text:
Is Italy Heading for Default?
Any potential partial writedown of Italian sovereign debt will dwarf the effect of a Greece writedown.
Back on Sunday Zerohedge.com posted the below chart from Bloomberg, which may or may have not reposted it from another source.
There are three important features to this chart. Probably the least important is the vertical scale although that has the potential to bite some institutions or hedge funds big-time. The bubbles are the size of sovereign debt by European countries. Big is bad, further right is even worse. Obviously, Greece is overleveraged and is paying the price for it now. The giant meteor in the sky is Italy. The size of the meteor is $1.8 trillion dollars of sovereign debt. Roughly 25% of this needs to be refinanced in the next 18 months.
The vertical scale is the amount of Credit Default Swaps (CDS) written by analysts that positively, absolutely told their investment committees that there was no way Italy could possibly default. Luckily, it would appear that the amount is much smaller than the folks at AIG (AIG) that positively, absolutely guaranteed subprime tranches that would never default. Nevertheless, any potential partial writedown of Italian sovereign debt will dwarf the effect of a Greece writedown. The stakes in Europe are high and nothing seems to have a reasonable chance of an easy mitigation.
So all you hedge fund and institutional money managers... you think you can take a vacation this summer? No debt ceiling solution? Sure you say, "That will be finalized a day before my Hampton rental starts August 1." Positively, absolutely? Folks, you better be flat or hedged. The next eight weeks until Labor Day do not have the looks of a quiet summer.
Stay on top of the best financial news and commentary on Wall Street by following us @Minyanville.
- 1
The information on this website solely reflects the analysis of or o=
pinion about the performance of securities and financial markets by the wri=
ters whose articles appear on the site. The views expressed by the writers =
are not necessarily the views of Minyanville Media, Inc. or members of its =
management. Nothing contained on the website is intended to constitute a re=
commendation or advice addressed to an individual investor or category of i=
nvestors to purchase, sell or hold any security, or to take any action with=
respect to the prospective movement of the securities markets or to solici=
t the purchase or sale of any security. Any investment decisions must be ma=
de by the reader either individually or in consultation with his or her inv=
estment professional. Minyanville writers and staff may trade or hold posit=
ions in securities that are discussed in articles appearing on the website.=
Writers of articles are required to disclose whether they have a position =
in any stock or fund discussed in an article, but are not permitted to disc=
lose the size or direction of the position. Nothing on this website is inte=
nded to solicit business of any kind for a writer's business or fund. M=
inyanville management and staff as well as contributing writers will not re=
spond to emails or other communications requesting investment advice.
Copyright 2011 Minyanville Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Daily Recap Newsletter
entertainment, education and
smart market commentary.


text:
|Showing 1 - 10
|THEMIS-A: Electric Field 3s and 1/8s Data
|Resource ID:spase://VMO/NumericalData/THEMIS/A/EFI/PT3S
|THEMIS-A Electric Field Instrument (EFI) electric field measurements. This Level 2 product is a 3D estimate of E_perp derived from the spin plane E-field measurements assuming E dot B = 0, using relevant FGM (Flux-Gate Magnetometer) data. Includes spin-averaged, and Fast-survey field data. Spin-averaged (EFS_DOT0) data has approximately 3-second time resolution. Fast-survey (EFF_DOT0) data has 1/8-second time resolution.
|THEMIS-A ESA electron/ion energy fluxes and moments
|Resource ID:spase://VMO/NumericalData/THEMIS/A/ESA/PT3S
|THEMIS-A: Electrostatic Analyzers (ESA): Electron/Ion Ground-Calculated Energy Fluxes (5eV - 25 keV for Ions and 6eV - 30 KeV for Electrons) and Moments (density, velocity, pressure, and temperature). The satellite has 2 modes Fast and Slow survey and 3 data types: FULL, REDUCED and BURST. FULL: 88 angles x 32 energies, time resolution of 128 spins(395 seconds) in slow survey and 32 spins(98 seconds) in fast survey. REDUCED: spin time resolution(3 sec) but angles averaged into 1 angular spectra x 32 energies in slow survey or 6 angular spectra(90 degree x 90 degree window) x 32 energies in fast survey. BURST: 88 angles x 32 energies and spin time resolution(3 sec) but only available sporadically and for short duration. Note that angular resolution affects moments since they are obtained integrating over the mode-specific angular distribution. These moments are processed on the ground. They should be regarded as approximations but will improve in quality as our processing routines are improved over the course of the mission to account for additional sources of variance.
|THEMIS-A Level 1 Probe State Data
|Resource ID:spase://VMO/NumericalData/THEMIS/A/Ephemeris/PT01M
|The L1 STATE files contain the following data, sampled at one-minute intervals: * probe position and velocity in GEI, GSE, and GSM coordinates; * flags to indicate regions of interest and maneuver status; * RA and declination of spin axis; * spin period and spin phase; * spin model parameters for high-precision interpolation of spin phase between one-minute data points. Version number indicates data source as follows: * V00: predicted ephemeris and attitude, no spin period or spin phase; * V01: predicted ephemeris and attitude, spin period and spin phase derived from probe telemetry; * V02: predicted attitude, definitive ephemeris from magnetometer and Doppler tracking data; * V03: corrected attitude and spin phase derived from fully calibrated magnetometer data (added science attitude determination using perigee data post-processing). Produced by Mission Ops, Science Ops and Science Team.
|THEMIS-A: Probe Electric Field Instrument and Search Coil Magnetometer Instrument, Digital Fields Board - digitally computed Filter Bank spectra and E12 peak and average in HF band.
|Resource ID:spase://VMO/NumericalData/THEMIS/A/FBK/PT4S
|The Filter Bank is part of the Digital fields board and provides band-pass filtering for EFI and SCM spectra as well as E12HF peak and average value calculations. The Filter Bank provides band-pass filtering for less computationally and power intensive spectra than the FFT would provide. The process is as follows: Signals are fed to the Filter Bank via a low-pass FIR filter with a cut-off frequency half that of the original signal maximum. The output is passed to the band-pass filters, is differenced from the original signal, then absolute value of the data is taken and averaged. The output from the low-pass filter is also sent to a second FIR filter with 2:1 decimation. This output is then fed back through the system. The process runs through 12 cascades for input at 8,192 samples/s and 13 for input at 16,384 samples/sec (EAC input only), reducing the signal and computing power by a factor 2 at each cascade. At each cascade a set of data is produced at a sampling frequency of 2^n from 2 Hz to the initial sampling frequency (frequency characteristics for each step are shown below in Table 1). The average from the Filter Bank is compressed to 8 bits with a pseudo-logarithmic encoder. The data is stored in sets of six frequency bins at 2.689 kHz, 572 Hz, 144.2 Hz, 36.2 Hz, 9.05 Hz, and 2.26 Hz. The average of the coupled E12HF signal and it's peak value are recorded over 62.5 ms windows (i.e. a 16 Hz sampling rate). Accumulation of values from signal 31.25 ms windows is performed externally. The analog signals fed into the FBK are E12DC and SCM1. Sensor and electronics design provided by UCB (J. W. Bonnell, F. S. Mozer), Digital Fields Board provided by LASP (R. Ergun), Search coil data provided by CETP (A. Roux). Table 1: Frequency Properties. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ |Cascade|Frequency |Low-pass |Frequency | Filter Bank | | |content of |Filter |content of | Frequency | | |Input Signal |Cutoff Freq|Lo-Pass Out.| Band | |----------------------------------------------------------------| | 0* | 0 - 8 kHz | 4 kHz | 0 - 4 kHz | 4 - 8 kHz | | 1 | 0 - 4 kHz | 2 kHz | 0 - 2 kHz | 2 - 4 kHz | | 2 | 0 - 2 kHz | 1 kHz | 0 - 1 kHz | 1 - 2 kHz | | 3 | 0 - 1 kHz | 512 Hz | 0 - 512 Hz| 512 Hz - 1 kHz | | 4 | 0 - 512 Hz | 256 Hz | 0 - 256 Hz| 256 - 512 Hz | | 5 | 0 - 256 Hz | 128 Hz | 0 - 128 Hz| 128 - 256 Hz | | 6 | 0 - 128 Hz | 64 Hz | 0 - 64 Hz | 64 - 128 Hz | | 7 | 0 - 64 Hz | 32 Hz | 0 - 32 Hz | 32 - 64 Hz | | 8 | 0 - 32 Hz | 16 Hz | 0 - 16 Hz | 16 - 32 Hz | | 9 | 0 - 16 Hz | 8 Hz | 0 - 8 Hz | 8 - 16 Hz | | 10 | 0 - 8 Hz | 4 Hz | 0 - 4 Hz | 4 - 8 Hz | | 11 | 0 - 4 Hz | 2 Hz | 0 - 2 Hz | 2 - 4 Hz | | 12 | 0 - 2 Hz | 1 Hz | 0 - 1 Hz | 1 - 2 Hz | +----------------------------------------------------------------+ *Only available for 16,384 Hz sampling.
|THEMIS-A: On Board Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) power spectra of Electric (EFI) and Magnetic (SCM) field measurements, for particle and wave burst survey modes.
|Resource ID:spase://VMO/NumericalData/THEMIS/A/FFT/PT0.0556S
|On Board Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) power spectra of Electric (EFI) and Magnetic (SCM) field measurements for particle and wave burst survey modes. Spectra are produced only in Particle Burst and Wave Burst modes; only a preselected four of the signals listed in Table 1 are input at any time. Data fed through the FFT while not in Particle or Wave Burst modes is automatically disgarded. The FFTs (Cooley-Tukey algorithm) are conducted as an integral part of the power spectrum calculation by the Field Programable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). A CORDIC algorithm is used for sine/cosine calculations. The data has raw resolution of 1024 pts for 8,192 sample/sec signals and 2048 pts for 16,384 sample/sec signals (EAC measurements only). Signals at 8,192 samples/sec are handled by 1024-point FFTs, while those at 16,384 samples/sec go through 2048-point FFTs. Past and current signal configurations for specific spacecraft are listed bellow in Table 2. The spectra are arranged into log spaced frequency bins in steps of 16, 32, or 64. Cadence is adjusted to keep packet size constant (i.e. increasing the fequency resolution by a factor of 2 decreases the sampling rate by 1/2). The frequency bins cover a range of 0 Hz to 4 kHz. Table 1: FFT Input Signals. Signal | Description SCMX, SCMY, SCMZ: Three axis magnetic fiend from SCM V1 through V6: Probe-spacecraft voltage for all six EFI sensors E12DC, E34DC, E56DC: DC-coupled electric field measured from opposing EFI sensors E12AC, E34AV, E56AC: AC-coupled electric field measured from opposing EFI sensors E12HF: High frequency electric field from EFI Table 2: Spacecraft specific configurations. All probes were initially set to use EDC34, EDC56, SCM2, and SCM3 signals for both particle and wave burst modes. Output was set to 16 frequency bins at 4 Hz. Configuration Changes: 9 June 2008: Particle burst spectra resolution increased from 16 to 64 bins and cadence slowed from 4 Hz to 1 Hz for closer analysis of spectral features. N/A: Particle burst spectra on all probes reconfigured to 64 bins at 1 Hz. 15 Aug 2008: E34DC and E56DC inputs switched to E34AC and E56AC to reduce impact of wake fields on FFT spectral measurements. 15 Oct 2008: Particle burst spectra resolution reduced from 64 to 32 bins and the rate increased from 1 Hz to 2 Hz; a response to noise from plasma wake fields in the 64 bin spectra. Table 3: Instrument-Spacecraft Physical Configuration Instrument | Alignment in Spacecraft Geometric coordinates (SPG). See THEMIS website for coordinate system details and mechanical drawings. EFI boom 1: Along positive X-axis EFI boom 2: Along negative X-axis EFI boom 3: Along positive Y-axis EFI boom 4: Along negative Y-axis EFI boom 5: Along positive Z-axis EFI boom 6: Along negative Z-axis SCM *The SCM uses an instrument specific set of axes; an orthogonal system centered instrument with the X-axis 12.1 degrees from the SPG X-axis.
|THEMIS-A: Fluxgate Magnetometer Measurements 1/128s
|Resource ID:spase://VMO/NumericalData/THEMIS/A/FGM/PT0.0078125S
|Spacecraft-collected fluxgate magnetometer measurements: Decimated TeleMetry High, DSL, GSE and GSM coordinates, cadence 3s-1/128s. The high-resolution data is available only for time intervals when the instrument was switched into a high-resolution mode. Sensor and electronics design provided by TUBS (Glassmeier, Auster) and IWF (Baumjohann, Magnes)
|THEMIS-A: On Board spin fits of Electric (EFI) and Magnetic (FGM) field. On-Board Spin-fit electric and magnetic field data
|Resource ID:spase://VMO/NumericalData/THEMIS/A/Fits/PT3S
|THEMIS-A: On Board spin fits of Electric (EFI) and Magnetic (FGM) fields. This file contains data EFI and FGM that has been despun on-board to 3 second resolution. It stores meta information like the number of points that contributed to each spin and the standard deviation of those points. For the EFI data it also stores variables with the Z component of the EFI data zeroed and the Z component of the EFI estimated using the E.B=0 equality. The need to use an estimated Z axis for the EFI is due to error in measurements from the EFI axial booms. These data are provided in DSL (despun spacecraft L-Z vector), GSM, and GSE coordinates.
|THEMIS-A: On Board moments: ESA and SST Electron/Ion moments, density, flux, velocity, pressure and temperature.
|Resource ID:spase://VMO/NumericalData/THEMIS/A/MOM/PT3S
|THEMIS-A On Board moments. On board data outputs include number density, particle flux, energy flux, and a six component symetric momentum flux tensor. Other moments are calculated from these partial moments on the ground adding total pressure, velocity, plasma temperature (measured as a three dimensional energy vector), and a six component symetric pressure tensor to the list of data products. Number density and total pressure are scalar outputs. Velocity is calculated in DSL, GSE, GSM, and MFA coordinates (coordinate descriptions are listed below in Table 1). Magnetic Field Aligned pressure tensor and temperature are calculated as well. All quantities are calculated for both ions and electrons from a combination of ESA and SST data. Moments data are taken at spin resolution in all ESA survey modes except burst. The spacecraft potential, as measure by the EFI, is used to correct for spacecraft charging by shifting the particle energies for calculation; this eliminates contamination from photo-electrons. Also, weighting factors are used to account for instrument specific energy and angle efficiency variations. Table 1: Coordinate Descriptions. Despun Sun - L-vector (DSL): Z-axis points towards the spin axis, the Y-axis is obtained from the cross product of Z and the Spacecraft-Sun direction as viewed from the probe. The X-axis sits in the Z-axis-Sun plane and completes a right handed system. Geocentric Solar Ecliptic (GSE): Z-axis is normal to the solar ecliptic, the X-axis points from earth towards the Sun, and Y complets a right handed system. Geocentric solar Magnetosphereic (GSM): X-axis points from Earth to the Sun, the Y-axis is orthogonal to the Earth's magnetic dipole and points towards the dusk side, and the X-Z plane contains the dipole axis. Magnetic Field Aligned (MFA): Z-axis points along magnetic field lines, the Y-axis is the orthonormal cross product of the Z-axis and a vector pointing towards the Sun, and the X-axis completes the right handed system.
|THEMIS-A: Search Coil Magnetometer 1/8s, 1/128s and 1/8192s Data
|Resource ID:spase://VMO/NumericalData/THEMIS/A/SCM/PT0.125S
|THEMIS-A: Search Coil Magnetometer (SCM) magnetic field measurements. Includes FAST SURVEY, PARTICLE BURST and WAVE BURST data. FAST SURVEY (SCF): 1/8 second time resolution. PARTICLE BURST (SCP): 1/128 second time resolution; only short bursts of data. WAVE BURST (SCW): 1/8192 second time resolution; only short bursts of data. Sensor and electronics design provided by LPP, Roux and Le Contel. SCM Telemetry Modes (Only first 3 apply to level 2 SCM products): +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Fast Survey (scf) | Waveform data for the 3 SCM components; sampling rate between 2 and 256 S/s, nominal value is 8. | | Particle Burst (scp) | Waveform data nominally at 128 S/s. | | Wave Burst (scw) | Waveform data nominally at 8192 S/s. | | Filter Bank (fbk)^ | Mean signal value over 6 frequency bands (4-2 kHz, 1-0.5 kHz, 256-128 Hz, 64-32 Hz, 16-8 Hz. | | Particle Burst Spectra (ffp)^^ | Compressed FFT spectra in 16, 32, or 64 frequency bins; sampling between 1/4 to 8 S/s. | | Wave Burst Spectra (ffw)^^ | Compressed FFT spectra in 16, 32, or 64 frequency bins; sampling between 1/4 to 8 S/s. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ * ^Only two available inputs between all 3 SCM and 12 EFI data signals. * ^^Only four available inputs between 3 SCM and 16 other data signals.
|THEMIS-A: Solid State Telescope (SST): Energy flux spectrogram, electron/ion ground-calculated fluxes (30 keV - 300 keV).
|Resource ID:spase://VMO/NumericalData/THEMIS/A/SST/PT3S
|THEMIS-A: The Solid State Telescope (SST) measures the incoming intensity (flux per solid angle) of superthermal electrons and ions. The spacecraft is fitted with two units (heads), each SST unit has two pairs of opposing ion and electron sensors. Each single sensor covers an angle of 36 degrees. The units are oriented such that one pair is always centered in the rotation plane, the other oriented at a maximum angle of 54 degrees off the plane. Each pair of units are oriented opposite each other allowing both ion and electron sensors to sweep out a maximum of 92% of the sky (45x45 degree required Elevation by Azimuth FOV, 108x22 raw) . The ion and electron sensors primarily measure particles between 30-300 keV and 30-100 keV respectively with a maximum capability of 20-6000 keV and 25-1000 keV. Full distribution data is measured over 128 angles and 16 energy bins, reduced distribution uses 6 angles and 16 energy bins, and burst mode data has 64 angles in 16 energy bins. Matched and paired electron broom magnets produce quadrapole fields reducing magnetic contamination. A mechanical attenuator is used to increase the instruments dynamical range avoiding oversaturation near the plasma sheet edge.
|Showing 1 - 10

subset: commoncrawl


text:
- Home
- Strawberry Preserve with Lapsang Souchong in Multiple Sizes
To receive discount, you must register for an account. Check your email after signup to receive a discount code to manually enter at point of checkout. Customers who fail to manually enter the discount code at checkout will not be refunded after ordering.


text:
Rolls-Royce attacked over job cuts
Aerospace giant Rolls-Royce has come under fire for announcing hundreds of job losses.Read Full Story
Unite said 320 posts were being axed, mainly at the firm's Derby and Bristol sites, describing the cuts as "unnecessary".%VIRTUAL-SkimlinksPromo%
Unite said 320 posts were being axed, mainly at the firm's Derby and Bristol sites, describing the cuts as "unnecessary".%VIRTUAL-SkimlinksPromo%
Rolls-Royce said the number of people it employed in the UK will remain constant or grow in the coming year.
A statement said: "However, in order to increase production and to stay competitive the mix of our workforce needs to change, with more people in frontline engineering and production jobs and fewer in support functions.
"Wherever possible we will redeploy people and we will seek to avoid compulsory redundancies. Last year, we recruited more than 300 people on to our graduate schemes and will recruit more. We also took on another 300 apprentices and that number will grow in the year ahead."
Unite's national officer Ian Waddell said: "Rolls-Royce is a massive success story in UK manufacturing, making record profits and with a booming order book. The company needs the support of its employees to continue this success story and fulfil its commitments to its customers.
"Another round of redundancies in these circumstances, on top of the 400 job losses proposed in its defence business, is a criminal waste of talent that will create insecurity and damage morale in the workforce."
He added: "We want Rolls-Royce to prosper as this will provide job security for current employees and future job opportunities for our young people.
"I urge Rolls-Royce to abandon this plan and talk to the union about measures to further improve competitiveness without cutting loyal staff. The company does not need to disrupt the workforce in this way when it is demonstrating global success and creating huge profits."


text:
|Thread Tools
|Display Modes
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 8,340
Anthony's Wild Card Playoff Picks
Last week: 7-9. Final regular season totals: 129-122-5, Pct. .514. Best Bets: 24-26-1, Pct. .480.
Home team in capital letters; point spreads (opening line) in parentheses after underdog team; selections with point spreads in bold.
HOUSTON 20, Cincinnati 13 (+5) - If someone tries to tell you that there is no such thing as a team "peaking too early," just show them this year's Texans - and if they were playing almost any other team than the Bengals, they would very likely be culminating their end-of-season meltdown with a loss here; but they have simply owned Cincinnati, with four straight wins and covers, including last year, on the road, with a third-string quarterback (T.J. Yates). And if the forecast cooler-than-average temperatures result in the closure of the retractable roof at Reliant Stadium, the fact that the Bengals have dropped five of their last six indoors, with the lone win coming at 2-14 St. Louis last year, also becomes relevant. But a milestone of sorts was reached this year in Cincinnati, in the form of back-to-back non-strike winning seasons for the first time in 35 years, while the reprieve Houston earns by winning has every promise of being short-lived, as it will be on to the building at which they got smoked 42-14 a month ago, and things don't figure to turn out any different in the rematch.
GREEN BAY 37, Minnesota 14 (+8) - If the Vikings' ownership felt like complaining about the starting times of this week's games, they would have been well within their rights in doing so, as making this a night game greatly reduces their chances of pulling off the upset, in that it turns a Triple Witching Hour game (outdoors, on grass, and in cold weather, all in the same game, for a team that plays indoors at home) into what might be characterized as a Quadruple Witching Hour game - and since moving into Triple H in 1982 Minnesota is 11-34 straight up and 16-26-3 against the line in Triple Witching Hour games. Also, Adrian Peterson does have a history of fumbling in cold weather; indeed, such a fumble in overtime in Week 16 (and on a Monday night no less!) at non-contending Chicago in 2009 ended up costing the Vikings the top seed in the playoffs that year; and with Charles Woodson expected back for the first time since Week 7, Green Bay's much-improved defense, which ranked 11th this season after trailing the entire league in 2011, should be able to take full advantage of the enhanced elements to post an easy win - and cover.
BALTIMORE 24, Indianapolis 13 (+6 1/2) - From 1989 to the present, the Modell Franchise (Cleveland Browns prior to 1996, Baltimore Ravens since that year) has made ten playoff appearances, and only twice have they gone one-and-done (in 2003 and 2006), while the Colts were 0-3 both ways against teams with winning records on the road in even this Cinderella season, and were outscored a staggering 129 to 62 in the trio; and while they did snap a six-game cold-weather losing streak two weeks ago to clinch a playoff spot, they allowed an alarming 352 yards rushing that day - so look for "Hey diddle diddle, Ray Rice up the middle," and right and left as well. True, Indianapolis has actually covered the spread in the last eight meetings in the series, but the most recent such outing was a 14-point loss as a 15-point road underdog in Week 14 of last year. The Ravens go on to visit a team they lost to by 17 at home last month - and the game wasn't even as "close" as that would suggest - while with another how shall we say, less-than demanding schedule in 2013 (one in which their opponents combined to go 20 games under .500 in 2012), the Colts should be primed to contend again in Andrew Luck's second season. Thus the victories in both AFC wild card games are tempered by harsh realities, while both losers can take some very real positive things from this season - and into the next, at least in this case.
WASHINGTON 27 (+1), Seattle 17 - Operator, please connect me with 1983 - the first, last and only time the Seahawks have ever won a playoff game on the road (Seattle is 0-8 on the road in the postseason since) - so seeing them turn up as favorites in this spot raises one red flag right there. And I just love these situations when a team is finally getting an (obviously non-division) opponent at home after playing them multiple consecutive times on the road - four in this instance; furthermore, Seattle has not won in the nation's capital since 1995, after which they have lost three times there both straight up and against the spread. Finally, don't let Seattle's location on a map fool you; this is, if not a warm-climate, then certainly a mild-climate city, so the late time slot figures to work against the Seahawks, though not as massively as the night-time start on Saturday hurts the Vikings. It's kind of a shame that two of the big three rookie quarterbacks have to play each other, since one of them has to lose. But that's the way it goes; and after coming within a half-game of winning the NFC West this year, the Seahawks should pose a credible threat to San Francisco in the division in 2013 and very likely beyond. As for the Redskins, their win here, coupled with Green Bay's, sets up a matchup for them next week against a team with an awful lot to prove when it comes to getting it done in the playoffs.
"We know that the price of seeking to force our beliefs on others is that they might someday force theirs on us" - Mario Cuomo
Last edited by Anthony; 01-03-2013 at 08:20 AM.
|Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|Thread Tools
|Display Modes
Linear Mode
|Similar Threads
|Thread Starter
|Last Post
|My Wild Card Playoff Picks
|National Football League
|Anthony's Playoff Picks
|National Football League
|Silver Dragon's Week 15 Picks
|Silver Dragon
|National Football League
|Replace Tie-Breakers With Playoff Games?
|National Football League
|Draft weekend ...
|Jersey Devil
|National Football League


text:
Big Bang (disambiguation)
(Redirected from Big Bang (band))Jump to navigation Jump to search
|Look up Big Bang or big bang in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
The Big Bang was, according to the prevailing cosmological theory of the universe's early development, the event that led to the formation of the universe.
Big Bang may also refer to:
- Cold Big Bang, an alternative theory in which the start of the universe is at absolute zero
- Big Bang nucleosynthesis, the production of certain hydrogen isotopes early in the universe's existence
- The Big Bang Fair
- Big Bang (South Korean band), or BIGBANG, South Korean hip hop boy band
- Big Bang (British band), British electronic synthpop duo
- Bigbang (Norwegian band), or BigBang, Norwegian rock trio
- Big Bang (2006 Big Bang album), eponymous album by the South Korean boy band
- Big Bang (2009 Big Bang album), eponymous album by the South Korean boy band
- Big Bang (Los Enanitos Verdes album), 1994
- Big Bang (Magdallan album), 1992
- Big Bang (Os Paralamas do Sucesso album), 1989
- Big Bang (Waltari album), 1995
- The Big Bang (Busta Rhymes album), 2006
- The Big Bang (Dom & Roland album), 2011
- The Big Bang – The Essential Collection, an album by TNT
- The Big Bang!: Best of the MC5, a 2000 album by MC5
- Big Bang!, an album by Fuzzzbox
- Big Bang!!!, an album by Shoko Nakagawa
- "The Big Bang" (song), a 2010 song by Rock Mafia
- "Big Bang", a song by Bad Religion from No Control
- "Big Bang", a song by Cursive from Happy Hollow
- "The Big Bang", a song by Godley & Creme from Goodbye Blue Sky
- "Big Bang", a 2007 song by Les Horribles Cernettes
- "The Big Bang", a song by Johnny Mandel from soundtrack for Caddyshack
Film and television[edit]
- Big Bang (film), a 2007 Korean film by Jeong-woo Park
- The Big Bang (1987 film), also referred to as Le Big-Bang, an X-rated animated science fiction fantasy film, directed by Picha
- The Big Bang (1989 film), a documentary by James Toback
- The Big Bang (2011 film), a thriller starring Sienna Guillory and Antonio Banderas
- The Big Bang (TV series), a children's TV science programme shown on ITV from 1996–2004
- "The Big Bang" (Charlie Jade), 2005
- "The Big Bang" (Doctor Who), 2010
Other uses[edit]
- ROH The Big Bang!, a wrestling event
- Big Bang (financial markets), any sudden deregulation of financial markets and the day that the UK financial markets were deregulated
- Big Bang (book), a 2004 book by Simon Singh about the cosmological model
- Big Bang (comics), a Milestone Comics event
- Big Bang Comics, Gary Carlson and Chris Ecker's retro-style comic book
- Big-Bang Cannon, a toy
- Big-bang firing order, an aspect of some motorcycle engines
- System 7 or Big Bang, a Macintosh operating system
- Big Bang (faction), a faction within the Democratic Party, a political party in Italy
- Big bang adoption, instant changeover as a system adoption process
- Big Bang, a game mode in puzzle video game Puyo Puyo Tetris
- Operation Big Bang, "British Bang" or "Big Bang"; one of the largest conventional explosions in history
See also[edit]
- Big Bang Theory (disambiguation)
- A Bigger Bang, a 2005 album by The Rolling Stones
| disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Big Bang.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.


text:
AWS Storage Gateway is a service that connects an on-premises software appliance with cloud-based storage to provide seamless and secure integration between your on-premises IT environment and the AWS storage infrastructure in the cloud.
|User Guide
Describes AWS Storage Gateway concepts and provides instructions on using the various features with both the console and the API.
HTML | PDF | Kindle
|API Reference
Describes the AWS Storage Gateway API and CLI operations. Also provides sample requests, responses, and errors for the supported web services protocols.


text:
ChemSpider at heart of new partnership between RSC Publishing and SureChemPosted by: Aileen Day in ChemSpider Services, Community Building, InChI, RSC Publishing
For some time now it has been possible to access relevant SureChem patent information from a ChemSpider compound page in the Patents Infobox. ChemSpider compounds are also linked to and from the relevant RSC articles, which has allowed us to form a new partnership between RSC Publishing and SureChem which relies on ChemSpider taking the pivotal role of linking internet chemistry together.
In the RSC article landing pages there is a "Compounds" tab which shows the key compounds that the article is about – as shown in this example. For each compound there is now a link to view the SureChem patent information associated with that compound as below:
SureChem and SureChem's new free offering, SureChemOpen, offer a suite of patent chemistry data solutions, for example allowing their patents to be found from a structure or substructure search. Now, for each compound returned from such a search it is possible to view any linked ChemSpider compound pages and the number of associated RSC publications (and follow a link to view these articles).
This linking between SureChem and the RSC publication platform relies on ChemSpider (and the standard InChI chemical identifier) providing a bridging link to both, which ensures that the system is accessible, standards-based and scalable, making it easy for future partners to join.


text:
Android is a great, open, free platform. Sadly, the hardware that powers it can't be free, and comes at a variety of different prices. Does price influence your decision largely? If there was a good device for $200, but a GREAT one for $500, which would you choose? (Interpret "good" and "great" as you wish)
As owner of Dollar Tech Check and as a long-time tech enthusiast, budget has always been a large concern to me. I'll spend the full price for phones, but I can't justify spending over $350 on a tablet.


text:
Send Results to This Email:
Street Address:
Street Address:
« Back
« Back | Forward »
You must be a subscriber to see the full results of your search.
Please log in or subscribe below if you are not already a subscriber.
The Daily News subscribers get full access to more than
million names and addresses along with powerful search and download features.
Get the business leads you need with powerful searches of public records and notices.
Download listings into your spreadsheet or database.
Learn more about our services
| Search again
Bloomfield, N.J.-based Atlantic Track & Turnout Co. is expanding its Memphis operations with a 12,900-square-foot pre-engineered metal building addition with a bridge crane at 363 E. Bodley Ave.
1721 Corporate Ave. Memphis, TN 38132
Sale Amount: $1.2 million
Sale Date: Oct. 26, 2012
The 35,097-square-foot industrial facility at 1721 Corporate Ave. next to the Nonconnah Corporate Center has sold for $1.2 million to Mid South Tech Services LLC.
Copyright 1995 -
by The Daily News Publishing Co. Inc. - All Rights Reserved


text:
The Nobel Prize in Physics 1987 was awarded jointly to J. Georg Bednorz and K. Alexander Müller "for their important break-through in the discovery of superconductivity in ceramic materials"
Your mission is to arrange an amazing laser party!
Read more about the Nobel Prize in Physics.
All you want to know about the Nobel Prize in Physics!


text:
The BCCC Adult Basic Education (ABE) Department housed within the Workforce Development and Continuing Education Division is a leader in helping adults achieve functional literacy and important life skills, and is the largest provider of literacy services in Baltimore City.
By combining modern teaching technologies and a committed and innovative professional staff, the department has achieved notable success in helping adults learn.
Courses are either affordable or at no cost and can be customized for businesses, government agencies, nonprofits, schools, churches, and community organizations either onsite, or at the downtown Harbor Campus, Liberty Campus, or Reisterstown Plaza Center.
The Adult Basic Education Department offers six course levels from basic literacy to GED® test preparation, as well as alternative diploma options programs.
Adult Basic Education/GED® Test Preparation
ABE/GED® Test Prep classes provide classroom instruction in basic reading, writing, and math, as well as basic life skills. Courses are offered to adults on campus and at more than 30 sites throughout Baltimore City.
For entry into ABE/GED® Test Preparation classes
Come to 710 E. Lombard St., Room 61, to take a three-hour assessment.
Monday, Wednesday: 8 a.m. — 5 p.m.
Tuesday, Thursday: 8 a.m. — 8:30 p.m.
Friday: 8 a.m. — 2 p.m.
The BCCC ABE /GED testing center is conveniently located at the Shot Tower/Market Place Metro Subway Station and is on bus line route #10. No appointment is needed for testing. The testing center is located on the first floor of the Harbor Park Garage next to Port Discovery. Parking is not validated.
Assessment testing is also offered at the Reisterstown Plaza Center, 6764A Reisterstown Rd., 21205 (Back of Reisterstown Plaza) by appointment.
For more information, please call 410-986-3200.
This website or any of the products or services described on this website are not endorsed by ACE or GED® Testing Service.


text:
401, 4th Floor,
Sunny Paradise,
Landmark- Kamal & Co.,
Tonk Road, Jaipur, Rajasthan - 302018
Toll Free (): 1-800-102-4646
Contact No : +91-8130289444
Manya ID: RJG151610E00001
The trainers at Manya-The Princeton Review are highly competent with vast experience. Their personalized attention and guidance was very important for me in achieving a 760 on the GMAT. The online portal has some excellent content including topic wise lessons and drills. The online computer adaptive practice tests provide a realistic experience of the GMAT. Thorough post-test analysis helps in identifying areas of improvement. After the completion of regular course extra sessions were provided, which were helpful in my preparations. Overall, I had a very pleasant experience with Manya-The Princeton Review and I would surely recommend it to anyone for their GMAT preparation.
Manya ID: HNR151601E00078
With great infrastructure, a good sense of how to incorporate GRE prep into a UG student's already hectic schedule using a nice online cum offline model and dedicated experts, Manya- The Princeton Review has given me a great impetus which has led me to move from 304 in my diagnostic to a 332 as my actual score. Manya-The Princeton Review is a one-stop choice for the GRE.
Manya ID: PRR151602E00033
The online classes at Manya-The Princeton Review provided me the much-needed guidance. Despite preparing only for a few weeks, I was able to achieve a score of five in AP Calculus BC. I would attribute this achievement to them. The coaching is definitely top-notch. Though I was not interested in Mathematics, this course made me choose the subject as a college major.
Manya ID: JNR151606E00236
Thanks to Manya-The Princeton Review for giving me awesome teachers who have helped me to constantly improve on the speaking and the writing sections on the TOEFL. Please continue the awesome work that you have been doing.
Florida Institute of Technology, USA
Manya ID:CAND11921
My experience with Manya-The Princeton Review was very satisfying. My admission counselor was of big help and was accessible anytime. They very patiently considered my criteria and gave me more options of universities which were very useful to me. My Counsellors was of immense help to me. They would always patiently listen to all my queries and help to resolve it. I must say, they are very prompt and always accessible. My editor was on leave temporarily and when I contacted my counselor regarding this they immediately put me up with a different editor and my SOP was edited within a couple of days. Overall, I had a very satisfying experience with my counselors and the counseling service.
Copyright © Manya Group 2015. All Rights Reserved | The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University.


text:
Yale Outhits Stags 6-2 But Strands 11 Baserunners
STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The Yale softball team had a number of good scoring chances Saturday against Fairfield. The Bulldogs had baserunners in all but one inning, but none were able to cross home plate. As a result Yale suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to the Stags on the second day of the Stony Brook Invitational at University Field.
Freshman Jackie Manzer pitched very well for the Bulldogs (0-8). She allowed only two hits and struck out five.
Fairfield (8-10) scored the only run of the game in the second inning on Jessica Stands's RBI single.
Ashley Sloan and Meg Johnson both had two hits for Yale. Liz Tutino and Christy Nelson also singled.
Kelli Panter went the first six innings in the circle to earn the victory for the Stags. She allowed four hits and struck out six.
Yale's best scoring opportunity came in the fourth when Johnson and Nelson opened the inning with back-to-back singles. Mariclaire Rebman followed with a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Holly Gutterud walked to load the bases, but Panter retired the next hitter.
The Bulldogs also loaded the bases in the seventh. Lexi Peacock walked and Sloan followed with a single. Lauren Huddleston then put down a successful sacrifice bunt. Johnson's infield single loaded the bases, but relief pitcher Sarah Minice got the next two outs to preserve the victory.
Yale left 11 runners on base in the game.
The Bulldogs conclude their stay in Stony Brook on Sunday. They play Holy Cross at 10 a.m. and Quinnipiac at noon.
Meg Johnson photo by Ken Yanagisawa
Report filed by Tim Bennett, Yale Sports Publicity


text:
Professional guidance
Codes of practice provide advice to practitioners. Where procedures are recommended for specific professional tasks, these codes are intended to embody 'best practice'.
All practitioners must inform themselves of new and updated codes of practice within a reasonable time of their promulgation in order to remain professionally competent. When an allegation of professional negligence is made against a surveyor, the court is likely to take into account any relevant codes of practice published by RICS in deciding whether or not the surveyor acted with reasonable competence.
RICS members can freely download PDF versions of our codes of practice. Hard copies of all RICS professional guidance publications can be bought from the RICS Shop.
Showing 0 of 0 results


text:
Yes! Send me EA news, products, events and promotions by email consistent with EA's Privacy & Cookie Policy. I can unsubscribe at any time by changing my email preferences, emailing email@example.com, or writing to Electronic Arts Inc., ATTN: Email Opt-Out, 209 Redwood Shores Pkwy, Redwood City, CA, 94065, USA.
See https://www.easports.com/fifa/fifa-18-game-and-offer-disclaimers for details.
© 2018 Electronic Arts Inc.


text:
Chicago (Blue)
$95.00 / Sold Out
This is a special, two-color limited edition letterpress print of Chicago. Letterpress is a manual printing technique not changed much since the mid-15th century and the Gutenberg press: a raised surface is cut onto the printing plate, which is inked and then pressed into a sheet of paper to obtain a positive right-reading image. By using gorgeous, thick 110 lb cotton paper, the raised letters leave a beautiful impression on the paper. And because this is a manual process, unlike modern laser or offset printing, each print is unique since the ink and paper interact differently with each pressing.
We offer here a limited run of 50 prints in blue text on Crane's Lettra, 110lb cover Pearl White (100% cotton paper). Printed by Angel Bomb Design in Minneapolis, MN.
Each print is signed and numbered and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
The map is based on place names and geography as they appear in Open Street Map, with special inclusion of Chicago's famous 'L' train system.


text:
Accessibility tools
Service tools
Language selector
Navigation path
Left navigation
Additional tools
Other available languages: none
European Commission
Brussels, 15 April 2014
Directive on Payment Accounts - Frequently Asked Questions
See also STATEMENT/14/123
1. What does the Directive on Payment Accounts1 include?
The Directive concerns three areas:
The three areas are closely related. The measures on comparability of payment account fees allow consumers to have a complete overview of the offers on the market, and the measures on switching make it easy for them to change their account if a better offer is available. All these elements aim to reinforce competition in the financial services market to the benefit of consumers. However, to guarantee that as many consumers as possible can really enjoy the benefits of these improvements, it is essential to ensure that every EU citizen has the right of access to basic payment account services.
2. Why do we need legislation on payment accounts?
The existing rules on payment accounts are not sufficient to protect consumers. At present, there are no measures addressing the issue of fee comparability. Certain rules exist in the Payment Services Directive to increase transparency of payment accounts, but they do not help consumers compare the offers of different banks.
With respect to switching between bank accounts, self-regulatory measures adopted by the banking industry in 2008 have not been followed consistently and as a result consumers often face problems and delays when trying to change accounts. It is therefore necessary to establish legally binding rules which can be effectively enforced when issues in the switching process arise.
Finally, even though the Commission adopted a Recommendation in 2011 on basic payment accounts (see IP/11/897 and MEMO/11/514), very few Member States followed it up by adopting adequate measures. Given the importance of guaranteeing access to basic payment account services to consumers, the Commission considered it necessary to adopt measures of a legislative nature.
Access to a basic payment account
1. What is the problem with access to payment accounts?
More than 58 million EU citizens currently have no bank account. In certain countries, like Bulgaria and Romania, around half of the population does not have a payment account. According to Commission estimates, around 25 million citizens without a payment account would like one2. Some of them have been refused an account because of, for example, their financial situation. Others find the accounts currently offered on the market too expensive or too complex to understand.
Citizens without a payment account are excluded from important aspects of life in their country. They may encounter substantial difficulties with receiving their salary or social security payments. They cannot transfer money or execute transactions other than cash-based ones and are excluded from any type of online transaction or purchase, which can be cheaper. As a result, they often face higher costs and larger risks as they can only use cash. The Directive aims to solve these issues.
2. What is a payment account with basic features?
Payment accounts with basic features enable consumers to carry out all the core transactions that are normally offered with a payment account, including: making payment account deposits, withdrawing cash, receiving payments (e.g. salary, benefits, pension including by means of credit transfers) and executing payment orders (e.g. paying bills, purchasing goods and services, transferring money to third parties including by means of direct debits). A payment card should be included, enabling the withdrawal of money from ATM machines and the purchase of goods and services from either physical providers (e.g. grocery store, petrol station) or online merchants (e.g. books, hotel bookings) who accept debit payment cards. Access to online banking services should also be provided. But a payment account does not have access to an overdraft or credit for example.
Member States will determine whether payment accounts with basic features should be offered to consumers for free or at a reasonable fee. A reasonable fee should be identified at national level on the basis of a set of criteria, such as national income levels, average fees paid for an account in that Member State and the cost associated with the provision of payment accounts.
3. What will change for consumers?
The Directive creates a right for all consumers to access basic payment account services irrespective of their financial situation. Banks will not be allowed to refuse to open a payment account guaranteeing the minimum essential payment services to a consumer with poor credit history or any other type of financial difficulty.
However, banks will still be entitled to refuse access to a basic payment account to consumers if they do not comply with the rules on money laundering and terrorism financing or if they already have an account guaranteeing the basic payment services with a bank located in the same country.
4. How does the Directive address the fact that many consumers choose not to have a payment account?
There is no obligation to open an account if a consumer does not wish to do so. The Directive creates an incentive for citizens who currently do not have an account, either because they have been refused one or because they are not satisfied with the products currently on offer on the market, to open a basic payment account.
Moreover, the Directive targets problems of insufficient knowledge about payment accounts and payment service providers, which can be the cause of not having an account. It requires information to be given to the public about the availability of basic payment accounts, their main characteristics and how to obtain such an account.
5. Will the Directive oblige all credit institutions to offer payment accounts with basic features to all consumers?
The Directive will not oblige all banks to provide basic payment accounts to all consumers. It will be for the Member States to decide whether payment accounts with basic features are offered to consumers by all credit institutions or by a sufficient number of credit institutions. However Member States will have to guarantee easy access to basic accounts for all consumers in that country, and to prevent distortions of competition.
6. Will people have access to payment accounts with basic features in any EU country or only their country of residence?
The aim of this Directive is to enable consumers who want to open and use a payment account to access basic payment services anywhere in the EU for their everyday payment transactions.
Residency should not be used as a barrier to accessing payment services for those who need them. However, Member States may, in full respect of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Treaty, require consumers who wish to open a payment account with basic features in their territory to show a genuine interest for doing so.
For many years, the Commission has received letters from citizens who are refused a payment account because they are not resident in the country concerned. Such consumers are often, but not exclusively, temporary workers, students, and trainees temporarily or partially residing in the host Member State. Consumers are unlikely to open a basic payment account in a Member State if there is no genuine rationale for them to enter into a banking relationship in that country. As far as the risk of criminal exploitation of the financial system is concerned, these practices are covered under the Directive on the prevention of anti-money laundering and terrorist financing.
7. Granting access to or closing a payment account is a commercial decision. Why is the Commission willing to interfere in the contractual freedom of credit institutions?
The Directive does not state that credit institutions will have to offer all types of accounts to every individual: it focuses on what is strictly necessary to enable consumers to use the most essential payment services.
Evidence shows that consumers are denied access to ordinary payment accounts due to industry practices concerning their financial situation and place of residence in the EU. Such denials lead to a high level of consumer damage, and have a negative impact on the internal market and broader society.
Transparency and comparability of payment account fees
1. Is there really a problem with the transparency and comparability of payment account fees?
The Commission has carried out a number of studies3 and surveys to identify if and why consumers find it difficult to understand and compare fee information. The evidence indicates that consumers are not familiar with fees associated with their payment account. When questioned about specific items of expense on their account, many consumers were unaware of the amount of fees on their account for varying reasons, including the fact that they were too complex. Most consumers surveyed indicated that they never compare the fees on their account with other payment accounts.
Generally respondents to the Commission's public consultation on bank accounts agreed that action was needed to improve fee transparency.
2. Which measures are proposed to improve the transparency and comparability of payment account fees?
The Directive creates the fee information document which is a standard form document that must be given to consumers before they enter into a contract for a payment account. It must also be made available by banks and other payment services providers at all times and in an easily accessible manner including on the bank or payment service provider's website, where available. It lists the services most commonly offered on an account and the relevant fee. It will make use of standard terms to facilitate comparison between payment accounts offered by different providers. As a result, a consumer who would like to purchase or change accounts can easily identify the services they are most interested in and evaluate which provider charges the lowest fees. A glossary providing the definitions of the services listed in the fee information document will also be made available to consumers free of charge.
Moreover, consumers who have a payment account must be provided with another document at least annually, called a statement of fees. The statement of fees contains information on the fees and interest paid by the consumer on the account, as well as any interest earned in the previous year. Banks may decide, however, to provide consumers with this information even more than once a year. The statement of fees will also make use of standard terminology.
Finally, the Directive foresees that consumers should have access, free of charge, to at least one comparison website for payment accounts in each Member State. In addition it establishes essential quality criteria for such comparison websites, including a requirement to be operationally independent of any payment service provider and to ensure that the information provided to consumers is up-to-date and accurate. This will help consumers to compare payment account offers quickly, at low cost and be confident that the information provided is reliable and free from bias.
3. The Payment Services Directive already introduced a set of rules to improve the level of transparency of fees for payment services. Was further action necessary?
The Payment Services Directive addresses fee transparency by ensuring that a consumer receives the full terms and conditions linked to payment services. In practice, this information is often far too complex and long to be used by consumers. The proposals in the Payment Accounts Directive targets related but separate aspects of payment services and fees, such as the way this information is provided to consumers and the terminology used to define the core services linked to a payment account. Moreover, the Directive on Payment Accounts tackles additional issues, such as the procedure for switching accounts and the question of ensuring access to a basic account for all consumers.
4. What will change for consumers?
Payment service providers will make available a standard form fee information document detailing the fees for the most representative services linked to the account such as withdrawals and overdrafts. Consumers will then be able to compare the prices of different payment accounts easily. Consumers will also receive information about the fees actually incurred on their payment account in a standard format and on a regular basis.
In addition, the Directive also promotes the use of comparison websites to provide easily accessible information, free of charge, about different payment account offers for consumers. The proposal establishes a number of safeguards, including quality criteria for comparison websites to be operationally independent of any payment service provider and provide complete and up-to-date information in order to ensure that the results are reliable and of good quality.
5. What impact will the new provisions have on payment service providers?
Increased fee transparency will help consumers to make more informed choices and create dynamism in the market for payment accounts.
Payment service providers will be required to make use of standard terminology in the standard form documents established by the Directive and in their contractual, commercial and marketing information to consumers. Standard terms will only be developed for a set of most representative services. As a result, for all other services, payment service providers will continue to use non-standard terminology in contractual or commercial documentation. When using brand names or terms, payment service providers would need to refer to the corresponding standard term in contractual, commercial and marketing information to consumers.
These proposals do not prevent payment service providers from providing new services or from making changes to their prices for payment accounts in any way. It is not the aim of the Directive to render products uniform; rather it seeks to set up the desired degree of harmonisation in the way fee information is provided to consumers without being too prescriptive.
6. Why regulate comparison websites?
Comparison websites are increasingly used by consumers who seek to obtain information about several payment accounts in the same place and with minimum effort. The Directive seeks to promote the use of comparison websites by ensuring that at least one is available in each Member State.
In addition, it introduces a number of quality standards that comparison websites will need to comply with in order to ensure that consumers receive information that is relevant to their needs, reliable and of good quality. These standards include operational independence of the website, the use of plain language in describing the products on offer and the provision of complete and up-to-date information.
Payment account switching
1. What is the problem with switching payment accounts?
Consumers often find it difficult to change their payment accounts. In particular, they face complications when trying to transfer recurring payments from one account to another (such as standing orders or direct debits). Many consumers use permanent payment orders to pay utility bills (telephone, gas, electricity) so they don't have to make a specific transfer every month. Salaries are generally paid by means of permanent orders to a payment account indicated by the employee. If a consumer wants to change his account, these payments have to be transferred to the new account.
This process can be lengthy and difficult. The Commission's research showed that consumers face a number of problems when trying to switch their payments to a different account, including: delays (the process can take up to 30 days), misdirection of payments or, in some cases, insufficient information from the bank on how the switching process works, how much time it may take or whether there are fees to pay. These complications often discourage consumers from changing their payment accounts, even where other banks offer a better product. The Directive aims to solve these problems.
2. Which accounts and services will be covered by the rules on switching? What are the key steps of the switching procedure?
The switching part of the Directive applies to payment accounts which allow consumers to perform a complete set of operations, including withdrawal, placing of funds on the account and executing transactions towards other accounts. It provides a mechanism for the switching of recurring standing orders and direct debits from one payment account to another located in the same country.
The key steps of the switching procedure are the following:
In addition, the Directive provides for measures to help consumers who hold a payment account with a bank and want to open another account in a different country. In this case, banks will have to assist consumers with a set of services, which include:
3. The European Banking Industry Committee established in 2008 a set of principles to facilitate payment account switching.4 Were these principles not sufficient to guarantee an effective procedure for payment account switching?
Common Principles were adopted by the European Banking Industry in 2008. However, they were implemented in different ways by the national banking associations and banks. The result is that not all payment service providers comply with the Common Principles. As a result, many consumers still face problems when they try to switch their accounts. A mystery shopping exercise undertaken by the European Commission in 2010 to monitor the effectiveness of the Common Principles across the EU demonstrated that consumers face a number of problems when trying to switch to a different account, including: a lack of information provided by banks (14% of consumers received no information; 32% of bank websites checked had no information on switching); switching a bank account including a standing order remains difficult (only 19% of switches with standing orders were successful); unclear information relating to timescales (no information given 79% of the time); as to compliance with deadlines, national studies showed that the 14-day timescale was not systematically complied with.
Under the Directive, measures on switching will be limited to national level and the need for cross-border switching will be assessed once the Directive is reviewed in the future. To compensate for this limitation, the Directive introduces rules to help consumers who hold a payment account with a bank and want to open another account in a different country [see question 2 in the part on Payment account switching for more details].
4. What will change for consumers? Will there be any additional costs?
All consumers who want to switch payment accounts will be offered a simple, smooth and quick switching service at national level.
The Directive aims to keep the switching service as cheap as possible for consumers. If banks decide to charge a fee for certain services, such as closing the old account, the fees applied should be reasonable.
Moreover, if payment service providers do not meet deadlines or make mistakes in the procedure, consumers should not bear the economic consequences of these mistakes.
5. What impact will the new provisions have on payment service providers?
Payment service providers will have to provide the switching service to consumers who request it and make information on the switching service available on their websites and in their branches.
If the consumer incurs costs because the provider failed to meet any of the deadlines established in the switching process, the service provider will have to refund those costs. In addition, consumers would be provided with an out-of-court dispute resolution scheme in case of a dispute with the service provider.
6. Does the draft Directive impose the use of specific technical means for switching payment accounts?
The Directive does not specify which technical means need to be introduced in order to carry out the switching process. It only lays down the principles and divides the tasks of the parties involved in the switching process. Banks are free to choose the technical means that will best serve the purpose, e.g. payment re-routing.
'Payment account' means an account held in the name of one or more customers which is used for the execution of payment transactions. The concept is wider than that of bank account, as payment accounts can be offered by payment service providers other than banks, such as post office giro institutions. In practice however, most payment accounts are provided by banks. Bank accounts that can only be used as deposit accounts (without the possibility to do payment transactions) are not considered as payment accounts.
Commission calculations based on data from Measuring Financial Inclusion, The Global Findex Database, World Bank, April 2012, Special Eurobarometer on Retail Financial Services, European Commission, February 2012, and Eurostat.
Side Bar


text:
Occupations in demand list
Olympic Consortium WDA I: Kitsap county
SOC code:
Operate one or several types of power construction equipment, such as motor graders, bulldozers, scrapers, compressors, pumps, derricks, shovels, tractors, or frontend loaders to excavate, move, and grade earth, erect structures, or pour concrete or other hard surface pavement. May repair and maintain equipment in addition to other duties. Excludes "Crane and Tower Operators" (537021) and "Extraction Workers" (475000).
According to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the typical level of education that most workers need to enter this occupation is:
High school diploma or equivalent
. Additional training, experience, licenses or credentials may be required. Learn more at
* Average annual wage (March 2013):
* Average hourly wage (March 2013):
Short-Term trend :
Long-Term trend :
Estimated employment (2011):
Average annual total openings (2011-2021):
Average annual growth (2011-2021):
Additional occupation information is available through the
Learn about an occupation tool
If values all show zero, employment levels were too low to develop estimates for the geographic area selected. Search again with "All Workforce Development Areas, all counties."
*How we calculate wages - Source data for wages come from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey and are subject to restrictions and limitations of the survey. Self-employment, private households and agricultural employment, except for agricultural services, are excluded from OES. All wage estimations are adjusted as of March 2013.
Learn more
Close window
Qualification status for
in the other WDAs included below, for relevant areas.
Click on specific areas in table for occupation information for those areas.
Soc area
Not in demand
All workforce development areas, all counties
Not in demand
Pacific Mountain WDA: Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Thurston counties
Snohomish WDA: Snohomish County
Not in demand
Seattle King WDA: King County
Not in demand
Pierce WDA: Pierce County
Benton- Franklin WDA: Benton, Franklin counties
Not in demand
Spokane WDA: Spokane County
Northwest WDA: Whatcom county
Southwest WDA: Cowlitz, Wahkiakum counties
Not in demand
North Central WDA: Chelan/Douglas counties
Not in demand
South Central WDA: Kittitas County
Northwest WDA: Skagit county
Southwest WDA: Clark County
Not in demand
North Central WDA: Grant, Adams counties
Not in demand
South Central WDA: Klickitat County
Not in demand
Olympic Consortium WDA: Clallam, Jefferson counties
Northwest WDA: Island, San Juan counties
Not in demand
North Central WDA: Okanogan County
Not in demand
South Central WDA: Skamania County
Not in demand
South Central WDA: Yakima County
Not in demand
Eastern Washington WDA: Stevens, Ferry, Pend Oreille, Lincoln counties
Not in demand
Eastern Washington WDA: Asotin, Garfield, Whitman counties
Not in demand
Eastern Washington WDA: Columbia, Walla Walla counties


text:
EDMONTON – The Chicago Blackhawks will have at least one piece of hardware to show from their impressive season, regardless of what happens come the playoffs.
Patrick Kane led the way with a goal and two assists as the Blackhawks captured the NHL's Presidents'Trophy for the first time in 22 years with a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.
Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp and Johnny Oduya also scored for the Blackhawks (35-6-5), who have gone 10-1-2 in their last 13 games to officially edge out the Pittsburgh Penguins for the top regular season record.
"To have the start to the season that we had and to keep playing consistently is an amazing thing for our team," said Toews, referring to Chicago's streak of earning at least a point in its first 24 games of the season.
"We've shown a lot of character, we've definitely learned from our mistakes the last few years and we've grown. I think everyone has matured as players in this locker room.
"We have to use that experience and use that confidence from being the No. 1 team all year and carry it into the playoffs."
Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville said it was nice to take the regular season title, but the true test is ahead.
"The start of our year really put us in a great spot, but the consistency has been there as well. I congratulate the guys, they deserve what they got," he said.
"Everybody had a hand in it, everybody contributed, it was a real, good team effort across the board. But I don't think we want to get too excited, we have some serious work to do still."
Nail Yakupov responded for the Oilers (17-22-7) who continue to drop like a rock towards another high draft pick with losses in nine of their last 10.
"The individual errors are just killing us at the moment,"said Oilers head coach Ralph Krueger."We need to be very cognizant about the importance of reacting to this. The results are less important than the way we are playing and executing right now.
"We're being tested right now in the severest of ways with the losing month like this. We should all expect more from each other."
Edmonton goalie Devan Dubnyk agreed that his team has been found wanting of late.
"We need to be a group of professionals in here,"he said."We need to understand that these games are valuable, regardless of who you are talking to or whose opinion it is. The simple fact is that they are valuable for us. It's frustrating for every one of us in here. It's unacceptable."
Chicago started off the scoring four minutes into the match-up as Toews elected to shoot on a 2-on-1, cleanly beating Dubnyk with a wrist shot to the stick side for his 22nd goal of the season.
The Oilers tied the game 1-1 less than a minute later, as Yakupov collected a rebound off the boards and blasted a rocket of a slap shot that Hawks starter Ray Emery had little chance on. It was the 12th goal of the year for Yakupov, the first overall draft pick in 2012.
The Blackhawks went up 2-1 eight minutes into the opening frame as Kane fought off Justin Schultz to go in on a breakaway and put it through Dubnyk's legs with relative ease, equalling Toews for the team lead with 22 goals.
Corey Crawford came in to the Chicago net with six minutes left in the first after Emery left with a lower body injury and did not return.
Crawford didn't look any worse for the surprise insertion. He kept his team in the lead with a beautiful glove save eight minutes into the second as Jordan Eberle waited for a sliding defenceman to go by before lifting the puck up high on the doorstep.
The Hawks came close to adding to their lead with six minutes left in the second as a puck got through Dubnyk's legs during a scramble and sat on the goal line before being swept to safety by Schultz.
Edmonton only had two shots in the second period.
Chicago went up 3-1 five minutes into the final frame as Oduya took a pass from Kane on the fly and picked the top corner with a quick wrist shot.
The Blackhawks got an empty-net goal from Sharp to seal it.
Despite his early exit, Emery still managed to pick up the win.
Both teams play their second-last game of the regular season on Friday as the Oilers head to Minnesota and the Hawks return home to face the Calgary Flames.
Notes: It was the first time the Blackhawks played in Edmonton since Feb. 2, 2012, the night that Oiler Sam Gagner had an eight-point night to tie a franchise record for most points in a game with Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey. … The Oilers have 20 players on their active roster who are in the minus column. The Blackhawks have just three. … Patrick Sharp returned to the Chicago lineup after missing the last five games with an injured shoulder. Dave Bolland remained out with a groin injury… Centre and 2013 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Drew LeBlanc made his NHL debut for the Blackhawks after singing as a free agent with the team earlier in the month…Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (shoulder) and Ales Hemsky (foot) remained out with for Edmonton, however Magnus Paajarvi returned from a foot injury…With the playoffs out of the picture, Oilers Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Devan Dubnyk accepted invitations on Wednesday to play for Team Canada at the World Hockey Championship.


text:
Bingo on the Boulevard
Sunday, October 7, 2012
2:00 pm
RSVP Required
Tuesday, September 11, 2012 - 09:50
Staged by the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre, this work, along with The Hindu and the Cowboy on Oct. 1st, is based on stories of real Kansas Citians collected by playwright Donna Ziegenhorn. Bingo on the Boulevard features a homeless schizophrenic, a feisty grandmother, and a drug dealer.
Both plays give voice to everyday people. The performances are part of this year's Festival of Faiths Kansas City.


text:
An Avatar on a Mission
The Immersive Construction Lab (ICon Lab for short) at Penn State's University Park campus looks deceptively simple.
A three-paneled screen faces a room of lined-up tables. The lights dim and a computer whirs to life, projecting an image of an avatar onto the screen—a girl with dark hair standing on grass in front of a two-story brick building. With a click of the mouse, she starts to walk and explores the building room by room—and she's taking everyone in the ICon Lab with her.
"Here, put these on," said John Messner, professor of architectural engineering and manager of the ICon Lab. "They let the tracking system follow whoever's wearing them."
He's holding a pair of 3-D glasses with a few additions—poking out from the frames are several short black spokes with small white spheres at the end. They make the wearer look decidedly bug-like, but they also make the ICon Lab even more immersive. While wearing the special glasses, users can directly interact with the simulation, taking the experience from a 3-D video to interactive virtual reality. They can lean over railings or bend to peer under a table, and the sensor will pick up the movements, adjusting the view on the screens accordingly.
Messner is virtually exploring a model of the Center for Building Energy Science and Engineering located almost 200 miles away in The Navy Yard in Philadelphia. The avatar follows his directions as he leads her up the stairs and into a virtual conference room.
The building was built in 1942 as a recreation facility for the young sailors headed to World War II, but is now being retrofitted to become the headquarters for the Consortium for Building Energy Innovation (CBEI). The consortium comprises 14 organizations, including Penn State, that are striving to transform the energy efficiency market for small- and medium-sized commercial buildings. Penn State leads CBEI, and the partner organizations are helping the University conduct research.
"The ICon Lab presents the opportunity to get a really immersive experience."—John Messner
An innovative transformation
The Center for Building Energy Science and Engineering is being transformed into a tech-savvy, best practice model that will showcase the energy-efficient innovations made possible through retrofit technologies.
Additional roofing insulation was added to increase thermal resistance—keeping warm air from escaping in the winter or coming in during the summer. Special attention was also paid to "daylight harvesting," which means daylight sensors are used to automatically dim or turn off lights when natural light is available.
To further reduce electricity use, rooms were strategically placed according to their lighting needs. Offices, for example, were put on higher floors where natural light is more abundant, while restrooms and The Navy Yard's own ICon Lab (a sister lab to the one at University Park that will be moved to the completed building) were placed in areas without a lot of light.
Both the University Park and The Navy Yard labs were used in the design process for the Center for Building Energy Science and Engineering.
"The ICon Lab presents the opportunity to get a really immersive experience," says Messner. "Instead of looking at a simple floor plan, you can get the team really engaged in the design, and the more you get everyone engaged, the better feedback you can get."
The two labs can be synced so people at each location can view the same model at the same time. Throughout the design process, the ICon labs at both locations were used to display interactive, navigable models for team members to review. Craig Dubler, building information modeling (BIM) manager at Penn State, said the lab was invaluable during the Center for Building Energy Science and Engineering's design process.
"I'm based here at University Park, so I couldn't physically be in Philadelphia during design reviews. I used the ICon Lab here to dial into the one in The Navy Yard and was able to see everything they were in real-time," says Dubler.
"It's the same amount of collaboration while saving a lot of time and travel dollars."
—Craig Dubler
How it all works
The ICon Lab works by projecting BIM files from a computer onto the screen in 3-D. A BIM file is a digital representation of the physical and functional characteristics of a place, often a building. Dubler describes BIM files as "geometry combined with information"—not only can you virtually explore the building, you can also click on, say, a electrical switchgear and get the specific dimensions and instructions for construction.
"Virtually walking through the models with the ICon Lab lets us fix problems before they're actually made," said Dubler. "If we're exploring the model and see that the cabinets are in the wrong place, we can move them before they're built. It's a lot easier and cheaper to fix these problems before the construction process."
In addition to CBEI in Philadelphia, the University Park ICon Lab has had a wide influence at University Park. It's been involved in creating the Stuckeman Family Building, the new Health and Human Development Building and the Millennium Science Complex, and architectural engineering students use it to build their own projects.
Photos: CIC Research Program