards for wireless charging,...
US-9,985,005 Chip package-in-package
An electronic package includes an interposer, a die attached to a first side of the interposer, an embedded electronic package attached to a second side of the...
US-9,984,922 Interconnects having sealing structures to enable selective metal capping layers
Methods of fabricating a capped interconnect for a microelectronic device which includes a sealing feature for any gaps between a capping layer and an...
US-9,984,237 Providing intrusion detection, monitoring and protection in a system
In an embodiment, a system includes a processor with at least one core to execute an application to provide intrusion detection and protection, a radar sensor...
US-9,983,565 Technologies for bio-chemically controlling operation of a machine
Technologies for bio-chemically controlling operation of a machine include applying a bio-chemical agent to an operator of the machine and controlling an...


Every single member from our large efficiency revenue team values customers' wants and company communication for Flexible Pcb High Precision Pcb Online , Flexible PCB High-precision PCB Online , Flexible PCB High Precision PCB Soldering , you should really feel no cost to get hold of us.
During the past few years, our business absorbed and digested state-of-the-art technologies the two at home and abroad. Meanwhile, our firm staffs a group of experts devoted to your development of Flexible Pcb High Precision Pcb Online , Flexible PCB High-precision PCB Online , Flexible PCB High Precision PCB Soldering , Our mission is "Provide Products and solutions with Reliable Quality and Reasonable Prices". We welcome customers from every corner of the world to contact us for future business relationships and achieving mutual success!


Unopened products are refundable for the purchase price of the product within 14 days of the receipt date. Opened and/or partially used products can be exchanged for store credit within 14 days of receipt date. In all circumstances, shipping costs are not refundable and additional shipping charges will apply to new shipping.


text:
Give Me Your Love Sigala Feat. John Newman & Nile Rodgers Download 'Give Me Your Love' on iTunes
Tinie Tempah at the BRIT Awards
BRITs 2011
21. Tinie Tempah at the BRIT Awards
Tinie Tempah poses with his awards for Best British Single and British Breakthrough Act in the winners area at the BRIT Awards 2011 at the O2 Arena on February 15, 2011 in London, England.
See the full gallery: BRITs 2011


text:
Search results for "Haley Lu Richardson"
Seventeen-year-old Stella spends most of her time in the hospital as a cystic fibrosis patient. Her life is full of routines, boundaries and self-control — all of which get put…
Lisa Conroy may not love managing the restaurant Double Whammies, but she loves her employees more than anything, not only Danyelle, and Maci, her closest friends, but also her extended…
When a renowned architecture scholar falls suddenly ill during a speaking tour, his son Jin finds himself stranded in Columbus, Indiana – a small Midwestern city celebrated for its many…
Though Kevin has evidenced 23 personalities to his trusted psychiatrist, Dr. Fletcher, there remains one still submerged who is set to materialize and dominate all the others. Compelled to abduct…
The Edge of Seventeen
Two high school girls are best friends until one dates the other's older brother, who is totally his sister's nemesis.
Country: USA, China
When he blacks out after receiving a strange Christmas gift from his girlfriend, Quinn (Noah Segan) wakes the next morning to find his whole world crumbling around him.
The Bronze
In 2004, Hope Ann Greggory became an American hero after winning the bronze medal for the women's gymnastics team. Today, she's still living in her small hometown, washed-up and embittered….
Escape from Polygamy
Recently-widowed Leann and her 17-year-old daughter Julina move into an isolated polygamous compound, where the freethinking Julina meets like-minded Ryder, son of the religious compound's charismatic Prophet, Ervil.
Genre: Drama, TV Movie
In the near future, society collapses and water becomes scarce. When a greedy water baron starts violently clearing out survivors, Kendal, a 17-year-old teenager, fights the baron's henchman to keep…
Genre: Action, Horror, Thriller


Hero's Quest 3 is the third custom adventure map I ever released for Minecraft. Explore a mysterious island of shadows that was once home to a mighty civilization. Can you discover why the civilization fell, or will the professor's ramblings drive you mad first? You do not have to play Hero's Quest 1 or Hero's Quest 2 before playing this map.


text:
info@paramountnevada.com
Grassy Mountain Gold Project
Sleeper Gold Project
Frost Project
Other Non-Material Projects
Gold-Silver Prices
Paramount Nevada
A Brief Recent History of Gold
On August 15th, 1971 President Nixon closed the gold redemption window. Until that time, the U.S. Treasury allowed foreign central banks to exchange the dollars they obtained from trade and investment for physical gold. Gold was $43.15 an ounce at the time. Economic stagflation ensued and the gold price soared.
On January 21, 1980, gold closed at $850 an ounce. That was the market top for decades.
S. inflation peaked at 14.8 % in March 1980. The Federal Reserve board led by Paul Volcker raised the federal funds rate, which had averaged 11.2% in 1979, to a peak of 20% in June, 1981. Raising interest rates above the rate of inflation convinced markets that inflation would fall and that the Fed had everything under control. Disinflation followed.
On May 7, 1999, the Bank of England announced plans to dump its gold for other assets that would earn a higher rate of interest. The price of gold was at US$282.40 per ounce at that time. The advance notice of substantial sales drove the price of gold down by 10% by the time of the first auction on July 6, 1999. With many gold traders shorting, gold reached a low point of US$252.80 on July 20. This is frequently called "Brown's Bottom" after Gordon Brown, then the U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Between 2000 and 2006 gold soared in conjunction with a collapse in the NASDAQ (down 83% from top to bottom) and the creation of a massive inflationary housing bubble. Chairman Alan Greenspan's Fed hiked interest rates at 17 consecutive meetings while gold rose to a new all-time high. The housing bubble burst in 2007.
On April 17, 2008, gold touched $956.20 and then collapsed along with everything else in the great recession. Markets scrambled to meet the demand for dollars to pay down debt and maintain liquidity as interest rates soared and banks refused to lend.
On November 13, 2008, gold touched $698.20 at the height of the liquidity crisis. That bottom has not been approached since. Gold recovered from the recession before any other asset class and proceeded to climb quickly as investors continued to flee risk by selling financial assets such as stocks and bonds.
On August 23, 2011, Gold peaked at $1923.70 with a European Debt Crisisunderway and the Fed involved in a massive program of Quantitative Easing.
On July 26, 2012, Mario Draghi made his famous "Whatever It Takes" speech. "Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough." Gold closed that day at $1614.
On September 6, 2012, in a further attempt to calm the European Debt Crisis, the ECB announced unlimited funding for Eurozone countries including sovereign state bailouts through the EFSF/ESM and purchases of sovereign bonds to lower yields through the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) program.
On December 17, 2015, gold touched $1046.80, establishing a new bottom well above the October 2008 low. At that time, numerous 'experts' said that gold would fall to $800, then $600. Some suggested it would fall all the way back to $250.
In fact, the gold price has recovered somewhat as risk perceptions rise. The Fed's QE has not accelerated economic growth in the U.S. (the 'escape velocity' most economists expected has never arrived) and the ECB has not succeeded in solving the European problems of slow growth, a highly leveraged banking system and political instability.
The historical facts demonstrate that gold does not rise and fall with interest rates, jewellery demand in India or other widely believed nonsense. Rather, gold has moved in conjunction with perceptions of risk and whether or not the Fed and central banks have everything under control.
Other Non-Material Properties
Analyst Coverages
Address:665 Anderson Rd., Winnemucca, NV, USA, 89445
Email: info@paramountnevada.com
© Copyright Paramount Nevada. All Rights Reserved.


The Directors of the Trust have delegated certain functions to COLPA Islington's LGB. The relationship between the Trust and the LGB of COLPAI is shown in the Terms of Reference Appendix 1.
Information on Trustees of the City of London Academies Trust can be found here.
Ann is a Common Councilman for the City ward of Farringdon Within.
She has taught at primary, further and higher education levels, and has chaired both primary and secondary school governors in the state sector. She is currently a governor of both the City of London School for Girls and the City of London Freemen's School.
Ann has designed and delivered many training modules, including ones concerned with job application skills. She is skilled in the use of psychometric instruments, and has developed her own personality type system.
Following six years teaching at the Architectural Association, she has retained a strong interest in building design and development.
Mary holds an MA and a PGCE from Oxford University and taught Modern Languages in secondary schools after graduating. After having her own family she then worked in Learning Support in primary schools for over 25 years. Her three children were all educated in the City of London and she lives in the borough of Islington. She has been a school governor in a wide variety of schools for almost 30 years, leading them through successful Ofsted and ISI inspections.
She currently serves on the board of the City of London School for Girls and is Chair of Governors in a London Independent day school.
Mary has wide experience of senior level recruitment in schools and has been involved innumerous Headship, Bursar and Senior Management appointments. Her particular interest is in safeguarding vulnerable children and as such sits on the City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Board.
Nick Bensted-Smith is a governor of the City of London School for Girls and was previously a governor and Chair of Finance for St Matthews Church of England Primary School in High Brooms, Kent.
He has experience of finance generally, as well as risk management, HR, mentoring and conflict resolution.
Nick is an elected Member of the City of London Corporation, serving on a number of committees and sub-committees including Finance, Investment and Police.
Nick sits as a Justice of the Peace in Kent.
Mrs Ena Harrop is Headmistress of City of London School for Girls, previously being the Director of Studies. Prior to joining CLSG was head of Modern Foreign Languages at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, for five years.
Mrs Harrop is an exceptional linguist. English is her third language, after her native Spanish and French.
She is an outstanding academic, having left Salamanca University with a first class degree in Classics, she then achieved an MA at Munich University, followed by an MPhil in Classics at Cambridge. Mrs Harrop studied for her PGCE at the Institute of Education in London and whilst she has been at City she has concluded her MA in Education Management at King's College, London.
She is also married with three young daughters.
Norma is an accomplished Educationalist with public and private sector experience gained over 30 years both nationally and internationally. A confident leader, facilitator and enabler providing challenge, advice, guidance and support. She has an outstanding track record of performance and achievement realised through passion, innovation and personal dynamism.
Analytical, evaluative and solutions focused. Exceptional organisational skills, well-motivated and energetic, highly dependable, and extremely personable.
First class relationship and interpersonal skills provides the ability to communicate effectively at all levels, both with internal and external clients and stakeholders.
Exceptional leadership and collaboration skills that involve managing, developing, inspiring and motivating individuals at team and client level.
Extremely flexible and adaptable in novel situations working with new team members and new project delivery methods and approaches.
Outstanding questioning skills to enable clients, team members and stakeholders to think through and develop their own ideas, designs and vision.
A proven ability to work in a demanding, pressurised environment, deliver results and meet targets to required deadlines.
Excellent presentation and workshop delivery skills to both large and small audiences.
Highly skilled in writing reports and strategy documents to facilitate change.
Gerald is the Academies Programme Director for the City of London, leading on the City's academy expansion programme. Presently he is leading on the delivery of two Primary Free Schools, including their capital build programmes, as well as four secondary Free School applications in progress as part of Wave 11.
Gerald has previously worked in local government for over 30 years, of which 25 years have been in education services across a number of London boroughs, in leadership roles ranging from Early Years, through to post 16 and Adult Learning. From 2010 Gerald was Head of the Education and Early Years' Service, for the City of London, a high performing service responsible for all education statutory duties. Gerald's previous work has seen him play leading roles in a range of capital programmes, including schools and children's centres, the transformation of early years' services from six Local Sure Start Programmes, to 16 children's centres covering a whole authority, and development of post 16 training and into employment opportunities for school leavers and long term unemployed with employers.
In particular, Gerald has extensive experience of Head Teacher recruitment and of working collaboratively with head teachers, governors, parents and the local community. Also extensive experience of capital schools expansion and overseeing school finances. Gerald is also a governor of New North Academy in Islington.
Celia Orford holds a BSc from the University of Bristol and a PGCE from London Southbank University.
She completed her NQT year at Chadwell Primary School in Year Two. Celia then spent two more years at Chadwell Primary School where she was a class teacher in Year 2 and then Reception. By the end of her three years at Chadwell Primary School, Celia was the Lead for Art, Design and Technology, Rights Respecting Schools Award and achieved her Middle Leaders qualification.
Jillian is a parent to one of the first intake of children to COLPAI. She is a practicing Architect and also an academic teaching at the Sir John Cass School of Art and Architecture.
She has experience of delivering architectural projects around the world and has taught widely at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Jillian also serves on the Validation Panel of Royal Institute of British Architects, visiting schools of architecture in the UK to make sure they achieve the required standards.
Frazer holds a BEd (Hons) from the University of Leeds, an MA in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester and a Level 5 Certificate in Management & Leadership from the Chartered Management Institute. Frazer is currently the Head of Learning & Engagement at the Museum of London, where he leads a team of 25 people across three sites and is responsible for programmes that support the learning of over 200,000 children every year through early years, schools and family activities and online resources.
In addition, Frazer leads Culture Mile Learning, a growing cultural education partnership of 26 diverse cultural organisations supported by the City of London, including the Barbican, London Metropolitan Archives, London Symphony Orchestra, Guildhall Art Gallery and Tower Bridge, who are working together to benefit learners across London. Frazer is also an Associate Tutor at the School of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, where he specialises in learning and community engagement.
Frazer started his career as an Art and History teacher before moving to the Science Museum where he held a number of roles including Education Officer, Interactive Galleries Manager and Interpretation Manager. He has also worked as a national Learning Advisor at the RSPCA and as a learning consultant, supporting museums and galleries across the UK and internationally. Frazer has written widely for the museum profession on learning and interpretation issues and for publishers such as Scholastic, Heinemann and Dorling Kindersley.
Georgia joined the Governing Body in December 2017. She has a daughter in the first intake of children at COLPAI. Her professional background in journalism means she is highly skilled at research and listening to the views of others.
As a former staff writer at The Telegraph, she has interviewed a vast array of subjects from master craftspeople to big screen actors.
Georgia is passionate about creative thinking and learning, and is keen to support COLPAI in developing a wide-ranging cultural offering for all its pupils.
Kim Clapham is the Headteacher of the City of London Primary Academy Islington and has been in post since January 2017. She has 29 years of experience in education as an outstanding teacher, Deputy Headteacher and Senior Teaching and Learning Consultant for Islington's School Improvement Service.
With extensive knowledge of teaching and learning in an inner London context of socio-economic disadvantage, Kim has an exemplary track record of raising attainment and optimising the progress of all children at both school and borough-wide level.
A significant strength of her consultancy work has been the undertaking of school placements as an interim Deputy Headteacher. Most recently, she worked closely with the new Headteacher of a school in challenging circumstances to turn it around bringing it rapidly out of Special Measures.
Through the LA 's work in support of schools, Headteachers have commissioned Kim's support as an interim deputy to support the school in preparing for inspection. As part of the school team, Kim has made a significant contribution to securing positive and improved Ofsted outcomes. As testimony to her strong leadership and management skills, she has enabled schools to secure their highest results to date, out-performing national standards.
Kim brings excellent coaching and mentoring skills to this new role, having worked extensively with teachers to facilitate and champion outstanding practice.
Wider in-school support and training include international consultancy for schools in the Far East.