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Leasing market matures - but at what cost?
New laws should make the leasing market grow up, but they come at a price, finds Corina Mica, as she analyses the two billion Euro business
Most European Union states like to set up special organisations to regulate, authorise and monitor sectors of business. In leasing, this tends to be the central bank or a specialised institution.
But there is no such body in Romania.
So this boom market has several thousand companies that, at present, seem to meet the law required to practice leasing services. Many of them do not exist or do not offer a standardised service, while others are defunct.
Therefore many in the industry argue that there is an imperative for greater regulation to ensure that there are fewer and more efficient companies, with fewer chances of bankruptcies, so that a Romanian consumer can expect the same quality of service and price as a leaseholder in Vienna or Manchester.
"Romania does not have an institution to evaluate the real size and quality of the market through consistent practice, methods or instruments," says Florin Georgescu, first deputy governor of Romania's central bank (BNR).
All the data and information on the market are centralised by two leasing associations – the Romanian Association of Leasing Companies (ASLR) and the Leasing and other non-Banking financial services Association (ALB).
"They have different approaches about the relevant indicators for this industry," says Georgescu.
Also intending to help 'regulate' this industry is a controversial new law.
Newly-elected president of the ALB, Bernd Kunzel, says the new Government Ordinance from February 2006 now places the Romanian leasing market under the "supervision and regulation" of the central bank.
"Until this year there has been no obligation for leasing companies to report data to any supervising authorities," says Kunzel.
Also Melih Mengu, CEO of UniCredit Leasing, says that the ALB has prepared a draft law which aims to clarify the status of operational leasing and bring a definition for real estate leasing.
The ALB has discussed this with the Chamber of Deputies' commission for banking and finance and has now proposed it to the Parliament.
"We believe that by the summer the Senate will discuss it in its commission of finance and banking. So, by June we will have a new leasing law," he says.
LEASE ON EARTH
The size of the leasing market in the continent, from umbrella body Leaseurope
Value of new contracts made in 2005 (Euro)
Value of all contracts minus the total payments made by consumers (Euro)
United Kingdom 55,773,610,000 121,003,850,000
France 28,770,000,000 73,798,190,000
Austria 6,712,110,000 21,184,530,000
Hungary 4,730,880,000 10,480,750,000
Poland 4,047,480,000 4,956,720,000
Romania 1,020,150,000
Source: Leaseurope represents leasing in 33 European countries. Active since 1972, Leaseurope aims to promote leasing as a key financial service and act as a primary source of leasing information.
"This is the end of the childhood of leasing in Romania," says Sorin Manolescu, general manager of EFG Eurobank Leasing. "There are many captive firms that do not have a strong corporate culture, which is needed."
The Government Ordinance [from February 2006] regulates Non-Banking Financial Institutions (IFN), which will bring some regulation into leasing companies.
"You now have security that the leasing companies are serious and competitive," says Harald Trinkl, managing director of Immorent.
But some people are wary of the effects of this law.
"BNR regulates the banking market, which is easier, and still it has not managed to avoid some big bankruptcies," says Manolescu.
The February 2006 Ordinance will also bring new restrictions.
"There were a few black sheep on the market, there was no control over the sector," says Trinkl. "Now the control is a bit too tough, as BNR treats leasing companies like banks."
The regulations characterise leasing as a financial activity, at the same time as a commercial activity, which means the industry is subject to VAT.
"As we are both a financial and a commercial activity, we're between a rock and a hard place," says Mengu.
Motoractive Leasing is also critical of BNR's decision to treat leasing companies like banks, especially because the industry does not attract deposits.
"All market players wanted regulation," says Felicia Relenschi, deputy CEO of Motoractive Leasing, "and the central bank's wish to keep inflation under control and the growing current account deficit have speeded up the adoption of the Government Ordinance that regulates the leasing market."
Ionut Chirila, marketing manager at Romstal Leasing thinks the leasing market in Romania is shifting from being just a small market to an important pillar of the economy.
"With this new legislation BNR will clean a little bit the market," he says.
This means that firms must have a minimum of 200,000 Euro share capital to register as a leasing company.
But Kerem Sekizyarali, general manager of Finans International Leasing, believes the new law will not regulate the Romanian leasing market enough – and it will depend on the norms, which show companies how to apply the new regulations, to clarify the new law.
"The Romanian leasing market is now developing and adjusting to European market requirements," he adds.
The final effect of new legislation should be positive for the larger leasing companies.
Bernd Kunzel, who also heads Raiffeisen Leasing Romania, says the important effect will be the consolidation of the leasing market.
"But these changes can also mean that small leasing companies will disappear from the market," he adds.
The dimensions of the leasing market are still unknown – and statistics are questionable. The car leasing market could be 80 or 90 per cent of the whole leasing market depending on who you speak to, for example, and the value of the sector may be between two and 2.2 billion Euro. No one seems to agree on figures, and no complete and centralised database about the leasing market in Romania means it is hard to formulate an accurate analysis.
The new regulatory framework will introduce a new system of reporting and evaluating the crediting activities run by non-banking financial institutions (IFNs).
This should give accurate data on the market which will then help to minimise the credit risk, argues Georgescu. "This will help insure financial stability," the bank chief adds.
Buying large products in piecemeal over a long period of time was a method of purchase during Communist times.
"Leasing has always been known in Romania," says Immorent's Trinkl. "This was an instrument known to people, more than in other countries, where it had to be promoted and really established."
In post-Communist times, the new leasing revolution started with the cars. In a country taking its first steps into capitalism, a consumer with cash and a materialistic mindset wants a set of wheels. He cannot yet afford one. Therefore he takes out a leasing deal so that he can buy the vehicle over several years.
"This is a booming business in Romania, with growth rates every year that show the development," says Trinkl, "I think by the end of 2007 the total market will stand at between five and six billion Euro. We have had no problems in Romania, compared to Bulgaria. This is a leasing-oriented country."
But in Romania car leasing has dominated the market for too long, without allowing development in other related sectors.
Now, opportunities have grown in the real estate and equipment sectors.
Strict rules of mortgage lending, especially when it comes to consumers declaring from which source their cash for a down-payment on a mortgage came from, mean that 'real estate' leasing has boomed in popularity.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which do not have a massive initial capital have also fuelled the market for equipment leasing.
"There is a strong SME market here, and there are not that many big, multinational companies," says Mengu. "The dynamics of the economy are mainly driven by SMEs, so that's why leasing companies should be close to such companies."
Relenschi of Motoractive Leasing says that until 2007 leasing will remain a popular choice, but after the EU accession some further costs, such as custom duties for non-EU countries, will be disadvantageous for consumers.
Mature moves
The Romanian market is small in comparison with Poland and Hungary in terms of its value, but the number of people taking out leasing contracts is increasing.
This means the leasing market has a potential which it has only partially exploited, says Cornel Coca Constantinescu, president of ASLR.
"Technology transfer, the opening of new infrastructure projects and the appearance of new companies on the Romanian market are just a few arguments to support this," he adds.
"Unfortunately, leasing is a product which is quite sensitive to taxes, the way laws are arranged or changed," says Sorin Manolescu of EFG Eurobank Leasing. "It is an industry which witnesses massive growth. Just as an example, the Romanian leasing market is larger than the Greek market. The biggest disadvantage this market has is its lapses in the ways the law defines leasing. Also, real estate leasing is not supported enough."
But as what goes up has to come down, ING Lease's general manager Bas Hoekstra says that the young and unsettled status of the market is a big downside.
"There is no legislation or changing legislation, so there are opportunities for and threats to this market," he says. "This is a young market compared to western Europe. There are only three or four leasing products on offer here, which makes it a less professional market. It is valued at about two billion Euro, out of which more than 90 per cent is car leasing."
Motoractive Leasing's Relenschi thinks the main advantage this market has, is that it remains at a level that allows for accelerated development, connected to development of the Romanian economy – which now has a healthy growth of between four and five per cent.
"EU accession will allow for more foreign investments to come in and aid development in this sector," she says. "But the main disadvantage is that leasing grew very quickly, hence the legislative instability."
Next stop: Europe
Domestically, the leasing market is witnessing its toughest competition, which forces local companies to improve their professional standards in order to grow and survive at the same time.
The question then arises: are Romanian leasing companies mature enough to expand regionally?
Felicia Relenschi, deputy CEO of Motoractive Leasing agrees.
"I think Romanian companies can go abroad," she says. "Now there is no Romanian firm operating on foreign markets, but that can be done. We are studying markets like the Republic of Moldova and Bulgaria."
Moreover, she says, the Romanian leasing market does not have problems that dog its neighbours. "Clients are quiet and they pay their debts and even if they do not, there are enough legal means to recoup the debts," she says.
Bernd Kunzel also looks onward.
"Like other sectors of the Romanian economy, the leasing market will be looking for ways to expand regionally," he says. But large leasing companies affiliated to international groups have already established leasing companies in countries like the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Hungary.
Bas Hoekstra of ING Lease thinks it is a question of opportunity.
"This country will see a huge growth in the years to come, especially after EU entry," he says. "Once in the EU, it will be a more liquid market, more companies will consider Romania and Bulgaria as an opportunity to set up a leasing company. A non-EU country generally gives out the sense of a higher risk, but this will disappear and more trade coming to this country will mean an easier flow of goods."
Going pro: Operational
Currently the Romanian leasing market is dominated by financial leasing, but starting last year companies such as Raiffeisen Leasing have begun to offer operational services.
One new player in this sector is Israeli-based rent-a-car and operational leasing firm New Kopel, which saw the opportunity in an undeveloped market.
"That's why we chose to start here our first business abroad," says CEO Dudy Perry. "There are around 80 companies active locally in operational leasing. The financial leasing contracts are more close to bank loans and operational leasing is more close to a rent-a-car business."
But Relenschi says rules on what constitutes operational leasing have not yet been clearly defined.
"With Romanians, a sense of property prevails over all," she says. "Romanians would rather buy than rent, and the market does not educate the consumer very well with respect to the advantages of operational leasing. There are very few companies which offer operational leasing and the only consumers who understand the difference tend to be large clients."
The question of costs then arises.
"Financial leasing is cheaper, but operational leasing, which is more expensive, brings along more fiscal advantages for the user," says Relenschi. "Right now the costs for both forms of leasing are quite similar in Romania."
At present, Radicini Leasing only provides 100 per cent financial leasing. But its sales director Catalin Negescu says operational leasing has started to catch up. His company will tackle the sector by the end of this year, when it will launch its fleet management product.
"We want to become an important player in the field," he adds.
Operational leasing will also increase in size, says Constantinescu of ASLR.
Companies which are not able to meet the conditions of the new law of the IFN could orient towards operational leasing, he argues, as this does not come under the new law's jurisdiction because it is based on rental and not ownership.
Sorin Manolescu, general manager of EFG Eurobank Leasing is less optimistic about its future.
"It is debatable if operational leasing will become a counter option," he says. "Now it all depends on the industries, the types of actives and which develops better."
Second chance: real estate
Real estate leasing witnessed a blow last year in Romania, with thousands of clients losing a reported 15.5 million Euro through the scam run by German-based MTS Leasing.
Now real estate leasing is estimated to account for only between two and three per cent of the entire market and is landed with a negative image.
However, this was not directly Romania's fault – because MTS Leasing, as a branch of a foreign company, was not subject to local leasing legislation.
"But a case like MTS can generally be prevented by an increased public awareness," says Bernd Kunzel. "In everyday life the customer must look at whom he is buying a product from."
Mengu of UniCredit Leasing says that norms are coming into force to prevent another MTS case from happening.
"ALB has asked for supervision and control and after the MTS case it was understood this is needed," he says. "They were just a branch here, that's why it is very important for authorities to monitor and supervise this market. No matter how much control there is, the best control should come from the market itself."
But scams are not a Romanian speciality.
"Cases like that of MTS happened in countries like The Netherlands, Germany, France and the UK and the truth is that if people set up companies to fraud other people, they will succeed," says Bas Hoekstra. "Romania is no more susceptible than others from this point of view. Because it is a non-regulated market, it may attract more such cases, but I don't think there was something the local authorities could have done to prevent the MTS case from happening."
But there is a demand in this sector from customers, which firms such as Immorent hope to fulfil. As well as equipment and car leasing, ING Lease is now offering real estate leasing as operational leasing, for a product up to 100 million Euro.
"We tackle office buildings, logistics centres and supermarkets and warehouses," says Hoekstra. "We only do business to business contracts, we do not finance individuals."
Romstal Leasing has also introduced real estate leasing.
"This is because the banks have imposed some conditions on mortgage lending and few people can afford a mortgage," says Romstal Leasing's marketing manager Ionut Chirila.
Driving force: Car leasing
Romanian leasing has developed around the car market.
The main driver for this was a series of financial incentives over the last decade, which meant the consumer received reductions in customs duties, VAT and taxes on purchasing imported cars through leasing. Romstal Leasing says that right now most cars that are leased are Dacia Logans while, in the past, the foreign brands were the most attractive.
"Today, almost 80 per cent of the market is automotive leasing, and out of that up to 40 per cent is passenger cars and 40 per cent is trucks," says Sorin Manolescu of EFG Eurobank Leasing.
But Melih Mengu of UniCredit Leasing says the growth of the car leasing business will stop accelerating at such a fast pace. Last year it increased by 60 per cent over the previous year, while the entire leasing market increased by 40 per cent over 2004. "The engine for this growth was car leasing," he adds.
With the growth of the second hand car market in Romania, leasing firms are now heading into this line of business.
"The market for new cars will stagnate and the percentage of second hand car leased will increase," says Felicia Relenschi of Motoractive Leasing. "With EU limiting second hand car imports by 2008 the market will be much more stable and balanced."
Leasing for second hand objects is allowed. But, argues Andreas Obrist, managing director of HVB Leasing, there is a lack of information about how to quantify the market-price of a second-hand leasing object. "This is also the troubling point for second hand car leasing," he says, "if no one can verify the price of the car. There are possibilities, such as independent evaluators, but first this costs some money and secondly we lose time."
Some leasing companies finance second hand cars, such as BCR Leasing, but there are rules that make it hard, says Negescu of Radacini Leasing.
"A second hand car has to be no older than three years and needs to have the warranty risk insured and they need to have a 'clean' origin," he says. "There are also leasing firms that will not do it. This special field is not regulated. It'll settle down, but no sooner than two years from now."
Additional reporting by Ana-Maria Smadeanu
Leasing companies are split into three categories:
Banking leasing companies – those affiliated to financial groups, such as Raiffeisen Leasing, ING Lease and UniCredit Leasing – which account for around 50 per cent of the local leasing market's value, according to ALB (2004).
Captive leasing companies – which belong to an importer or dealer, like Radacini Leasing and RCI Leasing. Around 33 per cent of the market.
Independent leasing companies, who are on their own, like Motoractive Leasing. Around 17 per cent of the market.
OPERATIONAL LEASING
A customer rents a product with no intention of purchasing the item at the end of a rental period. This is only just beginning professionally in Romania and could be more popular with equipment leasing and the leasing of fleets – especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. The leasing company can then rent out the product to someone else.
FINANCIAL LEASING
A customer 'rents' a product from a leasing company in, say, monthly segments and by the end of a given period can buy the item. This is the most popular form of leasing in Romania and is dominated by car leasing.
REAL ESTATE LEASING
This is 'renting' a house until a given period is over and then purchasing the house.
Real estate leasing presents several differences and advantages compared to mortgage loans, says Bernd Kunzel of Raiffeisen Leasing.
The down-payment for real estate leasing is more flexible because there are no mandatory requirements from the central bank for leasing companies in this area. Some tasks that a house-buyer would have to undertake become the responsibility of the leasing company, such as paying the site inspector.
A real estate leaser does not pay interest on VAT, only on the net value of the investment.


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Flicking the Switch on Truck Charging
Elizabethan Era Bank Buys First Carbon Credits From the New World
Susan Kraemer
The venerable British bank, Barclay's, founded four centuries ago right at the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and NRG Energy Inc, the largest US independent power producer, have just completed a deal for the very first carbon permits to be offered by California's planned cap and trade program to reduce pollution in its AB32 climate legislation, according to Bloomberg News.
The permits will be delivered in December 2012, according to the head of US emissions trading at Barclays in the UK, which has been involved in (EU) carbon trading for some time. The trading begins in 2012 for utilities and manufacturers, and by 2015, for vehicles.
(Tesla has already benefited from carbon trading, receiving $13 million from Honda in carbon trades, since electric vehicles reduce greenhouse gases. Honda has been one of the last of the major car manufacturers to move to develop electric vehicles, so by 2015, it may still need permits to produce gas cars.)
The first permits are offered at $11.50 a ton, but by 2020, could reach as high as $30 a ton. Market conditions can only determine the price to pollute, so the cost (to polluters) and the benefit (to innovators) can vary. By contrast, pollution limits are fixed. They cannot be exceeded.
The advantage of cap and trade over carbon taxes is certainty. Pollution is capped and reduced.
The cap: a total pollution allowance, is set in advance and reduced each year, in order to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets.
With a carbon tax, by contrast, the price of pollution is fixed, but the limit is not, so pollution is not necessarily reduced. Theoretically, the rich could continue to pollute, because a tax is just money, (in the same way that the rich can afford to pile up the speeding fees that the rest of us cannot).
Despite an extremely well-funded and pervasive disinformation campaign by polluters that could end civilization by spoon-feeding lies to make us a nation of climate zombies, Californian voters managed by some miracle to stand up to the fossil industry, and to protect our chance at joining the rest of the world in developing the new clean energy future.
If we can transition to a clean power future, the human race can survive another four centuries, at least. Four centuries is as long from now, as when this image was painted of Queen Elizabeth I. but in only three centuries, half the planet will be too hot to live on by just 2300! In four centuries sea levels will have obliterated all of our coastal cities including of course London, Hong Kong, and New York.
According to the very readable economic historian Fernand Braudel (The Wheels of Commerce), it was in the Elizabethan era that we created the legislative foundations of economic life that continue to underpin modern capitalism in western democracies. Laws governing economic exchanges are the reason that western civilization flourished while more lawless places did not.
The polluters prefer the lawlessness of failed states, so they can pollute till they run out of extractable fossil fuels, which will hit them sometime later in this century. But if we don't put a cap on pollution in the next few years, there won't be a much of a world for future centuries.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have another four centuries of civilization?
If widely adopted, cap and trade would make this possible, by simply capping and reducing the dangerous greenhouse gases that foreclose our future. Queen Elizabeth's legislative heritage, and the longevity of Barclay's Bank shows us that good legislation like AB32 builds real civilizations that last.
SusanKraemer@Twitter
In this article:2300, AB32, Barclays Bank, civilization, climate zombies, failed states, half, NRG Energy, Planet, resource curse, too hot
Written By Susan Kraemer
writes at CleanTechnica, CSP-Today and Renewable Energy World. She has also been published at Wind Energy Update, Solar Plaza, Earthtechling PV-Insider , and GreenProphet, Ecoseed, NRDC OnEarth, MatterNetwork, Celsius, EnergyNow, and Scientific American. As a former serial entrepreneur in product design, Susan brings an innovator's perspective on inventing a carbon-constrained civilization: If necessity is the mother of invention, solving climate change is the mother of all necessities! As a lover of history and sci-fi, she enjoys chronicling the strange future we are creating in these interesting times. Follow Susan on Twitter @dotcommodity.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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The Questionless Books Interview: Editor, Blogger, and Writer Jason Boog
Submitted by gmurray on March 4, 2011 - 10:57am
After spending two years on top of a mountain in Peace Corps Guatemala, Jason Boog chased the dream of every skinny Midwestern writer boy with glasses: to starve to death in New York City. He's an editor at MediaBistro.com's publishing blog, GalleyCat and an adjunct instructor at New York University's School of Journalism, and has written for The Believer, Salon.com, The Revealer, and Peace Corps Writers. He also worked for three years as a staff writer at the investigative reporting publication, Judicial Reports.
Jason's Links:
I am...The publishing editor at mediabistro.com, a blogger at GalleyCat, and a literary nonfiction writer.
I am known to...compose six to eight blog posts a day and write long form literary nonfiction.
I do this in...GalleyCat, The Believer, Granta, Salon.com, and other places.
I do this because...I was never really good at doing anything else.
I do this when I...have a spare moment--holding a sleeping baby, on the subway, while walking, in bed, at coffee shops, and sometimes, when I'm lucky, at a desk.
The way I do this is...on Evernote, a program that syncs my writing across my smartphone, my laptop, my desktop, and my tablet. Ever since my wife and I had a beautiful baby girl I've had to change my usual writing strategy (hand-write in a notebook and type into my laptop at a later date) because I've lost a lot of free writing time. So I write on whatever device is available and most convenient at the particular moment I can write.
At his/her core, a Writer is...somebody who tells stories.
As opposed to an Author, who is...a person who managed to actually publish the stories they tell in a book.
A Writer is responsible for...telling the best stories they possibly can.
As opposed to an Author, who is responsible for...telling the best stories they possibly can and working as best they can with an agent, editor & publisher to share their Book with the world. I think this is changing, however. More below...
At its core, Publishing is...the business of printing, packaging, coding and distributing stories in as many different places as possible.
As opposed to Editing, which is...polishing manuscripts into polished and publishable material for a Book.
A Publisher should always...take advantage of the new digital tools, formats, and communities that will help their authors.
As opposed to an Editor, who should always...help a writer polish a manuscript into something beautiful before passing it along to a Publisher.
A Manuscript that's ready to be read by others is...not ready to be published. It is ready to be read, critiqued, re-edited by the writer many, many times before the writer ever attempts to get published.
As opposed to a Book that's ready to be ready by others, which is...a Book that has been read, critiqued, re-edited by the writer many, many times, edited by an Editor, and published by a Publisher.
A Manuscript should always...be critiqued & revised by at least three kinds of people: a friend, a disinterested reader, and a professional writer.
As opposed to a Book, which should always...follow the Traditional Publishing Model. That's what I would have said until recently. But now I think things are changing and our definitions must be more flexible.
Up until this sentence, I was describing the Traditional Publishing Model. It has worked wonderfully for many years, and I still recommend that my writer friends try and follow this route before they do anything else with a manuscript. HOWEVER, these are tough days for both Writers and Authors--advances are shrinking, bookstore space is diminishing, and there will be less and less book deals in the future.
Therefore, this model will not work for everyone in the future and many writers will take the self-publishing route to becoming an Author. I don't think this is a bad thing, but it will change the publishing landscape forever.
In this strange new world populated by more and more self-published work, I would still urge writers to follow these steps to becoming an Author:
1. Read, critique, re-edit your work many many times before publishing.
2.Make sure your manuscript has been critiqued & revised by at least three kinds of people: a friend, a disinterested reader, and a professional writer.
3. Hire a freelance editor to help you polish the manuscript, if at all possible.
4. Make sure you have the best resources (and, if possible, outside support) possible for publishing a readable and well-formatted book.
5. Use social networks, media, book clubs, friends, family, bookstores, and anybody else you can enlist to help share your book.
At its core, Bookselling is...sharing your love of a book with another person.
As opposed to Book Marketing, which is...sharing information (and, in the best cases, love) about a book with as many people as possible.
The smallest unit of narrative is...The phrase "Once there was..."
The biggest reason to anticipate the future is...the fact that digital books encourage people to read more books than ever before and the fact that the Internet helps people share & discover books better than ever before.
The biggest reason to be scared of the future is...we will have thousands and thousands of new books to choose from, but less guidance from traditional gatekeepers like publishers, traditional book reviews & mega-bookstores. This trend isn't completely scary by itself, and will, I hope, be refreshing in the long run. However, this trend will make it much, much harder for writers to support themselves as the traditional publishing economy changes. I wrote a long essay about this here.
In the future we will all...read more books in more formats.
At his/her core, a Reader is...somebody who loves reading the stories that writers love to tell.
The ideal Reader is...somebody who loves all the same things I like to read and write about (in no particular order & these are just examples off the top of my head): how New York City writers survived during the Great Depression, private detectives, Old Time Radio dramas, hypothetical cool eBooks with video in them, G.I. Joe, fake memoirs, comic books, H.P. Lovecraft, Werner Herzog films, pulp fiction, good bad movies, postmodern trickery, extended metaphors, experimental nonfiction, real-life authors as characters in fiction & nonfiction, Raymond Chandler, Sigmund Freud, libraries, narrator voice-overs, dreamy imagery, Jorge Luis Borges stories, librarians, and people talking about books on the Internet.
Tue November 23, 2010
The Questionless Books Interview: Novelist, Reviewer, and Teacher Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer
Submitted by gmurray on November 23, 2010 - 10:37am
Inspired by the Proust Questionnaire, The Questionless Books Interview gets a host of lit-types (authors, editors, publishers, publicists, designers, booksellerss, readers, bloggers, journalists, etc.) to finish a bunch of statements about the state of literature and the "future of books".
Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer's first book of fiction, Way Up (2003) received a Danuta Gleed Award and was a finalist for the Relit Award. The Nettle Spinner was short-listed for The Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel award and was also named a best of 2005 by January magazine. Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer is the former fiction editor of The Literary Review of Canada, and has also worked as a tree-planter, a lumberjack, and a baker. Her reviews have appeared in The Globe and Mail, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Toronto Star and The National Post. She teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto and through the New York Times online learning, and is the former Magazine Editor for Bookninja.com.


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Part of our mission is to be:
"…an open, trusted and welcoming home for research and discovery in the life sciences, agriculture, applied social sciences and human ecology. As a New York State land-grant library, we actively support the needs of all who seek knowledge and foster the open exchange of diverse ideas to improve the lives of people everywhere."
To carry out our mission, we accept our responsibility to further social justice by providing equitable access to information, facilitating the creation of new knowledge, and preserving our history so that we may continue to learn from it. We are committed to recognizing and addressing the history of systemic bias and inequity in libraries and in librarianship, including our collections, spaces, services, and recruitment practices.
Instruction Initiatives and Student Support
Mann Instruction Program
Mann Library has been actively working to build an impactful Critical Information Literacy Instruction Program rooted in critical and deliberative pedagogy that helps equip undergraduate students with the information skills needed to be responsible digital citizens. Three recrafted positions in the department: Emerging Literacies Instruction Support Specialist, Data Literacy Librarian, and Digital Literacy Librarian focus on inclusive learning technologies, data-driven sense-making, and underrepresented digital collections.
Personal Librarian Program
Multiple Mann Library staff members are participants in the Cornell University Library Personal Librarian Program which first launched in September 2020. The Personal Librarian Program is offered to incoming first-year undergraduates who identify as first generation, low income (FGLI) students. Library staff members are assigned a group of FGLI students to reach out to via e-mail throughout the academic year and serve as a personal point of contact for these students, providing extra assistance navigating the complexities of a university research library.
Collaboration with Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives (OADI)
Mann Library staff have worked closely with OADI, developing orientations to library resources, providing office hours for student consultations, giving various presentations to incoming students and the McNair Scholars, and attending the "Tuesday Lunches" series.
Partnership with West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WAACI)
As a partner with WACCI, Cornell University's Mann Library provides research support and services for graduate students enrolled in the WACCI program. In addition to onsite training, we provide research help, access to resources through Interlibrary Loan, and help with managing information and citations.
Farmworker Service Directory
Mann's geospatial librarian worked with the Cornell Farmworker Program to develop an interactive map and directory of resources in New York related to housing, banking, legal assistance, education, job training, health services and more. Farmworkers are among the most vulnerable populations in New York. Immigration status and language barriers can make it difficult for them to access services commonly taken for granted by others. This bilingual website can also be viewed in Spanish.
Mann Librarians have contributed to research guides that compile resources to assist instructors with teaching diverse populations:
Teaching and Learning in Diverse Classrooms
LGBTQIA+ Resources for the Cornell Community
Hiring, Training, and Development
Hiring and Recruitment
Mann shares a commitment to increase the hiring pipeline of qualified, talented individuals and our Early Career Residency position is a 3-year opportunity for librarians from historically marginalized identities to work alongside our talented staff and gain valuable experience and support, laying the foundation for a successful career ahead.
We have adjusted our job postings and hiring practices to attract a diverse pool of candidates and make the interview process as unbiased and welcoming to a diverse candidate pool as possible.
Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging Council (DIB)
Mann staff members contribute to the Library's DIB Council. DIB Council provides leadership in diversity, equity, and inclusion for Cornell University Library staff through program creation, dissemination of information, and evaluation of existing library programs and structures. DIB Council strives to make the library a more inclusive place for all people through staff development, communication with administration, and resource creation. DIB Council members also collaborate with other Library stakeholders will ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion are considered at all decision-making levels.
Equity & Empowerment Reading Group
The Equity & Empowerment Reading Group is an informal reading group, open to all library staff, with the goal of creating a more inclusive workplace through shared understanding and education. Colleagues from across the library work together to better understand how libraries and library staff are impacted by structural forces such as racism, sexism, and related injustices. Every other month, the organizers share a selection of readings and discussion prompts on a particular theme, and then meet with interested staff to discuss how we can make meaningful change in the workplace.
Leaders for Diversity and Inclusion
Mann Library participates alongside academic departments and programs within the College of Arts and Sciences (CALS) in a new initiative to create Leaders for Diversity and Inclusion (LDIs). LDI work has been centered most recently on hiring practices and strategic planning initiatives for diversity and inclusion. As part of their work, the LDIs led CALS faculty reading groups of How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi in the Fall 2020 semester.
Evidence Synthesis Institute
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)-funded Evidence Synthesis Institute is a partnership between University of Minnesota, Cornell University, and Carnegie Mellon University, providing 6 intensive institutes for American library staff supporting evidence synthesis across disciplines over the course of 3 years. Institute instructors are committed to inviting and welcoming librarians representing diverse organizations, backgrounds, and experiences to participate in in the institute. By charging no tuition and covering all transportation, food, and lodging costs, these opportunities are available with no need for applicants to provide additional personal or institutional funds.
Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa (ITOCA)
Cornell University Library's Evidence Synthesis service has partnered with the Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa (ITOCA) to develop training and mentorship opportunities for African librarians. The trainings, modeled on the IMLS-funded Evidence Synthesis Institute above, will be offered in the spring of 2022 and 2023.
Collaboration with Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL)
Cornell University is a member of BHL with Mann Library as its most active contributor to the collection. In September 2021, BHL adopted an Acknowledgement of Harmful Content statement which acknowledges the existence of harmful content in many biodiversity science publications and original materials included in its collection. The same page also includes an FAQ describing BHL's collection management philosophy regarding harmful content and its context in the ongoing history of science.
Collection Development Task Force on Anti-Racism and Just & Equitable Futures
The Cornell University Library's Collection Development Task Force on Anti-Racism and Just & Equitable Futures, with some Mann Librarian contributors, has drafted a report that provides vision and recommendations for actionable commitment to anti-racism when selecting the content, authorship, and sources of materials for the Cornell University Library Collection. In addition, the report includes a proposed amendment to CUL's collection development principles that acknowledges and redresses omissions of bias, exclusion, and oppression reflected in library materials, thus supporting research, and teaching that critically examines unjust structures, while also providing a sensitive content statement.
A patron inquiry in 2017 led to the rediscovery of a rare and important historical collection of African American agricultural history held at Mann Library called the Modern Farmer. The Modern Farmer was a serial publication, created by the National Federation of Colored Farmers from 1929-1949 for African American farmers in the south and Midwest. Mann Library has the only known full run physical copy of this publication and digitized the collection in 2019.
Services and Spaces
Elimination of Late Fees
As of July 1, 2021, all Cornell libraries have permanently eliminated late fees for most overdue materials. According to a 2019 study by the Financial Justice Project and San Francisco Public Library, it was found that "[o]verdue fines restrict access and exacerbate inequality by disproportionately affecting low-income and racial-minority communities, create conflict between patrons and the library, require an inefficient use of staff time, and do not consistently ensure borrowed materials end up back on library shelves." The American Library Association also passed a resolution in 2019 in support of this position, saying the "imposition of monetary library fines creates a barrier to the provision of library and information services." Mann Library is enthusiastic about joining other academic libraries across the country in this effort to improve affordability for our users and further break down barriers to library use.
Contactless Pickup
During the pandemic, Mann became one of several Cornell libraries to implement a contactless pickup service for our patrons that enables them to borrow materials from our collections without having to find and retrieve them in our stacks or check them out at our busy help desk. For our local community patrons, we also extended this service to include curbside delivery while access to our buildings remained limited. We have continued to offer contactless pickup even as campus as reopened, because it is not only convenient, but also safe and accessible for patrons with disabilities or who may be immunocompromised.
HathiTrust Equitable Access Program
In participation with HathiTrust, Cornell University Library can provide equitable access for eligible patrons with print disabilities to items within the HathiTrust Digital Library. Access is accomplished through a library proxy. Eligible patrons wishing to use this service may refer to this step-by-step guide (PDF) for instructions. Contact CUL proxies through CUL-HTProxy-L@cornell.edu.
Mann has collaborated with the Cornell Office of Spirituality and Meaning-Making to create an interfaith serenity room at the library that can be used by students for meditation, prayer, or quiet contemplation.
Mann Library has a lactation room on the 2nd floor of the library for pumping and/or breastfeeding. Storage lockers and a small refrigerator are available. No reservation necessary – please visit the help desk to request the room key.
All library websites and digital content, including research guides and video recordings, meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA requirements to make web content more accessible.


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Green Planet Films' streaming site featuring nature and environment and human ecology films from around the globe
Watch this video and more on Green Planet Stream
The Future of Birds
Animals, Birds, Reptiles, Fish, Insects, Plants • 40m
With the loss of global biodiversity and climate change in mind, the world`s ornithologists are understanding how important birds are for ecosystems and economies. In this documentary, you will discover recent research conclusions with scientists and ornithologists from around the planet. You will share the passion and the love of birders and admire the most elegant and mobile creatures of the natural world. The importance of birds cannot be understated. They connect boreal forests to the tropics, disperse seeds they have eaten through their droppings and bring plants back to ecosystems that have been destroyed.
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Q: After renaming a git local and remote branch, what should other users of this repository do? I'm about to rename a branch locally and remotely using the advice provided in the following answer and many more like it:

https://stackoverflow.com/a/30590238/419

The current name of the branch is coredev and the new name of the branch will be newcoredev.
This is fine for me, it works. But most of these examples appear to assume you're not working with a team with in-flight open feature or bugfix branches created from coredev on their own machines.
Is there something extra I need to do or be concerned about to ensure that after renaming coredev to newcoredev (with its open branches) that won't create a world of pain for my colleagues?

A: I'm not quite sure this is a duplicate, but if it's not, it's not really a programming question.   So, I'm going to add this answer here, but it's at least a little bit off topic.
As jingx noted in a comment, Git does not really care about branch names at all.  It just uses them to find commits.  You can change the spelling of the name as little or as much as you like, e.g., feature/behavior can become feature/behavior or even jean-baptiste-emanuel-zorg, and it all makes no difference at all to Git itself.
There are two places where it does matter, though:

*

*Each branch, in each repository, can have an upstream set.  The upstream of a branch is simply another string, but it's often the string corresponding to the remote-tracking name in your repository, which your Git creates or updates based on the branch name in some other repository.
When the remote repository Git drops branch name B1 in favor of new name B2, your Git will—let's assume the remote is called origin for concreteness here—create your origin/B2 on your next git fetch.  If you have enabled --prune (fetch.prune = true) or use it explicitly, your Git will also delete your origin/B1; if not, it won't.  Either way, the upstream setting of your own branch—let's say you've called your branch zorg and set its upstream to origin/B1—is now "wrong" in some way as you should change it to origin/B2.

*Humans assign significance to branch names.  feature/behavior, whether spelled in American or British style, is neutral; zorg implies that the branch is evil.  If you're in favor (or favour) of evil, you might want to rename your local branch.
The course of action required for both of these items is the same: tell your co-workers / collaborators / others that you are renaming the branch.  They can take any action they need to take, based on this.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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You are here: Home / Audiobook Reviews / Audiobook Review – Royally Matched by Emma Chase
Audiobook Review – Royally Matched by Emma Chase
August 31, 2018 by Megan · Leave a Comment
Royally Matched by Emma Chase
Series: Royally #2
Published by Self-Published, Simon & Schuster Audio
Publication date: February 21, 2017
Narrator: Andi Arndt, Shane East
Length: 8 hours and 53 minutes
Some men are born responsible; some men have responsibility thrust upon them. Henry John Edgar Thomas Pembrook, Prince of Wessco, just got the motherlode of all responsibility dumped in his regal lap. He's not handling it well.
Hoping to help her grandson rise to the occasion, Queen Lenora agrees to give him "space" - but while the Queen's away, the Prince will play. After a chance meeting with an American television producer, Henry finally makes a decision all on his own:
Welcome to Matched: Royal Edition.
A reality TV dating game show featuring twenty of the world's most beautiful blue bloods, all gathered in the same castle. Only one will win the diamond tiara; only one will capture the handsome prince's heart. While Henry revels in the sexy, raunchy antics of the contestants as they fight for his affection, it's the quiet, bespectacled girl in the corner - with the voice of an angel and a body that would tempt a saint - who catches his eye. The more Henry gets to know Sarah Mirabelle Zinnia Von Titebottum, the more enamored he becomes of her simple beauty, her strength, her kind spirit...and her naughty sense of humor.
But Rome wasn't built in a day, and irresponsible royals aren't reformed overnight. As he endeavors to right his wrongs, words take on new meanings for the dashing Prince. Words like duty, honor, and, most of all, love.
AMAZON USAMAZON UKAMAZON CAiBOOKSGET THE AUDIOBOOKGOODREADS
I didn't exactly love Royally Screwed (My Review), the first in Emma Chase's Royally series, but I still wanted to give the other books in the series a try (See my review of Book #3). As a lover of The Bachelor, I really wanted to read this one with Prince Henry going on Matched, a royal Bachelor-esque reality show.
After his brother gave up the crown to marry a non-royal, Henry is now first in line to be king. The problem is Henry doesn't quite know what to do with the pressure that comes with being king. He's the brother who always has a lady and is prone to bringing negative attention to the crown. When his grandmother banishes him to a castle far away, he accepts a producer's offer to find love on television. What he doesn't expect is to fall in love with a woman behind-the-scenes, not one of the women on the show. This is what intrigued me the most!
I did like some parts of this book. I love seeing a player fall on his knees a girl he wouldn't normally go for. Here, Henry falls for, Sarah, the shy sister of one of the contestants. She loves to read and is more of a wallflower. One thing I liked about the romance was the attempt at creating a progression from friends-to-lovers. Henry meets Sarah when seeks the privacy of her room, hiding from the noisy cameras in his room. Sarah and Henry talk and get to know each other, so it was fun to see that develop. I would have liked to actually see more of that time on the page, though instead of telling the reader about it.
Are there other readers like me who demands stronger character development in romance? Sarah and Henry's characters were exaggerated and overdone. Sarah is the quiet, shy one and I felt as though the reader is constantly reminded of her love of reading and books. I can't really recall anything distinctive about her or Henry's personalities. Henry is just another "player-type" stock character, with very little nuance. Also, the character's names in this book was eyeroll-inducing. Sarah's last name is Von Titebottum (pronounced tight bottom). And yes, Henry does compare that to her booty. The other side characters had similarly ridiculous names. I think it's supposed to be funny but it wasn't.
Sarah has a traumatic past and clearly has some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder, evidenced by moments of blackouts called "fugue states" where she freezes but maintains awareness after being triggered. The abuse she suffered and this disease is glossed over and not addressed with much respect or care.
While I liked elements of the plot, all of it together was very cliched. I don't mind tropes and cliches if the authors puts a new spin on them to make them unique but that wasn't done here. I felt like I've read these characters a million times and with this book there was nothing special or memorable about the characters or the plot. The final nail in the coffin was a weak conflict towards the end that was rooted in miscommunication. It felt very flimsy and was carelessly put together. I expect more from Emma Chase. I'm hoping the next series she releases is more satisfying.
* I borrowed this audiobook from my local library.
Around the Book Blogosphere #25 — Great First Kisses, Cinderella Book Tag, and D...
Book Review & Giveaway - Sustained by Emma Chase
Book Review — Tied by Emma Chase
Audiobook Review - Royally Endowed by Emma Chase
Leave a Comment · Filed Under: Audiobook Reviews, Reviews · Tagged: Emma Chase, Royal Romance


This course is ideal for penetration testers, security enthusiasts, and network administrators. This course leading to the certification exam is entirely practical and hands-on in nature. The final certification exam is fully practical as well, and tests the student's ability to think out of the box and is based on the application of knowledge in practical real life scenarios. Currently the number of security professionals in India is around 22,000 and the applicants for the same are less than 1000, so this is a very in-demand area.
The goal of this course is to help you master an ethical hacking methodology as a professional, starting from scratch. What you learn during this course can be used in a penetration testing or ethical hacking situation, as well as in your place of business. You'll walk out the door with hacking skills that are highly in demand, as well as the internationally recognized Certified Information Security Professional certification!
Hitesh Choudhary, Trained as an Electronics Engineer and mastered as computer network and Information Security, is a renowned Author, video author, International speaker and security consultant. Also he is a got trained in wireless security from a prof. of MIT. He created various tools and attacks like wireless Eurynomus featured in pentest magazine and in Backtrack project. His webinar on wireless, Backtrack, and ethical hacking was attended by 2000+ professionals from Google India, HP, IBM, Accenture, TCS, Sapient Corp. , Symantec, EEL India Ltd., Capgemini, Micro Technology, CDAC, Kodak India Ltd., Wipro Infotech Ltd., ABB Ltd., Tech Mahindra Ltd., and many more. He is also an active consultant and speaker for police in India and Army Intelligence and his work was featured in 20+ air, print and live media.


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12 Hammersmith Grove: U+I and Aberdeen's latest office development ready to draw big names to Hammersmith
Project builds on the success of 10 Hammersmith Grove which set a new benchmark for rents in Hammersmith
Site, formerly owned by TfL, has generated revenue for reinvestment in London's transport network
Property regeneration specialist, U+I, has announced the completion of construction works at 12 Hammersmith Grove, a 170,000 sq ft, Grade A office building which is the sister project to 10 Hammersmith Grove, both forward-funded by Aberdeen Asset Management (Aberdeen). Both buildings are located at the heart of the 'TV Triangle', a media cluster in West London spanning Hammersmith, Chiswick and White City. The area is an established commercial hub, acting as a magnet for media companies from global blue chips to new start-ups.
The site was formerly owned by Transport for London (TfL) who selected U+I to transform a former car park adjacent to Hammersmith station into a new commercial destination for Hammersmith to complement the wider regeneration of the town centre. 10 Hammersmith Grove set a new benchmark for modern and high class commercial space, providing a 'West End quality' product for the area. UKTV and Fox International Channels are amongst the tenant line up at No.10, underlining the attraction of the development to creative, media businesses. Commercial success has followed, with lettings achieved hitting £50 per sq.ft, a new record for Hammersmith.
The U+I and Aberdeen vision for 12 Hammersmith Grove is for a creative, modern and vibrant workplace. This is captured as soon as you enter the ground floor reception thanks to the work of contemporary stained-glass artist, Kate Maestri. She has created a striking double height, full-wall installation, which brings a richness and warmth to the building.
To complement the contemporary building design, the public realm created by U+I for 10 and 12 Hammersmith Grove provides a natural extension to Lyric Square and has become a busy and much loved dining destination for the local area. Bills and Byron are already established at No.10 with alfresco dining areas, surrounded by green walls and landscaped areas. Discussions are underway with a number of exciting operators for the final two restaurants to complete the line-up, making this a vibrant location from morning to night time.
Hammersmith Grove is just one example of a strong and successful partnership between U+I and TfL. The development has already unlocked significant returns to TfL which it is reinvesting back into the network.
Commenting, Matthew Weiner, CEO of U+I said "12 Hammersmith Grove is a great illustration of how an imaginative development can transform a previously overlooked site. We were entrusted by TFL and the London Borough of Hammersmith to create an attractive and vibrant space for businesses and I am thrilled that 10 Hammersmith Grove is already thriving at the heart of the 'TV Triangle' in West London. 12 Hammersmith Grove builds on that success and I look forward to announcing new tenants in the near future, adding even more creative and growing businesses to the area."
Gerry Ferguson, Aberdeen Asset Management said "We are delighted to confirm the completion of 12 Hammersmith Grove, the second and final phase of this striking speculative office led regeneration scheme in Hammersmith. The Hammersmith office market has significantly strengthened since the commencement of this project with TfL and U+I. We are therefore very confident that we can attract similar high calibre tenants to follow on from our hugely successful scheme at No 10."
About U + I
U+I is a property regeneration company that transforms undervalued parts of towns and cities into communities where people and enterprise can thrive. The product of a merger between Development Securities PLC and Cathedral Group, two of the UK's leading property companies, U+I has a current market capitalisation of c. £300 million.
With a portfolio of mixed-use regeneration projects in London, the south-east, Manchester and Dublin we bring creativity and innovation to some of the most exciting opportunities in the property market. We combine financial strength and commercial acumen, a strong track record of working in partnership with public bodies, a commitment to the highest standards of design and architecture and a careful curation of place and history, to deliver long-term, sustainable change and value for our diverse stakeholder groups.
Lucy Grimble
lucygrimble@uandiplc.com
Orla Swindells
Blue Rubicon
Orla.Swindells@bluerubicon.com


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Coleman: Tough test for Reds
Matt Deacon
John Coleman is expecting Bristol Rovers to provide a 'tough' test for his Stanley side when they visit the Memorial Stadium tomorrow.
Both clubs tasted defeat on the opening day of the season, with the Reds falling at home to Gillingham and Rovers beaten 2-1 at Peterborough.
The boss was disappointed with the way his side started life in the third tier, but feels the Reds are more than capable of competing in League One.
"Games often come down to fine margins," said Coleman. "On Saturday those margins went against us and we've got to be able to take that on the chin and move on and not beat ourselves up about it.
"Both teams were wide open, both teams went out to win the game and we just didn't handle the ball as well as we normally do.
"Every game you play is tough, but if you have a way of playing and you stick to it and you impose it on the opposition, you can generally have more success than failure."
Coleman made it clear after the Gillingham result that the trip to Bristol could not come quickly enough for his side, and the Stanley manager is looking forward to the challenge.
"They've got a good manager, they've got good players and we've got to formulate a way of beating them," he said.
"It will be tough, they're in the same position as us with no points after the first game.
"I've watched their game against Peterborough a couple of times and there was not a lot in it to be fair.
"If we're not at our best they can hurt us, but if we are at our best then we can hurt them."
◂ Programme Advertising
PREVIEW | Bristol Rovers (A) ▸


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501(c)(3) US Foundation
ORGANIZATION NAME & ADDRESS DETAILS
Foundation name: American Friends of The Ocean Cleanup, Foundation*
The Foundation is a public charity, exempt from income tax under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501(c)(3).
American Friends of The Ocean Cleanup, Foundation
228 East 45th Street, Suite 9E, New York, NY 10017
Check donations: Dept LA 24875, Pasadena CA 91185-4875
Visit the Contact page to get in touch via e-mail
*Previously named The Ocean Cleanup North Pacific Foundation. The name changed as of December 2022.
The Foundation supports initiatives to rid the oceans and waterways of plastic
THE MISSION AND SCOPE
Ridding the oceans of plastic
The purpose of American Friends of The Ocean Cleanup is to preserve and protect the natural ocean environment for the benefit of the public. This includes promoting and supporting the efficient and environmentally-friendly extraction of waste from oceans, seas, and other waste areas. It also includes promoting, supporting, and performing the environmentally-friendly recycling of such waste. The American Friends of The Ocean Cleanup raises funds in the US to support its missions.
The Foundation works closely with Stichting The Ocean Cleanup, a foundation based in The Netherlands, to realize the mission of ridding the world's oceans of plastic. The Foundation grants the raised funds to activities aligned with its mission based on grant agreements. The Foundation may also solicit funds for and provide grants to certain Stichting The Ocean Cleanup projects and activities. It is always to the discretion of the Board to determine if and how much funds will be granted.
The Foundation has supported projects such as the Interceptor project for Kingston Harbor in Jamaica, the Interceptor 004 in Dominican Republic, research equipment for tracking plastic in rivers as well as some of the expenses connected to the operation of System 002.
Kingston Harbour, Jamaica, Barnes Gully barrier
System 002 in operation in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Governance of American Friends of The Ocean Cleanup, Foundation
American Friends of The Ocean Cleanup is an independent foundation established under the laws of Delaware and registered in the State of California. It is governed as a US 501(c)3 foundation and holds a public charity status described in IRC Section 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) to enable US donors to tax-efficiently support its mission. The Foundation's sole member is Stichting The Ocean Cleanup.
The Foundation is managed by its Board of Directors. The Board may delegate the management of the activities of the Foundation to any other person, provided the activities and affairs of the Foundation are managed under the ultimate direction of the Board.
The members of the Board are not entitled to any remuneration. They are, however, entitled to ask for reimbursement of reasonable costs (such as travel expenses).
Stichting The Ocean Cleanup
For more information on the Dutch foundation, Stichting The Ocean Cleanup, and its affiliated companies, including its annual reports and foundation details click here. For general information on The Ocean Cleanup, we refer to the other website pages related to our mission, technology etcetera.
Boyan Slat CEO & Chairman
Inventor since birth. Founded The Ocean Cleanup at age 18. Youngest ever recipient of the UN's highest environmental accolade; Champion of the Earth in 2015. Awarded the maritime industry's Young Entrepreneur Award in 2015 by HM King Harald of Norway. Chosen as European of the Year by Readers Digest in 2017. Member of the Thiel Fellowship.
Joy Gao Treasurer
Ex-auditor specializing in the non-profit and public sector for over 5 years. Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and Taxation at UNSW, Australia, and member of Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (CAANZ) since 2018.
Carl van der Zandt Secretary and board member
US attorney focused on EU-US business expansion and investments. Master at Law. Partner at Wuersch & Gering.
Rob Parker Board member
Retired Vice Admiral of the US Coast Guard. Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies. Expert on national and cyber security, crisis response operations and maritime operations.
FUNDING DETAILS
You can donate to American Friends of The Ocean Cleanup via our website donation form on this Donation page by selecting USD as currency.
If you would like to donate with check or via wire transfer, you can find more details on this in the Donate page FAQs.
If you are interested in a partnership or making a large donation, please contact us through the general contact form.


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Q: Search what if the nature of the limit I must find the limit $\ell$ defined bellow. I was wondering if $\ell<1$. This limit came from the following series:
$$ \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} 2^{n}\frac{\sqrt{n+1}}{3^{n}}. $$
Let's call $$c_{n}=2^{n}\frac{\sqrt{n+1}}{3^{n}}$$
What I did: was to consider the quotient $$\frac{c_{n+1}}{c_{n}}$$
which gives
$$\ell = \underset{n\to \infty}{\lim}\ \frac{c_{n+1}}{c_{n}} =\underset{n\to \infty}{\lim}\ \frac{\displaystyle{2^{n+1}\frac{\sqrt{n+2}}{3^{n+1}}}}{\displaystyle{2^{n}\frac{\sqrt{n+1}}{3^{n}}}}.$$
after:I multiply and  find $\ell<1$. But, I don't know if it is right.

Can you please check if you find the same? I may have done something wrong..

A: I find the same; your approach seems fine to me.


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Brooklyn naming basketball courts after Notorious B.I.G.
Buddy Iahn | July 20, 2017 | Rap/Hip Hop News
Brooklyn City Councilman Robert E. Cornegy Jr. has fulfilled his promise to Notorious B.I.G.'s Mother, Voletta Wallace, by having basketball courts at a Brooklyn playground named in memory of her son. Cornegy lived in the same Brooklyn building as Biggie's Mother and after his passing, promised her that her son's name would be honored.
Residents opposed efforts by Cornegy in the past to honor the rapper's name due to his violent lyrics and criminal history, but now, twenty years after Biggie's death, it is finally going to happen.
Councilman Cornegy will be joined by members of Biggie's family at a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Crispus Attucks Playground on Fulton St. and Classon Ave. in Bedford Stuyvesant where Biggie often played himself. The ceremony will take place on August 1st or 2nd, prior to the Christopher Wallace Foundation Memorial Basketball Tournament on August 5th.
USA Network orders Tupac, Nororious BIG murder drama
For fans and invited guests, there will be a reception following the ribbon cutting ceremony at Selena Rosa Cafe in Manhattan.
Last month, ASCAP honored Wallace with the ASCAP Founders Award during the 30th Annual Rhythm & Soul Music Awards in Los Angeles. The Notorious B.I.G.'s legacy continues to survive and inspire countless other artists who have sampled his music. On May 19th, two days before what would have been his 45th birthday, Faith Evans released a tribute album titled, The King And I, featuring duets between her and her husband.
In May, USA Network announced it has ordered Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. pilot to series with the first season focusing on the rappers' unsolved murders during the infamous East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry of the 1990s. The scripted true-crime drama chronicles the two major police investigations, headed by former LAPD Detective Greg Kading, into the murders of the rap icons. Kading, who wrote the book "Murder Rap: The Untold Story of Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur," will serve as executive producer and was a consultant on the pilot script. Josh Duhamel, newcomer Wavyy Jonez and Marcc Rose are attached to star.
2Pac 'Thug Life Vol 1' gets special vinyl reissue
'T-Pain Presents Happy Hour: The Greatest Hits' set for release Nov 4th
Live Nation announces May 5, 2015 as first-ever National Concert Day
MTV brings 2014 Video Music Awards to Los Angeles Forum


Pop Art prints and paintings, history and styles from Warhol or Lichtenstein to celebrity portraits - this is the place to be.
Like no other, this expert site is completely dedicated to PopArt. It also brings fans and artists together from around the world.
You will find all you need right here, gallery, research styles and artists, join in our discussion forums, ask questions or simply browse, shop and buy. It's up to you.
Want to find out about its history? This is the place.
Interested in Warhol? Lichtenstein? Look no further.
Want to buy prints or paintings? I have spent years sourcing the very best suppliers and have some great recommendations.
Or if you prefer, you can browse my very own shop! I enjoy creating individual canvas paintings so much that I spend hours lovingly hand painting every single one! You can even send a photo for a personal portrait.
Relax and enjoy the world of Pop Art with me, the Expert.
Use the navigation buttons to the left to find popart perfection, paintings, prints and a range of artists from Andy Warhol to Roy Lichtenstein.
Pop Art History. From Warhol to Lichenstein to photoshop this page discovers the history of Pop Art. You will see a truly original art form develop over the 20th century.
What is Pop Art? Pop art definition, artists, history - all you need to know!
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17 Years Ago Today, Sourav Ganguly's Men Recorded India's First Test Series Win On Pakistani Soil
4 min read 446 Shares
Somak AdhikariUpdated on Apr 16, 2021, 10:21 IST
April 16, 2004. This is a date many Indian fans shall remember. It was the day our boys finally achieved a Test series victory across the border. Yes we beat our traditional rivals Pakistan for the first time in their own den.
Remember this was not the digital age. There were no cricket apps, not everybody had a cell phone and certainly, nobody had an online connection on it. TV and radio were the only ways of keeping tabs on a cricket match.
I had just started my final school year. We had about a month of classes before summer vacations. So obviously the academic pressure was slightly less. Not that it would have mattered, my focus on cricket was unwavering, and when it's India vs Pakistan, well, need I say more.
Just for the record, before the Rawalpindi Test the series was locked 1-1. After three days of play this is how things stood - Pakistan were 49/2, trailing India by 327 runs. The hosts had made 224 and we had responded with a formidable 600.
It was the peak of summer and Kolkata was unusually hot. Bengali New Year had just been celebrated and it was back to school for me. But even as classes went on, our teachers kept on giving us updates. Wickets were tumbling and we were sure of one thing, this match was not going into Day 5. I am thankful to my teachers for keeping us in the loop, most of them were ardent cricket fans and understood that history was in the making.
School ended, I took the bus home. By God's grace there was no traffic and I made it in 20 minutes flat. I barged in and Dad said - calm down my boy, 2 wickets in hand and it's tea time, you won't miss the end.
Relieved, I changed into house clothes, ate lunch and settled in with a glass of glucose (to beat the heat of course) and started to watch the match.
Then it happened! The last wicket was taken by Sachin Tendulkar and the catch fittingly by skipper Sourav Ganguly. We won by an innings and 131 runs and the series was ours 2-1.
What a moment it was as the team celebrated. I was grateful to have been able to watch it when it happened. Of course while TV channels would be reporting it for the rest of the day, papers would only carry it next morning. Yes, the digital age was yet to come. However, that does not diminish the impact of India's win. We had beaten Pakistan in Pakistan. Our team was improving, and this only set them on the path to more success.
Why were we so successful? Because our batsmen and bowlers had all clicked and we gelled as a unit. That started consistently on the Australian tour and since then the team never looked back. Ganguly's captaincy played a big part in that.
This was in 2004. It is now 2021. Ganguly has retired for a decade or so and both sides have new looks. Since then we toured Pakistan only once in 2006 and lost the Tests 1-0. As for me, well from a teenager I have broken the 30-barrier and am working in a reputed media house, doing what I love best - writing about sports. Dad of course has gone to the happy hunting grounds where I might add some well-known cricketing faces are certainly keeping him company - Don Bradman no less.
We now have cricket apps, net on our phones and this is the digital age. But cricket remains the same game, and an India vs Pakistan match is still a war without weapons. Old habits die hard.


The pick or plectrum is one of the most important tools of any guitar player, but it's not the only way to produce sound from the instrument. Guitarists often employ the technique of using what are called hammer-ons and pull-offs to produce sound from the fretboard hand (for right handed guitarists this is the left-hand, for left-handed guitarists this is the right hand). In this article, we'll discuss the importance of learning this technique and a few exercises to practice and strengthen your fingers.
Instead of using a pick to produce the note, you can "hammer-on" a finger, or with two fingers down, "pull-off" the leading one to create the sound of a desired note.
From Metal, to Jazz, to Blues, this technique is used everywhere to create a sound of long, smoothly connected notes. This is most commonly described as playing Legato. In Italian, legato literally means "tied-together". Rock guitarists like Eddie Van Halen or Steve Vai employ this technique to create the lightning fast, smooth, cascading runs they're so well known for. Buddy Guy and Jimi Hendrix produce their soulful, lyrically connected lines by using this technique as well. If you listen to Jazz, guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel's virtuosic technique is the product of working on legato exercises based on hammer-ons and pull-offs.
First, what is a Hammer-On?
It refers to the sounding of a string, not by picking, but by pressing or indeed 'hammering on' an additional finger from your fretting hand.
Try this: put your first finger down on the 3rd string, 5th fret (the note C) and "hammer-on" your 3rd finger on the same string, 7th fret (the note D). Did you make a sound? If you did, you've successfully played the note D with a hammer-on! Now trying hammering on your 4th finger (pinky) on the same string, 8th fret (the note D#).
If you made a sound, congratulations on playing another hammer-on! You may have noticed that the last hammer-on was a little more difficult to play. That's because the muscles between your middle, ring, and pinky fingers are much weaker than the ones between your first and middle finger. These muscles will get stronger the more you practice these hammer-ons, so don't worry if it feels a little weak and uncomfortable at this point.
The idea of playing legato and using hammer-ons and pull-offs is quite simple, but learning to play clear distinct lines is a little more difficult. Practice very slowly to make the notes come out even and clearly without the use of a pick.
Pull Off, which is effectively the same but in reverse – you pull hard off the string to create a sound. The art of crafting guitar lines using a combination of these techniques falls under another umbrella term which you may well have heard before: legato.
Following our previous example, plant your middle finger down on the 3rd string, 7th fret and your pinky on the same string, 8th fret. Now try to "pull-off" your pinky while your middle finger is still planted down to produce the note D (7th fret). With this technique, your leading finger (in this case your pinky) acts similarly to a pick by "pulling-off" on the string to play a given note. Now try pulling off your middle finger with your first finger planted on the first fret to produce the note C.
How to Improve Your Technique?
1 – One technique is to focus on finger placement. Though we're told to do this at all times while playing, it is very important when learning to play with hammer-ons. Making sure that you land squarely and precisely on the tip of your fingers ensures your note will come out strongly and clearly.
2 – Pay attention to is where you actually hammer your finger down on the fret. If you think about how a fret actually functions, it shortens the length of the string when you press down and the string touches the fret itself. People often press in the middle of the fret leaving space between their finger and the metal of the actual fret. This leaves more room for error and a need to press harder to create the note.
3 – If you place your finger right up against the metal of the fret when you hammer down, it takes much less effort to create a clean, clear tone and in turn you're able to play more lightly, quickly and freely.
Here is an example of a G major scale played with hammer-on's and pull offs.
Notice: how the fingers are right up against the fret. Also, the only time the pick is being used is to create the sound of the first note on the string. The following tones are all created via the fretboard hand using either a hammer-on or pull-off.
Try playing through all your scales using this technique. Remember to go slowly and try to play as precisely as possible. If you go slowly and focus on planting your fingers on the fret board squarely and on the tips then you'll have a much easier time playing precisely when you try to speed up.
Another great exercise is what is sometimes called reverse hammer-ons. This is much more of a practice to strengthen your fingers and help with clarity going down than something that is used while actually playing. As you're practicing hammer-ons and pull-offs, you'll realize that pull-offs are much more difficult to play loudly and clearly than hammer-ons. One way to work on and remedy this is to play your scales going backwards with hammer-ons. I use this simple exercise and focus on making a sound with hammer-ons in reverse.
These exercises take a long time to get a clear even sound. I still often struggle with getting the sound to be even if I haven't kept up with the exercises. With daily practice though, you'll see that your picked notes actually become clearer because the sound not only comes from your pick, but your fretboard hand too. You'll also be able to play a lot more smoothly and lyrically.
Guitarists often pick every note and play more Staccato, or short notes, that sound choppy. Playing legato promotes a much more fluid lyrical quality. I'll leave you with an example of some more legato playing employing hammer-ons and pull-offs. Happy practicing and happy playing!
Here is a full video instructional on Hammer-On & Pull-Offs: watch & learn!
If you have any ideas, tricks or techniques, please do share with us in the comments section below.


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If ever wellness was in the DNA of a destination, it is in beautiful Bali where Tri Hita Karana, the island's centuries-old philosophy of maintaining harmony between the spirit, human and natural worlds, still permeates every aspect of life, creating a very special atmosphere.
Rarely is that belief system more elegantly expressed than at this magical spa in a rainforest valley in the island's cultural heartland, just outside Ubud. The setting gives it a headstart in the healing stakes: it is enveloped in thick jungle, an endless palette of glossy greens, the colour of wellbeing. The air fizzes with birdsong, bright flowers quiver under the thrum of nosy bees, every breeze is scented with jasmine, and you can feel the electricity from the mighty Ayung river as it charges through the grounds. The estate's moss-dusted stone temples and villas are counterbalanced by the white-on-white spa, an ode to tropical modernism, and Ayurvedic rituals are shrewdly spliced with state-of-the-art scientific advice. Best of all, treatments are delivered by a team who are nurturing without ever being intrusive.
And while it may be one of Asia's best spas, it certainly isn't resting on its laurels. In April 2018, it introduced a minimum three-night stay to deter those checking in simply because the estate is one of Bali's most elegant hideaways, rather than to focus on their health. A good decision: it was never a comfortable mix. The spa also streamlined its approach to just four programmes, though in practice these are mainly for reference. With only 30 rooms, it can genuinely personalise every stay, so one of its specialists – Ayurvedic genius Dr Prasanth or bubbly American Nancy Kim, the Oriental medicine expert – builds a schedule around your particular needs. Increasingly, they are finding their high-flying guests need emotional support for private lives that have fallen victim to time-vampire careers.
Fortunately, the soothing pace and scenery is a guaranteed golden ticket to rediscovering your mojo. Yoga almost certainly forms the bedrock of any reset: deceptively effective hatha and pranayama that subtly bring about a mental gear change while you're busy trying to get your heels to the floor in downward dog. Take a class down by the river, soaking up the positive energy from the white water frothing by and being cooled by nature's air-conditioning – butterflies the span of a man's hand lazily flapping by your face as you om. The therapists are instinctively aware exactly when and how to apply pressure to get results, from the gentle strokes of the signature massage to the more vigorous Taksu to calm the digitally overloaded. The acupuncture is first rate, the hikes through pea-green paddy fields inspirational.
Healthy food has always been a given but has also undergone a rethink. The emphasis has shifted from raw and vegan dishes; now bone broths and red meat are on the menu, albeit grass-fed beef and ethically reared lamb. One thing hasn't changed: you can eat three courses for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and somehow still lose weight.
The estate's version of Tri Hita Karana – exercise, treatment and nutrition – is more thrillingly effective than ever.
Stock up on gorgeous yoga kit at Anjaly Bali in Ubud, made with organic cotton and bamboo fabrics, and a steal with prices from about £25.
Healing Holidays (+44 20 7843 3592; healingholidays.co.uk/condenast) offers seven nights from £4,250 per person, full board, including flights and transfers.