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Contact us to set up a portal today.
These innovative technologies and more are available to you in your very own password protected area. Think of it as your own personal website within our website, that helps make your printing and ordering responsibilities easier.
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Proofing is an important part of the printing process. One tiny error or omission can cause big problems. That's why we go to great lengths to proof every job for accuracy and overall quality. It's even more important, however, that you have the opportunity to review the document before it goes to press. After all, it's your vision and you should be the final judge. In order to make proofing as fast and easy as possible, our online system allows you to view and approve proofs right from your computer.
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Our Document Library system can provide you with 24/7 online access to your frequently ordered items. From there, you can view past documents and reorder the quantities you need. We can even enable you to personalize and submit business cards and other variable data projects online with web-based editing and publishing utilities.


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This is an installment in our ongoing series of "What Is...?" articles, designed to offer definitions, history, and context around significant terms and issues in the online video industry.
HTML5 rocketed to the forefront with Apple's decision to forgo Flash and use HTML5 technology to deliver video to the iPad. Actual HTML5 usage, however, has been slowed by low HTML5-compatible browser penetration, the need to encode video into two or three formats for complete HTML5 compatibility, and the lack of feature parity with Flash, the predominant plug-in based technology for viewing video on the web.
HTML5 needs to be on the radar screen of all streaming media producers, but switching over to HTML5 does not appear to be a short-term priority as of this writing.
HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language, and HTML is the primary language used to produce most web sites. HTML is a standard maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (WC3), a group that includes browser developers and other interested technology companies. HTML5 is the latest iteration of HTML to be introduced by the WC3.
In 2004, a group called the HTML Working Group (HTMLWG) was formed by employees of Apple, the Mozilla Foundation, and Opera Software, because these companies "were becoming increasingly concerned about the W3C's direction with XHTML, lack of interest in HTML, and apparent disregard for the needs of real-world authors." Later, the WC3 recognized the HTMLWG, and tasked it with providing (among other deliverables):
To a degree, this dual control has led to two specifications of HTML5 (see, for example, "The two specifications of HTML 5.0: WHAT WG vs W3C,") or at least the appearance of two specifications. Here's an explanation from the WHATWG FAQ.
The editor takes feedback from everyone into account and does not look at the source of those arguments for technical arguments.
The W3C HTML Working Group has an escalation process that in some cases results in a decision being made that differs from the editor's original decision on a topic. So far, whenever this has happened the WHATWG has gone along with the W3C's request; nothing of especially big importance has been changed in this manner so far (it's mostly been editorial issues or mostly minor technical issues). In general the WHATWG will ensure that the normative content of the specifications (the requirements on authors and implementors) remains the same so long as the W3C group doesn't demonstrate any serious lapses in judgement.
On January 18, 2011, the W3C revealed an HTML5 logo (Figure 1), complete with t-shirts and stickers, and on February 14, 2011, W3C announced that HTML5 would be finalized in mid-2014.
Figure 1. The HTML5 logo.
In contrast, on January 11, 2011, in a blog post entitled "HTML is the new HTML5," the WHATWG announced that they were moving to a "new development model that eliminated the HTML5 version number and made the existing HTMLWG spec a "living standard." Ian Hickson, editor of both the WC3 and WHATWG standards, commented:
Since the W3C is still focused on getting HTML5 to last call, I'll maintain a WHATWG copy of the HTML spec that matches what the W3C HTML WG is working on:
I've updated the FAQ's explanation of what specs exist, in case you want to get an overview (it's getting somewhat complicated!):
So, HTML5 is dead from the WHATWG perspective, but you can buy an HTML5 t-shirt from the WC3. This complexity notwithstanding, both the WC3 and WHATWG versions of the specification are consistent on how they deal with the video tag, discussed next. For the sake of clarity, we're going to continue to call the spec HTML5 in this article.
HTML5 is a sweeping specification, with multiple new features and capabilities. From a streaming media perspective, however, what's particularly interesting about HTML5 is that it contains a video tag that enables browsers to natively play back video within the page, obviating the need for plug-ins like Flash, Silverlight, and QuickTime. This particular aspect came to the forefront in early 2010 when Apple introduced the iPad without support for Flash, with video playback accomplished via HTML5.
To support this feature, however, browser vendors must directly implement codec playback capabilities in their browsers. Originally, there were two video codecs being considered for use in HTML5: Ogg Theora, which is open source, and H.264, which bears royalty obligations. While the original goal of the specification was to specify one video codec that would work across all browsers, this goal proved unreachable. Here's a quote from a June 29, 2009 Ian Hickson post to the WHATWG message list:
After an inordinate amount of discussions, both in public and privately, on the situation regarding codecs for <video> and <audio> in HTML5, I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that there is no suitable codec that all vendors are willing to implement and ship.
I have therefore removed the two subsections in the HTML5 spec in which codecs would have been required, and have instead left the matter undefined, as has in the past been done with other features like <img> and image formats, <embed> and plugin APIs, or Web fonts and font formats.
The current situation is as follows:
Apple refuses to implement Ogg Theora in Quicktime by default (as used by Safari), citing lack of hardware support and an uncertain patent landscape.
Google has implemented H.264 and Ogg Theora in Chrome, but cannot provide the H.264 codec license to third-party distributors of Chromium, and have indicated a belief that Ogg Theora's quality-per-bit is not yet suitable for the volume handled by YouTube.
Opera refuses to implement H.264, citing the obscene cost of the relevant patent licenses.
Mozilla refuses to implement H.264, as they would not be able to obtain a license that covers their downstream distributors.
Microsoft has not commented on their intent to support <video> at all.
Since then, Google bought On2 and open sourced the VP8 codec as WebM, which has been implemented in Google Chrome ( version 6.0+) and the Opera browser (version 10.6+) and will be supported in Mozilla Firefox 4.0 when it ships (and is currently available in the beta). Google also announced their intention to drop H.264 support from Chrome.
Safari has not implemented any codec other than H.264. Microsoft implemented H.264 in Internet Explorer 9, but later stated that their new browser will support "VP8 video when the user has installed a VP8 codec on Windows."
While there is no single HTML5 codec that will work in all browsers, by using alternative tags like those shown in Figure 2, websites can fully support all HTML5-compatible browsers.
Figure 2. Jilion uses multiple tags and files to fully support HTML5.
It should be noted that some of these codec limitations can be avoided via downloadable plug-ins. For example, on January 14, 2011, Google promised to release plug-ins that enable WebM support in Safari and Internet Explorer 9 via the HTML standard <video> tag canPlayType interface. In addition, on February 2, 2011, Microsoft released the Windows Media Player HTML5 Extension for Chrome, which will enable the Chrome browser to continue to play H.264 video via HTML5 once Google removes H.264 support from Chrome.
Meanwhile, issues of patent infringement reared their ugly heads with both Ogg Theora and WebM. By way of background, MPEG LA manages the patent pool for H.264 and a number of other technologies. In an interview with Streaming Media on March 4, 2010, MPEG LA CEO Larry Horn commented that "no one in the market should be under the misimpression that other codecs such as Theora are patent-free. Virtually all codecs are based on patented technology, and many of the essential patents may be the same as those that are essential to AVC/H.264. Therefore, users should be aware that a license and payment of applicable royalties is likely required to use these technologies developed by others, too."
In April, 2010, when Steve Jobs was asked why Apple used H.264 instead of Ogg Theora, he reportedly replied "All video codecs are covered by patents. A patent pool is being assembled to go after Theora and other "open source" codecs now. Unfortunately, just because something is open source, it doesn't mean or guarantee that it doesn't infringe on others patents."
MPEG-LA never took any formal action against Ogg Theora, most likely because it was largely supplanted by WebM. Regarding WebM, however, Microsoft attributed its decision not to implement WebM directly in Internet Explorer 9 to Google's refusal to indemnify, or pay the costs of patent infringement, should Microsoft get sued patent infringement for using WebM:
For example, will Google indemnify Mozilla, a PC OEM, a school, a Web site, a chip manufacturer, a device company, or an individual for using WebM? Will they indemnify Apple? Microsoft? Will they indemnify any or all of these parties worldwide? If Google were truly confident that the technology does not infringe and is not encumbered by patents whatsoever, wouldn't this indemnification be easy?
On February 10, 2011, MPEG-LA issued a call for patents essential to WebM, which could lead to royalties for anyone using the technology. On March 4, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department is investigating MPEG-LA to determine whether it's "unfairly trying to smother a free rival technology for delivering online video that is backed by Google Inc."
To be fair, licensing H.264 with MPEG-LA doesn't guarantee that third parties not included in the H.264 patent pool won't assert intellectual property rights against companies using H.264, with the AVC/H.264 FAQ stating "No assurance is or can be made that the License includes every essential patent." However, at this point, their appears to be a far greater risk that users of WebM will be subject to third party royalty claims than users of H.264
With this as background, let's examine some practical issues relating to using HTML5.
According to NetMarketShare, as of March, 2011, the percentage of HTML5-compatible browsers was well under 46%. This is shown in Figure 3, where three of the top four browsers were older versions of Internet Explorer, comprising 54% of the total, were not HTML5 compatible. Tallying the top 30 browsers in terms of market share revealed that about 40% are currently HTML5 compatible, while 59% were not.
Figure 3. Browser usage stats as of March, 2011.
Now that a release candidate of Internet Explorer 9 is shipping, you would expect these numbers to change dramatically over the next twelve months. On the other hand, NetMarketShare also reports that Windows XP users comprise 55.09% of the installed base of all operating systems, and IE9 won't run on Windows XP. Certainly these users of legacy versions of Internet Explorer could install other HTML5 compatible browsers, but they could have long before Internet Explorer 9 launched, and most didn't. One would have to assume that either these desktop users didn't care about HTML5, were on locked down corporate, government or education desktops, or both.
Note that it's possible to create HTML5 syntax that displays video first using HTML5 if available, and then falls back to Flash, Silverlight or other plug-in for legacy browsers. This approach should work well for most simple, video in a window, playback applications. However, as a new technology, HTML5 doesn't offer many of the features available for alternative platforms like Flash or Silverlight, at least not in proven, cross-browser compatible form.
For example, though YouTube has made an HTML5 player available since January, 2010, YouTube still defaults to the Flash Player. On June 29, 2010, YouTube addressed why in the YouTube API Blog, where the company stated that the video tag doesn't currently meet all of YouTube's needs. Areas that needed work included the lack of a standard video format, robust video streaming, content protection, Encapsulation and Embedding, Fullscreen Video ,and Camera and Microphone access.
As the YouTube blog states, progress is being made in many areas. For example, Wowza Media Systems (Figure 4) has previewed a version of Wowza Media Server that streams live HTML5 video with WebM, though it requires a WebM compatible browser for playback. Anevia is also showing a WebM-based live, adaptive streaming solution, though this requires a WebM-compatible browser as well. Flumotion has also implemented live streaming with WebM.
Figure 4. Wowza Media Server streaming live WebM video to WebM compatible browsers.
At the second annual W3C Web and TV Workshop, held in Berlin in February 2011, there were sessions on HTTP Adaptive Streaming and Content Protection, though standards have yet to be proposed or adapted, indicating that a standards-based solution is many months, if not years, away.
In this regard, it's important to distinguish HTML5-based technologies available for iOS devices from general purpose HTML5 technologies. That is, while Apple has created solutions for live, adaptive streaming and digital rights management for the iOS platform, these won't work in other browsers. For example, Apple HTTP Live Streaming, which enables live and on demand, single file or adaptive streaming, only runs on "iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch (requires iOS version 3.0 or later) or any device with QuickTime X or later installed." (). QuickTime X is available only for Mac OS X Snow Leopard, and not for Windows computers.
The most high profile adaption of HTML5 to date has been by Apple with the iPad, though as mentioned, many components of this solution are Apple specific, and all videos are in H.264 format, so won't play on the current majority of HTML5 browsers. While many commercial and broadcast sites support the iPad, very, very few (if any) fully support all HTML5 browsers with the required three formats of video.
Multiple UGC sites, including YouTube and Vimeo, have HTML5 compatible players, though both require users to opt in to view the HTML5 pages. At the time of this writing, YouTube (a Google subsidiary) is still producing HTML5 compatible files in both H.264 and WebM formats, with no word if H.264 will be dropped. Neither site encoded video into Ogg format, so the only way for Firefox users, which comprise about 50% of the HTML5 compatible market, to view content from these sites is via the Flash Player.
Otherwise, multiple service providers like Kaltura and Brightcove are making HTML5 compatible solutions available, though the most common applications are for HTML5 video support on iOS devices. Many third parties are releasing HTML5 compatible players and toolkits for game development and other HTML5-based applications.
At WebM's launch on May 19, 2011, Adobe announced that "we are excited to include the VP8 video codec in Flash Player in an upcoming release, which will help provide users with seamless access to high quality video content on all of their Internet-connected devices." A WebM compatible version of the Flash Player has neither been shipped, or announced, as of the time of this writing. On August 31, 2010, Adobe shipped the Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 HTML5 Pack which added many new HTML5-related features to Adobe's popular HTML authoring program.
HTML5 has become a high profile "got to have it" buzz word that sounds more immediately compelling and accessible in the abstract than it is in reality. Understanding the current status and limitations is critical to all streaming media producers.
For more resources on HTML5 Video, check out Streaming Media's "25 HTML5 Video Resources You Might Have Missed."
HTTP, RTSP, RTMP, Smooth Streaming, HLS, HDS, and more: What exactly are streaming protocols, and how do they interact with other communications protocols?
Olympic sponsor BP America has created an attractive, responsive, and moving site that delivers HTML5 video first with a Flash fallback.
MPEG DASH is the latest hot topic in the online video space. Here we break down what it is, and what its implications might be for video delivery in the future.
Mozilla releases Popcorn.JS 1.0 at festival, letting creators tie video to related content.
Apple's HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol is the technology used to deliver video to Apple devices like the iPad and iPhone. Here's a primer on what HLS is and how to use it.
There's a lot of potential in HTML5 video, but its final form is still being decided. Learn about the obstacles it needs to face.
HTML5 offers a lot of promise, just not what everyone thinks. To get the real scoop on what it can do, watch this Streaming Media East presentation.
After viewing this video, video publishers will have all the information they need to encode and stream to HTML5 browsers.
Two young but seasoned HTML5 Video experts tell viewers why they should use HTML5 Video and guide them through the required code in this presentation.
HTML5 video might be getting all the attention, but video publishers who want to serve the widest possible audience should make it the format of last resort. A presentation from Streaming Media East 2011 attempts to burst HTML5 video's balloon.
The announcement that many saw coming is now official: YouTube is transcoding to WebM, but still supporting H.264.
Sleek HTML5 player delivers videos on a range of platforms and devices and is easy to implement.
A look at key developments that shaped the HTML5 platform, as well as practical and technical resources to help you implement HTML5 Video
MPEG LA's call for patents could do serious damage to the WebM format and lead to the industry standardizing on H.264. Let's hope!
Here's a list of articles, videos, websites, and conferences that can help you better understand the issues surrounding the HTML5 Video tag, as well as the HTML5 specification in general.
Last week, MPEG LA issued a patent pool request, which Google brushed off as "old news"
The world of HTML5 video is fragmented, but a recent webinar explains how content providers can best prepare for it.
Google's attempt to clarify its decision to drop H.264 from Chrome in favor of WebM creates even more questions than it answers
With Google's announcement that it's dropping H.264 support in Chrome in favor of WebM, it's time to start looking at the format. Here's a look at how to get the best WebM quality.
A look at best practices for HTML5 Video deployment
Pay no attention to the man behind the Mac. HTML5 won't be a serious consideration for at least a few years.

subset: commoncrawl


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Plus Two Computer Application-Com Focus Area-2022
കേരളത്തിലെ ഹയർസെക്കണ്ടറി വിഭാഗത്തിൽ പഠിക്കുന്ന കുട്ടികൾക്ക് വേണ്ടി Plus Two Computer Application Commerce-ന്റെ Focus...Read More
RRV schools, known in the name of the famous legend Sri Raja Ravi varma came into existence in 1925. We offer Malayalam and English medium classes from 5 to 12 standards.More than 2000 students are being nurtured here. More than hundred mentors work in this school. Our school sets myriad of possibilities for the children where they could nourish both their academic and cultural skills. We have even stamped our signatures in the state level youth festivals and sports meet. The schools run with the backsupport of our honourable manager, Sri N.Divijender Reddy, who is pursuing as a Computer Engineer.Our motto COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF A CHILD


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Here's how you can enforce the usage of IPv4 in Dual Stack environments with HttpWebRequests in C#/.NET:
string host = @"www.peschuster.de"; IPHostEntry ipHostEntry = Dns.GetHostEntry(host); IPAddress address = ipHostEntry.AddressList.FirstOrDefault(a => a.AddressFamily == System.Net.Sockets.AddressFamily.InterNetwork) ?? ipHostEntry.AddressList.FirstOrDefault(); var request = HttpWebRequest.Create("http://" + address.ToString() + "/2016/04/force-httpwebrequest-to-ipv4") as HttpWebRequest; request.Host = host; request.GetResponse();
This is a very basic example. You should add some checks, whether the address could actually be resovled, etc. for use in production.


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Today's increasingly complex IT environments demand more sophisticated virtual-to-physical (V2P) backup solutions than ever. Trying to keep up with licenses, maximize storage space and manage costs while juggling virtual/physical machine issues is practically a full-time job.
Fortunately there are some new V2P technologies that can help today's busy IT departments with virtual-to-physical moves and their physical-to-virtual counterparts. Acronis Cyber Backup, for instance, addresses many of the challenges involved with V2P, including how to back up and restore virtual machines on physical systems. Powered by the Acronis AnyData Engine, Acronis Cyber Backup delivers robust, easy-to-use unified data protection and disaster recovery for advanced IT environments. Using a single, web-based console to manage data protection across any environment or location, Acronis Cyber Backup also enables virtual-to-physical migration and vice versa while saving companies time and money.
Key Features of Acronis Cyber Backup
- Scalable architecture that supports V2P conversion of multiple machines.
- Ability to recover an entire system down to a single folder or file when you image a virtual machine to a physical machine.
- Advanced security to ensure extra protection during V2P backups and restores.
- Bare metal restore capabilities that allow you to restore an image to bare metal hardware.
- Acronis Active Restore, which reduces recovery times an average of 50 percent.
So if you have wondered how to safely recover virtual machines on physical system, or how to back up VMware virtual machines to a physical system, take a closer look at how Acronis Cyber Backup works.
Data Migration: Avoiding the Three Ds
Today most large enterprises and small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have some combination of physical servers and virtual machines to support production environments and a variety of production workloads. Occasionally organizations need to migrate these workloads to/from virtual machines (VMs) or to different hardware because of scheduled tasks like routine maintenance and system upgrades, or due to unforeseen events like disaster recovery.
Unfortunately, if you have a virtual environment and need to migrate to a physical machine, no hypervisor vendor offers V2P tools. And few IT professionals know how to do it.
The bottom line is that data migration isn't easy. There are a number of complications that can lead to one or all of the "three Ds" – downtime, delay and data loss.
Acronis Cyber Backup tackles these challenges head-on. Its disk imaging technology thoroughly captures every component of the production workload, including the operating system, settings, registry, application, and data. The result is a safe, simple way to move server workloads and production systems to different hardware, to and from virtual machines, and across different hypervisors. It also enables users to quickly migrate an entire server onto bare metal.
How to Perform Data Migration using Acronis Cyber Backup
Performing a workload migration using Acronis Cyber Backup involves three distinct stages.
- The Acronis AnyData Engine detaches the server workload from the original platform: The migration process starts with Acronis Cyber Backup creating a disk image – a full copy of everything that is on the disks and partitions of a particular server or virtual machine. During the copy process the data is abstracted, which removes platform specifics from the data in order to reduce it to a set of essential characteristics and put it into a general, unified format.
- Acronis applies the server workload to the new hardware: The next step is to apply the content of the disks and partitions to the target physical server or virtual machine. When migrating to a physical server, you do not need to install an operating system on the new machine. You simply load the image for bare metal recovery. Furthermore, the disk configuration of the target machine does not have to match the original machine because Acronis resizes the disks and partitions. The disks only have to be large enough to hold all the data.
- Acronis fine-tunes the server workload to match the new hardware: The Acronis AnyData Engine analyzes the new hardware platform or hypervisor and optimizes the operating system settings to match the new requirements.
When this process is finished, not only have you performed a successful data migration, but you also have a complete image backup of your system. That means all of your system information – including registry keys, license keys, settings, and application-specific data – has been safely captured for future use.
Taking a Strategic Approach to Data Migration
When planning long-term for migrations, it's important to focus on flexibility and your ability to link to any environment – not just the expensive market-leading platforms. By planning for flexibility, you can choose your platforms now and, if you change them down the road, you'll still be able to scale the infrastructure without incurring extra costs. The tools you use for migration should be able to link to any platform and easily transition from physical to virtual or virtual to physical. With all of the challenges already facing your business, why get locked into single-platform or single-direction migration solutions?
IT environments are undergoing significant transformation, becoming more heterogeneous and more complex, with a mix of physical, virtual, cloud and storage becoming the norm. IT managers need versatile solutions that are flexible and scalable enough to cover backup, disaster recovery, data protection, security and antivirus while covering as many platforms as possible.
The sophisticated data protection technology of Acronis Cyber Backup lets you seamlessly migrate production workloads from any platform to any platform in order to support disaster recovery and system replication, improve IT productivity and data recovery time, and reduce management complexity.
Visit Acronis.com to learn more about Acronis Cyber Backup. Or better yet, try it today for free.
About Acronis
A Swiss company founded in Singapore in 2003, Acronis has 15 offices worldwide and employees in 50+ countries. Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud is available in 26 languages in 150 countries and is used by over 20,000 service providers to protect over 750,000 businesses.


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TIRUPUR, India — With knitwear exports of over $2 billion a year, India's garment manufacturing hub Tirupur has earned the nickname "Dollar City," but its allure for price-conscious global retailers obsessed by discounts of as little as one US cent pales before Bangladesh.
Indian and SoutheastAsian apparel manufacturers had hoped the orders would come flooding in, after the deadly collapse of a Bangladesh garment factory complex this year galvanized global brands such as Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) to consider relocating production.
But several industry organizations and factories contacted by Reuters in Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India—Asia's top apparel makers outside China—said international retailers were not beating a path to their door just yet. When it comes to price, Bangladesh is king.
"The reason Bangladesh went from zero to hero in the garment sector is because there is no country with such low labor and other costs," said Arvind Singhal, chairman of India-based retail consultancy Technopak Advisors.
"No buyer is in a hurry to move from Bangladesh because Western retailers are stressed about passing any retail price increases to customers," he said. "Currently, there is no substitute for Bangladesh, where manufacturers even risk operating from rickety structures to cap costs."
Wal-Mart Stores Inc has stood by its Bangladesh production, saying the South Asian nation remains an important sourcing market. H&M also said its quest for alternative manufacturers was not at the expense of Bangladesh.
"We are not reducing our purchases from Bangladesh. We aspire to have long-term relations with our suppliers," H&M spokeswoman Elin Hallerby said. "We are always looking at new production capacity to support our continuous expansion."
The latest data from Bangladesh highlights its enduring appeal: garment exports in June rose 26 percent year-on-year to $2.2 billion.
More than four million people, mostly women, work in Bangladesh's clothing sector, making it the second-largest global apparel exporter behind China.
The world's biggest fashion retailers, Inditex SA and H&M, as well as Wal-Mart, Gap Inc and JC Penney Company Inc are a few of the brands manufacturing there.
The $21 billion-a-year industry has been built on low wages, government subsidies and tax concessions from Western countries. But the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory complex outside Dhaka in April raised concerns about safety loopholes. The disaster, one of the world's worst industrial accidents, killed 1,132 people.
The collapse prompted global brands to consider tapping regional alternatives.
Indonesian textile firm Sri Rejeki Isman PT (Sritex), which makes clothing for Zara, H&M and other brands, said it was in talks with H&M about taking over an as yet unspecified amount of Bangladesh-sourced production. H&M declined to comment.
But as large factory owners across the region discovered, translating talks into orders is difficult as, compared to Bangladesh, they are considered too expensive.
"Garments produced in Bangladesh have a very competitive price, around two-to-three times lower than in Vietnam," said Hguyen Huu Toan, deputy director of SaiGon 2 Garment JSC, a Vietnam factory whose clients include British fashion retailers New Look and TopShop.
The cost disadvantage also impacts Sri Lanka's $4 billion-a-year garment industry, and factory owners there say any shift in production from Bangladesh will be transient.
"We are much better than any other country in the region, but it is a temporary advantage," said Tuly Cooray, the secretary-general of industry group Joint Apparel Association Forum. "At the end of the day, the price is going to matter."
The economic slowdown in Europe and the United States has made retailers all the more keen to seek out the lowest-cost manufacturing centers to keep their store prices down.
N. Thirukkumaran, owner of Tirupur-based apparel maker Estee, which racked up $8.3 million in sales last year, said he holds marathon haggling sessions with foreign customers demanding discounts as little as one cent per unit.
At least one US retailer asked about moving production from Bangladesh, he said, but they have yet to place orders. Thirukkumaran would not name the brand, citing client confidentiality.
"There are positive signals from buyers, but they are still skeptical about price," he added.
Monthly minimum salaries for garment sector workers in Bangladesh average around $38, far below the $100 average for Indian factory workers.
After the Rana Plaza collapse, the cabinet approved changes to the labor laws that pave the way for garment workers to create trade unions without the approval of factory owners.
The cabinet also formed a wage board to consider pay increases. But industry experts say Bangladesh has too much to lose by alienating global retailers, which means that for now, the low costs are here to stay.
"No other destination has what we have and that is skilled and cheap labor," said Mohammad Mujibur Rahman, a Bangladeshi academic leading factory inspections.
"Foreign buyers realize this and nobody is in a hurry to move out … there might be a small trickle outside, but nothing significant that will hurt us."


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Remarks at Open Video Conference 2011, as delivered.
Good morning. My name is Beth Noveck. I am a professor of law here, the founder of your host the Institute for Information Law and Policy and I once had a job in Washington.
New York Law School is 8 blocks from Ground Zero. After 9/11 the school was closed for two weeks. There was no power, no telephone, and no Internet connection. Some of these things took months to restore. And the acrid smell burned one's lungs weeks after the attacks.
People here, many of whom commuted through the PATH train station at the World Trade Center or others who were getting their coffee on the way to class or who were caught in the fleeing multitudes running northward or who participated in the volunteer clean-up efforts that followed, were eyewitnesses to the history we commemorate today. We remember the thousands who died and were injured on 9/11 and their families; in the two wars that followed it as a consequence and among the civilians of other nations who perished as casualties of the war on terror.
What makes this tragedy so uniquely moving, in my view, is that senseless death and destruction were complemented by heroic action.
As little as we can fathom the evil of which the attackers were capable, so too we are at a loss to find in ourselves the superhuman courage and generosity of spirit demonstrated by so many – whether First Responders, soldiers and veterans, passengers on flight 93 in Shanksville or thousands of civilian volunteers -- on that day and in the weeks and months that followed who saw the news on television and came here without hesitation.
We, too, are gathered here today in that spirit of collaboration and civic action.
Every single person here believes in the need to do something (besides shop) – perhaps many of us inspired directly by the experience of 9/11 -- and the power of the visual to change the world for the better. Video transforms (to crib from WITNESS, the organization that gives people cameras to document human rights abuses) "personal stories into powerful tools for justice." Even New Yorkers who experienced the tragedy first hand did so with one eye out the window and the other on CNN. If you go to the web or YouTube or to the National 9/11 website, you will see examples of all the video that ordinary people shot and shared that now form our collective memory of 9/11.
The Open Video Conference Organizers can take no credit for the coincidence of dates but they should.
It is extraordinarily apropos that we share the 10th anniversary of 9/11 together here 8 blocks from ground zero. Whether it is bystanders photographing and filming the events of 9/11 ten years ago or protesters in Syria documenting human rights abuses on YouTube this week or activists posting videos of hearings and committee meetings to ensure democratic accountability to or people making their own music videos, cooking shows or comedy, we are here to safeguard a world where everyone has the tools, the know-how and the freedom to make and to distribute, to hear and to watch video. By bearing witness to the personal and the political, the tragic and the comic about the world in which we live, we stand to make it better. We are taking action here today to build a media future in which we are more empowered, enlightened, and connected than ever before.
This morning, you will hear (and see) from two institutions that are taking action to do just that.
Gigi Sohn, Founder of Public Knowledge, a public interest organization based in Washington, DC, working to protect the openness of our communication infrastructure and unbiased pluralism in our media ecology.
And you will here from Brewster Kahle of the Internet Achive, who preserving the entire web, and particularly 3000 hours of video from 9/11, in a remarkable project called the 9/11 Archive.
At some point this weekend, you will no doubt wander south to see the phoenix rising from the ashes of ground zero. But today we thank you for marking this occasion together, not only for grieving and reflection, but as an opportunity to rise from the ashes of history by taking action in support of Open Video, participatory culture and the values of free speech that so many died to defend.
Gigi Sohn is the president and co-founder of Public Knowledge, a nonprofit organization that works to defend citizens' rights in emerging digital frontiers. She serves as the chief strategist, fundraiser, and public face of Public Knowledge, and has made numerous media appearances and published articles highlighting emerging issues in the public's access to content.
Gigi has long been recognized as a pioneer in identifying key issues facing digital media. Prior to co-founding Public Knowledge, she served as Executive Director of the Media Access Project, and as a Project Specialist in the Ford Foundation's Media, Arts and Culture unit, where she developed the Foundation's first-ever media policy and technology portfolio. In October 1997, President Clinton appointed Gigi to serve as a member of his Advisory Committee on the Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters. The Electronic Frontier Foundation gave Gigi one of its Internet "Pioneer Awards" in 2006. At this year's OVC, Gigi will be speaking about timely questions of internet accessibility, including the threats that capped and metered internet access pose to the open web. We're thrilled to have her expertise and insight as we examine these issues at the conference.


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As al-Jazeera and other news outlets report being told by activists that Syrian government forces are shelling the city of Homs and attacking and arresting opponents of President Bashar Assad in other places, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan continues to press for a true ceasefire to take effect on Thursday.
In Tehran today, Bloomberg News reports, Annan told reporters that failing to stop the violence could have "unimaginable consequences." And Annan said that Iran, one of Assad's supporters in the region, favors his six-point plan for ending the bloodshed.
"Iran, given its special relations with Syria, can be part of the solution" if it helps convince the Assad regime to stand down, Annan added.
The U.N. estimates that more than 9,000 people have died in Syria, most at the hands of government forces, since anti-regime protests began a little more than a year ago.
Update at 11:10 a.m. ET. Regime Tells Annan It Will Cease Military Action But Reserves Right To "Respond Proportionately To Any Attacks."
Ahmad Fawzi, a spokesman for Annan, has emailed this statement to reporters:
"The Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan has today received a letter from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Syrian Arab Republic informing him of the decision of the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic 'to cease all military fighting throughout Syrian territory as of 6 a.m. (Damascus time) tomorrow, Thursday, 12 April 2012, while reserving the right to respond proportionately to any attacks carried out by armed terrorist groups against civilians, Government forces or public and private property.'
"The Joint Special Envoy will continue to work with the Syrian Government and the opposition to ensure the comprehensive implementation of the six-point plan, including full compliance with Item 2 of the plan.
"The Joint Special Envoy looks forward to the continued support of relevant countries in this regard."
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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A few years ago, I started taking the girls to see The Nutcracker. They were both studying ballet, and their friend was in a local production. Plus, I was really, really curious to actually see the ballet in its entirety, having grown up as one of those poor, underprivileged children who never got to get dressed up to go with Mum to the famous ballet each December.
I'm not sure it'd feel like the holidays now without The Nutcracker. Back in November, I start to get excited to bring the girls to see their friend who, this year, is playing Clara in her dance school's production.
But when the Boston Ballet asked if I'd like to check out their newly revamped version of The Nutcracker this past weekend—along with a tour backstage to see the brand-new sets—I leapt (and pirouetted) at the chance.
I chose to bring Jilly who studies ballet herself, and the two of us headed up to Boston's Opera House which deserves its own paragraph of "wow", "gorgeous", "stunning". All dressed up for the holidays in gold and red, it felt like we'd stepped onto the set the moment we walked into the lobby.
Upon arrival, we were given a "goodie bag" for us bloggers and media folk who had been invited to attend. Inside, Jilly found something that may rank up there with her favorite gifts ever: A pair of used pointe shoes from one of the soloists, Ashley Ellis.
As for the production itself, there was plenty to awe us both. I had read of Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen's decision to completely redo the sets and costumes (created by designer Robert Perdziola), as well as add new choreography and characters. I never had the chance to see previous years of the Boston Ballet's The Nutcracker for comparison, but, wow, I loved so much about this production.
The sets have an old-fashioned storybook feel to them, with so much detail incorporated into them, they would actually make a gorgeous picture book if they were ever shrunk down and bound between covers. Let's make that a pop-up book, okay?
So much glitters in this production that it really adds to the feeling that you've entered a dreamland: from the sparkly costumes to the shimmering snow and the pretty silver sleigh led by silver reindeer, it's all very magical whether you are 9 or 40-cough-something. And Mikko Nissinen has a great eye for cool special effects like the huge shadows the mice cast which makes them seem so much more threatening, and the took-my-breath-away moment when the towering, glittering Christmas tree grows to over 40 feet in size.
Though it is the dancing that really makes this show worth the drive into Boston and the higher-than-your-local-dance-school's prices. The quality of every dancer on stage is so high—-from the adorable little polichinelles that spill out from under Mother Ginger's skirt, to the gorgeously athletic leaps and dizzying spins of the soloists. It has us all breaking out into spontaneous applause throughout the show. And, the young girl who played Clara was so beautiful and expressive on stage, I could tell exactly her emotion from 20-or-so rows back.
The best thing about it all though was turning to my left and seeing how excited and energized Jilly was by what she was seeing on stage. I know The Nutcracker's story line can be a bit confusing and–well–odd, especially if you haven't seen it several times. But, armed with the scene-by-scene synopsis in the program book and charmed by this spectacular performance, this may be one more holiday tradition to look forward to each year.
Are you a Nutcracker family? Do you take the kids to see if every year too?
You can find out more about the Boston Ballet's The Nutcracker on their website. Also, go here for details on half-priced tickets.
Thank you to the Boston Ballet for providing us with tickets to the ballet and the memories to go along with it. All opinions are my own.


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© Copyright 2017, 2018 Rob Brezsny
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Many American women did not have the right to vote until August 18, 1920. On that day, the Tennessee General Assembly became the 36th state legislature to approve the Nineteenth Amendment, thus sealing the legal requirements to change the U.S. Constitution and ensure women's suffrage. The ballot in Tennessee was close. At the last minute, 24-year-old legislator Harry T. Burns changed his mind from no to yes, thanks to a letter from his mother, who asked him to "be a good boy" and vote in favor. I suspect that in the coming weeks, Aries, you will be in a pivotal position not unlike Burns'. Your decision could affect more people than you know. Be a good boy or good girl.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the coming weeks, Destiny will be calling you and calling you and calling you, inviting you to answer its summons. If you do indeed answer, it will provide you with clear instructions about what you will need to do expedite your ass in the direction of the future. If on the other hand you refuse to listen to Destiny's call, or hear it and refuse to respond, then Destiny will take a different tack. It won't provide any instructions, but will simply yank your ass in the direction of the future.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Looks like the Season of a Thousand and One Emotions hasn't drained and frazzled you. Yes, there may be a pool of tears next to your bed. Your altar might be filled with heaps of ashes, marking your burnt offerings. But you have somehow managed to extract a host of useful lessons from your tests and trials. You have surprised yourself with the resilience and resourcefulness you've been able to summon. And so the energy you've gained through these gritty triumphs is well worth the price you've had to pay.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Every relationship is unique. The way you connect with another person — whether it's through friendship, romance, family, or collaborative projects — should be free to find the distinctive identity that best suits its special chemistry. Therefore, it's a mistake to compare any of your alliances to some supposedly perfect ideal. Luckily, you're in an astrological period when you have extra savvy about cultivating unique models of togetherness. So I recommend that you devote the coming weeks to deepening and refining your most important bonds.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): During recent weeks, your main tasks have centered around themes often associated with strain and struggle: repair, workaround, reassessment, jury-rigging, adjustment, compromise. Amazingly, Leo, you have kept your suffering to a minimum as you have smartly done your hard work. In some cases you have even thrived. Congratulations on being so industrious and steadfast! Beginning soon, you will glide into a smoother stage of your cycle. Be alert for the inviting signs. Don't assume you've got to keep grunting and grinding.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863-1944) created four versions of his iconic artwork The Scream. Each depicts a person who seems terribly upset, holding his head in his hands and opening his mouth wide as if unleashing a loud shriek. In 2012, one of these images of despair was sold for almost $120 million. The money went to the son of a man who had been Munch's friend and patron. Can you think of a way that you and yours might also be able to extract value or get benefits from a negative emotion or a difficult experience? The coming weeks will be a favorable time to do just that.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): "I think I like my brain best in a bar fight with my heart," says poet Clementine von Radics. While I appreciate that perspective, I advise you to do the opposite in the coming weeks. This will be a phase of your astrological cycle when you should definitely support your heart over your brain in bar fights, wrestling matches, shadow boxing contests, tugs of war, battles of wits, and messy arguments. Here's one of the most important reasons why I say this: Your brain would be inclined to keep the conflict going until one party or the other suffers ignominious defeat, whereas your heart is much more likely to work toward a win-win conclusion.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): When he was 24 years old, Scorpio-born Zhu Yuanzhang (1328-1398) was a novice monk with little money who had just learned to read and write. He had spent years as a wandering beggar. By the time he was 40 years old, he was the emperor of China and founder of the Ming Dynasty, which ruled for 276 years. What happened in between? That's a long story. Zhu's adventurousness was a key asset, and so was his ability as an audacious and crafty tactician. His masterful devotion to detailed practical matters was also indispensable. If you are ever in your life going to begin an ascent even remotely comparable to Zhu's, Scorpio, it will be in the coming ten months. Being brave and enterprising won't be enough. You must be disciplined and dogged, as well.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In 1892, the influential Atlantic Monthly magazine criticized Sagittarian poet Emily Dickinson, saying she "possessed an extremely unconventional and grotesque fancy." It dismissed her poetry as incoherent, and declared that an "eccentric, dreamy, half-educated recluse" like her "cannot with impunity set at defiance the laws of gravitation and grammar." This dire diss turned out to be laughably wrong. Dickinson is now regarded as one of the most original American poets. I offer this story up as a pep talk for you, Sagittarius. In the coming months, I suspect you'll be reinventing yourself. You'll be researching new approaches to living your life. In the course of these experiments, others may see you as being in the grip of unconventional or grotesque fantasy. They may consider you dreamy and eccentric. I hope you won't allow their misunderstandings to interfere with your playful yet serious work.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Bubble gum is more elastic and less sticky than regular chewing gum. That's why you can blow bubbles with it. A Capricorn accountant named Walter Diemer invented it in 1928 while working for the Fleer Chewing Gum Company. At the time he finally perfected the recipe, the only food dye he had on hand was pink. His early batches were all that color, and a tradition was born. That's why even today, most bubble gum is pink. I suspect a similar theme may unfold soon in your life. The conditions present at the beginning of a new project may deeply imprint the future evolution of the project. So try to make sure those are conditions you like!
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): "When one door closes, another opens," said inventor Alexander Graham Bell. "But we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened." Heed his advice, Aquarius. Take the time you need to mourn the lost opportunity. But don't take MORE than the time you need. The replacement or alternative to what's gone will show up sooner than you think.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Gilbert Stuart painted the most famous portrait of America's first president, George Washington. It's the image on the U.S. one-dollar bill. And yet Stuart never finished the masterpiece. Begun in 1796, it was still a work-in-progress when Stuart died in 1828. Leonardo da Vinci had a similar type of success. His incomplete painting The Virgin and Child with St. Anne hangs in the Louvre in Paris, and his unfinished The Adoration of the Magi has been in Florence's Uffizi Gallery since 1671. I propose that Stuart and da Vinci serve as your role models in the coming weeks. Maybe it's not merely OK if a certain project of yours remains unfinished; maybe that's actually the preferred outcome.
Homework: Report your favorite graffiti from a bathroom wall. Go to Freewillastrology.com and click on "Email Rob."
Rob Brezsny
Free Will Astrology
P.O. Box 4400
San Rafael, CA 94913


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• Obinna Anyadike
Editor-in-Chief, Irin
+254 20 7622 1343
• Co-operating to cut down piracy
• Maritime piracy under the spotlight
• Eye in the sky benefits society
• SA women marine pilots make history
• SA Agulhas in historic polar trip
Source: Irin News
Rusting hulks of capsized boats decorate the waters around Berbera, a port city in the self-declared republic of Somaliland. Further down Somalia's coast, pirates raid freighters in the Gulf of Aden.
But efforts are under way to help Somalis make better use of their 3 300km coastline – the longest on the African continent – by increasing fishing and seafood exports to lucrative markets in the Middle East and Europe.
In 2013, the EU will spend US$6.5-million (R57-million) to help Somaliland pursue its long-term goal of netting 120 000 tons of seafood each year, the sale of which could generate $1.2 billion (R10.5-billion) in foreign currency.
"In Somalia, people have lived for a long time with their backs to the sea," says Isabel Faria de Almedia, the EU development chief for Somalia. "It's a country of agro-pastoralists with a strong nomadic tradition. We think there is a huge potential for the consumption and export of fish."
Until the second half of the 20th century, few Somalis outside fishing communities consumed fish and the sector was entirely artisanal in nature. This began to change in the 1970s with the development of better cold-storage facilities and the creation, with Soviet help, of an industrial fleet.
But for want of spare parts and maintenance, these vessels quickly fell into disuse. See here for a detailed, if slightly dated, overview of the Somali fishing industry.
Luring pirates away from piracy
In the middle of the last decade, Somali fishermen complained they were being forced into piracy by foreign trawlers operating illegally in waters claimed by Somalia.
Coastal Somalis recount as a "eureka" moment the time self-appointed coastguards impounded a foreign trawler and levied a fine on its owners; they quickly realized seizing vessels was more lucrative than competing with commercial vessels for dwindling fish stocks.
Amina Farah Arshe, who employs 40 fishermen aboard 11 vessels from Berbera, the main port of Somaliland, says fishing revenues could provide an alternative to raiding freighters far into the Indian Ocean.
"We can stop it by empowering the people. We can stop it by giving jobs to the youth. People would make money, the government would collect tax revenues, and piracy would diminish," she said. "But we need support. We need training, boats, fishing gear and cold storage."
For years, the UN has said that tackling Somali piracy should involve creating work for the jobless young Somalis who board skiffs, armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, to hunt vessels on the high seas.
But only now has the security situation made this a realistic possibility. Somalia has recently selected its most viable president and government in years. Somali and AU forces have driven Al-Shabab insurgents from major cities.
Out at sea, foreign warships and on-deck private security guards deter piracy. Only 70 raids took place in the first nine months of 2012, compared to 199 in the same period last year, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Logistical challenge
Somalia's new president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, says he wants to "increase local food production to end poverty forever". Some 2.1-million people in the country are faced with hunger, particularly in the turbulent south.
The future of large-scale fishing in Somali waters is tied up in a legal dispute over how far these waters extend from the country's coastline.
While the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which Somalia ratified in 1989, establishes 12 nautical miles from shore as an international norm for states' territorial waters, Somalia has asserted sovereignty over seas up to 200 nautical miles from the coast. Mogadishu has resisted international pressure to declare these outer waters an exclusive economic zone, a designation that confers numerous rights to the country but falls short of full sovereignty.
Alan Cole, who runs anti-piracy operations for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, says Somaliland's Berbera and Puntland's Bosaso have real potential. But exporting fresh fish from the remote central coast – site of many pirate bases – offers a "logistical challenge", he said.
The UN agency spends $40-million (R351-million) each year tackling piracy, helping prosecute sea-borne raiders, training and equipping coastguards, creating jobs, and providing refrigerated trucks and storerooms to the fishing industry.
"We need to get the fishing fleets of Somalia back to sea," Cole said. "One of the challenges for fisherman is that the pirates will steal your fish. So you come back to the same issue of needing wider maritime security for Somalia so that the fishermen can safely make their living at sea."


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Acer's ConceptD 9 Pro: A 17.3-Inch Convertible w/ Core i9 & Quadro RTX 5000
by Anton Shilov on September 6, 2019 1:00 PM ESTIn the recent years, leading makers of gaming PCs have been experimenting with unorthodox form-factors in an attempt to maximize performance and improve overall experience. Having learnt from its Predator Triton laptops, Acer applied its expertise to mobile workstations and this week introduced one of the industry's first convertible notebooks featuring Intel's Core i9 CPU and NVIDIA's Quadro RTX 5000 GPU.
The Acer ConceptD 900 Pro is a 17.3-inch convertible PC that uses the chassis originally developed for the Predator Triton 900 gaming PC. The chassis features Acer's CNC-machined Ezel Aero Hinge that can flip, extend, or recline the display in a bid to offer the most optimal position for creativity. The notebook also places its mechanical keyboard to its front side to improve cooling for high-TDP components while retaining a relatively low z-height. Speaking of cooling, it is necessary to note that the PC uses Acer's 4th Generation cooling system featuring metallic Aeroblade 3D fans.
To comply with requirements of graphics professionals, the ConceptD 900 Pro is equipped with a Pantone Validated 4K Ultra-HD display that can cover 100% of the Adobe RGB color space and is factory calibrated with a Delta E <1 color accuracy. Furthermore, the convertible workstation comes with a Wacom EMR stylus with 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity that is magnetically attached to the machine.
When it comes to the insides, the ConceptD 900 Pro packs up to Intel's 9th Gen Core i9 CPU with eight cores, NVIDIA's Quadro RTX 5000 GPU, 32 GB of DDR4 RAM, as well as two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 SSDs operating in RAID mode for ultimate reliability or performance.
Being a 17.3-inch powerhouse, Acer's ConceptD 900 Pro is certainly not an ultraportable machine. The system weighs around 4.1 kilograms and is around 2.4 cm (0.94 inch) thick. Considering that we are dealing with an extremely capable machine in a unique form-factor, the weight and thickness are quite justified for those who actually need it.
Acer intends to start sales of its flagship ConceptD 9 Pro convertible workstation in EMEA sometimes in November at prices starting at €5,499.
Related Reading:
- The New Acer ConceptD Family: Workstations and Displays for Professionals
- Acer Unveils ConceptD 7 Pro: Core i7, Quadro RTX 5000, 4K Calibrated Monitor
- Acer Shows Off Triton 900: 17-Inch Convertible Gaming Laptop
Source: Acer
15 Comments
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lazarpandar - Friday, September 6, 2019 - link
who actually buys this stuff -
Smell This - Friday, September 6, 2019 - link
I was actually going to buy one but I need 8,096 levels of pressure sensitivity. -
Santoval - Sunday, September 8, 2019 - link
You rather mean 8,192 :) -
GreenReaper - Friday, September 6, 2019 - link
Digital artists with cash to burn? Which is... not many of them, that I know. But some. -
Quickbooks3 - Saturday, September 7, 2019 - link
Quickbooks desktop is one of the most popular software service provider in USA. It is the Quickbooks customer service number best programming where the user can store the accounting transaction related information.
https://accountingsupports.tech/ -
quiksilvr - Monday, September 9, 2019 - link
Santoval - Sunday, September 8, 2019 - link
Wow, it *starts* from 5,500 €. The professional graphics card alone suggests this is targeted at high end photographers and DPs (directors of photography), movie editors, special effects artists and developers, top end game artists and developers etc
Would it make sense to use this along with the more powerful stationary workstation they have at the studio? It's not powerful enough to replace it but it is also too expensive to be used just as a "take some work home or work on along the way" laptop.. -
damianrobertjones - Sunday, September 8, 2019 - link
" unorthodox form-factors"
This is an old format. Dell has previous made a couple of machines just like this one. The Dell XP 12 convertible and Inspiron Duo.
Why can't article writers recall history of their chosen field? -
s.yu - Sunday, September 8, 2019 - link
Yeah, a couple, those also do not maximize performance and don't count on being able to draw on one. Functionally they're totally different. -
DanNeely - Sunday, September 8, 2019 - link
They did. Unorthodox means "not standard/normal/conventional"; the fact that dell's done a screen rotating in the center of a frame convertible and that there've been a handful of other keyboard forward and touchpad to the side laptops before doesn't make any of those orthodox features. An orthodox design is a hinge at the edge and a keyboard above the touchpad.


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It's a STRIKE!!
An excited, energetic group of CB employees' children filled the bowling alley last weekend for our annual Easter Party! One of the many Burich family traditions is to host several events for the children throughout the year. By the smiles on their faces, you can tell that the kids had a blast! Thank you for the celebration, Buzz!


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Brain Training that works
Exercise Your Brain
Built on serious science
The BrainHQ brain-training program represents the culmination of 30 years of research in neurological science and related medicine. It was designed by an international team of neuroscientists, led by Michael Merzenich—a professor emeritus in neurophysiology, member of the National Academy of Sciences, co-inventor of the cochlear implant, and Kavli Prize laureate.
Cognitive training that's tailored to you
It can fit into your life
It takes less than five minutes to do each BrainHQ level, so you can use it in tiny bites or long blocks, depending on your schedule. Plus you can use BrainHQ on almost any computer or mobile device, so you can take it on the go. If you want, you can set up personal training goals and have BrainHQ send you training reminders when you want them.
Try a few exercises
Want to try an exercise? Click the START button!
- You'll notice that the exercise gets a little harder if you're doing well, and a little easier if you're having trouble. Each exercise adapts to you.
- Training in each level takes less than five minutes. (If you stick with BrainHQ, you'll repeat that level several times. Repetition is important for brain change!)
To try different exercises, choose an icon below and click START again.
Two ways to train your brain
BrainHQ has 29 online exercises that work out attention, brain speed, memory, people skills, navigation, and intelligence.
If you want, you can have BrainHQ tell you exactly which exercises to do, and in which order. The personalized trainer feature, designed by scientists, continually measures your performance and serves up the exercises that are right for you.
Or if you prefer, you can design your own program, choosing exercises and workouts that meet your personal interests, mood, and schedule.
The cognitive benefits are proven
More than 100 published scientific papers show the benefits of BrainHQ exercises and assessments. Most of these were independently conducted by scientists at respected universities, such as the University of California, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins. Of course, every study is conducted on a different group of people, and individual results vary. Click any benefit below to learn more about the studies behind the benefit.
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04 June 2018
iOS 12 introduces new features to reduce interruptions and manage Screen Time
San Jose, California — Apple today announced new tools built into iOS 12 to help customers understand and take control of the time they spend interacting with their iOS devices. These new features, available later this month as part of the iOS 12 public beta, include Activity Reports, App Limits and new Do Not Disturb and Notifications controls designed to help customers reduce interruptions and manage screen time for themselves and their families.
"In iOS 12, we're offering our users detailed information and tools to help them better understand and control the time they spend with apps and websites, how often they pick up their iPhone or iPad during the day and how they receive notifications," said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering. "We first introduced parental controls for iPhone in 2008, and our team has worked thoughtfully over the years to add features to help parents manage their children's content. With Screen Time, these new tools are empowering users who want help managing their device time, and balancing the many things that are important to them."
Do Not Disturb
iOS 12 brings enhancements to Do Not Disturb, making this powerful time management tool even better by helping people stay in the moment during times like studying as well as during a class, meeting or dinner. There is also a new Do Not Disturb during Bedtime mode to help people get a better night's sleep by dimming the display and hiding all notifications on the lock screen until prompted in the morning. Do Not Disturb has new options from Control Centre where it can be set to automatically end based on a specified time or location.
To help reduce interruptions, iOS 12 gives customers more options for controlling how notifications are delivered. Instantly manage notifications to be turned off completely or delivered directly to Notification Centre. Siri can also intelligently make suggestions for notifications settings, such as to quietly deliver or turn alerts off, based on which alerts are acted upon. iOS 12 also introduces Grouped Notifications, making it easier to view and manage multiple notifications at once.
Screen Time
Empowering customers with insight into how they are spending time with apps and websites, Screen Time creates detailed daily and weekly Activity Reports that show the total time a person spends in each app they use, their usage across categories of apps, how many notifications they receive and how often they pick up their iPhone or iPad.
By understanding how they're interacting with their iOS devices, people can take control of how much time they spend in a particular app, website or category of apps. The App Limits feature allows people to set a specific amount of time to be in an app, and a notification will display when a time limit is about to expire.
Screen Time is great for everyone to better understand and manage their device usage, but can be especially helpful for kids and families. Parents can access their child's Activity Report right from their own iOS devices to understand where their child spends their time and can manage and set App Limits for them.
Screen Time also gives parents the ability to schedule a block of time to limit when their child's iOS device can't be used, such as at bedtime. During Downtime, notifications from apps won't be displayed, and a badge will appear on apps to indicate they are not allowed to be used. Parents can choose specific apps like Phone or Books that will always be available, even during downtime or after a limit is spent.
Screen Time is account-based and works across all of a child's iOS devices, so settings, reports and allowances are based on their total usage. Screen Time works with Family Sharing and is quick and easy to set up. Parents can configure Screen Time settings remotely for their child within the same Family Sharing group or locally on a child's device.
Screen Time and the new Notifications and Do Not Disturb features will be available with iOS 12 this fall. The developer preview of iOS 12 is available to Apple Developer Program members at developer.apple.com starting today, and a public beta program will be available to iOS users later this month at beta.apple.com. iOS 12 will be available this fall as a free software update for iPhone 5s and later, all iPad Air and iPad Pro models, iPad 6th generation, iPad 5th generation, iPad mini 2 and later and iPod touch 6th generation. For more information, visit apple.com/ios/ios-12-preview.
Images of iOS 12 Screen Time features


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About Moero Chronicle Hyper
Io is a simple young man with only one problem – he can't talk to women! Any attempts at conversation are destroyed by his perverted mind, except when he talks to Lilia, his best friend and a Monster Girl. However, that becomes the least of his problems when he's tasked with going to the dangerous region of Monstopia. There, Monster Girls have begun rampaging, causing wanton pain and destruction. Have the Monster Girls simply gone mad, or is there an even greater evil afoot…? Find out in this moe-filled dungeon RPG!
Key Features
Moe Monsters Moe Problems! – Recruit 50 Monster Girls, each with unique skills and traits, to fight for you! You'll have to wear them out in battle first though!
Can I Kick It? – Build your relationship with each Monster Girl through special events, gift-giving, and even home improvement to increase their powers and abilities!
Trait Flexin' – Strategize your 5-person party by keeping their Moe Traits in mind – when combined together, you can recover after battle, increase your party's attack, and more!
Nothin' Wrong with a Little Bumping Scratch! – Purify your Monster Girls and return them to their senses with "Bumping Scratch"! Find their points of weakness on their body and touch, rub, poke, or pick until they're purified!
©2019 IDEA FACTORY/COMPILE HEART All rights reserved. Moero Chronicle is a trademark of IDEA FACTORY. Licensed to and published by Idea Factory International, Inc.


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In a bid to quell protests, Iran is bringing hundreds of people to Iran's version of justice. Security forces have arrested many people who marched after the death of Mahsa Amini, while in the custody of Iran's so-called morality police. Now trials are beginning, although with much less visibility than trials would receive elsewhere. Tara Sepehri Far is gathering what information she can by tracking the fates of defendants for Human Rights Watch.
TARA SEPEHRI FAR: They're facing charges that range from disrupting public order to a very serious charge of corruption on earth that could carry the death penalty.
INSKEEP: Corruption on earth - what is that?
SEPEHRI FAR: As you can probably already tell, it's a vaguely defined charge in Iran's penal code. The way authorities have described it in relation to the protest is actions such as using weapons or widespread use of violence and destruction of public and government properties. But it is still very unclear what evidence they use against protesters, and these charges are vaguely defined, and those who face these charges are not going to get a fair trial and have already been deprived of their due process rights.
INSKEEP: When I think of Iran as a theocracy and think of the phrase corruption on earth, I'm tempted to think this is cast somehow as a violation of Islam. Is that the origin of this charge?
SEPEHRI FAR: Correct. But Iran has codified Islamic principles into their civil code system. There's a long track record of intelligence and judicial authorities interpreting these vaguely defined national security rights in favor of protecting the state and, actually, more than the state, the authorities themselves.
INSKEEP: Are these trials public?
SEPEHRI FAR: To some extent, yes, which means there's access, that there are reportings about them through official media, but it's not the kind of public trial you would imagine. For instance, the - one of the people who has been charged with corruption on earth was deprived of access to the lawyer of his choice. That's what the lawyer has said publicly. And apparently, his family also was not allowed to be present during the trial. Independent media does not have access to those who are accused, cannot independently report or interview anyone. It's basically an opportunity for authorities to put on stage their narrative through these public indictments, including statements made by the prosecutor, the judge and so on and so forth.
INSKEEP: Do you have any idea how many people are on trial or are soon to be on trial?
SEPEHRI FAR: Well, authorities have thrown out some numbers. The spokesperson has mentioned that something about a thousand indictments has been issued by courts in Tehran province. And on top of that, we have hundreds of human rights defenders, journalists, student activists, labor activists, lawyers, who've been arrested by intelligence authorities, mostly outside these protests. We're also expecting them to be put on trial and be struck by additional charges or prison sentences.
INSKEEP: Oh, so as far as you can tell, the arrests have gone far beyond the individuals who may have been caught on this or that street.
SEPEHRI FAR: Exactly. Actually, two of the main people - we're very concerned about them - are the two journalists who contributed to the reporting of the death of Mahsa Jina Amini in the custody of Iranian police. Obviously, what they were doing was purely their journalistic job. Their names was brought up in a statement issued by the two main intelligence agencies in Iran as those operating in collaboration with foreign entities. And we're extremely concerned about their safety. Their names are Elahe Mohammadi and Niloofar Hamedi.
INSKEEP: I'm thinking about the people who protested and were arrested, and I'd like to know if you feel that it advances their cause in some way to be arrested. I should clarify what I mean. Many times in the United States and elsewhere, people will say, I'm going to be free, I'm going to live my life the way I'm determined to do it, and if you want to arrest me, it's going to be on you, and it's going to clog your court system. Do you think there are some people who feel they're advancing their cause by being put on trial in this way?
SEPEHRI FAR: People are taking these grave risks to their safety because they want to make a point. And every action that the government is doing in order to, quote-unquote, "repress" these protests is actually recentering some of the main demands of the protest, which has been about accountability and fundamental change of the behavior of the system that has been very autocratic and without any regard for rule of law and democratic norms.
INSKEEP: Do these trials, in your view, then demonstrate the very point the protesters are making?
SEPEHRI FAR: Exactly. And there's a long history of Iranian authorities using these trials for making their points. And yet we have only seen protests intensifying over the past decade, not going away, and the calls are becoming more progressive and more radical, not less.
INSKEEP: Needless to say, the Islamic Republic of Iran has lasted more than 40 years at this point and has endured any number of protests over the years and has a very strong national security state. Do you think that the government can use law enforcement to end these protests? Their version of law enforcement, I should say.
SEPEHRI FAR: It appears that one of the very few areas of the establishment that's still working and has a lot more capacity is their security apparatus. Sadly, I don't think they would hesitate to intensify the already brutal crackdown. But what I know is that regardless of where the protests go and if they are repressed or not in near future, they have changed the conversation inside the country and outside, and they have made a very clear point that what they want and what they demand is supported by large number of people domestically. Where the system is going to go with this, even if they manage to repress the protest, is unclear to me.
INSKEEP: Tara Sepehri Far researches human rights abuses in Iran for Human Rights Watch. Thanks so much.
SEPEHRI FAR: Thank you for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Joseph P Keefe Technical High School Student Receives InVEST Scholarship
Financial literacy program is key to attracting talent to insurance industry.
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, Aug. 3, 2015 – InVEST, the insurance industry's premier classroom to career education program, has awarded a $500 scholarship to Johnluke Nassar from Joseph P Keefe Technical High School in Framingham, Massachusetts.
"InVEST congratulates Johnluke Nassar, one of the 88 students representing 32 high schools, colleges and universities in 14 states and Washington, D.C., who earned scholarships this year," says Robert G. Slocum, CPCU, CIC, InVEST board chair and president of The Slocum Agency, Inc., an independent agency in Warwick, Rhode Island. "InVEST develops future industry professionals by teaching high school and college students about insurance, risk management and financial services. As a result, students from more than 650 InVEST programs across the country are equipped with knowledge to help them pursue careers in an agency, company or other insurance industry organization."
InVEST contributes to the education and development of future insurance professionals through academic programs and scholarships. In high schools, the program offers students a business curriculum which teaches them about the dynamics of insurance agencies and companies. At the college level, the program develops students' risk management and financial analysis skills. Along with direct contributions, scholarships are funded through proceeds generated by the InVEST Silent and Live auctions held in conjunction with the Independent Insurance Agents & Broker's (IIABA or the Big "I") Legislative Conference.
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This year InVEST awarded $77,000 in scholarships to 88 students pursuing insurance-related degrees. The 2015 scholarship winners represent 32 schools and hail from Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
for a complete list of scholarship winners.
Scholarship hopefuls submitted essays describing the influence and benefits of InVEST on their educational plans. The quality of the essay, combined with the applicant's grade-point average and extracurricular activities, were factors in selecting the recipients. Scholarship checks are mailed directly to the institute of higher learning that each student is attending and will be used exclusively for educational expenses.
As a 501(c)(3) educational trust, InVEST benefits from the support of numerous insurance organizations, hundreds of agencies, brokers and volunteers. The program provides the insurance industry with motivated, talented and intelligent professionals through a support structure of state associations, board members, national staff, teachers and the many industry professionals who work in the field as classroom liaisons.
Founded in 1970 and based in Alexandria, Va., InVEST promotes insurance education in order to attract individuals to pursue a career in the insurance industry. Each year, the program prepares thousands of students for insurance-related careers with a hands-on curriculum taught in high schools, adult education centers and colleges. These courses provide students with a working knowledge of the basics needed to pursue careers in the insurance industry. For more information, go to
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