Southern Africa and South Africa are each undergoing political and economic changes. These changes are directly related to continental and global developments. It is striking that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is 22 years old with a combined population of about 257.7-million and a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$471.1-billion — compared to its predecessor, the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference, whose population between 1980 and 1992 when it was transformed to SADC was 60-million with a GDP of $20-billion.
The enormous changes (both in demographics and needs) increase the importance for determined and aggressive approaches from governments, the private sector and civil society. It is in this context that SADC's regional integration agenda, expressed through the regional indicative strategic development plan, is constantly undergoing reviews to be responsive to the ever-changing dynamics in the region and globally.
Put in place in 2005, the plan prioritises science and technology, the private sector, ICTs, statistics and poverty eradication. Its main goal is to "deepen integration in the region with a view to accelerate poverty eradication and the attainment of other economic and non-economic development goals". By comparison, South Africa is celebrating 20 years of democracy, just two years short of being as old as SADC.
The country has a population of 51.7-million, just 8.23-million short of that of SADC between 1980 and 1992. What is the status quo today? Depending on how one sees it, the glass is either half empty or half full. This is, however, too simplistic to capture the various experiences of South Africans. There is a section of the population for whom the glass is actually empty and for them there is nothing to celebrate after 20 years.
Yet, for a small section the glass is not half full but almost full or even completely full, and for them there is a lot to celebrate. Perhaps the simplest representation of South Africa today is that there has been a lot of progress within a context of seriously challenging demands and historical adjustments. Certainly, South Africa has not managed entirely to shake off the legacy of apartheid, but no one can deny that human rights, freedom of expression, civil liberties and the strength of the Constitution are some of its major achievements today.
Challenges still abound, such as the temptation to restrict these rights through legal and other policy directives, for example, the protection of state information. Violations of human rights are still a serious problem, for example, police brutality in the Marikana deaths and that of many protesters over the past few years.
In the lead-up to the elections this year, there have been isolated but dangerous signs of intolerance which, if not managed, could lead to the destabilisation of the democratic process. Corruption is rife and continues to be a sore in the lives of the poor. Crime is still problematic, especially violence against women and children.
Amid this, however, the Constitution has remained the guiding star. The public protector has used the Constitution and other related legal frameworks to tackle these issues without sparing the powerful. For democracy to survive and thrive, it needs strong institutions such as the public protector. It also needs an informed population that is economically empowered. Currently South Africa's economy is under strain.
Not only is it impacted upon by global demands, but the incessant strikes in the mining industry have almost brought it to its knees. It is unlikely that the economy will grow above 4% in the short term. Inequality remains high, raising questions about which economic model the country should pursue to close the gap.
There are many challenges, but equally there have been successes in the past 20 years. What is clear is that the country needs to invest in its population, particularly the youth, through a determined intervention around key areas such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem). These are the same requirements as for the region as a whole.
It is in this context that this year's Drivers of Change and Investing in the Future awards are inviting nominations from individuals, organisations and businesses that invest in youth and the key areas in Stem.
Bhekinkosi Moyo is the deputy executive director of the Southern Africa Trust.
This article has been made possible by the Mail & Guardian's advertisers. Content has been sourced independently by the M&G's Supplements editorial team.


This garden was given a complete overhaul by the owners, and look at the results!
We were glad to come in and lay the finishing touches to this lawn in Basingstoke with an installation of Trulawn Supreme.
Trulawn Supreme is a lovely lush artificial grass which is a good contrast against hard landscaping like patio stones.


A comfortable two bedroom suite. Excellent for a girls getaway or family fun time. Cozy seating area with a flat screen TV and small fireplace.
Notes: Rate based on double occupancy. Two bedrooms. Single sleeper in living area and small sleeping alcove in the hall. Mini Kitchen and living area. Shower/tub combination in private bath.


JOHN BANKS' CIVIL WAR BLOG: Is this 'New Market Angel,' a Union soldier rocked by tragedy?
Is this 'New Market Angel,' a Union soldier rocked by tragedy?
A post-war image of John Adams, who served as a corporal in the 34th Massachusetts.
By late spring 1864, the brutal reality of the Civil War had tragically struck home in West Brookfield, Mass., for Benjamin and Frances Adams, parents of three sons in the Union army.
On Sept. 17, 1862, Private William Levi Adams was severely wounded in the left lung at Antietam during horrendous fighting in the West Woods. Only 22, he died weeks later of his wounds at Smoketown Hospital near the battlefield. ** Earlier in the war, William had been captured at the Battle of Ball's Bluff, a disastrous Union defeat along the Potomac River, near Leesburg, Va., and was briefly confined in Richmond before he was paroled.
a private in the 34th Massachusetts.
Both died during the Civil War.
On May 15, 1864, a rainy Sunday, John W. Adams and his brother, George, went into action with comrades in the 34th Massachusetts near New Market, Va. -- a battle made famous by the participation of more than 250 young Confederate cadets from the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. When the fighting began for the regiment about 1 p.m., the 34th Massachusetts was in a ravine near the Jacob Bushong farmhouse, Adams recalled. Much to the chagrin of 34th Massachusetts soldiers, he remembered, many in the 18th Connecticut skedaddled as the fighting opened.
"There was for a number of years after the War a very biter [sic] feeling in our regt the 34 Mass against the 18 Conn. for their running away from us at New Market," Adams wrote decades after the battle.
A 20-year-old private in Company I, George E. Adams was "struck by a musket or rifle ball in the head and died instantly," according to his captain, Alexis Soley. Sometime early in the fighting, John was knocked unconscious by a shell fragment, then crawled toward the Valley Pike, where he was shot in the right thigh when he stood near a tree stump.
"The bullet was what they called there a plug bullet about an inch long and smooth with a hollow in the rear end," Adams recalled years later. "I have it still after going through my thigh or thigh bone. I lied on the ground across a root of that stump until dark the night of the 16th when I was picked up by two men, and carried into the Bushong Barn where I staid [sic] 2 days, I think, until a Comrade and myself was taken in a dead Ox Wagon up to the town hall at Harrisonburgh and then to a building just outside of the town and the next day was put into a brick house belonging to Col. Asa Gray."
Captured, Adams was sent to Andersonville. Remarkably, the 25-year-old corporal in Company I survived five months in captivity before he was paroled and finally discharged on April 19, 1865. But before the eldest son of Benjamin and Frances Adams was taken to the notorious POW camp in southwestern Georgia, he may have "forgot his own pain" to perform a remarkable act of kindness for a Southern family. After the rag-tag Confederate army defeated the Federals at New Market, Adams was among the wounded left behind in the town of about 800 people.
"A number of Massachusetts soldiers, wounded in the battle of New Market, were left in my native village in the Shenandoah valley. A few days before, the Confederate authorities, moving their stores to prevent capture by the approaching Federals, had requested the citizens to take into private houses a few Confederate soldiers too ill for removal from the town. Lieut. [Alfred] Woodly, a West Virginian, was carried to my father's house, and, though every effort was made to save him, he died in a few days. At my father's request Dr. [Charles] Allen, the surgeon of the Thirty-fourth Massachusetts regiment, left in charge of the wounded Federals, visited Mr. Woodly at our house and paid him every possible attention.
Alfred Day Woodley at New Market.
"In my daily visits to the Federal hospital, which was near us, many kindly inquiries were always made for the wounded 'stranger within our gates.' One morning I told the Federal soldiers that our guest was dead, and many regrets and much sympathy for his family were expressed.
"In the spring of '65, after Gen. Grant had received Gen. Lee's surrender and ordered that the 'boys should keep the horses they would need to make a crop,' a young widow, with her two lovely boys, the eldest about 6 years old, visited the soldiers' cemetery in our village and, parting the tangled grass, found the name of her husband carved by the foe who had been actuated by love, not hate, though he, too, had suffered. There was no pension for the widow or her babes; a cruel struggle with poverty lay before them, but as she knelt and kissed the sod above her lover-husband, she blessed the man whose care had enabled her to find the grave.
"In conclusion Mrs. Langhorne says: 'Cannot the noble women of Boston, who did so much to aid our beloved country in her hour of need, find some pity in their hearts for those who have suffered so severely for the cause which they were taught to believe was right? Massachusetts men forgave their enemies when the fighting ceased.' "
Documentation indicates it was possible Adams was indeed the soldier described by Langhorne in the account published nearly 24 years after the Civil War ended. Of the soldiers with the surname Adams in the 34th Massachusetts -- the only regiment from the state to fight at New Market -- only John W. Adams was wounded. The soldier Langhorne described was wounded in the leg, where Adams suffered his wound. But there's also reason to believe he may not be Langhorne's soldier.
A bootmaker before the war, John Adams was described as a "mechanic" when he enlisted in the Union army on July 9, 1862, opening the possibility his craft could have included "marble cutter." The only soldier in the 34th Massachusetts whose occupation was listed as a marble worker was Private John A. Pratt, who also was wounded at New Market. The location of his wound, however, is not known. Did the initial "A" for Pratt's middle name stand for "Adams," perhaps explaining Langhorne's reference to a soldier named Adams? Further research or aid from a reader could confirm whether Adams, Pratt or another soldier from Massachusetts was the "New Market Angel."
What's not in dispute is the tragedy suffered by the Adams family during the Civil War. Nearly five years after George's death, his mother filed for a government pension, an effort to supplement the family income limited by her husband's inability to work consistently since the summer of 1859. According to physicians' affidavits in the George Adams pension file, Benjamin Adams suffered an accidental blow to the head in August 1859, which produced "faintness and giddiness" and led to complaints of liver and stomach ailments. Eventually, a pension of $8 a month was approved for Mrs. Adams, whose family income had been supplemented during the war by George.
Married three times, John Adams was active in veterans' organizations after the war, including an association of New Englanders who survived Confederate prisons. He helped raise $60 for a Civil War monument on the town green in West Brookfield. He died at 74 of heart disease on Feb.13, 1913, and was buried in the town's Pine Grove Cemetery near his brother, George. William Adams' remains rest in Antietam National Cemetery in Sharpsburg, Md., a short distance from where he died in the fall of 1862.
The remains of Alfred Day Woodley, the officer in the 62nd Virginia whose name was carved into a headboard by a Massachusetts soldier in the spring of 1864, lie in a cemetery in Harrisonburg, Va.
Do you have more information on this story? E-mail me here.
** Sources give two dates -- Oct. 10 and Nov. 7, 1862 -- for William Adams' death at Smoketown Hospital near the Antietam battlefield.
-- Alanson Hamilton Grand Army of the Republic Personal Sketches, Adams' brothers biographies, accessed online Nov. 27, 2016.
--American Civil War Research Database, accessed online Nov. 27, 2016.
-- Brookfield (Mass.) Times, Feb. 14, 1913.
-- George Adams' pension file via fold3.com, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.


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text:
Oxfam stages Women Alone – an event exploring key issues of our time at CADA NI's One World Festival
ni_event.png
EVENT NOTICE
Interactive theatre experience imagines a Northern Ireland devastated by disaster, displacement, conflict and poverty
WHAT: Women Alone – an interactive theatre experience by Joanne O'Connor
WHEN: Tuesday 22nd October from 7.00pm – 9.30pm
WHERE: Crescent Arts Centre, 2-4 University Road, Belfast, BT7 1NH
TICKETS: oneworldfestivalni.com/events/women-alone/ (Admission free)
As part of this month's inaugural One World Festival, Oxfam Ireland will imagine a Northern Ireland overwhelmed by humanitarian disaster, displacement, conflict and poverty through an interactive theatre experience at the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast.
On Tuesday 22nd October at 7pm, the international development agency will stage a thought-provoking play entitled Women Alone, inspired by the strength and resilience of the women Oxfam works with across its long-term development and humanitarian programmes. The drama is set in a contemporary Northern Ireland following an unspecified humanitarian emergency and brings home global stories of refugees and displacement, poverty, gender and conflict.
Playwright Joanne O'Connor, Oxfam Ireland's Content Executive, said: "The play is inspired by two powerful first-person stories from women we work with from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda – women who have suffered unimaginable tragedy but overcame to help others survive and even thrive."
Actor Eileen McCloskey plays the role of Rita, a former midwife who fled the violence in her home country when the war intensified and is now an Oxfam-assisted hygiene worker educating a refugee camp community on the importance of good sanitation. The role of Flonira – who was widowed during the conflict, and used funds earned from an Oxfam-supported cooperative to help pay for her son's college studies – is played by Cathy Brennan-Bradley.
O'Connor continued: "The fictionalised versions of their stories will be told in familiar accents against a Northern Irish landscape to help bring home the faraway stories we hear again and again in the news – accompanied by images and stories from our own work around the world.
"Right now, there are over 70 million people on the move globally, forced to flee their homes because of conflict, persecution and war. This number is too big to comprehend – but with Women Alone, we hope to highlight the individual stories which reflect the often harrowing, at times triumphant lived experience of the one. The themes – family, separation, loss, hope and new beginnings – are universal and will hopefully resonate deeply with people here."
The performance will be followed by a space to reflect on the important role women and local communities play in responding to poverty and disaster through a discussion chaired by former BBC broadcaster Roisin McAuley.
Admission is free and the event will take place on Tuesday 22nd October from 7pm – 9.30pm at the Crescent Arts Centre, 2-4 University Road, Belfast BT7 1NH. Tickets are available at oneworldfestivalni.com/events/women-alone/
The One World Festival will bring together more than 40 events in Belfast, Derry, Armagh and Lisburn from 16-27th October, exploring the world we share through a diverse line-up of talks, music, poetry, film, drama, debate and storytelling. The festival has been organised by the Coalition of Aid and Development Agencies (CADA NI) – made up of 20 overseas development and humanitarian charities in Northern Ireland – to explore global issues and inspire action locally towards a just, peaceful and sustainable world.
A full list of the One World Festival programme events is available at oneworldfestivalni.com.
Oxfam has spokespeople available for interview. For more information or to arrange an interview please contact: Phillip Graham on 07841 102535 / phillip.graham@oxfam.org
About Oxfam Ireland
Oxfam is a global movement of people working together to beat poverty for good. Around the globe, we work to find practical, innovative ways for people to lift themselves out of poverty and thrive. Together we save lives and rebuild communities when disaster strikes. We also speak out on the big issues that keep people poor, like inequality and discrimination against women. Oxfam Ireland is one of 19 Oxfam affiliates working as one in more than 90 countries. Oxfam has been supported by people across the island of Ireland, north and south, for over 60 years. We have over 2,000 volunteers, 140 staff and 47 shops throughout the island.
For more information about Oxfam, visit www.oxfamireland.org
About One World Festival
This new festival will run from 16th – 27th October 2019 across various locations and venues in Northern Ireland, to increase awareness about the Global South, promote understanding of issues that affect the lives of the poorest people and inspire action in our communities towards a just, peaceful and sustainable world.
Ticketed events can be reserved or purchased online at oneworldfestivalni.com
About CADA NI
CADA NI, or the Coalition of Aid and Development Agencies Northern Ireland, is the umbrella organisation of overseas aid and development agencies with an active presence in Northern Ireland. Member organisations work to promote sustainable development, social justice and a fairer society in both local and global contexts. They support sustainable international development by enhancing awareness and a better understanding of development issues in Northern Ireland, and influencing policy at local, national and international government level.
For more information visit www.cada-ni.org
Read more about Oxfam stages Women Alone – an event exploring key issues of our time at CADA NI's One World Festival
See For Yourself – An Evening of Ugandan Culture!
ogb_106907_a_playground_at_the_bidi_bidi_refugee_settlement_in_uganda.jpg
Last year, we took three supporters to Uganda to see first-hand the impact that their generosity has on the lives of people affected by poverty and injustice.
And now we're inviting the rest of our supporters, friends and the public to do the same and join us for an evening of Ugandan culture, with music, food and stories from the field!
We're hosting an informal event on Wednesday 25th September from 18.00 – 20.00 at WeWork, Block D, Iveagh Court, Harcourt Road, Dublin 2.
- Come see for yourself how we're helping to beat poverty for good in Uganda and beyond
- Taste authentic Ugandan food and get some top tips too, while enjoying African drums and music
- Hear from Oxfam supporters who saw first-hand the impact of their generosity during a See For Yourself trip to Uganda
This event is free and open to all but please let us know you're coming - RSVP by emailing eleonora.menghetti@oxfam.org
Read more about See For Yourself – An Evening of Ugandan Culture!
Say no to new clothes, with Oxfam's Second Hand September
63% of people in Ireland agree that charity shops play a key role in sustainable fashion.
Charity calls on sustainable shoppers to take the 30-day Second hand September pledge
More than six in 10 Irish people (63%) see their local charity shop as playing a key role in sustainable fashion, according to new research from Oxfam Ireland.
The survey also revealed that an overwhelming amount of people (76%) donate unwanted items to charity shops because it reduces the amount of clothes being thrown away, while 62% buy pre-loved clothes and accessories because it gives items a second chance to be worn and enjoyed.
The research comes as the charity rolls out Second Hand September – a new initiative offering a solution to throwaway fashion and the devastating impact it is having on people and the planet. Throughout the month of September, Oxfam is calling on people across the island of Ireland to pledge to say no to buying new clothes for 30 days and yes to shopping second-hand. People can sign up at oxfamireland.org/shs and start their 30-day challenge at any time.
Michael McIlwaine, Oxfam Ireland's Head of Retail, said: "Cheap production and plummeting prices when it comes to clothes means the items we buy often have a shorter lifespan, with more and more ending up in landfill before they should. In Ireland, 225 tonnes of textile are dumped every year. In the UK, 11 million items of clothing are thrown away every week. Throwaway fashion is putting increasing pressure on our planet and its people – and it's not sustainable.
"Our shops are part of the solution by offering people a way to reduce the amount of items they're sending to landfill through donating as well as a way to reuse by shopping second-hand and giving clothes, accessories and more a new lease of life. By donating and shopping in-store, you're also helping to raise vital funds for people living in poverty worldwide, including those affected by climate change.
"We are asking people to join us on a journey to a more sustainable lifesyle, starting with the clothes we wear. Throughout September, we're calling on people to pledge to say no to buying news clothes for 30 days. They can sign-up and start at any time through oxfamireland.org/shs and we'll be with them every step of the way, sending top tips, inspiration and more to make the pledge a breeze."
To take the pledge, visit: www.oxfamireland.org/shs
For interviews, images or more information, please get in touch:
The survey was commissioned by Oxfam and conducted by Empathy Research in 2019. The full methodology and research data is available on request.
Oxfam works across many areas of fashion: collaborating with big brands to recycle and reuse stock; joining forces with fashion houses to improve conditions in their supply chains; fighting to improve garment workers' rights; and campaigning on climate change.
Across its programmes, Oxfam is tackling the impact of the climate crisis. They work with communities to prepare for unpredictable weather and disasters as a result of climate change and are there to help when the worst does happen, from drought to floods and earthquakes.
Oxfam has 47 shops across the island of Ireland, selling high-quality pre-loved clothes, accessories, handbags, shoes and more. To find the nearest Oxfam shop, visit www.oxfamireland.org/shops
Irish people dump 225,000 tonnes of clothing every year. Source: http://re-dress.ie/when-fashion-is-finished-garment-end-of-life-solutions/
Read more about Say no to new clothes, with Oxfam's Second Hand September
Nearly 1,000 child casualties of Yemen war in year since shocking Sa'ada bus attack
Number killed directly by fighting is equivalent to eight more bus loads
More than 300 children have died in fighting across Yemen in the year since an airstrike hit a bus in Sa'ada killing 41 school children and almost 600 have been injured, as international arms sales continue to fuel the conflict.
335 children have been killed by violent attacks including airstrikes, mines and shelling since 9 August 2018, equivalent to another eight buses being hit. Many more have died from hunger and disease, according to the UN, in a massive humanitarian crisis stoked by the conflict.
The latest arms sales data, released last month, shows the UK has now licensed over £5 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia since 2015 when the conflict in Yemen between the Houthis and the internationally recognised government, backed by an international coalition that includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE, escalated.
The Court of Appeal has ruled that arms sales to Saudi Arabia are unlawful and ordered the UK government to stop licensing new weapons exports while they assess whether airstrikes, including attacks involving children like those above, are a serious violation of international humanitarian law. The UK government has said it will appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn that decision.
Jim Clarken, Oxfam Ireland's Chief Executive, said: "The world was rightly appalled by an attack that took the lives of so many young, innocent schoolchildren. Yet almost one child a day has been killed in the year since and violence remains a daily threat for Yemenis, alongside the struggle against hunger and disease.
"The people of Yemen urgently need a nationwide ceasefire before more lives are lost to this horrific conflict and the humanitarian disaster that it is fueling. All parties to the conflict and those with influence over them should do all in their power to end this deadly war now."
Since the latest figures were published, more children have been killed or injured. Just last week an attack on a market killed at least 10 civilians, including children, in Sa'ada while in Taizz, five children were injured by shelling.
Airstrikes and shelling in Al Dale'e in May killed 10 children. In March, five children were killed in clashes in Taizz city while an attack on the Kushar district of Hajjah governorate killed 14 children. Over the year, there have been thirty incidents involving schools and eighteen involving hospitals.
The conflict, between the Houthis and the internationally recognised government, backed by an international coalition that includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE, is now in its fifth year. The United Nations has estimated that if the war continues until 2022, more than half a million people will be killed by fighting, hunger and disease.
The Houthis and the internationally recognized government of Yemen reached an agreement at talks in December which included a ceasefire deal for the key port of Hudaydah but moves to implement it have been long delayed.
The government and the Saudi-led coalition have accused the Houthi forces of over 5000 violations of the Stockholm agreement, while the Houthis have in turn blamed the coalition and government forces for more than 27,000 violations.
The international community is coming under increasing pressure to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia and other members of the coalition. In June, the Court of Appeal ruled that UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia were breaking the law.
Clarken said: "Seventy years after the creation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which seeks to protect civilians in and around war zones, children in Yemen still find themselves in the firing line.
"Rather than fighting the legal ruling against weapons, the UK government should join with the international community to focus on protecting the lives of Yemeni civilians and ending this war, not profiting from it through arms sales."
For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Phillip Graham on 0044 (0) 7841 102535 / phillip.graham@oxfamireland.org
• Data on the number of children killed and injured has been provided by the UN Civilian Impact Monitoring Project (CIMP). It is unverified open source information. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) and the Yemen Data Project also monitor civilian casualties. None is an official source and given the difficulties of working in Yemen, the data from these three sources do not always match.
• The CIMP data shows 335 children died and 590 were injured between 9 August 2018, when the bus attack in Sa'ada took place, and 3 July 2019.
• The government and coalition allege over 5000 violations of the Stockholm agreement by Houthi forces since it came into effect on 23 December 2018 until 10 June 2019. The Houthis allege 27714 violations by the government and coalition in the period 23 December 2018 to 2 July 2019.
Yemen War - 1000 Child Casualites in a Year
Video of Yemen War - 1000 Child Casualites in a Year
Read more about Nearly 1,000 child casualties of Yemen war in year since shocking Sa'ada bus attack
5 steps governments can take to prevent another Mauritius Leaks scandal
A 5-point plan to stop big corporations cheating poor countries out of billions of dollars in tax revenue, was published by Oxfam today in the wake of the Mauritius Leaks.
When multinational corporations and the super-rich use tax havens to dodge paying their fair share, it is ordinary people, and especially the poorest, who pay the price. The Mauritius Leaks show that tax havens continue not only to exist but to prosper, despite government promises to rein in tax dodging. Oxfam's plan lists five steps governments can take to tackle tax avoidance and end the era of tax havens.
Jim Clarken, Oxfam Ireland's Chief Executive, said: "Politicians could put a stop to tax scandals if they wanted to. Oxfam has listed five concrete solutions that would prevent another Mauritius Leaks scandal and ensure multinational corporations pay their fair share of tax wherever they do business. Developing countries can revise or void their tax treaties and introduce withholding taxes to better protect their tax revenue, and all governments – rich and poor – agree to set a global minimum effective tax rate on corporate profits.
"There is no time to waste. Developing countries lose an estimated $100 billion a year in tax revenue as a result of tax dodging by multinational corporations, and even more as a result of damaging tax competition between countries. This money is desperately needed to end hunger, tackle the climate crisis, and ensure all children have the chance of an education."
Oxfam's 5-point plan to build a fairer global tax system calls on governments to:
(1) Agree new global tax rules in the negotiations led by the OECD under the mandate of the G20 to ensure fair taxation of big corporations. This should include the introduction of a global minimum effective tax rate set at an ambitious level and applied at a country-by-country basis without exception. This would put a stop to the damaging tax competition between countries and remove the incentive for profit shifting – effectively putting tax havens out of business.
(2) Developing countries should not give away their taxing rights. Many treaties result in multinational companies not paying certain types of tax at all in any country. Rich countries have a responsibility in ensuring fair taxation with their investments and the projects they finance. Governments of developing countries can protect their tax base from erosion by revising or voiding their tax treaties, introducing withholding taxes and implementing strong tax anti-abuse rules.
(3) End corporate tax secrecy by ensuring all multinational companies publish financial reports for every country where they operate. The current OECD initiative on country-by-country reporting falls well short of the mark as it does not cover all multinational corporations and it does not require companies to make their financial reports publicly available. This means poor countries are unable to access the information to identify tax cheats. Stronger European proposals on public country-by-country reporting were due to be agreed this year but are being blocked by EU member states such as Ireland, Germany, and Luxembourg.
(4) Agree a global blacklist of tax havens based on comprehensive objective criteria and take strong countermeasures including sanctions to limit their use. Governments have yet to agree an objective global list of tax havens. A farcical OECD-G20 blacklist published in July 2017 features only Trinidad and Tobago. The more comprehensive European Union list omits European tax havens such as Ireland and the Netherlands.
(5) Strengthen global tax governance by creating a global tax body where all countries can work together on an equal footing to ensure the tax system works for everyone. The new round of global tax negotiations (BEPS 2.0) is a historic opportunity to put a stop to damaging tax competition and corporate tax avoidance, and to build a fairer tax system that works for the benefit of all people and not just a fortunate few. Even if the new round of global tax negotiations (BEPS 2.0) delivers positive results, a more inclusive tax body is required to oversee the global governance of international tax matters and strengthen international tax cooperation
Oxfam experts are available for interview. Please contact:
Phillip Graham: phillip.graham@oxfam.org / +44 (0) 7841 102535
Alice Dawson-Lyons: alice.dawsonlyons@oxfam.org / +353 (0) 83 198 1869
Download Oxfam's 5-point plan here.
Read more about 5 steps governments can take to prevent another Mauritius Leaks scandal

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Gold dungeons are located in the Aether and contain the best loot among all Aether Dungeons. Their appearance is always the same: a floating, round island with Golden Oak Trees on top. The entrance to the gold dungeon is on the side of the island. how to get out a zip tie Gold dungeons are located in the Aether and contain the best loot among all Aether Dungeons. Their appearance is always the same: a floating, round island with Golden Oak Trees on top. The entrance to the gold dungeon is on the side of the island.
Aether Sea planets are characterized by an abundance of liquid Aether, with small islands interspersed throughout. The aformentioned islands consist of black slime blocks (which are poisonous to the touch) and Aether Dust.


text:
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require 'cgi'

describe "CGI::QueryExtension#referer" do
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    ENV['REQUEST_METHOD'], @old_request_method = "GET", ENV['REQUEST_METHOD']
    @cgi = CGI.new
  end

  after :each do
    ENV['REQUEST_METHOD'] = @old_request_method
  end

  it "returns ENV['HTTP_REFERER']" do
    old_value, ENV['HTTP_REFERER'] = ENV['HTTP_REFERER'], "example.com"
    begin
      @cgi.referer.should == "example.com"
    ensure
      ENV['HTTP_REFERER'] = old_value
    end
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
The river Gacka - Antun Mateš: The Enchanted Angler
Quiet stream of the river Gacka, biotope of big trout
Žorž Vranješ, an authority for fishing at the Gacka
The river Gacka was a cult for European trout anglers. One would meet at least once a year for festive occasions. When the winter passed, the anglers desperately longed for the opening of the trout fishing season, near the hotel at the river in Ličko Lešće. During the winter, we told stories about the last fishing trips and prepared new flies for the longed for beginning of the season. The very exuberant conditions of life of the Gacka trout brought me during my first trips that I made on my own to this river on the verge of despair. I had been a fan of the school of Krešo Pažur, who almost always caught with dry flies. With them you could be very successful at the waters of Ogulin – Dobra, Vitunjčica and at the lake Sabljaci, as well as on the rivers Krka and Radeščica in Slovenia. Actually, the major strategy was waiting for the night to fall, so that this half an hour of dusk and the hunt for the Silver sedge were the most important adventure of the fishing trip. The trout from the Gacka usually feed in the middle of the day and in the middle of the water or deep down on the riverbed. A real trout dance began around noon, when the big fish of several pounds took the flies directly under the water surface, while I desperately tried to fish on the surface and got only now and then a small fish. Žorž Vranješ showed me the right kind of fishing at this river, so that we mostly used wet and sinking flies. Already the first attempt was successful; Žorž caught a fish of 7 pounds. Our fishing gear for tying the flies was poor; we dealt with the other parts as much as we could and shared the material between each other gladly. The filament factory in Zagreb was our source for the right colours, but there were also the colourful wool pullovers and stockings. We took the feathers from slaughtered roosters; their colourful and grey heads were highly esteemed. I remember very reluctantly the occasion when Pažur and I went fishing for huchen. It was winter in Sanski Most. We saw a beautiful rooster. It had shiny, red feathers, and its neck feathers' quality was exactly right for grayling flies in August or for the preparation of small flies for the summer season. Hatidža, the friendly woman who owned the rooster – it proudly walked over the farmyard – immediately agreed to Krešo's request and decapitated the rooster with only one axe blow on the head. We would have been satisfied if she had just plucked a dozen of neck feathers and the animal would not have felt this at all. The scene was dramatic, as the poor rooster scampered and tumbled without its head over the yard, so Hatidža had difficulties catching it and in the end let it vanish in her kitchen. I am not sure whether the reason was this horrible scene, but after this experience I started to use more synthetic material for nymphs and imitations from the asellus and the gammarus for my fishing, so that I was not after the neck feathers of poor roosters any more.
Milan Štefanac and engineer Zlatko Bunjevčević
The speciality of the Gacka was the very quick growth of the trout, so that the fish weighed 6 to 8 pounds on average. Dr. Branko Kopsa, one of the famous masters of the Gacka, built a cosy weekend house next to the hotel, where he always fished. I remember how we drank coffee there in the morning and shared our experiences. After that we always walked the few meters from his veranda down to the curvy part of the river. This part is until today known as the Kopsa Curve. Upstream from the hotel, there were the famous places At the chapel, the deep Kolak Vortex with extremely big trout, then Kastelište and Crvena resa (red grass), while the region downstream was back then known after the number of wooden bridges: first, second and third. But the most interesting of all was the spot under the third wooden bridge, called Štalice (small stable), where, according to enchanted eyewitnesses, the one meter long mother of all trout lived. This river had its people from the town of Otočac. They were closely connected to it. Apart from Milan Štefanac, there was the engineer Zlatko Bunjevčević, a true legend. He spent much time teaching fishermen about the techniques of fly-fishing; he also taught young beginners. In Zagreb, at the hall of Kinoteka, we organised together several seminars. I love the remembrance of that time. I bid farewell to the Gacka by designing a medal and gold, silver and brazen needles with the motif of a trout and the hotel – for all the joy this river had given me. In Europe they were also very successful. After the publication of their photos in the magazine Fly Fishermen, the whole edition was sold out immediately. I did not want to disturb the other fishermen and thought that they too should by winning at the Gacka get part of the glory, which had begun to bother me. I even changed my manner of communicating and began to conceal my catches in order to be left alone. But I regularly shot photos, which can be seen in this book. For me, the most important was the connection between the fish and me, no longer between the fishermen and me. Later this proved to be right. So bit by bit I left the Gacka and discovered another water, which gave me the most – when trophies are concerned.


Why is mentoring so important?
I was struggling at work for quite some time several years back. Not that I was challenged or facing problems in my office, it was the opposite. I was unchallenged and struggling to find purpose and meaning in my work. I worked with some great people and had an excellent team, yet I was unsatisfied. My father asked me a simple question followed by simple advice. What is it you like to do at work. Once you know, then do that as much as you can. It was almost too easy.
Well, I knew I liked to mentor and teach, and I seemed to naturally gravitate to these aspects of my job – not that I was amazing at it, but I enjoyed it. I wanted to have a more significant impact on my team, and most of them could care less how great my PowerPoint looked or how many meetings I held. But motivating and educating, if done right, could last a lifetime. I remember my mentors and great teachers for their encouragement and inspiration more than I remember most of what they taught.
So… Why is it so important?
Mentoring is probably one of the most important things a leader can do. Why? Because this is how you build leaders and prepare them to lead others in a positive and meaningful way. Mentoring others is (can) be easy too. It starts with setting a good example. Remember, people are always watching. Mentoring is a process. It takes time and commitment from the mentor and mentee. Both will benefit from the relationship.
Once I grasped the idea of mentoring and teaching in the workplace, I began doing just that. I shifted my time and efforts from "doing the work" to strategy development, mentoring others, and teaching them different aspects of their job and mine. Teaching them my role and responsibility ensured that, if I left for any reason – transferred, quit, promoted, or anything else – that they would be able to continue succeeding (no single point of failure in my organization). I had already been doing these things, but my energy shifted from "the work" to these other aspects – I went from spending 25% of my time teaching and mentoring to 75%. The results were amazing. Productivity increased within my team greatly, they were more engaged and energized, and I began enjoying my work again.
After some time, I felt I was almost no longer needed. My team had a firm grasp on their duties and were taking on new challenges. I began focusing more energy on strategizing for my organization, taking on new roles and responsibilities, and becoming the "catch-all" for additional duties. It was quite interesting and gave me a whole new perspective on how the organization ran. However, my joy started to diminish as I was doing less mentoring and teaching, and more "other" stuff. I needed to get back to where my heart longed. The problem is, I didn't have anywhere to go. Promotions were unavailable, positions were already filled, and I was somewhat stuck in the position I was in – somewhat mentoring and teaching others what I had learned over the years, and doing the "catch-all" work. It wasn't bad, just not fulfilling.
As you go to work each day or work on your business, find what you love the most and do that. Sure, you will have to do other tasks that are less fulfilling – they just need to get done – but ensure you spend enough time doing what you love in order to be completely engaged and satisfied. If you are struggling to find your love in your work, perhaps you need to re-think what or how it is you are doing (it). You can find a new job. Do what you love for your business focus. Find your love and embrace it. The adage goes, if you love what you do (for a living), you will never work a day in your life.
To learn more about coaching, check out our mentoring blog posts below.


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On the Road: Breckenridge and central Colorado offer a plethora of options for day trips, more
By Tim Viall
Special to The Stockton Record
As the coronavirus pandemic continued and the West Coast was enveloped in a gray, smoky haze from wildfires threatening multiple states, our cabin fever mounted and Interval International's hundreds of "last-minute getaways" for greatly discounted prices struck us a travel opportunity.
We homed in on Colorado, thinking to eyeball future skiing destinations and more of the state's grand scenery, and found a week's stay at Grand Colorado Resort at Peak 8, Breckenridge, for well less than $400 for the week and tacked on a similar, discounted week at Snowbird Resort in Utah.
Our first move was to check the Centers for Disease Control's travel guidelines, which are very detailed. One of their recommendations includes checking with state, county and city pandemic requirements, and for Colorado, it was quickly apparent that all these government entities took COVID-19 seriously. So we packed enough soft drinks and water for the better part of two weeks, and a sizable supply of bulk walnuts and dried cranberries for travel snacks.
More:On the Road: Careful planning, sticking to travel guidelines can help you take advantage of huge discounts
More:Lassen Volcanic National Park in the age of pandemics
Prospectors first entered Summit County, Colorado, during the Pikes Peak gold rush in 1859; placer mining just east of Breckenridge revealed rich gold deposits along the Blue and later, Swan rivers. Soon deep rock mining, hydraulic and dredge mining upended streambeds and scarred mountain slopes east of the town.
In 1961, "white gold" added to the town's attraction, when several ski trails were cut on the lower part of Peak 8, connected to the town one mile away by Ski Hill Road. In the years since, Breckenridge Ski Resort expanded on Peak 9, Peak 10 and other slopes northwest of town, making it one of the more highly acclaimed Colorado ski resorts.
With the highest lift-serviced skiing in the United States, rising to 12,840 feet on Peak 8, the ski resort offers 35 lifts and the town spread at the base of the ski area — a wonderful layout. During summer and fall months, the resort offers tram and chair lift rides, an Alpine slide and zip lines and a variety of kids activities.
More:Road trip in Calaveras County: Murphys, Big Trees, Bear Valley, Lake Alpine
More:Pinecrest and Highway 108 provide respite from summer heat and smoke
Breckenridge is a lovely old town, featuring many turn-of-the-century homes and buildings. Due to the pandemic, a six-block stretch of Main Street is currently closed to autos, allowing for many retailers to offer outside merchandise displays and numerous restaurants to offer outside dining, shaded by umbrellas from the sunny skies. The town is also surrounded by scores of hiking and biking trails.
We booked a week at the Grand Colorado Lodge on Peak 8, which offers "people-free check-in," with extensively equipped lobbies and concierge desks with plastic shields to keep airborne spread of the virus to a minimum, and free face masks, latex gloves and hand sanitizer. The lodge's website offers extensive information as to how they're sanitizing rooms and common areas, as we witnessed throughout the week. The hotel complex offered several indoor/outdoor heated pools and numerous hot tubs, all accessed through a reservation system to keep utilization low and adhere to pandemic safety guidelines.
From our resort, the Grand Colorado on Peak 8, we found varying hiking routes, several close to our resort on the Peaks Trail (highlighted by three moose cavorting in a small lake at end of one of our outings), and others using the AllTrails app on our phones. One of the most exciting was the trail into the Golden Horseshoe area, about four miles east of town, a hike that promised in its 3.5-mile length examples of placer mining, deep rock mining (the Country Boy Mine, open for tours) and dredge mining.
About 2½ miles into a lovely hike, after seeing several modern prospectors trying their hand in the creek bed with placer mining using their gold pans and spying several hard rock mines on the surrounding sides of the valley, we came upon the remains of the Reiling Dredge, a huge, 250-foot-long floating gold mining excavator and mill, which had operated from 1898 until 1922. Now lying, half-sunk in a small lake bed among the miles of cobblestones piled up from its operation, it still reminds one of the tremendous draw of gold that inspired legions of early prospectors.
From Breckenridge, a variety of day trips offer options to see other portions of this lovely state. Head south to find old mining towns of Fairplay and Buena Vista, then head west to Aspen, up and over Independence Pass at 12,103 feet, and just below the pass, the ghost town of Independence, offering the remnants of the old mill and company town that prospered from 1879 to the early 1880s. After the gold ran out, a tremendous snowstorm marooned the final hundred residents, forcing locals to fashion skis out of the battens of the gold mill and ski down to Aspen, where most of them relocated. Other day trips can take you north and west to Vail, or east to Denver, with lovely Rocky Mountain National Park further north.
For more information: Breckenridge, Gobreck.com; Center for Disease Control, cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/travel-during-covid19.html; Colorado, Colorado.com.
Contact Tim, tviall@msn.com, or follow him: blogs.eSanJoaquin.com/Valleytravel. Happy travels in the West!


Kyuzo Mifune was born on April 21, 1883 in Kuji City, Iwate Prefecture, on Honshu Island in Japan the youngest of seven children. It may have been destiny as Kyuzo Mifune was born only one year after the founding of the Kodokan Judo Institute by Jigoro Kano. Kyuzo Mifune is considered to be one of the greatest judo technician and one of its biggest proponents after the founder of judo, Jigoro Kano.
As a child, Kyuzo Mifune was extremely obstinate always finding himself into some kind of mischief or organizing others into similar predicaments. Kyuzo Mifune's father was a strict disciplinarian and by the time Kyuzo Mifune was 13, his Father had had enough of the boy and sent him to a junior high school at Sendai, in northern Japan. As luck would have it, Kyuzo Mifune discovered judo at the school and would become dedicated to the art for the rest of his life. When he was 14 years old he entered a high school tournament and he was able to defeat 9 opponents in a row at that one tournament alone.
Kyuzo Mifune was able to graduate and he went on to a Tokyo preparatory school. His second goal was to attend Waseda University. His first goal however was to join the Kodokan. Joining the Kodokan during this time required a personal interview with Jigoro Kano by recommendation of ranking judoka and then one must sign a oath in blood. Kyuzo Mifune did not know a single person at the Kodokan so he choose Sakujiro Yokoyama to recommend him. Sakujiro Yokoyama was know as 'Demon Yokoyama' and his judo was fast and powerful so he had earned a fearsome reputation at the Kodokan.
Kyuzo Mifune requested asked for his recommendation and was willing to camp on Yokoyama's doorstep until Sakujiro Yokoyama was willing to recommend Kyuzo Mifune to Jigoro Kano. It was in July of 1903 that Kyuzo Mifune joined the Kodokan. Kyuzo Mifune's joy was short lived however, as Mifune's father discovered that Mifune was spending more time training in judo than studying, and he cut off Kyuzo's allowance. Kyuzo Mifune was now 22 years old and forced to go out and find work. Instead, he began his own newspaper and was able to sell advertising. He built the newspaper into a thriving enterprise. He sold the paper and made a substantial profit and used the money to enter the economics program at Keio University.
Continuing to train at the Kodokan, it took Kyuzo Mifune only 15 months to achieve the rank of Shodan in Kodokan judo and only four more months to earn his Nidan (2nd dan). Kyuzo Mifune had perfect timing and speed and he quickly gained a solid reputation as a judoka. and he was never defeated at the annual Red and White Kodokan tournament. By 1912, Kyuzo Mifune was an instructor and ranked Rokudan (6th dan). He had already earned the nickname, the 'God of Judo.' He was only 30 years old. Kyuzo Mifune's Father wanted Kyuzo to marry and he recommended a girl in Kyuzo Mifune's hometown. Kyuzo returned home for only the second time since he had left and got married.
Marriage must have agreed with him and in the the next 20 years, Kyuzo Mifune's reputation continued to grow. When he was 40 years old Mifune was challenged by a 6 foot tall, 240 pound sumo wrestler. Mifune was only 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighed barely 100 pounds. Kyuzo Mifune was finally able to slam the wrestler with his trademark 'airplane' throw (kuki nage or sumi otoshi) and he won the match. Kyuzo ate sparingly and he slept on a Western-style bed. He also never smoked.
In 1937, Jigoro Kano promoted Mifune to the rank of kudan (9th dan) and when Jigoro Kano died in 1938, Kyuzo Mifune became the most influential judo instructor. Kyuzo Mifune was more feared than loved as an instructor and students often complained about his long lectures. On May 25, 1945, Kyuzo Mifune was promoted to Judan (10th dan). He was the fourth of only 15 judoka to ever receive this honor.
A frequent visitor to the Kodokan over many years, Trevor Leggett, remarked that judo was much 'rougher' at the Kodokan before World War II than it was afterward; this was, perhaps, because of the influence of Kyuzo Mifune.
In 1964 Kyuzo Mifune was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (3rd Class) and a short time later, on January 27, 1965, Kyuzo Mifune passed away in the Nichidai University Hospital in Tokyo.


Double locked, standing seam metal roofs are reliable over pitches as low as 6 inches in 12 feet.
The downside is that installation is labor intensive and requires experienced roofing sheet metal mechanics with the ability to precisely form the metal and to solder it wherever flat seams are necessary - - at obstructions, transitions and terminations (such as chimneys, valleys and roof edges). Once properly installed, such a roof is the most durable and reliable possible. Depending on the application, such roofs should last 60 - 90 years, apart from high traffic areas, such as valleys.
The copper specified is typically 16 oz. (meaning one pound of weight per square foot), either unfinished or 'Freedom Gray" (a Revere Copper trademark), in which the surface is coated with a solderable tin zinc alloy. With exposure, either surface ages organically and coherently, though not with complete uniformity. In the hands an experienced roofing sheet metal artisan, this material is agile over any surface, producing reliable service for a lifetime.


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Centre for Modern British Studies
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Within the College of Arts and Law, staff and students have adapted to a new way of working, with teaching and studying taking place at home through a variety of virtual platforms.
Boris Johnson's majority cut to one as UK Conservatives lose Brecon and Radnorshire by-election
Boris Johnson's majority cut to one as UK Conservatives lose Brecon and Radnorshire, Dr Matt Cole gives his analysis.
Modern British Studies Beyond Boundaries, 3-5 July 2019
Call for papers.
10 place rise in THE World University Rankings 2019
We are now ranked 70 in the subject ranking for arts and humanities, which covers art, performing arts, design, languages, literature, linguistics, history, philosophy, theology, architecture and archaeology.
Activist Selly Oak walking tours
As part of the School of History and Cultures contribution to Birmingham Heritage Week Dr. Chris Moores devised a series of walking tours exploring the findings of his Activist Selly Oak Heritage Lottery Fund, funded project.
Midlands universities partnership will train the next generation of arts and humanities researchers
Eight leading universities in the Midlands are joining together to train the next generation of highly-skilled arts and humanities researchers, thanks to funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
Activist Selly Oak at Birmingham Heritage Week
Chris Moores to present the findings of the Heritage Lottery Funded project.
Multiple-gender-attraction and bisexuality in 1970s and 1980s Britain: an oral history project
Call for participants.
Call for papers: Ways of Knowing 5-6 July 2018
Deadline extended for two-day conference for postgraduate and early-career researchers on ways of knowing in modern Britain
BRIHC at Being Human
Public enthusiasm for engaging the insights that arts and humanities researchers can bring to contemporary matters of concern is as high as ever. As a small band of University of Birmingham historians recently discovered when they took part in this year's Being Human Festival.
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September 16, 2015 9:00pm Comment Mario Tomás Serrafero
Opinion: The 810 Held Back a Generation with Deliberate Apologism & Damage Control
It's been a little over a week since I received a OnePlus 2 unit for review, and with it, I finally got enough time to truly test the Snapdragon 810 and get it through its paces. It's been an eye-opening experience, and it made me reconsider a few things I want to discuss.
If we go a few months back, we'll remember the plethora of coverage this chipset had due to its infamous heat problems and the throttling mechanisms put in place to mitigate them.
It all started with the rumors about Samsung using their in-house Exynos instead of the 810, which ended up being true. The G Flex 2 was the first phone with the Snapdragon 810, and its performance left a lot to be desired, something which was blamed on "unfinished software". The M9 then came around, and reports from the stage floor demos at MWC said benchmarks gave out error messages of overheating. This, and the reports that followed, were also classified as faults of unfinished software. The real M9 came, and apart from its benchmark-cheating "high-performance mode", it under-delivered in performance as well.
This happened again with the Mi Note Pro, which also saw complaints about heat despite the application of various thermal patents. The Xperia Z4/Z3+ got hot too, so hot that Japanese carrier NTT Docomo put warning signs at retail stores. This just kept happening and happening, but when review time came, the issues were quickly brushed off under the premise that performance was still acceptable.
But that was then, and the Snapdragon 810 is not a relevant hot topic anymore, because in one way or another, the case was closed with the final verdict: it is a faulty chip indeed, and a compromise. However, the Snapdragon 810 is still being featured in many devices and is rumored to come in highly-anticipated releases such as the Huawei Nexus. Was this actually a big deal, and why?
Between a Chip and a Hot Place
Now that I've had an extensive hands-on with the OnePlus 2 and its Snapdragon 810 – the alleged v2.1 variant, downclocked to 1.8GHz – I see that all of the complaints and the diss was justified. The device does indeed get hot, being able to reach 44 degrees Celsius in a 10-minute gaming session. It also does throttle, and sometimes very aggressively. Both the heat and the performance issues are ultimately noticeable in the real world through the senses. The top of the device can get uncomfortably warm, and the framerate of games can get choppy.
Having unpredictable performance on a hardware level is something no enthusiast wants
The chipset's theoretical performance is still up there with the best chipsets, something easily seen in benchmarks and most cases of real-world performance. However, it is simply not stable. Once it crosses the throttling threshold, performance is compromised for the rest of your run, and up until you finish exhausting the processor and leave the device alone to rest for a minute. This instability is what's most worrying and what cost so many of this year's flagships (and their manufacturers) reputation and sales. And rightfully so, because there are a number of issues that come from such a slip.
Let's play "Spot the Throttle"
First of all, the Snapdragon 810's listed frequency of 2GHz varies among OEMs, and some like OnePlus decided to simply downclock the chipset to 1.8GHz. Others like HTC used a trickier system, in which the phone rarely uses the 2GHz ( except on"high-performance" mode for benchmarks) and during actual usage, the frequency is capped at 1.6GHz. This results in misleading specification sheets and marketing claims, something that we criticized Qualcomm for as well. The more-unstable performance limits the future-proofing of these devices — while phones with the Snapdragon 800, 801 and 805 have stable, acceptable and in some cases impressive performance years and months after their release, the 810's instabilities make for a more unpredictable future in terms of the results of official support and its ability to handle upcoming software efficiently. Having unpredictable performance on a hardware level is something no enthusiast wants.
The latest Snapdragon generation may very well be a single slip in Qualcomm's chipset career, and the transition to radically different internal design and architecture (in part due to the 64-bit rush) surely played a major role in said slip. Qualcomm had delayed the Snapdragon 805 before, giving us the 801 instead (which many didn't like considering it wasn't a big step forward). But the 810 felt rushed, and came just months after the very, very efficient and beloved 805, which barely showed up in the mainstream as only Samsung and Motorola adopted it. When you factor in the throttling issues, the 805 can actually deliver a more pleasant experience in various use-cases.
Damage Control & Non-issues
But this leads me to the underlying issue behind all of this: while the criticism against Qualcomm was clear on internet communities and in the actual market, it was rather unclear in the blogosphere. There was always an overwhelming amount of evidence that the processor had issues, yet in many instances these were written off as "non-issues" under the card that they had no significant impact in the real-world. But they do, and they did for many consumers and for Qualcomm itself. Cue damage control.
"The Snapdragon 810 does bring constraints in physical phones, despite their original MDP/T model showing little of this in the past. The chipset in the M9 had its most powerful cluster's frequency capped by 25%, and this had an impact on the peak performance that would give the phone extra longevity. HTC continued to cheat on benchmarks by boosting the frequency, despite that the ability to do so outside of the cheat code is virtually impossible without lower-level tweaking. The M9's specification sheet will list the 2GHz maximum frequency, regardless of it never being attainable in real-world usage. HTC had also sent test and demo units that behaved differently than final consumer units, which added to the disinformation. Despite the misleading specification sheet, the downgrade in performance, the reduced longevity and the cheating going on behind the scenes, many claim that there is no issue. "
Since the 810 drama started, Qualcomm has been in full defense mode. At many device announcements and launch events, including HTC's, LG's and OnePlus', Qualcomm representatives showed up to promise great performance out of these chipsets, completely omitting the complaint storm, fears, and general buzz going on in the real world. Their marketing team went as far as dismissing these as manufactured half-trues, which we rebutted. With every device release, the blogosphere underplayed the impact it can have on the phone. Mind you, it shouldn't be overplayed either, but it should be appropriately noted. Just like it's common to read Note5 reviews, articles and commentaries ignoring the many, many issues behind TouchWiz's performance flaws (which go beyond the well-known multitasking issues), it's rare to see reviews that list the 810's flaws accordingly and objectively.
To me, this is unfair, because not only does it mislead consumers into a purchase, but it also undermines the outstanding achievements of the rest of the competition. Simply put, the Exynos 7420 smokes the Snapdragon 810, and other chipsets offered me and others at XDA outstanding performance as well. The Atom Z3850 is perhaps the most pleasant surprise I've had in awhile, because of how speedy and efficient it was and how little throttling and heat it saw. These two particular chipsets pushed the envelope for the other two silicon giants. Samsung's long-game played out, and their previously-quiet Exynos finally shined and leaped forward. Intel is finally getting its name out there as well, and with more processors coming up, they might prove to be a force to be reckoned with.
The apologism on these issues meant that Qualcomm could get away with offering a sub-par processor. The Snapdragon 805, so easily forgotten, should have been a way around the 810. Instead, manufacturers opted (or perhaps had to opt) for the 808, which has a weaker GPU. Even then, I personally think the 808 is a better choice than the 810 — consistency in performance is very important on smartphones. It allows for more secure future proofing and a generally pleasant experience. Android phones have had the potential to be fast and not skip frames for a while, but what plagued earlier handsets was inconsistency in performance from software. Project Butter, Project Svelte and TRIM all helped to create a consistent Android UX that generally doesn't decide to stutter its way through a task out of nowhere and variably skip frames in the simplest of scrolls for no apparent reason. Having that kind of unpredictability – however small – in the very hardware is a big turn off, especially since it is triggered by factors outside of our control. Yet that, and other many real issues, were brushed off as insignificant.
Now, it's clear that enthusiasts voted with their wallet, and a general trend of 810 avoidance is clear in most comment fields of articles that touch on the subject. The 810 cost many flagships a chance to shine through and it produced a playing field that has never been so uneven in terms of resulting flagship performance. It also held back a whole generation from achieving a significant step forward in not just power and speed, but also efficiency and reliability. It led to misleading marketing and confusion of all sorts through all kind of publications. Now that the 820 is coming, we hope that it can redeem this mess. But if it doesn't, there should be no holding back, no excuses nor apologisms. No "unfinished software" claims nor lies about revisions. In the long run, it only hurts consumers and the very community we cherish.
Tags oneplusoneplus 2QualcommSnapdragon 810
XDA » Analysis » Opinion: The 810 Held Back a Generation with Deliberate Apologism & Damage Control


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WILD UNTAMED BRAZIL
Anteater vs. Termites
A giant anteater gets its fill of termites before their tiny bites become overwhelming.
Brazil is a land of gigantic proportions. Brazil is energetic, flamboyant and fun, but also overwhelmingly beautiful. Within its mountains, seas, rainforests, deserts and millions of miles of rivers, are many of our planet's last wild frontiers. Its diversity of life and landscape is second to none. In each episode, the viewer will be taken on a journey across fabulous landscapes and will meet carefully selected, charismatic and little-known animal species. The series will investigate their fight for survival and their amazing adaptations to local environments. It will show behaviour that will surprise even avid nature-lovers. Brazil is a rapidly developing country. In 2014 it will host the football World Cup and, two years later, South America's first Olympic Games.
This landmark super blue chip series filmed in a cinematographic style using latest HD technology will, for the...
Wild Untamed Brazil on Facebook


Historic Building with elegant mill work and original wood finishes.
Floor to ceiling windows overlooking Philadelphia's City Hall and Love Park.
Perfect single floor setup for Ceremony to Reception or Weddings!


Fabio Maino is a Distinguished Engineer at Cisco, where he leads an amazing team of engineers dedicated to a simple task: make Internet better by adding one level of indirection, LISP.
The Locator/ID Separation Protocol (LISP) is an open IETF experimental standard that, by introducing a level of indirection, effectively decouples identity from location by using two different IP addresses that belong to two different namespaces: Endpoint Identifiers (EIDs), which are assigned to end-hosts, and Routing Locators (RLOCs), which are assigned to devices (primarily routers) that make up the global routing system. This talk, after providing an introduction to LISP and describing the use cases to which it applies, will focus on the security considerations that are leading the design of the LISP security architecture.
Fabio Maino is a Distinguished Engineer at Cisco, where he leads an amazing team of engineers dedicated to a simple task: make Internet better by adding one level of indirection, LISP. After receiving his PhD in Computer and Network Security from Politecnico di Torino, Italy, Fabio moved to California to join Andiamo System that was later acquired by Cisco. While in Andiamo Fabio designed the security layer of the Fibre Channel architecture, implemented in what became the Cisco MDS 9000 family of storage switches. Fabio is one of the main architects of Cisco Trustsec, and is an active contributor to multiple standardization bodies.
Dr. Surya Nepal is a Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO ICT Centre, Australia. He is a research team leader of "Distributed Systems" team. His main research interest is in the development and implementation of technologies in the area of service-oriented architectures, web services, cloud computing and social networks.
Over the years, governments have diversified their online services and increased their online engagement with citizens. Increasingly, social media technologies are playing an important role in the way government and citizens interact. In partnership with the Australian Government's Department of Human Services (referred thereafter as DHS), we are trialling specific social media technologies, namely an online community and a social media monitoring tool, to see if it could serve as an effective way to support specific groups of citizens and the service delivery arm of the government. In this seminar, we present the design of these tools and corresponding underlying research problems such as trust model, recommender system, visualisation and bootstrapping and sustainability of the community. We also present the initial results.
Dr. Srivatsa is a Research Scientist in Network Technologies Department at IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center. His research interests primarily include network analytics and secure information flow.
Location-based services, which employ data from smartphones, vehicles, etc., are growing in popularity. To reduce the threat that shared location data poses to a user's privacy, some services anonymize or obfuscate this data. In this paper, we show these methods can be effectively defeated: a set of location traces can be deanonymized given an easily obtained social network graph. The key idea of our approach is that a user may be identified by those she meets: a contact graph identifying meetings between anonymized users in a set of traces can be structurally correlated with a social network graph, thereby identifying anonymized users. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach using three real world datasets: University of St Andrews mobility trace and social network (27 nodes each), SmallBlue contact trace and Facebook social network (125 nodes), and Infocom 2006 bluetooth contact traces and conference attendees' DBLP social network (78 nodes). Our experiments show that 80% of users are identified precisely, while only 8% are identified incorrectly, with the remainder mapped to a small set of users.
Dr. Srivatsa is a Research Scientist in Network Technologies Department at IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center. He received his PhD in Computer Science from Georgia Tech. His research interests primarily include network analytics and secure information flow. He serves as a technical area leader for Secure Hybrid Network research in US/UK International Technology Alliance in Network and Information Sciences and as a principal investigator for Information Network Research in Network Science Collaborative Technology Alliance where he is working on adversarial analysis of co-evolving networks (social, information, and communication).
Dr. Alexander Clemm is a Principal Engineer at Cisco.
Traditional management architectures, in which smart management applications outside the network manage "dumb" devices inside the network, are rapidly evolving. Increasingly, management tasks are becoming embedded inside the network itself. This is driven by factors such as the need to reduce total cost of ownership, to increase network resilience and independence of outside components, and to reduce complexity for network operators. While the first wave targeted mainly the automation of management functions at individual devices one node at a time, the focus of attention is increasingly beginning to shift towards holistic management tasks that concern the network as a whole. This presentation examines those trends in more detail and presents two examples of research projects in decentralized network-embedded management that were conducted in cooperation between Cisco and University researchers. The first project (with KTH/Sweden) concerns an algorithm and protocol to support Network Threshold Crossing Alerts to monitor aggregated status information that transcends individual network devices, such as the average link utilization across the whole network exceeding a certain threshold. The second project (with UFRGS/Brazil) concerns a system that uses a peer-to-peer algorithm to automatically place measurement probes in a network such that the number of detected service level violation across the network is maximized.
Dr. Alexander Clemm is a Principal Engineer at Cisco. As a member of the Network Operating Systems Group's Technology Architecture team, he provides technical direction and leadership for technology that relates to manageability of Cisco networking products from original conception to delivery to the customer. This includes management instrumentation, management and programming interfaces for management applications, and networking capabilities aimed at facilitating operational tasks. He has several dozen publications and patents in this area and is author and/or editor of several books, including "Network Management Fundamentals" and, very recently, "Network-Embedded Management and Applications". Alex is General Co-chair of the 2013 IFIP/IEEE International Symposium on Integrated Management (IM 2013); in the past he was co-chair of Manweek (now CNSM) 2007, DSOM 2007, and the TPC of IM 2005.
Tanvir Ahmed is a Principal Member of Technical Staff with the Database Security Group, Oracle, CA.
In rdbms, object privileges protect actions on an object. For example, select on a table or a view. A limitation of object privilege is that it cannot define fine-grained privileges, such as, a select privilege on a subset of the rows of a table. To enforce fine-grained access control, primarily "views" are used. In addition, a functionality of rdbms is to manage data for all forms of applications. This requires that access control policy on data is expressed in terms of application-level operations. The main obstacle to enforce such application-level operational and fine grained privileges is performance. In this talk, we discuss how SQL transformation techniques are used for efficient enforcement of application-level access control policies on data.
Tanvir Ahmed is a Principal Member of Technical Staff with the Database Security Group, Oracle, CA. He is working on Oracle Real Application Security (RAS), Oracle 12c. Oracle RAS is a database authorization solution for end-to-end application security. He received the B.S. degree in computer science from the University of Mississippi, Oxford, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in computer science from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. His research areas include access control, system security, distributed systems, and software development methodologies.


text:
Q: Linux Script to check if process is running and restart if not I am having this script which looks for the process filebeat and restarts it if is not running. Cron runs this script every 5 minutes. Most of the time this works fine except sometime it creates multiple filebeat process. Can someone please point out what is the issue in my script.
#!/bin/bash
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
service=filebeat
servicex=/usr/share/filebeat/bin/filebeat
pid=`pgrep -x "filebeat"`
if [ $pid > /dev/null ]
then
echo "$(date) $service is running!!!"
else
echo "$(date) starting $service"
cd /home/hpov/beats/filebeat
./filebeat -c filebeat.yml &
fi

A: #!/bin/bash
pidof  script.x86 >/dev/null
if [[ $? -ne 0 ]] ; then
        echo "Restarting script:     $(date)" >> /var/log/script.txt
        /etc/script/script.x86 &
fi

Super easy :D

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Up-Dated Research and Reflections about Retention: A Questionable Educational Practice that Continues to FlourishRobert Brooks, Ph.D.
In November, 2002 I devoted my website article to a review of retention, a frequently applied educational practice. I emphasized that although retention is used in schools throughout the United States, research indicates that it is an ineffective strategy, often leading to a negative outcome for those students who have been retained. After the article appeared, many parents and educators wrote to me. Interestingly, most were unaware of the large body of research that existed about this topic. Several educators reported that their school regularly retained students, but they often questioned the efficacy of doing so; they noted both the lack of academic progress shown by retained students as well as the social stigma that many of these students experienced from classmates. Some parents wrote to say that their child's school had recommended retention, but now that they knew about the retention research, they had serious reservations about accepting this course of action and wanted to explore other strategies to help their children.
Several parents and educators who wrote described positive results for their children or students who had been retained. I noticed that positive outcomes seemed most associated with children who had been retained at an early age such as kindergarten or first grade or when they transferred schools. For example, one parent said that retention had been of benefit to her son, although she added that he transferred to a different school the year he was retained; to avoid possible embarrassment he informed his friends that his new school was more demanding academically than the school he had previously attended and that the fifth grade work he was doing in his new school was similar to sixth-grade requirements at the school he had left. This mother noted that if her son had not transferred to a new school, she did not think that she and her husband would have approved his being retained.
Given the interest in the theme of retention and the start of a new school year for millions of children and adolescents, I thought it was an opportune time to up-date my earlier article. In part, my motivation to do so is based on my awareness that during the upcoming school year thousands of parents and educators will consider the option of retaining children. In making a decision they should be aware of the research findings pertaining to retention as well as possible alternatives to this intervention for struggling students. Readers may wish to review my 2002 article for some background material about retention as well as "social promotion" (i.e., promoting students even when they have not met basic academic requirements).
In my 2002 article I frequently referenced the writings of Dr. Shane Jimerson, a school psychologist on the faculty of the University of California at Santa Barbara, who I believe is one of the foremost experts about the topic of retention. A few months ago, Jimerson and five colleagues (Sarah Fletcher and Kelly Graydon from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and Britton Schnurr, Amanda Nickerson, and Deborah Kundert from the University of Albany, State University of New York) published a very thoughtful article in the journal Psychology in the Schools, which continues to raise serious reservations about the efficacy of retaining students.
Comprehensive Programs to Promote Social and Academic Development. I have long believed that children will be more prepared to master academic demands when educators also focus on strengthening their social/emotional skills, including problem solving, decision making, and learning to resolve conflicts. Programs such as Dr. Myrna Shure's "I Can Problem Solve" offer opportunities to teach children ways of thinking and behaving more effectively. This leads to success in all aspects of school and lessens the probability of children being left back.
Summer School and After School Programs. Jimerson observes that many students may benefit from additional instructional opportunities that can be scheduled during the summer or after school hours. He cites numerous studies that demonstrate the positive impact of such programs, especially when compared with the negative outcome of retaining students.
School-Based Mental Health Programs. Students demonstrating mental health and behavioral difficulties often lag behind their classmates academically. These difficulties frequently prompt recommendations for retention. To address this problem, some schools have implemented school-based mental health programs to meet the mental health needs of students in a more efficient manner. Preliminary research data suggest that such programs are "promising interventions for promoting social and emotional competence" and thus, lessening retention.
Early Reading Programs. Reading is an essential skill for almost all learning. Children who have difficulty mastering this skill are at risk to lag behind their classmates, to become discouraged, and to experience feelings of hopelessness. Many are likely to become the students recommended for retention. It is important to address vigorously this downward spiral by providing "structured early reading programs that have been demonstrated to promote student success." Retaining students who struggle with reading without offering the intensive and systematic reading assistance they require will not remediate the problem; instead it may exacerbate their feelings of frustration and inadequacy.
Effective Instructional Strategies and Assessment. Jimerson notes, "There are numerous teaching techniques which can be easily implemented within existing classroom structures to increase student performance." He specifically mentions direct instruction, Curriculum-Based Measurement, cooperative learning, and the use of mnemonic strategies, all of which have been demonstrated to enhance student performance.
Behavior and Cognitive Behavior Modification Strategies. These are strategies applied to reduce disruptive behavior while increasing positive classroom behaviors. Obviously, when a student's behavior improves, he or she is better equipped to learn and less likely to fall behind and be retained.
I feel even more strongly about this view than I did four years ago, bolstered not only by ongoing research that continues to demonstrate the negative impact of retention, but also by findings that identify interventions that hold much promise for helping at-risk students succeed in school. I hope that this research will be given serious consideration whenever educators and parents struggle with the question of whether or not to retain a particular student.


Violating an order of the court in Oregon is no small matter. If you are facing charges of violating a restraining or protection order, you need the assistance of an aggressive and experienced law firm. Call us today to see how we can help.
When a restraining order is put in place a judge typically does so to protect someone. Often they are issued without objection. When you willfully disregard the judge's order, you break the law, plain and simple.
Of course there are defenses, and it is very possible to be arrested for something that is not your fault. And there isn't always legal justifcation for a protection order in the first place.
But even if a restraining order is taken out under false pretenses or you don't think it is fair, it still has to be adhered to until the court vacates it. This means that even if it is wrong, you must abide by it or face criminal charges.
Restraining orders can do many things. Even violating on small section of the order can get you a jail sentence and hefty fines. You may be apprehensive about going before the judge after this violation, and we can fully understand that.
We have handled many cases like these before. We know what you are facing and know how to help. We can fight for the best outcome in court and will do so with your best interests in mind at all times.
What Is a Restraining Order in Oregon?
There are several types of restraining orders. Yours may have been drawn up during divorce proceedings to help ensure property wasn't tampered with. Or, you may have been involved in a domestic violence situation or stalking/ harassment.
Whatever the reason the order was put in place, you can face serious criminal charges for violating it.
A restraining order can require you to stay so far away from someone, their work, or home. It can also award temporary custody of children.
If this is your first violation, you will likely be charged with a Class A misdemeanor which carries a potential sentence of up to one year in prison and fines up to $6250.
However, if you have previously violated the order or you have a stalking conviction on your record, the violation will be charged as a Class C felony and carry a potential sentence of up to 5 years in prison and fines up to $125,000.
When you violate you will more than likely immediately be taken into custody (particularly if there is any domestic violence history) and held until a judge can see you.
Because restraining orders are typically put in place to protect someone, Oregon criminal court judges do not look favorably on people who violate them. Particularly when you are in a situation like this, with the courts not on your side, our defense lawyers are there for you and only you.
Call our attorneys today to discuss your case and see how the skills of an experienced and aggressive firm can help.


With the New Method of Whole Brain Training being employed, there will definitely be New Processes in a child's learning. When New Methods and New Processes combine, there can only be revolutionary outcomes in children.
The process of introducing a child to a new concept or to new knowledge, to the time they possess mastery is often an arduous one. With the process being a senses-based one, skills can only be mastered when drilling happens.
What are the common ingredients of drilling? Rounds of repetition, need for continuous cramming, and endless practices and revisions in order for a concept to stick. As the process becomes repetitive, children will lose interest. This can be especially true for young children who naturally do not have sustained attention.
Hence, no matter the techniques imparted or the uniqueness of a lesson plan, they will eventually tire themselves out. Without a clear focus on strengthening a child's Life-Defining Abilities, the impartation of knowledge and techniques alone is no longer enough. Not when children today are expected to know more, understand deeper and respond faster.
So, what's the Stamford Solution?
The Stamford Solution is thus a clear objective of increasing a child's cognitive abilities. At the end of the day, we do not just want mindless individuals who regurgitate, but thinkers who can Read, Think and Solve.
To achieve this, we combine Whole Brain Training with our specialized process in helping children master literacy and numeracy.
We first work on helping child recognize the parts to a whole. By introducing them to the phonics letter sounds and the different combinations of blends and digraphs, we ensure that lay the foundation of a child being able to associate letters to the corresponding sounds.
Next, as children are picking up on their ability to perceive and respond orally but not through visual representation (i.e. the written word), we introduce the reading mechanics of decoding and encoding. The ability to understand and communicate not just through speech but the written word is what we seek to strengthen in a child since young.
When children have better grasps of the mechanism of reading through decoding and encoding, we will introduce the skill of spelling through decoding and encoding. This will help children to spell, not from rote memory, but by understanding exactly how parts of the words come together.
In theory, children who have covered Stages 1 through 3 with Stamford will be able to read and write. However, reading and writing is not just about words but about deeper levels of comprehension. Hence we dedicate the last kindergarten years to help children be acquainted with the rules of writing in sentences and paragraphs.
Children need to first be able to recognize the numbers from 1 to 100. Often times, children can only do rote counting without really recognizing what they see, let alone understand the amount that is being represented by the numbers.
Following recognition, the next most important step is to help children understand those numbers. By teaching children the amounts behind the numbers, working with numbers become easier and more straightforward since they can better visualize the amounts.
While most childcares or kindergartens only stop short of teaching children 1 to 1 correspondence counting, we introduce children to Place Values through a variety of activities.
Working with numbers require an understanding of operations (i.e. plus, minus, times, divide) and an understanding of the amount behind the numbers.
Once preschoolers make sense of how big or small numbers are, operations will be more easily applied.
Mum bought 17 tulips and 15 roses. How many stalks of flowers did Mum buy altogether?
Hence, at Stamford, we are concerned about helping children marry literacy with numeracy abilities.
At the end of your child's journey with Stamford, they would not have just picked up important literacy and numeracy skills. In addition, they would have strengthened their Life-Defining Abilities.
If we only adopted our Literacy and/or Numeracy New Processes without the New Whole Brain Training Method, we would only be half as successful in helping children achieve the outcomes of Read, Think and Solve. That would have made us just one of the many preschools around still not breaking away from the shackles of traditional education – merely imparting techniques and cramming information rather than strengthening a child's cognitive abilities.
If we only adopted the New Whole Brain Training New Method, we would be merely stimulating the different areas of a child's brain without systematically and constructively improving their ability to Read, Think and Solve.


text:
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Zhone IMACS Family
Home » Zhone IMACS Family
By Christopher Ellis
Zhone IMACS Family2015-11-112020-09-29https://lightriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/lightriver-logo-white-.pngLightRiver Companieshttps://lightriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ZhoneIMACS.jpg200px200px
Integrated Solution for Advanced Voice & Data Applications
The concept of Integrated Access began with the introduction of the IMACS. Initially, the IMACS was a vision that brought bandwidth savings for voice and data access. IMACS has not strayed from its vision and has remained the most flexible, robust, and scalable integrated access solution in the telecommunications market today. In fact, we have continued to build on our promise to provide the most robust set of voice and data access services and applications on one manageable platform – IMACS.
The IMACS – with over 50 optional service application modules, four flexible, and scalable chassis options – provides an almost limitless combination of services, applications and network interfaces.
The IMACS is unrivaled in its network versatility. The IMACS supports V.35, V.11/X.21, up to eight (8) T1, E1, Fractional T1, Fractional E1, TDMoIP, and Optical WAN interfaces. An integrated digital cross-connect is available to consolidate multiple voice, data, and T1/E1 services. Four chassis models, IMACS 200, IMACS 600, 800, and 900, differ in their card capacity and card install options (front, or front and rear). All models (except the 200) support the same range of modular cards, power supplies, and system redundancy options. All IMACS systems can be fully managed either with local craft interface through a VT100, PC, or through the OnLine Element Management System using standard SNMP interfaces.
In addition, IMACS offers a powerful array of integrated network diagnostic and fault isolation capabilities. These include Bit Error Rate Testers, test tone and signaling state generation, digital and analog loopback support, and remote configuration and control. IMACS meets stringent standards criteria, such as NEBS and CE, which means you can deploy the IMACS almost anywhere in your network.
The IMACS is designed to continuously meet the needs of a changing telecommunications landscape. With its advanced patented modular architecture, voice and data services can be deployed quickly and cost effectively. Applications include: POTS (FXS, FXO, E&M), ISDN (BRI and PRI), voice compression (ADPCM and ACELP), VPN access, Internet access, integrated routing capabilities, voice over Frame Relay, Digital Data Networks (DDN), analog private lines, and numerous others. And the IMACS is being used in both public and private, as well as traditional facilities-based and wireless networks.
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