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We Are DigiCollect
DigiCollect was born of the conviction to be legendary and exploratory in developing industrial solutions across our focus areas. Our solutions are comprehensive, highly intelligent and are built for the Industrial Internet. Our aim is to enhance productivity, lower costs and decrease inefficiencies across our focus sectors.
About DigiCollect
DigiCollect is a portfolio company of ACO Investment Group. DigiCollect is one of Asia's top-notch premier technology company established to develop frontier technologies and consulting services in energy, utilities and infrastructure segments. At DigiCollect, Our focus is technology solutions range from Big Data and Cloud Computing, Mobile and e-Commerce, SCADA and Monitoring, GIS, Remote Sensing and Drones, Scientific Visualization and Hi-tech to build the next generation of Intelligent Industrial Internet solutions
Hari Achuthan - Chairman & CEO
Hari Achuthan is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of each of ACO Investment Group (ACO), Convalt Energy, Oxaio Networks and DigiCollect. ACO is the parent investment holding company of its portfolio companies including Convalt Energy, Oxaio Networks and DigiCollect. Convalt Energy founded by Hari Achuthan, is a developer and owner of renewable energy assets including solar, waste to power, wind, energy storage, power transmission and EV charging. Convalt is currently active in S.E Asia, India, Africa, and the United States. Convalt is currently planning to construct a solar panel manufacturing plant in Watertown, New York potentially making this plant the third largest solar module manufacturer in the United States.
DigiCollect, also founded by Hari Achuthan has built a fully digital ERP platform and proprietary applications for the power sector. These applications along with licensed patents from Oak Ridge National Labs and University of Tennessee provide the next generation smart grid technologies that are going to be absolutely critical for grid modernization and autonomous grid management with eventual switch to 100% renewable generation. Oxaio Networks is currently developing backbone ISP infrastructure in Myanmar and soon will be expanding its efforts in the United States and Africa with a core focus on quantum computing technologies.
Prior to founding ACO and Convalt, Hari was a Director at Credit Suisse Asset Management in the Alternative Investment group, where he covered hedge fund, real estate and private equity strategies. Prior to his role at Credit Suisse Asset Management, he worked at Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, where he led the group's global pension strategy and transition management business providing cross asset solutions for public and corporate pension funds, sovereign funds and insurance companies.
In 2009, Hari was selected as one of the emerging leaders at Credit Suisse Asset Management and named one of the "Rising Stars in Public Pensions" by Money Management Letter. During his tenure at Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, the firm was consistently ranked as a top provider of pension strategies and transition management services. Hari has a B.S. in Applied Economics from Hofstra University and was a member of the Hofstra Football team from 1991 – 1994.
He has volunteered with the Jacksonville Police Athletic League and has been a frequent guest lecturer at Louisiana State University School of Business. Hari has also authored a series of papers on the transition management industry which have been published in Institutional Investor and Pensions & Investments.
Thirumoorthy Ramachandran - MD
Thirumoorthy Ramachandran, (Thiru) is the Managing Director of ACO Investment Group and the head of Convalt Energy's India Operations. He has over 30 years of experience in the power sector of India. Previously Thiru has served as a renewable energy sector advisor for Larsen & Toubro, one of the largest EPC firms in India. He has also sourced more than 15 solar transactions while working at Sterling & Wilson, a company owned by the Shapoorji Pallonji Group. Prior to that he has worked for companies such as Caterpillar, Detroit Diesel Corporation, Kohler Power Systems and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Throughout his career he has developed an extensive network across India in the power sector and has delivered power solutions for corporate and government entities. He is a member of the Institution of Engineers, Institution of Automobile Engineers and Society of Automotive Engineers. Thiru has published technical papers on topics such as diesel generator sets and solar power. He has completed his Bachelor of Technology from MIT Chennai in Automobile Engineering and his Master's Degree in Technology from IIT – Mumbai, specializing in I.C. Engines.
Ramachandran Radhakrishnan – CFO, India
Mr. Ramachandran Radhakrishnan is the CFO of ACO Investment Group (ACO), a director, shareholder and company secretary of all of ACO's subsidiaries in India including Convalt Energy, DigiCollect and Redan Infrastructure Private Limited. Mr. Radhakrishnan is a Chartered Accountant & Company Secretary with a proven career in formulating & implementing effective strategies, policies and roadmaps. In his role, he is responsible for all financing and structuring of the subsidiaries and affiliates of ACO. Mr. Radhakrishnan became a Fellow of Chartered Accountants (F.C.A.) in 1981.
Mr. Radhakrishnan, has developed strong experiences during his career span over 36 years, to manage overall company responsibilities like strategy & conceptualization, P&L, treasury management, MIS, finance / project finance, audits, commodity purchase / total procurement, bank finance, working capital arrangement, secretarial matters, admin., identification of new business avenues, brand & product strategy and go-to-market through a collaborative management style which included international experiences in Tanzania. A strategic leader with high level of credibility & integrity in working on global ventures demanding unique skill set and distinct experience, Mr. Radhakrishnan is experienced in establishing CXO level relationships to develop sales strategies that convey customized approach to all pursuits. With an excellent track record in directing procurement plans beyond Rs. 500 Crores especially dealing with international commodities like copper purchase with London Metal Exchange he has proven expertise in conceptualizing & implementing ERP & M.I.S. Systems and other software packages for financial accounting.
Mr. Radhakrishnan has been a consultant to companies like MaxLife from 2018 till 2020. Immediately prior, Mr. Radhakrishnan worked at Alfred Herbert (India) Ltd., Bangalore as CEO and Secretary from 2014 till 2018 and turned around the company across all aspects like commercial, market improvement and system improvement with the support of manufacturing managers and successfully revamped Alfred Herbert India Ltd within a span of 2 years. Mr. Radhakrishnan led profitability improvements & commercial functions, bringing change into the total systems & operations and tying-up collaboration agreement to improve the product profile. A key highlight during his tenure, he revived the Railways order with prompt follow-up & installation of new machines which would play into the organizational performance as an important vertical.
Between August 2006 and August 2014, Mr. Radhakrishnan was President-Commercial & Secretary and CFO of Vindhya Telelinks, a group company engaged mainly in exports of optic fibre & specialty cables and Commercial Head of Birla Ericsson Optical Ltd where he was responsible for commercial activities including purchase & other core competent areas in Finance, MIS, Secretarial and ERP Implementation, foreign currency exposure & strategy during challenging years. During his tenure, he led the funding for large defense orders worth over 1 Billion US dollars where the company was sanctioned the necessary limits for over Rs. 300 Crores of working capital within 1 month of application to the lenders. Mr. Radhakrishnan steered submission & follow-up of bank guarantees and entire financing of projects from State Bank of India for one of the prestigious projects in telecom cables business which was connecting the length &breadth of the company through optic fibre network (floated by a public sector company "Bharath Broadband Network Ltd."). Mr. Radhakrishnan helped in obtaining an order from the Indian Army for value of nearly 0.75 Billion USD including bank guarantees runs into hundreds of crores of working capital requirement.
Mr. Radhakrishnan was Vice President-Commercial & Company Secretary of Kilburn Chemicals Ltd., between July 2004 till July 2006, where the company turnover during the tenure was approximately Rs. 200 Crores. During his tenure, he reduced the overheads cost & cost of production with innovative methods with Plant Managers and worked as In-charge of Personnel, Administration and HR activity; interacted with union for the revision of wages & charter of demands and implemented ERP for the company at a very low cost compared to market price.Mr. Radhakrishnan was a Finance Head at Diamond Motors, Tanzania between January 2003 till July 2004 and Group Finance Controller & Secretary between February 1993 till June 1995 at Karnataka Breweries & Distilleries Ltd., one of the largest distilleries in India. Mr. Radhakrishnan is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Associate Member of The Institute of Company Secretaries of India and proficient in functionality of most ERP systems
Between 2001 and 2003, Mr. Radhakrishnan worked at TTK Group, a conglomerate of companies which manufactured pressure cookers, condoms, textiles, corrugated cardboard boxes, pharma products where he was Secretary to the corporate group reporting directly to the Vice Chairman assisting on financial and management decisions. Mr. Radhakrishnan also worked at JK Fenner from 1984 to 1991 as Deputy Manager Accounts and Company Secretary for the subsidiary of Fenner, gaining hands on experience in preparation of CMA data to banks and various MIS information apart from annual audits and internal audit functions. His first job after chartered accountancy was with Lovelock & Lewes, a group entity of PwC and Coopers & Lybrand.
Clas Rönnlöv - Director
Clas Rönnlöv is a Director at ACO Investment Group and a Director of Corporate Finance at Convalt Energy. Clas is a former Citigroup executive who has spent more than 27 years at Citigroup as a senior banker. His experiences include being Citi Country Officer and Managing Director for Citi in Sweden from 2006 – 2014. Clas was also the Citi Corporate Officer and Managing Director with full P&L responsibility, as well as responsible for marketing, risk, compliance and control and overseeing all of Citi's operations in Sweden.
From 2004 – 2014, Clas was head of Banking and responsible for marketing Citi's products to Swedish clients globally while also performing the role of Risk Officer with sign off for all Swedish clients.
Clas was educated at Stockholm University where he completed his degree in Macroeconomics in 1987. Clas was on the board of Swedish Banker's Association from 2008 – 2014, American Chamber of Commerce since 2012, Ivaldi, Ivaldi Master, MSK and Armas since 2012 and GotaTraneberg Ice Hockey Club from 2008 – 2014.
Ysabel Métais Tilloy - General Counsel
Ysabel Métais Tilloy is the General Counsel of ACO Investment Group and its portfolio companies including DigiCollect. Ysabel has almost 20 years of professional experience as a lawyer, advising companies in business and contract law, intellectual property law (copyright and trademark) and information technology including Internet, e-commerce and data protection. Her practice encompassed transactional as well as litigation matters.
She holds a J.D. in Tax and Business law, cum laude (University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas - 1998) and a Post-graduate Master's degree in Artistic, Literary and Industrial Property law (University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas - 1999) and was admitted to the Paris Bar.
Prior to joining ACO and Convalt, she worked with well-known US, UK and French law firms in Paris, such as August & Debouzy or DLA Piper, where she advised and represented major players in varied service and consumer goods industries, including banking, software, video game, e-commerce, luxury, hotels, airlines, retail apparel, medical services, press and media, film and entertainment sectors. She also worked for the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly in New York.
Ysabel is a dual citizen of both Switzerland and France. She speaks French, English and Spanish.
Mike Wiser – Chief Strategy Officer of ACO Investment Group
Michael Wiser is a Chief Strategy Officer at ACO Investment Group and its portfolio companies Convalt Energy and Lincoln Infrastructure and DigiCollect. Mike in his role is focusing on the strategic development of various renewable power and construction projects with the federal, state and municipal governments, and large corporations. Prior to joining Convalt Energy, Michael was a United States Army Colonel with a distinguished 29-year career as an Infantry Officer. During his military career he conducted world-wide operations in Kazakhstan, Haiti, Kosovo, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia along with four combat tours to Iraq.
Mike's final position with the U.S Military was as the 10th Mountain Division Chief of Staff at Fort Drum, NY where he was directly responsible for synchronizing day to day operations as well as the training, welfare and morale of over 19,000 Soldiers and for managing a multi-million-dollar budget. Mike previously commanded a 550-Soldier task force, the 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry at Fort Bragg, NC where he was responsible for the health, training, and maintenance of the task for to maintain high readiness as a part of the nation's Global Response Force.
Mike has extensive management experience in large organizations from managing tactical to strategic levels of operations where he led planning teams, managed resources, and solved problems quickly and efficiently. Mike is highly adept at putting together implementation teams to solve large, small and complex problems.
Meredith Taylor – Chief Talent Officer
Meredith Taylor is the Chief Talent Officer for ACO Investment, DigiCollect, Convalt Energy, Lincoln Infrastructure, as well as the Chief Operating Officer for Military Wives. As the Chief Talent Officer, Meredith coordinates the development and execution of the organization's talent acquisition strategies.
Meredith is an advocate for military spouse employment and is dedicated to supporting the military community. In 2021, Meredith was recognized as one of Northern New York Business magazine's 20 Under 40 Emerging Leaders for her commitment to supporting the Fort Drum community. She has helped hundreds of military spouses and veterans to navigate the employment process. She has ample experience providing trainings on communication strategies, digital networking, and professional development. Meredith has her MA in English, BA in Communication, and is a Certified Digital Networking - Professional (CDN-P). She has received multiple recognitions for her community service endeavors, including Fort Drum Volunteer of the Quarter, President's Volunteer Service Award, and Hiring Our Heroes Military Spouse Professional Network Outstanding New Network of the Year. She also serves as the Secretary for the Thousand Islands Habitat for Humanity and the Fundraising Chair for the North Country Spouses' Club.


This Napoleon Gas BBQ proves that cars aren't the only things that have style and performance in one package. This slick grill looks and performs like its name, Professional! Built from top to bottom with high-quality, high-performance features designed to make every cooking experience not only easy but impressive.


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Упокой — река в Смоленском и Краснинском районах Смоленской области России. Левый приток Вихры.

Длина — 31 км, площадь водосборного бассейна — 150 км². Исток у деревни Лаптево Смоленского района на юго-западе Смоленской возвышенности недалеко от реки Сож. Направление течения: запад, северо-запад. Устье напротив деревни Чальцево на границе Смоленского и Краснинского районов.

В Упокой впадает ручей Погановка и другие безымянные.

Ссылки
 Упокой/Энциклопедия Смоленской области

Притоки Вихры
Реки Краснинского района Смоленской области
Реки Смоленского района Смоленской области

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


CHENNAI: The GST Council on Thursday paved the way for rolling out the new tax regime from July, clearing all legislations required for the ambitious reform measure. Several apps have cropped up in the flourishing app market to help individuals transition to the new indirect tax regime.
"We saw a gap in awareness and education when it comes to GST. Questions like what constitutes sale, how does one value goods moving between two branches need to be addressed. The app is meant to be a guide to content that can be consumed on the go," said Archit Gupta, co-founder and CEO, ClearTax.
The app has webinars conducted by industry experts on various aspects of GST. "Case studies will be discussed. Participants can ask questions as well. We are already seeing 400-500 attendees per webinar," Gupta added. The app will soon have a GST calculator besides conducting webinars in local languages.
ClearTax has seen interest from the practitioner community besides MBA students and trade bodies who are keen on understanding the legislation. "Making GST compliances mobile driven is a core part of our GST roadmap. We are looking to engage with 5-6 lakh businesses in the first year of GST rollout," said Gupta.
Accounting firm Tally Solutions was among the first to release its mobile solution in December 2016. Tally is one of the 34 GST Suvidha Providers — agencies which will provide front-end services such as tax filing, registrations and refunds for taxpayers.
Consulting majors including PwC and Deloitte have launched dedicated apps as well. Pratik Jain, leader - indirect tax, PwC India, said, "At the cusp of the biggest ever tax reform in India, it is ever more important for businesses to stay abreast of the fast evolving GST landscape. The app is not only designed to provide information about GST related developments but also sector wise analysis of the laws. It gives PwC's point of view, including insights from our work on GST across the globe".
The CBEC from its end has launched CBEC GST app to help taxpayers migrate to GST. Available on the Android platform currently, the app addresses queries on the process of migration, steps to be followed and laws governing the transition.
It also has an set of frequently asked questions for businesses related to registration, payment of tax, valuation, input tax credit, refunds, appeal forum and search and seizures.
Further, the app has a toll free helpline number and an email ID for taxpayers looking to seek clarifications.


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The catch-22 behind the path to profitability for Compass
Leading industry analysts shared with Inman their evaluations of Compass's earnings and how the path to profitability could impact agents
Canva Pro Photos
by Marian McPherson
Leading industry analysts shared with Inman their evaluations of Compass's earnings and how the path to profitability could impact agents.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story mischaracterized Mike DelPrete's role as an investor. Although DelPrete doesn't invest in large, publicly-traded brokerages, such as Compass, Realogy, RE/MAX or Redfin, etc., he's invested in Side and Zumper. We apologize for any confusion.
Compass continued the industry's first-quarter-earnings winning streak on Wednesday with $1.1 billion in revenue, thanks to a booming housing market stoked by low mortgage rates, robust buyer demand, and historically low inventory.
Its agents, backed by the company's support staff and its end-to-end technology platform, increased transaction sides 67 percent year over year for a 1.4 increase in market share from Q1 2020.
Even with increased sales volume, transaction sides and agent count growth Compass is far from profitable — the earnings revealed a $212 million net loss and $942 million in commissions and other related expenses, both of which included stock-based compensation from the IPO, reveal an arduous path to profitability that puts CEO Robert Reffkin in a catch-22.
The battle between keeping agents and cutting expenses
Mike DelPrete
"There's this real and present danger that Compass' path to profitability is directly at odds with its ability to retain agents," real estate analyst Mike DelPrete told Inman. "[To reach profitability], Compass would have to close down some of the fancy offices, cut some of the perks, get rid of some of the technology and all this stuff that makes the company so attractive to agents."
"Those things are appealing and they're expensive," he added. "They also have to reduce their commission splits, and reduce the bonuses and reduce the agent support and marketing. Those things are what make Compass so appealing to agents."
Despite Compass closing the gap on year-over-year net losses in Q1, DePrete said they're actually on track to be more unprofitable than last year. "Compass is the most unprofitable real estate brokerage in history," he said while noting the company's consistent cash infusion from investors, most notably SoftBank, that's allowed them to spend with abandon.
"Compass lost almost as much money in Q1 2021 as it did in ALL of 2020 — $212 million vs $270 million," he explained. "Granted, a big portion of that is stock-based compensation related to its IPO, but that just goes to show that stock-based compensation is an actual expense and not some sort of accounting anomaly you can simply exclude from your financials."
Although DelPrete said the path to profitability is paved with budget cuts, WAV Group Consulting Founding Partner Victor Lund said Compass' net losses are necessary for their long-term success.
Victor Lund
"[Compass] has to continue to become a welcoming environment for top-producing real estate agents. [They're] going to continue to have pretty massive growth and as [they] grow, the cost and overhead of that infrastructure depreciate and the margins go up a lot."
"I know they're losing a little bit of money today," he added while noting the company's Non-GAAP net loss is $64 million. "I think that's planned because [they're] trying to grow. [They're] investing today for a long-term win and they're definitely in a competitive position for a very young company."
"I would say that as the company continues to mature and agents gain confidence with the services they provide in the market, that they're going to be able to onboard agents for a lot less money in the future."
Compass' multiple paths to profitability
Lund said Compass' value proposition, which includes staff support, its end-to-end platform, and foray into ancillary services such as title and mortgage, is the key to maintaining its impressive agent retention and productivity rate. That, alongside continued tech investments and acquisitions, is important to its eventual profitability.
"A lot of people haven't seen the full brilliance of the technology roadmap for Compass — it takes a long time to build an ecosystem that's going to support agents and teams, and that's their focus," he explained. "They're putting a lot of money into that and where the opportunities exist to acquire technology companies that get them there faster, they do it."
Meanwhile, DelPrete said it's unlikely Compass' technology or push to add ancillary services will be the deciding factor in the brokerage's trajectory. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not anti-Compass. I'm an independent researcher," he said. "But there's nothing really special under the hood that Compass talks about in its public filings or in its strategy."
"I mean, from a business model standpoint, it's just Realogy with a different logo, right?" he added while noting the company's mortgage and title strategy with KVS Title could be a fool's errand. "It's going to try to sell people mortgages and title insurance, but like other companies have been doing that for a decade and we know exactly how that's gonna play out."
"It's like if you open up a restaurant, and you said, 'Oh, we're going to start making more money by selling people appetizers, and I'd say, 'Well, Marian, restaurants have been selling people appetizers for years now.' That's nothing new," he continued. "Those Compass real estate agents already benefit from mortgage and title people they know and trust. They're not going to drop them for Compass' platform."
For DelPrete, Compass' path to profitability, outside of learning to balance agent retention and reducing expenses, lies in offering exclusive listings and content.
"In the same way Disney and Netflix and Apple TV are spending a lot of money developing exclusive content for their platform so consumers subscribe, Compass is kind of doing the same thing through this whole pocket listings loophole," he said. "Compass has 'Coming Soon' listings and they have exclusive listings that are only available on compass.com or through a Compass agent."
"[Those listings never hit the MLS. They never get advertised anywhere else and they never reach Zillow or Redfin — it's exclusive content that you only get by going to Compass," he added. "Right now nationally, about a quarter of Compass' listings are exclusive to Compass, and if you look at one of their biggest markets, San Francisco, about 45 percent of their listings are exclusive."
Again, DelPrete said, exclusive listings present another catch-22 with consumers. "If Compass can create a pull where people come to them and they don't go to Zillow, or they don't go to the MLS that gives them power. But that's kind of anti-consumer, right? But I mean, this is what capitalism is — if it's good for companies, it's not necessarily good for consumers."
Compass' not-so-secret Wall Street weapon
Even though DelPrete and Lund disagree about Compass' path to profitability, there's one thing they agree on: Robert Reffkin's power as a CEO.
"I'm independent, I'm unbiased, and I don't invest in any of [Compass' large, publicly listed brokerage peers]," DelPrete said. "But, Compass' strategy is brilliant, right? They figured out how to get SoftBank to give them a billion dollars to play around with."
"This is Wall Street 101. It's a roll-up strategy. They can acquire all these parts and through great storytelling, a great narrative, and a charismatic founder, they can make the sum of the parts worth more than the parts are individually," he added. "It's brilliant."
Lund said Reffkin's intelligence and uncanny ability to "work the market" is reflected in analysts' confidence in Compass, despite the company's rollercoaster stock market performance, which experienced a third-consecutive all-time low $13.66 per share at closing on Thursday.
"The market is operating irrationally right now," he said of the dipping trading results of multiple real estate brokerages over the past two weeks. "Outside of that, [a number of] companies are writing research on Compass and they are getting a lot of play, which is pretty unique."
"If there was one person that I would want to represent my public company, out of all of them, I think that Robert is in a good spot — he works the market, he's the golden guy, and I think that's gonna pay dividends for them. It's, it's a unique skill," he added. "What a CEO says to market makers and how they report their earnings, allows those market makers to inform consumers that are investing in them."
When will Compass reach profitability?
Lund said Reffkin's skills as a leader alongside Compass' performance even with net losses, have resulted in high investor confidence. Compass IPO underwriters Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs released reports in late April that revealed the company could reach profitability as soon as 2025 and as late as 2030.
Both firms' projections are based on the continuation of skyrocketing home sales, Compass' expanding market share, the maturation of its agent cohorts and addition of new agents, the launch of adjacent services, and increased gross transaction value. With that in mind, Goldman Sachs expects Compass to report a profitable adjusted EBITDA by 2023.
"Goldman Sachs is indicating the company has a 12-month target of $32 a share," Lund added. "Morgan Stanley gives a 12-month range, but they're targeting 26. But if you're a bull, $36 per share."
DelPrete said he's skeptical of Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and other investment firms reports, especially if they were part of Compass' IPO. "The thought that Morgan Stanley has an idea as to what's going to happen in 2030 is laughable. Like, nobody has any idea what's going to happen in 2030," he said.
Some of the nation's biggest companies took years to become profitable, he said while noting Zillow just became profitable after almost 17 years. Like Zillow, DelPrete said Compass could bide its time with investors through effective storytelling and marketing while they work out their finances.
"Amazon was unprofitable as a public company for four or five years and now it's profitable, and Tesla was unprofitable for nine or 10 years and now it's profitable," he said. "So let's see what happens. I don't know when Compass will turn the corner. I mean, this is the magic of Wall Street and investors."
"People love a good story and Compass tells a good story," he added. "Zillow has proven that you can lead people along with a really good story and be unprofitable. You can paint this future vision that's really exciting, that's about growth and how you can get in the transaction and make more money."
He concluded, "You can do that for quite a while in real estate, but I don't think you can do it forever."
What lies ahead for Compass in 2021
In Q2 2021, Compass expects a revenue of $1.5 to $1.6 billion with an adjusted EBITDA of $10 million. For the full year, it expects a revenue of $5.35 to $5.55 billion with an adjusted EBITDA of $225 million.
Lund said Compass is underselling their performance for the year. "Maybe they're just cautious because there's a lot of uncertainty in the market, but the momentum in the housing market is actually increasing from Q1 to Q2, which we would expect," he said.
"The interesting thing about Compass is that, like all real estate companies, it doesn't matter whether it's a buy-side market or a sell-side market. They are in the volume business, and right now, we're seeing a surge in volume," he said. "After the last downturn, consumers really took a long time to become confident in the real estate market and that confidence should have a long run."
Meanwhile, DelPrete said there's no way of predicting exactly where the market will go, as evidenced by the two main factions of people who either believe a crash is imminent or the industry will continue to ride high against headwinds. However, he said he's sure the current pace can't last forever.
"I have no idea what's going to happen to the housing market, but what's happening now and over the past couple of quarters has been unprecedented, once in a generation activity," he said. "You've seen all-time highs in terms of the financial results for real estate companies, whether it's Keller Williams, Realogy, Zillow or Redfin."
"But that can't continue. This is a blip," he added. "So in the same way that a rising tide lifts all boats, a receding tide is going to bring all those boats back down to reality."
Email Marian McPherson
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Egyptian Mau Cat breed information and advice.
Egyptian Mau cat breed information and advice. Breed guide to the stunning Egyptian Mau.
With a slightly concerned look on their faces, one might wonder what the vivacious and beautiful Egyptian Mau has to be worried about! These stunning cats enchant everyone they meet with their outgoing personalities, and are said to be some of the most admired cats in the fancy with their striking good looks.
Melissa Bateson, chairman of the Egyptian Mau Society, was responsible for bringing Egyptian Maus to the UK. She says: "I'd describe Egyptian Maus as moderately active cats and they're very playful, they bond very strongly with their owners and can be quite dog-like; they will follow you around and love to play fetch."
In fact, Maus love to play with toys in general, and Melissa says it's very important to have lots of toys and devote plenty of playtime for your Mau, especially toys you can throw and they can retrieve.
Jo Higgins, chairwoman of the Egyptian Mau Club, loves these lively beauties: "They are very extroverted and intelligent; they pick things up very quickly. One of mine can open any door in the house, regardless of what handle it has! They can be quite vocal as well, they like to talk to you with a trill and when they want to play, they'll definitely tell you!"
For their own safety, as their road sense is not the best - not to mention that they can become voracious hunters if they are let loose - Melissa recommends that they are kept as indoor cats.
Egyptian Maus are strikingly beautiful cats and have spotted tabby patterned coats with two or more bands of ticking. They are either silver with grey or black spots, bronze with dark brown or black spots and smoke, which is a dark grey coat with black markings. Their short to mid-length coats are fine and shiny.
Maus have large, almond-shaped eyes which are always green in colour, with medium-sized ears and an M shape on the forehead. They are strong, muscular, medium-sized cats with medium-length tails which taper slightly towards the end.
Maus are one of the oldest cat breeds, as it is believed they are descended from the ancient street cats who were first domesticated in Ancient Egypt. They were first recorded in Europe in Italy just before World War Two and were imported to the USA in the 1950s where breeders worked hard to establish the breed over the following 30 years.
Melissa first spotted the breed in a book when she was around 10 years old and fell in love with them, and vowed that one day she would own one - a dream that was to come true when she moved to the USA in her late 20s and bought a kitten from a breeder in Virginia. She then collected six unrelated Maus and brought them back to the UK with her in 1998 and founded a breed club, working together with other breeders to have the breed accepted by the GCCF.
As with all breeds, make sure you visit the breeder's home and see how the kittens are being raised. Melissa says: "It's very important that Maus are raised with people in a home environment and not shut in a pen; they need to get used to household sounds. Egyptian Maus can become very shy if they are raised alone so it's important that they are well socialised."
Jo adds that it is very important to do your research into the breed before you visit the breeder, and always choose a reputable, GCCF registered breeder. Expect to pay between £400 to £600 for a pet quality Egyptian Mau kitten, but the price could be more for a show kitten.
Egyptian Maus have a very low maintenance grooming regime as they are shorthaired, so just a weekly groom, or a once-over when they are moulting, with a rubber brush is plenty to keep them looking their best. Jo adds: "One of the most effective things I've found to remove loose hairs is to cut the feet out of a pair of tights and run it over their fur. A silk scarf or a chamois leather is also great to make their coats shiny."
As there are very few breeds that Maus are allowed to be outcrossed with, Egyptian Maus are not known to suffer from any inherited health conditions. Reports have surfaced that Egyptian Maus are carriers of the gene which causes pyruvate kinase deficiency (PK Def), but Melissa is keen to stress that there is no evidence that Maus have suffered from any illnesses associated with this gene.


The best way to get more customers (based off of closing rate) is when someone first comes through your website. Yet, many shops are still having trouble converting website visitors into actual paying customers. Join us for a free webinar where we will discuss how correctly messaging customers on the right channels can bridge the information gap and help your shop convert website visitors into paying customers.
Up until now, it's been cost prohibitive for tire shops to enter the replacement key business. Now that is changing, creating one of the largest new opportunities for shops in decades. During this free webinar you'll learn tips and tricks to maximize this opportunity.
How to End Price Wars – the "Race to Zero"
Tired of selling on price? There is a proven way to end your dependency on price and stop killing your profit margins. During our dealer panel webinar, you will learn what motivated them to end their war on price, how they changed their conversation to remove price wars from their shop, and see measurable results from making the commitment to change.
Online shopping has changed the way that consumers behave. Convenience now tops the list of consumer expectations and businesses that aren't catering to these expectations will be passed over for those that do. In this webinar, we will discuss how your business can compete in today's convenience economy and meet the expectations that consumers now have.
Are you Taking Advantage of this TPMS Opportunity?
Replacing TPMS service kits every time a tire is removed from the rim is a recommended best practice. During this 30-minute educational webinar, we will explain how valve stems have evolved over the years with the addition of TPMS. In the second half of this webinar, we will explain how to significantly increase sales with consistent service kit replacement.
During this panel discussion, you'll hear from four successful dealers across the United States. They'll talk about what it means to truly focus on the customer, the steps their shops took to make the transformation, and the results they received.
Online reviews are the new word of mouth. They play a significant role in how consumers ultimately find and choose your shop. In this webinar, we will cover how online reviews improve discovery by boosting your local SEO ranking, driving traffic to your storefront, and influencing purchase decisions.
During this 30-minute educational webinar, Schrader's Senior Technical Trainer and Certified TIA Advanced Instructor, W Rippetoe, will help you tackle difficult TPMS relearns for specific vehicles. W will briefly cover the basics of a TPMS relearn, then dive into five specific vehicle relearns that have unique processes. During registration, you will have the opportunity to provide any specific vehicle relearn procedures that you would like to learn about during this webinar.
Learn a new and simple approach to more tire sales. Find out how to close more tire and service appointments (and more sales) from day one; how to practice effective communication every day; and how to improve the communication skills of your employees, on the phone and in the shop.
Learn how specific messaging tactics will significantly boost your levels of customer service while increasing revenue. The presenters will also give you tips and tricks for implementing a messaging strategy that works best for your tire business.
eCommerce sales this holiday season are expected to increase 15.8% from last year. Tire retailers are gearing up for the holidays and detecting good orders from bad. Now is the time to dial-in your fraud management strategy and prepare to sell more than you have the entire first part of the year. Attend this webinar to hear from fraud experts how to properly identify naughty and nice customers with ease.
TPMS has already proven to be a huge profit builder for many shops in North America and now around the world. However, TPMS can also be confusing if proper training and standard operating procedures are not in place. During this 30-minute educational webinar, you'll receive recommendations for TPMS shop management.
There are many unrealized sales opportunities in just about every auto repair and tire dealership. During this free Tire Review webinar on Tuesday, September 26, pick up one amazing sales training tip that will change the focus of your company.
Identify key points in the tire buying experience when your customers are most open to influence, so you can better engage with them. Attend this webinar to learn how to create a customer interaction strategy, and get best practices for communicating with your customers.
Rotors are highly-engineered components on both a mechanical and molecular level. Find out how metallurgy influences the performance of a rotor, how carbon content can improve a rotor's strength, proper installation methods, and how you can give your customers different rotor options.
During this 30-minute educational webinar, Schrader's Senior Technical Trainer and TIA-Certified Instructor, W Rippetoe, will discuss the basic concepts around TPMS. He will review the fundamentals of Test Before Touch, service kits, types of sensors and best practices. You will also have the chance to tap into his general TPMS knowledge during the FAQ session.
Word of mouth is your best form of marketing, and it's especially important in today's digital world. Learn how positive online reviews can help you increase word of mouth for your tire dealership -- and ultimately drive more revenue. Find out how reviews impact your local search ranking, and pick up tips for collecting hundreds of reviews.
Hear about the most important practices around TPMS relearn procedures. During this free webinar you'll hear about the difference between programming and relearning, the three types of relearn procedures and when to use each, and several tricks for performing relearns quicker.
Your shop can service more tire pressure monitoring systems and increase profits simply by talking to the customer and covering several important points. During this free webinar, certified instructor W Rippetoe will discuss how having a Standard Operating Procedure around TPMS can help your shop generate more sales, as well as improve safety and address liability issues.
Are You Ready for the TPMS Sensor Bubble?
There is a large population of vehicles entering the sweet spot for TPMS sensor replacement. This free 30-minute webinar will look at how to diagnose dying sensors, answer the questions about when to replace sensors, and show you how to package multiple sensors. Brake & Front End editor Andrew Markel, an ASE-certified technician, will show you how to perform advanced TPMS diagnostics.


Rachael graduated as a dental therapist and also has a certificate in Dental Nursing.
Rachael loves the variety that her role brings her along with the opportunities in the Orthodontix practice. When she isn't at the practice, she is often found with her family by the lake, Wanaka or Benmore. She's also completed a few over 100km cycle races over the years and competed in water ski racing as a teen.


Active Directory - I have deleted a Group or OU from AD, but it doesn't disappear off the interface.
We never delete Groups and OUs automatically if they have been deleted out of AD. To remove them from the interface highlight the Group or OU and right click and select Remove.
Installation in a Workgroup using a Print Server.
Users with 'Unspecified' domain and no Group Membership.


McPherson Education Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit with the specific mission to raise funds to support the magnet focus of McPherson; Orange Unified School District does not provide the funds necessary to function at the level of excellence above the education provided at other public schools. For us to be different, to succeed at pushing what is possible in the classroom, it takes a coordinated effort among parents, teachers, and administrative staff. We are the collective voice helping raise money and honing in on what will best serve our students, and we need everyone's support to ensure every enrolled student at McPherson Magnet School has the opportunity to push the boundaries of what is possible in their education.
Our success depends on a multitude of hard-working volunteers, typically McPherson parents and teachers and a generous community. Each year, we fund raise through our annual STAR Mission, Special Events and Sponsorship Programs. Our goal is to bring the entire community together in support of McPherson Magnet School.
Please visit McPherson Education Foundation for more information.


text:
Common Chemical On Clothes, Toys Linked To Fertility Problems
Jan 14, 2020 12:57 AM By Darwin Malicdem
Researchers are warning about the negative effects of exposure to a chemical added to many commonly used consumer products. They found that even short-term exposure through some toys, clothes and devices could cause problems with fertility in both men and women.
The new study, published in PLOS Genetics, provides another evidence of how DEHP, or di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, negatively affects the body. The chemical has long been linked to numerous health problems, such as birth defects and male infertility, MedicalXpress reported.
DEHP helps make plastic products more flexible. Because of its potential effects on health, governments in the U.S. and Europe passed laws reducing the amounts of the chemical added to some products, includings toys, food packaging, cosmetics, medical devices and electrical cables.
However, DEHP could still affect the body even at low levels. The new study shows that it could disrupt meiosis, the process supporting the production of egg and sperm cells.
"These are completely new findings and hopefully will shed some light as to how this phthalate impacts human reproductive health," Monica Colaiácovo, senior study author and a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, said.
For the study, the researchers observed the effects of DEHP on Caenorhabditis elegans. These worms have been widely used as a model organism for studying human genetics and biology.
Researchers found that worms exposed to DEHP had more double-strand DNA breaks when the worms' "parental" genetic material recombined in their eggs. The higher number of breaks led to abnormal morphology of chromosomes, eggs with the wrong number of chromosomes and embryos that were less viable.
The team noted that the worms that experienced fertility problems were exposed to DEHP at levels lower than the average human exposure. That means that even small amounts of the chemical in the body can disrupt meiosis.
In an earlier research, Colaiácovo and colleagues found that C. elegans exposed to DEHP also had abnormal numbers of chromosomes. Having such abnormalities could make people 35 percent more likely to experience miscarriages and 4 percent for stillbirths and infertility.
The researchers plan to continue the study to further understand how DEHP exposure causes negative changes in humans.
DEHP, or di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, a chemical found in toys, food packaging and cosmetics, has been linked to numerous health problems, such as birth defects and infertility. Pixabay
Air Pollution Affects Women's Fertility
Tomatoes May Help Men Improve Sperm Quality


text:
Bia Lessa
Specifications Specs
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Bia Lessa is one of the most important performing artist and director in Brazil. Documentary filmmaker Carolina Sá follows the process of Bia Lessa assembling the play Grande Sertão Veredas, from the first actors casting test to the premiere of the play at Sesc of São Paulo. The movie reveals the potency of Bia's work and the relationship she builds with her crew and the actors in the play throughout the rehearsals.
Carolina Sá
Fernanda Abreu
Gabriela Figueiredo
Key Cast
"As Herself"
Caio Blat
"As Himself"
Luísa Arrães
Leon Góes
Luísa Lemmertz
Camila Freitas
Louise Botkay
Virgínia Primo
Marília Morães
Tiago Tostes
Cadú Tenório
Doc & Rio Festival Agency
Festival Agent
Project Title (Original Language):
Country of Filming:
Shooting Format:
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First-time Filmmaker:
Student Project:
Director Biography - Carolina Sá
Carolina Sá was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1975, studied documentary at New School University in New York. He began his career in 2000 directing and producing a documentary series called Música Libre about the musical universe of five Caribbean countries- Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Trinidad & Tobago. The series, co-produced by VideoFilmes, was released in 2003 on Channel GNT and later on Canal Brasil; Short Channel! and on the BET Jazz Channel in the US.
Her first feature film called "Construction" was released in 2012 on cinemas with associated production by director Walter Salles and actress Patricia Pillar. The film premiered at the 35th São Paulo International Film Festival and was screened at various festivals including Cine Sweden, Futuro Cine Salvador-BA and FEMINA (International Women's Festival) where it received the Jury Honorable Mention.
She directed more than 250 documentary films for TV Brasil between 2009 and 2012. In 2012 she was invited to create and direct several programs and documentaries for TV Escola (TV Educativa do Brasil) and TV INES (first channel for deaf people in the country).
Between 2016 and 2018 she wrote and directed eight films about the creative process of Brazilian female artists entitled Onde Nascem As Ideias (Where Ideas Are Born). Those women are film director Paula Gaitán, the poet and designer Mana Bernardes, the singer Juçara Marçal of the band Metá Metá, the director and set designer Bia Lessa, the choreographer Lia Rodrigues, the plastic artists Rosângela Rennó and Sonia Gomes and the teacher of dance and choreographer Angel Vianna. The movies were supported by Ancine Sector Fund and were completed in 2019.
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HSN Community / Forums / HSN Arcade / Spin to Win $25 GIFT CERTIFICATE ?
Spin to Win $25 GIFT CERTIFICATE ?
May 4th I won a gift certificate on Spin to win. The Tag said I'd receive an email with info. I haven't received any notice. Since I've never won before I'm not sure how this works?
@yogastrength Sorry I misread. Congrats to you!
I DID WIN WITH THREE ACROSS AND AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE THREAD THE MATTER WAS QUICKLY RESOLVED BY HSN. FOLLOWING MY POST on this forum, the moderator checked it out, sent it on to the ARCADE TEAM. The team emailed the # needed to redeem my win. Thanks everyone for the responses. First time I've won anything beyond free tickets but love the games.
You have to have the $25 gift certificate THREE times in a row to win that. If you just have one, you DID NOT win it. The thing is, though, when I look at the three sections spinning around, the $25 gift certificate is only located in one row, so it would be impossible to get three across.
Same thing happened to me about a month ago. Disappointed.
I would take a screenshot next time. Last year when they had this, I spun the $25 gift card and the same thing happened, no email, no nothing?? When I emailed about it, they said I must have been mistaken, that I hadn't won, so next time…..I'm taking a picture of it!! Good luck and I hope you get it!!
Same here. I sent an email thru the Help Link, and was then sent another link in reply to contact someone else. The link didn't work. I finally was able to contact the right person, but it took awhile for them to reply.
I ALWAYS check my junk/spam folders before I say I didn't receive an email. It simply wasn't there.
If you win a gift card always screenshot the win. I did it when I won one just to be safe.
I thought I won a 25$ GC last week! Since I never heard again, figured I didn't. Maybe I did and aol wouldn't let it through.
@dawnemarie to get the gift card, you have to have all 3 of the gc symbols in the center line. Hopefully if you did win, the mods will see it here and congrat you. If they don't say anything, then you most likely did not win.
But I hope you did.
Just a reminder to those winning gift cards, sometimes your email provider like AOL blocks so much mail, that much of the good mail does not even make it to your email good or spam.
But they let a ton of actual spam get thru LOL!
When I won here a couple of years ago, HSN could not get the email to my AOL address even tho I had all filters off.
I then found out I was missing a lot of good mail, from my bank, insurance company, etc.
I got an Outlook email and my winning email went right through. And now only use AOL for family.
It does not cost anything to get these other email addresses such as on Outlook, Gmail etc.
Don't want anyone to miss out on their gift cards.
I just read your post. I have gmail, so am I okay? All emails from HSN will come through?
I won one during the Holiday season over 1 1/2 years ago and never got one despite my efforts to communicate with HSN. Very disappointed. Hope it works for those that win this time. Good luck to all!
@yogastrength, thank you for checking again. I'll send your information over to the HSN Arcade team and we' should be able to get your gift card information to you by the end of the day tomorrow. Sorry for this inconvenience.
Congrats on your win, @yogastrength! You should receive an email shortly after you win. Sometimes our emails end up in customer's Spam or Trash folders. Please let me know if it's not there so we can locate your gift card information for you.
I also won a 25.00 gift card in spin to win sunday night and first time to win anything like this ever and I have not heard anything else.
@regina84, I looked into this for you and I'm very sorry but our records show a win for 100 tickets on Sunday. There are still plenty of chances to win a gift card so keep playing! Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.
I know I'am not blind I saw there was 3 in a row like 100 tickets and 25.00 gift card and something else all 3 in a row said I had one. So unless this is wrong what I saw then you need to keep your games from telling people they won a gift card.
@regina84, I'm very sorry but 3 non-matching offers wins 100 tickets. To win a gift card, you have to have 3 matching gift card offers. I'm sorry for any confusion.
Thanks Ryan. I double checked and have no record of an email for 5/4/17 Spin2Win $25 gift certificate. .


European Network Remembrance and Solidarity, being actively involved in the international discourse on history and remembrance, feels much responsibility for shaping frames of the debate in this field. This is why, willing to contribute to developing a set of standards of responsible discussion on history, the ENRS experts – members of the Steering Committee (prof. Jan Rydel, dr Florin Abraham, dr Réka Földváryné Kiss, dr Ondrej Krajňák, prof. Matthias Weber) together with other ENRS assemblies members, have signed a document entitled Guidelines for international discourse on history and memory, defining rules which are worth considering when implementing historical projects. The intention of ENRS is to invite a broad range of institutions and individuals active in the field of remembrance to support this initiative. If you agree with the statements in Guidelines for international discourse on history and memory, please sign the declaration.
Those developing initiatives in international historical discourse and international politics of memory should strive to ensure such presentation of historical events that reliably takes into account the viewpoints, reasoning and arguments of all those involved in such events. Affirmative presentation of totalitarian, racist and chauvinistic visions of the world and of history is unacceptable.
Those developing the above initiatives should ensure that they avoid suggesting to audiences that there is an inevitable dependence between historical events and the current relations between peoples and states.
The content of all international politics of memory initiatives should be commensurate with the nature and scope of the historical phenomena they concern. Individual facts with positive or negative significance, even if in themselves historically verified, should not be used to illustrate the attitudes and conduct of an entire community. Each such fact should be presented in a context reflecting its actual place in the history of a given community.
In order to avoid fostering and spreading stereotypes which could be applied to entire communities, when portraying both commendable historical actions and crimes, those developing international historical discourse and international politics of memory initiatives should make every effort to ensure that the persons behind such actions/perpetrators are identified as precisely as possible and presented in an individualised manner.
The inclusion of completely fictional storylines in works about history poses the risk of consciously or unconsciously distorting presentation of the past. For this reason, those developing such works should make every effort to ensure that the figures and events presented correspond as closely as possible to the historical context.
In order to facilitate the audience's interpretation of international historical discourse and international politics of memory initiatives, those developing such initiatives should make every effort to clearly inform the audience of the work's position as historical documentation, fiction, a historical work of fiction or other, depending on the relationship between the fictional storylines in their works and historical and documentary elements.
With regard to historical context, each international historical discourse and international politics of memory initiative should be based on current academic findings applicable to its content. During development, the content of such initiatives should be discussed with recognised academic experts representing specialist knowledge on a given phenomenon. The extent of academic consultation should be adequate to the planned project and its budget. All those developing initiatives are required to confirm that academic consultation has taken place in a specific scope, and to include the name of the consultant in the information on a given initiative (e.g. opening/closing credits of a film, exhibition programme).
When presenting texts, visual materials (images, films, maps), audio material or artifacts, try to apply didactical concepts that are state of the art and that enable the audience to experience varied viewpoints. Follow international standards and guidelines when indicating your sources and creating an adequate context environment for your material. Be aware of the implications that information in its digital form needs a specific hypertextual structure and a sustainable technological basis. In case there is too little expertise given the task that is planned, try to co-operate with experts on didactics and informatics.
The document was signed in Warsaw in December 2015.


text:
Current: Sundees Son heading to the spelling paddock
Sundees Son heading to the spelling paddock
14 November 2019 , News
By Michael Guerin
This wasn't how November was supposed to go for Sundees Son.
The reigning Trotter of the Year was the one-time favourite for both Group One trots of Cup week in Christchurch and the Inter Dominions which start at Alexandra Park a fortnight tomorrow.
Now he is heading to the spelling paddock with his tail between his legs.
The freakishly-talented five-year-old galloped and lost all chance for the third race in a row in the NZ Trot Free-For-All at Addington on Tuesday and was always unlikely to start in tomorrow's $300,000 Dominion after that.
But trainers Robert and John Dunn have surrendered to Sundees Son niggling issues and have also pulled him out of the Inter Dominions and sent him for a two-month spell.
"We just can't get him right," said John Dunn.
"We keep patching him up and while his issue (fetlock joint) isn't serious at all he has lost his confidence.
"He is only a young horse and we have to do the right thing by him so hopefully he can come back for the big races in the autumn."
While Sundees Son is out of the Dominion, hot favourite Oscar Bonavena still faces a huge task starting from the unruly in a capacity field, with his three main rivals in Marcoola (barrier one), Tough Monarch (six) and McLovin (10) all drawn the front line.
The Dunns will have two reps in the $200,000 NZ Pacing Free-For-All and luckless NZ Cup placegetter Classie Brigade drawn the ace.
"I am not sure he would have won the Cup had we got clearer earlier but he would have got a lot closer," Dunn says of Tuesday's third.
Dunn says he has the gate speed to try and lead tomorrow's 1980m Group One and if he was able to hold the front early he would want to stay there, as he did in the Kaikoura Cup 10 days ago.
"But it may not be that easy. Cruz Bromac gets off the gate really fast, but I will be trying to hold him."
Cruz Bromac (six) has drawn inside Spankem (seven) and the tactics of that pair, who led and won the NZ Free-For-All and Miracle Mile respectively last season, will play a huge role in tomorrow's outcome.


text:
Remembering Lee Kuan Yew
Japan PM Abe hails Mr Lee Kuan Yew as one of greatest leaders of Asia
Mar 23, 2015, 12:26 pm SGT
http://str.sg/XF4
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called Mr Lee Kuan Yew "one of the greatest leaders of modern times that Asia has ever produced".
"With his incomparable leadership and unparalleled insights, His Excellency Mr Lee Kuan Yew played, for more than half a century and throughout his life, a key role not only in achieving Singapore's remarkable economic growth and prosperity but also in securing peace and stability of the Asia Pacific region and the world. He was highly revered all over the world," Mr Abe said in his condolence message on Monday.
He added that Mr Lee had frequently visited Japan during his tenure as Prime Minister of Singapore, and that he had "made outstanding contributions in the advancement of today's good and close relations between Singapore and Japan".
"I still vividly remember how much I was impressed by his profound wisdom, including when I met him in person in 2014," he said.
Mr Abe expressed deep sympathy and condolences on behalf of the Japanese government to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, his family and the people of Singapore.
"The demise of such a great leader is indeed a great loss not only to your country (Singapore) but also to the entire international community."
Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida also released a statement, saying that Mr Lee "is not only credited for building Singapore into one of the wealthiest nations of the world as the country's first Prime Minister but also, with his outstanding wisdom, played a key role in securing peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and the world for more than half a century."
"Together with so many around the world, the Government of Japan mourn the grievous loss of a great leader," said Mr Kishida.
SHINZO ABE
LEE KUAN YEW


Welcome to Mapleton Care Center. We understand that placing a loved one in a skilled nursing community is a very difficult choice to make. It is natural to feel overwhelmed, guilty, sad, and unprepared. In an endeavor to ease your anxieties, we want to provide you with as much information about the aging process and the long term care industry as possible. It is terribly important for you to be well informed and have realistic expectations as this will assist you in contributing to the best overall care for your loved one.
The general public today has many misconceptions about "nursing homes" and the care they provide.
of medical and nursing care interventions.
quately prepare you for the many difficult decisions ahead.
one and strive to make your journey as comfortable as possible.


DB Schenker embraces the future successfully to cultivate state-of-the-art research and development activities and shape the way our world connects – as our company founder Gottfried did in the 19th century, when he came up with the groundbreaking innovation of consolidating transportation events as collective rail consignments.
To link the expertise from different industries and academic research, we established an important strategic cooperation with the renowned German research institute Fraunhofer IML in Dortmund, Germany in 2015. The DB Schenker Enterprise Lab for Logistics and Digitization is characterized by close collaboration and interaction of Fraunhofer researchers with DB Schenker and offers the best location and resources to innovate, develop, and test new solutions which will shape the logistics world of tomorrow.
This way, we rapidly gain practical insights into technological maturity, applicability, and implementation readiness.
The aim of our cooperation is to develop the next generation of logistics products, services, and business models. The Fraunhofer Institute and DB Schenker embrace the future together by considering current and upcoming trends in technology and society in their research.


Challenge: The client wanted to increase orders from the new registrants coming to the website. Statistically, visitors would come to the site and register but would often not place an order within thirty days. Customers who registered and did not place an order within thirty days were contacted by customer service in an effort to follow up and identify any issues. Increasing the conversion action for this type of visitor was a priority along with decreasing the costs involved in follow-up for non-purchasing new registrants.
Conversion rates on the website and goal flow analysis indicated that a large number of people, when they did register on the site, neglected to make a purchase online. There was a massive opportunity to get those people back and convert a higher percentage of new visitors and registrants.
Business Solution: In the past, display advertising had been attempted but conversion rates were low. With remarketing, the audience could be much more targeted. To improve the rate of converting new registrants into paying customers, display ads were created along with an ad remarketing campaign.
Visitors that came to the website and entered at a point in the website registration process would have a tracking code or "cookie" attached to their visit. Based upon that cookie, visitors would browse the web and see ads that were created specifically for those visitors. The ads would re-target visitors who had reached a particular place in the conversion cycle and displayed an ad with an action to take on the website. The remarketing ads had the ability to re-target visitors by being part of a list that Beacon Technologies could control and define for a period of time.
Results: Orders from New Customers improved by almost 10% compared to the same period a year earlier. Orders from New Customers that came via pay-per-click increased by 78.70%. Not only did the remarketing increase online orders, but brand awareness was improved as the display ads were shown on many websites across the internet to those who didn't convert outright. The brand was placed many times in front of the right people who were already qualified to become a customer.


Files with aca extension are used by the Project Management Workbench program. They include some project data.
The aca file extension is associated with the Project Management Workbench (PMW) application developed by Applied Business Technology. The .aca file stores project manager workbench project data.
The Project Management Workbench is obsolete product!
Project Manager Workbench is old project management software for MS-DOS.
Use Project Management Workbench to open .aca project files.
Files with aca extension are not convertable.
Programs supporting the exension aca on the main platforms Windows, Mac, Linux or mobile. Click on the link to get more information about Project Manager Workbench for open aca file action.
Programs supporting the exension aca on the main platforms Windows, Mac, Linux or mobile. Click on the link to get more information about Project Manager Workbench for edit aca file action.
Programs supporting the exension aca on the main platforms Windows, Mac, Linux or mobile. Click on the link to get more information about Project Manager Workbench for create aca file action.


text:
Brother in the Land (Puffin Teenage Fiction) By Robert Swindells
Brother in the Land (Puffin Teenage Fiction)
by Robert Swindells
Danny not only has to cope in a world of lawlessness and gang warfare, but he has to protect and look after his little brother, Ben, and a girl called Kim. Is there any hope left for a new world? Set in Shipley, an ordinary town in the north of England, this is a portrayal of a world that has broken down.
Very Good Good Well Read
Brother in the Land Summary
An 'After-the-Bomb' story told by teenage Danny, one of the survivors - one of the unlucky ones. Set in Shipley, an ordinary town in the north of England, this is a powerful portrayal of a world that has broken down. Danny not only has to cope in a world of lawlessness and gang warfare, but he has to protect and look after his little brother, Ben, and a girl called Kim. Is there any hope left for a new world?
Robert Swindells


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who doesn't love a little more method? the best way to receive the latest promotions + coupons from method is to sign up for our email newsletter. simply enter your email address on the bottom of any page on methodhome.com and you'll start getting some sweet deals.
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for more information on our global cruelty-free mission, check out our blog post.
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so, you love us? you really love us? well, we just want to say that we feel exactly the same way about you.
would you consider taking our relationship to the next level? sign up for our email list on the bottom of any page of our website methodhome.com. we give our fellow people against dirty first dibs on coupons, deals and inside info.
and don't forget to follow @methodhome on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest for more method goodness.
can I order method products online?
soap delivered to your doorstep is a good thing. you can order through a number of online retailers including Amazon.com, Jet.com, Grove Collaborative and Target.com.
let's face it, cleaning products are heavy. and shipping can be expensive. to help keep your shipping costs in line, we suggest placing more than one item in your cart, as many of our online retailers offer free shipping with a minimum order.
do you make refill sizes?
less packaging waste for the planet + a good value for you, what's not to love about refills? we offer refills across many of our most quickly used products including hand wash, dish soap, laundry detergent, all-purpose cleaner, daily granite cleaner, glass + surface cleaner, daily shower spray and wood floor cleaner. if there are other products you'd like to see in a larger size, drop us a line at info@methodhome.com.
I'm interested in buying method products wholesale.
that's super. depending on the size of your business, we can put you in touch with one of our distributors or set you up with an account. for more information, please send an email with your company name, website and contact information to info@methodhome.com. our sales team will be in touch.
does method use dirty ingredients?
method's naturally-derived cleaning products feature ingredients that come from renewable, plant-based materials, abundant minerals or water. we do a complete assessment of the environmental and health aspects - like toxicity, sustainability and biodegradability - of ingredients prior to using them in our products.
method follows the highest technical standard for defining biodegradability - the OECD standards - in which at least 70% of organic ingredients break down within 28 days. this means our products are suitable for greywater use on vegetation and for septic tanks, too.
are method products safe for greywater use?
you'll be glad to hear that our products are non-toxic and planet-friendly, which means they - and the water you use with them - are suitable to use in your garden. as with any greywater system, it's important to appropriately dilute the water as recommended by authorities such as greywateraction.org.
thanks for keeping it green.
all method products are people-, pet- and planet-friendly and vegan. they contain no animal by-products and are never tested on animals.
what are the ingredients in the antibac cleaners?
the ingredients in our antibac cleaners include citric acid and surfactant from plant-based sources, along with fragrance and water. an unfortunately that's all the EPA regulations will allow us to say.
we can tell you that we're delighted to have developed a people- and planet-friendly antibacterial cleaner that kills 99.9% of household germs, and we hope you're just as happy about it as we are.
does method make antibacterial hand washes?
nope, none of our hand washes are antibacterial. why not? because they aren't any more effective than standard soap + water. that's why the FDA recently banned the marketing of hand soaps as antibacterial.
trying to decide if method hand washes are for you? you can explore all three of our hand wash lineups, fragrances and ingredients on our site here.
want to know more about antibacterial soaps? the FDA has you covered here.
want to know more about how to wash your hands + kill germs? click here for a link to the Center for Disease Control's recommendations for hand washing.
how does method select its ingredients?
method chooses never to use dirty, conventional cleaning ingredients, like phosphates or bleach, in our formulas. we use the precautionary principle, meaning that if there's a chance an ingredient isn't safe, we don't use it.
the Cradle to Cradle standard is our mantra for the design of safe, green products. every ingredient in a method product is comprehensively evaluated by an independent research institute, MBDC. as a result of this rigorous process, all method products are certified for health and environmental safety.
we also believe in authenticity and in empowering you to make fully informed decisions about the products you choose. that's why we disclose all of the ingredients in our products on our bottles and our website.
what makes method products smell so good?
we take great pride in making products that smell great. we have a balanced portfolio of scents divided into various fragrance families, all of which add up to a whopping 60 to 70 fragrances on-shelf at any given time. and we're always working with our fragrance houses to develop exciting new aromas for you to fall in love with.
method's fragrances are made from naturally-derived and synthetic ingredients. we create our diverse fragrance portfolio by using blended fragrances to capture the essence of scents found in nature. all of our fragrance materials have undergone rigorous testing to ensure they are non-irritating, non-toxic and fully biodegradable.
if there's anything else you, or your nose, would like to know, just ask.
do you make any unscented products?
so you're not into scents? we understand. that's why we make gel hand wash refills, laundry detergents and dishwasher tablets that are free of dyes + perfumes. look for our free + clear products in stores or online.
how does method choose its colorants?
vibrant color is a pillar of great design. we believe sustainability should be beautiful, lively and appealing. so we design our products that way. we do this by using safe, environmentally compatible colorants that are effective at ultra-low concentrations, that are non-toxic and will not accumulate in the environment.
using exclusively naturally-derived dyes can promote microbial growth, stain surfaces and fade more quickly. that's why we use both naturally-derived and synthetic dyes that are non-toxic, non-carcinogenic, biodegradable and certified by Cradle to Cradle.
if color isn't your thing, we make free + clear gel hand wash refills, laundry detergents and dishwasher tablets without dyes or perfumes.
is method safe to use around pregnant women?
congrats on your growing family. method cleaners are safe + non-toxic when used as directed. all of our ingredients are carefully screened to ensure that they don't contain reproductive toxins. this means that a product is unlikely to cause an adverse health effect in normal or forseeable use. it does not mean a product will not cause allergic reaction or irritation in any person; a small percentage of individuals may still have some form of allergic reaction or irritation to certain ingredients or products. people with known skin allergies or sensitive skin should consult with their doctor to choose products that are best for them.
like all cleaning products, method should not be ingested. it's important to keep cleaning + laundry products out of reach of children.
if one of our products is swallowed, dilute with a glass of milk or water and consult your doctor. if one of our ultra concentrated products (such as method laundry detergent or fabric softener) is swallowed, dilute with a glass of milk or water and call your doctor or a poison control center immediately.
is method safe for people with nut allergies?
you'll be happy to know that all method products - including our almond-scented cleaners - are safe for use around people with nut allergies. they do not contain any nut proteins, which are typically what cause allergic reactions. please check with your doctors if you have any concerns about what's safe for you.
yep. all of method's products are 100% gluten free and safe for those with Celiac Disease.
can I use method if I have sensitive skin?
method products are tested to ensure they align against the industry standard for hypoallergenic. this means that a product is unlikely to cause an adverse health effect in normal or forseeable use.
it does not mean a product will not cause any allergic reaction or irritation in any person; a small percentage of individuals may still have some form of allergic reaction or irritation to certain ingredients or products. people with known skin allergies or sensitive skin should consult with their doctor to choose products that are best for them.
where can I find Safety Data Sheets for method products?
we're happy to send an SDS your way. just drop us a line at info@methodhome.com and let us know which product(s) you're using.
on what surfaces can I use which method products?
you can use method surface cleaners on most sealed and non-porous surfaces. have a specific surface you want to double check? drop us a line: info@methodhome.com.
we always recommend testing any new cleaner in a small, inconspicuous area first to make sure it's compatible with the surface. it's also a good idea to check with the manufacturer of the surface for any cleaning or surface safety instructions.
do I need to rinse after using method?
most of our surface cleaners can simply be wiped clean with a dry cloth and don't require rinsing. even our spray cleaners are safe for use in food prep areas and can be used without rinsing.
that said, if you have a specialized surface like natural stone, poured cement or a specialty metal, it's a good idea to rinse the surface after cleaning to remove residual product + check with your surface manufacturer for cleaning recommendations.
how do you use method antibac products?
our antibacterial cleaners use citric acid to break down germs. start by spraying our antibac cleaner until your surface is thoroughly wet. to sanitize, let it stand for 5 minutes before wiping with a paper towel or clean cloth. to disinfect, leave it for 10 minutes before wiping.
for heavily soiled surfaces, it's a good idea to do a pre-cleaning step first. just spray + wipe any excess dirt + grime off the surface before sanitizing or disinfecting.
please note: our antibac cleaners are designed to be used on hard, non-porous surfaces that have been effectively sealed. some surfaces - such as natural stone, poured cement, wood and certain types of tile - are porous and difficult to seal effectively, so you'll want to avoid using our antibac products on them.
we always recommend testing any new cleaner in a small inconspicuous area first to make sure it's compatible with the surface. it's also a good idea to check with the manufacturer of the surface for any cleaning or surface safety instructions.
what is the difference between 8x and 4x laundry detergents?
we like to choose our own adventures, and we thought you might too. that's why we offer two types of laundry detergent that fight tough dirt + stains, and smell great doing it.
our 8x laundry detergent is the most concentrated laundry product on the market. it comes in a convenient pump dispenser that a lot of people enjoy. you can also pick up refill pouches to refill your 8x bottle.
we develope our 4x concentrated detergent as an option with more fragrances and a traditional pour-top dispenser for people who don't prefer the pump.
is method laundry detergent for high efficiency (HE) or standard washing machines?
all of the above. our laundry detergents are formulated to be effective in both standard and high efficiency (HE) machines. you can use the same dosing for both machine types.
can you relock the pump on your 8x laundry detergent?
yes. press the pump all the way down. while down, turn the nozzle to the right (clockwise) until the nozzle stops (~ 1.5 times). the pump should stay locked down. note: you will end up dispensing some product in the process so we recommend locking it when doing a load of laundry to avoid waste + mess.
power dish is leaving a white film on my dishes. what should I do?
white spotting or leftover residue is really annoying, but sometimes it happens if there is hard water where you live.
the easiest fix to prevent this for future is to use a rinse aid (our sister brand, Ecover, makes this one: https://us.ecover.com/products/rinse-aid/) to reduce spotting + filming.
start the dishwasher again. stop the program after the pre-wash + drain, when you hear it start to refill with water. open it, dump in a cup or two of white vinegar then start it back up again.
put white vinegar on a sponge and use it to wipe the dishes, then rinse them immediately. this is only safe for stainless steel or plastic sinks, don't try it with enamel or porcelain sinks.
why is my dish pump leaking?
our packaging geniuses suggest this could be due to overheating if your pump sits by a window. they recommend not leaving the dispenser in the sun for extended periods of time. if your dispenser isn't exposed to the sun or if moving it out of direct sunlight doesn't solve your problem, let us know: info@methodhome.com.
my foaming hand wash isn't foaming anymore.
we're sorry to hear that our foaming hand wash hasn't been living up to its name. you might try a hot water flush of the pump. just unscrew the pump from the bottle and carefully place it in a cup of hot water. holding the cup + pump over the sink, pump the water through until you've flushed any residual soap out of the pump. return the pump to your foaming hand wash bottle to see if it helped. hopefully you'll now have a handful of fabulous foam.
if this quick fix didn't help and you're still not getting fluffy foam, we'll happily send you a replacement pump. email us at info@methodhome.com with your mailing address and the lot code - a 6-digit code starting in a 1, stamped in black or in raised plastic on the bottom of the bottle.
my hand wash isn't working after a refill. what's the deal?
the gel hand wash refill is thicker. it's 32 oz and has a photo of our iconic, teardrop-shaped bottle on the front. it can be used as a refill in our gel hand wash bottle or a standard decorative soap dispenser.
the foaming hand wash refill is about the consistency of water. it's 28 oz and has a picture of the sloped foaming hand wash bottle on the front. it will only work with our special foaming dispenser to make marshmallow-y foam.
if you know you have the right refill and are still having issues, please email us at info@methodhome.com so we can help you out.
the simple answer is that all of our products have a shelf life of about 2.5 years. after that, you may begin to see changes in the way they look, smell or work. that said, your product could be older than that and still work perfectly well. light, heat and other factors can age products faster, so if it hasn't been exposed to them it may be just fine.
the best thing to do is give it a try. if it seems to have lost its power to fight dirty, just empty the bottle and throw it in your recycling bin. if it still cleans up a storm, then keep using it to clean happy.
our hand wash pumps are a bit different than others on the market in that they do not lift up and release. for best results, first ensure that the dispenser is screwed on tightly to the bottle (otherwise the nozzle will simply spin), turn the nozzle clockwise for a quarter-spin and then press down to dispense.
I need a replacement part. what should I do?
sorry to hear something isn't working the way it should. our packaging typically lasts through 3-5 bottle refills. if you need a replacement part, please email us at info@methodhome.com with the product you have, the size, lot code (the 6-digit code stamped on the bottom or near the neck of the bottle) and a description of the packaging woes you're experiencing so we can make it right.
method leads the industry in the use of recycled plastic in our bottles. we're proud that we're able to make beautiful bottles that use less energy (virgin plastic bottles take 70% more energy to make) + create less waste in landfills (our bottles are 100% recyclable). every bottle we design goes through a rigorous process to ensure it's as green as possible, including considering carbon emissions, energy efficiency and materials used.
almost all of method's #1 PET plastic bottles (including our gel and foam hand wash and spray cleaners) are made from 100% PCR recycled plastic (Post Consumer Resin, for those in the know). our #2 HDPE bottles range from 95% PCR recycled plastic in our toilet cleaners to 85% PCR in method premium hand wash and we continue to try to improve our PCR content in our HDPE bottles.
our bottles are made from recycled materials and are 100% recyclable. method uses primarily #1 and #2 plastics, and designs all packaging for maximum recycled content, material efficiency and recyclability.
closed loop packaging is our ultimate goal – meaning the bottles we create can be recycled and transformed back into the exact same raw material to create new bottles. we choose the materials we use based on which plastics + packaging materials actually get recycled and we design our bottles to be compatible with North American recycling systems.
are your refill pouches recyclable?
the long answer (and why we chose to use pouches): as with all of our packaging, we put a great deal of thought into waste streams and how to lessen our environmental impact. since the packaging weight of the pouch is dramatically less than that of a standard bottle, the resources used to produce, transport + use the pouch are also dramatically less. the pouch has 1/7th the impact of an equivalent volume bottle (even if that bottle was recycled 80% of the time, which is well above U.S. recycling rates).
in 2012, method and Ecover joined forces to create the world's largest green cleaning products company: People Against Dirty. as part of the People Against Dirty family, we're committed to making business a force for good - building social and environmental benefits into everything we do. we also share a common goal of creating products that clean without compromise - they're kind to people and the planet, but just as hard working as conventional cleaners.
is method a cool place to work?
if you'd like to hear more about what it's like to be a person against dirty and see what our current job openings are, you can find everything you need to know here.
how does method measure its environmental impact?
method products are Cradle to Cradle (C2C) certified at the silver or gold level. this means an independent team of scientists at the C2C Institute have assessed all ingredients, packaging materials, design, processes and social practices we use. C2C helps us make sure we're limiting our products' footprint rather than designing our products to go into a landfill.
method has the world's first line of Cradle to Cradle certified cleaning products. you can read more about our commitment to safe ingredients here.
how do I contact method outside of North America?
unless otherwise noted on the label, all method branded cleaning products sold in North America are made in America. we make most of them ourselves at our LEED Platinum-certified soap factory in Chicago's Pullman District. to learn more about how we're cleaning up the world of messy manufacturing, head here.
can I tour your south side soap box in Chicago?
we'd love to have you join the tours we run Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. CT. to request a tour, just email us at soapboxtours@peopleagainstdirty.com. we want to make sure to roll out the red carpet for you, so we'll need advance notice of at least a week.
it's the coolest factory you could ever hope to visit, if we do say so ourselves.
I am interested in doing a story on method. who should I contact?
we're flattered. please drop us a line at media@methodhome.com and check out our press room here.
will method provide a product donation for an upcoming event?
we appreciate you thinking of us. we focus our giving back efforts on our active volunteer programs in our local communities, rather than donations or sponsorships.
you can email us at info@methodhome.com if you'd like to let us know about volunteer opportunities or other ways to get involved with your event or organization.
what is method's policy on human trafficking?
if we have reason to believe that a supplier is not in compliance with the Company Supplier Code of Conduct as it relates to the California Transparency in Supply Chain Act, we will take appropriate steps, including the elimination of the supplier from the Company's supplier base or, if the violation is less severe, the opportunity to remedy the non-compliance through the development and execution of a corrective action plan.
Thanks. Use code XXXX at checkout.


text:
19/6/19 Game Designer for Not Doppler
19/6/19 Experienced 2D Artist
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Devs looking for talent
Kpow Audio to do The Banner Saga
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 19/04/2012 - 10:44pm
Job Position type:
Sound Programmer
Kpow Audio
Since we completed the audio for LA Noire, we have been hard at work setting up our studio for exciting projects when they appear. We were conscious of seeking out projects that were different from LA Noire, as we sought opportunities to show our diversity. So when we saw The Banner Saga, we contacted Stoic right away. By some good fortune, they were fans of our work on LA Noire, so after some email discussions, we were signed on to The Banner Saga! Take a look at the Kickstarter campaign at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stoic/the-banner-saga It is very hard to express how heartening and exciting it was to hear these guys, who are making a game that I backed as soon as I saw it, were excited to be working with us.
This game is looking incredible, and is just the sort of rich, detailed world that makes creating audio a joy. As their Kickstarter campaign has done so well, we are confident this game will be amazing. There is still a few hours left on the campaign at the time of writing, so if you are into deep stories, rpg's and strategic turn based combat, check it out.
As we are about to go into production on this, and as we look for more exciting projects to go to town on in the future, we are thinking about getting an audio programmer to help us out with the implementation of our audio. When we approach any project, we keep in mind our mission statement of creativity, intelligence and innovation, and to ensure we hit these tenets every time, we feel we need to be handling implementation in house. It just makes sense. Its early days yet, but if anyone knows any very talented audio programmers in Australia, please drop us a line. We need someone who really cares about sound.
So that's our news! We are looking forward to making this game incredibly immersive with evolving environments. We have ideas. We can't wait, for this and many more amazing, yet unknown, future projects.
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