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The U.S. House of Representatives on May 24 passed H.R. 5515, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, which includes an amendment prohibiting the federal government from purchasing video surveillance equipment from several China-based manufacturers, including Hikvision and Dahua. The bill still needs to make it through the Senate before being signed into law by the president.
In response to this legislative action, Jeffrey He, president, Hikvision USA Inc. and Hikvision Canada Inc., told Hikvision channel partners in an emailed letter, "We are actively working to assure our North American stakeholders that Hikvision strictly abides by the laws and regulations of each country in which it operates. We also reaffirm the fact that we hold our products to the industry's global cybersecurity standards, including North America."
He continued, "As we continue to monitor and further deploy the necessary resources to address this matter over the coming weeks and months, please know that we will vigorously defend Hikvision from dangerous and unproven accusations about the cybersecurity of our products and solutions."
Dahua issued an official response to the proposed legislation, saying, "Dahua Technology is a commercial enterprise with high level of business integrity. As an international company, Dahua Technology complies with all related laws and regulations in the countries where it does business."
As this bill heads to the Senate for any revisions and ultimately to the president for signature, it will be interesting to see if specific references to Hikvision and Dahua will be included in the final bill.
SSN continues to report on this story.
LAS VEGAS—Security Systems News caught up with ACRE COO Ron Virden, who this week published a great piece titled, "Electronic Access Control & The Future of Security: Is the Lock and Key Obsolete?"
Virden noted in his article that the end of the traditional lock and key may be here as wireless technologies transform "the possibilities for electronic access control."
With Google and Amazon getting into the residential space, they are "really helping to drive that tipping point and you will see the consumer demand speed this up into the corporate space, especially the SMB market where we are already seeing this happen," he told SSN. "But for the larger [enterprise] groups, where you still have to have the identification piece that a badge provides, the migration will take longer and I don't know if it will ever be a 100 percent migration to mobile."
And while wireless locks have been in existence for a long time, "next-generation products equipped with near-field communication and Bluetooth represent a quantum leap forward," he noted in his article. "With established players such as ASSA ABLOY, Allegion and Dormakaba bringing their high-tech products to the market, wireless will rapidly become the standard means of managing access."
He continued, "This is game-changing because it extends monitoring and control capabilities to a far wider range of access points. Today, most organizations limit digital locks and access credentials to the first line of defense—external doors. With nextgen wireless, any internal or external door can be added to the network so that traffic can be monitored and controlled throughout the building or complex. Not only does this improve the level of security and visibility, it also has the potential to provide valuable usage data that can help to reduce energy consumption, enhance safety and comfort and even provide predictive analytics that can guide space allocation or development."
But before the industry can realize this new generation of wireless and mobile technologies, Virden said there are some challenges to overcome.
"The market is fragmented and territorial with lock manufacturers and mobile access firms focused on developing proprietary credentialing systems that protect their market share," he explained in his piece. "However, that doesn't serve the needs of the consumer or business market, both of which are resistant to being 'locked' into a specific brand of hardware or software."
This is why, Virden told SSN, "open platform" is so important. "If you look at the intrusion business, you can go in and take over a panel and you can change who your provider is, so we have to have some way in the future for companies to not just be wed to one platform, and if you want to change who your credential provider is, you are able to do that," he said.
Companies that focus on open platform and working well with others will benefit the most moving forward. "Focusing on hardware-agnostic software or credential-agnostic hardware will generate a bigger, more sustainable market," he noted in his article. "Players that adopt a collaborative approach, aim for the mid-market, and look for ways to add value—whether through enhanced safety, convenience or data-driven insight—will see big opportunities in the coming years."
For the full version of Virden's article, click here.
AMELIA ISLAND, Fla.—I arrived Monday on Amelia Island, Fla., for Affiliated Monitoring's third annual Catalyst conference, focused entirely on the sales and marketing aspects of the medical alert industry.
The first full day began with a welcome from, Mike Zydor, managing director for Affiliated Monitoring. He brought up the idea of "forced networking," making sure that people are meeting and conversing with a multitude of different professionals, including ones they haven't met before. To facilitate this, the conference has attendees in different groups throughout the event, such as with the table assignments or teams for networking events.
Zydor said that one of the valuable takeaways from the event will be the discussions and relationships made at Catalyst. Following this point, each attendee had the opportunity to stand and introduce themselves, their company, and where they're from.
Next, Affiliated executive vice president Daniel Oppenheim presented "PERS: Today and the Future," an overview of themes in the PERS industry and observations within Affiliated Monitoring. Oppenheim said how fortunate he is for what it is that the industry offers, "We offer a service that is vital to our customers, we save lives."
The overall number of PERS signals that Affiliated received went up 45 percent last year, Oppenheim said.
"I feel very strongly in the future of our industry," Oppenheim said. He pointed toward the baby boomer generation, the oldest of which are about 72 now, as a large opportunity—an entire generation that is about age into the typical PERS and mPERS demographics.
Related to that is one of the problems the industry will face in coming years, Oppeneheim said: that there are going to be more seniors, but there are projected to be fewer available caregivers. "There's only one answer and it is our industry and technology that is going to solve this."
An annual staple of the Catalyst program is the executive spotlight series, where Oppenheim has an on-stage conversation with leaders in the PERS industry, covering their perspective on the industry and the decisions that got them to where they are today. In 2016, Oppenheim sat down with Ritch Haselden of Essence USA, and in 2017, he spoke with Ken Gross of Connect America.
This year Oppenheim talked with Rob Flippo, CEO of MobileHelp, a provider of mPERS and health management solutions, which began in 2006.
"You bet big on mobile and you were right, what did you see that others in the market were not seeing at the time?" Oppenheim asked.
Flippo said that people weren't using cellular in the home when he started, and he did his due diligence to figure out that there was no business reason for this and chose to take up the technology in his business. He noted that GPS technology was also in the early stages at that time.
Affiliated is now fully integrated with MobileHelp, Oppenheim announced on stage Tuesday. Through that process, Oppenheim met many members of Flippo's team. He asked Flippo for his philosophies on putting together a team.
Flippo first responded by agreeing with the phrase "The fish rots from the head down;" how management and ownership treat the people below them affects the entire business. Flippo also said that in assembling his team, he looked for people that would fit executive roles, before the company even had those positions.
Flippo provided an interesting perspective when asked to think about the future of the PERS industry, 10 years down the road. He said that the people buying PERS systems now, where about 65 when he started a little more than a decade ago. So, he challenged the audience to consider a 60 or 65 year-old now—that person will be a potential PERS user in 10 years. A 60 or 65 year-old now is more technological than in 2006, Flippo noted, and he predicted that PERS systems will come with more features and functionality that connects to other aspects of a user's life, much in the same way that the security ecosystem evolved to include more elements of home control.
The last session of the day was a panel, titled "Ask the Experts: Product Mix and Planning the PERS Future." Here, Pete West, VP, North American director for KORE, moderated a conversation with Yaniv Amir, president of Essence USA, Ryan Bangerter, business development director for Mytrex, and Scot McGehee, VP of operations and sales at Climax.
To kick things off, Ward asked Bangerter about the value of the cloud for PERS. Mytrex is leveraging the cloud with its new PERS product, the MXD LTE. Bangerter said that, historically, PERS systems are a local installation, but the cloud element allows for an easier integration process and it helps with different communication paths.
Ward asked McGehee about the usage of mobile PERS inside of the home, as opposed to a cellular PERS system. Seniors can be much more energetic and mobile, he noted, and Users need something for mobile use outside of the home as well as usage in the house. "We've got to be able to cover both bases going forward to take care of the aging population," he said.
Essence does business outside of the US, Ward noted. He asked Amir about trends that are in international markets that might enter the U.S. market. Voice activation is one such trend, according to Amir. Specifically, Essence offers a voice panic alarm system, where emergency response sensors can be installed throughout a user's house and—because it relies on voice—doesn't require a wearable. This is a good solution when caregivers would like to see more protection in an elderly person's home, but that user does not want to appear frail.
To open the second day of Catalyst 2018, Mike Zydor had an on-stage conversation with Mark Melendes, managing director and group head—specialized industries, CIBC Bank US, about what dealers need to know a head of looking for additional funding.
Borrowing from a bank can be a great way to grow a PERS business, Zydor noted. He asked Melendes for the first thing PERS dealer should do when thinking about additional funds.
Melendes said to think of alternatives to borrowing from a bank. Borrowing from a bank can be very involved, he said, and there are other options that a dealer could look into; for instance, finding a local lender or sometimes the seller in a transaction can partly help with financing.
According to Melendes, key considerations include: whether financial records in tact, does the company have good financial reporting and a history of financial reporting, is there a good CRM system, and are there the right people to support a banking relationship.
The first time that Melendes meets a company, it can be when there is an immediate acquisition opportunity, one that might want to close quickly, and unless they have the right information it can be a challenge.
Zydor asked: What do people looking to buy need to pay attention to in buying a competitor?
While CIBC focuses on the financial part of the transaction, it is also concerned with the strategic fit of the purchase and the legal due diligence, Melendes said. "Strategic fit is definitely one that we focus on," he said.
Something new for Catalyst that was included this year was a session devoted to a variety of discussion groups. Through an event app, attendees were asked for the topic that most interested them out of nine options. Four topics were chosen for discussion groups: Medicaid and government programs, customer retention strategies, leveraging social media for your business, and building your team: the most essential roles to fill.
I sat in on the social media session, curious for business leaders' opinions on leveraging social media for an offering geared toward the senior audience, which is currently noted as not being very technological.
This group was divided into two tables. The table I sat with discussed how the main audience is often not the user themselves, but instead the younger caregiver—an individual more likely to be on social media.
One idea was that messaging about PERS products has been often built off of fear, the fear of a fall. The industry could benefit from portraying PERS as more of a lifestyle product, a device that allows its user a certain lifestyle with more freedom.
From there, the discussion circled around to newer ideas of advertising that are mainly focused on showing a product and then showing a user having a better experience from using it. This is a concept in imaging that PERS products could use to showcase the offering as a lifestyle-focused device, as opposed to one driven by fear.
After about 20 minutes, each table in the room—about nine in total—chose a representative to present the ideas of their group.
The final presentation for this year was from the featured guest speaker, Erica Javellana, speaker of the house for Zappos, an online shoe and clothing retailer. Javellana joined the company in 2007 as a human resources generalist and quickly rose to be the employee relations manager. She took the stage to talk about Zappos' focus on customer service and how to focus on company culture.
Javellana began by talking about what Zappos calls P.E.C.: personal, emotional connection. Zappos wants each employee to establish a connection with each person they interact with, she said.
Zappos is committed to the idea of company culture and that means hiring and firing by those principles, Javellana said.
Zappos has 10 core values, central to the company's culture, and one of them is to "Build a Positive Team and Family spirit," and the wrong person can ruin a team's dynamic. "If you get the right people, you get the right culture," she said.
Other tenets of Zappos' culture included "Deliver WOW through service," "Create fun and a little weirdness," and "Be humble."
To "wow" through service means to go above and beyond, Javellana said. She shared the story of sitting in on a customer service call where a woman called in to try to find a specific sweatshirt. This woman hadn't ever shopped with Zappos, Javellana noted, but the Zappos employee helped her none-the-less, and got to know her while searching for the sweatshirt. He eventually learned that the woman's son had died in a car accident wearing his favorite sweatshirt at the time, and her younger son wanted the same one to remember his brother. The customer service representative, finding that Zappos did not have it, purchased one through a competitor and told the caller he would sent it to her.
It's about the experience more than the transaction, Javellana stressed.
Creating a little fun and weirdness does not mean Zappos only hires extroverted people, Javellana said, it means they encourage employees to be their whole selves at work. Some people stress work-life balance, and are entirely different people outside of work. People could focus more on work-life integration, she said.
The last principle Zappos has in its culture is to be humble and the company has a small test for this. In hiring for any position, whether it be the COO or a department manager, they inform the candidate that all new hires are required to attend company-wide training followed by a period of answering phones, taking four weeks in total. If the applicant turns their nose up at the idea of answering phones, they are shown the door. One reason for this is that at busy times of the season, such as during the holidays, answering phones can mean all-hands-on-deck, Javellana said, including her and Zappos' CEO, Tony Hsieh.
Javellana ended her presentation with this question: "How will you wow?"
I-View Now recently announced the launch of a new service: Police Alarm Portal. The process is powered by I-View Now's Software as a Service Video Verification platform, and will send video directly to authorized emergency responders through the ASAP to PSAP program. Additionally, I-View Now will provide the service to law enforcement free of charge.
In the announcement, I-View Now said that Police Alarm Portal helps the entire electronic security industry by improving the path of communications flow from end users to the monitoring station and then to law enforcement. "It allows for a faster and safer response to alarms by authorized emergency responders, increases the value of the alarm provider's monitoring service, and improves customer retention," the company said.
The new service will provide better information and collaboration to help keep communities safer, according to I-View Now.
"We're thrilled to be offering this revolutionary and patented service at no cost to law enforcement," Larry Folsom, president of I-View Now, said in the announcement. "When an alarm goes off, you don't always know what you'll find. Using video verification with the Police Alarm Portal changes that unknown factor. Authorized emergency responders will have real-time information about what's happening at the protected premises through live video and video clips. Police officers can respond appropriately and more safely to a verified alarm event."
Police Alarm Portal is being tested at 911 Communications Centers across the nation, including in Richmond, Virginia, the first city to go live with ASAP to PSAP.
"The City of Richmond is honored to have been chosen to participate in a pilot of Police Alarm Portal with I-View Now," Bill Hobgood, systems developer lead for City of Richmond, Department of Information Technology Public Safety Team, and recognized ASAP subject matter expert, said in a prepared statement. "The delivery of video sent via the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP) program sent by an alarm monitoring company when suspicious circumstances are present, is a value added for public safety. The video will enable dispatch staff in the emergency communications center as well as responding officers to easily navigate to the same video witnessed by the alarm operator adding another tool in the interest of officer safety and suspect apprehension."
"ADT is a founding member of the ASAP system, and also the nation's largest user," Don Young, ADT's chief information officer, said in the announcement. "As our nationwide deployment of Video Verification with I-View Now is complete, making that same video content accessible to law enforcement is a natural extension of the services we currently provide our customers. ASAP is the premier standard for sending life safety information to PSAPs, and ADT is excited to further enhance our outstanding partnership with public safety officials."
LOS ANGELES—Arecont Vision announced this week that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the District of Delaware, and agreed to have substantially all of the company's assets acquired by an affiliate of Turnspire Capital Partners, LLC, an equity firm that is known as a turnaround specialist. In the Arecont press release, the company stated that the proposed transaction will enable Arecont "to pursue accelerated development of new, industry-leading video surveillance products and better meet the needs of its customers today and beyond."
Raul Calderon, Arecont Vision's chief operating officer and general manager, said in the announcement, "Through this transaction, Arecont Vision will shed its debt and make bolder decisions to invest in our future versus maintain the status quo. We are excited to have found a partner in Turnspire who shares our vision and will ensure an exciting future for the Company to the benefit our customers, employees, and partners,"
He continued, "Manufacturing, customer service, and sales activities will continue uninterrupted. Our employees will receive their wages and benefits as before, and our own vendors and suppliers will be paid in the ordinary course of business going forward."
Arecont said that current management will continue to lead the company, and business "will continue uninterrupted, and operations will be supported by debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing provided by Arecont Vision's current secured lenders."
The Turnspire bid will be subject to an auction at which it will be subject to higher and better offers, and require Court approval. The Company anticipates the transaction will move swiftly and close within 60-75 days.
"Arecont Vision implemented key strategic initiatives beginning in mid-2017 that continue in the current year, all aimed at enhancing customer engagement, increasing revenue, and optimizing business processes. The goal is to better address the needs of the market and maintain and expand our industry technology leadership," said Calderon. "While these efforts bore fruit immediately, we can now accelerate that progress unburdened by excess debt. Ultimately it was determined that using the chapter 11 process to facilitate a reorganization and sale was the swiftest and most efficient way to reduce debt while accelerating sales growth and product development."
The Company is advised by the law firm of Pachulski, Stang, Ziehl & Jones LLP, Armory Strategic Partners as the Company's chief restructuring officer and financial advisor, and Imperial Capital as the Company's investment banker.
Court filings as well as other information related to the restructuring are available here.
NEW HAVEN, Conn.—ASSA ABLOY recently announced agreements to purchase two U.S.-based door and frame manufacturers: Pioneer Industries, based in Carlstadt, N.J., and Concept Frames Inc., based in Newton, N.C.
"The addition of Pioneer allows us to fortify our steel door and frame offering in the US and in particular the Atlantic region," Lucas Boselli, executive vice president of ASSA ABLOY and head of the Americas division, said in a prepared statement.
Pioneer will continue to be led by its current management team. Pioneer was founded in 1930 and currently has about 100 employees. The head office and factory are located in Carlstadt, N.J.
The Pioneer acquisition is conditional upon satisfaction of customary closing conditions and is expected to close during the second quarter of 2018, ASSA ABLOY noted in its announcement.
Concept frames has a focus on custom-made steel doors and frames for commercial and industrial applications. "I am very pleased to welcome Concept Frames into the ASSA ABLOY Group," Boselli said in a separate announcement. "Concept Frame is a complementary addition to ASSA ABLOY and adds to our leadership in the door and frame category in North America."
Concept Frames has expertise in customer service, project specifications and quick delivery, primarily covering the southeast region of the US, ASSA ABLOY noted in its announcement. The company was founded in 1982 and has approximately 68 employees; its head office and factory are located in Newton, N.C.
Canon today announced the acquisition of BriefCam, a provider of Video Synopsis and Deep Learning solutions. Closing of the deal is subject to customary closing conditions.
"The acquisition will create even greater synergies between the BriefCam Video Content Analytics platform and Canon's Network Video Solutions portfolio," Trevor Matz, president & CEO of BriefCam, told Security Systems News. "BriefCam will continue to innovate and deliver best-of-breed video content analytics enabling law enforcement, public safety agencies and major enterprises transform their video surveillance footage into actionable intelligence and dramatically shorten the time-to-target for security threats while increasing safety and optimizing operations."
Masanori Yamada, Canon Inc. managing executive officer and group executive, Network Visual Solution Business Promotion Headquarters, said in the announcement, "We are very excited to work with such an innovative organization and we welcome BriefCam into the Canon Group. With BriefCam, we can deliver an even broader range of leading-edge technology and solutions in the fields of network cameras, video management software and video content analysis software to customers and partners across the globe."
BriefCam will continue to operate under the leadership of its current management structure, remain an open platform, and continue to provide its software to the market through its own sales channels.
"We are thrilled to be joining forces with a global leader in digital imaging," said Matz. "The acquisition will allow BriefCam to continue to deliver industry leading video content analytics solutions, while remaining a standalone company within the Canon Group. The opportunity is a testament to the innovative technology we have built, the outstanding team we have assembled, and the rapidly growing business we have created." The acquisition will also enable BriefCam to enter new markets, deliver stronger vertical solutions, and serve global customers even more effectively, he said.
Founded in 2007, BriefCam's Video Synopsis and Deep Learning solutions are used for rapid video review and search, smart alerting and quantitative video insights.
Mission 500, a charitable organization that works closely with the security industry to serve children in need in the U.S., announced yesterday that it raised $113,000 at its ninth annual Security 5K/2K Run/Walk and related sponsorships at this year's ISC West.
Proceeds from the event will benefit children in need in the U.S., with a portion donated to a project in Puerto Rico which benefits children living in poverty who have been affected by Hurricane Maria, Mission 500 said in its announcement. Some ISC West attendees assembled Mission 500 Care Packs for 500 children in need living in Las Vegas, which were distributed by The Children's Health Fund and were personally delivered and donated by Mission 500, HID Global, Freeman and the ISC West Security Events team.
The Security 5K/2K is a joint collaboration organized by United Publications, the publisher of Security Systems News, ISC Events and Mission 500.
"ISC West continues to be one of the cornerstone events that Mission 500 participates in every year," Tim Purpura, chairman of the board for Mission 500 said in a prepared statement. "On behalf of Mission 500 and all of the children and families in need we support, I extend my sincerest thanks to all of our sponsors, volunteers and people who participated in the successful fund raisers staged at this year's show."
The Brink's Home Security team raised the most at the 5K/2K, a total of $9,880. Jeff Gardner of Brinks was the top individual fundraiser, collecting $8,750, followed by Altronix's Ronnie Pennington with $3,100. Heather Miller of Anixter raised $1,720, which will be matched by her employer for a total of $3,440. Two staff members from Brink's Home Security, along with Jeff Gardner, were awarded an all-expenses paid trip to Mission 500's next service trip in Puerto Rico.
Mission 500 acknowledged medal winners and sponsors at the Security 5K/2K awards ceremony. This year's fastest female was Karen Salerno of ISC Events with a time of 21:43. The fastest male and overall winner was Brian Matthews of Vingtor Stentofon, who completed the 5K course in 20:42.
Additionally, Mission 500 honored The Hurricane Harvey Heroes with its annual Humanitarian Award and Corporate Social Responsibility Award, which acknowledges individuals in the security industry who make important contributions to those in need. Winners of the Humanitarian Award include Curtis Kindred, president of American Defense Systems, Harley Schild, president of Vault Security, and Todd Fitch, president of Point Security. Altronix Corp. of Brooklyn, NY, received Mission 500's Corporate Social Responsibility Award.
Amazon announced last week that it is jumping into the home security business—with both feet I might add—with the unveiling of five security packages for both homeowners and renters. What is most interesting about this announcement, though, is Amazon's go-to-market strategy, which involves no monthly fees, just an upfront cost for the equipment package. Plus, all five equipment packages include free installation and visits from Amazon smart home experts to go over what is the best fit prior to choosing an option.
For those who have been following the success of Amazon's Alexa, this move really shouldn't come as a surprise, especially considering all of the inroads Amazon has been making in the smart home space, from its acquisition of Ring, the smart doorbell company, to its new in-home delivery service, Amazon Key, that features its Cloud Cam and partnerships with smart lock providers.
It will be interesting to see how this will shake up the current home security market, which traditionally has existed on a RMR model that includes spreading some of equipment cost out over several months or years. It will also be interesting to see how this move succeeds overall for Amazon, as the security packages get a bit costly on the higher end.
So, let's take a look at what packages they are offering, many of which work in tandem with Amazon's Echo and Alexa. Amazon is offering two outdoor security packages and three indoor packages. The first outdoor package, for $240, includes "expert smart lighting that will make it look like you're home," the website reads, while the Outdoor Plus package adds in a smart doorbell. For indoor security, the base package for $320, which is "perfect for renters" the website says, includes motion, door and window sensors, an indoor camera, smart siren and smart home hub. Homeowners can choose from Smart for $575 or Smartest for $840, each of which adds devices to the base package.
As consumer buying seems to be moving more toward a subscription-based model, this seems like a bit of risk to ask homeowners to pay that much up front, but it may be a risk that pays off for Amazon. For one, consumers who may not have taken the leap into the smart home or home security will see this as a way to get both—the Alexa voice assistant and home security—all from one provider in a very seamless way.
SSN would love to hear your thoughts on this, so feel free to comment below.
The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), an organization dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a secure cloud-computing environment, recently released its State of Cloud Security 2018.
The report, authored by the CSA Global Enterprise Advisory Board, examines such areas as the adoption of cloud and related technologies, what both enterprise and cloud providers are doing to ensure security requirements are met, how to best work with regulators, the evolving threat landscape, and the industry skills gap.
"The state of cloud security is a work in progress with an ever-increasing variety of challenges and potential solutions," Vinay Patel, chair of the CSA Global Enterprise Advisory Board and managing director at Citigroup, said in the announcement of the report. "It is incumbent upon the cloud user community, therefore, to collaborate and speak with an amplified voice to ensure that their key security issues are heard and addressed. We hope this document will serve as a roadmap to developing best practices in the establishment of baseline security requirements needed to protect organizational data."
Key takeaways from the report include:
• Exploration of case studies and potential use cases for blockchain, application containers, microservices and other technologies will be important to keep pace with market adoption and the creation of secure industry best practices.• With the rapid introduction of new features, safe default configurations and ensuring the proper use of features by enterprises should be a goal for providers.• As adversaries collaborate quickly, the information security community needs to respond to attacks swiftly with collaborative threat intelligence exchanges that include both providers and enterprise end users.• A staged approach on migrating sensitive data and critical applications to the cloud is recommended.• When meeting regulatory compliance, it is important for enterprises to practice strong security fundamentals to demonstrate compliance rather than use compliance to drive security requirements.
Noting that "innovators and early adopters" have been using cloud for years for quicker deployment, greater scalability, and cost saving of services, the report noted that the growth of cloud computing "continues to accelerate offering more solutions with added features and benefits, including security. In the age of information digitalization and innovation, enterprise users must keep pace with consumer demand and new technology solutions ensuring they can meet both baseline capabilities and security requirements."
Interestingly, the report pointed out that increased adoption in cloud services has followed consumer confidence with the security of cloud providers, who continue to invest in the security of their platforms. CSA referred to a McAfee survey, Navigating a Cloudy Sky, which found that complete trust in public cloud offerings increased 76 percent in 2017.
As CSA noted in this report last year, technology is outpacing the skills sets within companies and businesses to adopt them, according to CSA's report. "As organizations react to this demand to stay competitive, secure adoption of these technologies becomes an even greater challenge. With cloud and new IT technologies, the supply chain ecosystem needs to collaborate so that large enterprises and regulators can understand how to securely adopt new technologies and new features on existing provider technologies. Each party must play a role in securing customer data and sharing best practices for secure operations."
Ultimately, education and awareness still needs to improve around provider services and new technologies for the enterprise. "Small-scale adoption projects need to be shared so that security challenges and patterns can be adopted to scale with the business and across industry verticals. This skills gap, particularly around cloud and newer IT technologies, needs to be met by the industry through partnership and collaboration between all parties of the cyber ecosystem."
For the full report, click here.
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Deadhouse Gates is the second novel in Steven Erikson's epic fantasy series, the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Deadhouse Gates follows on from the first novel, Gardens of the Moon and takes place simultaneously with events in the third novel Memories of Ice. The novel was first published in the United Kingdom as a trade paperback on 1 September 2000, with a mass-market paperback edition followed on 1 October 2001....
John Banville is an Irish novelist and screenwriter born in 1945. He sometimes writes under the pseudonym Benjamin Black. His eighteenth novel, The Sea, won the Man Booker Prize in 2005. Banville is known for the dark humor of his arch narrators and his cold, inventive prose style.
In this novel, Banville's main character is Max Morden, an art historian, who has recently suffered the demise of his beloved wife Anna. It is a journey back down the earliest roadways and alleys of Max's memory. Intertwined within this story are Max's memories of his wife, Anna and of their life together; his relationship with his grown daughter, Claire, who is desperate to pull him from his grief; and with the other boarders at the house where he is staying, where the past beats inside him "like a second heart." John Banville, famous for his poetic language, now gives us a uniquely reflective novel about loss, love and the transfiguring power of memory.
Join the Bibliophiles' Club today and start saving 10% on every book you buy on Biblio.com.
Many of us love giving and receiving holiday cards - but did you know many of them are highly collectible? Whether signed by famous authors or just beautiful to look at, these collectible Christmas cards are sure to put a twinkle in your eye.
From some of the expected classics to some modern surprises, we've gathered our observations of the book buying trends in 2017. Enjoy the gallery of some of the most interesting books sold this year!

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I am basically a developer. I just want to know the difference between diffuse and texture.
My assumption (as a new to 3D game development), from what I read is that diffuse is the texture applied to a surface/3d model which is used to render the surface/model. If this is correct then diffuse and texture are synonyms.
Please help me understand the differences if there are any


text: A cube of 1728 plastic heads is floating in the middle of the Stockholm Furniture Fair this year, a light installation by Swedish designer Alexander Lervik entitled Dimensions. The skulls continually pulse with color; each alternating male and female head has an LED light inside of it. I wonder what people there think of it, cause I'm like 4000 miles away and it's freaking me out. [Designboom]


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D-backs To Give Away David Peralta T-shirts On Hispanic Heritage Day
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PHOENIX –The Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks and @LosDbacks) will hand out 20,000 David Peralta Los D-backs T-shirts, courtesy of Gila River Casinos, during Hispanic Heritage Day on Sept. 27 at Chase Field. Over the weekend, Peralta stole home on Friday and hit a grand slam on Saturday to help the D-backs capture wins both nights against the Rockies.
Peralta currently leads all National League rookies with a .313 batting average and his 67 hits are the most by a D-backs player in their first 57 games. He became only the sixth D-back to steal home on Aug. 8 and his 5 RBI on Aug. 9 were the most RBI by a D-backs rookie since Mark Reynolds in 2007.
Hispanic Heritage Day, presented by Budweiser, will feature a postgame concert by Grammy Award-nominated Mexican pop star Cristian Castro. Castro has been nominated multiple times for Latin Grammy Awards and has won countless awards, including being named the Best Male Pop Artist in 2012 (Premios Oye).
Prior to the game, fans can enjoy a Hispanic Heritage Street Festival, presented by APS, beginning at 2:00PM and will feature a beer garden, interactive games and music. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.dbacks.com.


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Baltimore Orioles 2×4 Cornhole Board Sets – Vintage Triangle 15 Design
Congratulations, you've picked Proline Tailgating's new Vintage Triangle 15 licensed design, and you won't be disappointed! this exclusive, bestselling art design will be applied with our proprietary direct, digital HD printing process. That's right! We've invested in the latest printing technology to apply your Vintage Triangle 15 design directly on to the playing surface.
- (2) Officially Licensed 2′ x 4′ Tournament Approved, regulation size cornhole boards, made from furniture quality, solid wood and durable hardware
- (8) Tournament Approved, Team Color Bean Bags: regulation size and weight: 6″ x6″ and 16 oz., double stitched bean bags with all-weather, long-lasting filler
- Includes carry bag made of sturdy 600 denier canvas fabric to easily transport your new cornhole set
- Proprietary, officially licensed design is directly printed onto each playing surface board with our proprietary direct, digital HD printing process, providing tournament quality playability!
Boards are professionally sanded and polished providing the perfect look and feel
Additional information
|65 lbs
|50 × 25 × 10 in


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What's New
Welcome to California Postsecondary Education Data
California Postsecondary Education Commission
California Postsecondary Education Commission closed its doors on November 18, 2011. Press Release (pdf)
The Commission maintains a data system which includes over 30 years of aggregated data and longitudinal, unitary data from the public postsecondary segments from the last 15 years. These data are used by staff for audit and evaluation of student progress in postsecondary education and to make projections and recommendations for future planning. These data have been aggregated and combined and are the source of the data available through the website.
- Information About the Commission's Data
- Program Review - Evaluation of new academic programs
- Facilities Review - Approval of new facilities
- Improving Teacher Quality - $8 million federal grants
- Over 1,300 publications on various topics
- Guide to California Colleges
- School To Employment Pathways System (STEPS)
- Quick Data - One-click access to data
- Detailed Data - Build custom data reports
- Regional and County-level Data
- Comparisons to Other States
- Crime Statistics
- Where to Find Data


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About Interchange
Interchange is an open source ecommerce system and application server/component application, written in the Perl programming language. Interchange is one of the most powerful tools available to automate and database-enable your web site or build online applications.
At its core, Interchange is a flexible and high-performance application server that handles state and session management, authentication, click trails, filtering, URL encoding, security policy, and much more.
Interchange is well suited for a variety of purposes, and has been set up to perform sales, order processing, content management, customer service, reporting and analysis, personalization, traditional retail sales, digital goods delivery, B2B parts re-ordering, auctions, order status checking, supply chain management, project management, online collaboration, and even an MP3 jukebox.
Interchange is geared towards security. With the thousands of Interchange catalogs out there, we know of no huge security incidents. Some notable features are SQL-injection protection, configurable "secure" (HTTPS) pages, good credit card information handling policies, GPG/PGP support, cross-site scripting protections, support for connecting to multiple databases from the same application, and system-defined filters for user input validation.
Interchange can be used as a completely self-contained standalone product, or as part of a larger system. It can be integrated with payment processing services, ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems, point-of-sale systems, accounting systems, external content management systems, other application servers, sales force automation systems, CRM (customer relationship management) systems, email campaign management systems, and remote databases on virtually any platform.
If you need functionality that Interchange doesn't yet provide, you can incorporate it yourself in an extensible way that survives upgrades. If you don't have the time or expertise to do so, there is a strong group of consultants both present on the Public Interchange Mailing Lists and available for complete Commercial Consultancy and Support.
Thousands of people use Interchange and it has taken hundreds of millions of dollars worth of orders in its time. But there is a definite learning curve required to customize Interchange. If you are looking to Interchange for e-commerce, and all you have to sell is a few simple items, it may well be overkill for your needs. If you, however, need a sophisticated ordering or content-management system with unlimited room to grow, Interchange may be right for you.
The History of Interchange
Interchange is a descendent of Vend, an e-commerce solution originally developed by Andrew Wilcox in early 1995. Mike Heins took the first publicly-released version, Vend 0.2, and added searching and DBM catalog storage features to create MiniVend. Mike released MiniVend 0.2m7 on December 28, 1995. Subsequent versions of MiniVend took parts from Vend 0.3, especially the vlink and Server.pm modules, which were adapted to run with MiniVend. In the four years that followed, Mike Heins expanded and enhanced MiniVend, creating a powerful and versatile e-commerce development platform. MiniVend grew to support thousands of businesses and their e-commerce sites.
Separately, an experienced e-commerce development team founded Akopia. Their goal was to create a sophisticated open source e-commerce platform that was both feature-rich and easy to use. Their product, Tallyman, was intuitive, and had great content-management features, but lacked many of MiniVend's capabilities.
Akopia acquired MiniVend in June 2000. Mike Heins and the Tallyman developers combined MiniVend 4 with Tallyman's features to create Interchange, which replaced both MiniVend and Tallyman. In order to preserve compatibility, it was decided that the name "MiniVend" and prefixes like mv_ and MVC_ continue to appear in source code and configuration files. Interchange's first stable release was version 4.6.
In January 2001, Red Hat acquired Akopia and created its new E-Business Solutions Division. Red Hat sponsored the development of Interchange 4.8 and the Red Hat E-Commerce Suite.
In mid-2002 Red Hat stopped supporting Interchange development, and a group of individuals formed the Interchange Development Group to coordinate Interchange development independent of any company or person. The first stable release by the new independent group of developers was Interchange 5.0.
In 2004/2005, Interchange documentation system was completely redesigned in an attempt to achieve better output results and bring the documentation up to date. See page documentation.
Today, Interchange continues to be well-maintained and supported, with new integrations and features being added as needed. The current stable Interchange release is 5.10.0, and the current development release is 5.11.0. For Interchange source code and downloads, see page download.
The official Interchange Development Group development team and people who helped Interchange throughout the years are listed on page people.
About Interchange
- Roadmap
- Online demo
- Hall of Fame (sites running Interchange)
- Supported platforms
- Interchange history
- Copyright & license
- Logos & badges
- Endorsements
- Contact
What Interchange users are saying:
Luke Lozier, Principal & Co-Founder at Bibliopolis LLC.


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Please See Technical Specs Tab For Setup Options
We wanted to create a more compact dancing/freestyle board that you could basically do everything on. A board that has plenty of room to get your dancing groove on and is smaller, lighter, and easier to throw around. Something that is not overly huge, can bust out steezy slides, and can be carried and fit into a trunk easier. Can you downhill on this board? Probably, but it is not a DH board.
We are really stoked on the rocker in this board (the board has a slight "U" bend to it). The original prototype had camber and felt good, but we decided to put some rocker in it and bam a ram, it instantly felt so much better. The rocker just sinks you into the board and gives you that extra cushy, locked in feel. Feels great for dancing, makes sliding a lot easier and more comfortable, and puts the board lower to the ground, making pushing a tad bit easier.
HURRAY, we added concave! We added a mellow "U" concave to give you more confidence when sliding. The concave also helps lock your feet in when landing big spins and such. The concave is mellow and does not feel uncomfortable for footwork moves.
Nose and Tail Kicks
More nose and tail curvatures allow for easier catching of the nose and tail. If you get your timing down, yes you can ollie the Bhangra. Not easy, but it can be done. Both the nose and tail will lock your feet in nicely for manuals, but the different lengths result in distinct feelings of balance and pop. You may find riding the board in a certain direction better for some tricks; for example, the tail is really good for catching shuvits-to-manuals, while the nose feels better for hang ten manuals.
Functional grip tape Design
This is our most thought out grip design to date featuring a functional, shoe saving design and two different types of grip tape, oh yes. For the main standing platform, we used a mellower grip with a functional pattern to save your shoes. As you all know, when you do pivot motions on grip tape you slowly wear out the balls of your shoes; you are basically grinding away your soles on sandpaper. We cut out this grip design so that when you do your spinning moves, most of your shoe will move freely on the bamboo, not the grip tape. We also designed it so you still have plenty of grip tape on the rails of the board for confidence when sliding. We used a gnarlier, gripper grip tape on the nose and tail to help give you that extra locked in feeling when holding out steezy manuals
for the ladies and/or gentlemen.
Plus the extra grip makes it easier to catch the nose and tail for quick shuvit-to-manual moves.
We are stoked to say this is our most organic board to date. We have created a durable beast bound together with jello and spider tears. Actually, the board is constructed from bamboo, cork and epoxy bio-resin. We used no fiberglass in this board but were able to get the strength and flex characteristics we wanted by using two vertical cores of vert-lam bamboo with cork in the middle for weight reduction and dampening. The top of the board is a cross-ply of bamboo vert-lam to strengthen the board across the width and we use a similar ply in the center (next to the cork) to stiffen up the flex. Many of the boards have small holes in the nose and or tail. These are caused by grooves in the bottom core that allow the board to bend into a deeper concave. They will not affect the performance or durability of the board and are a great place to store soup.
Epoxy Bio-Resin
Not sure if you knew this, but resin plays a big part in how a board feels. We tried out a variety of resins, each having their own energy return properties and flex characteristics. For a board like this, we really dug a more mellow, damp feeling resin. Something that just kind of sinks nicely under your feet and does not have so much energy return that it wants to buck you off. We classify the flex as soft, damp, almost "dead" flex. In contrast a Dervish has a more lively, springy flex to it. So we found the perfect resin for this board and are even more stoked because it is a bio-resin and tastes good in cereal, hahaha.
Wheel Wells
We designed functional wheel wells to accommodate several brands of 180mm trucks and 70mm wheels without risers. They will prevent wheelbite in most circumstances; however, you may encounter bite if you run super loose trucks with soft bushings.
Phew and there it is - probably the most in-depth listing you will find anywhere on this site. But as they say...information is power, so use it wisely and get cruising!!


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Family can mean close or distant relationships, ranging far and wide in kinship degrees, but also in geographic and emotional terms. The closing of another year made me think fondly of my extended family. I began to take stock. The extent of the connections soon troubled my left brain where math skills reside in most people. It was my impression I had a quite small family. Two siblings. Three children. Let me tell you, they start to add up and no-one was more surprised than me.
I have one grandchild and therefore it's easy to remember the name and the birthday. The significant others of my children count, so including myself that's nine.
Then there are the five nephews and three nieces by blood. By marriage, there are more: four nephews and three nieces. Most of the nieces and nephews are regularly having children and I will even count those who lack red hair. That comes to fifteen plus another nine.
And I had five first cousins. My first cousins had eight children who are my first cousins once removed, and they soldier on producing children too. The cousin tally for three generations looks like nineteen. We are up to about 56 people by now and the rest gets fuzzy.
My father had siblings; my mother none. But both also had cousins of their own. I'd have to haul out some boxes and files or charts to find them although I know they're there because we write to each other even if they are the children of my mother's cousins. I'm starting to lose it here. Did I count my parents? Did I count myself? Nevertheless, I am connected to all these people in theory, but also to many of them in real time.
Entering the outlaw field, there have been some ten sisters-in-law and eight brothers-in-law (sequential partners have transpired, you understand). That's allowing for traditional liaisons and decently sustained periods of cohabitation.
Each of those cousins and in-laws has cousins unrelated to me and they don't count, but still, there's a connection. Looks to me like we are nudging the concept of six degrees of separation. There has to be a board game.
Some curiosa from my family connections:
• Sense of humour is not necessarily inherited or equitably distributed.
• Ditto regarding the ability to play the piano.
• Multiple university degrees do not guarantee earning a living.
• Grandparents in Florida trailer parks cleverly avoid overnight guests.
• Putting a touch of vaseline in your nostrils will help prevent painful cracking from dry winter air.
• If you can pronounce Musqodoboit you are a native of Nova Scotia.
• If Charles Stewart had rightfully become King Charles III, the U.S. would be a province of Canada.
• When you hit a moose with a car, only the moose survives.
• If you blog, the cousins will come.
The last week of 2008 brought me genealogy news on very different levels. When I first jotted down that last point, I couldn't have been more prescient. Two hitherto unknown cousins, both deeply into family history (on different lines of mine), contacted me. What a thrilling Christmas present!
I meant to close this post by saying, "At any moment someone will have another baby. Somewhere in this horde, I confidently expect one future genealogist." And I'll let it stand, despite the other news. Two of my connections became grandparents for the first time. Their son informed them that the baby was registered with a brand new surname unrelated to the parents or grandparents or anyone at all. Actually, the name was chosen from a botanical species. How's that for wiping out family history? Anyone ever heard of this happening before?
01 January 2009
Degrees of Separation
Labels: family connections
4 comments:
- Miriam Robbins said...
What a wonderful Christmas present!
- Friday, 02 January, 2009
Here's a cheat on the pronunciation from one of the very distant cousins.
The first two syllables sound like "musket" and the last two like "daub it". So "muss-ke-daub-it".
Pictou, Stewiacke, Tatamagouche also tend to gives non-Nova Scotians away. :)
- Saturday, 03 January, 2009
- Charley "Apple" Grabowski said...
It's a good thing you're around to record the latest birth or that future genealogist might be facing a brick wall!
- Saturday, 03 January, 2009
- BDM said...
Heather's right on. Took me a while because I don't see my NS-born sin-in-law that often who has a cabin there :-)
- Sunday, 04 January, 2009
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Apr 06, 2010 | ISBN 9780812978308
Apr 21, 2009 | 420 Minutes
"[A] thoughtful analysis of America's War on Terror." —The New Yorker
"Offers a very persuasive argument for the best way to counter jihadism."—The Washington Post
"[Reza] Aslan dissects a complex subject (terrorism and globalization) and distills it with a mix of narrative writing, personal anecdotes, reportage and historical analysis."—San Francisco Chronicle
"Aslan is not only a perspicuous, thoughtful interpreter of the Muslim world but also a subtle psychologist of the call to jihad."—Los Angeles Times
"[A] meaty analysis of the rise of Jihadism . . . dispels common misconceptions of the War on Terror age."—San Jose Mercury News
"It is Aslan's great gift to see things clearly, and to say them clearly, and in this important new work he offers us a way forward. He is prescriptive and passionate, and his book will make you think."—Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion


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Generally, digital copy movies comes with Blu-ray discs. At the same time, movies purchased from amazon, iTunes or other online stores are digital copy files. As a Kindle fire HD user, you may find it's diffcult to put your digital copy movies on Kindle fire HD for playback, because the Kindle fire HD still has not a license to play DRM contents. In fact, digital copy movies aren'tunbreakable. With a 3rd party tool. You can make it. Pavtube Chewtune is an outstanding one.
It could convert Digital Copy and other DRM-protected contents ( iTunes M4V videos, Amazon wmv videos etc ) to any other video formats for you to watch DRMed movies on your kindle fire HD. Meanwhile, this tool is rather simple to use, just few clicks. You will realizing converting digital copy movies to Kindle fire HD. Now, just follow the guide to realize.
Step 1. Install the Digital Copy to Kindle fire HD converter on your computer. Please Make sure the software is compatible with your computer. Here, i also suggest you installing the patch. The patch file includes kindle fire HD special preset to make the operation much easier.
Step 2. Run this DRM files to Kindle Fire HD Converter and import digital copy movie to the program. You can also copy and convert music/movies purchased through online stores, e.g. iTunes, Amazon, etc.
If you're converting Digital Copy movies from iTunes Store, better set it not remember position before converting movies. Here's the way to go: Launch iTunes, You can follow "Movies" -> "Get Info" -> "Options" -> "Remember position" -> "No" -> "OK"
Step 3. Choose Kindle fire HD video formats, click on "format" drop down list, in "android" category, you can easily find " Amazon Kindle Fire HD H.264 (*.mp4) ". Just select it.
Step 4. Click the big conversion button to start the process.
When you get the converted file, transfer it to kindle fire HD via USB cable, then, you can watch digital copy movies on Kindle fire HD as ease. Hope this article can really solve your problem.
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xcAuction used for creating your own custom auction website with all the types of powerful features you find on large auction sites like eBay.
xcClassified used for creating your own classified ad site loaded with features. Even popular classified ad sites like Craigslist do not even come close to the features found in xcClassified.
xcDirectory is a portal, link rating and indexing software package that allows you to create your own Yahoo style portal site index.
If you would like to learn more about XCENT, and our e-Commerce software and other web server applications or our other custom software development services, please contact us by visting our main web site at www.xcent.com.


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Dog Grooming Products from PetWorld.ie - dog brushes, dog combs, dog shampoos and much more.
Fast Nationwide Delivery
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Petworld Stores LTD, Pearse Road,
Letterkenny, Donegal, Ireland
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Scientific Explorer Our Amazing Solar System Model Kit
Please check your favorite toy retailer for availability. Prices may vary.
The ultimate solar system science kit for kids!
Buy Online:
Product Description
The ultimate solar system science kit for kids! A winner of the National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval, this kit provides hours of fun for kids who love outer space! This kit comes with 2 different sets of models. The "Desk Set" includes all the inner plants (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars). The "Sky Set" includes 8 model planets, Pluto, the Sun, and the 7 largest moons in the solar system. A 64-page activity book is also included with features 20 science experiments to conduct, facts, and step by step instructions for making, painting, and displaying the models. This kit by Scientific Explorer makes a perfect educational gift for kids ages 8 and up.
This 64-piece set includes:
- 16 planet halves
- Sun poster
- 9-piece stand set
- Model gauge
- Sculpey modeling compound
- sponge
- 2 paintbrushes
- Painting guide
- 10 sticker labels
- 8 color paints
- 9-piece accessory pack
- 4-piece planet ring set
- 64-page activity guide
There are no reviews yet.


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Trapping furbearing animals was once a full-time occupation. Today, regulated trapping is an important tool for managing our nation's natural resources.
- Trapping helps protect personal property by preventing or decreasing:
- Flooding caused by beaver dams
- Damage to homes, trees, gardens, and agricultural crops
- Killing of livestock or pets
- Trapping protects certain endangered or threatened species from predatory furbearers.
When used properly, trapping can be an alternative method to hunting for harvesting furbearers and an effective tool for wildlife management. Trappers should learn about the type of traps appropriate for the animal they're seeking and follow the trapper's code of ethics:
- Obtain the landowner's permission.
- Avoid setting traps in areas where domestic animals may be caught.
- Set traps to capture the target animal in the most humane way possible.
- Check traps at least once every 24 hours, preferably in the early morning.
- Record trap locations accurately.
- Identify all traps with waterproof name and address tags.
- Use as much of the animal as possible. Dispose of animal carcasses properly.
- Make an effort to trap only the surplus animals from each habitat.
- Assist farmers and other landowners who are having damage problems with wildlife.
- Dispatch trapped furbearers in a humane manner.
- Obtain all required licenses, tags, and permits. Since trapping laws vary by state, check the state's regulations before you go trapping.


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| 8.2°C Belfast
Home repair insurance business Homeserve was today fined more than £30 million following a mis-selling scandal that exposed "serious, systemic and long-running failings".
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said between 2005 and 2011 the company had a profit-driven culture where targets were met by taking advantage of existing customers.
In addition to the record fine, Homeserve has paid £12.9 million to affected customers in redress and is expected to pay £16.8 million in total.
FCA director Tracey McDermott said: " Homeserve is another example of a firm that has acted without proper regard for its customers over a long period of time.
"Homeserve promises to provide customers with peace of mind when things go wrong. In fact the firm's culture, controls and remuneration structures meant that staff were focused on quantity not quality and there were customers that paid the price for that."
Homeserve said today it had overhauled its management team and systems since the matters came to light two years ago.
Homeserve revealed last month that it had been told by the FCA to expect a fine in the region of £30 million.
The regulator's investigation covered the mis-selling of household emergency policies and poor handling of customer complaints by the company, whose products include boiler and central heating breakdown cover and insurance against blocked drains.
The scandal has already seen it fined £750,000 by regulator Ofcom in 2012 for silent and abandoned calls.
In its ruling, the FCA said Homeserve had "serious systemic and long-running failings, extending across many key aspects of its business".
It said: "During the period January 2005 to October 2011 it mis-sold insurance policies, failed to investigate complaints adequately, its board was insufficiently engaged with compliance matters and its senior management were reluctant to address risks to customers if there was a cost implication involved."
The FCA said the pay structure incentivised sales staff to increase the volume of products sold, irrespective of the customer's need for the product.
There was also pressure on staff to close as many complaints as possible, meaning there was a risk that grievances were not handled fairly and customers did not receive appropriate redress.
Homeserve recently said its efforts to address the scandal and reinforce a ''customer-focused culture'' had seen increased levels of customer satisfaction and fewer complaints.
Chief executive Richard Harpin said today: " We sincerely regret that some customers have been affected by these issues.
"We have transformed the business, rebuilding and strengthening the management team, retraining staff and restructuring systems and controls.
"We have worked very hard over the last two years to put customers back at the heart of our business and we are committed to offering valuable products with a high quality of service."


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Briefing note - Cedefop's European skills index: new tool for informed policy-making
The European skills index is a monitoring tool, providing a snapshot of how countries' skills systems perform. It depicts a complex reality in a single measure.
Its structure reflects the mesh of policy areas that influence performance. It is based on indicators that have proved relevant for this purpose from data sets such as the European Union labour force survey and OECD's PISA. The index shows at a glance how a country performs across all of these.
Publication Details


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Here's the latest article from the History site at BellaOnline.com.
John Cabot - Another Successul Failure
John Cabot was an explorer who set out to find one thing but discovered so much more.
Please visit history.bellaonline.com for even more great content about History.
To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about History located here -
I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback!
Have fun passing this message along to family and friends, because we all love free knowledge!
Rebecca Graf, History Editor
One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com


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Sarah Palfreyman, MathWorks
James Wiken, MathWorks
Learn how to use MATLAB to build mathematical models for forecasting and optimizing the behavior of complex systems. Product demonstrations will highlight how you can:
You will also learn about different approaches that can be used to develop models. This includes building and optimizing models using the MATLAB language and built in functionality, deriving system equations using symbolic computation, and leveraging pre-built graphical tools for specific modeling tasks such as parametric surface fitting.
Recorded: 20 Jul 2017


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Reassure Fit Kit: Underwear for Women
Reassure Perfect Fit Kits help you find the product that best fits your needs. Reassure offers an array of different styles and absorbencies, you'll be sure to find the right product for you. Get back to doing the things you love with Reassure.
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In stock
Item Code
The Reassure Heavy Pad Perfect Fit Kit offer pads in absorbencies ranging from Heavy to Overnight. Includes 3 each of the following:
- Reassure Premium Overnight Pad
- Reassure Premium Overnight Contour Pad
- Reassure Extra Coverage Overnight
- Reassure Flex-Shape Pad, Ultimate
- Reassure Flex Shape Pad, Heavy Plus
- Reassure Cotton Ultimate Pad
- Reassure Travel Washcloths
Please limit your order to one style kit per household. Due to product changes and availability, the contents of each pack may vary.
Write Your Own Review


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Watchuseek Blog
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
True artistry: Hermès Arceau Marqueterie de Paille
Hermès has just unveiled two new and unique pieces at SIHH 2012, the Hermès Arceau Marqueterie de Paille.
If points were awarded for degree of difficulty in watchmaking these two new watches from Hermès could be on course for the gold medal.
Hermès has traditionally shown its prowess in the designing of fabrics, but this time they have introduced the art into haute horology with the Arceau Marqueterie de Paille watches.
The Parisian luxury goods brand launched its first movement in 2008. At the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix in November Hermès scooped the prize for 'Best Men's Watch' for the Hermès Arceau Temps Suspendu.
The dials are composed of rye straw, grown in just one location in France. The straw is harvested and coloured before arriving at the workbench of supremely talented artisans. The miniature pattern is then assembled on paper before being applied to the 41mm watch. The case features the hallmark Hermès stirrup style lugs.
Split open with a thin blade and then manually flattened with a bone tool, the wisps are then cut up into various lengths. This calls for accurate gestures and considerable physical strength.
Playing with the colours and the directions of the various wisps, the artisan assembles his motifs on a sheet of graph paper. Glued in much the same way as a leather book binding, the straw marquetry motif is then meticulously assembled onto the watch dial.
The beauty of this technique is the uniqueness it creates for each dial. A showcase technique such as this deserves centre stage, so gone are the hallmark Hermès numerals normally found on an Arceau dial.
The watch is powered by the self-winding Calibre H1928 by the Manufacture Vaucher exclusively for Hermès who partly owns the manufacture.
The movement has a 55-hour power reserve. A matt indigo blue alligator strap perfectly matches the colours of the straw dial.
Posted by Michael West at 11:23 AM No comments: Links to this post
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3 cups small diced (peeled) Yukon potatoes
1 large bunch spring onions (about 8), white and green parts diced (divided use)
2 1/2 cups blue crab meat
3 ears' worth of fresh corn kernels (about 2 cups)
10 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
3 oz crumbled feta
2 teaspoons Old Bay*
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
Preheat oven to 350. In a 12 inch cast iron skillet, heat oil and butter. When hot, saute the potatoes, and white parts of the spring onions until the onions are translucent and the potatoes are nearly fork-tender. Add the crab, green onion, and corn and saute until it is warmed through. Whisk the spices, cheese
and milk into the eggs.
Pour over the vegetable/crab mixture. Tilt the skillet slightly and turn to coat the ingredients in the skillet with the egg mixture. Keep on medium heat and cook until just beginning to set. Bake for 20 minutes or until the top is just beginning to brown and the center no longer jiggles. Check to make sure it is fully cooked by sticking it with a thin knife. Remove from pan and slice.
*If needed, I used crab leftover from picking steamed crabs so I didn't need this much Old Bay. However, if using fresh crab meat from the store, you can Old Bay it up!


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Sirloin Tips With Mushrooms
My husband is an avid hunter, so I look for beef recipes that also work using venison. This one fills the bill nicely.
Total TimePrep: 30 min. Bake: 1 hour
Makes2 servings
- 3/4 pound beef top sirloin steak, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 4 teaspoons butter
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 1 small onion, sliced and separated into rings
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons beef broth
- 3 tablespoons dry red wine or additional beef broth
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 3/4 teaspoon soy sauce
- Hot cooked noodles or rice
- In a skillet, brown beef in butter; remove and set aside. To the same skillet, add the oil and mushrooms, onion and garlic; saute until tender. Add beef; transfer to a greased 1-qt. baking dish. Cover and bake at 325° for 1 hour or until beef is tender.
- In a saucepan, combine the cornstarch, cream, broth, wine or additional broth, Dijon mustard and soy sauce until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Stir into meat mixture until blended. Serve over noodles.


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Last week's event on November 8 at the University of Minnesota Law School exceeded expectation: a large, lively audience (est. 120) asking great questions, and an impassioned panel of local officials and a defense attorney giving their own insightful and at times impassioned reactions to my talk on "Failed Evidence."
There was one thing that was not unexpected: plenty of discussion of the still-unfolding scandal at the St. Paul crime lab, including a revelation that I had not heard before.
For those not familiar with what's been happening at the St. Paul lab, take a quick look at my Failed Evidence blog post from last Thursday, which will link you to much of the news coverage in the last several months. We've learned about a lack of protocols, some very sloppy handling of evidence, and more. But at the event, we heard from John Harrington, former chief of police in St. Paul and a member of the panel, that the problems recently revealed may in fact have roots that go back some years, and that he told local officials about shortcomings at the lab as early as 2006 and 2007. Chief Harrington said that he brought engineers from 3M into the lab in 2006 to study it, pinpoint any problems, and to tell him what to fix and how. The good folks at 3M did their work, and came back to Chief Harrington with a plan and a price tag: $2 million dollars. Chief Harrington sought federal funding, but without success. He then went to local officials, and they turned him down. He was told, in effect, do the best you can with what you have. There was no appetite for fixing the problems if there was a cost to doing so; the system would simply have to limp along.
Without knowing more, it is impossible to tell for sure whether the problems spotted by 3M in 2006 were the same ones that came to public notice in 2012, or whether the issues found by 3M in 2006 led to the 2012 issues. But we can be sure of one thing in this world: you get what you pay for, and if you won't pay to improve things when necessary, you won't get improvement. So is seems that this information deserves to be taken seriously. If these facts are not already part of the investigation into the lab scandal (and I can't find anything about them in the news coverage thus far — please correct me if I am wrong), perhaps they should be.


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If my kitchen could look like Williams-Sonoma, I'd be a happy girl. I recently received a W-S credit, and used it to buy some mini madeleine pans. Practical gal that I am, I concluded that it was only practical to make madeleines this weekend – don't you agree?
I never made madeleines before (though I have consumed many), so I deferred to David Lebovitz's tried and true recipe, located here. I haven't changed it and am just adding my pictures of the process.
You will need:
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- rounded 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- 1tsp baking powder
- zest of one small lemon
- 9 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature, plus additional melted butter for preparing the molds
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tbsp water
1. Brush the indentations of a madeleine mold with melted butter. Dust with flour, tap off any excess, and place in the fridge or freezer.
2. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, whip the eggs, granulated sugar, and salt for 5 minutes until frothy and thickened.
3. Spoon the flour and baking powder into a sifter or mesh strainer and use a spatula to fold in the flour as you sift it over the batter.
4. Add the lemon zest to the cooled butter, then dribble the butter into the batter, a few spoonfuls at a time, while simultaneously folding to incorporate the butter. Fold just until all the butter is incorporated.
5. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (Batter can be chilled for up to 12 hours.) To bake the madeleines, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
6. Plop enough batter in the center of each indentation with enough batter to fill it by 3/4′s. Do not spread it.
7. Bake for 8-9 minutes or until the cakes just feel set. While the cakes are baking, make a glaze in a small mixing bowl by stirring together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and water until smooth.
9. Remove from the oven and tilt the madeleines out onto a cooling rack. The moment they're cool enough to handle, dip each cake in the glaze, turning them over to make sure both sides are coated and scrape off any excess with a dull knife. After dipping, rest each one back on the cooking rack, scalloped side up, until the cakes are cool and the glaze has firmed up.
Storage: Glazed madeleines are best left uncovered, or not tightly-wrapped; they're best eaten the day they're made. They can be kept in a container for up to three days after baking, if necessary. (Noshgirl note: I doubt mine will make it to Day 3. Yum.)
This basic recipe was quite straightforward and in my opinion, pretty foolproof. My next step would be to use it as a base to create other madeleine flavors.
Tell me, what type of madeleine would you like to see me make?


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FICPAYou Are Here:
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How to Upgrade to iOS 6 on iPhone, iPad And iPod Touch
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Apple released its new mobile operating system iOS 6 Sept. 19, 2012, which includes a lot of new features. This update is over the air, which makes it much easier than hooking your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to your Mac or PC and use iTunes. Apple flipped the switch, and you can install it now.
Note: While all of the new devices announced by Apple last week will come with the new version, it's only compatible with these currently available devices:
Back Up Before Upgrading
Before you upgrade, I highly recommend you back up your device first. Back up to iCloud, and for extra peace of mind, I would do a manual backup via iTunes to have a local copy too. You can bet that Apple's servers will be under an extreme load for the next couple of day, and some users will experience problems when upgrading.
To back up your device to iCloud, go to Settings >> iCloud then tap Back Up Now.
To create a local backup on your Mac or PC, plug in your device and launch iTunes if it doesn't automatically. Select the device and scroll down to the Backup section and tick Back Up to This Computer, then click Apply.
Also, make sure to have a power supply handy. The upgrade might take a while, and you don't want your battery to die in the middle of it.
Upgrade to iOS 6
On your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch go to Settings >> General >> Software Updates.
Tap to start the update process. You'll see a progress screen while its downloaded and installed. Your device will reboot while the update is installed. I started to update my iPad 3 soon after iOS 6 was made available today, and the entire thing took about an hour over WiFi, but your mileage may vary.
After you have a successful update, you'll need to enter in a few things like your Apple ID password and which features to enable. For example if you want to use Siri on The New iPad. If you set up your device as new through iTunes, the set up process is a bit longer.
After the update has successfully installed, you'll see a ton of updates for your apps.
Now enjoy the new features in iOS 6.
Update iTunes
If you still use iTunes on Mac or PC to manage your digital media and apps, make sure to upgrade iTunes to version 10.7. You will have to upgrade in order to use iOS 6 with it. Just remember this isn't the new revamped version of iTunes that Apple announced last week. It's an incremental update that provides support for iOS 6 and the new iPod Nano.
This Tech Tip is brought to you by the Business and Technology Section ... IT solutions for today's CPAs. For more information and to view an archive of previous Tech Tips, please visit us here.
Do you have specific topics you would like to see covered in Tech Tips? Email any suggestions to firstname.lastname@example.com.


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What is the Liberal Agenda on Taxes?
While liberals debate a new government-run health care plan, it is important to take note of all the taxes being discussed in Washington right now. Taxes have real economic implications if you are paying the government, then you have less money for your family or your business. Higher taxes mean less investment and fewer jobs as the economy tries to recover from this severe recession. Higher taxes make it harder for our businesses to compete with other countries. There are real consequences, as you will see outlined below.
President Obamas Budget Proposal
The Obama budget raises taxes by $1.4 trillion. Starting in 2011, married taxpayers making over $250,000 would see the marriage penalty return. Federal death taxes would come back to life, even though they were supposed to be eliminated in 2010. President Obama's budget extends it permanently at 2009 levels a 45 percent rate and $3.5 million exemption. Also in 2011, those making over $250,000 a year will see their tax rate increase from 35% to almost 40%.
The Health Care Surtax
While the Senate health care bill has yet to be released to the public, the House bill contains hefty taxes to pay for the new government-run plan. The bill raises taxes by $591 billion over 10 years by imposing a new "surtax" on top of existing taxes between 1% and 5.4% on singles earning over $280,000, and families earning over $350,000. This money would be redistributed to pay for the massive government health care program.
An Energy Tax
The cap and trade legislation authored by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Edward Markey (D-MA) and passed in the House in June is nothing more than a big energy tax that would gravely affect our economy. American families and businesses would be burdened with direct and indirect energy costs, as energy prices will skyrocket as a result of the bill:
- Gasoline prices will rise 58 percent (or $1.38/gallon)
- Natural gas prices will rise 55 percent
- Heating oil prices will rise 56 percent
- Electricity prices will rise 90 percent
Taxes are not the Solution for Our Long-Term Budget Crisis
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), raising federal income tax rates to pay for entitlement programs, such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, would require all rates to nearly double over the next 40 years. So by the time today's newborns hit middle age, lower-income earners would be paying a 19 percent rate rather than today's 10 percent rate. Middle class earners would pay 47 percent, not today's 25 percent. High earners – be they individuals or corporations – would be paying 66 percent, instead of 35 percent. And that's before any state taxes or payroll taxes. Clearly, such high tax rates are not feasible. Real reform of Americas deficit problem would require entitlement reform, and cutting spending.


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BRUNSWICK, Maine- In a non-conference matchup between the Brandeis University baseball team and the Bowdoin Polar Bears, the Judges fell 8-7 on the road. In this contest, errors proved costly for the Judges as they dropped to 10-20 on the season despite churning out seven runs on nine hits. The Polar Bears improved to 21-9.
Brandeis took the lead early when senior Chris Ferro (Walpole, Mass./ Walpole) doubled to open the first inning and later scored on a sacrifice fly by junior DH Dan Gad (Mansfield, Mass./ Mansfield). Bowdoin rallied quickly, tying the score in the bottom of the frame before building their lead to 5-1 after four innings. In the fifth, the Judges rallied, scoring four runs on five hits with the big blow coming from sophomore SS Brian Allen (Salem, N.H./ Central Catholic) when he delivered a two RBI single with one out and the bases loaded.
The tie did not last long. In the bottom of the sixth, two Brandeis errors led to three Polar Bear runs as Bowdoin took the lead for good. The Judges nearly rallied once more in the top of the eighth when three errors by the home team led to two runs but that was as close as they would get.
Brandeis was led offensively by Ferro and Allen. Ferro was 2-for-5 on the afternoon with a double, a run, and an RBI while Allen was 1-for-2 with a run scored and two RBI. Senior starter Dylan Britton (Poughquag, N.Y./ Arlington) took the loss as he dropped to 4-4 after 5 1/3, innings allowing eight runs (six earned) on 11 hits with one walk and one strikeout. Four different Judges relievers combined to close out the game.
The Polar Bears were led by junior right fielder John Lefeber (Branford, Conn./ Hamden Hall) who went 3-for-5 with a double, a run, and three RBI while senior DH Dan Findley (Duxbury, Mass./ Roxbury Latin) was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, and three runs scored. Junior pitcher Mike Levine (Chappaqua, N.Y./ Horace Greely) picked up the win to move to 1-0 for the season after a scoreless sixth while sophomore David Zabinsky (Sharon, Mass./ Sharon) earned his third save of the year with a perfect ninth.
Bowdoin head coach Mike Connolly, who graduated from Brandeis in 1994, is currently leading his squad on a school record winning streak that hit 12 after today's win.
The Judges return to action on Thursday April 25th at 3:00 p.m. against Gordon College on Stein Diamond. The Polar Bears travel to Tufts University for a 3:00 p.m. contest on Friday April 26th.


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Home :: HOLIDAY :: Christmas/Winter :: Personalized Holiday Cards ::
Share a classic winter scene with all of your friends and family with the elegant Plantable Cardinals Christmas Cards Set. As an added gift that's sure to be appreciated, the seed paper holiday cards are printed on eco-friendly plantable paper, which is made using post-consumer materials and will grow wildflowers when planted.
Card size: 4 1/2 x 6 1/4 inches
Inside message reads: "Wishing you a joyful holiday season and a happy New Year"
Set of 8 seed cards. Each plantable Christmas cards set includes matching cocoa brown envelopes made using 100% post-consumer waste.


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Carbondale partnered with SeeClickFix in early 2016 to improve communication between its 25,000+ citizens and government staff.
In 2015, Bainbridge Island partnered with SeeClickFix to better engage its 23,000+ citizens. Since then, they've done that and even more for their community.
Rebecca Bombero serves as the Director of the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Trees for New Haven. She has a limited budget and needs robust, smart tools - one of them is SeeClickFix.
Virginia Beach needed to centralize their internal work order systems, while bringing their citizens better public services. Since 2014, Virginia Beach has been using SeeClickFix for Public Works and Code Enforcement work order systems, and their 311 call center.
Howard County partnered with SeeClickFix to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance communication for its 290,000+ population.
Vallejo had an uncoordinated system for fielding non-emergency service requests from citizens and lacked a means of uniformly communicating progress of request resolution efforts. The city needed a lightweight platform to intergrate into its current one to solve these problems and more.
Developing New Models for SeeClickFix Use on the State Level In 2013, the Utah Department of Transportation wanted to overhaul their work order management system to make it more user friendly for citizens and more labor efficient for staff.
New Haven has been using SeeClickFix for more than six years. Today more than 12% of its citizens use SeeClickFix. The City has integrated SeeClickFix into its existing workflow - each request goes where it needs to, and citizens are engaged and informed.
In Huntsville, Alabama, they have developed Green Team, an innovative approach to addressing this request that utilizes technology to engage citizens in public services. And they are seeing tremendous results.
The Houston 311 call center serves the City's 2.1 million citizens at all times. With 30,000 service requests each month, improved efficiency can save the city save lots of money.
In 2012, Enfield was using a web-based non-emergency service request tool for years. But they couldn't leverage the data for insight into request patterns, geographical distribution, workflow management, or operational efficiency.
Corona's service requests were scattered and difficult for citizens to use. Its partnership with SeeClickFix helped centralize them into a single location and better automate the process for its citizens to better engage them.
Albany, New York's capital, needed a way to route citizen requests to the appropriate departments without a centralized call center. SeeClickFix helped bridge this gap with its citizens reporting tool.
In 2012, the Borough of Princeton and the Township of Princeton were consolidated into one municipality - Princeton. Princeton hen needed a centralized info center for residents to connect with its new services.
Huntsville launched Huntsville Connect, a program that allows nearly 184,000 Alabamians to alert and communicate neighborhood concerns to the city. The successful launch was thanks to the four key ingredients of a SeeClickFix Integration.
The City of Ann Arbor has always been driven to listen to its citizens. This drive is shown in the City's continual efforts to deploy and develop cutting edge technological solutions that evolve with the needs and habits of Ann Arborites.


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|Ancestry.com Family History Wiki
A great place to learn more about family history
A service from Ancestry.com
Greene is a county in North Carolina. It was formed in 1791 (as Glasgow; renamed 1799) from Dobbs county. Greene began keeping birth records in 1913, marriage records in 1875, and death records in 1913. It began keeping land records in 1857, probate records in 1809, and court records in 1861. For more information, contact the county at 229 Kingold, Ste. D, Snow Hill 28580-1331. On the attached map, Greene is located at H3. Record loss, 1876. Records fragmented. Read more...
The Ancestry.com Wiki is made up of four kinds of fantastic content:
We know that each genealogist is an expert in his or her own field and we invite you share your expertise. If that means correcting some outdated information from one of our printed sources, that's great. If it means writing a brand new article about a topic we haven't covered yet, even better.
Our wiki is growing fast, but you can help it grow even faster. Check out some of these pages that are just waiting to be created. To get started, click the title and start writing.
See the whole list here. For help writing and editing articles, see our help page.
The Ancestry.com Wiki is built using MediaWiki, the same platform used by Wikipedia, the FamilySearch Wiki, and WeRelate, so if you have used any of those great resources, your knowledge should transfer perfectly. In any case, the following articles are here to help you master the Ancestry.com Wiki.


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Google's Crisis Response product manager provides insight into the best ways to share emergency information online and how search engines can utilize it.
During Hurricane Sandy's landfall in the U.S. and the time immediately after it, about 15 million search queries were made through Google about the storm. In contrast, the Hurricane Sandy pages on FEMA.gov were viewed fewer than 1 million times — a DHS report put the total page views at about 740,000. While important and even life-saving information is housed on government websites, the way it's posted can impact how quickly and easily platforms like Google can locate and highlight the data. Technology leaders told members of Congress in June that posting emergency-related information online in open, machine-readable formats is necessary for allowing it to be quickly disseminated to the public. But what does that really mean for emergency managers?
Nigel Snoad, product manager for crisis response and civic innovation at Google, told Emergency Management how response and preparedness organizations can post information online in ways that make it easily searchable and shareable.
1. Post free text.
Snoad said PDFs and images are the worst offenders. Don't put text in an image, which requires a person to read the information to make sense of it. Google's Web-crawling bot, or Googlebot, searches the Web for new and updated sites, automating the information-seeking process. Similarly, Bing has four crawlers that handle different search needs. These Web crawlers search and collate the information, allowing for the search engine sites to make use of it. "A machine-readable format allows us to structure the data and use it in a really relevant way," Snoad said.
While PDFs that have text in them are discoverable, PDFs that contain images or PDFs of maps make the information difficult to share.
In written testimony to a House Homeland Security subcommittee, Matthew Stepka, Google vice president of technology for social impact, advised publishing alerts using open Web formats like Atom and RSS. In addition, live feeds can be published using the Common Alerting Protocol, GeoRSS for encoding location information and KML for maps. This makes the data available to Google — and other search engines — and its tools within seconds of publication.
"When we set up our Hurricane Sandy crisis map, we had to spend time copying and pasting information about public hazards from a PDF," Stepka said. "After we did so, the data quickly became obsolete, and we had to ask for an updated version."
2. Don't lock up data in licenses.
Snoad said they see many websites that say the information is not for commercial use, cannot be distributed and/or is fully copyrighted — even with emergency data. "During a crisis this doesn't make much sense," he said. Government agencies and organizations should consider how they want their information to be used; choose a data license that allows the information to be reused in a way that helps the public and allows for wide distribution. "Having the data available via an open license means someone like Google or any other company or citizens can take it and share it and make it really useful for everybody else," Snoad said.
A PDF that a user downloads or views from a website that is vague about reuse also isn't helpful. "A lot of people will do the right thing and use it appropriately, but if it's an emergency evacuation notice that's attached to a page that says 'copyright, not allowed to copy this information,' that's just kind of silly," Snoad said. "People need to be thoughtful about who the users are."
3. Use open, commercial tools to share and save data.
Even if information is published in a way that allows for easy reuse and machine readability, the servers that store the data may crash during an emergency. "You don't want your evacuation zone maps to be on a server that gets overwhelmed by the public trying to look at it — that can cause a tragedy unfortunately," Snoad said. He recommends using open, commercial tools to share important messages. This includes posting on social media sites, saving data in the cloud and publishing data on open mapping systems.
And what are the benefits to emergency managers who follow this guidance? Google seeks to consolidate and discover relevant information for users. "It's our core mission to organize information and make it accessible and useful during a crisis," Snoad said. "Information is absolutely critical; it's lifesaving — and not just for first responders but for citizens."
The data helps power tools like Google's Crisis Maps, while helping search engines highlight useful information for citizens, including shelter locations, evacuation maps and emergency alerts.