text:
Dare Planet Studios
VFX & Animation Studios
Remote Ready VFX Studio
Meet Silvia
Individually, success is achieved, in a team, excellence is achieved.
Silvia Cerrada, VFX Production Manager of Dare Planet Studios.
Hello there, my name is Silvia and that's our story
I have 30 years of experience in management and coordination of vfx and sound post-production, both in advertising projects and in film and television.
Christmas 1989 was very special for me, because it was when I started my career in Molinale. In 1993 I worked on the film "Kika" as a VFX Producer.
Over the years I have been able to experience all the immense evolution of the sector, from my beginnings it was inconceivable that today we would have all this resources available for post-production.
During the next 5 years I participated in 8 films as VFX Producer: "99.9" in 1997 or "Atómica" in 1998.
The bulk of my career has been devoted to VFX for advertising.
I have had the pleasure of working with the best advertising agencies and brands, which appreciate that VFX applied to their spots make the difference between good content and superior quality.
Recently, in 2020 I worked on the Amazon film "Historias Lamentables" as VFX Producer.
Also that year I took part as VFX Producer in the HBO series, "30 Coins".
I have been lucky enough to work in the best post-production studios and with the best professionals, to all of them I am grateful for all these years.
Years full of love for this profession, full of love for people, colleagues, directors, creatives, producers, advertisers … with them I have shared and I hope to continue sharing in DPS many hours of illusion, effort and great satisfaction for well done work.
You can check my full career on IMDb
My career in numbers
We are looking forward to start working with you
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San Lorenzo Street, 5, 28004, Madrid (Spain)
info@dps.tv
Dare Planet Studios. 2019-2021. All rights reserved
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After spending a few nights at the Sheraton in Sao Paulo, I was ready for a change. I had two nights booked for the weekend at the Renaissance Sao Paulo, and I was excited to check it out. Renaissance might be my favorite hotel chain, especially internationally. In the USA, most Renaissance properties are pretty nice, but abroad I typically find them to be outstanding. I really like both the Renaissance Shanghai Zhongshan Park and the one in Mumbai. The one in Sao Paulo didn't let me down.
The hotel is located not far from Paulista Avenue in a good part of Sao Paulo called Jardins. You can walk right out the door of the hotel to plenty of good shopping and restaurants. In terms of major chain hotels (Hyatt / Hilton / SPG / Marriott), the Renaissance has the best location in Sao Paulo, in my opinion. The others are located in the WTC area in the Brooklin neighborhood. That's a business area where a lot of corporate offices are. That may be good or bad for you, depending on your plans. If you're there for business and your meetings are over there, then good – if your meetings are somewhere else or you want a place where you can access the heart of the city on foot, then those locations are less optimal.
Walking up to the Renaissance is quite impressive. It is one of the taller buildings in the area, and the outside is striped in a way that looks very cool. When I walked in, I was immediately impressed by how friendly the staff was. Before I even got to the check-in guest, I was greeted multiple times. The lobby is quite large, with a cool bar in the front and the restaurants in the back. There's a spiral staircase leading to the Havana Club, their swanky bar.
I was at the hotel early in the morning, and I didn't expect to have a room ready yet, but I went to check in to see what could be done. The woman who worked there was extremely nice, and she told me that there was a special check-in for platinum guests in the lounge, but that because it was so early it was still closed. She asked me if it was okay if I was checked in downstairs. Haha of course that was no problem. She indicated that there wasn't a room ready for me quite yet, but they would prepare one for me right away. I was instructed to go to the lounge for breakfast and to leave my baggage downstairs. Once a room opened up, someone would bring me a room key. Perfect! I went up to the lounge, and I was very impressed. It was massive, and the quality of food in there was really high. The picture below only shows a part of the lounge.
Additionally, there is an absolutely fantastic view of Sao Paulo from up there as the lounge is on the 23rd floor. Here's a pic of the view, and if you want a high res version, just click the pic!
The lounge had an excellent selection of breakfast food. There were eggs, sausages, toast, pastries, cold cuts, and a large selection of fruit and cheese.
I sat in the lounge eating breakfast, preparing a presentation I had to give later that day, and surfing the internet. The internet speed was really fast. After working for thirty minutes or so, an employee came up to me and gave me a room key with my room number. Great service! I went down to my room, and I found all of my luggage to already be in there. The room was not a suite, but it was a large room, and it had all the space I needed.
I actually really liked the curved desk that was against the window. It was huge, with enough room for a room service tray, a computer, and then some. The desk also had a huge set of ports so I could plug my laptop into the HDMI port and get video on the television screen. This was great… as I was able to watch Step Brothers on the TV that night while working on my computer :-).
The bathroom was equally nice. There was a shower, a tub, a sink, etc… and everything was perfectly clean.
Of course, there was one odd thing that I'm not used to seeing. There was a "mystery foot pedal" in my shower. I really had no idea what it was for, and I made a game out of avoiding it. Maybe it was a trap door??? Maybe… it… I have no idea. In any case, I forgot to press it. So I have no idea what this foot pedal does!
After a long day, I came back to the hotel, and I went to the gym. Bad hotel gyms are a pet peeve of mine, and I was very pleasantly surprised by how nice the gym at the Renaissance was. In fact, it's less of a gym and more of full featured fitness center. Check out the pics!
If it's not clear from the pictures, the gym was awesome. I used it a few times over the weekend. My rate actually included a free dinner one night at their restaurant so I tried that out, and I must say that i had some of the best ravioli I've ever had before.
If you haven't been able to tell from my review thus far, I'm a huge fan of this hotel. If you're coming to Sao Paulo for business, take a look at where your meetings are and plan accordingly, but if you're coming to Sao Paulo to see the city or just hang out for a bit, then I really think this is the best hotel of all the main chains. The location is awesome, and it really has all the amenities that you would want from a top tier property.
I'm sure that I will visit again in the near future!


text:
The Revolutionary Life of Johannes Gutenberg
Last updated on July 22nd, 2022 at 04:42 pm
On the 31st of October 1517, the Professor of Moral Theology at the University of Wittenberg, a man called Martin Luther, nailed a document to the door of All Saint's Church in the town of Wittenberg.
This document, known today as Luther's '95 Theses', contained a series of arguments against the Papacy's sale of indulgences. These were certificates granting the buyer a remission of their sins.
Luther's decision to nail his '95 Theses' is typically viewed as the start date of the Protestant Reformation, a movement for religious reform which transformed the religious, political, social, cultural, and even economic life of Europe over the next century.
But what is curious about Luther's actions and those of other religious reformers who emerged in the 1520s and 1530s, such as Huldrych Zwingli and Jean Calvin, is that their ideas had all been developed before.
Martin Luther, 1528
For example, in England in the 1380s, a reformer called Jon Wycliffe had made the same arguments about the moral decline of the Roman Catholic Church.
He was soon followed by another religious maverick called Jan Hus in Bohemia in what is now Czechia in the 1410s. So what made Luther different?
The answer is that he had access to the printing press and the revolutionary innovations which had been introduced to the European publishing industry in the mid-fifteenth century by the man known as Johannes Gutenberg.
The Early Life of Johannes Gutenberg
Johannes Gutenberg was born in Mainz in western Germany sometime around 1400. But unfortunately, very little is known about his childhood and early life.
We do know that by 1437 he was living in the city of Strasbourg, not far from Mainz but located in eastern France today.
Portrait of Johannes Gutenberg
Here he had become a craftsman, one who seems to have primarily worked as a goldsmith. However, there is evidence that he also worked as a gem-cutter and as a metallurgist, one who made metallic objects as part of the growing consumer society emerging across Europe as the continent transitioned from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance.
As part of this, he was involved in many business ventures in the early 1440s—one of these involved efforts to devise a new way of printing books.
Block Printing in Fifteenth-Century Europe
It is essential to understand what print technologies were available to fifteenth-century Europeans before looking at how Gutenberg introduced innovations to these.
By the time of Gutenberg's birth, around 1400, printing of a rudimentary kind was being practiced in Europe.
This was known as block printing, whereby a printer carved out the text of an entire page onto a wooden slab.
Woodblock Printing
You would press the wooden slab in ink before pressing the slab against a sheet of paper. When this was done, the ink would transfer onto the page and create a page of text.
The slab would then be used repeatedly to replicate this page hundreds of times. This was technically an early printing technology, but it was extremely cumbersome, as a printer had to carve out the text on a wooden slab painstakingly for each page of a given book.
This type of 'block printing' could require weeks, months, or even years to produce all of the slabs, depending on how large the book was.
The Invention of Moveable Type
Gutenberg revolutionized the printing trade in the early 1440s. He did so by inventing a new printing technology called 'moveable type.'
'Moveable type' involved having hundreds of tiny metal pieces. One end of the pieces was the shape of a letter of the alphabet.
Hundreds of these metal pieces were arranged in a specific fashion in lines within a metal frame. This arrangement spelled out the text of an entire page of a book.
A printer could lock them in, dip them in ink and print an entire page. Then, after printing hundreds of pages, the letters could be rearranged, and the process started over again. Replacing the laborious process of carving out a new page from a wooden slab made it far quicker to print an entire book.
Painting of Johannes Gutenberg by Corneille (schilder) Seghers. Photo: Museum Plantin-Moretus.
Moreover, because the printer only needed to rearrange the pieces of moveable type to produce a new page rather than carving out a wooden slab, the job required far less skill.
Gutenberg invented this printing system using a moveable type in Strasbourg in the early 1440s. Thus, he did not develop the concept of printing, as this was already being practiced with block prints. But he did revolutionize the technology used to print.
The Gutenberg Bible
Gutenberg had finished devising the technology of moveable type by the late 1440s.
Around this time, he moved back to his native Mainz. He printed copies of a German poem in 1450 in his workshop of Humbrechthof in the city.
He also acquired funding for his endeavors from a wealthy financier, Johann Fust.
With this, Gutenberg set about a grand project to use the technology he had developed to publish copies of the Bible. He appears to have produced 180 copies of the text, a small number which is explained by his decision to print the books on vellum or calf skin, an expensive material.
Gutenberg Bible. Photo by Kevin Eng. CC BY-SA 2.0
The text was finished by 1454 or 1455. It gained considerable attention when it was published, with a copy exhibited at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest book fair in Europe.
As such, its appearance served to popularise Gutenberg's invention and the technology of moveable type began to spread.
Gutenberg's Later Life and the Printing Revolution
Despite the significance of his invention, Gutenberg did not achieve great riches during his lifetime.
He was honored by the Archbishop of Mainz for it in the 1460s and given a large pension to sustain him in his later years, but he was far from wealthy when he died in 1468.
Despite this, his invention transformed early modern Europe and the wider world. Moveable type spread through Germany in the late 1450s.
By the end of the 1460s, the new printing method was being used in printer's workshops in Paris, Rome, and Venice, while the 1470s saw its arrival to cities like Lyon, London, Milan, and Antwerp.
By the 1480s, it was being used as far away as Stockholm in Sweden. By 1500 printing presses throughout western and central Europe had already produced 20 million volumes using Gutenberg's moveable type.
By 1600, a century later, more than 200 million volumes had been published.
In the process, Gutenberg's invention transformed European history.
Not only did it facilitate the spread of the Protestant Reformation, but also the Scientific Revolution, the Medical Revolution, and the Renaissance, as writings by figures such as Martin Luther, Jean Calvin, Galileo, Niccoló Machiavelli, Leonardo da Vinci, William Shakespeare, and Miguel de Cervantes were published and distributed much more widely than would have ever been possible prior to the appearance of Gutenberg's moveable type.
As a result, today, copies of Gutenberg's Bible sell for upwards of forty million dollars.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: How to make global work in drupal This snippet works as expected when run as a normal php web page.
<?php
  $foo = 123;

function whatever ()
{
  global $foo;
  echo "FOO = $foo
";
}

whatever ();
?>

The output is
FOO = 123

But putting the exact same code in a drupal basic page gives this output
FOO =

PHP is obviously working, but globals does not.
I'm a noob with drupal, but I know php. I have googled this problem but found nothing relevant.
Why is it not working in drupal?
How do I make it work?
Please don't answer with, you should not use global!

A: Further experiments showed that this code in a Drupal php page works.
<?php
  global $foo;  // This trick makes it work
  $foo = 123;

function whatever ()
{
  global $foo;
  echo "FOO = $foo
";
}
whatever ();
?>

The first "global" statement should not be needed, but seems to make it work. Also changing the first two lines to
$GLOBAL ["foo"] = 123;

is working.
Hope this can be helpful.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


As a species, men are 33 years from having NO SAY in the population dynamics of this world.
How can changes be made on a macro level to change the path we're on?
How are women being affected by modernization and contraception? What is synthetic estrogen doing to our environment?
On this episode, we are joined by Dr. Aaron Grossman and we discuss these insights.
We're about to have a very uncomfortable conversation on a mass level about what our choices as humans have done to the environment and the direct effect it has on us.
At the start of the show, Aaron gave us an update on CHEKD.com and trends he's noticing with patients.
Next we talked about the alarming study that said men are rapidly losing their ability to be reproduce.
We also discussed how contraception is negatively affecting women, and towards the end of the show we talked about when you should start considering testosterone.
Because of our environments and habits, men are rapidly losing their ability to reproduce and women are experiencing menopause way too early.
All the choices we've made have led us to where we are, and it's important to understand that if something isn't organic, it will have a macro effect on our health and the health of future generations.
We have to remember, there really is no one size fits all approach, you really have to optimize based on what works for you. You only have one vessel, so guard the best version of you.
Aaron is the founder of CHEKD.com – a personalized blood and lab testing service that comes to customers on-demand. He decided to use his medical education to create an affordable at-home personalized blood testing system. Follow @AaronGrossmanMD on Twitter.
To Get YOUR FREE COPY of The #1 New Release on Amazon-The Metabolic Blowtorch Diet, CLICK HERE!


Our Candy Land Gingerbread House Standee features a gingerbread house with candy accents and gingerbread men decorating it. Each Gingerbread House Standee 5′ 5′ high x 4′ 8′ wide and is printed on one side of cardboard. Create the world of Candy Land with our Candy Land Gingerbread House Standee. Easy assembly. Candy Land is a trademark of Hasbro and is used with permission. Copyright 2012 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.


Teesside University Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Jane Turner OBE has been confirmed as the keynote speaker for the first Tees Businesswomen Awards to be held this year.
Tees Business is organising the first event of its kind at Wynyard Hall Hotel on November 8.
The awards will celebrate women in business on Teesside, with the overarching long-term aim to inspire a new generation of women to succeed in business and create more female entrepreneurs and business leaders than ever before.
And Tees Business is delighted to confirm Professor Turner (pictured above, right), who is also the university's gender champion, as the inaugural event's headline speaker.
Teesside University is also supporting the event by sponsoring the top award – the very first Tees Businesswoman of the Year.
• Build a bank of mentors to support women of all ages.
"I've been in my role as pro vice-chancellor for Enterprise and Business Engagement for just over two-and-a-half years," said Professor Turner.
"During that time, I've met some amazing business leaders and as a University we work very closely with them. But I've also been very struck by the fact that most of the known business leaders are men.
Laura Woods, director of The Forge, Teesside University's business hub, and chair of DigitalCity (above, left), added: "Women are the silent stars of the Tees Valley economy.
"They're what keeps the economy going, they're the opportunity of the future, but the trouble is they don't really have a voice at the moment.
"What we need to do, and what they need to do collectively, is make sure they do get their voice heard and the rest of us listen to it.
Tees Business co-editor Dave Allan added: "We're absolutely delighted that the very first Tees Businesswomen Awards has quickly won the support of Teesside University, which is very much one of the Tees region's beacons.
Some category sponsorships are still available for the awards – click here to find out more.
Full entry and criteria details with deadline dates, as well as the judging process, will be announced soon.


» Media coverage » Future of Recruiting and Talent @Nextstar's Super Meeting 2017.
Future of Recruiting and Talent @Nextstar's Super Meeting 2017.
WASHINGTON—More than 700 people in the plumbing, heating, cooling and electrical (PHCE) residential contracting industry came together September 13-15, 2017 to attend Nexstar Network's 25th annual Super Meeting. It was Nexstar's most popular event to date.
Nexstar Network is a best practice and business development organization for independent businesses in the residential PHCE industry. It was founded in 1992 by a small group of contractors, including industry legend Frank J. Blau, Jr., who was present at the Super Meeting event.
On Wednesday, September 13, Nexstar members got a first look at Nexstar's technical training program, NexTech Academy. That night, more than 70 of Nexstar's strategic partners were set up at the largest trade show hosted by Nexstar yet, which included live truck wrapping and a $25,000 giveaway. Members walked away from Super Meeting with more takeaways and guides than ever before: a comprehensive guide to marketing in the PHCE industry, a recruiting road guide, a training process workbook, and more.
Nexstar President and CEO Jack Tester took the stage at the beginning of general session on Thursday, September 14, and reminisced about the first Super Meeting, in Anaheim, CA, nearly 25 years ago. Back, then with 51 members, Nexstar did not have the staff, or the resources that it has today, he said.
He went on to explain that now, Nexstar has grown so much that the average Nexstar member company is about $7 million in revenue. Collectively, Nexstar member companies do just under $4 billion in consumer sales annually and employ 21,000 people as employers of choice. The challenge, however, can be finding more people to fill openings as the companies continue to grow.
Steve Cadigan, former vice president of talent at LinkedIn, was the first keynote presenter at Super Meeting. He explained that the internet, and then the creation of LinkedIn, has fundamentally changed the recruiting process forever. He told the audience that the main driver of value creation in every organization is people, but to attract talent, a company must first define who it is.
Experiences matter to employees. If they enjoy working with you, they will tell the world, Cadigan said. He told the story of one employee who worked in the finance department, but had a passion for food. When the company decided to start providing food for employees on their campus, the employee in the finance department with a passion for food was tapped to create the cafes. He eventually left LinkedIn to follow his passion in the food industry, but still speaks highly of LinkedIn and the opportunities the company opened for him.
"Our employees are our public relations department," Cadigan said.
To build better leaders, owners and upper management must work on their own leadership skills.
Nexstar member companies understand the growth potential that comes from having happy employees. After Cadigan's presentation, Nexstar Director of Training Keith Mercurio then hosted a panel discussion with three Nexstar members and Nexstar's Recruiting Coach Steffan Busch. Mary Jean Anderson, owner of Anderson Plumbing Heating & Air Conditioning; Wyatt Hepworth and Jeremy Hansen, co-owners of Any Hour Services; and Jonathan Bancroft, owner of Morris-Jenkins were all chosen for this panel discussion because of the great success their companies have had in recruiting and hiring. When asked at the end of the discussion to give their biggest piece of advice, Bancroft reminded the crowd to build a business that you would want to be in as a leader.
"If you don't want to be there, then why do you think your people want to be there?" Bancroft said.
Chris Mursau, vice president of Topgrading, Inc., closed out the day by taking the audience through hiring best practices. Topgrading is a hiring process that shifts the paradigm of what most people do when it comes to hiring and interviewing. An interview using Topgrading will be longer, but will get at a person's full background.
On the evening of Thursday, September 14, Nexstar hosted the Silver Gala for Super Meeting attendees, which benefited the Nexstar Legacy Foundation. During the evening of entertainment, including a Bill Clinton impersonator, comedian Gary Gulman and live auction; the Foundation raised a record $282,000, said Foundation Executive Director Kate Cinnamo.
The Foundation recognized the Nexstar strategic partners who donated at the event: A.O. Smith, Barnett, Ferguson, Goodman Manufacturing, Johnson Media Group, Lennox, Mitsubishi, Rapit Printing, Rheem/Ruud, Scorpion, Service Titan, Swick Media, TRIC Tools, Inc., and WinSupply.
To build better leaders, owners and upper management must work on their own leadership skills. Nexstar brought in Michael Bungay Stanier, founder of Box of Crayons and author of The Coaching Habit, led the learning on day two of general session at Super Meeting on Friday, September 15.
Dr. Nido Qubein was the last keynote at Super Meeting, who reminded the Nexstar members to live a life full of success, but also of significance. Qubein immigrated to the United States when he was a teenager with $50 to his name. He now serves as the chair of Great Harvest Bread Company and on the board of several national organizations.
Throughout the meeting, Nexstar members were lead through group activities and live competition. These were designed to help with retention and learning at the event. Categories included training, hiring, and technical questions, Nexstar Member Trainer Dave Boduch was host for the games, showing up onstage in a new '90s-inspired outfit each time he came out.
On the last day of general session, Friday, September 15, the nine members got to compete in three live technical challenges onstage at Super Meeting: "Game of Thrones" (plumbing), "Win, Lose or Electrocute Yourself" (electrical) and "Furnace Factor" (HVAC). Three members in each challenge raced to be first to complete work on a toilet, wiring system and furnace in front of the live Super Meeting audience.
Blau closed out Super Meeting with a speech to the Nexstar membership. He told his story of sitting with his mother while she lay on her deathbed, where she told him that he could not go to his grave without sharing what he had learned with his fellow man. For Blau, that was the knowledge of how to have success in the residential contracting industry.


text:
KOICA grants US$5.5 million for UXO sector
by Viengdavanh Banphahaksa
VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN) - The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has provided more than 4.7 billion kip (US$5.5 million) for the second phase of a UXO project in Laos, up from the US$3 million contributed for the first phase.
An agreement concerning the funding contribution for the second phase of the UXO support project, which runs from 2019-2022, was signed on Tuesday by the National Regulatory Authority for UXO and Mine Action under the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, KOICA, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The event was chaired by Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Mrs Baykham Khattiya, and KOICA President Ms Lee Mikyung, and attended by the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Laos, Mr Shin Sung-soon; National Regulatory Authority Acting Director, Mr Bounpheng Sisawath; and representatives of the KOICA Laos office and UNDP.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mrs Baykham said she was honoured that the Korean government was providing funding of US$5.5 million for the UXO sector, and that this amount was an increase on the US$3 million donated for the first phase.
She thanked KOICA, the Korean government and UNDP for their assistance.
Also speaking at the ceremony, Ms Lee said "I am very glad that KOICA continues to contribute to the UXO sector through the second phase of the project."
"The Korean government plans to contribute to the development of KOICA's partner countries with a focus on the 3 Ps (people, peace, prosperity). KOICA hopes to contribute to building peace in Laos, improving the quality of life of UXO victims, and fulfilling the 'Live safe from UXO' goal, which is Laos' own Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 18).
Under the terms of the document signed, KOICA will release its contribution in two packages: US$3 million will be implemented in cooperation with the UNDP, and US$2.5 million will be delivered bilaterally, to be used for victim assistance.
This second phase of the project will continue the work of the first phase, carried out from 2015-2018, which supported the National Regulatory Authority to fulfil its mandate of coordinating the overall management of the UXO sector.
KOICA will also continue supporting the UXO humanitarian teams of the Lao People's Army in training, equipment and operations cost needs in Borikhamxay province, where no other humanitarian operators are present.
KOICA and UNDP have also worked together in rural development in Saravan province. The Republic of Korea supplies a range of specialists to UNDP, through various avenues, including the KOICA Multinational Cooperation Officer Programme and the UN Volunteers Programme.
These activities are all aimed at fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals, with the UXO related project targeting Laos' own national 'Live safe from UXO' goal.
UNDP Resident Representative Ms Ricarda Rieger said "UXO is an impediment to poverty reduction and graduation from Least Developed Country status. UNDP has a longstanding partnership with the government in the UXO sector in Laos and we are happy to continue working with KOICA to ensure that funds and efforts are maximised to achieve the target set out in SDG 18."


I have one item in my cart and I'd like to remove it. I click on my cart and nothing happens.
I have one item in my cart and I'd like to remove it. When I click on my cart, nothing happens. I've tried in both Safari and Firefox.


text:
Newly discovered flaw could allow anyone in the world to listen in on your phone calls
1 Researchers discover a flaw that could let anyone listen to your cell calls by exploiting SS7 protocol
2 Signaling Systems
3 Flaw known to GSMA?
4 The Exploits
5 Real World tests
6 Snowden Leaks affect on Germany
Researchers discover a flaw that could let anyone listen to your cell calls by exploiting SS7 protocol
German researchers have identified serious vulnerabilities in cellphone communication systems that can allow an evil mind to listen to every word you say on a call. Unfortunately, this vulnerability exists in protocol used by every network provider across the globe. To add fuel to the fire, no encryption mechanism is available to safeguard any cyber criminal for exploiting it.
Signaling Systems
The researchers have said that they will reveal the flaws including its PoC in a hacker conference in Hamburg this month. The flaws have been detected in the Signaling Systems (SS7) protocol, which is used by network providers to route calls and text messages among one another. SS7 is the current iteration of the protocol in use. Experts have voiced their opinions that the SS protocol developed in the 1980's is vulnerable to have many flaws like this, making billions of cell phone users vulnerable to exploits.
The flaws in question, are actually exploit the functionalities of the protocol which have been baked into SS7. These functionalities come into play when a cell phone user moves from a cell circle to another cell circle or is speeding down a highway/travelling on a interstate railway. The cell network is designed in such a way that it allows the users to remain connected while switching over from network to network or cell tower to cell tower.
It is during this switching over that the flaws arise letting a potential hacker with protocol skills to exploit the cell network and listen/record any calls and messages. There is also a probability of an attacker using these functions to carry out fraudulent activities. These flaws have persisted carrier's push to upgrade to advanced 3G and 4G technologies, which are supposed to serve the purpose of securing communications, among others.
No matter if a particular carrier strengthens its services, they still need to use SS7 to communicate with other carriers. Thus, an attacker can access cell phone calls of an American citizen while sitting far away in China. "It's like you secure the front door of the house, but the back door is wide open," said Tobias Engel, one of the German researchers.
Flaw known to GSMA?
Engel, founder of Sternraute, and Karsten Nohl, chief scientist for Security Research Labs, separately discovered these security weaknesses as they studied SS7 networks in recent months, after The Washington Post reported the widespread marketing of surveillance systems that use SS7 networks to locate callers anywhere in the world. The Post reported that dozens of nations had bought such systems to track surveillance targets and that skilled hackers or criminals could do the same using functions built into SS7. The researchers have not found any evidence to suggest that these flaws have been marketed to government agencies, but there is a tendency of such vulnerabilities turning out to be long used weapons by security agencies the world over.
"Many of the big intelligence agencies probably have teams that do nothing but SS7 research and exploitation," said Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist for the ACLU and an expert on surveillance technology. "They've likely sat on these things and quietly exploited them." The GSMA, a global cellular industry group based in London, had responded to claims of vulnerabilities in the protocol before, however the group refused to comment on the findings of these researchers. It seems possible that these flaws have been known before and were swept under the carpet.
The Exploits
The researchers found 2 ways to eavesdrop on calls. The first involves the forwarding function of the protocol. This function is what lets us users to forward an incoming call from one cell phone to another. Hackers would redirect calls to themselves, for listening or recording, and then onward to the intended recipient of a call. Once that system was in place, the hackers could eavesdrop on all incoming and outgoing calls indefinitely, from anywhere in the world. The second technique requires the perpetrator to be in close proximity of its target. This technique involves antennae for recording all calls in the nearby communication spectrum. And in case the call is encrypted, the attacker could request the carrier a temporary encryption key to decrypt the call later. One network that operates in Germany, Vodafone, recently began blocking such requests after Nohl reported the problem to the company two weeks ago.
U.S. embassies and consulates in dozens of foreign cities, including Berlin, are outfitted with antennas for collecting cellular signals, according to reports by German magazine Der Spiegel, based on documents released by Snowden. Many cell phone conversations worldwide happen with either no encryption or weak encryption
Nohl on Wednesday demonstrated the ability to collect and decrypt a text message using the phone of a German senator, who cooperated in the experiment. But Nohl said the process could be automated to allow massive decryption of calls and texts collected across an entire city or a large section of a country, using multiple antennas. "It's all automated, at the push of a button," Nohl said. "It would strike me as a perfect spying capability, to record and decrypt pretty much any network… Any network we have tested, it works."
Real World tests
The researchers have tested the vulnerabilities across many major carriers and have gotten positive results for them. Which is not good news for us consumers. In a statement, T-Mobile said: "T-Mobile remains vigilant in our work with other mobile operators, vendors and standards bodies to promote measures that can detect and prevent these attacks." Although, there is one silver lining, many popular mobile messaging services such as iMessage and WhatsApp use end-to-end encryption mechanisms which conveniently sidestep these vulnerabilities. Looks like our teenagers have been more secure than country presidents.
Snowden Leaks affect on Germany
This issue of communication privacy is very sensitive in the researcher's native country of Germany. After the furore caused by Snowden and the alleged tapping an German Chancellor's personal cell phone, Germans have begun taking privacy very seriously. This is expected to make them scrutinize security mechanisms all the more, especially since these two flaws are not the only ones found in the protocol.
Nohl and Engel also have discovered new ways to track the locations of cell phone users through SS7. The Post story, in August, reported that several companies were offering governments worldwide the ability to find virtually any cell phone user, virtually anywhere in the world, by learning the location of their cell phones through an SS7 function called an "Any Time Interrogation" query. Network carriers have begun blocking such requests since the story first broke. But these researchers have uncovered more than one ways to attack a user. "I doubt we are the first ones in the world who realize how open the SS7 network is," Engel said.
The researchers also found that it was possible to use SS7 to learn the phone numbers of people whose cellular signals are collected using surveillance devices. The calls transmit a temporary identification number which, by sending SS7 queries, can lead to the discovery of the phone number. That allows location tracking within a certain area, such as near government buildings. "After all the NSA and Snowden things we've heard, I guess nobody believes it's possible to have a truly private conversation on a mobile phone," he said. "When I really need a confidential conversation, I use a fixed-line" phone.
We will have to wait till the Hamburg Hacker Conference to know the PoC and what action the GSMA takes on this serious issue.
Resource : Washingtonpost
ahmad December 19, 2014 at 9:00 pm
I don,t think that fixed line phones are secure at all too as it is much easier to spy on fixed lines too.
John Depthihithi December 19, 2014 at 5:05 pm
"When I really need a confidential conversation, I use a fixed-line" phone.
A fixed-line communication is as secured as a wired computer, and all know how secured a wired computer is.
Vijay December 19, 2014 at 6:30 pm
John, if these flaws, vulnerabilities, attacks and leaks continue we may soon be in the era where fixed line telephone and manual typewriters may be best options for security 😛


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text:
Schützengrabenvernichtungspanzerkraftwagen
My university German professor claimed (in 1989) that the original full name in German for a tank (of the armored vehicle sort) had been
Schützengrabenvernichtungspanzerkraftwagen.
This seems possible, but unlikely. Web searches suggest that it is probably not legitimate, but I have not found anything conclusive. Google Book Search finds only one example, not actually a book, but a web forum discussion (in German) of extremely long words.
In this old Wikipedia Reference Desk discussion someone claims to have seen it in print, but provides no citation or provenance. I remain doubtful. Other web pages suggest –kampfwagen; the name panzerkampfwagen does seem to be attested, but what about the longer form? (And my professor said kraft, not kampf.) Schützengraben itself is of course well-attested.
Was either of these very long words ever (with kraft or kampf) used seriously? Or is this, like similarly-long words in English, used mainly as a facetious example of an absurdly long word? If the latter, is it actually known in German, or is it used principally by English speakers as a facetious example of an absurdly-long German compound word?
nouns compounds curiosities
Mark Dominus
Mark DominusMark Dominus
These overly long words happen in bureaucratic German. And bureaucracy may happen everywhere in Germany: legislation (law names, example in the answers), management (position names, example in the answers), military, …. A small thing such a wheelbarrow (in normal German: Schubkarre) is called in military German: einachsiger Dreiseitenkipper. So, I wouldn't be surprised, if the actual buraeucratic term for tank was once Schützengrabenvernichtungspanzerkraftwagen. But these terms don't survive in main stream German, where only the short version Panzer survived. – Toscho May 30 '14 at 9:35
I would claim this word isn't actually hard to parse for a native speaker :) – jona May 30 '14 at 11:19
My high school teacher in the mid-1960s taught us the word Schützengrabenvernichtungautomobile. – user20337 Feb 13 '16 at 2:18
@GlenStoll: This word would need a "Fugen-s" like "Schützengrabenvernichtungsautomobile" and would be the plural of "Schützengrabenvernichtungsautomobil". – Hulk Feb 13 '16 at 6:22
Google NGram zeigt keine Treffer, was stark gegen die Bürokratiethese spricht. Gegen eine Verbreitung als Verballhornung spricht das natürlich auch. Ich habe es nie gehört. – user unknown Feb 13 '16 at 11:26
This may be a joke word. 1989 seems correct, but it may have been 1988. The writer Roy Bradbrook wrote commentaries for the magazine AIR International. He wrote about the aviation industry, current events, and tied them in with historical titbits. The pieces were accompanied by a cartoon that commented on some part of the text.
For instance, when writing about the Angolan fighter pilot that shot down the plane of the President of Botswana, he commented that:
What happened to the fighter pilot is not known...
This sentence was used to underline a cartoon of a fighter pilot writing on a blackboard, Bart Simpson-style:
I must not shoot the President of Botswana out of the sky...
In another article he wrote about some German aircraft at an exhibition(possibly the PAH-2), talked about the complicated German names, and mentioned how there was a move to purge French words, or French-inspired words, like Fenster (Fr. fenêtre), from the German language during WWI, and replacing them with "...words that built up like Meccano sets...". This was then used by the cartoonist to underline a picture of a German soldier in Pickelhaube looking at a British Mark I tank coming across no-man's land, and exclaiming:
Ein Tank?! Was für ein Dummkopf wort ist das für ein SchüzengrabenvernichtungsPanzerKraftWagen??"
Lars PLars P
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This would be better if it included a reference. – Carsten S Feb 13 '16 at 14:12
I agree with your initial assessment, i.e. "unlikely".
Was either of these very long words ever (with kraft or kampf) used seriously?
I have never heard it, but that doesn't signify much.
If the latter, is it actually known in German ...
As you know, German has the ability to (almost arbitrarily) string words together to create new words. Even if a native speaker comes across it for the first time he'll be able to understand it. It's the same in English, really, although you'll have to use multiple words. Let's take the the old classic
Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän (Captain for the Danube Steamship Company)
You could add another word or two, creating a new one, if you will; native speakers would still understand it:
Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitänswitwenpension (Pension paid to widows of captains for the Danube Steamship Company)
or is it used principally by English speakers as a facetious example of an absurdly-long German compound word?
Quite possibly. There are long words in German (Im thinking of, say, Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungs-aufgabenübertragungsgesetz = law concerning the delegation of certain monitoring tasks in connection with beef labeling. Even though it's no longer on the books, this was a real act of parliament. Not making this up.) some of which are in regular use, but sadly Schützengrabenvernichtungspanzerkraftwagen is probably not one of them.
Wikipedia has articles about both Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft and Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz. – Mark Dominus May 29 '14 at 20:34
The first german tanks (according to the A7V article in Wikipedia) were called "Sturmpanzerwagen A7V" (A7V was the Department in the War Ministry, which developed this tank (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/A7V).
Maybe he mixed this up with the "A7V Schützengrabenbagger" ([maybe shielded] excavator for trenches), which is mentioned in the A7V Wikipedia article too.
fanlimfanlim
The word is used in "Eyewitness", the autobiography of Ernest Dunlop Swinton, the British Army officer who is believed to have decided on "tank" as a codename for the new armoured vehicles in 1915. The book was published in 1932. He says in a footnote that the German equivalent of "tank" was Schützengrabenvernichtungspanzerkampfwagen. It is not clear whether he actually believed it or whether he was mocking the German language.
TankmancTankmanc
Nice find! It would be even better if you could give the precise quote with source (edition, page number...). – Matthias May 5 '17 at 22:37
I can't find anything like this in the Pickle Partners ebook edition of Swinton's memoirs. – Mark Dominus Feb 15 '19 at 12:43
In the 1970s I acquired a book which was titled "German Armoured Fighting Vehicles of World War 1". That book stated that the original German word for tank was schutzengrabenvernichtungpanzerkraftwagen (translated as trench annihilation assault vehicle). Unfortunately I no longer own the book, so I can't scan the page or provide the ISBN number. My understanding of the origin of the use of "tank" for an armoured fighting vehicle was that the first British tanks were transported on trains disguised as water tanks, and the name stuck.
RobbieGRobbieG
https://www.google.ie/search?rls=en&q=panzer+etymology&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=4pqIU_ycFsas0QXUk4DoCw
https://www.google.ie/search?rls=en&q=panzer+etymology&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=4pqIU_ycFsas0QXUk4DoCw#q=Sch%C3%BCtzengrabenvernichtungspanzerkraftwagen+etymology&rls=en
I have never seen or heard this long word before and it seems silly. Just because we can produce long words does not mean germans do it as a sport in order to compete for creating and speaking the longest possible words.
The standard use case is use two words and make a new one like Panzer + Wagen --> Panzerwagen or Schütze + Graben = Schützengraben. But Schützengrabenvernichtungspanzerwagen is no longer a compound word it is almost a sentence.
Der Panzweragen wird benutzt zum Vernichten der Schützengräben. Even that is not really true. You don't destroy the Schützengraben you just roll over it and get on with your business.
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text:
Tine Acke (* 1. Januar 1977 in  Hamburg) ist eine deutsche Fotografin und Designerin.

Leben und Beruf
Nach dem Abitur 1996 studierte Tine Acke von 1998 bis 2001 Illustrationsdesign an der Bildkunst-Akademie Hamburg. Es folgten zahlreiche Praktika in verschiedensten Medienbereichen. Seit 2002 ist sie als selbständige Fotografin und Illustratorin tätig.

1999 begann Tine Acke ihre bis heute andauernde enge künstlerische Zusammenarbeit mit Udo Lindenberg. Seitdem hat sie für zahlreiche CDs, DVDs und Bücher von und über Udo Lindenberg Fotos beigesteuert. Tine Acke engagiert sich ebenfalls für die Udo-Lindenberg-Stiftung.

Die Liste der Künstler, für die Tine Acke tätig gewesen ist, ist umfangreich. Zu ihren Auftraggebern gehörten Peter Maffay, Die Prinzen, Yvonne Catterfeld, Jan Delay, Clueso, Ben Becker,  Julia Neigel, Rufus Beck, Inga Humpe, Heinz Hoenig, Ellen ten Damme,  Chris de Burgh, Tim Fischer, das Panikorchester, Rolf Zuckowski, Stefan Jürgens, Axel Prahl und andere mehr.

Tine Acke ist seit Ende der 1990er Jahre mit Udo Lindenberg liiert.

Werke (Auswahl)
 Udo Lindenberg: Stärker als die Zeit – die Stadiontour. Fotografiert von Tine Acke. Kempen 2017, 351 Seiten, ISBN 978-3-96171-069-0
 Udo Lindenberg – Die limitierte Premiumbox mit handsignierter Lithographie – Sonderausgabe. Berlin 2016, 620 Seiten, ISBN 978-3-942665-16-2
 DVD Peter Maffay – Tabaluga und die Zeichen der Zeit (2012)
 Biografie Julia Neigel – Neigelnah – Freiheit, die ich meine (2012)
 Bildband Udo Lindenberg – Ich mach mein Ding. Fotografien von Tine Acke, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-86265-156-6
 CD/DVD Udo Lindenberg – MTV Unplugged – Live aus dem Hotel Atlantic (2012)
 DVD Mit Udo Lindenberg auf Tour – Ein Roadmovie von Hannes Rossacher (2012)
 Künstlerausgabe Udo Lindenberg – Brockhaus Lexikon. 2011, ISBN 978-3-577-07400-1
 Bildband Udo Lindenberg – Stark wie Zwei 2007–2010. Fotografien von Tine Acke, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-89602-990-4
 mit Victor Malsy: Gestaltung von zwei Udo-Lindenberg-Briefmarken für die Deutsche Post (2010)
 CD/DVD Udo Lindenberg – Stark wie Zwei LIVE (2008)
 CD Udo Lindenberg – Stark wie Zwei (2008)
 Illustrationen für Rolf Zuckowskis Kindermusical Meine Heimat – Unser Blauer Planet im Planetarium Hamburg (2007)
 CD Die Prinzen – Akustisch live (2006)
 Künstlerausgabe Udo Lindenberg – Meyers großes Taschenlexikon (2006)
 Bildband Udo Lindenberg – Das Lindenwerk (Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf) (2005/2008)
 CD Peter Maffay – Laut & Leise (2005)
 DVD Peter Maffay – Tabaluga und das verschenkte Glück (2004)
 Gestaltung von Udo Lindenbergs Sonderzug nach Pankow für die Deutsche Bahn (2003)

Weblinks

 Tine Acke bei Instagram
 Tine Acke: Stille Begleiterin einer lauten Legende, Hamburger Abendblatt, 29. September 2008
 Bildband "Stark wie Zwei" - Udo Lindenberg intim wie nie, Rheinische Post, 2. Januar 2012
 Schattenfrau des Panikrockers im Rampenlicht
 Meditation und Partyrandale

Einzelnachweise

Fotograf (21. Jahrhundert)
Designer
Fotograf (Hamburg)
Deutscher
Geboren 1977
Frau
Udo Lindenberg

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Chairman Knollenberg, Ranking Member Olver, and Members of the Subcommittee, I thank you for the opportunity to testify as you consider the Fiscal Year 2007 appropriations for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). My observations today are primarily based on the body of work my organization has developed through audits and investigations of the IRS. To assist you in your consideration of the IRS' Fiscal Year 2007 budget, I will focus on some of the major challenges facing the IRS.
While the IRS continues to face longstanding challenges, it deserves recognition for making progress in an area that will always be a challenge: providing quality customer service to the American taxpayer. Providing quality customer service is the first component of Commissioner Everson's principle for the IRS, Service + Enforcement = Compliance. Over the past few years, TIGTA audits have shown that the IRS has improved customer assistance in its face-to-face, toll-free telephone, tax return processing, and electronic services, including the IRS public Internet site (www.IRS.gov). The accuracy of answers assistors provide to tax law and account inquiries has improved, access to the toll-free telephone lines has increased, tax returns are being processed on schedule, and refunds are being issued more quickly. Electronically filed (e-filed) tax returns exceeded paper-filed tax returns for the first time during the 2005 Filing Season. In addition, electronic services are increasing and more information is available online at IRS.gov.
While providing quality customer service is the IRS' first step toward achieving compliance, the IRS has conducted only limited research on the impact of customer service on taxpayer compliance. Currently, there are not sufficient data available to measure the effect on taxpayer compliance as services are reduced or redirected. Both the National Taxpayer Advocate and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have also expressed concerns about this lack of data. As the IRS redirects taxpayers to electronic and self-help services, it needs to know what services taxpayers most need or want and whether the anticipated cost savings and efficiencies will result in an increased burden for taxpayers trying to remain or become compliant.
It is, however, encouraging to note that the IRS took numerous actions to provide broad relief to taxpayers affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. These broad relief efforts included postponing deadlines for filing and payment, providing relief from interest and penalties, and waiving some low-income housing tax credit rules. The IRS also waived the usual fees, and expedited requests for copies of previously filed tax returns for affected taxpayers who needed them to apply for benefits or file amended tax returns to claim casualty losses.
IRS employees also provided tax assistance at Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster assistance sites in a number of locations. Additionally, the IRS assigned 5,000 employees to augment Federal Government telephone call sites and provided additional employees to assist in approximately 34 FEMA disaster recovery centers in 13 States.
Each year TIGTA provides its perspective on the top management and performance challenges facing the IRS. For Fiscal Year 2006, those challenges include, among others, providing quality taxpayer service operations and tax compliance initiatives. I will address these and other challenges individually in the remaining portion of my testimony.
Since the passage of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (RRA 98), the IRS' focus on customer service has led to many improvements. One of the goals of the IRS is to improve taxpayer service by improving service options, facilitating participation in the tax system by all sectors of the public, and simplifying the tax process. Every year, the IRS helps millions of taxpayers understand their tax obligations by answering questions on its toll-free telephone lines or in person at local offices, making information available on its web site, and responding to correspondence.
IRS.gov continues to be one of the most visited web sites in the world, especially during filing seasons. The IRS now provides practitioners with online tools to provide better service to their customers, such as electronic account resolution, transcript delivery, and disclosure authorization. The Free File Program, which provides and promotes free online tax preparation and e-filing through commercial tax return preparation companies, can be accessed through a link on IRS.gov. For the 2005 Filing Season, the IRS had accepted 5 million Free File Program returns, an increase of 47 percent from the prior year. There have been some changes to the 2005 Free File agreement. These changes include certain limitations on who is eligible to use Free File services. We are currently evaluating the impact of the changes.
Additionally, the IRS provided taxpayers with effective access to its toll-free telephone system and realized productivity and efficiency gains during the 2005 Filing Season. Telephone assistors answered 14.8 million calls, 4 percent more than planned, using 95 percent of the planned resources. Furthermore, assistors answered more calls per full-time equivalent compared to the 2004 Filing Season. Since the 2003 Filing Season, the IRS has experienced a steady decrease in the number of full-time equivalents budgeted for the toll-free telephone program. However, over the same time period, the number of calls answered per full-time equivalent has increased.
Our last review of the accuracy of responses provided to tax questions received via the toll-free telephone lines was during the 2004 Filing Season. This Fiscal Year we are assessing whether the data in the quality measurement system used to report toll-free accuracy are valid and reliable. For Fiscal Year 2005, the IRS reported an accuracy rate of 89 percent for tax law and 91.5 percent for tax accounts. Tax law complexity contributes to the IRS' challenges in reaching these accuracy goals, as well as to taxpayers' frustrations as they attempt to decipher the tax code.
Customer satisfaction surveys continue to show positive results. Callers were able to connect with the IRS more easily and received better, quicker service. Assistor availability, which measures the amount of time that assistors are idle or available to answer calls, declined 42 percent compared to the 2004 Filing Season. When Assistor availability is low, assistors' time is being productively used and the cost of providing toll-free telephone services decreases.
Over the past seven years, the IRS has made commendable strides in customer service. However, I am concerned that the IRS does not sufficiently ensure that it uses adequate and reliable data for making decisions that impact customer service operations. Recent decisions to close Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TAC) and reduce the hours of operation for toll-free telephone service were based primarily on input from IRS functional areas and considered other factors that included internal priorities, resource demands, and shifts in the IRS' customer service perspective. However, data were not obtained from taxpayers who use these services to determine the impact of removing or reducing them.
The TACs are walk-in sites where taxpayers can receive answers to both account and tax law questions, and receive assistance preparing their returns. Over the past few years, customer service at TACs has shown improvement. Yet, in May 2005, the IRS announced plans to close 68 of its TACs nationwide. Closing the 68 TACs was expected to yield staffing and facilities cost savings of $45 million to $55 million. After the IRS' closure announcement, Congress enacted legislation to delay the closure of any TACs. The IRS is prohibited from using funds provided in the Fiscal Year 2006 budget appropriation to reduce any taxpayer service function or program until TIGTA completes a study detailing the effect of the IRS' plans to reduce services relating to taxpayer compliance and taxpayer assistance.
TIGTA reviewed the IRS' TAC Closure Model and data used to select the 68 centers scheduled for closure and identified that although the structure of the Model was sound, not all data used were accurate or the most currently available, and some of the data were based on estimates and projections instead of actual available data. Data discrepancies affected the scores the Model calculated for each TAC and, ultimately, the ranking and overall selection of centers for closure. In addition, data discrepancies affected the IRS' ability to accurately determine cost savings. The IRS should ensure data used in any decision-making tool are accurate and reliable before using them. For the TAC Program, the IRS should include data to identify customer characteristics and capture customer input to effectively measure the impact any changes might have on taxpayer service or compliance.
The IRS had also planned to reduce the hours of its toll-free telephone operation in Fiscal Year 2006. The IRS has about 400 fewer full-time equivalents for toll-free telephone operations than it had in Fiscal Year 2005 because of plans to reduce operating hours from 15 to 12 hours per day. Congress, the Taxpayer Advocate and the National Treasury Employees Union have expressed concerns about the IRS reducing operating hours for the toll-free telephone lines. A new law enacted in November 2005 requires the IRS to consult with stakeholder organizations, including TIGTA, regarding any proposed or planned efforts to terminate or significantly reduce any taxpayer service activity. Congress recently further defined a reduction of taxpayer service to include limiting available hours of telephone taxpayer assistance on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis below the levels in existence during the month of October 2005. As of March 11, 2006, assistor level of service has not been negatively impacted, and the IRS reports an 84.2 percent level of service rate.
TIGTA is currently evaluating the IRS' plans to reduce operating hours for the toll-free telephone lines. Our preliminary results are that the IRS does not have documentation to support the steps it took to arrive at the final conclusion to reduce the hours of telephone operations. TIGTA is reconstructing the steps taken as part of our on-going audit work in this area.
Recently, the Senate Finance Committee directed the IRS to undertake a comprehensive review of its current portfolio of taxpayer services and develop a five-year plan that outlines the services it should provide to improve services for taxpayers. This plan should detail how the IRS will meet service needs on a geographic basis and address how it will improve taxpayer service based on reliable data on those needs. This plan should be developed in consultation with the IRS Oversight Board and the National Taxpayer Advocate and submitted to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.
April 14, 2006. Phase Two will validate the service recommendations through extensive primary research with taxpayers and will identify key operational and resource delivery requirements. The IRS plans to issue its Phase Two report by the end of Fiscal Year 2006. TIGTA plans to include the Taxpayer Assistance Blueprint in its audit risk assessment process for the Fiscal Year 2007 audit program.
August 29, 2005. It caused unprecedented damage to New Orleans, Louisiana, as well as the coastal areas of Mississippi and Alabama, and became the most destructive and costliest natural disaster in United States history. Hurricane Rita followed less than one month later and further damaged New Orleans and the Gulf Coast area of Texas. The IRS had 25 offices affected by the hurricanes, many of which were closed for short durations because of sustained power outages. Five offices, however, received significant damage, which forced closure for longer periods of time.
The IRS adequately prepared for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The IRS had sufficiently updated its Occupant Emergency Plans in May 2005 and Incident Management Plans in March 2004 for the offices affected by the hurricanes and conducted training sessions for its designated Incident Commanders. It also took actions immediately prior to the hurricanes to enhance post-hurricane employee communications, ensure continued salary payments, and minimize computer damage in its offices affected by the hurricanes.
After the hurricanes made landfall, the IRS took appropriate actions to expeditiously locate all employees and restore computer operations in the affected offices. Emergency Operations Command Centers were established in Nashville, Tennessee, and Dallas, Texas, immediately after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, respectively. The IRS focused its primary attention on finding all employees in affected offices. All 517 employees in those offices were accounted for within 13 days after Hurricane Katrina, and all 35 employees were accounted for within 5 days after Hurricane Rita.
As for its computer operations in the offices affected by the hurricanes, the IRS restored system access to its Integrated Collection System application from the five affected offices to the Atlanta, Georgia, office within five workdays. Personnel from the IRS' Modernization and Information Technology Services organization also transferred employees' work files to another network so employees in affected offices had access to them and could continue to work.
However, TIGTA was unable to definitively state that taxpayer data were protected in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita because seven computers from two offices affected by the hurricanes could not be located. TIGTA confirmed that none of the missing computers was used to access the IRS computer network after the hurricanes, thus, any loss of data would have been limited to the data on the computers. TIGTA has recommended that the IRS establish procedures to require a team of employees from the IRS and other government entities to visit an office as soon as possible, but no later than 72 hours, after a major disaster to evaluate the security of the office's perimeter and, if necessary, to take appropriate actions to either secure the perimeter or implement measures to prevent unauthorized access into the office. TIGTA has also recommended that the IRS establish procedures to conduct an inventory reconciliation of all computers at IRS facilities that suffer extensive damage after any major disaster to identify possible loss or theft of computers.
The IRS also appropriately considered Hurricanes Katrina and Rita issues when planning for the 2006 Filing Season. For example, the IRS added services to help lessen taxpayer burden. Taxpayers affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will be treated as meeting extreme hardship criteria, which will allow them to request and receive transcripts of prior year tax returns instead of having to order them and wait for delivery. Additionally, the IRS expanded the scope of tax law training for assistors to include questions about casualty losses. Taxpayers affected by the hurricanes will also be able to have current and prior-year tax returns prepared even though their income levels exceed the income requirement.
TIGTA is actively participating in the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) and the Executive Council on Integrity and Efficiency (ECIE) coordinated oversight of the multi-billion dollar Federal relief effort for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The PCIE and ECIE are the coordinating bodies of the Federal Inspector General community. Within days after Hurricane Katrina, the Inspectors General initiated the most aggressive, comprehensive, and well-coordinated interagency oversight effort ever undertaken. As part of this coordinated oversight, TIGTA is conducting and plans to conduct several audits to evaluate the performance of the IRS' relief efforts for taxpayers affected by the hurricanes.
As of September 2005, the gross accounts receivable to the IRS was $258 billion. On October 22, 2004, the President signed the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 that includes a provision allowing the IRS to use Private Collection Agencies (PCA) to help collect Federal Government tax debts. The law allows PCAs to locate, contact, and request full payment from taxpayers specified by the IRS. The law also allows the IRS to retain and use an amount not in excess of 25 percent of the amount collected by the PCAs to pay for the cost of PCA services, and an amount not in excess of 25 percent collected for collection enforcement activities of the IRS. According to the IRS, the initiative to use PCAs will help reduce the significant and growing amount of tax liability deemed uncollectible because of IRS resource priorities, help maintain confidence in the tax system, and enable the IRS to focus its existing collection and enforcement resources on more difficult cases.
The provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act apply to PCAs. PCAs are prohibited from committing any act or omission that employees of the IRS are prohibited from committing in the performance of similar services. The IRS requires that PCAs adhere to all taxpayer protections and PCAs are prohibited from threatening or intimidating taxpayers or otherwise suggesting that enforcement action will or may be taken if a taxpayer does not pay the liability. The PCAs must also adhere to all security and privacy regulations for systems, data, personnel, physical security, and taxpayer rights protections. To ensure compliance with these requirements, the IRS is responsible for providing oversight of PCA actions.
March 23, 2006, the IRS announced that it had issued stop-work orders to the three PCAs after two unsuccessful bidders filed bid protests with the GAO.
In the second phase of the private debt-collection initiative, scheduled for 2008, the IRS intends to contract with up to 10 firms. Over the course of 10 years, the IRS expects that the private firms will help it collect an additional $1.4 billion in outstanding taxes.
While the use of private collection agencies could result in significant recoveries of unpaid taxes, the potential for abuse exists. Experience at the State level demonstrates that the use of PCAs should be closely monitored. In December 2005, the State of New Jersey Commission of Investigation reported that what began as an effort to privatize the collection of tax debt 12 years ago evolved into a corrupt association between high- and mid-level managers in the Divisions of Taxation and Revenue and the PCAs. The State of New Jersey may have been over-billed by more than $1 million for a five-year period.
The Commission reported that a lack of oversight and a lack of audits and quality controls directly contributed to the undetected over-billing. Additionally, the PCAs repeatedly ignored contract requirements and Taxation and Revenue officials failed to enforce them. While the Commission's report did not address this particular issue, TIGTA is also concerned about the quality of taxpayer service from PCAs during their attempts to collect outstanding taxes. Poor taxpayer service by PCAs could potentially have a negative impact on voluntary compliance.
Since the IRS is just now embarking on this initiative, TIGTA has not yet seen indications of problems with the IRS' private debt-collection initiative similar to those in New Jersey. However, a recent news story reported that a former official of one of the IRS' three selected PCAs for the first phase of this initiative was indicted for bribery of public officials to win a contract to collect unpaid fines and fees. According to the story, the official pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of bank fraud in 2005, and was sentenced to 30 months in prison and a $1 million fine. This particular case and the State of New Jersey experience clearly illustrate the need for proper oversight of this important initiative. According to the IRS, it has established an oversight unit responsible for ensuring that PCAs adhere to established procedures and that a tremendous amount of rigorous oversight will be applied to the PCAs.
Overseeing the IRS' private debt-collection initiative is a top priority for TIGTA. TIGTA has coordinated with the IRS during the initial phases of implementation of this initiative by addressing security concerns with the contracts and protection of taxpayer rights and privacy, and by developing integrity and fraud awareness training for the contract employees. In April 2006, TIGTA plans to provide a presentation to IRS trainers for PCAs about TIGTA's role in the private debt-collection initiative.
TIGTA has also developed a three-phase audit strategy to monitor this initiative and provide independent oversight. In the first phase, TIGTA is reviewing the IRS' planning and initial implementation of the program. As part of the first audit phase, TIGTA reviewed the IRS' Request For Quotation (RFQ) for the private debt-collection initiative.  Our limited scope review did not identify any material omissions that would adversely affect the IRS' ability to effectively manage this initiative.
In the second phase, TIGTA will review the initiative after full implementation, which may not occur until Fiscal Year 2007. In the third phase, TIGTA will review the effectiveness of the program. The goal of this audit strategy is to ensure that the IRS effectively exercises its new authority to use private debt collectors, while also ensuring that taxpayers' due process and privacy rights are protected.
One of the goals of The President's Management Agenda is to reduce erroneous payments. Further, the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 greatly expanded the Administration's efforts to identify and reduce erroneous and improper payments in Federal programs and activities. While the Administration has pushed to prevent erroneous and improper payments, stewardship over public funds remains a major challenge for IRS management.
Some tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), provide opportunities for taxpayer abuse. The EITC is a refundable credit available to taxpayers who do not exceed a certain amount of income per year. The EITC was intended to provide significant benefits to the working poor, but some taxpayers have abused the credit, which has resulted in a significant loss of revenue. The IRS has estimated that approximately 30 percent of all EITC claims should not have been paid, which was approximately $9 billion of the $31 billion in EITC claimed for Tax Year 1999. The IRS has been developing an EITC initiative to combat the problems of fraudulent EITC claims. The initiative is focused on three concepts: certification of qualifying child residency requirements, verification of filing status, and verification of reported income. In October 2005, the IRS reported that as a result of these efforts, it had identified and prevented the payment of over $275 million in erroneous EITC claims. TIGTA has conducted an ongoing assessment of this initiative as the three concepts have been tested.
The Criminal Investigation function is responsible for detecting and combating tax refund fraud through its Questionable Refund Program (QRP). TIGTA has repeatedly reported in the last six years that additional controls and procedures were necessary not only to identify additional instances of potential fraud, but also to properly and timely release refunds that are determined not to be fraudulent. Recently this latter issue has been the subject of much debate, coming on the heels of the National Taxpayer Advocate's 2005 Annual Report to the Congress in which the Taxpayer Advocate criticized the IRS for unnecessarily stopping refunds owed to legitimate taxpayers.
In response to the Taxpayer Advocate's concern, on February 6, 2006, the IRS announced that it is taking steps to improve the QRP and reduce the number of taxpayers subject to frozen refunds. The announced changes include: improving and refining screening procedures to reduce the number of valid refund claims held, expediting the review of tax returns which should result in earlier release of delayed refunds, and notifying all taxpayers whose refunds are frozen. Notification procedures were implemented for the 2006 Filing Season and improvements to the screening and review processes will be implemented as soon as possible.
TIGTA is extremely concerned about this issue, believing that a necessary balance must be struck between protecting the revenue by not allowing refund fraud to go unchecked, and ensuring that legitimate taxpayers receive their refunds timely or, if challenged by the IRS, are afforded notification and due process. The QRP was established to deal with the serious problem of refund fraud, which has increased significantly in recent years. According to IRS estimates, fraudulent refund claims now exceed $500 million annually. TIGTA is continuing its review of the QRP and will report on its audit work later in the year.
In addition to erroneous payments of credits, contract expenditures represent a significant outlay of IRS funds and are also susceptible to mistakes or abuse. As of October 2005, the IRS was responsible for administering 553 contracts with a total systems life value of $28.2 billion. TIGTA continues to perform audits of select contracts to ensure that payments on selected vouchers are appropriate and in accordance with contract terms and conditions. TIGTA also provided the IRS with a summary report highlighting several system deficiencies identified by the Defense Contract Audit Agency in the past five years for a major IRS contractor. These deficiencies could lead to overstated and unsupported labor and other costs. Although the contractor is making progress in addressing previously reported system inadequacies, TIGTA believes significant risk still remains for the IRS on this contract.
Each filing season tests the ability of the IRS to implement tax law changes made by Congress. It is during the filing season that most individuals file their income tax returns and call the IRS if they have questions about specific tax laws or filing procedures. Correctly implementing tax law changes is a continuing challenge because the IRS must identify the tax law changes; revise the various tax forms, instructions, and publications; and reprogram the computer systems used for processing returns.
Preparing for the 2006 Filing Season was particularly difficult because of new tax laws enacted in response to hurricanes that struck the Gulf Coast States between August and October of 2005. For example, the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005, which was signed into law on September 23, 2005, contained $3.3 billion in estimated tax relief for Fiscal Year 2006. Overall, this year's filing season includes 24 new tax provisions created by six pieces of tax legislation that became effective in Tax Year 2005. Changes to the tax law can have a major effect on how the IRS conducts its activities, how many resources are required, and how much progress can be made on strategic goals. Generally, Congress makes changes to the tax law each year, so some level of change is a normal part of the IRS environment. However, certain kinds of changes can significantly impact the IRS in terms of the quality and effectiveness of service and in how taxpayers perceive the IRS.
To date, we have seen no significant problems during the 2006 Filing Season. However, we are closely monitoring two significant areas: Disaster Relief provisions and elimination of the Telefile program. We are evaluating the impact of the Disaster Relief provisions afforded those taxpayers impacted by the hurricanes because of the number of Disaster Relief provisions passed by Congress, and because many of them were passed late in the year. Our goal is to ensure that taxpayers are receiving the benefits to which they are entitled. We are evaluating the impact of the IRS' decision to eliminate the Telefile program because this program allowed taxpayers to file Form 1040EZ electronically via the telephone. We are reviewing the accounts of taxpayers who used the Telefile program in 2005 to determine whether they used another means to file electronically in 2006, or reverted to paper tax returns.
Modernizing the IRS' computer systems has been a challenge for many years and will likely remain a challenge for the foreseeable future. The latest effort to modernize the IRS' systems, the Business Systems Modernization (BSM) program, began in Fiscal Year 1999, and is a complex effort to modernize the IRS' technology and related business processes. According to the IRS, this effort involves integrating thousands of hardware and software components. Through February 2006, the IRS has received appropriations of approximately $2 billion to support the BSM program, and the President has requested an additional $167 million for Fiscal Year 2007.
Succeeding in the modernization effort is critical?not only because of the amount of time and money at stake?but also to improve the level of service provided to taxpayers. To accomplish the modernization effort, the IRS hired the Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) as the PRIME to design, develop, and integrate the modernized computer systems. However, in January 2005, the IRS began taking over the role of systems integrator from the PRIME due to reductions in funding for the BSM program and concerns about the PRIME's performance.
e-File project. The Modernized e-File project has provided the capability for corporations, exempt organizations, governmental entities, private foundations, and trusts to file 106 tax forms electronically. In January 2006, the IRS released the fourth incremental release of the Customer Account Data Engine (CADE) project which will eventually replace the IRS' existing Master File.
4) The IRS must ensure contractors' performance and accountability are effectively managed.
In response to modernization challenges and reduced funding, the IRS began making dramatic changes to significant areas within the BSM program over the last year. For example, the GAO recommended and the House and Senate Appropriations Committees directed the IRS to develop a new version of the Modernization Vision and Strategy. In addition, the IRS' prior modernization approach involved a huge development effort aimed at replacing all current systems. The IRS is now focusing on using current systems to accomplish modernization. I believe these extensive changes signal the beginning of a different design and structure for the entire modernization effort.
As risks and issues are identified within the BSM program, frequent changes are often required. However, the IRS' recent and planned future changes do not eliminate the four challenges we have identified. Due to the criticality of the BSM program, the IRS must confront identified challenges and proactively address them in order to come closer to realizing expectations in this new phase of the BSM program.
The IRS also faces personnel shortages in certain functions. The Wage and Investment Division is experiencing critical staffing shortages in its TAC program. The IRS' decision to focus more resources on compliance activities has limited available resources and the IRS' Field Assistance Office does not have the resources to offer unlimited services. Additionally, the uncertainty around the TAC closures created critical vacancies as TAC employees left for other jobs in the IRS. As of December 1, 2005, the Field Assistance Office Headquarters had identified 47 TACs with critical staffing shortages. Five vacancies are in TACs located in areas impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita–three in Louisiana and two in Texas. The shortages come at a time when taxpayer visits in these areas may increase and the Field Assistance Office is adding services to help reduce the burden on taxpayers affected by the hurricanes. During the 2006 Filing Season, the IRS has reported fewer taxpayers are seeking assistance at the TACs.
The Large and Mid-Size Business Division reported in its Fiscal Year 2006 strategic assessment that it will continue to lose substantial experience in the revenue agent position through attrition. Similarly, in the Small Business/Self-Employed Division, the human capital crisis continues to intensify as employees in key occupations increasingly become eligible for retirement, are lost through attrition, or migrate to other areas. Stagnant funding allocations have impacted the ability to attract new hires and retain existing employees. Thus, potential losses in critical occupational groups, coupled with concerns regarding grade and competency gaps, further emphasize the need to strategically manage human capital. The IRS must devote significant attention to managing human capital to overcome these challenges.
The IRS faces a number of significant challenges. As I mentioned in my introduction, Commissioner Everson established a principle for the IRS, Service + Enforcement = Compliance. Maximizing compliance with finite resources requires the proper balance between Service and Enforcement. This is perhaps the most difficult challenge facing the IRS.
I hope my discussion of some of the significant challenges aids you in your consideration of the IRS' appropriation for Fiscal Year 2007. Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for allowing me to share my views. I would be pleased to answer any questions you might have at this time.
1] E-file is a way to electronically file a tax return with the IRS using an authorized IRS e-file provider or personal computer.
 The Filing Season is the period from January through mid-April when most individual income tax returns are filed.
 Planning for the 2006 Filing Season Is on Course, but Challenges Exist for the Toll-Free Telephone Operations (Reference Number 2006-40-053, dated February 2006).
 The Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 (31 U.S.C. � 5316(d)) requires that TIGTA summarize, for inclusion in the Department of the Treasury Accountability Report for each fiscal year, its perspective on the most serious management and performance challenges facing the IRS.
 Taxpayer Service Is Improving, but Challenges Continue in Meeting Expectations (Reference Number 2006-40-052, dated February 2006).
 Opportunities Exist to Transition Taxpayers From Submitting Computer-Prepared Tax Returns on Paper to E-filing (Reference Number 2004-40-076, dated March 2004).
 A full-time equivalent is a measure of labor hours in which 1 full-time equivalent is equal to 8 hours multiplied by the number of compensable days in a particular fiscal year.
 TIGTA did not audit toll-free accuracy. The accuracy rates noted here are from IRS Document 12325.
 Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006, Pub. L. No. 109-115, 119 Stat. 2396 (2005).
 The Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, Pub. L. No. 109-115, 119 Stat. 2396 (2006).
 Department of Defense Appropriations Act, Pub. L. No. 109-148, 119 Stat. 2680 (2006).
 U.S. Congress. Senate. Senate Report 109-109. Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, Housing And Urban Development, And Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2006 109th Cong.
February 28, 2006). This audit is one of several audits the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration is conducting to address additional tax administration issues resulting from these natural disasters.
 An Occupant Emergency Plan contains the procedures for employees to follow during an emergency situation.
 An Incident Management Plan describes the overall coordinated actions to be taken by the Incident Management team to ensure recovery and restoration of a facility when an incident occurs.
 An Incident Commander is directly responsible for frontline management of an incident. The Incident Commander, in conjunction with other onsite business team managers, will develop and implement response strategies and use existing disaster preparedness documents for the recovery of business operations.
 The Integrated Collection System is a case processing application that supports IRS employees who work delinquent taxpayer cases (i.e., taxpayers who have not filed tax returns or paid tax obligations).
 The Modernization and Information Technology Services organization is responsible for supporting the IRS on Information Technology issues, which includes protecting and restoring computer operations and locating all computers after a disaster.
 Draft Audit Report -- The Field Assistance Office Has Taken Appropriate Actions to Plan for the 2006 Filing Season, but Challenges Remain for the Taxpayer Assistance Center Program (Audit Number 200540037, draft dated February 21, 2006). This audit is one of several audits the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration is conducting to address additional tax administration issues resulting from these natural disasters.
 15 U.S.C. � 1601 note, 1692-1920 (2000).
 State of New Jersey Commission of Investigation, The Gifting of New Jersey Tax Officials (December 2005).
 A RFQ is issued by the IRS' Office of Procurement and describes the requirements that prospective contractors should provide in support of needed products or services. TIGTA reviewed the RFQ dated April 25, 2005. The Private Debt Collection Request for Quotation Outlines Adequate Procedures and Controls (Reference Number 2005-10-156, dated September 2005). TIGTA is currently reviewing the revised RFQ dated October 14, 2005.
 The President's Management Agenda, announced in the summer of 2001, is the President's aggressive strategy for improving the management of the Federal Government. It focuses on five areas of management weakness across the Government where improvements should be made.
 Audit reports previously issued: The Earned Income Tax Credit Income Verification Test Was Properly Conducted (Reference Number 2005-40-093, dated May 2005); The Earned Income Credit Recertification Program Continues to Experience Problems (Reference Number 2005-40-039, dated March 2005); Initial Results of the Fiscal Year 2004 Earned Income Tax Credit Concept Tests Provide Insight on Ways Taxpayer Burden Can Be Reduced in Future Tests (Reference Number 2005-40-006, dated October 2004); and Management Controls Over the Proof of Concept Test of Earned Income Tax Credit Certification Need to Be Improved (Reference Number: 2004-40-032, dated December 2003).
 Audit reports previously issued: The Internal Revenue Service Can Improve the Effectiveness of Questionable Refund Detection Team Activities (Reference Number 2000-40-018, dated December 1999); Revised Questionable Refund Program Procedures Were Not Consistently Implemented (Reference Number 2001-40-025, dated January 2001); Improvements Are Needed in the Monitoring of Criminal Investigation Controls Placed on Taxpayers' Accounts When Refund Fraud Is Suspected (Reference Number 2003-10-094, dated March 2003); and The Internal Revenue Service Needs to Do More to Stop the Millions of Dollars in Fraudulent Refunds Paid to Prisoners (Reference Number 2005-10-164, dated September 2005).
 Pub. L. No. 109-73, 119 Stat. 2016 (to be codified in scattered sections of 26 U.S.C.).
 On-going audit of the Tax Law Changes Impacting Tax Returns (Audit Number 200640015).
 Income Tax Return for Single and Joint Filers With No Dependents.
 A release is a specific edition of software.
 The Master File is the IRS database for storing taxpayer account information on individuals, businesses, employee retirement plans, and exempt organizations. The CADE will include applications for daily posting, settlement, maintenance, refund processing, and issue detection for taxpayer account and return data. In conjunction with other applications, the CADE will allow employees to post transactions and update taxpayer account and return data on-line from their desks. Updates will be immediately available to any IRS employee who accesses the data and will provide a complete, timely, and accurate account of the taxpayer's information. In contrast, the current Master File processing system can take up to two weeks to update taxpayer accounts, and IRS employees may need to access several computer systems to gather all relevant information related to a taxpayer's account.
 Draft Audit Report – The Field Assistance Office Has Taken Appropriate Actions to Plan for the 2006 Filing Season, but Challenges Remain for the Taxpayer Assistance Center Program (Audit Number 200540037, draft issued February 21, 2006).