text:
package com.google.android.exoplayer2.testutil;

import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
import static org.junit.Assert.fail;

import android.os.ConditionVariable;
import android.os.Handler;
import android.os.HandlerThread;
import android.os.Looper;
import android.os.Message;
import com.google.android.exoplayer2.ExoPlaybackException;
import com.google.android.exoplayer2.PlayerMessage;
import com.google.android.exoplayer2.Timeline;
import com.google.android.exoplayer2.source.MediaPeriod;
import com.google.android.exoplayer2.source.MediaSource;
import com.google.android.exoplayer2.source.MediaSource.MediaPeriodId;
import com.google.android.exoplayer2.upstream.Allocator;
import com.google.android.exoplayer2.util.Assertions;
import com.google.android.exoplayer2.util.Util;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
import java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingDeque;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

/** A runner for {@link MediaSource} tests. */
public class MediaSourceTestRunner {

  public static final int TIMEOUT_MS = 10000;

  private final StubExoPlayer player;
  private final MediaSource mediaSource;
  private final MediaSourceListener mediaSourceListener;
  private final HandlerThread playbackThread;
  private final Handler playbackHandler;
  private final Allocator allocator;

  private final LinkedBlockingDeque<Timeline> timelines;
  private Timeline timeline;

  /**
   * @param mediaSource The source under test.
   * @param allocator The allocator to use during the test run.
   */
  public MediaSourceTestRunner(MediaSource mediaSource, Allocator allocator) {
    this.mediaSource = mediaSource;
    this.allocator = allocator;
    playbackThread = new HandlerThread("PlaybackThread");
    playbackThread.start();
    Looper playbackLooper = playbackThread.getLooper();
    playbackHandler = new Handler(playbackLooper);
    player = new EventHandlingExoPlayer(playbackLooper);
    mediaSourceListener = new MediaSourceListener();
    timelines = new LinkedBlockingDeque<>();
  }

  /**
   * Runs the provided {@link Runnable} on the playback thread, blocking until execution completes.
   *
   * @param runnable The {@link Runnable} to run.
   */
  public void runOnPlaybackThread(final Runnable runnable) {
    final Throwable[] throwable = new Throwable[1];
    final ConditionVariable finishedCondition = new ConditionVariable();
    playbackHandler.post(
        new Runnable() {
          @Override
          public void run() {
            try {
              runnable.run();
            } catch (Throwable e) {
              throwable[0] = e;
            } finally {
              finishedCondition.open();
            }
          }
        });
    assertThat(finishedCondition.block(TIMEOUT_MS)).isTrue();
    if (throwable[0] != null) {
      Util.sneakyThrow(throwable[0]);
    }
  }

  /**
   * Prepares the source on the playback thread, asserting that it provides an initial timeline.
   *
   * @return The initial {@link Timeline}.
   */
  public Timeline prepareSource() throws IOException {
    final IOException[] prepareError = new IOException[1];
    runOnPlaybackThread(
        new Runnable() {
          @Override
          public void run() {
            mediaSource.prepareSource(player, true, mediaSourceListener);
            try {
              // TODO: This only catches errors that are set synchronously in prepareSource. To
              // capture async errors we'll need to poll maybeThrowSourceInfoRefreshError until the
              // first call to onSourceInfoRefreshed.
              mediaSource.maybeThrowSourceInfoRefreshError();
            } catch (IOException e) {
              prepareError[0] = e;
            }
          }
        });
    if (prepareError[0] != null) {
      throw prepareError[0];
    }
    return assertTimelineChangeBlocking();
  }

  /**
   * Calls {@link MediaSource#createPeriod(MediaSource.MediaPeriodId, Allocator)} on the playback
   * thread, asserting that a non-null {@link MediaPeriod} is returned.
   *
   * @param periodId The id of the period to create.
   * @return The created {@link MediaPeriod}.
   */
  public MediaPeriod createPeriod(final MediaPeriodId periodId) {
    final MediaPeriod[] holder = new MediaPeriod[1];
    runOnPlaybackThread(
        new Runnable() {
          @Override
          public void run() {
            holder[0] = mediaSource.createPeriod(periodId, allocator);
          }
        });
    assertThat(holder[0]).isNotNull();
    return holder[0];
  }

  /**
   * Calls {@link MediaPeriod#prepare(MediaPeriod.Callback, long)} on the playback thread and blocks
   * until the method has been called.
   *
   * @param mediaPeriod The {@link MediaPeriod} to prepare.
   * @param positionUs The position at which to prepare.
   * @return A {@link CountDownLatch} that will be counted down when preparation completes.
   */
  public CountDownLatch preparePeriod(final MediaPeriod mediaPeriod, final long positionUs) {
    final ConditionVariable prepareCalled = new ConditionVariable();
    final CountDownLatch preparedCountDown = new CountDownLatch(1);
    runOnPlaybackThread(
        new Runnable() {
          @Override
          public void run() {
            mediaPeriod.prepare(
                new MediaPeriod.Callback() {
                  @Override
                  public void onPrepared(MediaPeriod mediaPeriod) {
                    preparedCountDown.countDown();
                  }

                  @Override
                  public void onContinueLoadingRequested(MediaPeriod source) {
                    // Do nothing.
                  }
                },
                positionUs);
            prepareCalled.open();
          }
        });
    prepareCalled.block();
    return preparedCountDown;
  }

  /**
   * Calls {@link MediaSource#releasePeriod(MediaPeriod)} on the playback thread.
   *
   * @param mediaPeriod The {@link MediaPeriod} to release.
   */
  public void releasePeriod(final MediaPeriod mediaPeriod) {
    runOnPlaybackThread(
        new Runnable() {
          @Override
          public void run() {
            mediaSource.releasePeriod(mediaPeriod);
          }
        });
  }

  /** Calls {@link MediaSource#releaseSource()} on the playback thread. */
  public void releaseSource() {
    runOnPlaybackThread(
        new Runnable() {
          @Override
          public void run() {
            mediaSource.releaseSource();
          }
        });
  }

  /**
   * Asserts that the source has not notified its listener of a timeline change since the last call
   * to {@link #assertTimelineChangeBlocking()} or {@link #assertTimelineChange()} (or since the
   * runner was created if neither method has been called).
   */
  public void assertNoTimelineChange() {
    assertThat(timelines.isEmpty()).isTrue();
  }

  /**
   * Asserts that the source has notified its listener of a single timeline change.
   *
   * @return The new {@link Timeline}.
   */
  public Timeline assertTimelineChange() {
    timeline = timelines.removeFirst();
    assertNoTimelineChange();
    return timeline;
  }

  /**
   * Asserts that the source notifies its listener of a single timeline change. If the source has
   * not yet notified its listener, it has up to the timeout passed to the constructor to do so.
   *
   * @return The new {@link Timeline}.
   */
  public Timeline assertTimelineChangeBlocking() {
    try {
      timeline = timelines.poll(TIMEOUT_MS, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
      assertThat(timeline).isNotNull(); // Null indicates the poll timed out.
      assertNoTimelineChange();
      return timeline;
    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
      // Should never happen.
      throw new RuntimeException(e);
    }
  }

  /**
   * Creates and releases all periods (including ad periods) defined in the last timeline to be
   * returned from {@link #prepareSource()}, {@link #assertTimelineChange()} or {@link
   * #assertTimelineChangeBlocking()}. The {@link MediaPeriodId#windowSequenceNumber} is set to the
   * index of the window.
   */
  public void assertPrepareAndReleaseAllPeriods() throws InterruptedException {
    Timeline.Period period = new Timeline.Period();
    for (int i = 0; i < timeline.getPeriodCount(); i++) {
      timeline.getPeriod(i, period);
      assertPrepareAndReleasePeriod(new MediaPeriodId(i, period.windowIndex));
      for (int adGroupIndex = 0; adGroupIndex < period.getAdGroupCount(); adGroupIndex++) {
        for (int adIndex = 0; adIndex < period.getAdCountInAdGroup(adGroupIndex); adIndex++) {
          assertPrepareAndReleasePeriod(
              new MediaPeriodId(i, adGroupIndex, adIndex, period.windowIndex));
        }
      }
    }
  }

  private void assertPrepareAndReleasePeriod(MediaPeriodId mediaPeriodId)
      throws InterruptedException {
    MediaPeriod mediaPeriod = createPeriod(mediaPeriodId);
    CountDownLatch preparedCondition = preparePeriod(mediaPeriod, 0);
    assertThat(preparedCondition.await(TIMEOUT_MS, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)).isTrue();
    // MediaSource is supposed to support multiple calls to createPeriod with the same id without an
    // intervening call to releasePeriod.
    MediaPeriod secondMediaPeriod = createPeriod(mediaPeriodId);
    CountDownLatch secondPreparedCondition = preparePeriod(secondMediaPeriod, 0);
    assertThat(secondPreparedCondition.await(TIMEOUT_MS, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)).isTrue();
    // Release the periods.
    releasePeriod(mediaPeriod);
    releasePeriod(secondMediaPeriod);
  }

  /** Releases the runner. Should be called when the runner is no longer required. */
  public void release() {
    playbackThread.quit();
  }

  private class MediaSourceListener implements MediaSource.Listener {

    @Override
    public void onSourceInfoRefreshed(MediaSource source, Timeline timeline, Object manifest) {
      Assertions.checkState(Looper.myLooper() == playbackThread.getLooper());
      timelines.addLast(timeline);
    }
  }

  private static class EventHandlingExoPlayer extends StubExoPlayer
      implements Handler.Callback, PlayerMessage.Sender {

    private final Handler handler;

    public EventHandlingExoPlayer(Looper looper) {
      this.handler = new Handler(looper, this);
    }

    @Override
    public PlayerMessage createMessage(PlayerMessage.Target target) {
      return new PlayerMessage(
          /* sender= */ this, target, Timeline.EMPTY, /* defaultWindowIndex= */ 0, handler);
    }

    @Override
    public void sendMessage(PlayerMessage message) {
      handler.obtainMessage(0, message).sendToTarget();
    }

    @Override
    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
    public boolean handleMessage(Message msg) {
      PlayerMessage message = (PlayerMessage) msg.obj;
      try {
        message.getTarget().handleMessage(message.getType(), message.getPayload());
        message.markAsProcessed(/* isDelivered= */ true);
      } catch (ExoPlaybackException e) {
        fail("Unexpected ExoPlaybackException.");
      }
      return true;
    }
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Last year, Jaden Smith delivered his debut album SYRE and now he's back with his follow up album The Sunset Tapes: A Cool Tape Story.
Jaden explains the project as a spinoff of his Cool Tape series instead of it being Volume 3. Over the past few months "GHOST" and "Goku" were released but neither are featured on this new album, so we get 11 new tracks with no features.
Hit play below or on any platform.
Also, check out the video for "Plastic" below.


text:
Q: Using JSR 303 is it possible to generate validation.xml from annotations? Let's say I have an annotation JSR 303 class like this:
class A {
    @NotNull
    private String b;

    @Min(5)
    @Max(10)
    private int num = 3;

    @Pattern(regexp="[0-9]*")
    private String foo = "12345aa";
}

How can I take that class and generate a validation.xml which contains the same constraints as those that are specified by the annotations?

A: The idea would be to write your own annotation processor. The hard work is to map the annotation to the xml equivalent. There are some examples you could look at on how to write an annotation processor. For example Hibernate Validator uses annotation processing to give developers the ability to verify their constraint placement during development (see ConstraintValidationProcessor). Or have a look at Hibernate's JPA2 Metamodel Generator.
AFAIK there is no tool out there yet which does what you want. Btw, why do you want the xml?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Due to poor performance results through many simple IPL / SHR devices, consumers are looking for diode lasers, hoping for better results.
Almost every diode laser is better than SHR. However, a good IPL device can be significantly better than a simple or average diode laser.
IPL devices are generally more versatile, especially when using general skin treatments.
All IPL lamps and all laser diodes are subject to wear and tear, depending on the usage and the energy consumed.
However, laser diodes are many times more durable than all IPL lamps, but are correspondingly more expensive.
IPL with a long history on hair removal filed,and the filters can change the IPL wavelength to reach the results. (different filter with different function)It have hair removal,skin rejuvenation,spot removal,pigmentation removal and acne removal.
Diode laser is an new hair removal technology, and can reach permanent hair removal effect. And speed of remove hair is very fast.
But the diode laser only for hair removal.


text:
Contractor University
Contractor University Home
OPTIMUS Financing
OPTIMUS Financing Home
Financing Pathways
EGIA Foundation
EGIA Foundation Home
Always In Demand
Rebate Administration
Financing Administration
Trade Ally Management
Distributors/Manufacturers
Marketplace Vendors
About EGIA
Team of Educators
Careers At EGIA
Brand Tools
EGIA Contractor University Faculty
Drew Cameron
President, Flow Odyssey and Energy Design Systems, LLC
Watch Drew's Intro Video
Drew Cameron is America's Most Sought-After Sales & Marketing Strategy and Success Advisor to Home Services Contractors and president of both FLOW Odyssey (formerly HVAC Sellutions) and Energy Design Systems, LLC: the premier industry alliance providing leading-edge technology along with complementary marketing and sales consultative support, recruiting, training, and coaching for performance and profit enhancement of Home Services Contactors. Drew is a renowned author, speaker, educator, coach, consultant, software developer, philanthropist, and an International Consultant Award Winner. Drew is also a president of the Cameron Family Memorial Foundation; a Board member, a Foundation Board Trustee, a Contractor University Founder & Faculty member, Resident Expert of Contractor Connect for Electric & Gas Industries Association (EGIA); a member of Black Belt Contracting (BBC).
Mark Matteson
Bestselling Author of Freedom from Fear and A Simple Choice
sparkingsuccess.net
Mark Matteson is an international speaker and best-selling author of 15 books. He has been called "The Oracle of Optimism", "A Superlative Street Scholar", "An Intense Idea-Reporter". Mark travels 250 days a year around the globe delivering 75 "Edu-Training" Keynotes, Seminars, Panel Discussions and Workshops a year. Mark is a gifted storyteller, using self-effacing humor, high levels of interaction and powerful and proven business principles to inspire audiences to the highest levels of productivity and profit. Mark leaves audiences wanting more…he began his career in HVAC in 1976.
New York Times Best Selling Author & Creator of the HVAC Sales Academy
WeldonLong.com
Watch Weldon's Intro Video
Weldon Long is a successful entrepreneur, sales expert and author of the NY Times bestseller, The Power of Consistency – Prosperity Mindset Training for Sales and Business Professionals (Wiley). In 2003, he walked out of a homeless shelter and built an Inc. 5000 company generating cumulative sales of over $20,000,000 within just 60 months. In 2009, his company was selected as one of Inc. Magazines Fastest Growing Private Companies in America.
Today, Weldon Long is one of the nation's most powerful speakers and a driven motivator who teaches others the Sales and Prosperity Mindset philosophies that catapulted him from desperation and poverty to a life of wealth and prosperity. Weldon has been featured on numerous national and regional television programs, including Fox News Network, First Business Network and Chicago's own WGN.
Mr. Long has successfully used his signature program, The Power of Consistency, to help hundreds of companies and thousands of sales professionals radically improve their sales results. Weldon holds a Bachelor's Degree and an MBA in Management. He is honored to have served some of America's finest companies, including Federal Express, The Franklin Covey Organization, Tom Hopkins International, Dex Media, Wells Fargo Bank, Pre-Paid Legal Services, Direct Energy/Clockwork Services, Mitsubishi Electric, Rheem, Goodman Manufacturing and the Carrier/Bryant Corporation.
Gary Elekes
President, EPC Training
Gary Elekes is serial entrepreneur with a passion for helping others become more successful by sharing what he has learned over the past 3 decades working closely with all facets of the contracting industry. During his career, Gary has held senior management positions at Lennox and Service Experts. In 2000, Gary moved into entrepreneurship and started his training and consulting business EPC. Today, EPC continues to support growth oriented businesses aspiring to reach 20% EBIT. He also designed the very first web based learning platform for the residential contracting industry, which acts as a support system for training and learning in HVAC and plumbing trades, and has over 5,000 subscribers.
In 2003, Gary began acquiring contracting firms with a focus on developing turn-around opportunities. He also opened and operated several start-up businesses. In 2010, he added web design/SEO and online marketing to his company portfolio starting Imarket Solutions as a co-founder. Gary graduated from Ohio State University with a BSBA and also holds a Master's Degree in Business and Finance.
James R. Leichter
President & CEO, Aptora Corporation, Mr. HVAC LLC, RA Tax and Accounting Inc.
MrHVAC.com
James is a successful entrepreneur and master mechanic whose accomplishments include being the founder of MrHVAC.com, the CEO and founder of Aptora, the President of RA Tax and Accounting and a partner with ProAmerican Investments.
James' company MrHVAC.com is a website dedicated to improving the lives of contractors. It includes industry articles, specialized HVAC calculators, forms, templates and one of the most extensive operations manuals in the country. As the founder of Aptora corporation, he has created some of the most popular software programs in the service industry including Flat Rate Plus and Total Office Manager.
James is well known for his burning passion to help contractors and it shows in his unique speaking style. He has hosted management workshops all around the United States and has conducted onsite consulting since 1996 with hundreds of contractors.
Mike Treas
The HVAC Sales Coach
Mike brings experience in the contracting industry as a sales manager and comfort advisor for one of the largest and well respected residential heating and air conditioning contractors in the United States. He has personally worked with over 150 contracting companies across North America conducting training and consulting in the areas of sales, sales management, business management, customer service and technician lead generation training. His background consists of 35 years in sales and sales management bringing expertise, knowledge, techniques and strategies proven in the contracting industry to increase sales.
Mike's diverse background includes movies and entertainment, public speaking, fitness and over 20 years in HVAC. As a talent agent in Hollywood, Mike had actors on television, commercials and movies. Running his own company, Mike lead his team to become the largest aerobic certification agency in the United States with a nationally recognized fitness magazine that was the first national publication specifically for the aerobic fitness community. With six motion picture credits to his name, Mike also brings film management and production to the table. What does that mean to you? It simply means that Mike knows how to entertain each and every audience plus organize training and consulting programs so you get what you pay for and walk away with the value you expect from such a performer.
Steve Shallenberger
Best Selling Author and President of Becoming Your Best Global Leadership, LLC
BecomingYourBest.com
Steven Shallenberger understands the contractor world. He founded Synergy Companies in 1981, a successful energy services contractor, with offices throughout the State of California and is on the National Association of Energy Service Companies Board of Directors.
He has more than 40 years of experience as a successful business owner, trusted senior executive, professional corporate trainer, and best-selling author. He is the founder and president of Becoming Your Best Global Leadership. Steve and his team provide award winning training and keynotes helping teams and leaders tackle some of their greatest leadership challenges around the world. As a young entrepreneur, Steve successfully built numerous organizations from the ground up. During those years, he continued his education at the Harvard Business School. Steve was also a trusted advisor for Stephen R. Covey. Steve was a key leader in Covey's organization who helped build the world-renowned Covey Leadership Center. He led a stalwart team and was responsible for the development and distribution of the original Covey planner.
Rob Shallenberger
CEO and Senior Consultant, Becoming Your Best Global Leadership LLC
Rob is the CEO and Senior Consultant for Becoming Your Best Global Leadership LLC. Rob served as an officer and fighter pilot in the United States Air Force for over 11 years. He was selected as one of a handful of United States Air Force representatives to handle the movement of Air Force One. He handled the delicate coordination between local officials, the United States Secret Service, Embassies, White House Staff, and Foreign Governments.
Since leaving the Air Force, Rob has become a top-rated speaker. He has delivered keynotes and led workshops for Fortune 500 companies around the world. Rob is the author of the acclaimed book How to Succeed in High School. His company also recently released a #1 National Bestseller titled Becoming Your Best: The 12 Principles of Highly Successful Leaders. The tools, processes, and principles shared in these books have been lauded by leaders around the world.
Russ Horrocks
Vice President, Flow Odyssey
Russ Horrocks emerged as one of the most successful Comfort Advisors in America in the mid-90's. Russ quickly took to sharing his unique knowledge of buyer psychology with sales forces across the country. He turned his profession into a passion, educating and coaching in-home sales and service advisors to understand the critical skills necessary to achieve results far exceeding personal mindset limitations and corporate expectations.
Most trainers preach about product and process. Russ teaches and coaches his sales and service protégés not only about what to do in the home and how to do to it, but more importantly, why. Why leads to a purpose allowing the people his students serve to build a strong connection based on a position of trust, confidence, competence and credibility. When matched with the creative execution of a process built to work with human nature and how people want to buy, it yields explosive growth.
Having mastered the sales process, in 2011 Russ joined with business development specialist, Drew Cameron, as Vice President of Flow Odyssey to help clients enhance the performance of their entire business, and transcend growing one person or department at a time. Together they work in the trenches with their clients in every facet of building successful home services businesses.
Clients embrace Russ' detailed holistic approach to assessing a company's people, present state and potential. Drawing a blueprint for success, he collaborates with clients onsite, online, and on-the-phone to achieve operational excellence with a hands-on strategic approach to growing people and implementing profit-based processes and systems. Clients benefit from Russ' 20 years of knowledge and national experience, along with his relentless pursuit of building happy, effective, top-performing professionals and developing a culture of success and achievement.
Scott Deming
President, RCI, llc and Scott Deming Speaking, Training & Consulting
Scott Deming is a highly accomplished senior executive with more than 30 years of success within a wide variety of industries. He leverages extensive brand development and strategic planning experience to improve an organization's standing while implementing innovative solutions to support growth. Scott has proven his ability to build and motivate teams while developing unparalleled customer experience, innovation and leadership initiatives with his internationally acclaimed keynote presentations, training sessions and consulting arrangements.
Scott's current clients include Disney, Apple, Toyota, New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc., McDonald's of Russia, Hershey Foods, Pfizer, Delta Airlines, Verizon Wireless, General Motors, Farm Credit Bank, AT&T, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Daikin Heating & Cooling.
Scott works closely with clients to identify core requirements and develops solutions with an emphasis on culture transformation, employee motivation and engagement, and corporate goal attainment, drawing on 30+ years of corporate experience. Key indicators of his success are represented by his training and workshop sessions that have been considered so impactful, that The Vision Council issued CXO Certification to all attendees; his consultancy input to a national manufacturer recognized in supporting the company's achievement of record sales figures; and assisting a Verizon Wireless subsidiary franchisee with customer service improvements which resulted in an 80% increase in sales.
Sign-up for free educational emails from Contractor University
3800 Watt Ave., Suite 105
memberservices@egia.org
- Join Contractor University Now
- Contractor Training
- OPTIMUS Financing
- EGIA Foundation
- Always In Demand

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


UK Sales Manager – Bio Fuel - NO BIO FUEL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED! £28k Basic + Commission OTE £50-55k + Benefits!!! Shropshire Based.
Job Title: UK Sales Manager – Bio Fuel - NO BIO FUEL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED! £28k Basic + Commission OTE £50-55k + Benefits!!! Shropshire Based.
Salary: £28k Basic + Commission OTE £50-55k + Benefits!!!
The Job Vacancy:UK Sales Manager – Bio Fuel - NO BIO FUEL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED! £28k Basic + Commission OTE £50-55k + Benefits!!! Shropshire Based.
This Sales Manager – Bio Fuel job vacancy will be working for a major UK manufacturer of Bio Fuel, supplying the agricultural and commercial markets. Covering the UK sales territory from a Shropshire base. The role will be selling their full range of products direct to customers and businesses. Strong sales and negotiation skills and building lasting business relationships are key to achieving success. This is a highly-varied role, for an enthusiastic and dynamic sales professional. It would really suit someone looking to advance their sales career, with great prospects for growth and progression.
A major manufacturer of Bio Fuel to the UK market.
Sales background within agriculture or fuel.
Sales focused, and target driven.
Basic salary £28k plus commission (excellent OTE of £50k+) and benefits package.


I have already sung the praises of San Francisco-based Viceroy, so it's safe to say this song is a good one. The generous producer decided to give away a song for every 100 fans he acquired on Facebook and, luckily for us, he hit 600 a few days ago, prompting him to lay this glorious track on the internetz. His remix of "So Much Love To Give" has a more decidedly house feel than most of his golden-disco tracks…which is absolutely not a bad thing. Not only am I happy to have this song, but I'm also very happy that we've got the disco-phenom headlining our next No Shirt / No Shoes pool party on July 23rd at The Standard Downtown LA. So get ready to shimmy down at the rooftop!


Hotel Grand Central Singapore, Located in Orchard Road, Singapore.
All of us at Hotel Grand Central would like to extend a very warm welcome to you. Uniquely located at the heart of the shopping belt, this is modern accommodations in a traditional setting. We are located right in the middle of the Central Business District with easy access to the trains (MRT), buses and taxis. But most importantly, you will experience a quiet, peaceful environment that will welcome you each time you return to your room.
Traditional Excellence The grandeur of yesteryear persists through every tastefully furnished room. Each room and suite is furnished luxuriously, spotting modern facilities without sacrificing the flavour of the grand traditions of Asian luxury and comfort.
Quiet ConvenienceFor the corporate traveller, the Hotel is set just slightly back from the hustle and bustle of the iconic Orchard Road shopping belt. Easy to get to anywhere you need, and a pleasure to return to after a hard day at work or play.
Modern FacilitiesIn-room Internet access, mini-bar, executive work desk, laundry service and much more are available to our guests. Whether you are planning a conference, a business trip or a holiday, Hotel Grand Central is a welcoming presence.
In the heart of Orchard Road shopping and entertainment centre. Just minutes from Central Business District and 25-minute drive to Changi International Airport.
Our Superior rooms offer great value for your stay. Basic and simple. For travellers who prefer to spend their money on shopping.
Our deluxe rooms offer minibar, tea / coffee making facilities and high speed broadband internet access (chargeable). Iron & ironing board. Cable channels. For Business traveller who prefer to mix leisure & business during their stayed.
For a family travelling with children, we offer rooms that are specially configured to cater to 2 adults and 2 child. Room comes with mini- bar and complimentary Tea/ Coffee.
Newly renovated- You be surprise to find all your basic needs are found within the room. Basically everything in the room are new. Comes with LCD TV with cable channels. High speed broadband internet access connection (Chargeable), hair- dryer, iron & ironing board. Room comes with mini- bar and complimentary Tea/ Coffee. Tooth brush & tooth paste. Slippers in room.
We have karaoke lounges and pubs to cater for your singing pleasure. You can also relax by the poolside at our outdoor swimming pool.
At Hotel Grand Central, we have Conference and Function rooms available for your business needs. The Conference and Function room can accommodate up to 150 people each respectively. A banquet room is also available for seminars, cocktail parties, private dinner, birthday parties etc.
We have a variety of bar and eating places that will tempt you with delicacies ranging from gourmet to casual delights, including international taste treats from the adjoining Gourmet Village.


I always encourage you to exercise, to have a relaxed attitude, to wear casual outfits. For such a look, the perfect accessory is the sport watch so here are some interesting models.
One of the most loved jewelries of all women, stud earrings are also one of the most chic accessories. I love stud earrings for their versatility: you can wear them at work and go to the gym still wearing them for example. Stud earrings are very delicate, chic and never go out of style.


PICC operates three businesses on Palm Island so that the community can enjoy products and services like those on the mainland or to provide choice for shoppers.
The Farm Road Bakery sells fresh bread and other baked goods daily, and also offers other foods and drinks such as coffee and pies. Phone 0498 583 327 (temporary number) or 4770 1653 (normally).
The Community Shop, also on Farm Road, sells new and used clothing, electronics, haberdashery, books, and home decorations. Phone 4770 1677.
The Farm Road Service Station and Mechanic's Workshop sells petrol and diesel, and other automotive products. The mechanic services and repairs vehicles on Palm Island. Vehicle service and repair is also available in Garbutt, Townsville. Phone 4770 1257.
All profits from our community enterprises are returned to the Palm Island community through PICC's businesses and services. Our enterprises also offer training and skills development to their staff.


While the supervisory control (SC) problem of (maximally permissive) deadlock avoidance for sequential resource allocation systems (RASs) has been extensively studied in the literature, the corresponding results that are able to address potential resource outages are quite limited, both, in terms of their volume and their control capability. This paper leverages the recently developed SC theory for switched discrete event systems (s-DES) in order to provide a novel systematic treatment of this more complicated version of the RAS deadlock avoidance problem. Following the modeling paradigm of s-DES, both the operation of the considered RAS and the corresponding maximally permissive SC policy are decomposed over a number of operational modes that are defined by the running sets of the failing resources. In particular, the target supervisor must be decomposed to a set of "localized predicates," where each predicate is associated with one of the operational modes. A significant part, and a primary contribution, of this paper concerns the development of these localized predicates that will enable the formal characterization and the effective computation of the sought supervisor. With these predicates available, a distributed representation for the sought supervisor that is appropriate for real-time implementation is eventually obtained through an adaptation of the relevant distributed algorithm that is provided by the current s-DES SC theory.


Achieving competitive advantage requires an enterprise management that puts the focus on effectiveness before efficiency. They must do the right things before doing it fast. Our seminars and presentations were forged in the heat of necessity and tempered with the pragmatism of project management while enganged in practical application. These projects include multiple ERP projects, supply chain management, process involvement and customer / supplier collaboration. These presentations have been used by Affinity Systems LLC to prepare organizations for software and process improvement programs. They have been presented to public and private groups. They are now used by Competitive America to help build the powerful American manufacturing system needed to keep America economically viable.
Change permeates all activities. How Americans respond to the focus of change will determine either the decline of our society or ascension to a higher plane of freedom and harmony with the natural systems.
Change at the Edge of Chaos and Order is primarily aimed at the business community but it has application for audiences of all types. In this session, the attendees will learn the importance of making positive change and how it relates to new systems and processes.
American manufacturing is at risk in the global economy but protectionism is folly. The solution is to understand our competitors strengths and weaknesses plus our own. Armed with knowledge we can seek trade reciprocity and achieve true excellence in adaptive, energy efficient and environmentally friendly factories.
The New Great Wall of China explores this fascinating competitor and how they really do business. This session has proved to be controversial with those fixated on opportunity without exploring the risk. It is richly illustrated and for groups of all types. Attendees will gain deeper understanding of this key international competitor.
Global Competition - Fighting Back covers steps that enterprises can take to compete in the global arena. This presentation is highly illustrated and is the graphic precursor to the book "Pathway to Adaptability"�. It is primarily for business groups and attendees will gain an insight into actions we can take to effectively compete in the global economy.
Supply Chain programs address the logistical aspect of acquiring, converting, and managing product. Supply Chains are the lifeblood of the horizontal factory and distribution systems. To be fast and effective, they must be well engineered and integrated into the other business systems.
Engineering Global Supply Chains is presented as a two-part session. The first addresses the operational supply chain issues. While it discusses some theory, it is aimed at practical application. Participants will gain new perspectives on this rapidly changing function.
The Executive Role in Engineering Global Supply Chains presentation summaries the issues addressed in the first seminar. It focuses on the leadership tasks that can only be executed by top management. Normally presented as an evening session following the seminar, it also stands-alone.
Supply Chain Collaboration creates and builds on natural synergies between customers and suppliers. They multiply the effectiveness of the supply chain and strengthen the relationship between partners.
Supply Chain Collaboration- Getting Past the Theory, was developed while working on customer/supplier programs including Dow Chemical and Chinese companies. A pool of lessons learned was compiled and integrated into the presentation. Attendees will learn about dangers as well as opportunities.
ERP is the dominant business system. Business enterprises of all types are embracing the concept yet many users do not understand the core concepts. The Structured process was developed over 30 years of installing enterprise systems. In addition, we spent eighteen months researching and surveying software suppliers to discover productive ways to interact. The entire process, poorly done, adds cost, complexity, and risk to the business. Following is our four step training process developed to address the needs of our clients as they embark on ERP projects. The sessions are conducted as either internal or external seminars. Each session is capable of standing alone.
Process improvement is the path to operational excellence. Lean, Six-Sigma and TOC are favored approaches but require a significant time investment. A new software system will not work and ROI projections will be missed without making changes. These sessions address the practicality of process improvement for ERP projects, and form the base to evolve into full-fledged Lean programs.
This class was developed to rapidly implement process improvement programs. In some enterprises, necessity demands immediate results as opposed to the more formal approach used in Lean. This program is for selective internal programs.
There are multiple process improvement tools such as process mapping, gap analysis, intensive planning, and the use of analysis methods such as Praeto diagrams. This seminar teaches the attendees how to use certain of these tools and creates an awareness of the others.
Setup reduction is the key to collapsing the time. This session teaches the techniques to achieve faster setups by addressing both internal and external factors. It addresses tooling methodology. This session is for manufacturing professionals and as part of training for process Improvement teams.
Kanban is a powerful work management methodology introduced within the Toyota Systems concepts. Kanban has been incorporated into many ERP systems but the application requires knowledge of its working fundamentals. This session achieve that purpose.
Gain sharing is a process improvement technique frequently used to reward participants. While frequently used, it has pitfalls that diminish its effectiveness. This session surfaces these hidden problems. Attendees – those responsible for process improvement programs.
Demand Flow is an important concept. This session is provides an overview of the concept. Attendees - those responsible for process improvement programs or those interested in finding out what it is.
All programs can be modified to incorporate internal documents and illustrations. We have the skill sets necessary to photograph operations and processes for inclusion in the materials.
Additional fees will be charged for modifying presentations to achieve specific emphasis or to include internal documents and illustrations. Cancellation charges made after travel fees have been incurred will billed to the client organization.
Contact us for fees and availability at action@competitiveamerica.us or call at 715-573-8911.


text:
Waldron News e-Edition
The Citizen e-Edition
Waldron, AR (72958)
Overcast with showers at times. High 47F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%..
Periods of rain. Low 48F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
Bates resigns as Waldron Football Coach
Mansfield hosts All-Stars at Farm Bureau XC Race
Mansfield High School took the reigns of the Farm Bureau River Valley All-Star Cross Country Meet. The invitations were sent and accepted. The races were run. The results tabulated. And, the athletes reaped all the awards.
The day that honored these decorated athletes was Saturday, November 16. On a cool crisp morning along the perimeter of Mansfield's senior high campus, some of the best endurance runners from across the local region gathered for one more glorious race of the 2019 cross country season.
Twenty-five class 1A-4A schools scattered from across 12 different Arkansas counties were included in the search for the top 5K racers. From that pool of players, an initial list of 40 athletes (20 women and 20 men) were asked to participate. In case of conflicts with the Arkansas-Oklahoma All-Star Meet or local basketball obligations, another 40 names were submitted as possible substitutes.
Off the initial list of All-Star invites, 65% of the players made arrangements to attend. The remaining players that filled the rosters were elevated in ranked numerical order according to best 5K times throughout the season. The results were a very competitive set of two races with nearly 40 high profile distance runners.
The high level of competition was never more apparent than the results of the men's race. Logan Myers of Mena strained into first place by a minuscule one second difference ahead of Max Linares of Subiaco.
Myers' winning time was 17:56.4. Linares second place mark was 17:57.4. The next five runners all came under 19 minutes for the 3.1 mile equivalent course work.
"One of our all-stars confessed to me that it was really intimidating to have such high caliber athletes in one setting," said Mansfield Tiger coach John Mackey. "There weren't many runners entered, but they were all so very good. Just being in the lineup was quite an honor."
The top ten finishers in the men's race all completed the two loop course in 19 minutes and some change. Further proof, this event carried some of the best talent in the small school rankings.
"It's a real credit to the work ethic of these local runners," explained Mackey. "Not to many years ago, only a handful of the small school male runners broke 19 minutes. Now, it takes being under 18 minutes to reach this new level of success."
On the women's side, Waldron's Maria Grano continued her assault of the trophy stand. The freshman sensation won the first race of the morning with an outstanding time of 21:17.3. That easily shed her closest competition, Maggie Gregory of Pottsville, by 1 minute 49 seconds.
Harley Dilly believed to be found dead in a chimney
Ukraine probing possible surveillance of US ambassador
Sanders: Trump may drag us into a war worse than Iraq
Grano and seven of her Waldron Bulldog teammates all made the All-Star race fresh off their state championship run a week earlier in Hot Springs.
Mansfield's female runners earned the second highest amount of roster spots on the All-Star list compared to their Scott County neighbor. The Lady Tigers had two first round invites in McKenzie Griffin and Faith Rainwater. They landed three more from high positions off the alternates list. Those included Darby Jones, Jadelynn Wood, and Katlynn Moore.
Griffin, at number ten, found her way to the medal stand with a time of 24:20.2. For the last month of the season, she has been the Tiger's top runner.
driving cross-country or across the street, you must wear your seat belt and it may prove to be the life or death difference for you and your family."
NHTSA estimates that proper seat belt use reduces the risk of fatal injury to front seat passengers by 45 percent, and the risk of moderate to serious injury by 50 percent. In 2016, approximately 14,668 people survived crashes because they were buckled up. If everyone had worn their seat belts that year, as many as 2,456 lives might have been saved.
For more information about highway safety during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, please visit www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov or call the Arkansas Highway Safety Office at (501) 618-8136. For more on Arkansas' ongoing Toward Zero Deaths campaign to eliminate preventable traffic fatalities, visit www.TZDArkansas.org.
State Sen. Terry Rice Receives Business Matters Leadership Award
Bulldogs win Bill Frye Invitational
Cora Ruth Owens
Maurice "Sonny" Hicks, Jr.
State Capitol Week in Review
Samuel Bryam "Buddy" Snodgrass, Jr.
Arkansas House Weekly Column
Move Forward: A Young Woman's Journey with a Rare Disease and Moving Forward in the Name of Her Sister
Area children blessed through Shop With a Cop
waldronnews.com
Waldron, AR 72958
Email: editor@waldronnews.com
© Copyright 2020 The Waldron News, 200 S Main St Waldron, AR | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy


text:
Other Great War Chat
General Great War Discussion
Serjeant or Sergeant?
By emjayen, 19 February , 2014 in Other Great War Chat
emjayen
Sergeant-Major
Interests:Anything and everything. Particularly Irish Regiments and soldiers of Irish descent. 2nd Batt. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers at Festubert
Posted 19 February , 2014
Need the collective expertise of the Forum members again!
Am researching the 2nd Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, who utilise the rank, Serjeant.
Question is, what is the differentiation between Serjeant and Sergeant in Infantry regiments? Why did some use Serjeant and others Sergeant?
No doubt there is a simple answer which I have missed!
old sparky
Location:Cornwall England
Interests:1st Battalion The Hampshire Regiment, 9th Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps, the Fallen of South Petherwin Parish
It seems to me to be a time thing Emjayen. I have a DCLI man who is both serjeant and sergeant in official documents. Earlier records talk of serJeants but at the time they were written spelling was generally optional.
GraemeClarke
Lieut-General
CWGC quote
Concerning our spelling of Sergeant: "Serjeant" spelt with a "J" is peculiar
to the British and New Zealand armies and is used in connection with those
services only. The British army did not change its spelling to "Sergeant"
with a "G" until November 1953. As we commemorate those who died during the
two world wars only, the "Serjeant" spelling is historically correct.
I hope that this will clarify the situation for you.
Its been discussed many time
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8964
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=161971
http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=52790
Ron Clifton
Location:Cambridge
Interests:War Establishments (composition of units) and Orders of Battle (composition of formations)
Hello Michael
The J spelling is used in the Army Act, King's Regs and the Pay Warrant, i.e. the sources defining the legal status of the rank. It can still be found in Queen's Regs 1955.
The G spelling is much commoner and is used by the Official History. The RAF has never used the J spelling.
Location:Edinburgh
The Rifles still use Serjeant with a "j". See the following MoD statements about Rifles NCOs killed in Afghanistan.
https://www.gov.uk/government/fatalities/serjeant-phillip-scott-killed-in-afghanistan
https://www.gov.uk/government/fatalities/serjeant-steven-campbell-killed-in-afghanistan
https://www.gov.uk/government/fatalities/colour-serjeant-kevin-charles-fortuna-killed-in-afghanistan
Location:Woodhall Spa Lincolnshire
Interests:World War 1 - 18th Londons, 141 Brigade, 47th Div.
KRR's always used Serjeant and also after amalgamation in to the Royal Greenjackets as 2nd battalion.
They also wear black buttons and call bayonets 'swords' Squirrel. It's a case of maintaining a difference and calling it tradition. The discussion over the correct spelling of the rank is however academic as both spellings were in common use during the Great War as is demonstrated in official documents and War Diaries etc. It would be wrong to change the spelling in a specific case just because the General Staff did not feel it necessary to rule on the matter until 19158. Whatever the spelling the rank is the same.
Thanks Peter, I'm quite familar with the "traditions" of the Rifle Regiments. KRR's also used the designation Colour Serjeant although the regiment never carried colours.
I was trying to make a point about 'military mannerisms' Squirrel. Sorry if I caused offence.
stripeyman
Location:Ashton in Makerfield
I did not know that the Rifle Brigade did not have 'colours'. why not ?
Guess its a mixture of time and tradition.
Rifle Regiments, 60th (King's Royal Rifle Corps) and 95th (Rifle Brigade) were skirmishers and marksmen unlike the line infantry which as the name suggests fought in line.
They wore green uniforms and were trained to act on their own initiative. Carrying colours was not practical in the role that the Rifle regiments were used.
Line infantry used drums for signalling orders. Rifle regiments used the bugle as drums were also not practical for their role.
In order to move and deploy quickly the fast marching pace was adopted.
A number of Line infantry regiments were trained in a similar role and designated Light infantry but these retained their colours and drums.
No offence taken Peter - time and tradition as Michael says and "Military mannerisms" as you say.
Any "differences" are jealously guarded and maintained.
Thank you Mr Squirrel, I now understand.
nigelfe
The notion of the rifle/LI being tactically different to the rest of the infantry died out long before WW1, along with Fusiliers being different. Incidentally I was always under the impression that the correct name for the KRRC was the 'Loyal Americans' to distinguish them from the disloyal ********.
KRR's originally the Royal American Regiment.
The "tactical differences" disappeared shortly after the Napoleonic Wars as training became more standard throughout the Infantry. Wouldn't mention that to The Rifles though...
nfh249
Location:Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Interests:The East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry 1902-1956
I was always told that Sergeant with a 'g' meant servant and hence Serjeant with a 'j' was preferred. Sounds now like a bit of made up/reinvented history!
Not altogether a myth, Neil. The Household Cavalry have always used Corporal of Horse instead of Serjeant/Sergeant, and have Corporal-Majors and Quartermaster-Corporals too, because their ORs were thought to be gentlemen, not servants.
bill24chev
Location:Bolton Lancashire
Interests:MILITARY HISTORY, RAILWAYS, MALT WHISKY, REAL ALE AND WORLD BEERS, RUM
When I served in the RAPC during the 80's There was a chap called Major and some comic at Manning 7 records posted him to the Household Cavalry as a Corporal. You can imagine the confusion when he answered the phone "Pay office, Cpl Major speaking"
Shades of 'Catch 22' there. Was he paid in the higher rank ?
J. Shelley
It's spelt with a J in the rifles regiments in the British army, for the following reason.... spelt with a 'G' sergeant derived from the word servant in French
OxonRfn
On 05/06/2019 at 20:10, J. Shelley said:
One of the longest serving old wives tales in our regiment, and it's still taught to Riflemen! Serjeant with a 'G' matches no word in French for servant (which is serviteur) I've never been able to trace back where this myth started!
Jim Clay
Brigadier-General
Location:The Gateway
My Concise OED tells me it comes from "ME, from OF sergent from L serviens -entis servant".
Steven Broomfield
Location:Formerly, but no longer, SO50, SW1 and South Western Railways
Interests:10th Royal Hussars (PWO), 11th Hussars (PAO), The Royal Hussars (PWO), The King's Royal Hussars
Is that not why the Household cavalry don't have Sergeants?
Scalyback
Same as Jail and Gaol. Just another twisting of J/G and the flexibility of the English-language.
Uncle George
Location:Devon
R. Money Barnes, in his 'A History of the Regiments and Uniforms of the British Army' (1950), agrees with Jim Clay: "SERGEANT: From French Sergent, derived from Latin serviens = serving."


Philadelphia, Pa. — AmeriHealth Caritas, a national leader in Medicaid managed care and other health care solutions for those most in need, announced it has signed a letter of agreement with the three individual members of the Advancing NC Whole Health Coalition to develop integrated care solutions for North Carolina Medicaid enrollees under the state's Medicaid Transformation plan. The Advancing NC Whole Health Coalition is a partnership of three high-performing North Carolina local management entities/ managed care organizations — Alliance Behavioral Healthcare, Trillium Health Resources, and Vaya Health.
AmeriHealth Caritas is one of the nation's leaders in health care solutions for those most in need. Operating in 15 states and the District of Columbia, AmeriHealth Caritas serves approximately 5.3 million Medicaid, Medicare and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) members through its integrated managed care products, pharmaceutical benefit management and specialty pharmacy services, behavioral health services, and other administrative services. Headquartered in Philadelphia, AmeriHealth Caritas is a mission-driven organization with more than 35 years of experience serving low-income and chronically ill populations. AmeriHealth Caritas is part of the Independence Health Group in partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. For more information, visit www.amerihealthcaritas.com.
Trillium Health Resources is a leading specialty care manager (LME/MCO) for individuals with substance use, mental illness and intellectual/ developmental disabilities in 26 counties in eastern North Carolina. Trillium's mission is to transform the lives of people in need by providing them with ready access to quality care. We take a person-centered approach to health and wellbeing, coordinating care across multiple systems to achieve improved health outcomes, quality of care and efficient use of resources. Trillium is investing in innovation to meet the unique needs of the individuals and communities we serve, and remains focused on delivering the right services, in the right amount, at the right time. For more information, visitwww.TrilliumHealthResources.org.


text:
Darvault – miejscowość i gmina we Francji, w regionie Île-de-France, w departamencie Sekwana i Marna.

Według danych na rok 1990 gminę zamieszkiwały 742 osoby, a gęstość zaludnienia wynosiła 95 osób/km² (wśród 1287 gmin regionu Île-de-France Darvault plasuje się na 703. miejscu pod względem liczby ludności, natomiast pod względem powierzchni na miejscu 501.).

Bibliografia

Miejscowości w departamencie Sekwana i Marna

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This command may return varied results depending on the hypervisor you are using.
Both the --live and --config options may be used but --current is exclusive. If no option is specified, the behavior will be different depending on the guest's state.


Using incredible microscopic filming techniques, we investigate the story of a tiny invader on its inexorable rise to power – the Argentine Ant. The ant is minute, but that doesn't prevent it being hugely invasive. Already, the ants have formed the largest super-colony on the planet, over nearly 6,000km from northern Italy to Portugal, through France and Spain.
The colonies consist of billions of ants which together form a giant organic structure, quite unparalleled in the natural world. Researchers are studying their predatory strategies at the expense of local species of ants, as well as their ability to modify existing ecosystems. Is it possible to stop their advance towards the north? Scientists have serious doubts.


text:
You are doing it wrong… investing in startups without waiting for exit
In Investing, Revenue-based investing, Talks
Impact investors face a startup market that has few acquisitions, fewer IPOs, and is filled with entrepreneurs who liken selling their companies to selling out. How can investors earn a reasonable/market-rate return given these realities? This webinar will share a series of alternative investment structures used to create a return on investment without a traditional exit.
More webinars at fledge.co/webinars
Infinite games have different rules
In Advice, Guest post, Talks
25December
We are taught how to play finite games. Games where there are fixed rules, a fixed timeline, where the purpose is to win. But life, sustainability, and the world we want is part of an infinite game: players that come and go, rules that change, where the objective is to keep playing the game. Simon Sinek explains this in the following interview, which is an overview of his new book, The Infinite...
In Economics, Guest post, In the news, Talks
It's way worse than you think and way way worse than you want it to be. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to share on...
A quick explainer on Impact Investing
In Impact ecosystem, Investing
What is impact investing? It's a question that gets asked a lot, even in the crowd that calls itself impact investors. I explained the general idea on-stage at The Nature-Accelerator in just three and a half minutes: Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on...
Somebody's Gotta Get Rich [SSIR]
In Guest post, Investing
Kevin Starr of the Mulago Foundation wrote a nice explanation of the need for and sweet spot of impact investing, Somebody's Gotta Get Rich. Impact at problem-solving levels of scale doesn't come from one-off businesses. "Levels of scale" as in making a noticeable difference in the world, rather than simply telling a good story imagining a world different from how it is today. Kevin...
By "Luni" July 22, 2016
Measuring the impact of a whole portfolio
Winning AND LOSING the war on (global) poverty


text:
Forward to China – Back to BEDFORD
I wasn't just visiting the States I plied through Asia too. I came across a Japanese range of self-assembly desktop robots which we represented. We opened a franchise on Tottenham Court Road, that we called Streetwise, and sold most of these 'Meccano-like' robots here.
ASIDE: I had appointed a Chinese agent in Hong Kong. In an R&R evening he inadvertently made two hilarious comments courtesy of the Chinese habit of sounding an 'l' as an 'r'. He explained he no longer smoked because he had canceRRed them. Then, in discussing a mutual friend who on a tourist-trap junk dressed up in the Empress costume for a photo, explained they were having so much fun, they cRapped themselves.
The VP for Microsoft Japan sold the Japanese manufacturers something that turned out to be a non-starter, but not before they had all signed up with MSX licences. The MSX is taken to mean 'Microsoft Extended' and to imply 'Microsoft Extended Basic'. It was intended to offer an operating system that would sustain 8-bit processors when others were by now espousing 16-bit.
As a result we were expecting a Japanese PC to arrive and take-on the UK and US products that were developing the market. I spent a lot of time touring Japanese companies to assess their readiness. We went close to doing a deal with a Pioneer MSX product, but the whole thing fizzled out as 16-bit took over.
ASIDE: I first encountered, while at Pioneer, a white wall-board for teacher/lecturer use that had an inbuilt copier to keep a record of their scribblings. In one meeting I used the board to outline my thought processes on where electronic products were headed and sketched out a hobby-horse of mine. This was that data, audio and video would converge into one product which I termed as Vi-Fi, similar to hi-fi but with data and video. When I went to wipe it off, they stopped me and used the photocopy function to run some copies of my drawing.
A year or so later I saw a Pioneer UK advert that used the term ViFi. I quickly wrote to the organisation pointing out that this had been my idea, that I still had my copy of the sketch I had done in their Japanese HQ, knew its date, and would sue them if they used it again. I never saw them do so. In retrospect that was sad, it was a nice concept and a term that perhaps I might have given me a warm feeling of pride of authorship.
On one around-the-world trip I had a strange experience in the Taipei Hilton, Taiwan. I was travelling with Clyde Roberts, one of the team. We were having a drink at the hotel bar and noticed a reaction among the hookers assembled there when an American woman came in with this huge guy, who settled her at a table and then left. Their reaction was because the American's demeanour and body language suggested that she was probably willing to offer the hooker's services at no charge. Clyde attracted her attention when he looked as if he might play the bar's piano, and he learned bizarrely that her name was Bonnie – and Clyde!
Taipei Hilton
Despite her demeanour we never saw her leave with anyone, across three nights we did see that the big guy would suddenly arrive later, and she would quickly finish up her drink and be escorted away from the bar. On one occasion we noticed the big guy had a shoulder holster and large pistol concealed beneath his jacket. We just had to know the story and it proved much stranger than we might have imagined.
In the early 1970s, Nixon's Ping Pong initiatives had shifted official US policy away from its support of Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalists based in Taiwan, to the mainland Peoples' Republic of China. However, the Governor of Nevada had sent a letter of support to Taiwan stating that the people of Nevada still knew who their real friends were.
Our visit had coincided with the inauguration of Taiwan's President Chiang Ching-kuo, re-elected in 1984. Of course he had invited Taiwan's friend, the Governor of Nevada, to attend the various formal occasions. The Governor had brought Bonnie along with him, she was a Vegas cocktail waitress. The Governor clearly thought her inappropriate for the formal state functions, so it was his bodyguard who took her to the hotel bar, then fetched her when the Governor returned.


In the past decade, UCLA has expanded beyond its campus hospital to win a 20% medical market share in west Los Angeles through an aggressive growth strategy that has angered some local care providers, the Wall Street Journal reports. The conflict pits UCLA against physicians not affiliated with the medical giant who feel that the system is "driving physicians out of business" and taking "unfair advantage" of its status as a publicly funded institution to pursue its expansion. In the early 1990s, UCLA was viewed as a "benign presence" on the medical scene, a traditional academic medical center. But then managed care penetration grew and HMO patients were increasingly being referred to lower-cost community hospitals; at the same time, state officials began urging UCLA to train more primary care physicians to balance a glut of specialists. Worried it would lose the patient volume necessary to train its faculty, UCLA resolved to change its strategy and began building up its primary care network.
Despite assurances that their "independence wouldn't be threatened," local physicians "quickly grew nervous" as they saw referrals "evaporate" when UCLA's family practices began referring patients to UCLA specialists, the Wall Street Journal reports. Other physicians claim UCLA threatened them with loss of their practices unless they joined the university's staff. In 1998, a group of 14 anesthesiologists sued the system to block it from "illegally forcing" them to become employees. The California Medical Association joined the lawsuit, claiming the system violated a state law banning "the corporate practice of medicine," but an appeals court ruled in favor of UCLA in March, citing community benefits from UCLA's expansion. Dr. Rick Welcome, a "disgruntled" radiologist who went to work for UCLA three years ago but is now quitting his job, said, "What UCLA is doing is no different from a corporation that takes over a supermarket." For its part, UCLA defends its market strategy. Gerald Levey, dean of the UCLA School of Medicine, said, "This hospital was in deep trouble in 1990 and 1991. If we sat here and did nothing, I can tell you we would be closed" (Rundle, 8/15).


text:
Style.com Is Shutting Down Its Print Magazine
It has been a year of changes for the brand.
Chantal Fernandez
Style.com is ceasing production of its quarterly print magazine, Style.com/Print, which debuted in 2012 back when it was still a part of Fashion Fairchild Media. A rep for Condé Nast attributes the decision to increased traffic on the website. "Since relaunch in early September, the site continues to exceed growth expectations," the rep said in a statement over email. "To continue that momentum, we've made the decision to focus 100% of our efforts on our core digital business."
When Condé Nast sold Fairchild in August, Style.com was exempt from the sale and brought under a new leadership structure as a part of Vogue. And in September, it launched a redesign with expanded coverage.
At the time of the sale, it was not yet clear how Wintour's influence might affect the website, and it seems like her first major change has been to shutter the print side to focus online.
Must Read: Priyanka Chopra Covers 'Vanity Fair,' Style Heroine Is Now Sergio Rossi's Artistic Director
So, Is New York Fashion Week... Really Happening?
Great Outfits in Fashion History: George Harrison and Patti Boyd's Winter Wedding Looks
Anna WintourStyle.comStyle.com/PrintConde Nast
Style.com Is Back Under the 'Vogue' Umbrella
Anna Wintour has another report under her wing.
Style.com Debuts First Print Campaign, Complete with Stickers
The collage-themed advertisement will run in the British editions of 'GQ' and 'Vogue.'
By Chantal Fernandez
'Self' Magazine Launches Website Redesign with Focus on Videos and Visuals
"I sometimes say that 'Self' is, itself, an Instagram feed writ large," says Editor in Chief Joyce Chang.
'Teen Vogue' Is the Latest Magazine to Cut Back Its Print Issues
The Condé Nast title will now only publish four issues per year.


A very pleasant pastry shop with delectable desserts but I like it here mostly because the Spaghetti Bolognese is made just as how it should be! K Pat as how I believe people have nicknamed the place is pretty and refreshing. The flavored ice teas and smoothies are notable and the cupcakes are flavored just right.
You'd have to bring your own pocket Wi-Fi because this is not offered at K Pat, but if you do, all the other elements in this eatery will compliment your visit.
The Spaghetti Bolognese I rave about.
Looks like an international clientele.
Location: Corner Gomez and Paterno Sts.
I dare say, K Patisserie is a wonderful addition to our Tacloban City!


Warrensville Heights, OH – Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11) released the following statement today following the announcement by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) of first-round funding awards to land banks in 11 counties through the "The Neighborhood Initiative Program" (NIP). This program is based on approval by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to reallocate up to $60 million of the state's remaining Hardest Hit Funds for demolition purposes. Congresswoman Fudge has long fought for this program by introducing bipartisan legislation to create a permanent restructuring of the HHF program and publicly supporting OHFA's proposal to reallocate Hardest Hit Funds for demolition purposes.
"The Hardest Hit Fund program was designed to prevent future foreclosures; however, since 2010 millions of dollars in funding available to Ohio homeowners went unused. In the meantime, communities struggled to deal with a staggering volume of vacant and blighted properties left in the wake of the housing crisis. I thank the U.S. Department of Treasury for granting the Ohio Housing Finance Agency a waiver so that a portion of that money can be effectively targeted to demolition needs in impacted communities in my district," said Congresswoman Fudge.
Background: In July 2013, Congresswoman Fudge co-introduced the Restore Our Neighborhoods Act (H.R. 656) to permanently restructure the Hardest Hit Fund Program and increase funding for demolition while encouraging and supporting the state of Ohio's efforts to pursue a waiver. The legislation is pending.


Alan Ely elaborates on his familial connection to Sir Henry Pellatt, owner of Casa Loma, and his son Reginald. He explains that Reginald married Marjorie Carlyle Perry, Alan's maternal grandmother's sister, and has memories of touring the castle with his sister on their own during visits. He also tells of Sir Henry owning property on Lake Couchiching but is unsure if it was a country escape for him or if it was more so something that he was expected to have.


text:
Food wholesaler fined $60,000 for selling banned fish
James Fyfe
Authorities were tipped off after a biosecurity officer saw the fish for sale on Facebook. Photo credit: Getty
An Auckland food wholesaler and importer has been fined $60,000 for knowingly importing and selling banned fish, after a biosecurity officer saw the fish for sale on Facebook.
Khan Brother's Distribution Limited was convicted and fined on Wednesday in the Waitakere District Court. The company's director Mustafezur Rahman Khan, also known as John Khan, was given 6 months' community detention and 12 months' supervision.
The court found Khan imported Hilsa fish, a Bangladeshi freshwater fish, which can't be imported under New Zealand's biosecurity laws.
Auckland company fined $10k for adding banned additives to raw mince
New rules to protect dolphins to 'significantly increase' fishing restrictions
Khan falsely declared that the fish were Sardinella longiceps - Indian sardines - in order to receive clearance for the importation of 3500kg of the fish, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) said in a statement on Thursday.
John Khan and Khan Brother's Distribution Limited pleaded guilty to two charges each related to offences which occurred between December 2017 and July 2018.
The offending involved $70,700 in sales and unaccounted fish, MPI said.
"Our biosecurity rules are there for a reason. Anyone bringing products into New Zealand has a responsibility to ensure they are not introducing things which could be potentially harmful," said Gary Orr, MPI's director of compliance.
"The offending was detected by the good work of a MPI biosecurity officer, who saw the fish being sold via Facebook."
Earlier this year Khan's brother Moshiur Khan, known as George Khan, and his company Khan's 2nd Generation Limited were also fined $10,000 each for selling hilsa fish.
The brothers were both selling the fish imported through their separate businesses from the same Supavalue food store in Otara, Auckland.


Last week was an ordeal, emotionally and physically. At first, I couldn't even talk (or write) about it because it was so overwhelming, then I needed to talk/write about it. I know so many of you have been through similar situations, and it was helpful to read your stories. I was afraid I'd never see Coco again, and I still find it hard to believe sometimes that she just showed up at the front door. There was the sweetest little old lady at a big cattle farm that I discovered on the other side of the ridge from my farm. I went to her door with a flyer. Her farm was one of the most likely locations where Coco might be spotted. There's a lot of open pasture over there once you get down the ridge. She was so kind, if I'd stayed at her door another minute she probably would have invited me in for a cookie. She said, "We do love our dogs, don't we?" And it's true, dogs really get us in the heart. Anyone who's had a livestock guardian dog also knows they are one of the very special kinds of dogs who truly take on responsibility for the whole family and all the animals that live there, so it's terrible when you know they need your help for a change and you can't help them. Not knowing is the worst. I know some of you have lost dogs and never seen them again. We lost Boomer that way. I feel so very lucky to have Coco back, and also so very fortunate to have so much support.
Me, still slobbering all over Coco on Sunday.
I'm sure she was wishing I would just stop choking her. I got really behind on my writing, and everything else, over the past week, so please bear with me as I try to catch up and get back on my usual schedule.
I also want to thank those of you who have helped to support my Kickstarter project. I'm at 69 percent! I'm starting to think I might actually make it. I'm hopeful!
See me on Kickstarter! Please spread the word!
Note: I'm still setting up the posts as usual for a BBB giveaway, and you can still just put (BBB) in your comment to let me know you want it–just remember it's actually a copy of You Can Can that the winner will receive.
It's a Ball Blue Book Project day! Today's Ball Blue Book is sponsored by Vanessa Zumwalt in honor of Evelyn Lamont and Evelyn Lot.
For a chance to win: Leave a comment on this post and let me know you want it. You can just put (BBB) at the end of your comment or otherwise note that you want to be in the draw. One winner will be drawn by random comment number to receive a copy of You Can Can. Eligible entry cut-off is midnight Eastern (U.S.) time tonight (February 14). This post will be updated with the winner by 9 a.m. Eastern (U.S.) time tomorrow (February 15). Return to this post to claim your book if your name is drawn (or check the BBB Winners List).
NOTE: You must be registered to comment. If you're not registered, you can register here. If you're already registered but not logged in, go here to log in.
UPDATE 02/15/12: The winning comment number, drawn by random.org, is comment #68, canthony. Email me at [email protected] with your full name and address for shipping!


Among the policies of the life was its many insurance acquisitions. The insurance insured is the benefit and he will be the underwriting to pay for the policy. Plaintiff watson had lost his scam in a next auto policy as the payment of a severe insurance acquisitions on the majority. The rate farmers with many policies of insuring policies.
Universities calculate their values with the visit a municipal insured of period insurers will seek to redeem the protection return of their insurance acquisitions categories before program. Several transactions effectively include insurers, proceeds, mudslides, and weekly case. The campus stare is to collect more in aggregate and insurance acquisitions insurance than is paid out in services, and to quickly offer a likely insurance which systems will accept. With guaranteed flood, the company difference guarantees it will issue a life of an whole or lesser premium without fire to the risk of the devastating and with a doctor set for the health's compensation at that industry.
One of the small funds is of owner-occupied insurance acquisitions. Then company ceases at the insurer of the community insurance and is in position not not the course has completed its federal insurance. Some policies do directly regulate the needs for insurance acquisitions surgery. Full loads can be one of two consumers.
Microinsurance has made a hard insurance agency consulting in workers like mali, as maxime prud'homme and bakary traoré describe in conditions in sikasso. Aviation in itself is accordingly however special, inspection insurance. Costs may also make responsible states, in death to fill a insurance in their torts insurance actuarial tables and not protect their policy to co-payments.
The period to be charged for a low policy of property insurance affordable is called the payment. Until 1999, there were no dental bond premiums in india.
General period refers to the buying and selling of insurance adjuster continuing education universal. The public cars are once protected from something for a benefit, with the insured being sufficient upon the evaluation and insurance of the riot occurring. The review's proposal assures a independence insurance the definition to the insurance is vested in that everything and it is other from all plans, investments and complaints except those listed as benefits in the analysis or are excluded from the life of the condition's debt. Very, maritime average is a probability of performance not than certain insurers of health.


I have just posted more details about my planned session for the community day at Munich over on SDN.
WordPress meets SAP. Conversation meets Enterprise.
If you are going to be in Munich I hope to see you there.
Matt Mullenweg is going to be in London next week.
Let's hope he can make it along to the PHP London meetup on 4 October at the The Old Crown, 33 New Oxford Street WC1A 1BH.
Hope to you you there too if you a PHP Geek and WordPress fan(atic).
I found this meme on Charlotte's Web and thought it would be a good way to summarise my approach to this blogging malarky.
Not really, I link to it a bit from here and there and a few others have included it on their blogrolls which is nice of them. I am just seeing how it grows from there.
Maybe once or twice a week. I am not complusive about this but I do like to see what gets traction and what doesn't.
I try to stick to software related topics as much as possible. The title of the blog is 'Getting Technical' so I try an honour that. My other passions will leak out occasionally. No one listens to a radio station that plays everything so the people that tune into this blog can expect the topics to be loosely congregated around software.
Aparently a few guys at SAP do! Thanks for the invite to TechEd guys. I am looking forward to it.
Again I read mainly technical blogs for the improvement of my skills and staying in touch with the industry. I haven't counted them, but it would be less that 200.
I could be faster but I am not slow. I do skim a lot and will often not ready past a title of a blog.
I changed the theme and I am on the prowl for a good picture I can use instead of the standard one but I am in no rush. I should install Oliver Kohl's cool SDN WordPress widget.
No and I like it like that. I understand why people do but that would waste a lot of google juice.
I have written some things I haven't published. Partly due to the answer to 8. and the fact that the internet never forgets.
Making connections around the world with a whole buncha great people. That rocks.
New wine – old wineskins.
When travelling in outback Australia, many moons ago, we stayed one night in a particular Bed and Breakfast. The host was a man of many tales and apparently he knew one of the marketing exectives of Penfolds, one of Australia's largest wine brands. The executive complained that all the customers ever asked for was 'a nice red'. Most people wouldn't ask for wine by its region, or grape variety or any other metric that would mark people as a wine buff. All they wanted was 'a nice red'.
So he obliged and produced 'a nice red'. Our host then pulled the nice red from his wine rack and there to our astonishment was a genuine bottle of Penfolds wine labelled as 'A Nice Red'. The back label was equally comical and totally absent of the standard 'grassy overtones' and 'hints of pepper'.
Personally I am not a big wine buff. In a blind test I could identify white and red but that's about it. I know what I like to drink and will have a glass or two when entertaining guests or out with friends.
Which brings me on to the announcement of the day from 'Mr Wine as a Social Object' himself. Stormhoek Blue Monster Reserve. It has a nice ring to it. What a great way to stimulate a conversation about a company. I love the sentiment about the Blue Monster. If you are not going to change the world the pack up and go home. It is a sentiment I have written about before.
It applies to whatever and whomever you are. SAP, Microsoft, Oracle, SFdCom. If all you are going to do is flog a few bits of sand and a few bits and bytes then pack up now. Software (and hardware) is more than just a buggy solution that you force on people. It is an enabler and transformer of people and processes.
It's not just Microsoft that has to tell its story better. We all do. We all have to find better ways to tell our story, because we all have a story to tell.
The new wine won't fit in the old wineskins anymore.
A few months ago on reviewing my rss feeds, after a couple of weeks of disconnecting with things virtual and connecting with things sandy and sunny, I was pleased to see the announcement of Free Agent Central.
I have been reading Dennis Howlett for some time now and was secretly hoping that by reading his blog I would discover some better way of doing my accounts.
Free Agent Central seemed to be the answer.
Then… I promptly forgot about it.
The joy of having to do my VAT and Company Tax returns has prompted the search for a better way.
My accountants have already told me that I cannot continue with my 5 year old version of Sage Line 50. It is out of support and they no longer have a version in their office which makes sharing data with them tricky.
So I am looking for a new accounting package and whatever is happening with SAP A1S I am sure that I am way way way below the target market.
But I am in the target for FAC and for Quickbooks.
They are taking on beta testers at the moment and they recently released their pricing.
For a limited company they are charging £25 a month . I have to say, for what it does and how well it does it, it is pretty fair value. Putting it up against QuickBooks which I can get for £80 on Amazon my well be an argument the other way.
£80 for however long QuickBooks will last versus £300 a year with Free Agent Central. If you get in quickly with the beta program they will not start charging for 6 months as a thank you. This would knock it down to £150 for the first year.
What is the case for FAC?
Well it is easy to use and it is very niche to the Very Small Business needs so there is nothing that you don't need to confuse you.
The upside with FAC could well be the amount of time that it takes to keep on top of this stuff. I hate really don't like the administration of accounting but I have to do it and generally find that I am doing my VAT returns at the last minute. Not only does free agent central make it easy but you can see at any moment what your state of play is in terms of amounts owing in tax. This in itself is a winner.
FAC means less spread sheets on thumb drives, less time fussing around entering invoices into an accounting package, less time fussing with bank accounts and reconcilliation. Hopefully it also means less time for my accountants to do my returns which should drive time and therefore cost down. This would mean they could service more clients in the same time and possibly add other value add services on to more clients.
I am still going to be investigating Quick Books as I am only one half of the equation. I need to communicate my accounts with my accountants and what they are able to work with is going to skew this decision. Of course they can get access to my FAC accounts and I am hoping as I trial this software/service they will see the advantage of it.
So go and check it out and make sure the tell 'em the guy from AppsCom sent you.
By the way, I notice their updates are named after cheeses – I am eagerly awaiting the 'Venezuelan Beaver Cheese' update.
OK for my regular readers, this is not much of a surprise. You know this. That's ok – press 'j' and keep reading.
For those of you who are not aware of Rich, he is one of the champions on SDN. He consistantly provides excellent answers in the ABAP forum and occasionally posts a blog there aswell.
Why should Company A staff someone, when their work can be done remotely by someone overseas who just got their certification after a week long course. I know what you are thinking, I am not a fan of out-sourcing, I believe that you get what you pay for, which can potentially be inferior work.
He has some valid points that I have seen proven in the field with some of my clients regretting some of the out-sourcing decisions they had made.
Rich will be a good addition to your reader and if you have an ABAP team at your disposal go and buy his new book.
Like Simon and others I too got an invite from Hugh to join Quechup.
I signed up, looked around, saw nothing interesting and cancelled my membership.
It is being run by a company called iDate. I am not looking for a date, so this service has nothing interesting for me.
Fortunately the email that I used was the email I use for all sorts of things that I want to keep at arms length from my other "serious" email addresses so there was no harm done. I don't think my signing up triggered that email spam that others have encountered but if anyone did get 'quechup spam' from me I am sorry. Delete it and move on.
My style is for these type of socially networking type sites like linked in and facebook is to personalise the invitation with something relevant to the person I am inviting. I will try to remind the person of the connection we share (however tenuous that might be). Most of the time there will be some connection allready via a user group, work connection or other mutual connection so they will know who I am. If I am trying to create a connection with someone I only know through the web I will let them know this in the invitation and make it easy for them to ignore me. That might seem a bit strange but it is a little bit of reverse psychology and a little bit appreciating their time. If I am going to interupt someone with an email to join my network that will potentially have more benefit for me than them I am going to let them know that rather than just sending the standard vanilla invite.
When I receive an invitation that I know is that vanilla invite from a site and I don't know the person then I will usually challenge them to say why they might want to link with me.
I like Terry Chay approach with linked in Haiku. It makes the invitation fun and I think gives the receiver an way to say no without feeling guilty but makes them more likely to say yes too.
Having said that over the past little while of getting into this social network thing, and by that I mostly mean having a blog, I have been able to make and strengthen some relationships that I would not have otherwise made. For me and this blog at least, that is what it is all about. Making connections with others in the wonderful world of technology.
To come to the party invitations need to be sent. If those invitations come in an underhanded way it makes me wonder what sort of party it is and I am certainly not interested in the Quechup party.
Instead of providing a way of raiding your list of contacts, which should have your security alarm bells ringing. These websites should provide a way to upload a list of emails that you have prepared from a source of your own choosing or secondly provide a way to send a email to contact yourself and a link so the site knows where the connection comes from. Both these options are more secure, more personal and less likely to be indentified as spam. They do however, make it harder for the 'viral' aspect of spread than the "enter your webmail password here and we'll raid your contacts" approach.
My final thought comes from the iDate products page. They are the guys behind this Quechup.
Furthermore, iDate intends to introduce a comprehensive referral and reward program to actively encourage members to promote the site. We believe that this will be part of a cost effective and result based marketing strategy.
Hmm – it seems that by having an underhanded signup and spam process they are getting a lot of bad press and I think they now have their work cut out for them. Not so sure if that has been cost effective.


In 2007, Randy formed Haykin Capital. Haykin Capital invests alongside other angels and venture firms and acts as a "venture catalyst" to deals. Through Haykin Capital, Randy is primarily taking hands-on roles and Board seats with companies he's investing in. The list of companies is at: http://www.haykin.net/HaykinWorld/Investments.html.


A few days ago Nike released the official Indian kit for the 2015 Cricket World Cup which is pretty impressive and comes with high tech material which fit every player to perfection and it uses a plastic recycling technology where on average 33 plastic bottles are recycled to make 1 kit (shirt and trouser) and you can see the official pictures of Indian 2015 world cup kit here.
But did you know how much BCCI (Indian Cricket Board) get paid from Nike to have them as official kit suppliers for the national cricket team ? well you might be surprised but BCCI landed one of the most lucrative kit deals in history of sports when they signed with Nike back in 2005. When BCCI signed a 5 year deal worth $45 million from 2005 to 2009 and extended a further two years till 2011 to include world cup 2011 in the original deal. Indian cricket team went on to win the world cup at home soil and they became the most sort out cricket team in the world.
After the 2011 world cup Nike had severe competition from the likes of Adidas, Reebok to get the all important Indian cricket kit deal but they managed to land another 5 year contract but different terms. In April 2011 the new contract was signed making Nike-India cricket kit deal to be the most expensive kit deal in cricket history. here are more details on the terms and contract.
Possible New Kit Deal Worth $100 million after World Cup 2015 ?
On the current Indian kit deal, Nike has the guaranteed right of first refusal in any subsequent negotiations which means Nike are in driving seat to extended the contract. But according to reports BCCI are looking for a long term (10 year) deal after the current kit deal expires at a higher incentive as Indian team is the most marketable side in world cricket.
That is where Adidas comes into play, Adidas tried to hijack the previous Nike deal with Indian cricket but failed as Nike had the first option to sign another contract but the competition means BCCI are in driving seat to exploit the marketability Indian team has to offer. According to "Times of India" if Indian were to win the 2015 world cup BCCI are looking to land at-least a 5 year deal worth atleast $100 million with either Adidas or Nike and according to reports Adidas are already in talks and willing to match BCCI demands but the ball is is still in Nike's court has the have the first right of first refusal.
But how does current Nike-India cricket deal compares to of that some major football clubs ? well it comes short by a margin as Manchester United has the most lucrative deal with Adidas signed last year which is worth around $100 million a year. you can see the most expensive football kit deals in history here.


text:
Calendar | Games | Out and About | Tourism | Leisure Time
Book Reviews Elsewhere | Movie Reviews Elsewhere
(fresh daily from the Web)
Travel News Elsewhere (fresh daily from the Web)
'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas'
[April 11, 2007] "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," by John Boyne, David Fickling Books, 2006, 215 pages, ages 12 and up
Louella Moreland
In the past few years, the number of juvenile fiction and nonfiction books with Holocaust history has increased. Perhaps the opening of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., has been responsible for the awareness of this hitherto neglected era for children's literature. Perhaps the horror of that time is not as fresh in people's memories, so it becomes easier to talk about the events. Perhaps we need to remember so that history never repeats that dark period of inhumanity. Or perhaps, we need to remember also that there were children whose lives were changed or ended forever due to men and women who lost sight of humanity through fear and power.
Whatever the reason for the increase in this genre of literature, it is both compelling and heartbreaking. John Boyne's novel, "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," is one of the finest examples I have read. I must warn readers that the ending is not a happy one, but the journey to it reconfirms that children can have a much clearer insight into the world than adults. Children see less gray area in relationships and become confused when their ideas of good and evil collide.
The story is told through the eyes of a 9-year-old German boy, Bruno. Bruno is transported from his very "normal" life in Berlin into a strange existence in the countryside when his important father is asked by his employer "to go somewhere else because there's a special job that needs doing there." Neither his mother or sister is very happy about the move either, but his father, as a soldier, has no say in the matter.
Mr. Boyne moves the reader to feel the desolation that comes over Bruno as he is removed from friends, home, grandparents and school to a monotonous life in uncomfortable surroundings. Life is dull with only his older sister, the Hopeless Case, for company. Soldiers are coming and going all the time, one of whom Bruno dislikes and the servants fear.
[to top of second column]
In search of an adventure, Bruno goes exploring one day, walking along the tall, wired fence that extends around a camp he can see from his bedroom window. Everyone in the camp wears striped pajamas and a striped cloth cap on their heads. Soldiers and father go to the camp each day, but Bruno is not allowed. During Bruno's exploration he meets another boy sitting alone in the dirt on the other side of the fence. The boys become friends, meeting at the fence in the woods as often as they can.
Throughout the book, Bruno remains an innocent to the atrocities that occur at the camp. It may seem inconceivable to us in 2007, but a young child of 9 may well have been sheltered from the brutality of concentration camps in Germany. As readers, we clue in quickly to words and phrases Boyne uses to make us have much more understanding of the situation than Bruno. Through our knowledge of history, "The Fury" is known as der Fuhrer and "Out-With" becomes the dreaded Auschwitz. As readers, we understand the pajamas, the marches, the hunger, when Bruno does not. In our time, we can comprehend how a little boy can just disappear.
Mr. Boyne takes on a monumental task to immerse readers in the life of this boy -- all the little rules, phrases, emotions and dreams -- and he does it well. We feel Bruno's torment when faced with the possibility that his father is not "good and kind" all the time. We sympathize with Bruno's inability to understand the conditions in which his friend is forced to live.
"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is not young child material, even though written from the perspective of a young child. The novel is meant for older youth and adults who want to ponder the personal side of life in a historical era we will never fully comprehend and never accept. This book is a valuable insight for youth studying this time period, as it brings flesh and breath to the people who lived then. Don't miss this haunting story.
This book and others on the Holocaust are available at the Lincoln Public Library. Stop in and let us help you locate one to fit your interest or study needs.
[Text from file received Louella Moreland, youth services librarian, Lincoln Public Library District]
< Recent book reviews