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Nearly two-thirds of coral reef shark and ray species worldwide are threatened with extinction, ... [+]ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES
World - Most Coral Reef Sharks And Rays May Be At Risk Of Extinction
Nearly two-thirds of coral reef shark and ray species worldwide are threatened with extinction, reports a new study in Nature Communications.
Melissa Cristina Márquez, Contributor / Forbes
This build on a study in 2020 that found that reef sharks across the globe are in decline, missing from 19% of the world's coral reefs. At the time, this was the greatest decline of reef sharks ever recorded, but these recent results suggest that the extinction risk of coral reef sharks and rays, as a percentage of threatened species, is almost double that of all 1,199 known shark and ray species. "The findings highlight the need for immediate conservation action for these species through local protections, fisheries management and enforcement, and Marine Protected Areas," stress the authors of the new study.
Coral reef ecosystems are among the most vulnerable to global climate change. These grand structures are composed of tiny animals called polyps, which live, reproduce, die, and eventually leave behind their skeletons. These skeletons are the basis of coral reefs like the Great Barrier Reef. While they only occupy less than 0.1% of our ocean's floor, they are home to more than a quarter of all marine life, making them even more populated than rainforests. It's not just animals who reap the rewards from this ecosystem - people benefit from reefs, too. They protect coastlines from storms and waves, which can cause land erosion and destruction, as well as providing food and employment for many millions. But due to destructive fishing practices, pollution, coastal development, and climate change, corals have been dying in mass numbers.
'Extinction crisis' of sharks and rays to have devastating effect on other species, study finds
The Guardian / January 17, 2023
A coral reef is an oasis of biodiversity and food for reef sharks, and it has been found that sharks and rays are also vital for coral reef health (i.e. helping it to function as these predators cover a range of ecological niches, from filter feeders to apex predators). We are still learning about the various ecological roles that reef sharks play, but scientists believe that there are still numerous mutual benefits to be discovered between these animals and coral reefs. However, it is gradually becoming evident that their absence has consequences. Previous research has highlighted that reef sharks influence their prey's behavior just by existing! Herbivorous, grazing fishes have been shown to dramatically reduce how much seaweed they eat when reef sharks are around, which can change the landscape of the reef as a whole. Take those predators away and it's unclear what will happen. Declines in sharks has also been shown to influence the behavior of stingrays and increase their local numbers, but what ecological consequences this has... who knows. Although overfishing has previously been attributed to steep declines in some populations, there are still questions over the global status of sharks and rays living in coral reefs.
Melissa Cristina Márquez
Known as the "Mother of Sharks," I'm a Latina marine biologist who has a lot of labels: science communicator, conservationist, author, educator, podcaster, television presenter. You might have seen me on Discovery Channel's Shark Week, National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, heard my TEDx talk or read my Scholastic books.
I write about sharks, the diverse people who work with them, and why both matter. As founder of The Fins United Initiative, a program that teaches audiences shark conservation and education, I find it vital that we learn to co-exist with these oceanic predators. That's why I do all that I do, and why my PhD (and outreach) revolves around human-shark interactions.
Tips or story ideas? Reach out- I don't bite!


Ekwanok Country Club in Vermont. Top golf courses of USA: New England.
Ekwanok Country Club is home to one of the top-rated and finest championship golf courses in Vermont. The excellent inland links-style layout contains a wealth of wonderfully crafted, memorable and challenging holes. Definitely a course that will challenge your all-round game. However, this is a private course generally playable only by members and their guests.
Designer: Original design by John Duncan Dunn assisted by Walter J. Travis (1899). Later improvements by Geoff Cornish (1960) and Bruce Hepner (2005).
o.5 mi S of the centre of Manchester Village / 34 mi S of Rutland.
Ekwanok CC is a private club. Guests may only play if hosted by a member.
The club takes its name from the Native American Indian word Ekwanok, meaning "the very top" or the "place where the very top is." | Ekwanok hosted the 1914 US Amateur Championship won by Francis Ouimet, who the year before had won the US Open Championship at Brookline.
2017-18 Golf Digest rating: No.1 golf course in Vermont.


Having criticised the way which test score data is used by Ofsted, I was asked to meet Mike Cladingbowl, Sean Harford and various statisticians to discuss Ofsted's use of test scores. I was asked how I suggest Ofsted should move forward, given the manifest problems with using test score data to hold schools to account. Since I was asked, I've responded.
What is the purpose of the current inspection regime?
When, in 1992, Ofsted began inspecting schools and publishing inspection reports, little was known about schools by those not working within them. That cannot be said of today. Schools publish all manner of information about what goes on within their walls. Government websites publish performance tables, with enormous amounts of data on subjects from recent test scores to 'Teaching staff and Education support staff expenditure'. Government-funded organisations such as the FFT provide governing bodies with mountains of information, and those overseeing schools are asked to be much more accountable for what happens in school. The accountability structures which are currently in place aim to hold schools to account in ways which would have inconceivable in a previous era.
So why send in inspectors to look even more closely at what a school does?
There are a number of clear reasons to have an independent inspection of a school. Governing bodies may have been failing to hold those running their school to account. Head teachers/senior management teams may have made decisions which are bad for their schools and those within them. Teachers may be doing a poor job. Children and parents may not be satisfied with the school. Things may not be what they seem.
So what should inspectors be doing? What checks and balances do we need? What can be reasonably expected of a short inspection period such as we have currently?
1) Whether governors are holding head teachers to account.
2) Whether head teachers/senior management teams are working well.
3) Whether Children, parents and staff are happy with their school.
Those who have read my previous work will be unsurprised that I think that Ofsted's current focus should be altered to reflect the dawning realisation that test score data cannot be used in the way it has been up until now. Whilst the inspection framework relies on assumptions about the reliability and validity of test score data, Inspection cannot be fit for purpose.
I suggest three different ways which we could go.
If things continue as they are, 20% of schools will be judged to be providing an education which is less than 'Good', as defined by Ofsted. Non-selective schools serving the disadvantaged will be more likely to be in this 20%, as 'Achievement of Pupils' in these schools will of necessity be compared unfavourably with schools serving the advantaged.
Regardless whether Inspectors are conscious of their actions or not, judgements of 'Achievement of Pupils' are driven by their flawed understanding of test score data. Since this grade is highly correlated with the Quality of Teaching and Overall Effectiveness grades (over 95% in agreement), schools are effectively judged on test score data.
Schools which are badly run and inadequately held to account will not be identified by this system. Teachers are given no encouragement to identify problems in their schools, since a poor grading by Ofsted will directly impact on their working conditions. Inspectors will make erroneous judgements on the 'Quality of Teaching' based flawed understanding of data and superficial impressions of a school's context.
Achievement, as defined by Ofsted up to now, is a measure of the amount of progress children make within a given school.
This is hugely problematic, since it seems to be dawning on those in positions of influence within the education establishment that attainment data for a school – the raw test scores pupils are awarded – are a function of the children in a cohort, and they can only be said to represent that cohort and nothing else. There are no 'trends' from year to year, as each cohort is unique, and one may as well weigh the children and compare their mean weights.
Furthermore, since the children in a given school can't be said to be drawn from a wider population, it does not make any sense to compare their test scores to those of the wider population as the school cohort is not an independent sample of those who have taken the same tests.
Some observers have accepted that small cohorts can often have wildly fluctuating mean results due to the variation small sample represent. These observers tend to assume that larger samples do not suffer from similar problems, and we are starting to see 'three year trends' being reported as a solution to the small numbers problem. This does not tackle the core issue, however. If the cohort, or school, is representative only of itself and not all those taking a test in a given year, any comparison based on the Central Limit Theorum is meaningless. All that can be said is that a cohort has a mean which is either above or below any national mean. There is no 'significance' test which has meaning.
Additionally, there is no way to ascertain what has contributed to any increase in relative test scores. It might be the school, but it might be shadow education, family involvement or lack thereof, or any number of other factors. So Ofsted are in no position to make any objective assessment of 'achievement' or 'progress' as it is currently defined.
Therefore, 'Achievement of Pupils' should be seen as a redundant measure, in same way that graded lesson observations - which Ofsted agreed (with admirable speed, earlier this year) cannot be assessed objectively - are no longer used in inspections.
The government's Performance Tables provide test score and other data for those who wish to judge schools using numbers. Allowing parents to draw their own conclusion seems preferable to the current situation, in which dubious conclusions are drawn based on numbers which are fuzzy, biased and often Not Even Wrong.
This judgement has been shown to reflect the 'Achievement of Pupils' judgement in the majority of Ofsted reports. If the Achievement of Pupils grade is removed, this judgement should also be discontinued.
It is simply not possible for Inspectors to make an objective assessment of the Quality of Teaching in a two day inspection visit. In 2013, we were told that Inspectors did 'lesson observations with senior leaders to agree the quality of teaching. And triangulate this with the progress that students are making. We look at books too, and check the quality of feedback.'. Now that lesson observations cannot be used to 'agree the quality of teaching', Ofsted is trying to limit the impact of the vacuum this has left.
However this judgement grade is reworded, it will always be problematic. Ofsted must trust head teachers/senior management teams to run their schools, and governing bodies to hold head teachers/senior management teams to account, rather than try to micromanage what happens in classrooms.
Does test score data have a role in assessing schools?
It is clear that some people high up in government education still believe that test score data has some role in schools. Even within schools, there are those who think that tests scores are useful.
The past twenty years has seen vast improvements in schools test results, which could be seen as a vindication of their use to 'drive up standards.' I have some sympathy with this position. I can understand that those who don't work in schools – and especially those who don't work in 'difficult' schools – think that teachers need some kind of stick to encourage them to have high aspirations and to aim high for the children in their charge. There may indeed be some teachers who have 'low expectations'. This is not my experience, and it is not what research into teacher aspirations suggests.
It is for governing bodies to put pressure on their senior management teams, and head teachers to work with their teaching teams, all with the goal of aiming as high as possible.
Nationally, a 'floor target' makes some kind of sense – as long as the grading structure of terminal exams doesn't make the task impossible. But at school level, it simply doesn't make sense to set 'floor targets' at, say, 85%, when a single child represents much more than one of those percentage points. 85% of 30 children – a typical Year 6 cohort – is 25 and a half children out of a class of thirty. That means that just five children have to have a bad day, or a difficult life, or any one of hundreds of problems which have nothing to do with their teachers or schools, for the school to be said to be failing. That's wrong and makes no sense.
As ever, comments are more than welcome.
How much do you weigh? I had a fascinating philosophical discussion today at Aviation House, home of everyone's favourite bogeyman, Ofsted. Sean Harford was quite vociferous on the subject of weight after a sumptuous feast, although Mike Cladingbowl was a little more circumspect about his view of the merits of weighing oneself after a PIXL-style experience.
Philip Moriarty and I had been invited into Ofsted's HQ following discussions we had had online with Sean Harford and members of the RAISEonline team. There were no biscuits, but I baked Lemon Muffins. They were great, if I say so myself.
So, how much do you weigh? Sorry if it seems to be a personal question, but, well, think about the questions we ask of children, which are also a bit of an invasion of personal privacy. We subject children to tests and assessments at earlier and earlier ages, and they don't get much of a say in the matter. You do, and it's worth considering what your answer might be.
Philip, who is a physicist, made the important point that the instrument used for measuring your weight is important. Not all weighing scales are accurate to the same degree, for example. Most can indicate more than 'very light', 'light', 'medium', 'heavy' and 'very heavy'. And the conditions in which you were weighed would matter too, especially if you access to an Anti-Gravity chamber. We discussed fuzzy numbers, and the fact that a measurement reduced to a number is inherently uncertain. Your weighing scales might be inaccurate, either because of bias or random error.
We also discussed the point in time at which you were measured. Clearly, your weight after an enormous blow out celebratory meal would be different to your weight if you had trained for a marathon. So what is your weight? Well, your weight is around about, mostly, sort of, about, well… about what it is. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Depends.
What's more if you weighed all the people on, say, your street at any given time and found a mean weight, it would change the next time you weighed them all. That's because samples or group means vary around what might be called their true score. Although if your street was full of people under the age of, say, 18, the concept of a true score for mean weight loses quite a bit of meaning.
You can see where I'm going here, I hope. We discussed the fact that weighs change, and measurement is troublesome, and means change all the time. Particularly with children.
We discussed the presentation of data on student attainment and achievement too. In the world of Ofsted and RAISEonline, attainment is the score children were given in a test or by a teacher's assessment. Both have serious problems. Achievement is the progress children have made compared to all the other children for whom the powers that be have scores, either as a whole or in smaller groups.
It turns out that what we know now as the Data Dashboard was developed at Ofsted's behest because RAISEonline is so difficult for non-statisticians to read. Governors struggle to understand what RAISE says about attainment and achievement, and the dashboard was an attempt to simplify the data. It was called the Governor Dashboard for a while, but then RMFFT developed their Governor Dashboard just to confuse things. With his experience as a parent governor, Philip was interested in the presentation of data in the Dashboards, so I'll leave comment on that to him.
I'm more interested in the way that schools have been compared to each other in RAISEonline and how this is used by Ofsted. To their credit, Mike Cladingbowl and Sean Harford were united in their strong defence of Ofsted's use of data, and they are adamant that Inspectors haven't used data to make their minds up before they go into schools. I'm still unconvinced, as we have plenty of evidence that that's exactly what they do, whether they are aware of it or not. This is the Halo Effect in action, and it's a big problem when trying to work out what might explain the success – or failure – of any organisation.
So, back to your weight. Let's say that I put you in a school, and the powers that be decide that by finding the mean weight of your class on particular days of the year, they can decide whether your school is any good or not. The rules are fairly well established. Higher mean scores are A Good Thing and lower ones are Not Good. You can imagine what would happen.
And let's assume, for sake of argument, that any given school was compared both collectively and in smaller groups against figures for all of the population for whom we can gather the data. We could also compare the mean for this school year with other school years. We could even draw little graphs of the 'trend' in mean weight.
Mike Cladingbowl, to his eternal credit, was at pains to point out that he and Ofsted are aware that prior attainment is a huge factor in test scores. Taller, bigger children clearly have an inbuilt advantage in the weight stakes. Sean Harford acknowledged the effect of tutoring on attainment in school, and discussed a school which he had inspected which had good attainment and, in his view, under performing children who were being supported by their external tutors.
Mike and Sean were not the only people in the meeting with us. We were joined by Those Who Shall Not Be Named. They were very nice, by the way, but they don't need to be identified. One person was from the DfE's statistics team, one from the RAISEonline team and a third appeared in voice only from Mike Cladingbowl's phone. This was very useful, as these were real live statisticians. What's more, they had read my blog. And even more than that, they could see the points I have been making about the dubious use of statistics in data crunching exercises such as RAISEonline.
I can't say too much, other than to say that I expect to see changes in the future. The weight of children in a class represents that class and nothing else, and can't be said to be drawn from a wider population, because schools are located within their geographical region and admit children according to their own criteria. Weight is a function of wider factors located with the child, and the feeding and exercise regime drawn up by a given school has a marginal impact which is similar to the marginal impact added by other schools across the country. Both are drowned out by the pupils' heights, weights, lifestyles, home life and so on, and on.
The measurement of children is fuzzy, and the numbers can't really be compared to anything other than themselves. I hope that those in power take note of this. Schools need support, not condemnation for factors outside of their control. The fact that one school gets lucky with a cohort's capacity to gain weight says little about schools which do not, especially in an era of increasingly homogenised schools all trying to please those who judge them.
Mike Cladingbowl, who is leaving Ofsted at the end of the year to return to the chalkface, mooted the idea that Inspectors would not be given access to Attainment data until the end of the first day of an inspection. This would be a move forward, as Ofsted – if it is to gain any credibility within schools – has to move away from basing inspection on information which is shown to be subjective or simply wrong. This has happened with the grading of lessons to overwhelmingly positive feedback so far. It would be a step towards moving away from using data and trusting the inspection regime to take schools as they see them rather than what the data is 'telling' them.
Sean Harford, who is taking over from Mike Cladingbowl, put forward the idea of running control inspections by more than one team of Inspectors. He has discussed this previously, and it would potentially help to reduce the wayward subjective input of a single inspection team. At the very least, a pilot to test the validity of Inspectors judgements would useful.
The Nameless Ones asked what we should do about 'data'. My view is that schools all work hard with the children we have in front of us. We teachers do our level best to treat children as individuals, and differentiate according to need. We should do the same for schools, inspecting without fear - of bad judgements based on spurious negative Halo Effects - or favour - good or bad, based purely on Halo Effects. Our children, whatever their weight, deserve that.
A fuzzy muffin about to visit Ofsted.
I wrote about RAISEonline in March this year, and this has consistently been the most read post on Icing on the Cake. This is despite it being a long, detailed argument against RAISEonline, which contained – the horror! – equations, explanations of statistical theory and ideas which most readers found challenging.
So I'm going to write about RAISEonline again. I'm going to show that its entire foundation is based on number crunching which has been rejected by statisticians as too simplistic and, unfortunately, too badly understood to be used by non-experts. And when I meet Ofsted's Mike Cladingbowl and Sean Harford later this month to discuss Ofsted's use of data, I'm going to ask them to review the way which Inspectors and Governors use RAISEonline to hold schools to account. I'm also going to ask those in charge of official government statistics to examine RAISEonline's foundations, and to consider how to reassess the way which data is used to hold schools to account.
Now, part of reason for writing this is to show that both those responsible for and those who use RAISEonline seem to have completely misunderstood the statistics which they are using. That does mean that this post might be a bit challenging. It will require you to think hard. But unless you are prepared to do that, there is no way that you will understand why RAISEonline is so dangerously flawed. Of course, if you do understand the statistics, you'll sail through the arguments I'm about to make. Either way, I urge you to think hard about how we currently use Test Scores and to question what RAISEonline does.
I want to turn to the last problem on this list to look closely at what statisticians mean when they say that something is 'statistically significant'.
I want to look more closely at 'statistical significance', then look at the source of RAISEonline's statistical reasoning, and finally at what working academic statisticians say about this reasoning.
In summary, a significance test result is said to be 'statistically significant' at the 95% level if the sample mean is calculated to have is a less than 1 in 20 chance of being drawn from the same population as another sample.
Of course, a significance test is just a number crunching exercise, as those who developed them were at pains to point out. There could be many other reasons why a sample appears to be 'significant' according to the test. Amongst these are the Type I and Type II errors I mentioned previously.
In brief, a Type I error is a Type I error is made when something is said to be significant when it isn't.This often referred to as a 'false positive'. A Type II error is when there is a significance but a test sample is found not to be significant. This is often referred to as a 'false negative'.
Significance is a statistical term that shows if a difference or relationship exists between populations or samples of data. After finding a significant relationship, it is important to evaluate its strength. Significant relationships can be strong or weak. Significant differences can be large or small depending on the sample size.
The + and – symbols are powerful. Positive and negative are pretty binary concepts – one good, one bad. Clearly, stating that there something is 'Sig+' and 'Sig-' is highly misleading if the impression which is given is that green is good and blue is bad. They are neither. They are merely statistically significant, i.e. not likely to be the result of chance. They are not 'significantly good' or 'significantly bad'.
Remember as well that an item could be marked Sig+ or Sig- but have a Type I error. This would happen if the item was found to be statistically significant at the 95% level, but that this was not actually justified. Maybe the item included data which was wrong, or contained an extreme outlier. Maybe half the class was ill on the day a test was taken, or their teacher had been off school for some reason, or Ofsted turned up the week before and sent everyone into a tail spin. Either way, it could be as a result of a Type I error.
On the other hand, a number not coloured in could have a Type II error. The test should have found it to be significantly different at the 95% level, but didn't for some reason. Maybe a high flying child was off school for the test, or a marker added up the numbers of marks incorrectly. Maybe huge numbers of paper were incorrectly marked. A Type II error would result if a statistically significant result was not indicated by the test.
Both types of error are important. But either way, the test doesn't tell you anything. The colours clearly tell Inspectors and Governors something, however.
This is from widely respected Ofsted Inspector Mary Myatt's blog Making Sense of RAISEonline, and demonstrates the kind of misleading advice which Ofsted Inspectors have been given.
This is completely wrong. The colours don't 'mean' that at all. They simply indicate that the result is 'statistically significant' - nothing more and probably less. A large number of the students might be being tutored at home. A large number might never read for pleasure. A group of SATs papers might have been incorrectly marked. A majority of the students might have parents educated to degree level. Maybe they are, on average, four months older than most children in their national cohort. A significance test using Test Scores can't tell you 'how the children are performing', only that the numbers are 'statistically significant', which isn't the same thing at all.
It's hard to overstate just how wrong this is. Significance testing can be wrong, either because the number crunching suggests that there is something different about the sample when there is not, or because a sample may not be flagged as different when it should be. Even by the standards of basic significance, Ofsted inspectors and Governors have been badly advised and are clearly using tools which they simply do not understand.
And even if Inspectors and others say that RAISEonline is merely a signpost and not a destination, if the signs are colourfully highlighted and clearly wrong, then surely it's much more likely you'll end up at the wrong destination?
Having looked closely at the statistics underpinning RAISEonline, I notice that two different tests of significance are used. So I asked the team at RAISEonline about them.
In brief, Z-tests are used for numbers greater than 30 and t-tests are used for small samples.
"'Average Point Scores at Key Stage 2' is tested against a population standard deviation, which is 'known', using a Z-test.
'Average Points Score at Key Stage 4' against a population standard deviation, which is 'known', using a t-test.
School level APS values are assumed to be based on more than 30 observations and should use Z-tests, and pupil group APS values are assumed to be based on less than 30 observations and should use t-tests.
But 'This is not a practical solution and would add a layer of complexity that can be avoided by applying a single methodology.'"
1. Applying the same formula throughout APS significance tests makes the methodology more accessible to users and avoids concerns about applying different statistical tests to the same metric within the same school.
2. Using a t-test is more robust than a Z-score for small cohorts (as it is less sensitive to outliers), but converges on the results of a Z-test as the sample size increases; applying a t-test to all cohorts provides robust outcomes whilst not being overly-sensitive to larger sample sizes.
I'll let you read that again. It probably still doesn't make much sense. As far as I can gather, this says that, even though the Methodology document clearly uses two different tests, government statisticians have decided to apply t-tests to all cohorts. They have also decided that Type I errors are more important than Type II errors.
This arbitrary messing around with statistical theory is a little baffling. The people who developed Z-test and t-tests were at pains to explain the important assumptions they were making, and to make it clear the limitations of their models. They recognised the possibility of two types of errors. As I said previously, RAISEonline seems to have completely ignored the basic assumptions which have to be in place for you to be able to make inferences from significance testing. Simply messing around with their carefully developed tests seems a little, well, cavalier.
That little citation at the bottom leads to 'Conversational Statistics for Business and Economics' by L Van Jones. Here's a biography of Mr Van Jones. Here's his home page at the Texas Christian University. His degree was in 'Commerce' in 1961. He is a businessman teaching elementary statistics in the context of business. He's not a statistician, and he's not exactly an expert in the field.
I'm not sure that I think that Mr Van Jones represents the best that has been thought and said about statistical inferences. It turns out that he isn't. In fact, he is a long way from the current thinking about tests of significance. A very long way indeed.
Andrew Gelman is a Professor of Statistics and political science and director of the Applied Statistics Center at Columbia University, an Ivy League institution which administers the Pulitzer Prize. Hal Stern is Professor of Statistics at University of California, Irvine, which is ranked 1st among all US universities and 5th among the top 100 global universities under 50 years old. If you want an argument from authority, they are go-to guys.
It's worth noting that, in the extract from the report above, estimated effects are reported with 'standard errors'. This is because statistics deals, at its heart, with uncertainty. Measuring anything introduces error, and it can't simply be ignored in the way that simplistic mechanistic rubbish like RAISEonline does. And leading statisticians suggest that we should, 'get rid of statistical significance, 95% intervals, and all the rest' which means that they would dismiss the entire underpinning of RAISEonline and its simplistic, wrongly interpreted Sig+ and Sig- indicators.
There is much more to be said about the problems with the use of statistical significance testing. Both this blog - On the hazards of significance testing. Part 1: the screening problem - and the follow up to it - Part 2: the false discovery rate, or how not to make a fool of yourself with P values - will give you a small insight into the kinds of problems which arise all too frequently. False positives abound, the kind of which see many schools damned or lauded when an Ofsted inspector - typically untrained in basic statistics and relying on RAISEonline's 'insight' - turns up and makes judgements based on 'data'.
It is also worth noting a few other serious flaws in RAISEonline.
1) Test Results for a given school should be treated as clustered results rather than a samples from a population. RAISEonline does not account for the fact that two students from a children school are more likely to be similar (in terms of outcomes) than two children sampled from different schools.
2) Test Scores are population data, not sampled data. This is, once again, a bit technical, but in essence sampled data is used to estimate unknown population values. But we know the population values for Test Results, so using sampling theory - as RAISEonline does - makes no sense whatsoever.
3) Test Scores are not reliable enough to be used for statistical analysis. I've written about this here.
4) There is no accounting for errors of measurement within RAISEonline. And the errors are huge.
'Serious Doubts About School Effectiveness', an excellent academic paper on the problems with Test Scores written by Professor Stephen Gorard, is worth reading in its entirety. A few highlights are included below. SE is school effectiveness, p-values are the basis for t-tests and Z-tests, NPD/PLASC is the National Pupil Database and its predecessor and DCSF is the predecessor to the Department of Education.
"Even used as intended, p-values cannot help most analysts in the SE field. The same applies to standard errors and confidence intervals and their variants. But the situation is worse than this because in the field of school effectiveness, these statistical techniques based on sampling theory are hardly ever used as intended. Most commonly, the sampling techniques are used with population figures such as NPD/PLASC. In this context, the techniques mean nothing. There is no sampling variation to estimate when working with population data (whether for a nation, region, education authority, school, year, class or social group). There are missing cases and values and there is measurement error. But these are not generated by random sampling and so sampling theory cannot estimate them, adjust for them or help us decide how substantial they are in relation to our manifest data.
As I say, I strongly recommend the whole paper. It is a clear and devastating eviseration of the whole 'School Effectiveness' nonsense underpinning RAISEonline.
Well, someone somewhere in government should be interested in the criticisms I've made here. I'm meeting people from Ofsted later this month to discuss their use of data. I'll raise this with them then. Additionally, the government has recently appointed a new Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
So I've written the following letter to him.
I am a teacher and parent and I am extremely concerned about the use of children's Test Scores within RAISEonline, the main dataset used to measure the effectiveness of schools in England. I have written extensively on the flawed foundations on which RAISEonline is built, and I urge you to read the criticisms I have made on my weblog.
1) Why is sampling theory used to test population data?
2) How do you respond to Stephen Gorard's paper, Serious Doubts About School Effectiveness?
3) How can you improve what you do with data so that those who use do not come to simplistic and incorrect conclusions about schools based on unreliable Test Scores?
RAISEonline's entire foundation is based on number crunching which has been rejected by statisticians as too simplistic and too badly understood to be used by non-experts.
Ofsted Inspectors are not trained sufficiently well to understand the limitations of the data they use.
Governors are badly advised about the statistics in RAISEonline.
Academics have explored the inherent problems of the School Effectiveness model RAISEonline represents.
As a profession, we need to debate the use of Test Score 'data'.
We have a new Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority who may be able to help.
Ofsted are beginning to listen to criticisms of RAISEonline and the use of Test Score 'data'.
Those in education should find out more about the ways in which numbers are crunched, and investigate the criticisms of the number crunching.
Thanks for reading this far - I know that this is a long post and I appreciate your time.
I'd be interested to know how many teachers have actually seen a RAISEonline report, either as a printed report on in its online form. Please let me know either on Twitter or in the comments below.
Thanks to those who read the early drafts of this - you know who you are!


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Please tell me that I am not the only one that hates packing school lunches.
Everyone says you should pack lunches the night before, but I'm exhausted at night. And every last bit of energy I have is spent cleaning the kitchen and folding laundry so we have clean dishes and clothes in the morning.
I've tried packing lunches in the morning before the bus comes, and sometimes that works. But more often than not, I'm rushing the kids onto the bus and telling them to buy lunch.
Two years ago, we got into a new lunch-packing routine that really works.
No packing lunches in the evenings.
Very little work in the mornings.
And – even better – the kids are able to do it themselves. Even my youngest!
Before we get into the nitty gritty of our routine, let's talk about supplies. I'll be honest, this routine will NOT work if you don't have enough lunch-packing supplies on hand.
It shouldn't be that way, but I only need one tiny little excuse to give myself permission to forgo our entire system and routine and send my kids to school with twinkies for lunch.
Not really. But you know what I mean.
Once I finally just bit the bullet and purchased all of the lunch supplies we need, things got WAY easier around our house.
I think lunch boxes are such a personal preference, that I struggle to make a specific recommendation. My kids usually pick something they like at the store, and we go with it. I always make sure that there's plenty of room for their food and an ice pack. And I always like to make sure that it has a separate outside spot to hold a water bottle (like this one).
If your kids are more into Bento Boxes, I have heard amazing things about this one.
And (of course), don't forget the ice packs. I have a few packs of these that I keep in the freezer so even if my kids don't get theirs into the freezer after school, I still have one cold for them the next morning.
→ Like a Bento Box, but without the full-on commitment. These fit in my kids' lunch boxes perfectly, and we can slip a sandwich in each morning.
→ We also have a plethora of these containers for lunches that don't need a Bento Box. They're great for berries, yogurt, pretzels, veggies, sauce, condiments, etc.
→ These silicone muffin containers are a great way to further separate foods within a Bento Box. And I love the variety of shapes that are included in this set.
→ And, of course, don't forget the thermos. We don't pack this until the morning of (obviously), but we recently upgraded to this one, and the kids love it.
I don't have an official recommendation on water bottles, but you should get at least one water bottle for lunches. We have a drawer full of them that always seem to be lost, but hopefully your house is better at that than I am.
→ These have a nice carrying case. Hopefully they make it all back home to you after school.
→ And, of course, you can always go with disposable silverware. I won't judge you, promise!
Okay, you've been patient enough. Here's how our lunch-packing routine works.
As part of our Sunday routine, the kids join me in the kitchen for a lunch-packing session.
Note: you'll need to get your weekly groceries before packing lunches for the week. This is actually a little side bonus to our routine because it forces to to have groceries in the house before the weekend.
I set out all of the items that they typically like to have in their lunches. This usually includes pretzels, popcorn, crackers, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, cheese and fruit.
Each kid gets a basket that will hold their lunches for the week. (More on that later).
And then they start packing.
Usually, my kids bring their lunch four days a week and get to buy one day of their choosing. So they prep lunch for four days.
So, this means that my daughter usually has four yogurts in her basket, four hardboiled eggs, four containers of strawberries, four slices of cheese, etc.
Sometimes I need to assist, but usually they're able to do it all independently. But be warned, it will definitely take a longer time than if you just do it yourself (especially at first).
I'm okay with it taking a little longer because I've found that I'm a whole lot less grumpy when I know my kids are pitching in and learning skills that will (eventually) help them contribute even more.
While they make lunches, I use the time in the kitchen to prep meals for the week and write lunch notes.
By the time we're finished, each child has a basket of cold items plus some baggies. We store the baskets in the fridge for the week (one for each child), and the baggies go in the snack drawer.
Each morning, the kids know that it is their responsibility to fill up their water bottle, take their cold things out of the fridge, grab their dry snacks, and pack their own lunch.
It's part of their routine cards which you can read about here.
Are you completely stuck in a rut when it comes to what your kids can pack for lunch? Don't worry, I have you covered.
Here are 30 great packed lunch ideas.
And if you still feel stuck, here are 50 MORE great packed lunch ideas.
And if your kids are LOVING spending time in the kitchen with you, here are 30 recipes that kids can make themselves (and then pack for lunch).
Once this becomes a regular part of your Sunday routine, you will start to love it.
We usually play fun music and spend some time in the kitchen together. It forces me to prep for the week, cut up vegetables and have healthy snacks ready to go.
And – like I mentioned – I'm a lot less grumpy every morning (and every night) when I'm not slaving in the kitchen thinking about how my kids should be helping more.
Every now and then we get off track (especially just before and after school breaks), but once I get back in the groove, I'm so much happier!
Back to school can be hectic, but it doesn't have to be hard!
With three kids in school, I've learned a few things along the way that help to simplify the entire back-to-school process, while also keeping me sane.
And I'm sharing them all with you!
Click here to see how I mastered back to school, and you can too!
Plus you can see how I made this amazing command center that keeps me crazy organized – using supplies from the Dollar Store!
Click here to see the 18 things I'm doing to master back to school, and how you can do them too!


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ACCEPTED

#### According to
Index Fungorum

#### Published in
in Jaczewski & Jaczewski, Opredelitel' Gribov. Sovershennye Griby (Diploidnye Stadii). Vol. I Fikomitsety (Moscow) 232 (1931)

#### Original name
Peronospora amethysteae Lebedeva

### Remarks
null

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Michael graduated from the West Coast College of Massage Therapy in 2007. He has a diverse background in treating patients with post surgical scar pain, office warriors, and weekend adventurers, as well as professional athletes. He focuses his education on neurological conditions and has a special interest in helping people with chronic/persistent and complex pain.
Mike uses massage therapy to treat all systems of the body. His practice is highly influenced by his pursuit for up-to-date research. Mike was a clinic instructor at the West Coast College of Massage Therapy for four years. as well as running their case study program. Michael chaired a research panel at the 2012 Third International Fascia Research Congress in Vancouver, the RMTBC international Persistent Pain conference in 2014 and the Manual Therapy conference in 2016.
Michael is a past board member and the Chair of the Communications Committee for the Registered Massage Therapy Association of British Columbia. Through the RMTABC, Michael founded a professional practice group for pain management to help RMTs pursue special education in pain sciences called PPGPain.
Recently Michael has started to teach continuing education classes to fellow Maanual Therapists, his curriculum can be found here.
In his spare time Mike loves to run the farm roads of Delta, Coaches kids soccer, and recently joined a recreational men's soccer team.
Marcia graduated from the West Coast College of Massage Therapy in 2007. She also has a four-year BSc in Biology from Hartwick College that was complete in three years while she was on a full-ride scholarship. At Hartwick, Marcia Captained the NCAA Division 1 Water Polo team.
Marcia suffered from a chronic shoulder problem due to overuse from intense sport training. Her rehab involved a wonderful manual therapist who helped her through her injury and pain. Marcia understands the rehab experience as both patient and practitioner, and knows the importance of being involved in your own health care. She completely relates to the commitment and passion her patients feel towards their sports/activities/hobbies and their desire to return to what they love as soon as possible.
Marcia uses manual therapy, patient education, and strengthening with her patients. She has a passion for working with women during and post pregnancy, a passion that was enhanced by having had two children herself. Marcia also has strong knowledge working on a wide variety of pathologies and postural imbalances. She believes that postural alignment and muscle balance are important in a patient's recovery.
In Marcia's free time, she enjoys being active and playing with her family. She loves swimming, nature, and most outdoor activities. She also enjoys DIY projects around the house and being creative in many different ways, such as sewing, poems, and art projects with her kids.


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LEGO Education Teacher Award UK Winner
Chris Wilde
2002- Started his teaching career as a History Teacher
2006 - Awarded commendation for teacher of the year based around using technology to have an impact on teaching and learning
2007 - Seconded to the local authority to develop council wide teaching resources and develop a Virtual Learning Environment.
2008 - Participated in Google's first European Google Teacher Academy & became a Google Certified Teacher
2009 - Decided to start teaching coding units as part of North Tyneside's CLC program. These included Game Design, HTML and Robotics.
2013 - Enrolled on the first cohort of BCS computer science teaching qualification
2014 - Developed the Build-IT initiative for North Tyneside Schools
2016 - Became a CAS Master Teacher
2017 - Became Head of Digital Technology and Computing at Newcastle's Royal Grammar School
2017 - Founded Make Stuff North East.
2018 - Winner of the LEGO® Education Teacher Award
During my time as an educator, I have always been interested in pedagogy, and how we as teachers can support young people in their learning journey. During my early career, I utilised a project-based learning approach as much as possible, and
technology was always at the forefront of my teaching.
I remember my first purchases for the department were a laptop, projector and a range of software to allow me to create learning resources. In developing an understanding of a range of programs to support T&L I started work on a new development at the time known as a VLE (Virtual Learning Environment). Yes, it was new at the time...I really am that old ;-)
This led to me being seconded to our Local Education Authority to work as a content developer. I worked on different learning artefacts to help young people learn content for examinations, and in so doing was able to hone my coding skills, working with HTML, CSS, SQL, PHP and Actionscript.
While I enjoyed the content creation aspect, and working for the authority as a whole, I was aware that my true passion lay in being at the front of the classroom, and this led to me offering to teach computing sessions at our Local City Learning Centres in North Tyneside.
I remember opening the cupboards at the front of the CLC and seeing about 30 NXT's sitting there unloved and unused. At the back was a mat and a set of lego bricks. A bit of research informed me that the bricks were for a competition called "First Lego League", and the models were for a series of challenges called "Ocean Odyssey".
I planned my first teaching session around this kit, and the kids and I were hooked. They were problem solving, collaborating, working on projects and learning how to code. The sessions went so well that we decided to start an annual FLL tournament in North Tyneside. It is currently the largest in the region, and I have been involved in supporting Newcastle and Sunderland Universities in setting up their own regional heats too.
A year later I found some unopened boxes of Lego under a desk in another room at the CLC entitled WeDo. I had to have a play around, and found that the interface and possibilities for this kit were fantastic for younger pupils. The ability to develop a deep understanding of mechatronic principles through play was huge to me, and so I introduced this into my events schedule. Once again the pupils loved it, and the ability to follow algorithms to create functioning model and play with them to develop their ideas really tied into the pedagogical principles I was into at the time. The work of Papert, Stager and Resnick were in the forefront of my mind, and were all evident in the learning that was taking place.
Combining this with my PBL approach I started the "Fun-faire" event, where pupils create their own amusement park using WeDo. It's something I still use to this day, and led to me writing a post for Lego Education, and being involved in the working party for WeDo 2.0. I was also able to setup FLL Junior for North Tyneside schools during this time.
The time spent "Playing" with these objects to think with really got me into the Constructionist learning model, and I looked at other tools that could be used in the classroom to develop computing skills in young people.
Today in my role as head of Digital Technology and Computing at Newcastle's Royal Grammar School I work in the EDT department developing a maker mentality using Picaxe chips and circuitry, Raspberry Pi Micro computers and Arduino processors. We have a robotics program where pupils use EV3's for competitions such as "First Lego League", "Tomorrow's Engineers", and the "UK Subsea Challenge". Our Junior school uses WeDo and WeDo 2.0 to develop STEAM skills. All of our Y4 classes have built their own fun-faire, and we have groups working on their FLL Junior models as we speak. As I am building a new computing department our Year 9 cohort will be working ona PBL module with EV3 next year, and we are in discussions to launch an innovation studio in 2019. We use Lego regularly in our approach to EDT allowing the pupils to prototype and build models to reference their learning and thinking.
We use LEGO to help our young people create their imagination.
LEGO Education Teacher Award Winner Blog
Sam Baxter

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Tag Archives: East Carolina University
Watching our athletes' behavior…
No cliché in sports lore is older than the refrain of players wanting to represent themselves, their team and the league well…on and off the floor or field. Recently, our beloved athletes' behavior fits a different sports cliché: "they're making a lot of unforced errors."
Looking through the pages of ESPN in the past two months has been an adventure in comedy as several stories seem like they should have come directly from spoof movies like Major League or Slapshot.
Washington Wizards' guards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton certainly shot (sorry, had to) themselves to the top of the bad behavior list after both were suspended for the rest of the 2009-10 season. Arenas was charged with a felony and Crittenden a misdemeanor last month. The two pulled guns on each other in the locker room after arguing over a card game that took place on the team plane.
Thankfully, the Wizards reportedly banned card games on the team plane.
The last straw for Arenas before his suspension was the stunt he pulled in pre-game introductions where he pulled out pistols using his fingers and "play shot" teammates. He was suspended the next day. Stellar behavior from one of the league's stars, right?
Perhaps the saddest part of this particular story was that the late Abe Pollin, owner of the Washington franchise since 1964, was an anti-violence advocate that changed the team's name from Bullets to Wizards because of the connotation associated with it.
But Arenas and Crittenton don't even make my top spot in the list of boneheaded moves in the way of poorly behaving athletes in the last month. Here's my top five:
5. University of Florida DE Carlos Dunlap's DUI Arrest
On the Tuesday before the SEC Championship game, which very should have been called a national semifinal, between the Gators and Alabama, Dunlap was arrested at 3:25 a.m. and charged with driving under the influence (SEE HERE). This came in the beginning of the Gators' week of preparation to play the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship and served as a distraction as practice began. Dunlap was so drunk that he was stopped at a traffic light on a green when officers approached the car and observed that he was snoozing, slumped over the wheel.
One would think that every player leading up to this big of a game would be on his best behavior and focused only on the task at hand. Dunlap's absence may have been part of the reason that Florida lost to the Tide. His lack of commitment to a program above himself would be the main reason I would not want my team drafting him this April when the NFL convenes at Radio City Music Hall. Scouts, Inc. currently has Dunlap rated at #21. Here's hoping Miami doesn't select him.
4. University of Southern California WR Joe McKnight's SUV
The 2006 Land Rover registered in Joe McKnight's girlfriend's name looked really nice at the USC practice facility in late 2009. The car was purchased for $27,000 by Adam Schenter, according to the California DMV. Schenter is a businessman and marketing specialist with no known ties to the USC program. However, his known ties to McKnight include a company Schenter owned that registered the website http://www.4joemcknight.com. Check the LA Times' story on the controversy HERE.
McKnight ended up sitting out the Trojans' bowl game and the investigation is not over yet, but when you play for a program like USC, a team that is the envy of most national programs and already under investigation because good old O.J. Mayo and others, you should probably watch it a little bit. Did he have to be driving the Land Rover to practice? Maybe he could have just saved it for times he took out his girlfriend and mother of his child to a nice meal paid for by Schenter or a booster. Driving it to practice each day where reporters and cameras are on a daily basis was more boneheaded than accepting the SUV in the first place. It'd be a little more obvious if he showed up in a 2003 Elantra or came using public transportation. McKnight should get a nice Schwinn and drive that to practice next year. . .if he stays in school.
3. Buffalo Bills' RB Marshawn Lynch's $20 Tip
I like TGI Friday's as much as anyone, but apparently Marshawn Lynch uses it as something more than a place to grab a burger and maybe a molten chocolate brownie. On December 7, Lynch went to a Friday's in the Buffalo suburb of Hamburg and had an incident where he snatched $20 out of a woman's hand, a $20 bill that was to be used to pay her check and leave a tip (SEE HERE). Unfortunately for Lynch, the woman's husband was a cop and filed a police report days later.
Maybe Lynch forgot his wallet in the car and didn't have his credit card to pay for the French onion soup and Jack Daniel's flat-iron steak he was about to order. Or maybe he had forgotten that he was a star athlete in his own town and the TGI Friday's would probably comp him and his picture would end up somewhere on the wall. You know, he would be posing with the general manager and lead cook and the photo would be signed and put somewhere in the lobby. Perhaps he needed the 20 to pay for a babysitter. Or maybe he forgot that he signed a 10.275 million dollar contract in 2007. But, Lynch has never been the stand-up type. After all, this is the guy who was accused of a hit-and-run with a pedestrian. What would have been nice, would have been if Lynch walked into the Friday's and announced he would buy everyone a round of drinks as opposed to taking money from TGI's patrons. They used to make a dang good French dip, but took it off their menu. Maybe Lynch was mad about that. I know I am . . .
2. Arenas and Crittenton
I can't pass this one up as part of my top two. The fact that it happened in a pro sports locker room, was over a card game and that it caused card games on the team plane to be banned still makes me giggle. But, the top spot was not even close. . .
1. East Carolina University Dessert Fight at the Liberty Bowl
Leonard Paulk and Jonathan Williams really like dessert. So much so that they fought over one at the Auto Zone Liberty Bowl's awards luncheon that preceded the game played on January 2 (SEE HERE). According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the two players nearly flipped over a table and one had the other in a headlock and was hitting him. ECU's entire roster and coaching staff were at the luncheon, as was that of their opponents, the University of Arkansas, who won the game in overtime, 20-17. ECU Head Coach Skip Holtz suspended the two players for the game. The seldom-used running back Williams tallied 38 yards on 14 carries this season before his season ended due to a knee injury. Williams has been suspended by ECU twice before, so he is no stranger to trouble. Paulk, a defensive back, played in all 13 regular season games as a nickel/dime back and on special teams.
The burning question in everyone's mind is: what was for dessert? Was it a nice piece of New York cheesecake? A brownie? Did they have tiramisu? Or maybe it was a cake that said "Congratulations to ECU and Arkansas!", and Williams and Paulk really wanted the piece that said "ECU" like five-year-olds want the piece of birthday cake with the flower on it. What kind of teammates get in a fight at an awards banquet with media in attendance? They should have split the piece and then chalked it up as the event that brought the team together, the defining moment of their season.
The best part about this whole ordeal was that Holtz jumped ship at the end of the bowl season to take over the University of South Florida program, and that's where this gets a little complicated. You see, USF fired their coach, Jim Leavitt, after he allegedly grabbed a player by his throat, slapped him in the face and then lied about it all. Did USF officials think that Holtz would bring a new discipline to the program after hearing of the dessert altercation? Maybe they got ahold of the tape from that luncheon and saw really good form in the headlock and figured the USF defense would benefit from that type of instruction.
After Holtz left, who did ECU turn to as a replacement? None other than Ruffin McNeill. Yes, that name does sound familiar, doesn't it? That's because McNeill was the interim coach who replaced Mike Leach at Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl. Leach, of course, was accused of improperly dealing with the concussion of Adam Jones and was fired. McNeill better make sure the dessert table is fully stocked at all ECU functions, and as he begins to assemble his staff a pastry chef may be at the top of the list. I hear the Pirates like chocolate. . .
Filed under Athletes' Behavior, Basketball, College Football, Football, NBA, NFL
Tagged as Buffalo Bills, Carlos Dunlap, College Football, East Carolina University, Gilbert Arenas, Javaris Crittenton, Joe McKnight, Marshawn Lynch, Skip Holtz, University of Florida, USC, Washington Wizards


Good day fellow bloggers. Recently I was able to acquire another trunk. A few years back, my jack of all trades and I built an end table for our living room using an old trunk, perhaps used for instruments. It was pretty beat up but we made the most of it. I really love it and I had always hoped to make another for our living room.
I found this one at a thrift store, scooped her up, and brought her home.
We pretty much built it the same way, using what we had on hand, except for purchasing the 4x4. We measured for the determined height of the finished table and cut four 4x4s to length.
The legs were tapered on two sides to mimic our original design.
All legs were sanded with a belt sander and finished by hand.
The legs needed to rabbeted at the top to fit behind the sides, but still be flush where the sides meet the legs.. This was done on the two front corners of the leg at the top. Also note that the two rabbeted sides were without the taper.
Next step was ripping four lengths of plywood to the right width. We used leftover plywood from our kitchen for the sides. Each corner was mitred on the table saw to the determined length.
We biscuit jointed the sides together, glued and clamped and let setup overnight.
The legs were glued and clamped. Another night goes by, to let it all dry.
Meanwhile the trunk needed to be painted. Masking off the sides so that the metal could be sprayed black was a chore, but necessary.
Next day consisted of staining the legs and the body of the trunk.
After another night to let the stain dry, the body could be attached to the legs. Don't mind the inside of the trunk. It was lined in foam which had been firmly glued in.....blah....but I was able to scrape most of it out. We drilled through the inside of the trunk into the legs with a pilot hole and used a lag bolt to anchor the two together.
Finished. What do you think??
I am extremely happy with it. I think I will store junk in my trunk. CHEERS!
Thanks Missy. I will definitely blog about it when we start that part of our renos.
This is adorable!! What a great idea!! Thank you for your wonderful comment and coming to visit! I'm a follower of yours too!
Fantastic! Love it! Great job and so clever!
Wow...I really like both of those. Bet it really adds to the living space.
i LOVE that! love the wood base ad the rustic feel!
I love this idea! And I love the colours you chose for this suitcase makeover!


Sprint legend Michael Johnson sensationally claimed athletics chiefs blocked Wayde van Niekerk's rival in the 400m final as they wanted the South African superstar to win.
Botswana's Isaac Makwala was denied access to the London Stadium by the IAAF, the governing body, who claimed he had the symptoms of the contagious norovirus.
Makwala was livid. 'They said: "No, you can't run because you are sick". I think maybe this is sabotage,' he told ITV.
Van Niekerk was drawn in lane six, Makwala in lane seven, but the Botswanan who posed the greatest threat to the Olympic champion and world record holder was not allowed to run. In fact he was not even allowed in the stadium.
His lane remained empty for the men's 400m final and for Lord Coe and the IAAF council it amounted to yet another PR disaster.
In fairness to the global governing body Makwala had been unable to contest the 200m heats the previous day after vomiting in the stadium medical room, the symptoms mirroring the many athletes who have fallen victim here in London to an outbreak of gastroenteritis.
Makwala said he was 'ready to run' and showed up at the stadium only for officials to block his path. In the end he would express his desperation and disappointment on social media. 'It's like the whole World is making noise for me. I just want to hear that gun go and I setting off the blocks. Please!' he tweeted.


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Odds & Ends: See Tony Winner Audra McDonald Sparkle & Shine This Holiday Season & More
by Lindsey Sullivan • Oct 28, 2021
Audra McDonald in "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill"
(Photo: Marc Brenner)
Here's a quick roundup of stories you might have missed recently.
Audra McDonald Stars as Broadway Cares' Holiday Legends Ornament
Six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald is joining the ranks of Broadway legends immortalized as holiday ornaments benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Captured as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, the glass ornament features McDonald in the jewel-adorned gown she wore on stage at Circle in the Square in New York and Wydham's Theatre in London. McDonald joins Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett, Carol Channing, Glenn Close, Harvey Fierstein, Angela Lansbury, Patti LuPone, Liza Minnelli, Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, Barbra Streisand and Gwen Verdon as part of the Broadway Legends series. Head here to purchase the limited-edition ornament and other holiday gifts for a great cause.
Beanie Feldstein's Mom Calls Her Once a Day About Funny Girl Tickets
Funny Girl star Beanie Feldstein stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers on October 27 to talk about returning to New York City. In addition to enjoying being back at the theater to see Hamilton, Freestyle Love Supreme and Nollywood Dreams, Feldstein said her mother calls her once a day to ask about getting tickets to Funny Girl. We get it, Mama Feldstein—we're only 149 days away from first preview! Watch the interview below.
In the Heights Film & More Earn People's Choice Award Nominations
People's Choice Award nominations were revealed on October 27, and there are some stage names on the list. Both the big screen adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights and Respect, starring Jennifer Hudson, earned nominations for Drama Movie of 2021, while the Daniel Craig-led No Time to Die received a nod for Action Movie of 2021. Cinderella, featuring Camila Cabello, Idina Menzel and Billy Porter, was nominated for Family Movie of 2021. Nominees recognized for their performances included Macbeth-bound star Craig, Hudson, Tony winner Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Ramos, Tom Hiddleston and more. Voting is open through Novemver 17. The awards will air on NBC and E! on December 7.
Beware Hugh Jackman's Boater Hat at The Music Man
Rehearsals for The Music Man, which begins performances at the Winter Garden Theatre on December 20, are underway, and River City's already got trouble. Star Hugh Jackman shared an Instagram video on October 26, revealing that he suffered a minor injury. The Tony winner got hit in the face with his Harold Hill boater hat. "This thing is like a weapon," he joked. Watch the video below!
A post shared by Hugh Jackman (@thehughjackman)
Taye Diggs to CW Appear in Variety Specials The Black Pack
Broadway alum Taye Diggs will join Ne-Yo and Eric Bellinger for two variety specials on The CW that will pay homage to the Rat Pack, Variety reports. The Black Pack: We Three Kings, a holiday celebration, will premiere on November 29 at 8PM ET. The Black Pack: Excellence, which will pay tribute to Sammy Davis Jr. and feature a new Juneteenth anthem, will air at a later date to be announced.
Tony Winner Anaïs Mitchell Announces Solo Album & Releases First Single
Hadestown's Tony-winning composer Anaïs Mitchell will release a self-titled solo album on January 28, 2022. She released the first single "Bright Star" on October 27. As previously announced, Mitchell will be heading on a national tour in January 2022 with her group Bonny Light Horseman. Listen to the first track from Mitchell's upcoming album below.
Vanessa Williams & More to Judge Queen of the Universe
A drag singing competition show is coming to Paramount+, and its celebrity judges are fabulous. Variety reports that Tony nominee Vanessa Williams, Broadway alum and recording artist Leona Lewis, drag luminary Trixie Mattel and RuPaul's Drag Race star and West End alum Michelle Visage are on the judging panel for the series. The show, which is shot in London, will feature contestants from 10 countries performing for the judges and a live audience. The show will debut on December 2 on Paramount+ in the U.S., and will stream on various services in Latin America, Australia, Canada and Scandinavia.


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Q: PLSQL - Comparison operator in select How can i use a comparison operaton in a select
i.e.

select 1=2 from dual;

Expecting a boolean result
This request give me an error
00923. 00000 -  "FROM keyword not found where expected"

A: Yes, you can use the comparison operators but in the clauses where a boolean value is expected, e.g. WHERE, HAVING etc.
An reprodicible example without using the functions and case operator:
select (
    select 'true'  from dual where 1=2 union all
    select 'false' from dual
    order by 1 desc fetch first row only) "boolresult"
from dual
/

boolresult
----------------
false

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
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Madalina Ciobanu
The Engaged Journalism Accelerator's mission is to support, connect and inspire engaged journalism practitioners, both in Europe and abroad.
At the start of the programme, that wasn't easy. Our initial research found that people leading or working for news organisations that focused on serving a distinct community often weren't aware of the existence of organisations like theirs. In many cases, their frame of reference was narrow and sometimes they didn't even know about similar publishers in the same country or city. This made learning from one another difficult.
That's why we have created the Engaged Journalism in Europe Database, a regularly updated list of news organisations from across Europe that involve their community – geographical or topical – in one or a combination of five areas: ownership, reporting, distribution, impact or revenue.
Launched in August 2018, the Database now counts 189 news organisations doing community-driven journalism. Our hope is that the database will give practitioners and organisations interested in engaged journalism a better idea of the publishers across Europe doing a more participative kind of journalism.
You can explore it below.
The Database has been created using Airtable, a powerful cloud-based spreadsheet app with lots of nice visual features (including the coloured tags we're using). You can find out more here.
Initially, we expected people to use this resource to:
Sort - you can filter columns to find news organisations that you're interested in (for example, you might want to look at organisational structures that are non-profit)
Search - you can look for a particular organisation that you know is working closely with its community (try Perspective Daily or Republik for starters) or look for specific terms to see where they crop up (for example, 'podcast' or 'Facebook')
Scan - you can browse when you have some downtime and see what you find!
Bookmark - you may not need it now but it'll come in handy in the future.
Some of the ways we have used the database in the last two years include connecting other event organisers at the EJC and elsewhere with publications from the Database that could showcase their work or share community driven journalism expertise at workshops and conferences, using the Database to inspire regular case studies featured in the Engagement Explained newsletter and inviting organisations in the Database to participate in Accelerator events.
To keep this resource up-to-date, we store some publicly available contact information about the news organisations mentioned. You can read more about the EJC's privacy policy here.
How it came to be and what has changed
Back in August 2018, I researched and published the first version of a Database with 70+ organisations from across Europe. Since then, my colleague Ben Whitelaw, and I, have kept it up-to-date, adding new publications approximately once a year. In 2020, we received support from OSF and Anna Merryfield joined the team to help us expand the Database and produce the Engagement Explained newsletter and case studies, with a special focus on Central and Eastern Europe organisations. There are currently 189 organisations from 35 countries represented.
In January 2020, Ben launched the Engaged Journalism Experiments Directory, an Airtable collection of more than 30 community-driven experiments published by news organisations in Europe.
Some organisations feature in both databases, and the two resources can be used complementary - did you come across a publication that interests you in the Engaged Journalism in Europe Database? Check the column 'featured in the Engaged Journalism Experiments Directory?' to see if they shared more information about the ways in which they collaborate, co-create or engage with their users, and learn how you can replicate or learn from their experiments.
Until February 2020, the Engaged Journalism in Europe Database also used to have a column titled 'is the team diverse and representative?'. It highlighted how many male and female staff members an organisation had. Gender diversity is crucial, but it is not the only way to assess whether a news organisation is truly inclusive and representative of those it serves - so we have temporarily removed this column while we explore the best way to visualise this important aspect.
Since it launched, the Accelerator team has come across dozens of news organisations working with their communities in different ways.
For the purpose of transparency and to make it easier to see what's new, we'll list the organisations we've added since August 2018 below.
February 2019: Altinget (Denmark), Mediacites (France), Cafébabel (France), Streetpress (France), Le Media (France), Mtisambebi (Georgia), Riffreporter (Germany), EditionF (Germany), Lokalportal (Germany), Merce (Hungary), LSM.tv (Latvia), Irir (Latvia), Reporter.lu (Luxembourg), Maldita (Spain), Journal21 (Switzerland), West Leeds Dispatch (UK), Clydesider (UK), Black Ballad (UK), On Our Radar (UK), New Internationalist (UK), Social Spider (UK) and The Ethical Consumer (UK).
February 2020: Stamp Media (Belgium), Alter Media (Belgium), Alter Échos (Belgium), Bondyblog (France), Marsactu (France), Deine Korrespondentin (Germany), Heidi News (Switzerland), Athens Live (Greece), Dublin Inquirer (Ireland), TheJournal.ie (Ireland), openPolis (Italy), OKO.press (Poland), El Orden Mundial (Spain), Vi (Sweden), Prime News (Switzerland), Inside Paradenplatz (Switzerland), Innovation Origins (The Netherlands), Vileine (The Netherlands), Teyit (Turkey), The Pavement (UK), Bankside Press (UK), Pour L'eco (France), Fakir Presse (France), Eco de Bergamo (Italy), Varese News (Italy), Valigia Blu (Italy), Kultural Liberalna (Poland), O Przekroju (Poland), Veckorevyn (Sweden), Mobile Stories (Sweden), Nyhetsbyrån Järva (Sweden), Le Temps (Switzerland), Red Pers (The Netherlands), Broughton Spurtle (UK), India Gazette London (UK), South Leeds Life (UK), Salford Star (UK), The Overtake (UK), The Shifter (Portugal), Vers Libre (Norway), Shado Mag (UK), El Salto (Spain), Lola Mag (Germany), Rabbel Mag (Germany), Fumaca (Portugal).
January 2021: In Bine (Romania), Radio Kras (Spain), Youngradio.it (Italy), Borne in Beeld (Netherlands), Lit (UK), The Ambler (UK), Novara Media (UK), Der Kontext (Germany), Social Streets CIC (UK), Cuac FM (Spain), Télé Mouche (France), Iso Numero (Finland), Megaphon (Austria), Faktograf (Croatia), Ef.Syn (Greece), Vidi Vaka (North Macedonia), Dosie.mk (North Macadonia), Democracy and Freedom Watch (Georgia), BCN Mes (Spain), Anonymal TV (France), Gedling Eye (UK), African Arguments (UK), LUPA (Montenegro), Neatkarigas Tukuma Zinas (Latvia), Szabad Pécs (Hungary), OPEN (Italy), CU SENS (Moldova), Kontakty (Poland), Irutxuloko Hitza (Spain), Rue89 Bordeaux (France), Oštro (Slovenia), 1E9 (Germany), KrusevacGrad (Serbia), EuroPravda (Ukraine), G7.hu (Hungary), Tortoise Media (UK), Altra Economia (Italy), Krytyka Polityczna (Poland), Korso.pl (Poland), SaphirNews (France), Radio Feral (Bosnia and Herzegovina), OC Media (Georgia), Cranfield and Marston Vale Chronicle (UK), Harju Elu (Estonia).
What we did in 2020
In 2020, we were proud to produce and develop the Engagement Explained newsletter, the case studies, reports and the Engaged Journalism in Europe Database, thanks to support from the Open Society Foundations (OSF).
As a result of the one-year grant from OSF, the Accelerator was able to continue to develop and continue our knowledge-sharing activities and content production. We were also able to focus more on Central and Eastern Europe, through our case studies and the additions to our Database.
Out of the 42 organisations we added to the database, 18 were from CEE or South Caucasus. The Database also now features organisations from five new countries based in CEE: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Croatia.
The Database is a work-in-progress and we welcome suggestions of news organisations that meaningfully and regularly involve users in the reporting process or who have community engagement at their core.
We invite you to make use of this Database in all of the ways mentioned above, and if you have used it for anything that we haven't mentioned, please let us know - we would love to hear how we can make this resource more useful for you.
For any questions, comments, corrections or contributions related to the database, you can reach us on hello@engagedjournalism.com, or on Twitter @ejcnet.
The Accelerator is kindly supported by a €1.7 million fund from News Integrity Initiative and Civil
Civil is a decentralised marketplace for sustainable journalism that uses blockchain and cryptoeconomics to empower journalists across the world
The News Integrity Initiative is a philanthropic fund to foster mutually trusting relationships between journalists and the communities they serve
Connecting the dots: Engaged journalism, trust, revenue, and civic engagement
Lindsay Green-Barber of Impact Architects has published new research looking at best practices for building trust, generating revenue and fostering civic engagement
Why newsrooms should put the needs of their communities first
Kim Bode, community and product operations manager at News Deeply and adjunct professor at the New York University, makes the case for community-centered journalism
A Guide to Community-Based News Engagement
A toolkit to help journalists already working with your community and those who want to move in that direction
© Engaged Journalism Accelerator — All Rights Reserved


text:
Great white shark spotted off Cape Town; first in 20 months
7th January 2020 7th January 2020 by Alec Hogg
By Antony Sguazzin
(Bloomberg) – The first great white shark in 20 months has been spotted in False Bay off Cape Town, easing concern that the predatory fish that attract tourists had left the region.
The shark was spotted by the operator of a cage diving operation off Seal Island, said Gregg Oelofse, who oversees coastal management for the City of Cape Town.
"One has got to be cautious," he said, noting that it's just one shark and the animals are more commonly seen in the middle of the year. Still, "we are very happy there has been a sighting."
Also read: Tourism twitchy as great whites spurn False Bay
The disappearance of the sharks had caused concern in Cape Town as their presence was the main draw card for tourists paying for cage dives. The reasons for their absence are unclear but scientists have theorised that it could have been be due to the presence of two orcas known as Port and Starboard who prey on the sharks, over-fishing of prey species or climate change.
The @CityofCT has informed @SharkSpotters that a 4m white shark has been spotted at Seal Island in False Bay by @ApexSharks.
We are on high alert for any white shark sightings on the inshore and will update the public immediately should we see one. #BeSharkSmart
— Shark Spotters (@SharkSpotters) January 7, 2020
The sharks are famed in False Bay for leaping out of the water, or breaching, in pursuit of seals.
News24 reported the sighting earlier.


Its our fifth week now at The Hollies and all our little Nóiníní are really finding their roots. Last week we ventured to the high grounds, for one to avoid the swampy grounds after so much rain and also to find a few trees to play in. With our magic spring ding sticks in hand, we went off to give spring a helping hand and have some fun in the trees.
The discovery of a wee stream on the way had the kids full of excitement so with todays glorious sunshine on our side, more splashing and sploshing was a given.
Its so great to witness the kids finding their own confidence to explore and play together. Peter went all tribal with his fire lighting skills, using a mushroom from the ash tree and birch bark to get the fire started. We peeled willow to make charcoal, popped popcorn and cooked ourselves some bread and gratefully received the summer holiday feeling the day bestowed.


text:
ISBN: 978 1 908748 46 1
Walks in & around Blaenau Ffestiniog[ISBN: 978 1 908748 46 1]
Until the mid-18thC Blaenau Ffestiniog was the name of an area of remote mountain land in the old parish of Ffestiniog, where there were some farms and sheep-walks but little else of significance. However, when Diffwys Quarry, the first large slate working in the locality, was opened there during the 1760s, it soon became apparent that these uplands, after being quarried and mined, were capable of satisfying an increasing, world-wide, demand for slate. Indeed, in order to service the fast-growing number of quarries, it would soon be necessary to build a town high in the mountains above the Vale of Ffestiniog, to be called Blaenau Ffestiniog. By 1836 the need to transport the roofing slates, and other products of Blaenau's burgeoning industry, resulted in the town becoming connected to Porthmadog by the Ffestiniog Railway; and by 1883 the London and North-Western, and Great Western, railways had opened stations in the town, which continued to expand until the turn of the 20thC. Subsequently the slate industry gradually declined and most quarries closed, leaving only one or two workings in operation during 2017.
Today, evidence of Blaenau Ffestiniog's involvement in the slate industry is inescapable: the awe-inspiring spoil-heaps, decaying inclines, drum-houses and tramways, the derelict quarry buildings, and the old tracks and paths used to get to the quarries by the workers, and into town by their families. Districts of the town, Maenofferen for example, were named after the farms of pre-quarry days, and the terraces of houses built for the quarry workers, and some of their many chapels, have survived. The Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Quarry have been re-born as attractions suited to the needs of 21stC visitors. All of which, together with its wonderful mountain scenery, makes Blaenau Ffestiniog, and its neighbourhood, a fascinating place to visit. And what better way to explore the area than by using the local footways, many now preserved as rights-of-way in recognition of their use by past generations of Blaenau Ffestiniog townspeople?
The twenty walks in this book are aimed at those who arrive in the area by train, bus or car, intending to spend a few hours on a walk, rather than a whole day. The walks vary between 1½ and 4½ miles in length, and introduce visitors to places they would otherwise be unlikely to find during a short visit: minor paths in the town leading to unexpected viewpoints; rights-of-way past magnificent waterfalls; tracks which follow old tramways past mountain lakes; historic settlements, including one high on Manod Mawr; the precipitous gorges of the Cynfal and Teigl rivers.
Information is provided on getting to Blaenau Ffestiniog by bus and train, and the neighbouring villages of Tanygrisiau and Llan Ffestiniog, by connecting buses. For car-drivers, directions to Blaenau Ffestiniog, Tanygrisiau and Llan Ffestiniog from nearby towns are provided, as are details of parking places convenient for the starting points of the walks.
Just a wonderful area to explore.


Reese Witherspoon looked more ready to set sail than take flight as she arrived to the airport on Tuesday.
The actress was spotted at Los Angeles International Airport, and looked to be channeling somewhat of a nautical look in a lightweight blue and white ensemble.
The 37-year-old actress and mother-of-one was looking fresh and sprightly as she made her way through the bustling airport.
The Walk The Line star wore a light blue shirt rolled up at the sleeves over the top of crisp white capri pants.
She slipped into a pair of comfortable white boat shoes, seemingly without socks and kept her jewellery to a minimum with basic stud earrings.
It was the blue and white bag hanging from Reese's arm that really completed her sailor look for the day.
And the look suited her, as she breezed through the airport looking fresh faced and positively glowing.
Reese's blonde tresses fell casually about her shoulders as she shot the shutterbugs a brief smile.
The Legally Blonde star was looking trim and terrific, and has been seen visiting the gym daily in a bid to ditch her pregnancy weight.
Reese also took part in the Bikini Bootcamp at Mexico's Amansala resort in March.
'Reese had an intensive jump-start,' her Amansala trainer Teddi Bryant revealed.
Reese is soon to reunite with her Walk The Line co-star Joaquin Phoenix for Paul Thomas Anderson's film Inherent Vice, based on Thomas Pynchon's novel, is about a detective investigating the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend.


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Today's utility companies are being driven to upgrade their aging transmission and distribution networks in the face of escalating energy generation costs, serious environmental challenges and rising demand for cleaner, distributed generation from both developing and digital economies worldwide.
The current utilities environment requires companies to drive down costs while increasing their ability to monitor and control utility assets. Yet, due to aging infrastructure, many utilities operate without the benefit of real-time usage and distribution loads – while also contending with limited resources for repair and improvement. Even consumers, with climate change on their minds, are demanding that utilities find more innovative ways to help them reduce energy consumption and costs.
One of the key challenges facing the industry is how to take advantage of new technologies to better manage customer service delivery today and into the future. While introducing this new technology, utilities must keep data and networks secure to be in compliance with critical infrastructure protection regulations. The concept of "service management" for the smart grid provides an approach for getting started.
A smart grid is created with new solutions that enable new business models. It brings together processes, technology and business partners, empowering utilities with an IP-enabled, continuous sensing network that overlays and connects a utility's equipment, devices, systems, customers, partners and employees. A smart grid also enables on-demand access to data and information, which is used to better manage, automate and optimize operations and processes throughout the utility.
A utility relies on numerous systems, which reside both within and outside their physical boundaries. Common internal systems include: energy trading systems (ETS), customer information systems (CIS), supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADA), outage management systems (OMS), enterprise asset management (EAM); mobile workforce management systems (MWFM), geospatial information systems (GIS) and enterprise resource planning systems (ERP).
These systems are purchased from multiple vendors and often use a variety of protocols to communicate. In addition, utilities must interface with external systems – and often integrate all of them using a point-to-point model and establish connectivity on an as-needed basis. The point-to-point approach can result in numerous complex connections that need to be maintained.
The key concept behind service management is the idea of managing assets, networks and systems to provide a "service," as opposed to simply operating the assets. For example, Rolls Royce Civil Aerospace division uses this concept to sell "pounds of thrust" as a service. Critical to a utility's operation is the ability to manage all facets of the services being delivered. Also critical to the operation of the smart grid are new solutions in advanced meter management (AMM), network automation and analytics, and EAM, including meter asset management.
A service management platform provides a way for utility companies to manage the services they deliver with their enterprise and information technology assets. It provides a foundation for managing the assets, their configuration, and the interrelationships key to delivering services. It also provides a means of defining workflow for the instantiation and management of the services being delivered. Underlying this platform is a range of tools that can assist in management of the services.
Gathering and analyzing data from advanced meters, network components, distribution devices, and legacy SCADA systems provides a solid foundation for automating service management. When combined with the information available in their asset management systems, utility companies can streamline operations and make more efficient use of valuable resources.
AMM centers on a more global view of the informational infrastructure, examining how automatic meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) integrate with other information systems to provide value-added benefits. It is important to note that for many utilities, AMM is considered to be a "green" initiative since it has the ability to influence customer usage patterns and, therefore, lower peak demand.
The potential for true business transformation exists through AMM, and adopting this solution is the first stage in a utility's transformation to a more information-powered business model. New smart meters are network addressable, and along with AMM, are core components of the grid. Smart meters and AMM provide the capability to automatically collect usage data in near real time and to transport meter reads at regular intervals or on demand.
A smart grid includes many devices other than meters, so event management can also be used to monitor the health of the rest of the network and IT equipment in the utility infrastructure. Integrating meter data with operations events gives network operations center operators a much broader view of a utility's distribution system.
These solutions enable end-to-end data integration, from the meter collection server in a substation to the back-end helpdesk and billing applications. This approach can lead to improved speed and accuracy of data, while leveraging existing equipment and applications.
Most utility companies use SCADA systems to collect data from sensors on the energy grid and send events to applications with SCADA interfaces. These systems collect data from substations, power plants and other control centers. They then process the data and allow for control actions to be sent back out. Energy management and distribution management systems typically provide additional features on top of SCADA, targeting either the transmission or distribution grids.
SCADA systems are often distributed on several servers (anywhere from two to 100) connected via a redundant local area network. The SCADA system, in turn, communicates with remote terminal units (RTUs), other devices, and other computer networks. RTUs reside in a substation or power plant, and are hardwired to other devices to bring back meaningful information such as current megawatts, amps, volts, pressure, open/closed or tripped. Distribution business units within a utility company also utilize SCADA systems to track low voltage applications, such as meters and pole drops, compared to the transmission business units' larger assets, including towers, circuits and switchgear.
To facilitate network automation, IT solutions can help utilities to monitor and analyze data from SCADA systems in real time, monitor the computer network systems used to deploy SCADA systems, and better secure the SCADA network and applications using authentication software. An important element of service management is the use of automation to perform a wide range of actions to improve workfl ow efficiency. Another key ingredient is the use of service level agreements (SLAs) to give a business context for IT, enabling greater accountability to business user needs, and improving a utility's ability to prioritize and optimize.
A smart grid includes a large number of devices and meters – millions in a large utility – and these are critical to a utility's operations. A combination of IT solutions can be deployed to manage events from SCADA devices, as well as the IT equipment they rely on.
Historically, many utility companies have managed their assets in silos. However, the emergence of the smart grid and smart meters, challenges of an aging workforce, an ever-demanding regulatory environment, and the availability of common IT architecture standards, are making it critical to standardize on one asset management platform as new requirements to integrate physical assets and IT assets arise (see Figure 1).
Today, utility companies are using EAM to manage work in gas and electric distribution operations, including construction, inspections, leak management, vehicles and facilities. In transmission and substation, EAM software is used for preventative and corrective maintenance and inspections.
EAM also helps track financial assets such as purchasing, depreciation, asset valuation and replacement costs. This solution helps integrate this data with ERP systems, and stores the history of asset testing and maintenance management. It integrates with GIS or other mapping tools to create geographic and spatial views of all distribution and smart grid assets.
Meter asset management is another area of increasing interest, as meters have an asset lifecycle similar to most other assets in a utility. Meter asset management involves tracking the meter from receipt to storeroom, to truck, to final location – as compared to managing the data the meter produces.
Now there is an IT asset management solution with the ability to manage meters as part of the IT network. This solution can be used to provision the meter, track configurations and provide service desk functionality. IT asset management solutions also have the ability to update meter firmware, and easily move and track the location and status of the assets over time in conjunction with a configuration database.
Establish more efficient business process workflows and strengthen governance across a company.
Utilities are facing many challenges today and taking advantage of new technologies that will help better manage the delivery of service to customers tomorrow. The deployment of the smart grid and related solutions is a significant initiative that will be driving utilities for the next 10 years or more.
The concept of "service management" for the smart grid provides an approach for getting started. But these do not need to be tackled all at once. Utilities should develop a roadmap for the smart grid; each one will depend on specific priorities. But utilities don't have to go it alone. The smart grid maturity model (SGMM) can enable a utility to develop a roadmap of activities, investments and best practices to ensure success and progress with available resources.