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IPUT's performance in the 2018 GRESB Real Estate Assessment underlines our continuing leadership in Sustainability and responsible Property Management in Ireland.
IPUT has realised its ambition of attaining a 3-star Green Star rating in the 2018 GRESB Real Estate Assessment, in only our 3rd year of participation. Our 2018 score of 67 is a marked improvement on 2017 and was one of the key objectives stated in our 2017 Sustainability Report which is available here.
GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) is the global standard for ESG benchmarking and reporting for the real estate sector, which this year included a record 903 property companies, REITs, funds, and developers, jointly representing more than $3.6 trillion in assets under management.
The GRESB assessment evaluates a fund's performance against seven sustainability factors including the measuring and disclosure of information on performance indicators (such as energy, GHG emissions, water and waste) at an asset level, management policies and practices at a corporate level together with occupier, supplier and investor engagement.
IPUT Chief Executive, Niall Gaffney, commented; "We were the first Irish real estate fund to participate in GRESB and the achievement of a 3-star Green Star Rating was a stated target for 2018. IPUT is leading the way in sustainable real estate investing in Ireland and our 2018 GRESB score of 67 positions us alongside our peer group at a global level in terms of ESG performance."
IPUT Completes Property Transactions Valued at €160m
IPUT has completed a €160 million property transaction involving the exchange of several high profile office buildings in Dublin City Centre.
As part of the deal, IPUT has acquired Deloitte House, 29 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2. In return the Fund has disposed of assets at 6 Georges Dock, IFSC, Dublin 1 and 40 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2.
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This investment is part of the Fund's rolling refurbishment programme and will substantially enhance occupier amenities including new shower, locker, drying rooms and toilet facilities and increase the number of bicycle parking spaces to 100.
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Designed by RKD Architects, it is anticipated that this phased development will see completion of a new building reception, café and basement facilities upgrade by mid-2019.
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Tiny 'hearing' device
April 6, 2018 News 0
Finding long-range, low-poweredsensors for wearable devices is the next scientific frontier. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University are working on atomically thin transducer "drumheads" that can send and receive signals at radio frequencies even greater than those we can hear with our natural ear. Better yet, the drumhead is 10,000,000,000,000 times smaller in volume and 100,000 times thinner than the human eardrum and can detect a much wider range of signal than other similar devices.
The paper, published in the March 30th issue of Science Advances, says that the super small vibrating sensor can detect signals at the highest reported dynamic range of frequencies, up to ~110dB, at radio frequencies (RF) up to over 120MHz. Human hearing is generally in the range of around 60 to 100dB in the range of 10Hz to 10kHz.
While the transducer itself isn't immediately applicable to current devices, the research will likely help inform future devices. "Sensing and communication are key to a connected world," said associate professor and co-author Philip Feng in a statement. "In recent decades, we have been connected with highly miniaturized devices and systems, and we have been pursuing ever-shrinking sizes for those devices."
Source: msn
Ways To Protect Yourself From Cell Phone Radiation
Digital Tricks for Everyday Situations
How to convert YouTube videos to music files
Tips Online Shopping
Biography Jim Rohn (Author of The Art of Exceptional Living)
Profil Founder of AMD company – Jerry Sanders
Scarlett Johansson Biography
Biography Founder of Tesla Motors and SpaceX | Elon Musk
LinkedIn told it cannot stop the bots
Tech Strategies You Can Use to Earn and Save More Money

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text:
Forums Home AEVA Branches Non-Branch areas
AGM Resolutions 2015
Fo those who are not local to a branch, or looking at starting one
Post by Gabz » Fri, 04 Sep 2015, 02:02
So at the Perth AGM there is some resolutions to change the structure of AEVA to National, state and maybe regional divisions. If your not a member or don't have your emails handy here is a link http://noronha.id.au/wp-content/uploads ... utions.pdf
I'm interested on peoples thoughts on this my gut reaction is that it's a bad idea but that could just be because our state government is really good a shafting regional centres at the moment.
There is also some practicality I'm not sure on it's easy for say ACT Canberra branch becomes ACT branch and it's very unlikely to have a division. But what happens when you get a bigger state? If Qld spawns a Townsville division and brisbane will all the meetings be online or will someone have a big drive ahead of them.
The resolution also doesn't state the compositions of a state committee or how it's voted on. expect for it says that each division will a rep on the state committee which you would assume nominated and voted on by the division.
lastly what is the purpose of the state branch ? it seems to be for political purposes ? and financial oversight ? Is it just creating double the amount of work ?
Not sure if what's intended but the way I read it seems to imply there will be a state branch NSW ie Sydney with a Newcaslte regional group with a single rep from Newcastle on the Sydney committee. not a NSW committee elected by the entire state membership a Sydney group with it's own committee and a Newcastle group wit it's own committee.
Motion 3 by using the word "regional" implies that the group in the capital city runs the show.
Post by 4Springs » Fri, 04 Sep 2015, 03:39
I think this is a good idea to discuss this here - thanks Gabz. I'd like to get a feel for how it would work before I vote.
My opinion is that state branches make sense for lobbying purposes. If a local council in Mackay is asked to contribute towards charging stations I think it would be better for the request to come from the QLD branch rather than the Brisbane branch (this is assuming there is no Mackay branch). I reckon the branches will (should) be doing more of this type of work into the future.
The QLD branch would make submissions to state and local governments, seek statewide sponsorship do anything else that looks better with 'QLD' in front of it. They would also distribute funds out to regional groups.
If there were enough people in the Brisbane area who didn't feel the need to be involved in the lobbying-type stuff then a Brisbane regional group could be formed. If this was the case then perhaps the QLD branch would only do the state stuff. And so perhaps those members wouldn't meet all that often (four times a year minimum from the constitution).
But as Gabz said, this doesn't seem to make so much sense for a regional group situated a long way from the state branch.
In motion 2 it states that at least one member from the regional group must be on the "State or Territory Management Committee". There is no such thing in the constitution - does this mean the Branch Committee?
Ahh, now I re-read Gabz' post I think I understand better. So the Townsville group might vote for one or more delegates to the QLD branch committee. I think I understand the intention of this rule, it is there to make sure that the regional group doesn't become too disconnected from the AEVA. I agree this seems to mean a lot of travelling for that person, although I suppose it is only that four meetings a year, and Skype is an option.
Right at the moment of course this wouldn't mean any changes. There is only one branch (or fewer) in each State/Territory. But with Newcastle thinking of "branching out" ~ahem~ it would be good to get an idea of how these regional groups could work.
Gabz wrote: Not sure if what's intended but the way I read it seems to imply there will be a state branch NSW ie Sydney with a Newcaslte regional group with a single rep from Newcastle on the Sydney committee. not a NSW committee elected by the entire state membership a Sydney group with it's own committee and a Newcastle group wit it's own committee.
Yeah, I'm thinking of my Rural Youth days. We had lots of small clubs with their own committees. Each club elected two representatives to "region" (one of North, North West or South). The regional committees met less frequently, and in turn had delegates to the State body. The state body met less frequently still, and consisted of those regional delegates plus some other delegates from other parts of Rural Youth which were not club based.
So we had a three tiered system within a club of about 500 members. This was a mite unwieldy from my memory, and the club membership often had little idea what was going on at the state level.
Anyway, I digress.
I do like the idea of the state branch being made up of delegates from the regional groups. But it is difficult to think of how to get there from where we are now. Perhaps the current branches spawn off a state branch? So the state branch becomes almost like a sub-committee that does the statey stuff. And the financial stuff. Except for ACT because they're special.
Post by jonescg » Fri, 04 Sep 2015, 10:08
I can see merit in state-based branches, but you risk leaving the regions out, thanks to our city-centric population. Perhaps the idea should be to encourage more regional branches, with a representative from each region making up a state committee. Either way, transport is a state based issue, and would best be served by state based representation. Of course, there is a national representation too.
Running a few scenarios out, we could envisage about 4 Queensland branches, 3 NSW, 2 WA and 2 in Victoria. Perhaps not too unwieldy, but it would be important to ensure that all state groups are in regular communication. The issue about funds allocation is potentially quite sticky too. If the Newcastle branch raises $4000 at a cake stall, the NSW branch (legacy Sydney Branch) would keep it. Makes accounting easier, but is it fair? I think if we could clarify how it works, I could definitely support it. However there are some potential pitfalls as written.
that's my problem it's assumed that Sydney will just become the state branch not 3 levels. I think if it was proposing 3 levels for all states and territories. I would be more supportive.
National --positions elected by all entire membership with 1 rep elected by each state.
State -- to look after financials and state stuff. positions elected by entire state membership with 1 rep elected by each division.
Divisions -- responsible for local events and meetups. positions elected by division members.
To achieve the above more resolution needs to be created.
Now regardless of how many divisions a state my have they all have 2 committees a state and a division since one will look after financials and politics and the other will look after local meetups events track days etc.. with no rules about both the committees having the exact same members if there are no other divisions in the state even then you may find that some people are happy be to on the division committee to organise events but aren't interested in state based lobbing so you may have 2 separate committees even with a single division.
Regardless of how much I agree the with the idea of a state branch the current motions are poorly defined, and constructed and won't achieve it in a fair and transparent manner.
Post by 4Springs » Sun, 06 Sep 2015, 15:56
Gabz wrote:
I reckon we should give the "regional division" a better name though. What about "club"? So then we'd have:
AEVA National (the Association)
AEVA State/Territory Branches
AEVA Clubs
All members are AEVA members, they belong to a State/Territory Branch and possibly a Club.
The current constitution defines a branch. I think this is fine for a State/Territory Branch. Minimum 4 meetings per year etc.
The clubs would be beyond the scope of the constitution. Thus these motions to vote on I suppose.
So what can we do now - before the AGM? Are we able to work out a re-wording now and take it along? Or does it have to be tabled beforehand?
As an exercise I've done some re-wording myself. I've kept the word "group", although I prefer "club":
I reckon Motion 1 is fine as written, although perhaps take out that one word "main". So:
That each State or Territory will have only one Branch, and that should be in the name of that State or Territory. (EG Queensland Branch)
Motion 2 I'd like to reword a bit for clarity, but it also essentially doesn't change:
That a Branch may form one or more Regional Groups, which shall be under the control of the Branch and answerable to it. Any such Group shall have at least one member on the Branch Committee.
I took out the word 'Division' (it's divisive!) and clarified that it is the Branch that makes any groups.
Motion 3 I don't understand too well. It says there must be at least 8 Branch members - does that mean it allows for non-AEVA members? I don't like that idea. I reckon all club members should be AEVA members. Since all club members are also Branch members, they can do things on behalf of the Branch as they do now. But they can't do anything that goes against what the Branch has decided, the same as now. I'm not sure we need Motion 3? Anyway I've had a go at tidying it up a bit so that it says what I think it should be meaning:
Regional Groups may be formed at the discretion of the State or Territory Branch. A Group is made of at least 8 AEVA members, all members are also members of the Branch. A Group may run events and propose motions to the Branch, but may not pass any resolution on behalf of AEVA, nor make policy representation to any outside body without written approval of the Branch.
Motion 4 I'm fine with. I'll include it here for completeness, slightly edited because I couldn't help myself:
A Regional Group may apply to the State or Territory Branch for funds to run an event. All funds shall belong to the Branch and be accountable to and by the Branch. All monies shall be recorded in the Branch returns.
evric
Joined: Sun, 20 Jul 2008, 01:57
Real Name: Eric
Location: Adelaide SA
Contact evric
Post by evric » Sun, 06 Sep 2015, 18:38
Just to clarify a few things...
At the moment, the structure is:
- National Committee and Councillors (Constitution Rule 45) http://www.aeva.asn.au/wiki/constitution
- Branches (named mainly after the major city of the state).
Motion 1, if passed will change the branch naming to the state or territory name.
Motion 2 will allow for the formation of Regional Groups.
You can unofficially call them Clubs as you can for the Branches. I do this personally now.
Motion 3 sets up the composition of the Regional Groups stating that all members of the Group are AEVA members and under the Membership system, members of a Branch "Group" (as everyone is now). For reporting purposes we will also be setting up a Membership "Group" for each Regional Group.
Motion 4 just sets out how the financials will work. This is fairly flexible and will probably work the Branches similarly to the way the Branches now work with National.
Eric Rodda
AEVA Membership Secretary
Last edited by evric on Sun, 06 Sep 2015, 08:42, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by 4Springs » Mon, 07 Sep 2015, 13:32
Great - thanks Eric.
At first read (and second and third!) I wasn't so sure about these resolutions. After thrashing it out here I now think I understand them well enough to discuss it at our upcoming (state) meeting.
Return to "Non-Branch areas"


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Topic 174: Cory Doctorow: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
inkwell.vue.174 : Cory Doctorow: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
permalink #0 of 254: Jon Lebkowsky (jonl) Wed 29 Jan 03 06:01
Inwell.vue welcomes Cory Doctorow and Charlies Stross for a discussion,
ostensibly about Cory's novel "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom," but
probably ranging far beyond that given Cory's range of interests (a dull
word, how about *passions*)...
Cory Doctorow (www.craphound.com) won the John W. Campbell Award for best
new writer at the 2000 Hugo awards, on the strength of his short stories.
In January, Tor Books published his first novel, "Down and Out in the Magic
Kingdom" (http://www.craphound.com/down), a novel that explores the twisty
possibilities of economics in a world without scarcity, wherein the staff
of Walt Disney World battle one another for control over the destiny of the
rides.
The book has drawn rave reviews from the critics, but Doctorow's novel is
also noteworthy for another reason: it is the first novel to be
simultaneously released by a traditional commercial publisher and released
online with a noncommercial license from the Creative Commons
(www.creativecommons.org), which allows anyone to freely redistribute the
work. Over 70,000 copies of the book were downloaded in the first month
after release (plus untold more copies circulated on P2P filesharing
networks, web-mirrors and mailing-lists), and the book has soared on
Amazon's sales rank (one of the quirks of traditional paper publishing is
that it's almost impossible to get reliable sales data in the first year of
publication).
In addition to contributing to the re-framing the copyright debate, where
the ever-expanding duation and scope of copyright have eroded the public
domain into a dwindled sliver, the electronic release has fostered a great
deal of creativity. Many of the book's readers have, with the author's
permission, made a variety of derivative works from the electronic text,
including an automated Situationist cutup of the text, a page-at-a-time
email serialization, and new stylesheets that suit the reading tastes of
many readers.
Doctorow is the co-editor of Boing Boing (boingboing.net), a popular
weblog, and is a freelance journalist who regularily contributes to Wired
Magazine. He works at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (www.eff.org), a
nonprofit in San Francisco that works to uphold civil liberties interests
in technology law, policy and standards. Born and raised in Toronto,
Canada, he has lived in the US for two and a half years now.
His upcoming publications include a second novel, "Eastern Standard Tribe"
(http://www.mindjack.com/feature/est.html), which Tor will publish in
November 2003, and a short story collection, "A Place So Foreign and Eight
More," which will be published by Four Walls Eight Windows in September
2003. He has also written a few stories with Charlie Stross, one of which
("Jury Service,") was serialized on SciFi.com in December
(http://scifi.com/scifiction/originals/originals_archive/stross-
doctorow/stross-doctorow1.html), and was called "...crazed, wisecracking, a
thing of ferment and devastating caricature" by Locus Magazine's Nick
Gevers.
He is presently at work on various short stories and two novels, "Someone
Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town," an urban fantasy about wireless
networking gangs; and "/usr/bin/god," a novel about Singularity cultists
who nearly destroy the universe. His most recent short fiction publications
include two stories published on Salon.com to great controversy and praise:
"0wnz0red" (http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/08/28/0wnz0red/) and
"Liberation Spectrum"
(http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/01/16/liberation_spectrum/).
Charlie Stross (http://www.antipope.org/charlie/) was nominated for the
Hugo award in 2002 for his novelette "Lobsters" which cracked the lid on
extropian ideas in SF, including reputations based economics, mind
uploading of invertebrates, and the run-up to a near-future singularity.
He's frequently described as being a "new, Scottish SF writer" -- a
statement that manages to be wrong in more ways than it's right. Originally
from Yorkshire, he sold his first story to Interzone in 1986: his sudden
appearance on the US publishing scene in mid-2000 belies over a decade as a
short story writer in the UK. He currently lives in Edinburgh, which makes
him about as Scottish as a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale. His meandering
career path included periods working as a pharmacist (he quit after the
second time the police staked out his shop to lie in wait for an armed
robbery), technical author, and lead software developer for a successful
dot-com. All of these jobs were distractions from his real goal in life --
he currently works as a freelance computer journalist and writer, and has
no intention of getting an honest job ever again.
If Stross is currently best known for his short stories, this situation is
about to change. His first science fiction novel, "Singularity Sky", is due
out in hardcover from Ace in August 2003 -- it's both a space operatic romp
and an exploration of social conservativism and future shock in a
post-singularity era. A sequel, "The Iron Sunrise", is due out in August
2004. Meanwhile, his horror/SF/spy thriller crossover novel "The Atrocity
Archive" is due to be published in hardcover by Golden Gryphon in February
2004. He's currently working on the first two volumes of a "big, fat,
fantasy series" for Tor (due out from December 2004 onwards), and a
novel-length expansion of "Lobsters", titled "Accelerando" (due some time
in 2005); "Accelerando" is a century-long family saga that follows three
generations of a dysfunctional clade of posthumans all the way through a
Vingean singularity -- as recounted afterwards by the family's robot cat.
(Four more installments have been published, and two more bought, by
Asimov's SF magazine).
In addition to writing far too many novels, for the past five years Stross
has been the Linux and Free Software columnist for Computer Shopper in the
UK (not the Ziff-Davis title, but one of the top five newsstand computer
magazines by circulation in that country). He also writes frequently on the
subject of civil liberties on the internet, the ongoing copyright wars,
esoteric computer languages, and anything else that takes his interest.
permalink #1 of 254: Charlie Stross (charlie-stross) Wed 29 Jan 03 06:30
Hello, and welcome to the "Down and Out" interview -- I'm Charlie
Stross, but the real star of the show is Cory Doctorow, whose new
novel "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" has been wowing reviewers
and generating lots of whuffie over the past couple of weeks.
Cory: do you want to point our readers at a copy of "Down and Out in
the Magic Kingdom"?
... And, while I'm at it, whence "whuffie"?
permalink #3 of 254: Life in the big (doctorow) Wed 29 Jan 03 09:28
The site for Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is
http://craphound.com/down
Of course, if you want to buy a copy, I've got a page of links to stores and
etailers around the world that're carrying it:
http://craphound.com/down/buy.php
The downloads page (which has links to the file in many, many formats,
including a bunch submitted by readers that I've never heard of and hope to
god they weren't making up) is:
http://craphound.com/down/download.php
The site was a big, cooperative barn-raising effort. Ben and Mena Trott, who
invented the Movable Type blogging system, designed the site for me. Many
friends and mentors in the technology and writing world were gracious enough
to provide blurbs (http://craphound.com/reviews.php). The WELL's Richard
Kadrey did the author photo (http://www.craphound.com/down/about.php). And
of course, Ken Snider, who was a sysadmin at OpenCola (a company I
cofounded), was kind enough to host the site, which was been vigorously
slashdotted a couple of times.
(Look, everybody! It's a favor-economy!)
"Whuffie" -- the nonsensical word used to describe the idiosyncratic
reputation capital in the book -- has a perfectly banal origin. In high-
school, we used to use the phrase "whuffie points" interchangably with
"Brownie points," as in "Woah, major whuffie points for you!" I assumed that
this was universal, but Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla (http://kode-fu.com)
burst my bubble by pointing out that given the era of my high-school career
(1985-1992 -- I was on the seven-year plan) that this was almost certainly
derived from Arsenio Hall's "Woof woof woof" noises from his late-night TV
I like Whuffie (pronounced woo-fee, not wuh-fee), as a word. It's got a kind
of Rudy-Ruckery silliness to it (like his fourth-dimensional cardinal
directions "vin" and "vout"). There have been numerous entertaining theories
about its origins, like some kind of contraction of "Whit Diffie," and I was
tempted to cop to one of these ingenious origin-stories, but no, it's all
Arsenio's fault.
As to the origin of Whuffie as an idea, well, that comes from the universe
of collaborative filtering tools online, which started with Ringo at the MIT
Media Lab (the WELL's Martha Soukup turned me on to this), and then moved on
to encompass things like Firefly, Amazon suggestions, and Google PageRank.
It's really frustrating that none of these tools have been applied to P2P
nets. When the entire universe of all recorded music is available for
download, or even when the universe of thousands of indie releases is
sitting before you, being intelligently selective is really hard. There's a
cliched dismissal of Internet publishing in science fiction circles, that
"the Internet makes us all slush-readers." Slush is the pile of unsolicited
and largely terrible manuscripts that publishers wade through in order to
find publishable material, and the idea is that the Net means that we all
have to do this boring, painful task.
I don't think it's (necessarily) true. Being a good filter isn't hard
(slushreaders are often fresh interns, who don't really require a lot of
training to be able to sort the chaffiest chaff from everything else). But
it *is* idiosyncratic -- one person's slush is another's gold. It would be
really cool if there was an automatic means of discovering people who
categorize the slush the same way as you and then find out what non-slush
they've picked up today.
So Whuffie: in the book's world ("the Bitchun Society"), everything is non-
scarce, thanks to a bunch of Clarke's-Law technologies. Figuring out what to
do in a world of infinite plenty is a hard without collaboration.
In the Bitchun Society, you may choose which restaurant you want based on
the Whuffie it has with your trusted circle, and the maitre'd may decide
whether to seat you based on *your* Whuffie with him. If you don't think
he's doing a good job, you can try seating people yourself, and depending on
your Whuffie with the servers, they may or may not bring food to the people
you seat (who may decide to follow you to a table based on your Whuffie with
them).
The story revolves around two groups of "ad-hocs" who are fueding over who
gets to run Walt Disney World's Liberty Square, which includes the Haunted
Mansion -- my favorite all-time ride. They're each trying to rack up enough
Whuffie with the Disney-World-going public that the other's redesigns will
be foiled. In the Bitchun Society, death is only temporary (you just get
"restored" from a backup), so assassination is fair game, too...
"It's really frustrating that none of these tools have been applied to
P2P nets." -- Don't tell the MPAA or RIAA! Seriously, imagine KaZaA,
or something similar, with a reputations economy. Most of the big media
industry's attempts to take down P2P networks so far revolve around
legal hacks and hiring people to poison the supply with degraded
copies. If there was a distributed reputations service that could
identify good P2P citizens, then the poisoning strategy would
automatically fail; anyone uploading corrupted files would find
themselves whuffied into oblivion rather quickly ...
Do you see reputation metrics like whuffie as univalent or multivalent
-- that is, can you have different dimensions ("this guy is GREAT at
mending computers but IGNORE his political ideas at all costs!") or
just an aggregate trustworthiness? And what about inflation?
Reputations crashes?
Univalence or multivalence: it's a good question. In the novel, I have the
convenience of inventing yet more Clarke's Law tech, in this case, a neural
interface that knows how you feel about anything you have an opinion on,
without having to ask you about it.
In the real world, the biggest sticking point is gathering opinion data.
Pollsters know that asking someone how she feels about $ISSUE is actually
not strongly correlated with how the subject actually feels (I've written a
paper about this: http://www.well.com/~doctorow/metacrap.htm). Even asking
someone whether something is good or bad doesn't get you very good results a
lot of the time, since people are often torn between reporting what they
feel and what they think they *should* feel. So if I were building a real-
world Whuffie system, I'd just keep it down to one axis: this is great or
this is crap.
In our social relations, I think we're prone to being univalent in our
judgement. There are a few people who are flaming dickheads who we'll still
listen to or hold in some esteem, but for the most part, the messenger is as
important as the message. I routinely killfile people who piss me off
online, because I figure that if they've got something important and wise to
say, they're likely to say it in such a way as to alienate me from their
ideas, anyway. If the idea is good enough, it will get picked up by someone
with more tolerance than me and repropagated over my transom, anyway.
I don't think that Whuffie inflation is likely, but I *do* think there's a
real danger of Whuffie lock-in, power-law-distribution and positive-returns-
to-scale. IOW, the most popular sources are given the most opportunities to
be more popular, which makes them more popular. Incumbency is probably the
biggest problem a reputation system has.
Of course, incumbency is probably the biggest problem non-reputation systems
have too (the rich get richer).
Whew. The Bitchun society sure has a lot of things going for it!
Direct brain interfaces that can correlate emotional states as
metainformation about directly perceived objects -- people or projects
-- and mind uploading (and cloning). Yet this is all relatively near
future SF. And it's an expanding, hegemonistic society -- one that
sends missionaries to winkle hold-outs out of their bomb shelters.
Do you think such an outcome is likely? How might we get there from
here? And are there any unpleasant alternatives along  the way?
Likely? Of COURSE not! But I think that it *is* likely that we're going to
see a *lot* more collaborative filtering. When the incremental cost of
distribution drops to near-zero, the cost of marketing goes infinite --
you've got to make people aware of your thing in a competitive market that
potentially includes all things (hence today's ad-cluttered mediasphere).
Collaborative filters are a really good way of automating word-of-mouth and
doing cost-effective marketing. We'll see a lot of businesses getting into
this, though ultimately there isn't much of a real market opportunity, since
what you're essentially selling people is each other. While there will
always be niches of people who are willing to pay to be introduced and
mediated (dating services, the WELL, whatever), there will be tons of vacuum
from free services (Usenet, craigslist) sucking people away from the pay
The Bitchun Society doesn't *send* missionaries out -- they go on their own.
Missionaries who convert non-Bitchun people to Bitchunry get a *lot* of
Whuffie. IOW, there is social approbation for missionary work, so missionary
work is done.
I think that the ways that we'll see ourselves getting there from here is
twofold:
1. Collapse. In places like Argentina, where piqueteros are minting their
own time-limited currency for barter markets and the rule of law has all but
collapsed, there's the potential for really strange social order to emerge
(provided that it isn't bled dry by opportunistic looters)
2. Reform. Where you get a bunch of people treating a nonscarce resource as
nonscarce (i.e., the tens of millions of Americans who use file-sharing
systems that treat information as a non-rivalrous resource), you'll get lots
of legislative pressure to make the activity legal -- after all, plenty
serves more policy goals than scarcity.
When bio/nanotech make it possible to instantiate information as non-
rivalrous goods (say, biotech medicines that ferment inside your body and
can be infectiously transmitted), there will be a ton of civil disobedience
from users who just can't bring themselves to pretend that this nonscarce
resource is really scarce, and that's going to bring a lot of pressure to
bear on lawmakers.
There's a conflict of values here: between people who want
_everything_ to be worth something, so that they can count it, and
those who think freedom (of the free-as-in-speech variety) is more
important than wealth. Going deeper, there's the social construction of
value: if something is perceived as having no value, then nobody will
pay for it -- and vice versa. Radio spectrum is classified as scarce,
under the charter the FCC works with, even though photons can pass
right through each other without interfering --  interference is
something that happens in badly designed receivers that can't
discriminate between photons intended for them and photons intended for
some other destination.
But once people decide to stick a quantitative value on something,
doesn't it become hard to break them out of the habit of thinking of it
as property? (Take the term "intellectual property" as an example:
it's unlike other forms of property insofar as I could give you an
idea, and you'd have the idea, but I'd still have it stuck in my head.
Whereas if I were to give you something physical -- like a futon --
you'd have it but I wouldn't.)
Do you see whuffie, or something like it, as in a way inventing a kind
of currency (I want to avoid the loaded word "money") for registering
transactions where the goods that multiply as they get passed around,
instead of simply moving?
(And: is marketing desirable? Or is it actually a symptom of an
imperfect flow of information within society and something we'd be
better off without?)
(I can tell this is one of those threads that is going to leave me
feeling awfully stupid when I come back to it tomorrow morning. If you
think it's getting out of control just yell TILT! and I'll go back to
wibbling about something less philosophical! :)
permalink #10 of 254: Life in the big (doctorow) Wed 29 Jan 03 13:10
The only way to get value out of non-rivalrous goods is to engineer a
market-failure (i.e., to make something nonscarce into something scarce). We
usually characterize this as a bad thing (for "we," read "people living in
capitalist states"), except when we don't, because some orthagonal policy
objective calls for the creation of a monopoly (i.e., the author's monopoly
in copyright whose objective is to give authors an incentive to create so
that their work will enter the public domain so that others can use it to
create, given an incentive by a limited monopoly, which will then expire the
work into the public domain, and around and around we go).
I think that we have an intuitive sense that engineering scarcity is a bad
idea, and we rightly view market failures with some suspicion (though we may
not always have the vocabulary or reasoning to justify the suspicion and
fall back on empty jingo like "Information wants to be free," or "Britney
Spears and Hilary Rosen suck"). When the means of ending scarcity are
readily to hand, the suspicion deepens.
Whuffie is a way of keeping score of a real-world currency: esteem. Money is
just a crude way of measuring esteem, but it's non-idiosyncratic (in a real
Whuffie economy, you wouldn't ever get a "rich asshole," because "asshole"
would mean "poor," at least for your own purposes). It doesn't engineer
scarcity because it's not used to apportion nonscarce goods, only scarce
ones, like attention and physical locations.
Social incentives are the most powerful forces in our world -- the reason
you can't wear your underwear on your head is because of disapprobation. The
most disruptive thing about the Internet is its ability to locate you in
homogenous communities that embrace the same values as you, so that there's
no dialectic in socail pressure: IOW, you can spend all your time in
alt.underwear.on.my.head and never get the funny looks that would cause you
to reconsider your fashion choices. This isn't necessarily a bad thing
(except when it is, i.e., alt.big.nazi.idiots), but it is a powerfully
disruptive thing.
Sidebar: in our second collaboration, "Flowers from Alice," we deal with
uploaded "people' who can instantiate many copies of themselves in parallel.
One of the interesting things about this is that it suggests that attention
isn't necessarily a scarce resource -- if you need to do two things at once,
you just make another copy to do it...
permalink #11 of 254: Charlie Stross (charlie-stross) Thu 30 Jan 03 06:31
I noticed that both "Down and Out" and your forthcoming novel "Eastern
Standard Tribe" are infused with the same core themes -- the interest
in peer to peer networking and the emergent economics of non-scarce
resources, and also ad-hoc networking of groups of people seeking
related goals through alliances of convenience. To what extent do these
ideas spring from your personal experiences (for example, your
involvement with OpenCola)? Come to think of it, how _did_ OpenCola
develop?
(Feel free to yell "none of your business!" if it's still a major sore
point; I know we've both had bad experiences in the hot core of the
dot com boom. But as a sideways excursion, I'd be kind of interested in
hearing how you got involved in OpenCola, and how it influenced your
fiction -- both in the short stories and in these two novels.)
permalink #12 of 254: Life in the big (doctorow) Thu 30 Jan 03 08:22
OpenCola -- the company I co-founded in 1999 -- was started to build a
distributed collaborative filter. The idea was to make a filter like
Amazon's or Firefly's, but one which would a) consider a much wider variety
and number of items (anything with a URI) and b) scale as a function of the
number of users in the system, since the filter distributed the
computational load of the project across all the users in the system.
The company's still around, though I left about a year ago to work for EFF
-- in the course of watching P2P companies like Scour and MP3.com and
Napster get sued into bankruptcy and then acquired by media companies who'd
brought the suits at pennies on the dollar, it seemed to me like the real
way to bring something like OpenCola to market was to first clear the field
for innovative technology through legal reform and activism.
Starting and helping to run OpenCola taught me a lot about organizational
politics, about loyalty and betrayal, and about what it means to be driven.
In addition to the people we hired and the people we raised money from, we
also spent a lot of time dancing with and around a lot of related parties,
like the still-strong clan of P2P hackers that is running CodeCon
(http://codecon.info/), media executives, and blood-sucking opportunists
from management consulting firms and PR agencies.
Sounds familar. The organizational politics, loyalty and betrayal, and
what it means to be driven, that is; I got a big dose of all of the
above at Datacash, the British payment service provider I joined as
employee #1 and wrote the server-side code for during 1998 to 2000.
Especially the blood-sucking opportunists who moved in as soon as the
IPO got under way, and changed the company culture into something
really unpleasant -- at least to my eyes -- in the space of six weeks
flat in December 1999 to January 2000.
(As an aside, there was nothing visionary or revolutionary about
Datacash: it was a straightforward case of "why can't we take credit
cards over the internet? What do you mean, there's no software that
does that? Let's write some!" The British banking system processes
credit card payments in a fundamentally different way from the US
system, and we had to handle multiple currency types and interfaces to
different banking back-ends, including a French system that still gives
me the cold shudders. But as an aside on top of the aside, Datacash is
not only still going -- it's in the black this quarter. (One of these
days I'm going to have to write a novel about it -- but not until the
scars are healed.))
Here's an odd thought: the kind of blood-suckers who get to the top of
the dogpile are all very personable, smooth, and outwardly friendly
and affable. In fact, they tend to be hyper-socialized: if they aren't,
they aren't able to slither into the high-up positions they crave. How
does a distributed esteem-measuring system like whuffie cope with
smooth sociopaths? (I mean, other than by forcing them to be  a bit
more discreet in the way they deal with people who are on the
down-slope.)
Wow, we're digging pretty deep into the ins and outs of a reputation
economy!
Here's my guess: Empty suits are loathed by a sizable fraction of non-suits.
Dilbert workplaces are full of techies who hate the droids at the top. And
in today's post-Enron world, slick glibbers are doubly mistrusted.
But it may be that this *is* a failing in a reputation economy. Of course
it's a visible failure in non-reputation economies, too!
(BTW, congrats on selling *two more* novels, this time to Tor; Jesus,
Charlie, your a goddamned machine!)
(er, "you're")
Yeah, well, writing the second one's going to be most of my workload
for the next year :-)
(Explanation: see http://www.antipope.org/charlie/fiction/faq.html for
grisly details. It's just a coincidence that the news came through
today -- it's been in the works for a few months.)
But back to the sociopathic weasels; looking at your average TV show,
the folks you see in just about any soap opera or ongoing comedy series
(thinks of one at random: Frasier, for example, or Ally McBeal) are
outwardly not entirely different from the slick glibbers. They're
expensively dressed and immaculately turned out and articulate and have
opinions and live a lifestyle we're trained to think of as something
to aspire to. A whole lot of programming revolves around implicitly
selling lifestyle choices to us. (If you contemplate the implications
of product placement as a marketing exercise, the _environment_ in
which the product is placed is important.) Now, we may deduce by their
behaviour that the sort of opportunistic upper management weasels we
both met are attracted to the high budget lifestyle. And they manage to
both look and act the part. I wonder, are we selectively programmed by
our recreational media habits to defer to people who fit a particular
role -- popular TV stars -- which appeals overwhelmingly to sociopaths?
Think of it as protective camouflage, or an evolutionary arms race
between parasites and the parasitized, or ... eep. (I'm tempted to
suggest we try writing a story around this theme -- about the sort of
parasites who might flourish in a whuffie-based society, maybe from the
PoV of a retread dot-con man who hasn't adapted properly and is
therefore 'poor' -- if I could just figure out a non-obvious angle.
Hmm.)
Well, there's certainly a kind of protective coloration that weasels can
assume in order to suck up power, that of someone who is confident,
charming, etc, but I'm not cynical enough to believe that these traits are,
in and of themselves, indicators of sociopathy.
Indeed not. But they're the traits that sociopaths strive to emulate.
It's easier to portray the outer trappings of success than to appear to
be kind, good-hearted, etcetera (when you're not).
Meanwhile, back on the planet Doctorow, what are you working on right
now? (Oh, and what music are you listening to, and what kind of cereal
are you eating?)
(Lest those questions sound kinda weird, I should add: I'm just trying
to spark a new random direction.)
I'm currently working on two novels:
/usr/bin/god (working title -- I know that no one knows how to alphabetize a
slash, and besides everyone would spell it /user and besides number two, it
should probably be /usr/sbin/god...). This is a novel about Singularilty
mysticism and apocalyptic personality cults.
Mason is a hacker/loudmouth in the crumbling ruins of the dotbomb who falls
in with a group of extropian polyamorous cultists who are trying to hack
themselves immortal. He ends up charged with smuggling the data from a
secret, destructive scan of the fatally ill cult founder's brain to the
technoanarchic autonomous zone of Argentina, but is nearly caught en route
and is exiled to Argentina. He works to instantiate a running copy of the
founder's consciousness through an evolutionary algorithm that tests its
human-ness by inserting itself into machine-mediated human conversations,
answering craigslist personals, spamming, leaving voxmail, chattering on
IRC, etc. Eventually, parallel copies of this consciousness infect all
networked comms that have a human being on one end of them, and the Internet
itself shuts down, prompting a UN invasion of Argentina. Along the way, he
becomes alienated from the main cultists in the Bay Area, and founds a
breakaway sect in Argentina, which helps to smuggle him out of the country.
He works his way back to the Valley and discovers his former co-religionists
missing-in-action -- they've been nano-disassembled by a successful version
of the cult-leader, which has realized that the first disembodied
consciousness that consumes all the matter in a finite universe in the
service of parallelizing itself will "win" -- and is currently ramping up a
plan to hasten the heat-death of the universe.
/SPOILER ALERT
The second book is "Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town," which is an
urban fantasy/magic realist novel about the eldest of ten brothers who are
the offspring of a mountain in Northern Ontario and a washing machine. The
brothers are as strange as their parents: one is procognitive, three nest
like Russian dolls, one is an animated corpse, one is an island, and so on.
The animated corpse was actually murdered by the other brothers, but
bootstrapped himself back to life and made his way back to the mountain to
complain to their parents. Alan, the eldest moved to Toronto and became a
successful serial entrepreneur, finally retiring to Kensington Market to
write a short story that is to be discovered after his death. While there,
he falls in with crusty-punk dumpster-diver community wireless activists who
are unwiring all of Toronto with a meshed network built out of junk hardware
salvaged from suburban industrial parks. Alan wants to help, but he's
distracted by his corpse brother, who is hunting down the remaining brothers
one at a time and murdering them, possibly abetted by his neighbor, Kirshna,
whose girlfriend, Mimi, has mysterious wings that Krishna saws off once a
month, but which keep growing back. It's pretty strange techno-utopian
stuff, and very optimistic in tone.
Music: well, my main iBook is in the shop, so I'm using my old machine,
which has a pretty limited slice of my music collection on it. However, I'm
currently obsessed with three bands that I've recently been turned on to:
* The Dillards
This is the bluegrass combo that made regular appearances as the musical
hillbilly family on the Andy Griffith show. They do beautiful harmony, and
they pick and strum FAST.
* The All Girl Summer Fun Band
My friend Heath (kalel on the WELL) turned me on to this jangly girl-pop
band in December. They sing these really beautiful faux-naive girl-pop
numbers with funny lyrics like, "My boyfriend works real late/and he won't
spend his make/won't even buy me cheap cheap cake"
* Flogging Molly
I found this upbeat Celtic-punk band through eMusic, and they're way more
Pogues than even the Pogues were. Very fast swirling Celtic songs about
drinking and barfing and dancing.
Cereal:
I've sworn off carbs and become a devotee of the apostate medical philosophy
of Dr. Atkins, losing 40+ lbs since mid-September. I was convinced to do
this by the amazing results that were on exhibit at last year's World
Science Fiction convention, where the rotund hordes of fandom were
noticeably slimmer, a condition that was universally attributed to low-
carb/high-protein diets.
The other thing that I love about the low-carb thing is the hacker ethic: if
you searched-and-replaced "metabolism" with "front-side-bus" in the
alt.support.diet.low-carb FAQ, you'd have the alt.overclocking FAQ. It's all
these people experimenting with their bodies and measuring the results with
Ketostix, and always, YMMV.
While we're at it, if any WELLers out there are reading, feel free to
pass me some questions!
permalink #22 of 254: Charlie Stross (charlie-stross) Fri 31 Jan 03 05:40
Let's see if I can pin down a cluster of memes that keep cropping up
in your work:
* file sharing via decentralized peer-to-peer networks
* "information wants to be free" is an over-simplification, but
locking information up in a prison cell doesn't work, either
* ad hoc groups of people working together can achieve startling
results and attack projects that corporations wouldn't even dream
* you can find treasure in trash heaps (and yard sales)
* junk finds its own use for the street
* highly strung protagonists veering  between total committment and
near-breakdown as they pursue their goals
* the treachery of friends as a plot hinge
* and of course the whole extropian bundle'o'fun concepts that haven't
yet gone mainstream in SF (mind uploading, cryonics, nanotech,
reputation economies, the singularity, transhumanism, smart drugs,
better thinking through technology) -- at least, not as a cluster
Am I missing anything?
permalink #23 of 254: Jon Lebkowsky (jonl) Fri 31 Jan 03 07:23
(People not-on-the-WELL can participate by emailling comments and questions
to inkwell-hosts@inkwell.vue, and we'll post 'em for you.)
(Just to add to what Jon said, you can also email me directly as
charlie(at)antipope.org. Bear in mind that I'm in Scotland, eight hours
ahead of California, so if you mail me much after 4pm (8pm on the
other coast) you may have to wait for me to wake up the next day.)
permalink #25 of 254: Ari Davidow (ari) Fri 31 Jan 03 09:02
Cory, one of the things that comes up in the novel, and bears some
discussion, is the way that personal whuffie depends on who is doing the
scanning. Those empty suits that Dilbert deplores have a _lot_ of whuffie
in corporate culture. They just don't connect well with reality useful to,
say, people who make actual goods, or who are responsibility for real
Reputation management, in and of itself, doesn't necessarily solve the
problem that people who can talk in marketese make a lot of sense to
people who talk in marketese. The opposite is also true. Anyone who is not
an engineer, who has tried to convince an engineer to do something humanly
useful (but not the way the engineer feels is most efficient, say) knows
how useless enginees can be at building useful stuff - it's like hanging
with reverse marketers.
I guess what I'm saying is that not every judgement is usefully based on
personal attitudes alone. Nor is the ability to convince other people that
you deserve lots of whuffie a reasonable indicator of the same.
Hmmm. Define "reasonable".
Well, to the German people, even while he was busy killing all socialists,
gays, Jews, and other social undesirables, Hitler had god-like quantities
of whuffie.
It isn't just that to most people he has lots of reserve-whuffie--you
can't just average the extremes, or note that people tend to be on the
extreme, and come up with a measure that makes intuitive sense. Bill
Clinton, after all, was seen as demonic by American fans of the Republican
party, and as near God-like by fans of the Democratic party. Was he really
just an average president?
Does whuffie really work when it goes beyond relationships between people
you actually know? Seems to be it gets iffier the farther it gets. A
friend of a friend may be someone I wanna hang with, but sometimes isn't.
And someone talked up by the media, or whose reputation is built entirely
on being able to convince people I don't know about things I may or may
not agree with?


What is important to us is educating at the front line and at the right time. Many will naturally be in dark when it comes to laws, regulations & compliance and this is why the role of an agent is so important. It's enough to make a lot of people ask, "is all this red tape necessary!?" , although this is a natural feeling. The risks however are completely real.
We believe that mostly 80% of what we do is education, expertise and risk management. Its often thought that the role of manager is purely reactive and administration. However, its guidance and expertise that offers the best value. How far does it all go!?
The person responsible for managing a building must fulfil statutory compliance obligations which have increased significantly in recent years. There is no question of doubt that it is essential to have a clear understanding of what is required, together with a robust system to ensure things are well managed. This may be compliance and understanding of the Health and Safety at Work Act, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations, HSE Management Models, Control of Asbestos Regulations, Electronic vehicle gate safety. These may all apply to the management of buildings with shared common areas and asset equipment. The list goes on.
Compliance management is often overlooked or not given the attention it deserves because the cost implications have little visible return. However, it is vital that the person responsible complies fully as the implications of not doing so are immense. Criminal prosecution, civil claims and severe reputational damage are all possibilities in the event of an incident following failure to act in line with the law.
To offer only a fraction of an example. In a recent known case of a personal injury claim. A neighbouring property owner tripped over a section of minor cracking in a pathway resulting in very minor injuries if any at all. The claim in this case was thousands against the land owner. It's well documented that regretfully we live in a claim and blame society. Not all cases are of course the compensation culture classic, but in some cases can be routed from here. The numbers and statistics are phenomenal.
Is this an out-of-control compensation culture or are people simply more aware of their legal rights now? Consideration of both offer great food for thought.
When we are engaged to manage a building, our agreement offers in some respects as a responsibility shift from usually the land owner or the person responsible for managing the land to us. We must find a tailored approach, however no matter who you are, you cannot supersede the law and neither can we.
Would you drive without car insurance? Would you live in a home without home insurance?
In todays world, it is hard for a reputable agent to not purposely be that red tape demon? Because we manage buildings we are at risk. Because you are an owner of a flat in our managed blocks you are at risk. Because you are a decision maker for a managed block, you too are at risk. It's a hard pill to swallow, but we always try and give professional advice when it comes to risk management and compliance to laws. Together with providing residential block management for over 30 years, we also work with a risk compliance firm with over 50 years experience and are able to extend this arm of diligence to every one of our clients on a daily basis, when its needed and when it really counts.


text:
Expo is the Center of the Dairy Universe
by MILK Editors
01:41AM Aug 07, 2013
World Dairy Expo, where farmers come to learn, network and enjoy all things dairy, is set for Oct. 1-5, 2013.
German dairyman Johannes Pfaller takes in tours, exhibits and cattle shows, soaking up something new at each.
German dairyman Johannes Pfaller first learned about World Dairy Expo while he was working as a student on a 200-cow Virginia dairy in 2001.
"I heard so much about how Expo is where the best dairy farmers gather, about how this is where you can see the very best cattle in the world and about the trade show that has so many different new products and technologies to see," he says.
It took Pfaller, who milks 100 cows on a family dairy farm near Munich, Bavaria, Germany, more than a decade to attend his first Expo. Last year, he traveled with a group of 50 dairy farmers and others from dairy-related businesses in Bavaria to the event. He wasn't disappointed.
"I came because I am a dairy farmer and I want to get better. I wanted to see how the best dairy farmers produce milk and run their farms," Pfaller says.
The chance to see the dairy cattle in the Expo breed shows was a major draw for Pfaller. "In Germany, we think there is a problem in the Holstein breed with the animals becoming too extreme. The udders are getting too big, the feet are not so good and cow longevity is poor," he says.
"At Expo, I had the chance to talk to leading breeders and people in the genetics field to get their thoughts about what can be done to address these issues."
Before arriving at Expo, Pfaller's tour group spent five days visiting dairies in Wisconsin and neighboring states. "I was mostly interested in the different kinds of barns and milking systems that dairy farmers in the U.S. are using, thinking about what might make sense for us when we grow our dairy in the future," he says.
"We were very impressed by some of the cross-ventilated barns we saw. But that is something we won't be thinking about doing for maybe 10 years.
"Then, when we got to Expo, I had the chance to talk to representatives from different companies about some of the things we had seen out on the farms," Pfaller says. "The nice thing about the show is that you have the opportunity to talk to so many people in just one place. I learned so much."
"We don't always have the opportunity to hear from people with this kind of knowledge or expertise firsthand," says Charles Carter from Thorntown, Ind.
For Charles Carter of Thorntown, Ind., the trip to World Dairy Expo has been an every-other-year experience for the past two decades. "We enjoy getting up here and seeing what the new things are that we might be able to take home to put to use in our operation," he says.
His farm is roughly a six-hour car ride from Madison, "and we enjoy meeting and talking to people from other places," Carter adds.
Last year, Carter, who milks 120 cows, spent a good deal of his time at Expo visiting the exhibits of companies manufacturing total mixed ration (TMR) equipment. "Down the road, we'll be replacing the one we have," he explains. "Here, we were able to see a lot of the newest models and get lots of information."
He also made the rounds to companies that were exhibiting milking equipment systems. "We milk in a double-six herringbone parlor that's about 35 years old," he says. "We know we're going to need something different in the near future. With so many companies here, it's a good place to do some basic research."
Along the same lines, Carter attended one of Expo's regularly scheduled Virtual Farm Tours featuring a family who utilizes a robotic milking system.
"The first time we had ever seen one close up was at Expo a couple of years ago," he explains. "We were impressed. We haven't put one in place, but we are considering it. It was interesting to hear about their experience with it and what they thought about it."
Carter also attended several of the Expo Seminars, including one that focused on risk management. "The speakers they have here are tops in their field," he says. "In our area, we don't always have the opportunity to hear from people with this kind of knowledge or expertise firsthand."
To round out his time at Expo, Carter made his way to the Coliseum to watch the Holstein show. "I was especially interested in seeing what sires were the ones placing daughters at the top of the different classes," he says. "There are just so many great cattle here. I'm glad I wasn't the one doing the judging."
Ken and Janice Dahl, Abbotsford, British Columbia, say there's a social aspect to Expo as well, sharing their passion for cows with other attendees from around the world.
Like most Expo attendees, Canadian dairy farmers Ken and Janice Dahl come to the event for business reasons. "We come to see all the great cows and to go to the trade show. You get to see and learn about the latest innovations in the industry. It is very impressive," Ken says.
But there's definitely a social component to the trip for the Dahls, who have now been to Expo twice. Last year, the Dahls, who milk 100 cows near Abbotsford, B.C., traveled as part of a group of 13 dairy farmers from the province. Along with the stop at Expo, the group spent two days visiting Wisconsin dairy farms.
"We got to see some great herds, some great genetics and some great farmers," Ken says.
"It's great fun. There is a tremendous sense of camaraderie here," he adds. "You get to talk to a lot of other people from all over the world who have the same interest—dairy farming—as you have."
Ken especially enjoys chatting with his American counterparts about the differences between the Canadian and U.S. milk marketing system.
"Our farms, for the most part, are a lot smaller in B.C.," he says. "So you have to be extremely efficient to make a living. With our supply management system, if you are a good manager, you can make very good money. It's interesting to talk to farmers from here and get their perspective."


Articles about print permanence from PCWorld magazine.
How Long Inkjet-Printed Photos Last Depends On Who You Ask, Experts Say.
Our Tests Show Third-Party Ink Cartridges For Brand-Name Printers Can Produce Quality Prints, But They'll Fade Fast.
Ink Jet Photos Can Last For Years—Or A Few Months, Depending On The Printer, Ink, and Paper. We Identify The Best Products And Deals.
Why Choose Between Great Photos and Crisp Text?


This class offers an opportunity for those who are interested in Math Count, AMC, etc… to learn advanced mathematical knowledge and skills of mid-to-high school level. Learning materials include Math Count and AMC problems, official Mathcount and AMC training exercises, as well as instructor-developed handout. Teaching style is simulative practices combined with problem-solving-oriented lecture.


text:
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Ciena Adaptive Network Powers Southern Cross Cables Continual Expansion
Deployment of Ciena's GeoMesh Extreme is the first of its kind globally
Sydney, Australia and HANOVER, Md. — November 13, 2018
Press Contacts:
pr@ciena.com
Jamie Moody
Ciena Director of Corporate Communications
jmoody@ciena.com
Rosemay Foot
rosemay.southerncrosscables
@sccn.co.nz
Investor Contacts:
Gregg Lampf
ir@ciena.com
To address skyrocketing customer demands for connectivity on the Southern Cross network, fueled by cloud, HD video, internet of things (IoT) and more, Southern Cross Cables has significantly enhanced the scale, programmability and intelligence of its network by deploying Ciena's (NYSE: CIEN) WaveLogic Ai tunable coherent optics and the 6500 T-series. With these solutions from Ciena, Southern Cross' network can quickly adapt and respond, in real-time to changing and unexpected user demands.
Southern Cross Cables' deployment of Ciena's GeoMesh Extreme solution is the first subsea deployment of WaveLogic Ai over compensated cable and includes the first deployment of 200Gbps wavelengths between Sydney and Auckland. The industry-leading functionality of Ciena's WaveLogic Ai allows Southern Cross to monitor links in real-time, so it can determine the ideal capacity for each channel across any path. WaveLogic Ai also provides massive scalability by allowing Southern Cross to add an additional 6.4Tbps of wavelength expansion across its subsea and terrestrial networks.
Southern Cross' existing programmable infrastructure is further enhanced with the introduction of the Ciena 6500 T-Series platform that scales to 24Tbps OTN switching capacity for efficient traffic grooming and includes Ciena's advanced multi-layer control plane software to maximize network resiliency.
In addition, Southern Cross' utilisation of Ciena's Blue Planet Manage, Control, and Plan (MCP) software for improved network visibility through real-time software control, along with big data analytics and advanced network functionality through the Blue Planet Network Health Predictor, Performance Portal and Blue Planet V-WAN services underpin its position as one of the most flexible, and customer responsive submarine cable providers in the world.
"Our customers' needs are changing almost daily as they move towards the cloud and larger web-scale data flows, particularly between continents," said Southern Cross Cable Network Director of Marketing and Sales, Craige Sloots.
Our customers' needs are changing almost daily as they move towards the cloud and larger web-scale data flows, particularly between continents
- Craige Sloots, Director of Marketing and Sales
"Ciena's technology not only boosts the capacity of our Southern Cross undersea cable, but also adds a level of intelligence and service capability that is unmatched in submarine cable networks anywhere in the world. Southern Cross' success is driven by our focus on flexibility and service, and our partnership with Ciena allows us to adapt the network as required to proactively manage and grow with changing user demands."
The company is already using its multi-path network and Ciena upgrades to minimise the impact of network incidents and planned work on Southern Cross' customers by proactively switching customers to other paths or ramping capacity up or down as required, reducing disruption and keeping customers connected. This capability is simply unachievable on simpler, single path solutions. Ciena's technology has now added a combined 39Tbps of wavelength capacity across the various segments of the network during its history of working with Southern Cross.
"Southern Cross Cables is setting a new industry benchmark by creating a more intelligent and programmable network that can adapt and quickly respond to dynamic customer demands," said Rick Seeto, Ciena's Vice President and General Manager, Asia/Pacific and Japan, Ciena.
Southern Cross Cables is setting a new industry benchmark by creating a more intelligent and programmable network that can adapt and quickly respond to dynamic customer demands
- Rick Seeto, Ciena's Vice President and General Manager, Asia/Pacific and Japan, Ciena
About Southern Cross
Southern Cross Cable Network provides fast, direct, and secure international bandwidth from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Hawaii to the heart of the Internet in the USA. The Southern Cross Cable Network comprises two submarine communications cables which were first commissioned in November 2000 and January 2001 at a cost of USD1.3 billion. They provide Australasian broadband users with international connections to seven key locations on the US West coast where global Internet hubs are located.
The Southern Cross NEXT project will be a third high capacity express route, providing data-centre connectivity between Sydney, Auckland, and Los Angeles, along with enhanced Pacific Island capability and is currently on target for completion in 2020. Southern Cross Cable Network has offices in Bermuda, Sydney, Auckland and Wellington. For more information visit Southern Cross at: https://www.southerncrosscables.com.
The Southern Cross Cable Network is owned by Spark NZ (50%), Singtel-Optus (40%) and Verizon Business (10%).
About Ciena
Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) is a network strategy and technology company. We translate best-in-class technology into value through a high-touch, consultative business model – with a relentless drive to create exceptional experiences measured by outcomes. For updates on Ciena, follow us on Twitter @Ciena, LinkedIn, the Ciena Insights blog, or visit www.ciena.com.
Note to Ciena Investors
You are encouraged to review the Investors section of our website, where we routinely post press releases, SEC filings, recent news, financial results, and other announcements. From time to time we exclusively post material information to this website along with other disclosure channels that we use. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are based on our current expectations, forecasts, information and assumptions. These statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those stated or implied, as a result of risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in our most recent annual or quarterly report filed with the SEC. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies and can be identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. Ciena assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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Questions? Ask the community
Want to know more? Let's talk.


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Two Responses to Insults
The latest Islamic atrocity this week was the killing of eight journalists from the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, along with two police officers, a maintenance worker and a visitor.
Their Muslim murderers claimed that they were killed because the magazine had repeatedly published articles which, in their opinion, "insulted" the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. For such a "crime," these journalists and the others were calmly mowed down in cold blood. According to witnesses, the gunmen shouted, "We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad!"
In 2012, Charlie Hebdo editor Stéphane Charbonnier stated in an interview: "I am not afraid of reprisals, I have no children, no wife, no car, no debt. It might sound a bit pompous, but I'd prefer to die on my feet rather than living on my knees."
A year later, Mr. Charbonnier was placed on al-Qaeda's most wanted list, "dead or alive for crimes against Islam," along with ten others who energetically oppose Islam. Knowing how demonically, savagely violent fundamentalist followers of Islam are, I would not be at all surprised if this hit list gets a few more Xs across it this year.
There are no true "crimes against Islam." Such issues exist only in the imaginations of Muslims. The major crime of the West regarding Islam is its whitewashing of the evils of Islam and the willingness of the West's politicians and media to spread Islamic propaganda as if it were the truth. For this crime the West will suffer greatly in the coming months and years.
Although it would be inaccurate to generalize by saying that ALL Muslims are rejoicing over the Islamic slaughter in Paris, there are a significant number of Muslims who ARE rejoicing. Just as a significant number of "Christians" were rejoicing when Osama bin Laden was murdered by the U.S. military. Satan is the inspiration for the rejoicing of BOTH of these groups, because God is NOT rejoicing.
The Islamic Response to Insults
The first Islamic response to insults goes all the way back, naturally, to Muhammad himself. In his excellent book The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion, author Robert Spencer writes that near the end of his life,
Muhammad was determined to wipe out every remnant of opposition to his rule. He set his sights now on two poets, Abu 'Afak and 'Asma bint Marwan, who had mocked him and his prophetic pretensions in their verses.
Abu 'Afak was reputed to be over one hundred years old, and had dared to criticize in verse Muhammad's killing of another of his opponents. Muhammad asked his men, "Who will deal with this rascal for me?" He found a ready volunteer in a young Muslim named Salim bin 'Umayr, who dispatched the old poet as he lay sleeping.
'Asma bint Marwan, a poetess, was incensed when she heard of the murder of Abu 'Afak. She wrote verses denigrating the men of Medina for obeying "a stranger who is none of yours," and asked, "Is there no man of pride who would attack him by surprise and cut off the hopes of those who expect anything from him?"
When Muhammad heard of this, he looked for a volunteer to kill her: "Who will rid me of Marwan's daughter?" A Muslim named 'Umayr bin 'Adiy al-Khatmi took the job, and killed her along with her unborn child that very night. But after he had done the deed, 'Umayr began to worry that perhaps he had committed a grave sin. Muhammad reassured him: "You have helped God and His apostle, O 'Umayr!"
But would he incur punishment? "Two goats," replied the Prophet of Islam, "won't butt their heads about her."
The men of 'Asma bint Marwan's tribe, the Banu Khatma, "saw the power of Islam" in her killing — so says Ibn Ishaq. They duly acknowledged Muhammad as the Prophet of Allah.
Muhammad: The Example For All Muslims
These victims of intolerance were only two members of Muhammad's Dead Poets Society. Through these incidents, Muhammad set the precedent for Muslims to follow for the past 1,400 years. As Mr. Spencer writes in another part of the same book,
The Qur'an and Islamic tradition are clear that the Prophet [Muhammad] is the supreme example of behavior for Muslims to follow. His importance to hundreds of millions of Muslims worldwide is rooted in the Qur'an, the Muslim holy book.
In brief, he is "an excellent model of conduct" (Qur'an 33:21). He demonstrates "an exalted standard of character" (68:4), and indeed, "he who obeys the Messenger [Muhammad], obeys Allah" (4:80).
The Qur'an frequently tells Muslims to obey Allah and Muhammad: while the Muslim holy book takes for granted that Muhammad is fallible (cf. 48:2; 80:1-12), it also instructs Muslims repeatedly to obey Muhammad (3:32; 3:132; 4:13; 4:59; 4:69; 5:92; 8:1; 8:20; 8:46; 9:71; 24:47; 24:51-56; 33:33; 47:33; 49:14; 58:13; 64:12). Any devout Muslim will take this seriously.
Violence against opponents of Islam continues even in our modern "enlightened" age. Perhaps the most infamous example of this was the murder of Theo van Gogh in 2004. The very fact that there IS an Islamic hit list, targeting these outspoken critics of Islam, speaks volumes. Whether their names are on this list or not, anyone who speaks out about the evils of Islam is a target. They include:
Carsten Juste
Flemming Rose
Morris Sadek
Molly Norris
The New Testament Response to Insults
Now that we have seen the violent way in which Muhammad dealt with insults, let's examine how Yeshua (Isa, Jesus) dealt with them. The four Gospels record that Yeshua was insulted numerous times, especially during His execution on the cross. The apostle Peter, Yeshua's close friend and devoted follower, wrote:
To this you were called, because Messiah suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth." When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Father God who judges justly. (1 Peter 2:21‑23)
In light of Yeshua's example for His disciples to follow, Peter wrote later in the same book:
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. (1 Peter 3:9)
If you are insulted because of the name of Messiah, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. (1 Peter 4:14)
This teaching is consistent with the teaching of Yeshua Himself:
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:11‑12)
"Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of Me, the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets." (Luke 6:22‑23)
The apostle Paul lived out this teaching in his daily life. Therefore, he wrote,
For Messiah's sake I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10)
And the author of the book of Hebrews wrote to the Jewish followers of Yeshua:
Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. (Hebrews 10:32‑35)
Where are the Christian hit lists for those who insult Yeshua? He is routinely insulted in the most vile ways, yet Christians are NOT on the rampage, murdering others as a result.
Obviously, there is a night and day difference between the example Muhammad gave and the example Yeshua gave, between the followers of Muhammad and the followers of Yeshua, and between the God of the Bible and the god of the Qur'an.
Following in Yeshua's Footsteps
The jihad in France this week is certainly not the beginning of Islamic jihad, and it most definitely is NOT the end. So how are followers of Yeshua to respond to current and future attacks by Muslims?
The simple answer is that we are to follow in Yeshua's footsteps. That means that we are to overcome evil with good and live Yeshua's lifestyle of non-violence.
Most, if not all, governments will respond to Muslim violence with their own violence, and fight Islamic jihad with their own jihad. Many people, like those who worked at Charlie Hebdo, whether from the left or the right, religious or atheist, will mock and ridicule Islam. Neither of these approaches is following in Yeshua's footsteps.
Yeshua loved Muslims enough to lay down His life for them, so that they might "be saved and come to know the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4). He died so that Muslims could be set free from their slavery to the demonic impostor-god Allah.
What about us? Will we follow Yeshua's example? Do we love Muslims enough to share Yeshua's sufferings and lay down our lives for them as well? Are we willing to stick our necks out for Muslims, or will we shrink back in fear because we love self more than we love them?
If the Pagans Can Do It ...
The eight Charlie Hebdo journalists were killed taking a stand for what they believed in. But they were not martyred because of their devotion to Yeshua or because they were furthering the Kingdom of God. Rather, they gave their lives for the man-made Western gods of freedom and democracy. They were ready to die standing in the defense of these false gods, rather than live bending the knee in submission to Islam.
The example of these pagans puts us followers of Yeshua to shame. We think nothing of blantantly disobeying Yeshua by loving our lives rather than laying them down for His sake and for the sake of the Gospel — see Mark 8:34‑38 and Matthew 16:24-‑27.
If pagans can lay down their lives for their false gods, how much more should those who consider themselves Christians follow the example of Yeshua and lay down their lives for the true God, the God of the Bible, the Father of Yeshua? If these journalists could die for the human concept of freedom of speech, how much more should followers of Yeshua be ready to die so that Muslims can be saved from an eternity in hell separated from God?
What else are we on this planet for? God didn't put us here to have a long life, or a comfortable life, or lots of possessions, or a good career, or to dote on grandkids, or to defend freedom and democracy, or any other worldly, human, selfish concern. God gave us life so that we might know and love Him, and that we might love others by helping them to know Him.
Followers of Yeshua should not hate or fear the followers of Islam. Muslims are victims — not of Islamophobia, but victims of their demonic impostor-god Allah, a god who hates. They need to know the good news that Yeshua loves them and died for them, so that they can be forgiven for their sins and be reconciled to God, whom they can dare to call Father.
But how can they call on Yeshua to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Yeshua unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, "How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!" (Romans 10:14‑15)
An Atheist's Prophetic Words to the Church
These words from the atheist former-Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali are just as relevant now as they were when she wrote them four or five years ago:
Europe is sleepwalking into disaster — cultural, ideological, and political disaster — because the authorities of the church have neglected the immigrant ghettos.... I have a theory that most Muslims are in search of a redemptive God.... Many Muslims are seeking a God or a concept of God that in my view meets the description of the Christian God. Instead they are finding Allah....
Afflicted with pangs of white guilt, many prominent Christian theologians have also become accomplices of jihad.... the churches, both Catholic and Protestant, neglected to offer the new Muslim immigrants the spiritual guidance they sought.... These Christians were ecumenical to the point of making no attempt to convert those they sought to help....
The Christian leaders now wasting precious time and resources on a futile exercise of interfaith dialogue with the self-appointed leaders of Islam should redirect their efforts to converting as many Muslims as possible to Christianity, introducing them to a God who rejects Holy War and who has sent his son to die for all sinners out of love for mankind....
Perhaps if volunteers had more actively preached to these early immigrants and actively sought to convert them to Christianity, the tragedy of the unassimilable Muslim might have been avoided. Converts to Christianity would have recognized the radicals when they arrived and resisted the siren song of jihad.... This is a tragic story of countless missed opportunities.... How could this happen...?
Christian leaders assumed the passive position that people will be attracted to the church on their own and that the church had no business trying to persuade them of the superiority of the Christian God.... far too few people crossed the tracks and stretched a hand out to the Muslim families who moved into the housing projects of Europe. No priest matched the efforts of the [Muslims] with the box of cassette tapes.... The jihadis didn't have any real competition; of course they spread....
The churches must have seen this happening, and yet for some reason didn't seek to raise the alarm. They did not try to fight either the massive wave of conversions of traditional Muslims to fundamentalism or the smaller wave of conversions of people from historically Christian communities to Islam. The reason seems clear: the Vatican and all the established Protestant churches of northern Europe believed naïvely that interfaith dialogue would magically bring Islam into the fold of Western civilization. It has not happened, and it will not happen....
I would prefer to offer Muslims who cling to the idea of a creator and eternal life, a religious leader like Jesus, who said, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's," rather than a warrior like Muhammad, who demanded that the pious seek to gain power by the sword....
To help ground these people in Western society, the West needs the Christian churches to get active again in propagating their faith. It needs Christian schools, Christian volunteers, the Christian message.... The churches should do all in their power to win this battle for the souls of humans in search of a compassionate God, who now find that a fierce Allah is closer to hand....
To this stirring prophetic call I would add that we followers of Yeshua should not look to or wait for the man-made institutional church to take action. The sad reality is that that may never happen. Each follower of Yeshua must seek God with all of their heart to find out how they as individuals can begin to effectively reach Muslims with the really awesome news of Yeshua. Their eternal destiny hangs in the balance!
For the follow-up to this article, see Your Islamic Future: Death Threats
>> Your Islamic Future Index <<


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FRCS Exit Exam Course (Section 2) in General Surgery (Preparatory Course)
MIOT HOSPITALS BRINGS A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY TO YOUR DOORSTEP
Dear Doctors,
As you will see from the email below issued by our President on Friday, now that the Government has gone into the DELAY stage. We are doing everything we can to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 virus. We are therefore sorry to inform you that as a result of this, the FRCS Preparation Course for Examinations in General Surgery scheduled during July 29th – 31st 2020 has been cancelled.
["Dear Colleagues,
In light of the UK Government's decision to move to the DELAY phase of their effort to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 virus on the population and the NHS, we have taken the decision to postpone all events, examinations and courses for the next few months from Monday 16th March 2020. This applies across the Colleges and includes all of the Faculties.
Our teams are working hard to reschedule all our Examinations to later in the year to reduce the impact on the career path of those at an early stage of the profession.
All Diploma Ceremonies will be postponed for the next few months. If you have already applied to attend you will be offered the opportunity to move to an alternative ceremony later in the year. We will make plans to hold additional Ceremonies to ensure that you do not have to wait too long once they have restarted. We will contact all of those affected to advise them on the options as soon as we know them.
All other educational courses, CPD and Events will be rescheduled for later in the year again when it is right to do so. We do have an excellent bank of Webinars to keep you going in the meantime. We will continue to develop these and to look for ways that we can support your career in these coming months.
https://www.rcsed.ac.uk/professional-support-development-resources/learning-resources/webinars
All of our Committees and meetings will continue where necessary but by video conference. I am meeting regularly with the CMOs of England and Scotland and with the UK Government and I will continue to work with our sister Colleges to make sure that we keep you up to date with the current thinking. Please do check our website for the latest information. Our thoughts are with you and your families as you work hard to support and protect the population."
President – The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh]
For more information please contact,
Ms. Monica, Coordinator – MIOT International
Email: monica.gk@miotinternational.com
Gone are the days when one must compulsorily travel to the United Kingdom in order to prepare for an FRCS. MIOT Hospitals – Chennai, in association with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh is providing you an opportunity to train for the FRCS Exit Exam in General Surgery without training and living in the UK. Also, the course being offered at MIOT is equivalent to the one in the UK.
International FRCS
The four Royal Colleges of the United Kingdom and Ireland have introduced the FRCS (International) Exit examination specifically aimed at International candidates who have completed their postgraduate training or are close to completion of their surgical training (in their country).
To help candidates successfully complete this prestigious examination, various courses are held in the UK. Similarly, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in association with MIOT International is holding a 3-day course specifically aimed at helping Indian postgraduates getting their FRCS degree. This 3-day course is conducted by a team consisting of surgeons both from the UK and Chennai. The expert team of trainers includes surgeons from premier hospitals in the United Kingdom and MIOT Hospitals.
Training on Par with UK Standards
The course being offered in Chennai is equivalent to the one in the United Kingdom, with eminent faculty flying from the UK to spearhead the course. Candidates thereby won't miss out on what is being offered in the UK.
The FRCS Exit Exam Preparatory Course at MIOT is conducted by the prestigious Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. The experience gained here helps to pass the FRCS International Exam, which is recognized in the UK, Canada, Gulf, Australia and New Zealand.
Ideal Time for Preparing for FRCS
With the FRCS Exit Exam scheduled to be held in October 2020, there is no better time to gear up for it than by attending the FRCS Exit Exam Preparatory Course at MIOT.
MIOT's Valuable 3 Years' Experience
MIOT International, Chennai has 3 years of organizing the FRCS Exit Exam Preparatory Course. With individual and group training sessions along with the condensation of invaluable experience, MIOT assures excellent results.
Who Will Benefit
Surgeons who have completed their postgraduate training (MS, DNB, MD FCPS and JSCFE) or are in the process of completing their training can apply to sit for this examination. It will give them an opportunity to obtain an international qualification that will be recognized worldwide. Following successful completion of the examination, the surgeon should be able to achieve a standard that will enable him or her to work as an independent consultant.
The applicants should have completed 6 years since completion of their MBBS & need to provide 3 structured references & submit a logbook in order to attain their eligibility to sit for the examination. The candidates should have completed a structured training programme & training will be considered for eligibility to appear for the examination. Following successful completion of the examination, candidates will be eligible to become a Fellow of one of the Royal Colleges.
Course Format
Small group and individual teaching/vivas. No lectures. Candidates will have the opportunity to participate in one on one vivas as in the exam. Slides of images and pathology specimens will be projected and participants will be asked common examination questions. Emphasis will be laid on all participants to answer questions.
Each participant will be given time to hone their discussion skills with an examiner and to present the findings confidently. All the curriculum topics in general surgery will be covered in detail: Emergency surgery (including trauma) and Critical care, General Surgery and the General Surgical specialities– upper and lower GI tract, hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, endocrine, breast, vascular, transplantation, general surgery of childhood & academic viva.
Provisional Programme Schedule
Will be updated Soon
Mr. Doug McWhinnie (RCSEd Clinical Lead)
Dr. Prithvi Mohandas
Mr. Ian Hawthorne (Faculty)
Mr. C R Selvasekar (Faculty)
Dr. Karthik Maruthachalam (Faculty)
£340 Course fee
(for RCSEd Members / Fellows)
Education Section
education@rcsed.ac.uk
Relevant Grades
ST5, ST6, ST7, ST8,
SpR, Staff Grade
Locum, SAS
For more Information on the Course
Course details: https://www.jscfe.co.uk/Content/content.aspx
Eligibility for FRCS International Examination: https://www.jscfe.co.uk/Content/content.aspx?ID=26
Registration: https://www.rcsed.ac.uk/events-courses/course-details-a-preparation-course-for-examinations-in-general-surgery
For any other assistance
Dr. Karthik Maruthachalam,
Surgical Gastroenterologist, Bariatric and Advanced Laparoscopic Surgeon,
MIOT International
Email: bariatric@miotinternational.com
Ms. Monica,
Coordinator,
Past FRCS Exit Exam Course (Section 2) in General Surgery (Preparatory Course)
FRCS Exit Exam Course (Section 2) in General Surgery (Preparatory Course) – 16, 17, 18 July 2019 @ MIOT International Chennai (Gallery)
FRCS Exit Exam Course (Section 2) in General Surgery (Preparatory Course) – 5th, 6th and 7th April 2017 @ MIOT International Chennai (Gallery)
FRCS Exit Exam Course (Section 2) in General Surgery (Preparatory Course) Conducted on 14th, 15 th and 16th April, 2016 @ MIOT International Chennai (Gallery)
Testimonials from candidates who attended the preparatory course at MIOT and successfully passed the FRCS
It made a huge difference when I sat for the exam. The whole team from MIOT took a lot of effort and care to conduct the course. I would recommend it to candidates who are sitting for FRCS."
- Dr. Chirag Thakkar - Course Candidate who Successfully Passed the FRCS
Let me introduce myself as Siddharth, a Chennaite from Anna Nagar who attended the FRCS MIOT preparatory course. I am delighted to inform you that I have been successful in the JSCFE exam conducted in KL and have also become a fellow of the RCSEd. In fact, most of the guys who attended the course at Chennai have been successful. Thank you sir for the wonderful program at Chennai, which was representative of the real life situation at KL. Kindly continue to do the same."
- Dr. Siddharth - Course Candidate who Successfully Passed the FRCS
FRCS - 2020