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1. Our Commitment To Privacy
Your privacy is important to us. .
2. The Information We Collect
We collect personally identifiable information, like names, email addresses, etc., just for completing signing up on this demo site so that you can attempt features on this website.
3. How We Use Your Personal Information
We use or share the personally identifiable information provided to us online for only the purpose which you can attempt all functions of this website.
4. How You Can Access Your Personal Information
You can access the site and see your profile information. However, this is a demo website, we could delete users or clear the database frequently.
5. How You Control Or Delete Your Information
This demo site support the function so that you can destroy the account when you intend to leave this website permanently.


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Guyette & Schmidt, Inc. conducted their annual fall decoy auction on November 11th & 12th, 2009, at the Talbot County Community Center. The sale grossed $1.41 million with 29 lots selling for over $10,000 each. Top lot in the sale was a pair of greenwing teal by Charles Bergman of Astoria, Oregon. It sold for $63,250, which was above its presale estimate. A blackduck by Lee Dudley (Knotts Island, NC) sold for over twice its estimate at $60,375. A Cobb Island curlew sold for $35,650 which was nearly five times its presale estimate
Goldeneye drake by Elmer Crowell
Oil on board by David Maass
Pair of bluebills by Arthur Cobb
Very early oil on board
Full size heron by Lloyd Tyler
Canada goose by Charles Birch
Pair of life size turkeys from Wisconsin
Ruddy duck by Charles Waterfield
Bluebill drake by Eli Doughty
Pintail drake by Nicole Vidacovich
Blackduck by Dave Watson
Pair of goldeneye by John Schweikart

subset: commoncrawl


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At Impact Institute we develop software for impact measurement and reporting on different levels and for different types of users. Our solutions build on our innovative open-source method and data such as the GID and monetization database. The software can be tailored to your needs and to the impacts relevant to your organization.
Our experience ranges from a full Integrated Profit & Loss measurement tool suited for external reporting for a large bank, dashboards, data collection apps, to farm survey tools among others. The tools are designed using your input and feedback and can be hosted on our secure cloud servers.
Platform for environmental impact of waste streams
Client: Suez is a global waste disposal company and a frontrunner in sustainability.
Project: A platform that provides Suez' clients with insight into the environmental impact of their waste disposal. Users can minimize their environmental impact with the help of practical suggestions and custom scenarios.
Benefits to client: This impact platform allows Suez and their clients to revolutionise waste disposal. The tool strengthens Suez' value proposition for sustainable solutions.
Online portal for societal impact of roses
Client: Hivos is a Dutch NGO that aims to innovate for positive social change. They support and collaborate with local partners in Africa, South-America and Asia.
Project description: In collaboration with Hivos, Impact Institute has created CSRAfrica.com: an online portal that helps growers, traders, and retailers from the Kenyan floriculture sector improve their societal impact. CSRArica offers up-to-date sector information, best practices, and a tool for impact measurement. Alongside the web portal, Impact Institute collaborates with local partners to carry out impact scans at Kenyan flower nurseries.
Benefits to client: Collaborating with Impact institue offers Hivos a method to quantitatively measure societal impact. Our online portal shows different players in the floriculture value chain what their biggest impacts are, and where the greatest opportunities for improvement lie. The online social impact quick-scan is an opportunity for Hivos and their partners to directly gain insight into societal impact.
Online societal impact measurement of working with newcomers
Client: NewBees helps newcomers to become part of Dutch society through guidance and active traineeship matching.
Project: Impact Institute has worked for several years with NewBees to measure their societal impact. We developed a web-based tool that automates this process, covering the impact created for their participants, the government, and various other stakeholders.
Benefits to client: Our tool enables NewBees to control their data input, measure their impact independently, and manage impact with an interactive dashboard.
Software for integrated annual accounts of ABN AMRO
Client: ABN AMRO is one of the largest Dutch banks, reporting on societal impact since 2018.
Project: A complete annual report on impact for ABN AMRO, covering all of the bank's portfolios as well as their own operations. Our tool, powered by the IP&L Core impact engine, consists of bespoke software modules and a database.
Benefits to client: The annual report allows ABN AMRO to make decisions based on impact. It also offers a practical way to communicate this impact to the world.


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Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach
I took a lot of flak last year for my post saying that the global 50% drop in phytoplankton claimed by Boyce et. al was an illusion. I had said:
So where did the Nature paper go wrong?
The short answer is that I don't know … but I don't believe their results. The paper is very detailed, in particular the Supplementary Online Information (SOI). It all seems well thought out and investigated … but I don't believe their results. They have noted and discussed various sources of error. They have compared the use of Secchi disks as a proxy, and covered most of the ground clearly … and I still don't believe their results.
In other words, I took my chances on my experience and went way, way out on a limb with my statements. And of course, people didn't let me forget it.
Figure 1. Life Cycle of Phytoplankton
Now we get these two "Brief Communications Arising", from Nature magazine (emphasis mine).
Nature Volume: 472, Pages: E6–E7
Brief Communication Arising (April, 2011) Arising from D. G. Boyce, M. R. Lewis & B. Worm Nature 466, 591–596 (2010)
Phytoplankton account for approximately 50% of global primary production, form the trophic base of nearly all marine ecosystems, are fundamental in trophic energy transfer and have key roles in climate regulation, carbon sequestration and oxygen production. Boyce et al.1 compiled a chlorophyll index by combining in situ chlorophyll and Secchi disk depth measurements that spanned a more than 100-year time period and showed a decrease in marine phytoplankton biomass of approximately 1% of the global median per year over the past century. Eight decades of data on phytoplankton biomass collected in the North Atlantic by the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey2, however, showan increase in an index of chlorophyll (Phytoplankton Colour Index) in both the Northeast and Northwest Atlantic basins3, 4, 5, 6, 7 (Fig. 1), and other long-term time series, including the Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT)8, the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series (BATS)8 and the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI)9 also indicate increased phytoplankton biomass over the last 20–50 years. These findings, which were not discussed by Boyce et al.1, are not in accordance with their conclusions and illustrate the importance of using consistent observations when estimating long-term trends.
Along with this one:
Nature 472, E5–E6 (14 April 2011)
Brief Communication Arising (April, 2011) Arising from D. G. Boyce, M. R. Lewis & B. Worm Nature 466, 591–596 (2010)
… Closer examination reveals that time-dependent changes in sampling methodology combined with a consistent bias in the relationship between in situ and transparency-derived chlorophyll (Chl) measurements generate a spurious trend in the synthesis of phytoplankton estimates used by Boyce et al.1. Our results indicate that much, if not all, of the century-long decline reported by Boyce et al. is attributable to this temporal sampling bias and not to a global decrease in phytoplankton biomass.
OK, so I was right. The Boyce paper was nonsense, the claimed trend was spurious, plankton biomass is holding somewhere near steady or even increasing, and a number of independent records show that the Boyce et al. paper is garbage built on bad assumptions.
I bring this up for three reasons. The first is to show the continuing shabby quality of peer-review at scientific magazines when the subject is even peripherally related to climate. Nature magazine blew it again, and unfortunately, these days that's no news at all. It's just more shonky science from the AGW crowd … and people claim the reason the public doesn't trust climate scientists is a "communications problem"? It's not. It's a garbage science problem, and all the communications theory in the world won't fix garbage science.
The second reason I posted this is just because I enjoy it when it turns out that I'm right, particularly on a risky statement made with no data and in the face of opposition, and I wanted to enter that fact into the record. Childish, I know, but at least I'm adult enough to admit it.
The third reason is a bit more complex. It is to emphasize the value of actual experience. I didn't disbelieve Boyce et al. because I had any data. I had no data at all.
What I did have was a lifetime spent on and under the ocean. Phytoplankton form the basis of all life in the ocean. If the phytoplankton had actually gone down by 50%, all life in the ocean would have gone down by 50% … and my experience said no way that was true. Fish catches haven't gone down like that, numbers of species on the reef and along the coast haven't gone down like that, I would have noticed, people around the world would have been screaming about it.
So I put my neck on the chopping block, and I trusted my experience … and in the end, despite the people who laughed at me and abused my claims, my experience won out over Boyce's "science".
Does this mean that we should always trust our experience over science? Don't be daft. Science is hugely valuable, and often shows that our experience has misled us completely.
But far too many scientists forget to check the obvious – their own experience. Not one of the Boyce authors thought "Wait a minute … since the oceans live almost entirely off the phytoplankton, if plankton is down by half why haven't I seen oceanic populations from krill to whales and octopuses dropping by half?" Or perhaps they just didn't have the experience to check the obvious.
The moral of this story? Well, the moral for me is that trusting my experience over the "science" of high-powered scientists living in an ivory tower far above the ocean worked out well … this time.
But the real moral is that scientists need to pay more attention to the "laugh test". I know when I first heard the Boyce claim, I busted out laughing … and when our experience is that strong in saying that science is wrong, it's likely worth checking out.
ADDED LATER For me, there's a few tests that I apply regularly that seem to not be applied by far too many mainstream AGW supporting scientists. These are the smell test, the laugh test, and the eyeball test.
The laugh test weeds out the worst, like the preposterous claim that plankton had been decreasing by 1% per year for the last century. The "Rule of 70" gives the doubling time for an investment. You divide 70 by the annual interest rate, and that gives the doubling time in years.
The Rule of Seventy gives seventy years for doubling time at 1%, so that means in a hundred years the total biomass of the ocean has decreased by more than 50% … seriously, I laughed. The biomass of the ocean decreased by more than half and nobody noticed until now?
The smell test is more subtle. It depends on the provenance of the information, and the way it has been handled, whether it looks "natural", the history of the investigators, and the like. While the smell test can't reject anything, it shows me where to look for something wrong.
The eyeball test is simple. Look at every single dataset. There is absolutely no substitute for the experienced human eye. You say there's seven thousand of them? Boo hoo. You can't just make up an algorithm and apply it without seeing what it does to every single station record. If there's a large number, I just write a program in R that just flashes them on the screen for a second along with an ID number. I just let it roll, and jot down the numbers of the ones that stand out.
Now before anyone starts screaming about computerized checking, yes, they are extremely valuable. I'm a whiz at error-trapping, anomaly finding, and computerized checking in a variety of computer languages.
But computerized checking is only as good as the person who wrote the computerized checks. And until you understand every different way that your data might be contaminated or tainted or erroneous for a host of reasons, you will not be able to write computerized checks to identify those particular errors.
And the only way to do that is to put each and every dataset to the eyeball test. There's an example of what I mean in my post When Good Proxies Go Bad over at ClimateAudit. (Y'all should definitely visit ClimateAudit, Steve McIntyre is continuing his amazing exposition of the never-ending revelations of the "hide the decline" fandango …)


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Our Story
Anything Bundts Cakes
I have always loved to bake. After having a coffee and beignet shop, my joy is still found in the kitchen, baking. There is nothing like a good homemade cake to finish of that special meal or with a good cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate. Alot of the recipes used have been passed down through generations. The featured cake is the infamous Bundt. I invite you to explore the wonderful world of Bundt cakes.
Anything Bundt Cakes
Welcomes You
Freshly Baked Goodness You Can't Resist
Our Baked Goods
Always Fresh, Always Tasty
All cakes are made with fresh quaility ingredients
Flavors: to name a few:
Classic Pound
Lemon Blueberry
Cream cheese/Vanilla bean
Chocolate marble
Ricky Road
Mexican hot chocolate
Pecan praline
*White Chocolate/ Raspberry
Apple pecan spice
Banana spit
Cinnamon swirl
Mimosa Bundt
Vanilla cake with Bourbon, vanilla, caramel glaze
"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well"


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Explored this year are ways the visual in the early modern period contests or complements the printed word; figures nationality, class, and gender; negotiates public and private spaces; occupies the space of theatricality; and participates in the marketplace of texts. Also considered are ways modern visual media, such as film or the internet, engage early modern visual media, such as the stage or the broadsheet woodcut.
Six Center courses participate in the early modern visual culture theme. The Center courses seize opportunities to promote a dialogue between these classes as well as with complementary classes offered in Art History. A Fall colloquium on the visual features Professor Stephen Orgel (Department of English, Stanford University) and Professor Joseph Roach (Department of English, Yale University). The year's course investigations conclude with a Spring undergraduate/graduate student conference headed by keynote speaker, Professor Alexander Nemerov (History of Art and American Studies, Yale University).
2001-2002 Events
Theme-Related Courses
Fall 2001
ENGL 197 | Drama as a Visual Art (Undergraduate)
The course, part of the year-long Visual Culture theme of the Early Modern Center, will consider drama as a visual art. The sixteenth-century saw a crisis in the status of the image unprecedented in Western Europe. The religious culture of Europe in the fifteenth and early decades of the sixteenth century was intensely visual, expressing itself in the visual art we associate with the Renaissance. But the Protestant Reformation attacked this art as idolatrous and unleashed a wave of iconoclasm across Northern Europe, including England. What were the consequences of this crisis for the drama of Elizabethan England? As a visual art, theater was also subject to attack. Acknowledging that theater is indeed a visual as well as a verbal art, we'll study the ways in which the visual and theater were assailed, then read plays by Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and others that respond to this crisis in the status of the visual.
ENGL 197 | Early Modern Visual Culture (Undergraduate)
This course would contribute to the EMC's theme for next year. It would involve a study of the relation between the verbal and the visual through a survey of changing modes of self-representation in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature and art. Visual representations will include: formal portraits, emblems, ballad images, miniatures, architecture, perspective painting, and family portraits. Literary representations will include: Shakespeare's Richard II, Spenser's The Faerie Queene, ballads, Jonson's masques, sonnets, and Webster's The Duchess of Malfi. Some collaboration is expected with Ann Jensen Adams, in Art History, on the topic of formal portraits.
ENGL 231 | Early Modern Visual Culture (Graduate)
This will be a graduate version of the undergraduate course that will require more substantive reading of primary and critical texts.
Winter 2002
ENGL 197 | Visualizing Shakespeare's Plays (Undergraduate)
Spring 2002
ENGL 165 | Early Modern Ballad Art, 1500-1800 (Undergraduate)
This course will study the evolution of the broadside ballad during a crucial phase of its history, when it was disseminated for the first time in massive numbers, due to the rise of cheap print, and became an especially occasional form. The course will emphasize the particular formal features of the ballad, which, for the lower orders, was quite literally "art," pasted on the walls of their homes and alehouses. The course will culminate with each student converting an EEBO ballad into modern type, editing that ballad, and having it mounted on the EMC's site.
ENGL 231 | Visualizing Shakespeare on Film and Stage (Graduate)
The goal of the course is to examine Shakespeare's plays in relation both to early modern visual culture and to modern film versions. A usual week's assignment will consist of one Shakespeare play, one film version, and one important theoretical essay. Theoretical pieces will for the most part be "classics" such as Benjamin's "Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" or Mulvey's "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema." Plays will probably include Richard III, Titus Andronicus, Love's Labors Lost, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, and The Tempest. There will be three options for taking the seminar: 1) research course, 2) reading course, 3) audit. Those taking the seminar as a research course will write a 15-20 page research paper on a topic related to the course material. Those taking the seminar as a reading course will write a term paper (8-10 pp.) and will also write a take-home final exam. All members of the seminar will present several brief reports during the term.
ENGL 235 | American Enlightenment in Print and Visual Culture (Graduate)
Introduction to Renaissance Studies
This site includes an extensive picture gallery to be used in conjunction with literary and historical readings for this Renaissance course. (Rebecca Bushnell, UPenn)


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The MMORPG world is quite the cut-throat business and if you want to survive against World of Warcraft then you have to be prepared to make some changes to your subscription model before your game sinks. The current solution to the "WoW Question" is the Free-to-Play option, where the developer makes their game available to everyone, free of charge, and recoups their costs through microtransactions and other options.
Champions Online, which I played and wrote impressions on way back when I first started at GamerSushi, is the newest adherent to this business plan, making the jump to Free-to-Play in the coming weeks. While people will still be able to subscribe for $14.99 a month (called a Gold subscriber), there will also be a new tier available called a Silver membership. While Gold members will retain all the bells and whistles that came with the package before, Silver members are getting the short end of the stick as benefits their thrifty ways.
Continue reading Champions Online Jumps on the Free-to-Play Train


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Images which you do not see every day, moments of our travelling experiences in the untamed beauty of Rwanda in search of the last remaining mountain gorillas at the top of the Virunga Mountains.
Walking together, accompanied by the talented Rangers, to reach the jungle, climbing and climbing in the mist until all of a sudden the Ranger stops us and points his finger to a tree. All of a sudden the majestic presence of a gorilla. It manifests itself with all its power and dark colour, the look of its eyes staring into ours. A truly unique moment that changes us forever, a moment where you can only question the true meaning of our existence!
Travelling Memories by Susan Frittelli


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For a small company, Wilson Display Ltd. runs a fairly sophisticated business that spans design, production and installation of store fixtures. But the combination of complex and small business makes finding the right IT systems tricky.
"Most companies are distributors, marketers, warehousers … we take raw steel right from the sheets and the rolls and we completely bend it, cut it, weld it," said Frank Ruffolo, president of the Toronto-based manufacturer.
Earlier this year, Wilson Display replaced its legacy IT systems with SAP Business All-in-One, an integrated small-to-medium business (SMB) package from the Germany-based enterprise resource planning technology vendor. But the company was under time pressure to integrate the sort of manufacturing system that a company its size would not normally need, recalled Ruffolo.
The allure of the SAP offering was the promise of a fast implementation and the capability to match the functionalities of the old system right out of the gate, said Ruffolo. While the implementation was successful and on time, Ruffolo admits in hindsight that it was unrealistic to think a 90-day implementation can ever be smooth.
But the kinks were ironed out along the way and Wilson Display now has access to data it hasn't even begun to make use of as well as the comfort that it won't outgrow the new systems, said Ruffolo.
"We can run our business which is a good thing," laughed Ruffolo, alluding to the complexity of Wilson Display.
Part of that complexity is that, besides standard design, the company does a lot of customized work for customers, often mixing the two components, said Ruffolo. "The engineering and costing package allowed us to deal with it very efficiently," he said.
The pricing also worked for Ruffolo because he could buy licenses instead of packages. "And that was a big advantage for us because we don't use a lot of each package," he said.
Wilson Display deployed Business All-in-One with the help of Markham, Ont.-based IT consulting firm Illumiti Inc.
A speedy implementation is key for any project that is time and materials-based, said Nir Orbach, CEO with Illumiti. "Really, the cost of the implementation is driven by how quickly we can get to the end result," said Orbach.
The 90-day implementation period was met through a combination of ASAP Focus, an SAP methodology for fast deployment, and additional direction from Illumiti that focused attention on areas that will offer competitive differentiation and adoption of best practices on all other processes, said Orbach.
But the biggest challenge with any quick implementation is change management, and Wilson Display was no exception, noted Orbach.
A 12 to 14- week implementation is not a long time to absorb change "and the implications to the business of replacing multiple systems with one integrated solution," he said.
Illumiti addressed change management at Wilson Display with pre- and post-implementation systems training.
But resistance to changing how an SME traditionally adopts technology is lessening, said Conrad Mandala, vice-president for small to medium enterprises with Toronto-based SAP Canada Inc.
The economy has a lot to do with that new push towards greater investment in IT infrastructures in order to compete, evidenced by an unexpected expansion in SAP's customer pipelines this year, said Mandala. "Our pipeline is as big as it has ever been," he said.
Part of the resistance up till now towards packaged IT offerings versus the dispersed and siloed systems approach, said Mandala, is the comfort in running a small business on Microsoft Office documents.
"When I'm asked who my biggest competitor is in the ERP marketplace I say very quickly that it's Microsoft Excel," said Mandala.
But Mandala admits that SAP's presence in the large enterprise space contributed to the image of the vendor only toiling in that space, causing many SMEs to turn away. But SAP has put effort into changing that in the past 18 months, he said.


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AdiFeed – Partner of BLATTIN'S Conference
On 19-23rd of February the XVIII NATIONAL CONFERENCE was held, dedicated to the topic of INCREASE OF PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY IN DAIRY HERDS. The conference, organized in 5 centers (Rawicz, Opole, Inowrocław, Łomża, Włoszczowa) by Blattin Polska, together with the partner – Adifeed, attracted crowds of cattle breeders and dairy producers from all over Poland who wanted to learn the effective methods of improving the reproduction and milk yield in dairy herds.
The invited guests listened with interest to the lectures of 3 outstanding experts: Krzysztof Białoń, PhD Eng., Director of the Department of Cattle and Pigs in AdiFeed, prof. Zygmunt Maciej Kowalski, PhD hab. Eng., from the University of Agriculture in Krakow, and William Woodley (Canada) – an authority on "unlocking the potential" in dairy herds.
Krzysztof Białoń, PhD Eng., discussed the issues related to the positive influence of probiotics and herbs on efficiency of milk production. He also emphasized the need to prevent inflammation, which results in a significant deterioration of animals' performance.
Impairments in the dairy cattle reproduction, resulting from nutritional errors, were the subject of a lecture by prof. Zygmunt Maciej Kowalski, PhD hab. Eng., who drew attention to their impact on low milk yield and a smaller number of calves.
William Woodley encouraged all the participants to improve the economics of milk production. The speaker emphasized the influence of heat stress on premature fawning, resulting in low birth weight of calves and lower concentration of immunoglobulins in the blood serum. The expert also recommended increasing the number of milkings from two to three times, which – in his opinion – ensures 8-15% higher milk production.
The conference was met with enthusiasm of the participants. It also provided an opportunity to exchange experiences and establish valuable business contacts.


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Submitted by guitar-list on
Big hair, diveboming tremolos and ferocious finger tapping: it all began with 80's guitar master Eddie Van Halen. At the recent NAMM 2007 show Eddie announced a new licensing deal with Fender.
As an introduction to a line of upcoming Van Halen products. The Fender custom show reproduced 300 copies of Eddie's legendary Frankenstrat red and white. The replicas feature every scratch and dent of the original, according to Fender. All sold out within 15 minutes, even with a price tag of $25000!
If that price tag is too much why not make you own Frankenstrat?


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Story highlights
This page includes the show Transcript
Use the Transcript to help students with reading comprehension and vocabulary
At the bottom of the page, comment for a chance to be mentioned on CNN Student News. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call.
September 10, 2014
Science and medicine merge for our first story today on an enterovirus. We also explore economics with a look at back-to-school spending. Geography factors in to a flooding report out of Southeast Asia and a wildfire event in California. And history finds a place on a random segment involving a mummy.
On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call.
Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program.
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13 March 2019
There is a huge outcry on the media over deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) being applied to SNC-Lavalin. This was made worse when two ministers resigned because of Justin Trudeau's intervention in applying DPA to SNC. DPA is a political issue and not a judicial one. So, it is well within Trudeau's authority to pass DPA legislation. Judiciary will follow the law. It is not appropriate for the government to apply DPA on a case by case basis. This is not important.
The public anger was boosted when 2 ministers resigned because Trudeau's office exerted pressure on the Canadian Public prosecutor to drop criminal proceedings against SNC in favour of a DPA. This is also not so important.
World Bank from time to time bans corrupt contractors from bidding for its projects. So far World Bank has black listed more than 250 companies. Out of this 117 are from Canada. SNC-Lavalin and its affiliates account for 115 of those in the black list. This is disgrace. Financial Post reported.
United States comes second after Canada, with the greatest number of black listed companies. Canada has more than double the number of black listed companies than United States. More than 320 additional Canadian companies have partial World Bank sanctions. The largest chunk of those, too, are SNC-Lavalin. Other countries in the partial list are U.K., New Zealand, Poland, the U.S., Australia, Qatar, Denmark, Norway, Spain, India, France, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Romania, Turkey etc. Toronto Sun reported.
It is just this one company that makes Canada look like a corrupt country. This is why it should be banned. SNC concentrated mainly on World Bank and Canadian aid projects to poor countries. It inflated contract prices unconscionably. It was able to do so because it lined the pockets of those in power in the recipient countries. Because of the bribes, the beneficiary countries signed on the dotted lines without asking any questions. Besides because of the long-term nature of the loans they would leave it to their future generations to repay the loans while they enjoyed the benefits today. Thus, SNC was synonymous with corruption from the inception.
If Canada wants to clean up its image, it would be good thing for it to let SNC sink. After all, how important is 9,000 job for the economy of Canada?


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I cannot let the media statement put out by the "Coordinating Chairman of the PAP Town Councils" regarding the sale of the town council management software system to a ex-PAP MP-owned company be left alone without it being shredded apart. The media statement appeared on January 2, 2013 on the PAP website [updated 28 Oct 2018: those links are no longer valid but the contents of which is in the paragraph below].
I have italicised and indented the paragraphs from the media statement and my response follows each italicised segment.
Statement by Teo Ho Pin on AIM Transaction
On 28 December 2012, I issued a press release in response to Ms Sylvia Lim's statement on the website of the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council. Ms Lim had made various assertions in her statement. However, her statement was made without citing the relevant facts. I now make this further statement to set out fully the relevant facts.
I am the co-ordinating Chairman of all the PAP-run Town Councils ("the TCs"). The PAP TCs meet regularly and work closely with one another. This allows the TCs to derive economies of scale and to share best practices among themselves. This improves the overall efficiency of the TCs, and ensures that all the PAP TCs can serve their residents better.
In 2003, the TCs wanted to harmonise their computer systems. Hence, in 2003, all the TCs jointly called an open tender for a vendor to provide a computer system based on a common platform. NCS was chosen to provide this system. The term of the NCS contract ("NCS contract") was from 1 August 2003 to 31 October 2010. There was an option to further extend the contract for one year, until 31 October 2011.
In 2010, the NCS contract was going to expire. The TCs got together and jointly appointed Deloitte and Touche Enterprise Risk Services Pte Ltd ("D&T") to advise on the review of the computer system for all the TCs. Several meetings were held with D&T.
After a comprehensive review, D&T identified various deficiencies and gaps in the system. The main issue, however, was that the system was becoming obsolete and unmaintainable. It had been built in 2003, on Microsoft Windows XP and Oracle Financial 11 platforms. By 2010, Windows XP had been superseded by Windows Vista as well as Windows 7, and Oracle would soon phase out and discontinue support to its Financial 11 platform.
From what is mentioned above, D&T noted deficiencies and gaps in the system, which it seems was only about parts of the application infrastructure becoming obsolete and unmaintainable. It would be good to know what other gaps and deficiencies were reported.
It is now clear that the application that was developed ran on the system from Oracle Corporation, called "Oracle Financials 11". It also is clear that, possibly both the server and client OS was Microsoft Windows XP. I do wonder how that original application was spec'ed out?
We have here a classic case of all of the component systems needed to run an application reaching end of life or becoming unsupported even as the application could still be used.
That, in itself, is not a big deal. Forced obsolescence is the norm in the IT industry. It is not the best state of affairs, but it is what it is.
The TCs were aware of and concerned about the serious risks of system obsolescence identified by D&T, and wanted to pre-empt the problem. In addition, as the NCS Contract was about to expire, they sought a solution which would provide the best redevelopment option to the TCs, and in the interim would allow them to continue enjoying the prevailing maintenance and other services.
Fair enough.
As Coordinating Chairman of the TCs, I had to oversee the redevelopment of the existing computer system for all TCs. It was clear to me that the existing computer software was already dated. The NCS contract would end by 31 October 2011 (if the one year extension option was exercised). However, assessing new software and actually developing a replacement system that would meet our new requirements would take time, maybe 18-24 months or even longer. We thus needed to ensure that we could get a further extension (beyond October 2011) from NCS, while working on redevelopment options.
Not sure why the preceding was needed, for it is a restatement of the first discussion.
D&T also raised with the TCs the option of having a third party own the computer system, including the software, instead, with the TCs paying a service fee for regular maintenance. This structure was not uncommon.
By stating that D&T saying that it is a common method for "third party own the computer system", it is not clear how that would help with a rapidly aging computer system. Sounds incredulous for D&T to suggest that.
We decided to seriously consider this option. Having each of the 14 individual TCs hold the Intellectual Property (IP) rights to the software was cumbersome and inefficient. The vendor would have to deal with all 14 TCs when reviewing or revising the system. It would be better for the 14 TCs to consolidate their software rights in a single party which would manage them on behalf of all the TCs, and also source vendors to improve the system and address the deficiencies.
This paragraph contains the biggest amount of doublespeak and warped sense of value if there ever was one. What does it mean that each of the TCs holds the "Intellectual Property"?
It was stated that the reason for creating the application was (from above) "(t)his allows the TCs to derive economies of scale and to share best practices among themselves. This improves the overall efficiency of the TCs, and ensures that all the PAP TCs can serve their residents better." which puts to lie "(t)he vendor would have to deal with all 14 TCs when reviewing or revising the system".
It would seem that whatever that was built, ended up being 14 versions of the application and not one. How does reviewing and revising the system become any more efficient by "consolidat(ing) their software rights in a single party"? Humbug.
If that indeed was a valid reason, all the TCs could have done was to agree to trust one TC to be the custodian and decision maker. How does each giving up their ownership to an external party be any better?
I suspect the Coordinating Chairman is pulling a fast one here.
The TCs thus decided to call a tender to meet the following requirements:
1. To purchase the software developed in 2003, and lease it back to the TCs for a monthly fee, until the software was changed;
2. To undertake to secure extensions of the NCS contract at no extra cost i.e. take on the obligation to get an extension on the existing rates, until the TCs obtained new or enhanced software. This was put in to protect the financial position of the TCs; and
3. To work with the TCs to understand their enhancement and redevelopment needs and look for a suitable vendor to provide these upgrades.
If you look at the actual tender notice, all it states is that they are selling a "developed application software" and that the tenderer should be "experienced and reputable company with relevant track record".
The devil is in the details which is only available if you fork out $214.
So, the PAP TCs wanted to sell out to someone else who fits their criteria of an experienced and reputable company with RELEVANT track record. The tender advertisement sounds very thin and vague.
Under the tender, the TCs sold only the IP in the old software. The ownership of the physical computer systems remained with the individual TCs. We wanted to sell the IP rights in the old software because it had limited value and was depreciating quickly. Had we waited until the new system was in place, the IP to the superseded old software would have become completely valueless.
Ah huh! They wanted to monetize their "IP" as it were. Time was running out. Not sure who else on the planet would want their "IP", but they must monetize it.
The TCs advertised the tender in the Straits Times on 30 June 2010. Five companies collected the tender documents. These were CSC Technologies Services Pte Ltd, Hutcabb Consulting Pte Ltd, NCS, NEC Asia Pte Ltd and Action Information Management Pte Ltd ("AIM").
I am sure four of the companies listed above, after wasting the $214, are run by level-headed management who realized that this tender was a huge scam and wanted no part in it and so decided not to respond.
I am aware that NCS considered bidding but in the end, decided not to do so as it was of the view that the IP rights to software developed in 2003 on soon to be replaced platforms were not valuable at all.
Another company withdrew after it checked and confirmed that it was required to ensure renewal of the NCS contract without an increase in rates. The company did not want to take on that obligation. The others may also have decided not to bid for similar reasons.
In the end, only AIM submitted a bid on 20 July 2010.
Does the Coordinating Chairman really think that NCS would have fallen into the scam as well? They would have known that there really is nothing in the application that they could "salvage", having built it in the first place, let alone helping their customer monetize it.
We evaluated AIM's bid in detail. First, AIM's proposal to buy over the software IP would achieve our objective of centralising the ownership of the software, consistent with the model suggested by D&T.
This is circular logic which needs no further response.
AIM was willing to purchase our existing software IP for S$140,000, and lease it back at S$785 per month from November 2010 to October 2011. The lease payments to AIM would end by October 2011, with the expiration of the original NCS contract. Thus after October 2011, the TCs would be allowed to use the existing software without any additional lease payments to AIM, until the new software was developed.
Let's do the math:
|14 PAP Town Councils
|Contract Award
|$140,000 (perhaps each TC got $10K)
|Lease (Nov 2010 – Oct 2011)
|($785*14*12 => $131,880)
This meant that the TCs expected to gain a modest amount (about S$8,000) from the disposal of IP in the existing software.
So, the so called "Intellectual Property" is really only worth $8,120.
Second, AIM was willing to undertake the risks of getting an extension of the NCS contract with no increase in rates. This was the most important consideration for us, as it protected the TCs from an increase in fees.
And AIM will have the needed clout to negotiate with NCS – because they own the software – but the 14 PAP Town Councils being the original customer of NCS could not garner? Is that really true, Mr Coordinating Chairman? You are saying that you cannot do better than AIM against NCS? Say it ain't so, Mr Coodinating Chairman.
Third, we were confident that AIM, backed by the PAP, would honour its commitments.
Wow, the PAP link. That's the magic bullet. Cronyism at its best. "Backed by the PAP" because the three directors are former PAP MPs or because the company is funded by the PAP? Perhaps the other companies who picked up the tender document realized that they are not a PAP-{owned, funded} entity and would therefore not win.
That statement alone reeks of contempt of the free market, the principles of transparency, meritocracy and everything we hold dear in this country.
Are you, Mr Coordinating Chairman, also saying that AIM has deep pockets that they can withstand the possibility of NCS not agreeing? The directors of AIM have been reported not to be taking in director fees. That's noble of them. It does look like the PAP Town Councils found their shining white knight in AIM.
Given the above considerations, AIM had met the requirements of the tender on its own merits. We assessed that the proposal by AIM was in the best interests of the TCs, and thus awarded the tender to AIM.
Of course! AIM has to be trustworthy and reputable given their PAP pedigree. Of course! D'oh!
Under the contract with AIM, the TCs could terminate the arrangements by giving one month's notice if the TCs were not satisfied with AIM's performance. Similarly, AIM could terminate by giving one month's notice in the event of material changes to the membership of a TC, or to the scope and duties of a TC, like changes to its boundaries. This is reasonable as the contractor has agreed to provide services on the basis of the existing TC- and town-boundaries, and priced this assumption into the tender. Should this change materially, the contractor could end up providing services to a TC which comprises a much larger area and more residents, but at the same price.
What a lot of nonsense is this? It is unbelievable that the Coordinating Chairman can include a poison pill clause in the contract if the "boundaries of the Town Councils change". I believe the boundaries of the West Coast Town Council changed after the May 2011 elections. I don't see AIM doing anything about terminating the contract (correct me if I am wrong Mr Coordinating Chairman).
How does changes in the "larger area and more residents" materially change the way the software works? Is Mr Coordinating Chairman taking the tax payers and constituents of the PAP Town Councils to be daft? Wait a minute, a former PAP prime minister says we are (search for daft in that link)!
Since winning the tender, AIM has negotiated two extensions of the NCS contract until April 2013, at no increase in rates. The first extension was from November 2011 to October 2012, and the second from November 2012 to April 2013. The TCs received a substantial benefit in terms of getting the extensions from NCS beyond the original contract period, without any increase in prices.
Now, this is confusing. But I shall hold back for more juicy parts following.
What is not known now is the maintenance charges NCS charged as part of their original contract with the PAP Town Councils.
AIM has also been actively working with several vendors to explore new software options and enhancements for the TCs. AIM has identified software from a number of possible vendors, and has invited them to make presentations to the TCs in order for a suitable option to be chosen.
Are any of these open source solutions? Or is this going to be another closed, proprietary system that will face the same issues as the older one? Why are the Town Councils (via AIM) not looking at maximizing the tax dollars that goes into this by using open source solutions?
My offer to help build a fully open source solution remains.
Following the expiry of the initial lease arrangement for the software from AIM on 31 October 2011, no further lease payments for the software were made to AIM. During the period of its contract extension from November 2011 to April 2013, the management fee payable to AIM for the whole suite of services it provided was S$33,150, apart from what was payable to NCS for maintenance. In the end, inclusive of GST, each TC paid slightly more than $140 per month for AIM to ensure continuity of the existing system, secure the maintenance of this system at no increased costs, and identify options for a new system to which the TCs could migrate.
We entered into the transaction with AIM with the objective of benefitting the TCs. Over the last two years, the intended benefits have been realised. There is thus no basis to suggest that the AIM transaction did not serve the public interest, or was disadvantageous to residents in the TCs.
Bingo! The smoking gun perhaps?
So, AIM is not charitable and is asking the TCs to pay from November 2011 till April 2013. This is what the math looks like:
|14 PAP Town Councils
|Contract Award
|$140,000 (perhaps each TC got $10K)
|Lease (Nov 2010 – Oct 2011)
|($785*14*12 => $131,880)
|Nov 2011 – Apr 2013
So, contrary to the rationale of "monetizing the IP" (a load of crap), the 14 PAP Town Councils will incur a loss of $25,030 in this deal.
This amount is on top of the cost of the D&T report and the "apart from what was payable to NCS for maintenance."
It does seem that the PAP, having been in power for over 50 years, has found many creative means to "misdirect" tax monies.
I am saddened to have done this analysis.
Please, Mr Coordinating Chairman, please, come clean. You made a mistake. You thought you got a good deal. But that was not what it was. You have been drinking from the PAP water fountain for too long that you cannot see what is right and what is wrong. Your "media statement" is so full of holes that we can drive the Airbus A380 through it with room to spare.
Again, my offer to form a team of open source developers to build a solution that can benefit not only the town councils but anyone else remains.


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Maybe we'll never know the reason why Snapchat took off when it did, or why Vine died early. However, their days in the sun have passed, and the time has now come to tear apart TikTok, again.
When my little sister showed me Musical.ly upon its birth, I hated it. I hated it when it was born-again as TikTok, and to add insult to injury, again when I was forced to watch its cringeworthy advertisements on YouTube.
In 2019, the word "cringe" can be applied to millions of situations. One could be made to cringe by being asked out by someone with zero game, listening to the morning news or misreading the expiration date on a carton of milk. For a while, I could easily cringe with the rest of the world when Musical.ly was born. In fact, "cringe compilations" began to surface before the app folded into an inescapable meme cycle. However, peering into the world of 2019 TikTok as an outsider, I witnessed a new, more profound level of cringe. There was something deeper than simply eBoys, VSCO girls and TikTok bros and babes: something very wrong. It was as if the conceitedness of Instagram and the "in-your-face-ness" of Vine had an unwanted pregnancy. I didn't want to look at their bastard child, but I couldn't resist.
As a newcomer, TikTok looked like a collection of trendy-looking high schoolers with average senses of humor, scrounging on the floor for likes. I couldn't figure out if these beautiful creatures realized they could skimp on their comedy game because they would get likes anyway or if they were just never funny to begin with. This made me question whether or not self-made millionaire Kylie Jenner would've been Jeff Bezos in another life had she not been born with the burden of natural beauty. I started to feel like my whole life was a lie. With this in mind (and after my younger sister showed me one funny TikTok), I decided to go on a quest for truth and, in the meantime, delay my descent into bitter old womanhood.
I promptly made an account and started perusing my "For You" page the following week. I saw what I expected: girls dancing, staged pranks, a lone eBoy biting his lip, the classic "guy goes in for a hug that was actually meant for a dog" and my personal favorite, white teenagers putting on questionable affectations while lip-syncing.
There was a time when it really meant something to slap a video of yourself on the internet. There was a time when you had to be convinced to "Do it for the Vine," which could make a dozen people act up without having to change outfits and rehearse the whole thing first. That time is over.
I would've lost hope for TikTok completely had I not scrolled long enough to see the light. Within the first 10 minutes I wasn't exactly in love with TikTok, but it didn't seem as horrific as the YouTube ads, which were far worse than the other 75% of the platform's actual content. Just like any social media feed, it's tailored, which means that not only are you being watched, but your feed is probably going to be closer to your personal cringe tolerance than someone else's.
To pass the hours of experimental swiping, I ranked each TikTok I watched (see results below). TikTok can actually be funny, and some of the best content was surprisingly not funny at all, just cool or interesting videos. There are more posts than you could ever watch, and when ─ not if ─ you find yourself in a swiping drought or just aren't connecting to the humor, you can always search or check out international TikToks.
The app isn't the absolute worst. The idea of taking a meme or reference to literally anything and adding an original "spin" is cool. The cringe factor seems to almost always be due to creators who are more focused on inserting themselves into the cycle of content, rather than on being original or adding comedic value.
This is the same problem that exists in all social media, in one form or another. It's not TikTok; it's human nature. This brings us back to the point of this app, which is still unclear. You might watch it for some laughs, its weird content, the viral cuties or you might just stare blankly to take your mind off things. TikTok could be the change you need or it could turn you permanently into an e-person. Whether or not the risk is worth the reward is your decision.
India – 119.3m users.
USA – 39.6m users.
Turkey – 28.4m users.
Russia – 24.3m users.
Mexico – 19.7m users.
Brazil – 18.4m users.
Pakistan – 11.8m users.
Saudi Arabia – 9.7m users.
[TikTok ratings: first impression]
0 = unfunny
1 = mildly funny
2 = funny
3 = interesting/ cool (not funny)
0. 104
1. 32
2. 24
3. 38
Total good (1-3): 94
Total useless (0): 104
Total viewed: 198
Total time: 2 hours


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The third year of Association Sunday, the Unitarian Universalist Association's annual fundraising event, got underway last week. On Sunday, October 4, hundreds of congregations held a special worship service that included a collection to support UUA diversity initiatives. Many more congregations will hold their events later in the year.
The money raised will expand the "Building the World We Dream About" curriculum that is designed to promote multiculturalism. It will also be used to support congregations who are working to become racially, culturally, and economically diverse, as well as congregations and districts that minister to youth and young adults of color.
The Rev. Stephan Papa, special assistant to the president for congregational giving and growth funding, said the funds raised will move the UUA toward diversity. "Growth in diversity is a challenge for us," he said. "It's also one reason Peter (the Rev. Peter Morales) was elected president in June. We told him we wanted our faith to be part of the multicultural future."
In 2007, the first year of the program, Association Sunday raised more than $1.4 million for an advertising campaign in Time magazine, a program to support ministers of color and their congregations, and grants for individual congregations' growth initiatives.
Last year, Association Sunday raised $406,000 to support theological education programs, continuing education offered by the UU Ministers Association, scholarships for people entering UU ministry, and a program supporting ministers of color.
Papa noted that last year's Association Sunday, in October, came just a few weeks after the major drop in the stock markets. "A lot of people were in shock and quite anxious," he said. "This year every congregation goes in knowing it's a challenging time and an opportunity to grow our faith and our spirit of collaboration and generosity." The goal this year is to raise as much as, or more than, last year, said Catherine Lynch, the UUA's director of campaigning.
Papa noted that in the first year of Association Sunday, 626 congregations participated, representing almost 129,000 congregants. Last year there were 520 congregations, with 106,600 people. This year the total thus far is 494 congregations representing more than 114,000 congregants.
Association Sunday is about more than raising money, said Papa. It's a time to make connections among congregations. On October 4, Papa attended an Association Sunday worship service at the UU Church of Lancaster, Pa., with eight Pennsylvania congregations participating, from Lancaster, Harrisburg, Reading, State College, Boiling Springs, York, Gettysburg, and Northumberland. He reports that more than 500 people attended the intergenerational service. A similar regional Association Sunday service is being planned for April in Leominster, Mass.
And in coastal Georgia and South Carolina, six UU ministers traded pulpits October 4 to mark the day. "We are starting to strengthen connections," said Papa. "This will make us more effective."
This year, Association Sunday includes a new Connecting Congregations program in which a congregation is invited to pair with another congregation. The two congregations will share information with each other and may decide to sing the same hymns, do the same chalice lighting, or challenge each other on the amount of money raised. About 100 congregations have signed up thus far for Connecting Congregations, Papa said.
Related Resources
- UUA Association Sunday 2009 Includes resources and links to information helpful in organizing an Association Sunday event. Also includes information about Connecting Congregations. (UUA.org)


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Descartes Systems Group Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines
Descartes Systems Group (NAS: DSGX) reported earnings on March 7. Here are the numbers you need to know.
The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Jan. 31 (Q4), Descartes Systems Group beat slightly on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.
Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew. Non-GAAP earnings per share grew significantly. GAAP earnings per share increased significantly.
Gross margins grew, operating margins contracted, net margins expanded.
Revenue details
Descartes Systems Group tallied revenue of $33.8 million. The eight analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see revenue of $33.4 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 14% higher than the prior-year quarter's $29.6 million.
Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.
EPS details
EPS came in at $0.20. The five earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.15 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.20 for Q4 were 150% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.08 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.12 for Q4 were 71% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.07 per share.
Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.
Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 68.0%, 220 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 12.5%, 200 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 23.0%, 770 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)
Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $34.1 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.14.
Next year's average estimate for revenue is $142.6 million. The average EPS estimate is $0.65.
Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 42 members out of 43 rating the stock outperform, and one members rating it underperform. Among 14 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 13 give Descartes Systems Group a green thumbs-up, and one give it a red thumbs-down.
Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Descartes Systems Group is outperform, with an average price target of $10.30.
Software and computerized services are being consumed in radically different ways, on new and increasingly mobile devices. Many old leaders will be left behind. Whether or not Descartes Systems Group makes the coming cut, you should check out the company that Motley Fool analysts expect to lead the pack in "The Next Trillion-dollar Revolution." Click here for instant access to this free report.
Add Descartes Systems Group to My Watchlist.
The article Descartes Systems Group Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines originally appeared on Fool.com.
Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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Leveraging Leadership Styles for Law Enforcement Families
Recorded Webinar
Duration: 90 minutes
Fax: +1.972.244.3431
E-Mail: email@example.com
During these unusual times, first responder families may be experiencing an increased level of stress. This webinar is not only for the first responder, but also for family members.
In this webinar, participants will discover their own personality style and the style of other family members. We will discuss strengths and challenges of each style including:
- How styles interact with each other
- Strategies to improve communication and minimize misunderstanding
- Methods for building positive relationships
- Developing skills for resolving conflicts
Duration: 90 minutes
Registration for this webinar is free. You will receive an email with a link to the recorded webinar within one business day after your registration is confirmed. Please contact ILEA if you have any questions.
About the Presenter
Vice President, The Center for American and International Law
Director, Institute for Law Enforcement Administration
As Vice President for Law Enforcement Education and Director of the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration (ILEA), Mr. Smith is responsible for the overall management, operations and curriculum development. He provides general oversight of the Schools of Leadership, Center for Law Enforcement Ethics and the Law Enforcement Technical Assistance Program. He assures program quality and organizational/educational stability through development and implementation of standards and controls, systems and procedures, and regular evaluation.
The ILEA is one of the nation's premier learning centers for law enforcement executives, managers and supervisors. For more than fifty years, the Institute has worked to prepare course participants for today's challenging management and ethical issues. Its programs and services focus on adapting successful private-sector models to set a standard of excellence for law enforcement.
Prior to his appoint as Director, Gregory served the ILEA for more than 17 years. He promoted to the rank of Associate Director and was the administrator of School of Executive Leadership, the Schools of Police Supervision and Diversity Education Programs. He is also responsible for developing and conducting in-service police training programs for multiple agencies throughout the United States and Canada.
From 1990-1999, Mr. Smith served as a Texas Peace Officer with the Baylor University-Medical Police Department in Dallas, Texas. He served in Patrol and managed the Crime Prevention and Community Services Section. He was instrumental in establishing numerous programs designed to reduce crime, prevent workplace violence and mediate workplace and community disputes for the Baylor Health Care System.
Gregory served more than 21 years with the United States Army and the United States Army Reserve. His military career began with his enlistment into the Indiana National Guard in 1981, where he served as a Cavalry Scout and Military Police Officer. During his career he progressed in ranks from Private to Major, and has held numerous positions in the Infantry Corps at Company, Battalion, Brigade and Theater levels.
In the area of professional development, Mr. Smith has coauthored a book on diversity communication, Navigating Diversity: An Advocates Guide Through the Maze of Race, Gender, Religion and More. He is also a Qualified Administer of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (M.B.T.I.), and a National Training Associate with the Insight Learning Foundation.
In his hometown, Mr. Smith has served on the City of Arlington=s Youth and Families Board; the Arlington Independent School District=s Financial Review Committee; and is currently an active football coach, basketball referee and Central Branch Advisory Board Member with the YMCA. Mr. Smith is a graduate of the 53rd School of Police Supervision of the Southwestern Law Enforcement Institute and the Leadership in Police Organizations Course, sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Gregory holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, with Minors in Multi-Cultural Education and Military Science. He also holds a Master of Arts degree in Sociology, (specializing in Social Psychology) from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Gregory is married to Tammera who is a public school teacher. They have four children: daughter Natjar and sons= Adam, Stanton, and Stayton. They reside in Arlington.
Privacy Policy
We do not sell or rent information to any outside parties. By providing your information, you will receive postal and electronic communications from the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration (ILEA) of The Center for American and International Law (CAIL) in accordance with CAIL's Privacy Policy. If we co-sponsor a program with another organization, information may be shared between the parties. All such co-sponsors will be identified on the event details and registration page. At any point, you can opt-out or unsubscribe by selecting either link at the bottom of each email or call us at 972.244.3400.


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The Best or Nothing
Expand Your World
The travel agency team at Adrenaline In Costa Rica is committed to excellence in everything we do. Finding the best deals for our travelers and managing trip details are just some of the ways in which we make your vacation planning easier. Browse through our vacation offerings and see if anything interests you. If you still haven't found something you like, get in touch with us and we will customize a trip together.
5 Days Deluxe Package $ 2,500
6 Days Deluxe Package $ 3,000
7 Days Deluxe Package $ 3,500
8 Days Deluxe Package $ 3,750
Transportation Airport - Hotel - Airport
Breakfast and lunch
Day 1: Pick up at the SJO or LIB Airport. Arrive and settle in at your hotel.
Day 2: Enjoy a day of adventure: ziplining, rappel, and choose between water tubing or horseback riding. Finish the day relaxing at the hot springs. Pick-up at 7:15 a.m. and return around 5 p.m.
Day 3: A full day of adventures at the The La Fortuna Ecological Park. Visit La Fortuna WaterFall, The Native Indians Maleku Village, The Frog and Butterfly Santuaries, and also hike through the Cloud Forest. Pick-up at 7:45 a.m. and return around 3:30 p.m.
Day 4: Get ready for a full day of excitement; go white water rafting level 3/4. Pick-up at 9 a.m. and return around 3 p.m.
Day 5: Those on 5-day trips will head for the airport to travel back home. Those on 6-, 7-, and 8-day packages will enjoy a hike through Arenal Volcano National Park. Pick-up at 8 a.m. and return around 4 p.m.
Day 6 (6-, 7-, and 8-day packages): Those on the 6-day trip will return home. The rest will visit Rio Celeste (Light Blue River), an amazing place at Tenorio National Park. Pick-up at 7:30 a.m. and return around 4 p.m.
Day 7 (7- and 8-day packages): Those on the 7-day package depart. The rest will visit Hanging Bridges. Pick-up at 9 a.m. and return around 1:30 p.m.
Day 8: Transfer to the airport
The team at Adrenaline In Costa Rica recognizes that each traveler has different needs. If none of our packages work for you, we're more than happy to create one that does.


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Think on these things today.
The followers of Jesus were devastated. All their hopes and dreams were gone. Jesus' body lay wrapped in the grave clothes soaked with the spices and preserving materials. But Jesus was not in the grave. He was very busy on this important day.
1 Peter 3:18-22
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also–not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand–with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
What does this mean? It means that right after Christ died, between the Cross and His Resurrection, He went before the spirits in prison, that is Hell, and proclaimed that God's promise of salvation was fulfilled in Him, the Savior of the world. But who are the spirits to whom He preached? Scripture says that they were the disobedient toward God who were living upon earth while Noah was preparing the Ark and who were not saved during the flood.
Does this mean that Christ gave them a second chance to be saved? No! It means that Jesus Christ went before them and proclaimed His triumph; He went to vindicate the way of faith, to proclaim that the faith of Noah was victorious. Noah's life and his proclamation of faith in God were never vindicated in his day; therefore, Christ Himself went before the spirits of unbelievers and personally proclaimed the victory.
Jesus also was collecting keys. He picked up the keys to death, hell, and the grave.
This was a busy day for the Savior. His followers were in despair and did not have a clue as to what He was doing . They were in the dark and they wondered where was God. All the time God was moving in the most triumphant way, in the dark, to work the greatest miracle of all time. Wow, were they surprised the following morning. ". . . Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning." (Psalm 30:5)
Remember when you are in your dark times . . . God did His best work in the dark!!!!!


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Taxi insurance for Uber drivers
Compare Uber taxi insurance quotes[1]
- Compare quotes for Uber taxi insurance in the UK (excluding Northern Ireland)
- See if you could make a saving by filling out our simple-to-use forms
- Includes options such as public liability, windscreen, breakdown and legal cover
Compare taxi insurance quotes for Uber drivers
If you're an Uber driver, you should think carefully about the insurance implications and whether you're covered.
Taxi-like service Uber has experienced phenomenal, and frequently controversial, growth since it was founded in 2009.
The San Francisco-based company went international in 2014 and continues to roll out its sharing-economy service to more and more countries and localities.
The Uber app allows users seeking a ride to make their journey request, which drivers can respond to.
This does, of course, sound very much like a private hire taxi service, but this is a label that Uber staunchly refuses to take upon itself.
The company positions itself as a transportation network company providing the technology to hook up those needing a ride with those providing one; "seamlessly connecting riders to drivers through our apps" is how they put it on their website.
Uber considers drivers who use their app as independent contractors, meaning that the company does not oversee their conduct or the condition of their vehicles, that drivers should be very aware of their own insurance requirements, and that passengers should also be wary.
Uber is resented by many more traditional taxi operators who claim that its drivers have an unfair trading advantage as they're not subject to the same stringent rules and regulations.
Key points
- If you carry a paying customer you need private hire insurance offering cover for hire or reward and should think about public liability insurance
- Uber drivers should speak to their insurance providers to ensure they have appropriate cover
- Uber passengers should be aware of any safety and insurance issues
Insurance for Uber drivers
However Uber chooses to define itself, insurers will see Uber drivers as operating a taxi service and will require them to have appropriate taxi insurance.
Regular, private car insurance or van insurance will be invalidated if you're carrying a paying customer. You'll need commercial private hire vehicle insurance offering cover for hire or reward.
You should also make sure you have adequate public liability insurance, whether through Uber, the vehicle policy or a separate source.
This can cover you as a driver against claims made by customers in case they're injured or suffer another loss while travelling in your vehicle.
Given that Uber is a relatively new and developing service, if you're arranging cover with a view to becoming an Uber driver you should really think about speaking to the provider to ensure you have the insurance you need.
Non-disclosure when arranging insurance can lead to a policy being refused, cancelled or made void, and such mistakes can stay with you for the rest of your life.
"If you're thinking of using your car to make money through Uber or other ride-sharing apps, you won't be covered by private car insurance," said Gocompare.com's Ryan Fulthorpe.
"You'll need commercial private hire vehicle insurance offering cover for hire or reward."
What does Uber require from its drivers?
Uber's taxi-like services are subject to a wide range of variations, with different services on offer in different countries, localities and cities.
For example, in June 2015 if you were seeking to become a driver for Uber in Bristol in the UK, the only choice was UberX, defined as: "A professional driver with a private-hire licence and commercial insurance - driving a mid-size or full-size saloon that comfortably seats four passengers."
A driver seeking to sign up in London at the same time would have been offered the options of UberX, XL (MPVs), or Exec (executive-level cars), plus Uber Lux - designed for professional chauffeurs with long-wheel-based cars - or Uber Taxi, which required drivers to be certified and licensed as taxi drivers by the city.
In the registration process, Uber will ask you to submit the appropriate documentation, but there have been criticisms of its processes.
In Toronto, Canada, for example, it has been claimed that Uber does not insist on commercial insurance† meaning there may be drivers operating under private insurance policies that are not valid for private-hire use.
In some countries where Uber operates, police forces have conducted sting operations to clamp down on drivers who are working without commercial insurance.
Closer to home, in June 2015 Uber said it would review its systems after a London Uber driver had fake insurance documents approved for use.†
Other critics have pointed out that there don't seem to be checks in place to prevent a driver uploading genuine document details for Uber registration, but then cancelling the cover and cashing in the insurance policy.
Uber Challengers
Other players in this market include Lyft, Sidecar, Ola Cabs and Haxi, while Google is believed to be developing its own app
Insurance for Uber passengers
Given such potential circumstances, Uber passengers should be wary about the condition of the vehicle they enter and, perhaps, the insurance cover they may have.
If, for example, the driver doesn't have public liability insurance and the passenger needs to make a claim, it may be proved that the driver is at fault - but would the driver have any assets for the passenger to claim against?
Users in the USA have also complained about the 'repair or cleaning fees' section under Uber's terms and conditions which may leave passengers liable for some of the costs associated with damaged vehicles.†
What insurance cover does Uber provide?
Uber users are firstly subject to background checks, there is a code of conduct in place and both drivers and passengers can be rated by other app users.
Beyond this, the company claims: "Uber is committed to safely connecting riders and drivers. That means setting strict safety standards and providing end-to-end insurance coverage.
"The specifics vary depending on what local governments allow, but what we're doing in the US to ensure your comfort and security is an example of our standards around the world."
Driverless taxis
Both Uber and Google have a keen interest in self-driving cars, something which could prove to be the future for this market
This Uber infographic† outlines the liability cover that the company offers for its US drivers which is set at two levels, a lower one when the driver turns on the app and is 'available' and a higher one from the moment the driver accepts a trip to the time the passenger leaves the vehicle.
In the UK, in June 2015 Uber responded to the story about the acceptance of fake driver insurance documents by telling the Guardian that it had 'backstop' insurance in place that would cover customers if a driver had an accident without insurance, although drivers were required to have cover by law and the terms of their private hire licence.
"All trips are covered by commercial insurance," an Uber spokesperson told the Guardian. "Uber maintains coverage to ensure that this is the case."


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HP Data Vault Contest starts today
Remember back in April when I mentioned a little contest we were going to hold giving away a new HP Data Vault x510? Well, our time has come! You all had your chance with these other participating sites, but they left the best for last:
- Neowin -April 11- 18
- Jake's MediaBlab -Apr 18-25
- Hardwaresphere -Apr 25- May 2
- Slashgear– May 2-9
- Geekazine -May 9-16
- Absolutely Windows– May 16- 23
- Gottabemobile -May 23-30
Starting today, GBM readers can have the chance to win a brand new HP Data Vault x510.
What do you have to do to win? Its simple. Leave us a comment in this post or in our forum telling us why you want the device and how you'd use it. Easy huh?
By the way, not only is there an HP Data Vault up for grabs, but entrants who have a more creative take on how they would use a HP Data Vault will be entered into a second drawing for a chance to win an HP Mini 311 (first place), Smart Wi-Fi Display (second place), or an HP T-Shirt (third place). This contest can be entered by each person once, but note that you are not only competing against GBM readers but other websites who are also giving away the Data Vault too for the creative based prizes. Not too shabby huh?
Winners will be chosen for the HP Data Vault x510 on May 30 using random.org. Winners for the secondary prizes will be announced later on in June.
Good luck to everyone! We can't wait to see how you would use an HP Data Vault!
For our own thoughts on the HP Data Vault X510, here is a review of the device from our own Warner Crocker.
UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who entered. We'll be notifying our winner this week.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.


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This super soft and comfy red and white raglan tee features 3/4 length sleeves and saying "I Believe" with an adorable Santa graphic!
50% polyester, 25% cotton, 25% rayon
Available in sizes S-2XL. Shirt is a unisex fit.
Please see size chart in photos for measurements.
All items are made to order and will ship within 5-7 business days.
Stay in the know! And save 15% on your next order too, just for joining our fancy email list!!


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Quick Definition of Design Build
A Design-Build firm specializes in delivering a type of project delivery system that builders, contractors, and many other industries use to provide faster results and a better experience to clients.
This has some significant differences from what a standard contractor and building firm uses.
Essentially, design-build firms offer a packaged solution of services from one entity instead of two separate firms. This usually results in better communication and efficiency from the start to end of your home remodel or new home construction.
At Scroggs, we pride ourselves in maintaining that level of communication with our clients and it shows from our local awards and reputation at the local home building association.
As shown to the right, Design-Build firm requires a lot less communication between separate entities. This usually results in positive things for consumer's like
Lower Unit Costs (Price Per Sq Foot)
Faster Construction (Faster Project Time)
Less Cost Growth (Final Estimated Cost is More Accurate to Final Costs)
Less Schedule Growth (Quicker and Efficient Process)
Listed above are the reasons we believe in this system and how it works. It not only benefits our company in efficiency and communication, but it benefits YOU.
If you have any other questions regarding the DBIA (Design-Build Institute of America) is a great resource.
Our 7 Step Design Build
As a design-build firm, our main focus is to provide you with the most natural and effortless process while still providing excellent customer service and a personal touch that allows us to lock in on the small details and ideas you want done in your project. The steps below are how we adhere to these beliefs. Feel free to contact us about any questions regarding our process.
This step is all about preparing for your project. The internet has a multitude of resources that can be used for finding out your preferences and dislikes in a remodel or build. Using this, find out what your must-haves are in the project.
Use the list of must haves to understand what a realistic budget would be. Some remodeling cost calculators can be inaccurate, so we would recommend using this Cost vs Value report.
Finding a reliable contractor is the most important factor in having quality work done well and on time. Using multiple sources is the best bet for discovering someone reliable. Sites like Better Business Bureau, Houzz.com, and Yelp can help with discovering your future company.
Lastly, plan to have some questions for us before calling and be prepared to answer some basic questions for us.
The first step in starting the journey to building your dream is reaching out about your project. You can do this through a form submission online here. Or give us a call at 828-552-3222. From here, we will have a conversation informing you about the type of contractors we are and ask you some questions regarding your project.
These questions are varied per client depending on the initial scope and work. After these initial questions are answered, we determine if the scope of work you are looking for is aligned with the type of work that we as a company deliver. If this is the case, we will set up an estimating appointment to meet you in person and take a look at the project scope and area.
The next step starts with the initial estimating meeting. This meeting involves us visiting the house, this is to allow you to ask any questions you have regarding the house and how the project will come to life. We will discuss and recommend the best possible way to bring your project to life along with taking some pictures and sketches of the area so that we have an accurate representation to base our initial estimate off of.
Once this meeting has concluded, a general time frame will be given to complete our initial estimate. The scope of the project does play into the factor of time that this will take to complete. Using this information gathered from the meeting, we can accurately determine a price range for your project.
After we put this information together, you will be notified and invited into the office to discuss the estimated budget range. There are two outcomes for this meeting:
We agree on a partnership fee that allows us to begin the Design phase of the project. This fee is typically a small portion of the preliminary estimate. Another meeting is set up with the designer so that more accurate measurements and designs can be constructed.
We agree that we are not the right fit for your project.
Once the design agreement is signed, our designers will begin their work on creating a 3D view of your house and project space. They will be working with you on this step by step, editing and tweaking the designs through a few drafts to make sure both sides hone in on a final vision.
Once you approve of the big picture design of your house, your finishes are next on the list to decide on. This includes things like fixtures, countertops, flooring, cabinets, etc. This part of the process is extremely personal and we are here to educate and help you accurately reach the personal design you want.
Once all of these decisions are made, a final proposal will be offered that includes building plans along with a schedule and scope of work for your project that includes everything we have selected in the process from flooring to finishes. At this point you will sign a Letter of Intent which allows us to start pre-construction activities like final pricing, scheduling, and other project planning measures.
One of the services we provide in our work is project management. A project manager will be assigned to your project from this point forward. This person will be the master of the project and has expertise in all the fields to be able to understand and interpret the initial vision you have made and turn it into a tangible product. This includes permits and inspections, which are taken care of by the project manager.
BuilderTrend is a software we use for project management. As a client, you will have access to this that will allow you to keep track of the scheduling, upload photos, and other information.
Sit back and relax! Your project manager will be in touch frequently to update you on timing, products, or answer questions that you have. The software can also be used as a means of communication if needed. We are here to serve you and make this experience as enjoyable as possible, so feel free to reach out during this process or ask any questions. Transparency is the reason we have such a close-knit bond with our clients.
Giving back to our clients and community is one of our main goals in business. Enjoy your final product and cherish it! We will stay in touch over time and frequently enjoy clients stopping by the office. You are the reason we exist and we can't thank you enough!


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Digital Measures
Digital Measures is a web-based activity reporting system used to collect and report information about teaching, research and extension accomplishments of faculty, extension specialists and extension educators in an easy-to-use digital format.
The purpose of this site is to provide instruction and support to enter your data for the purposes of annual activity review, updating your web profile, USDA/NIFA annual reporting, and Extension events and activities.
Features and Benefits
• Enter data once and use unlimited times
• Powerful CV-oriented database
• Performance and activity reporting
• USDA/NIFA annual reporting
Putting data in
Digital Measures makes it easy to capture data once and use unlimited times to fulfill all of your reporting needs. When your information isn't readily available, we miss essential opportunities to promote achievements. Collectively, you help us communicate successes, attract students and funding and create annual reports.
Getting data out
Stories give data character, and powerful data gives stories context. Understanding faculty and extension achievements enable us to promote key successes to the public and stakeholders.


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Into the Mirror
Woo Yeong-min retired from the police force after trying to save his partner and causing his death. After a series of mysterious deaths in the shopping mall in which his uncle has allowed him to work as a security guard prior to its reopening, he must face both his own fear of mirrors and the mystery surrounding the fire that closed down the mall.
Released: 2003-08-14
Casts: Rie Young-zin, Kim Myung-min, Kim Hye-na, Jung Eun-pyo, Ki Joo-bong
Duration: 113 min
Country: South Korea
Production: Key Plus Pictures


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Order @ http://darrellmc.jeunesseglobal.com/products.aspx?p=INSTANTLY_AGELESS
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Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control is used for is a centralized administration and using this tool you can monitor and manage databases.
Download Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control
Download Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c
- Agent
- Plug-in's
- Pre-upgrade Console
- Connectors for Heterogeneous Mgmt
- Installation Guide
Click here for steps to Install Oracle 10g Grid Control
Automatic Storage Management (ASM) is a new feature in Oracle Database 10g/11g and this feature simplifies the storage of Oracle data files, control files and log files...etc. It provides integration of the file system and the volume manager.
Download Oracle ASMLib using below link, follow the link for your platform.
Click here for steps to Install Oracle ASM on Linux in 10g/11g.
Satishbabu Gunukula
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Download Oracle Grid Control and ASMLib
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Posts tagged Spring Boot
Payara Platform & "Spring4Shell"
Published on 06 Apr 2022
by Fabio Turizo
Topics: Spring Boot, Security, JakartaEE, news and events | 0 Comments
Java EE Microservices Platforms & High Performance Java EE with JCache– jDays 2016
Published on 19 Apr 2016
by Steve Millidge
Topics: Payara Micro, Microservices, Hazelcast, Caching, Spring Boot | 6 Comments
Recently I attended as a speaker at my second jDays, a great conference in a great venue in Gothenburg. jDays is a fantastic conference as it is small enough to easily meet people and network and discuss tech, while at the same time big enough to run multiple tracks so there is always a session on that you'll be interested in.
Payara Server at JavaOne 2015
Published on 23 Feb 2016
by Dominika Tasarz
Topics: Java EE, Microservices, Hazelcast, CDI, Spring Boot | 0 Comments
Bootiful Enterprise Applications powered by Spring Boot & hosted on Payara Micro
Published on 21 Nov 2015
by Mert Caliskan
Topics: Payara Micro, Microservices, Spring Boot | 3 Comments
We have already introduced Spring Boot to Payara Micro, the new fish on the block!, by implementing Spring Boot based RESTful web services and hosted on Payara Micro. While implementing it, we didn't deal with any of the XML configurations or dependency management needed for the Spring framework with the help of the Spring Boot


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ANOTHER sale from ETSY :-)
I started this blog for me - it expanded to show BFF Jackie what I was doing - and a few others have invited themselves too - everybody welcome! Mostly about patchwork, with random comments about embroidery, family and life in general, come on in, put your feet up, and I'll put the [virtual] kettle on.
Saturday, 29 January 2011
ANOTHER sale from ETSY
1 comment:
- Anonymous29 January 2011 at 19:30
You know I would love these! xxxReplyDelete
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Make Arma Not War
by KingoftheSandbox
Mentioned by the developers of Arma 3 in their sitrep and their facebookpage, i thought i send this piece in to participate.
A qoute from the devs in SITREP #0044:
Project Lead Joris-Jan van 't Land posted his Steam Workshop recommendation: 'Lion Claw' by KingoftheSandbox. His evaluation: "The author of this scenario uses various design tools to create a tense atmosphere: weather, time-of-day, fog and ambient combat or example. By applying the British radio protocols and character emblems, you also get a different experience to the more common American point of view. The scenario does not do something incredibly unique or new, but it nails the basics of Arma gameplay and is a lot of fun. Try egressing with your entire team in tact!"
MANW Update 1.60
Version 1.60 Changelog
- Added Strategic Map Feature
- Insertion via: Parachute, Mh-6 or civilian truck on different spots (replayability)
- adjusted position of the three outposts
- adjusted Kajman route and behavior
- added mines around the airfield
© 2023 Bohemia Interactive a.s. Arma® and Bohemia Interactive® are registered trademarks of Bohemia Interactive a.s. All
rights reserved.


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By Porter Anderson | @Porter_Anderson
Writing on the Ether: An Amazon Roundtable
Amazon's CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) did something I saw no other publishing outfit(s) doing at BookExpo America: They hosted a private roundtable of leading self-publishing authors and some of us who cover publishing—not for the purpose of promoting what they do, but to get everyone's input on how things look.
The resulting session was a marvelous, one-hour, serious but thoroughly pleasant kind of party of shared insights and repartee. I couldn't have liked it more.
Read the full article at JaneFriedman.com
Friend Grief and AIDS: Thirty Years of Burying Our Friends by Victoria Noe
It's been likened to a plague, but AIDS was never just a health crisis. The second of a series on grieving the death of a friend, Friend Grief and AIDS: Thirty Years of Burying Our Friends, revisits a time when people with AIDS were also targets of bigotry and discrimination. In stories about Ryan White, ACT UP, the Names Project, red ribbons and more, you'll learn why friends made all the difference: not just caregiving or memorializing, but changing the way society confronts the medical establishment and government to demand action.
Click here to visit Amazon and download a sample.


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Glass bowl DANCING blue AGL0204
Price zł530.00
See the movie
Original glass blue bowl in an unusual shape. An amazing turquoise green color. Looks great on a wooden table. Can be used to serve snacks or fresh fruit or serve as an ornament by itself. Also a great idea for a gift. Hand-made by Polish glaziers. Each piece has its own unique color, size and shape. Branded with Gie El logo.
Data sheet
|Technical specification PDF
|Download file
|Hi-res photos
|Download file


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If you are looking for an everyday checking account that also pays a competitive interest rate, you've got a winner! With a minimum balance of $1,000 — plus unlimited check writing — a Premium Gold Checking account is the low-maintenance way to do your checking. And to make your banking even easier, you get free online management with online banking and mobile banking.
- Checking with competitive interest to boost your balance*
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- $1,000 minimum deposit to open
*Account eligibility is limited to individuals, nonprofit organizations and governmental units.


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Top Reasons To Upgrade To SQL Server 2017
Microsoft SQL server is a software product developed by the engineers at Microsoft and it can be defined as a relational database management system. With a primary function to store and receive data from a wide range of software applications, the SQL servers developed by this company are also targeted at different categories of users. Obviously, SQL is available in a variety of editions, ranging from the Enterprise edition to the Standard edition, web edition and express edition, business intelligence edition and workgroup edition. But with all the recent developments by Microsoft, is it better to upgrade to the SQL Server 2017 or stick to your current edition? Experts say that it is, due to the reasons below.
New Engine Features
Most of the developments that were brought to SQL 2017 are trying to improve the way the application runs on various Linux distributions. However, there are still available a range of new engine features on this version. Out of those, the automatic plan correction helps with automatic detection and correction of many query plan stability concerns. The feature was integrated with the 2016 version, and it still runs similarly, so if your company's main concern is similar, you can also try the SQL server 2016 standard pricing option.
Another interesting feature offered by the 2017 version is the AQP function, or the Adaptive Query Processing function. It has an increased success in dealing with batch mode operations, and it has three main components: The Batch Mode Adaptive Memory Grant Feedback, the Interleaved Execution for Multi-Statement Table Value Functions or the Batch Mode Adaptive Joins. Troubleshooting and diagnostic are also made easy with the 2017 version, making everybody's life easier. Compared with the 2016 version, the 2017 version is a more fluent one when it comes to query store attributes.
Replication Enhancements
The new version makes available an increased protection of the remote distribution database in availability groups, which makes replication features significantly easier than previously before.
Microsoft aims to offer support for SQL 2017 for longer than it previously did, by 15 months more. After that, there will not be available any more updates, not even security updates.
SQL Server with Internet Server Use Made Easy
On Internet Servers, the regular demand is to install the SQL Server Client Tools. These tools include the client connectivity elements typically used by an application connecting to the SQL server.
SQL Server on computers
Clients can also install the SQL server client tools directly on their computers that run client or server applications. If you plan to develop SQL Server applications, this is an incredible solution that will offer you more flexibility and productivity, through some of the incredible advantages offered: software development kits, management tools, connectivity components, SQL Server Data Tools and so on.
These are some of the main reasons for which you should consider upgrading your SQL server from 2016 to the 2017 version. This new version promises to offer increased flexibility and a plethora of new useful tools.