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Sun | 10.12.2017
According to the "Barometer of customer centricity in the Romanian companies 2017", a study by Valoria in collaboration with Doingbusiness.ro, 89% of companies say the main obstacle to better customer focus is the lack of the necessary data management technologies, even though 75% consider the knowledge of the consumers' needs as the essential value that supports the company's customer focus. Moreover, only 27% of companies focus on retaining consumers.
At the same time, the study shows that for 53% of CEOs and managers in Romania the most important benchmark for knowing that their company is the best in the market in terms of customer focus is increasing the consumer satisfaction level year-on-year. Only 24% of respondents believe that the most important performance target is to increase the quality of services by lowering customer satisfaction times. Only 14% of companies focus on customer retention.
"For a company, if profit is the reason to 'have', the relationship with the customer is the reason to 'be'. The company exists and thrives as it hears the voice of the client and understands his critical demands. The Barometer of customer centricity in Romania brings to light the internal and external mechanisms companies use to achieve customer centricity. It is the first survey in Romania that looks at the values of the companies in relation to the client, the means of communication of those values, and the challenges companies face on the way to becoming customer-centric. It is the only research that shows what are the initiatives to improve customer focus in Romanian companies, the tools for collecting customer information and the methodologies used", says Constantin Măgdălina, Emerging Trends & Technologies Expert, co-author of the survey.
Customer focus values
Each company has a set of values that influence the organizational culture and the customer-centered approach. Thus, 75% of companies have a priority to know customers' needs, while 74% put consumers satisfaction first. At a distance, 27% have the main value of customer retention, but only 18% say customers' experience is the most important aspect.
To have a company with a customer-centric culture and processes, the values that support this direction need to be communicated throughout the organization. In Romania, 45% of companies say that they have a top-down communication model for this purpose, where the message bearers are only people in the leadership.
Internal, external actions and challenges
To be more customer-centric, the Romanian companies have the following approaches: 50% develop processes that deliver superior customer service, 44% facilitate cooperation between company departments, 42% provide training for employees to understand the client-centered approach, 41% reward performance customer relationship, and 33% operationalize the customer-centric values of the organization.
In the market, companies in Romania are doing the following to increase customer focus: 63% expand product range correlated with consumer needs, 52% offer products / services priced fairly by customers, 45% create a emotional bond with consumers, and 44% increase contact points with consumers.
The main challenges for companies to better focus on the customer are the following: the lack of technology platforms for customer data management (89%), insufficient expertise in data analytics (88%), silo operation of support departments that makes it impossible to share customer data (76%).
The budget allocated to customer experience
Only 15% of companies say they have a budget dedicated to customer experience. When looking at the size of companies, the percentage increases to 33% for companies with a turnover of more than 100 million euros in 2016.
In this context, it is important to understand how companies that do not have this approach build their general budget. Thus, 31% of companies say they align the departments' objectives to increase customer focus, 25% focus on Customer Lifecycle and 23% on Customer Total Value.
Moreover, in 7 out of 10 companies, the responsibility for the customer experience budget is not explicitly allocated. The marketing department has this responsibility in 12% of companies, 5 percentage points more than the Customer Relations Department that has this responsibility in 7% of Romanian companies
Knowing the consumers
In Romania, the three main approaches used to get to know the consumers are the following: collecting consumer data to direct it to the relevant department of the firm (45%), consumer problem analysis (44%), regular customer data updating (44%). Only 20% of companies provide real-time access to the managers in the customer service department to the agents' activity, and only 7% test the response time in a proportionate manner to the number of customer requests per week.
In 40% of the Romanian companies, the top management develops the criteria for prioritizing initiatives to improve the consumer experience, 32% give this responsibility to the leaders of all departments, and in 7% of companies these criteria are developed by the customer relations department. In 9% of companies, this is the marketing department.
The most used indicators for companies to prioritize initiatives to improve the consumer experience with the greatest impact on business are the following: consumer satisfaction (37%), cost-benefit analysis (27%), return on investment - ROI (19%), consumer loyalty (13%), an emotional affiliation to brand (2%), customer advocacy (1%).
"Settling the balance of power between the customer and the companies which is uneven due to digitization brings the challenge of addressing customer's needs. As the information is easily accessible and the customer needs are constantly transforming the opportunity of this survey, the Barometer of customer centricity in Romania, is proven. Beyond the analysis and the aggregate interpretation of the data collected, the study also contains, in the annex, the analysis of data relevant to the most representative six industries. Under the pressure of digital clients, companies are reshuffling their way of doing business, and from this survey, we can find out how prepared companies in Romania are to meet the needs of the new customer type", says Elena Badea, Managing Partner Valoria, co-author of the survey.
The present survey by Valoria gauges the perceptions of managers and executives about their company's strategy and processes for customer centricity. The questionnaire, which received 424 responses, was applied between 20 September 2017 and 20 October 2017. The report refers to client centricity as a strategy that aligns the development and delivery of company products around consumer needs, with the aim to increase the value of the company. 5% of respondents come from companies with a turnover of more than EUR 100 million, 4% of companies with a turnover of EUR 50-100 million, 20% of companies with a turnover of EUR 10-50 million, 42 % with turnover between 1-10 million EUR and 29% under EUR 1 million turnover. 35% of the respondents have the position of CEO / President / General Manager / Member of the Board of Directors, 4% have the position of Vice-President / Executive Director, and 33% are Managers. This survey was conducted with the support of Doingbusiness.ro.
Valoria Business Solutions is a company providing training, consulting and executive coaching services. The company's mission is to transform the potential of teams and organizations into value. Competence, confidence, innovation and passion are the values that sustain us in everything we do. We believe in people, in their aspiration for personal and professional fulfillment, and their willingness to accelerate their potential.
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text:
Harley-Davidson FLH Electra Glide – 1973
Year: 1973
Manufacturer: Harley-Davidson
Model: FLH 1200 Electra Glide
Colour: Green
Engine Size: 1200
Drive Type: Chain
Start Type: Electric
Restored 1973 Harley-Davidson Shovelhead Motorcycle.
This Harley was overhauled and restored over a number of years.
The engine was rebuilt with new piston rings and valve guides.
A new clutch and cover was fitted.
The carburettor was replaced.
A new air cleaner and chrome cover was fitted.
The oil lines and HT leads were replaced.
The wheels were rebuilt with new rims and spokes.
New indicators were fitted.
The rear light was replaced with a new item.
The paintwork was stripped and painted in vintage Harley green.
The seat was replaced with an original Harley pogo seat post and spring, seat bracket and brown leather seat.
A lovely restored Harley-Davidson Motorcycle.

subset: commoncrawl


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City, Safari & Beach
- Cape Peninsula
- Safari – Nkomazi
- Beach – Machangulo Beach Lodge
Consistently voted as the best city in the world, Cape Town has it all; a fascinating mix of vibrancy, history and culture, and spectacular natural beauty, all rubbing shoulder under the watchful and iconic magic of Table Mountain. Situated in the middle of one of the country's top destinations, Cape Town's beautifully restored Waterfront and framed by the ocean and Table Mountain, the elegance and luxury of the Victoria and Alfred Hotel is rivalled only by its relaxed atmosphere.
If you listen carefully, you may hear a faint roar in this the north-east corner of South Africa. This is Big Game territory. With the greatest range of game reserves in Africa there are safaris and game reserves to meet all objectives and to exceed all expectations. Nkomazi is an ecological Aladdin's cave of natural treasures, from its towering ancient mountains to its broad river valleys and impressive grasslands containing countless animals and rare flora such as the Barberton Daisy. This area is often referred to as the holy grail of geology with some of the oldest rock formations on the planet.
Machangulo Beach Lodge is an idyllic beach paradise just a 1-hour boat ride from Maputo, Mozambique. Built on the dunes of the Santa Maria Peninsula, overlooking the channel between the mainland and Incha Island, this intimate lodge nestles amongst untouched dune forests. This is bare foot country at its best. Ideal for lazy days on deserted beaches and/or fantastic activities including snorkelling, diving, fishing, whale watching and boat cruises
Honeymoon Special also available – Bridal discount of 50%, please ask for a personalised quote if you going on honeymoon
|1st May to end Sept 17
|London, Heathrow
|2 Weeks
As there are so many routes; airlines and offers available, we have not included the cost of flights. We will update the cost of our holidays to include your preferred airline and route at the time of your enquiry. As an indication, you can expect to pay in the region of £500.00 per person upwards for economy class International flights. (excludes any local flights)
If you want to book your own international flights, simply advise one of our consultants when enquiring.
Published Price
Holiday costs are impacted by many factors including the exchange rate and specials as introduced by properties from season to season. The cost is meant to serve as a guide only, so be sure to request an updated cost from our consultants so you can get the best value for your money. Ask about upgrading the standard of accommodation and / or room types where available and remember you can mix & match to get a completely tailor-made holiday that fits your interests, time and budget.
This is your holiday; our knowledgeable consultants are simply at hand to assist with the design of your Holiday of a lifetime!
*Cost is subject to availability at the time of booking; Restrictions apply to certain date periods; Prices are from and per person; exclude flightsLet us assist you - Enquire
LONDON / CAPE TOWN – Overnight Flight:
Depart London Heathrow on a flight to Cape Town International Airport. On arrival in Cape Town the following morning, you will be met and transferred to your accommodation.
AIRPORT / V&A WATERFRONT (CAPE PENINSULA) – 4 Nights:
Cape Town is without doubt one of the most beautiful destinations in the world. Blending the old with the new, it has a relaxed, almost continental atmosphere. The influence of early Dutch settlers in 1652, Malay slaves and British rulers have created a rich tapestry of culture not found anywhere else.
The Victoria and Alfred Basins, Table Bay Harbour: Built in 1860 and still a working harbour, the Victoria and Alfred had been developed into one of South Africa's biggest tourist attractions. Original buildings have been renovated and new ones built, all in Victorian style. There are museums, boat trips, helicopter flips, restaurants, pubs, a brewery, two shopping centres, hotels, theatres, cinemas, The Two Oceans Aquarium (with more than 4,000 creatures representing some 300 species), an outdoor amphitheatre, craft markets, live music and a rich variety of outdoor entertainment.
Framed by the ocean and Table Mountain, the elegance and luxury of the Victoria & Alfred Hotel is rivaled only by its relaxed atmosphere and warm personal service. Built in 1904 as the North Quay Warehouse and converted in 1990 to a luxury hotel, it is named in honour of the Queen of England and her son who visited the Cape in 1870, when Prince Alfred officially opened the Breakwater basin, today's Victoria & Alfred Waterfront.
All 94 bedrooms of the Victoria & Alfred Hotel enjoy unrivalled views of Table Mountain and the working harbour or the vibrant V&A Waterfront. Rooms are ultra large, superbly furnished and comfortably air-conditioned. Each has a separate shower, fully stocked private bar, king size bed and innovative luxury modern appointments, ensuring a comfortable stay.
The V&A Hotel (Superior Loft Room)
Bed and Breakfast
Return road transfer to Cape Town International Airport prior to your flight to Nelspruit Airport. On arrival in Nelspruit, you will be met and transferred to your accommodation.
AIRPORT / KOMATI TANTED LODGE (NKOMAZI GAME RESERVE) – 3 Nights:
Known as the 'place of water' the Nkomazi Game Reserve represents the true symbol of Africa – the real Africa with its vivid scenic beauty, dramatic landscapes, thunderstorms, rolling savannah, bushveld, wildlife, massive beasts, relaxed atmosphere and its fascinating cultural history.
Nkomazi has been restored to a wildlife haven. Here, where great natural beauty and the 3.7 billion years of history meet, the Nkomazi conservation project has celebrated the return of wild animals to a region where they can once again roam in great abundance.
The reserve represents a kaleidoscope of Africa's habitats in its ability to support both highveld and lowveld game on the high-lying grassland and the low-lying bushveld areas, supporting an ecological balance, including the Big 5.
The Komati Tented Lodge defines an 'Out of African' styled tented accommodation with all five star amenities on offer. Guests will experience not only the quietness and solitude, but a sumptuous comfort that basks in the sense of the age-old life of Africa.
The Komati Tented Lodge offers tented suites in a private setting with five star amenities. Each tent has an extra-large king size bed, comfort cooling/heating and en-suite shower with an outdoor bath, and private expansive teak sun decks with a plunge pool.
Meandering pathways lead to the main tent where traditional fare can be enjoyed at your own leisure, while a treatment at the River Retreat will rejuvenate and relax – doing its small part to restore the delicate balance of all living things.
Komati Tented Lodge (Noble Tent)
Full Board
Return road transfer to Malelane Gate where you will be met and transferred to Machangulo Beach Lodge.
AIRPORT / MACHANGULO BEACH LODGE (MOZAMBIQUE) – 5 Nights:
Machangulo Beach Lodge in Mozambique is dramatically located alongside the channel between Inhaca Island and the dunes of the Santa Maria Peninsula in Maputo Bay. Thanks to the easy access (just an hour's boat trip from Maputo Marina) this is a far more affordable option than most areas of Mozambique. Guests can even get a direct road transfer to the Maputo Marina after their Kruger safari.
The intimate lodge is nestled amongst untouched dune forests, comprising 5 Ocean View Chalets, 8 Beach Chalets and 2 family villas – all connected to the guest areas and beach by walkways. All 17 rooms have en-suite bathrooms, air-conditioning, mosquito nets and private decks / verandas
The Premium Ocean View Rooms are perched up on a ridge near the main lodge buildings with breath-taking views of the ocean and Inhaca Island. The Beach Chalets nestle in the dune forests and only meters from the shoreline in clusters of 4. Each cluster is linked to a shared pool (6x4m), deck, lounge, dining, bar and kitchen by pathways. The Family villas include 2 separate en-suite bedrooms and a lounge. The villas are linked with boardwalks to the beach and have their own private plunge pool (4x3m) and a deck
Activities include a newly opened spa offering spectacular views, energized by the ocean and calmed by the forest, which complement the range of Africology treatments; snorkelling, scuba diving, fishing, whale watching, Cruises and Dhow sailing safaris, Bird watching, Canoeing, Inhaca Island picnics and village tours, Tours of the Hell's Gate bay, Maputo City Tours and Santa Maria village trips.
Machangulo Beach Lodge (Standard Room)
Fully Inclusive
MAPUTO / JOHANNESBURG / LONDON – Overnight Flight:
Return road transfer to Maputo Airport prior to your flight to Johannesburg International Airport. On arrival, connect with your flight to London Heathrow, arriving early the following morning.
This itinerary is a suggestion only!
Please note that the above tour structure is a suggestion only, and can therefore be amended in any shape or form to meet your exact expectations. So, please contact one of our Consultants to discuss and to prepare your very own Escape to the Rainbow Nation!


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> Judges 1:1
Judges 1:1
Spiritual Initiatives
A.F. Muir
Judges 1:1
The Death of the Great
W.F. Adeney
Judges 1:1, 2
Transfer of Authority
A.F. Muir
Judges 1:1, 2
A Thrilling Life and its Lessons
Homiletic Review
Judges 1:1-10
Adoni-Bezek; Or, Righteous Retribution
Fred. Hastings.
Judges 1:1-10
Adoni-Bezek's Confession
Joseph Mede, B. D.
Judges 1:1-10
Dead Heroes Missed
R. Rogers.
Judges 1:1-10
Dead Leaders and Living Duties
F. G. Marchant.
Judges 1:1-10
God Sovereign Over His Servants
L. H. Wiseman, M. A.
Judges 1:1-10
Punishment Delayed
Joseph Mede, B. D.
Judges 1:1-10
Retribution Inevitable
G. A. Sowter, M. A.
Judges 1:1-10
Simplicity in Prayer
J. Parker, D. D.
Judges 1:1-10
The Law of Retribution
J. Jackson Wray.
Judges 1:1-10
The Punishment of Adoni-Bezek
W. Jay.
Judges 1:1-10
The Retribution of God Acknowledged
R. Rogers.
Judges 1:1-10
The Story of Requital
J. Parker, D. D.
Judges 1:1-10
War against Remaining Canaanites
Now it came about after the death of Joshua that the sons of Israel inquired of the LORD, saying, "Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?"
The LORD said, "Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand."…
Judges 1:1 NIV
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Bible Hub


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Employee Policy Manual Software
Can free employee policy manual software truly work as well as the expensive versions?
The purpose of any software is to make a process easier and more efficient right? Therefore, whether it's free or costs one thousand dollars the real bottom line is does it deliver on its promise to do what it says it will do.
Creating an employee policy manual can be extremely difficult in our litigious environment today. Either the state or federal government seems to have their hands in almost part of any business today, especially if they have employees.
As an example, the state of California is very concerned about how a business deals with sexual harassment and has passed the AB1825 law governing it. I won't get into the details of this particular law but the point is that any business with employees better know what laws apply to them or they may find their self on the wrong end of a law suit.
In today's world having an organization provide free employee policy manual software is extremely unusual. Why not take advantage of it when you can provided it works.
In my forty years of being in a leadership role I have found attendance to be one of the biggest and continual thorns that drives productivity into the ground if not managed properly. Poor attendance (calling in sick) touches every part of the business regardless of who is out. When someone calls in sick someone else must do the job or it simply doesn't get done that day. This will either cost overtime or a delay in delivering whatever you promised to your customer.
Therefore, why not establish a written attendance policy and incorporate it into an employee policy manual. The free employee policy manual software allows you to decide how much time in advance an employee must call in if they are going to be tardy or late. It will allow you to decide whether they must provide a medical excuse. It will allow you to decide how many times someone can call in sick before some type of disciplinary action occurs. It defines what tardy is.
What about break and lunch times? Do you know what your state law says about them? Having free employee policy manual software that will tell you what your state law is could be extremely helpful before creating a written policy on it. As an example some states require that you provide a break every four hours while others don't require anything. Some states require you to provide up to two hours for lunch depending on where you are located. What about those times you have someone working overtime? Are you required to provide breaks for them, and if, so how much? Don't guess! It would sure be nice to have a tool that could do all that for you that was free.
Another complicated issue is whether you are required to pay any accrued vacation or sick time if someone voluntarily quits or is terminated for cause. Going one step further for that same issue would be how quickly are you required to pay them any final pay owed? Different states have different rules and you better familiarize yourself with your states rules.
Another policy not found in many free employee policy manual software programs is the use of company telephones or cellular telephones. Now that several states have implemented laws not allowing drivers to drive while using a cellular telephone what does your company say about it. Do you have a written policy on it?
An even more sensitive topic is drug and alcohol use! We all assume that an employee knows they can't show up to work under the influence but what if it falls below the legal limit to drive a vehicle? In other words do you have a zero tolerance policy to protect you especially against work related accidents?
As you can see there are a number of workplace policies that make it in your best interest to have a written policy to cover yourself. Wouldn't it be nice to have an organization that provides a free employee policy manual software program?
Thank you and may God bless you!
Thank you for reviewing this information on employee policy manual software - Return Page
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text:
Wireless @ Virginia Tech is pleased to welcome Dr. Thomas Hou to its Core Faculty. Thomas Hou is Bradley Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. He received his B.E. degree from the City College of New York in 1991, M.S. degree from Columbia University in 1993, and Ph.D. degree from New York University (NYU) Tandon School of Engineering in 1998, all in Electrical Engineering. From 1997 to 2002, he was a Researcher at Fujitsu Laboratories of America, Sunnyvale, CA.
Prof. Hou's research interests are to develop innovative solutions to complex cross-layer optimization problems in wireless networks. He is particularly interested in exploring new performance limits at the network layer by exploiting advances at the physical layer. In recent years, he has been actively working on cross-layer optimization problems for cognitive radio wireless networks, cooperative communications, MIMO-enabled wireless networks and energy related problems.
Prof. Hou was a recipient of an ONR Young Investigator Award (2003) and an NSF CAREER Award (2004). He has published extensively in IEEE and ACM transactions/journals and top-tier IEEE/ACM conferences. He received five best paper awards from IEEE (including IEEE INFOCOM 2008 Best Paper Award and IEEE ICNP 2002 Best Paper Award) and two Best Paper Awards from the ACM. He holds five U.S patents. Prof. Hou is a Co-Editor of a graduate textbook titled Cognitive Radio Communications and Networks: Principles and Practices (Academic Press/Elsevier, 2010). This book has since been listed as one of the Best Readings on Cognitive Radio by IEEE Communications Society. He was also the lead author of a graduate textbook titled Applied Optimization Methods for Wireless Networks, which was published by Cambridge University Press in 2014.
Prof. Hou is the Chair of IEEE INFOCOM Steering Committee and a member of the IEEE Communications Society Board of Governors. He is an Associate Editor of IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking and ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks. He was a past Area Editor of IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications (overseeing a team of 10 editors in wireless networking area), an Editor of IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications (Cognitive Radio Series), IEEE Wireless Communications, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, Springer Wireless Networks, and Elsevier Ad Hoc Networks. Prof. Hou was Co-Chair (with Tony Ephremides) of NSF Workshop on Bridging the Gap between Wireless Networking Technologies and Advances at the Physical Layer, August 27-28, 2007, Reston, VA. He is a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Communications Society.
Dr. Michael Buehrer, Director of Wireless @ Virginia Tech, and doctoral candidate Daniel Jakubisin presented their paper "Approximate Joint MAP Detection of co-channel Signals" at the MILCOM conference October 26-28, 2015 in Tampa, FL. MILCOM is the "premier international conference for military communications that features the leading minds of government, military, industry and academia to further explore and define the benefits that joint-level collaboration bring to current and future communication challenges. The conference included more than 300 unclassified and restricted technical presentations, tutorials and panel discussions led by experts in defense communications. Topics included control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technologies and capabilities that address 21st century communications challenges related to national defense, homeland security, disaster response and interoperability." Please visit MILCOM's home page for more information. You can download Dr. Buehrer's presentation here.
Wireless @ Virginia Tech is issuing it's official Call for Tutorials for the 2016 Wireless Symposium & Summer School, June 1 - 3, 2016.
The Author's Kit is now available.
Walid Saad, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been named the Steven O. Lane Junior Faculty Fellow of Electrical and Computer Engineering by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. The Steven O. Lane Junior Faculty Fellowship was endowed in 2004, through donations made in memory of the late Steven O. Lane, a 1978 graduate of Virginia Tech who was considered to be a leader in spacecraft antenna design. He spent his entire professional career with Boeing Satellite Systems; among his many accomplishments were 12 patents and several professional papers. The fellowship is presented to a junior faculty member for teaching and research excellence. Read More
Two Virginia Tech electrical and computer engineering faculty members are the lead investigators on a $1.37 million, international research project that may lead to higher performance for wireless networks in densely populated venues including arenas, theaters, and transportation hubs. Allen B. MacKenzie, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering is the principal investigator on this cooperative effort with scientists from Ireland and the United Kingdom. Walid Saad, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering serves as co-principal investigator. Their research will focus on the design and deployment of wireless networks that operate at millimeter-wave frequencies to support dense, high-capacity networks. Read More
Jeffrey Reed, professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, recently was reappointed the Willis G. Worcester Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering by Virginia Tech President Timothy D. Sands and Executive Vice President and Provost Thanassis Rikakis.
Established in 1983, the Willis G. Worcester Professorship of Electrical and Computer Engineering was created to recognize a leading researcher in the field of electrical and computer engineering. The professorship appointment is for five years.
Reed has held the Worcester Professorship since 2005. A member of the Virginia Tech faculty since 1992, Reed is an internationally known researcher in the areas of software defined radios (a radio with very little hardware and software performing many of the functions of the analog components of an old fashioned radio) and cognitive radios (radios that incorporate intelligence in the way they operate). He is co-founder of several companies that have leveraged Virginia Tech research, including Federated Wireless, Cognitive Radio Technologies, and PFP Cybersecurity. He has served as director of the Mobile and Portable Radio Research Group, and founded Wireless @ Virginia Tech in 2006. In 2010, Reed was the founding faculty member and interim director of the Ted and Karen Hume Center for National Security and Technology, a center whose goal is to create the next generation of leadership for the intelligence community. Read more
Dr. Walid Saad and his Ph.D student Anibal Sanjab won the Best Paper award at the IEEE International Conference on Smart Grid Communications (SmartGridComm). The title of the award winning paper is "Smart Grid Data Injection Attacks: To Defend or Not?" The paper develops the first framework that provides an understanding on how to defend a smart grid against multiple adversaries that attempt to inject malicious data at various vulnerable points in the grid. Congratulations to Dr. Saad and Anibal!
Dr. Walid Saad in collaboration with Rutgers University and Princeton University has received a $300,000 grant to conduct research to further understanding of the role of consumer behavior in managing energy in the smart grid using mathematical techniques and real-world behavioral experiments. The title of the project is "Foundations of Prosumer-Centric Grid Energy Management". Dr. Saad will be the lead investigator for the project which was developed in response to a Dear Colleague Letter from the National Science Foundation for research proposals to support research efforts in developing fundamental theory and analytical methodologies for power networks with high penetration of renewables. An abstract of the project can be found here.
Jerry Park recently received a Cisco Faculty Research Award. The title of the project is "Anonymity-Preserving Authentication for Large Networks". Cisco Research Awards are one-year awards structured as unrestricted gifts to universities to support the work of faculty members that are working on innovative solution approaches to challenging problems in networking, programmable networks, and cybersecurity.
In many network applications, we need to be able to authenticate the data while, at the same time, protect the anonymity or privacy of the data source—in other words, anonymity-preserving authentication (APA) is needed. Existing approaches for APA have limited utility in large networks due to their high computational complexity and/or high communication overhead. Park and his team will investigate novel approaches for APA and study the performance and security requirements of a number of important applications which require APA.
The Spectrum-ShaRC contest is off to a fantastic start! We have 17 teams competing from 5 different countries. We have 4 undergraduate student only teams, and a total of 89 students. The first round of submissions is coming up, November 15. The final round is May 25 - 26, 2016 to be held concurrently with the Wireless Symposium & Summer School. For more information on the contest, please visit http://radiocontest.wireless.vt.edu.
Wireless @ Virginia Tech Quarterly Newsletter is Now Online
The coming technical shift to a shared use of some of the nation's radio bands -- used for activities including television and radio broadcasts, cell phones, military communications, and air-traffic control -- means economic opportunity and more connected devices. However, users who previously had sole use of frequencies in these bands must find a way to protect their assets and privacy. These users, including the military, find themselves at some level in a position analogous to beachfront property owners when a previously private beach goes public. Military groups that currently have sole access to some of the radio bands to be shared are facing new issues that include: privacy, rogue users, jammers, hackers, and legacy equipment. The U.S. military, already confronted with many of these problems when it operates abroad, will now face similar challenges at home. Sharing radio bands, or frequencies, requires engineers who can design systems that can adapt, plus devices that can collaborate on when, and on what frequency, each will transmit. Read more..
Charles Clancy, the director of the Ted and Karyn Hume Center for National Security and Technology and Wireless @ Virginia Tech faculty member, has been elected to a four-year term as a member of the Intelligence Committee of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA). Dr. Clancy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering. AFCEA is an international association of information technology, communications, and electronics professionals in the defense, homeland security, and intelligence communities. The intelligence committee provides an active focal point within AFCEA to encourage the exchange of ideas and coordinating the association's intelligence-related activities. Read more
Mohammad Mosaffari has received a $500 student travel grant from the National Science Foundation to present his paper "Drone Small Cells in the Clouds: Design, Deployment and Performance Analysis. This paper investigates the potential of using drones to provide wireless communication support for areas in which terrestrial networks are unavailable. The results outline the key factors, such as altitude and distance, that determine the performance limits of drone-based wireless communication Mohammad's advisor is Dr. Walid Saad . GLOBECOM is one of two flagship conferences presented by the IEEE Communicatons society (ComSoc). More information on GLOBECOM 2015 is available here. Congratulations, Mohammad!
The grant is titled "CRISP Type 2: Collaborative Research: Towards Resilient Smart Cities" totaling $2.5M. This is a collaborative research involving faculties from VT (lead institution), Rutgers, and Florida International Univ. VT's portion of the project is $1.1M and involves faculty from ECE (Saad), Economics (Sheryl Ball), CS (Danfeng Yao), VTTI (Myra Blanco). The goal of the project is to develop an interdisciplinary framework that ties together techniques from networks, operations research, machine learning, power systems, and psychology to develop resilient processes that can control and optimally manage the resources (energy, spectrum, personnel, economic investments) of the critical infrastructure (smart grid, wireless network, transportation network, water network, etc) that form a smart city, in the face of failures and malicious attacks. Read more about it here.
Dr. Walid Saad has received a new $150,000 NSF grant under the auspices of the NIST Global City Teams Challenge. The title of the proposal is, "Fingerprinting for Internet of Things Authentication: Accelerating IoT Research and Education Under the Global City Teams Challenge", with Dr. Sanjay Raman from NCR as co-PI. The goal of the project is to develop data-driven security solutions for the Internet of Things while also engaging high schools in the state of Virginia via a STEM collaboration with the IoT-DC consortium and Arlington County. Read about the Global City NIST Grant here.
As potential developers of future wireless technology, ECE students need to integrate and apply their knowledge of communications, software-defined radio (SDR), and related disciplines in a team environment.
Wireless @ Virginia Tech is organizing the Spectrum-ShaRC student cognitive radio contest for the 2015-16 academic year. The contest will use the cognitive radio test system (CRTS), a framework developed for cognitive radio experimentation and performance measurement, and Virginia Tech's Internet-accessible CORNET cognitive radio testbed to measure performance of student-designed cognitive / dynamic spectrum access radios in challenging operational environments. Teams will be given reference waveforms, implemented in SDR software such as liquid-dsp and / or GNU Radio, that are ready to run and interface to CRTS. By providing this ready-to run reference waveform software, we will substantially lower the barrier to entry. The waveforms can be modified in any way desired by the participating teams to improve the waveforms' performance. Teams will also have access to CORNET and CRTS throughout the academic year to enable them to test their waveforms at every step. This contest is sponsored in part by a $30,000 Motorola Generation Innovation Grant, and by the ECE deparment. The final competition round will take place at the 2016 Wireless Symposium and Summer School, May 25 - 27, 2016. More information and the contest entry form are available on the Spectrum-ShaRC website at Spectrum-ShaRC website. Deadline for entry is October 15, 2015, with the first round of competition due November 15, 2015. Points will be deducted for late entries, so enter now!
Dr. Walid Saad and his student Yaman Sharaf-Dabbagh win best paper award for their paper "Transfer Learning for Device Fingerprinting with Application to Cognitive Radio Networks," in the Proc. of 26th IEEE International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC), Hong Kong, September 2015.
Broadband Wireless Access & Applications Center (BWAC) invites applications for a post-doctoral research associate position.
--Post-doctoral research associate (one position): Applicants should hold a PhD in Electrical/Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a closely related field. Applicants should have expertise in one or more of the following areas: security and privacy; dynamic spectrum sharing; cognitive radio networks; IoT; and 5G and other next-generation wireless technologies. Plz send your detailed CV as a pdf file to Prof. Jerry Park.
-- Graduate research assistant (PhD student; 2 positions): BWAC is looking to hire highly motivated PhD students to participate in ongoing research projects on dynamic spectrum sharing, cognitive radio networks, and wireless security. Plz send your detailed CV as a pdf file to Prof. Jerry Park.
Prof. Mohammad Hossein Manshaei, Isfahan University of Technology. Friday, August 21st, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m., Durham 261
Abstract: The recent proposed solutions for demand side energy management leverage the two-way communication infrastructure provided by modern smart-meters and sharing the usage information with the other users. In this talk, we first highlight the privacy and security issues involved in the distributed demand management protocols. We propose a novel protocol to share required information among users providing privacy, confidentiality, and integrity. We also propose a new clustering-based, distributed multi-party computation (MPC) protocol. Through simulation experiments we demonstrate the efficiency of our proposed solution. The existing solutions usually thwart selfish and malicious behavior of consumers by deploying billing mechanisms based on total consumption during a few time slots. However, the billing is typically based on the total usage in each time slot in smart grids. In the second part of this talk, we formally prove that under the per-slot based charging policy, users have incentive to deviate from the proposed protocols. We also propose a protocol to identify untruthful users in these networks. Finally, considering a repeated interaction among honest and dishonest users, we derive the conditions under which the smart grid can enforce cooperation among users and prevents dishonest declaration of consumption. The presentation also includes a brief introduction to other research activities in my research group, such as computational biology, selfish behavior analysis of mobile users in 5G, and security games.
Bio: Mohammad Hossein Manshaei received the BSc degree in electrical engineering and the MSc degree in communication engineering from the Isfahan University of Technology in 1997 and 2000, respectively. He received another MSc degree in computer science and the PhD degree in computer science and distributed systems from the University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, France, in 2002 and 2005. He did his thesis work at INRIA, Sophia-Antipolis, France. He is currently an assistant professor at the Isfahan University of Technology, Iran. From 2006 to 2011, he was a senior researcher and lecturer at EPFL, Switzerland. He held visiting positions at the UNCC and at the NYU. His research interests include wireless networking, wireless security and privacy, smart grid, and game theory.
Dr. Jung-Min "Jerry" Park was promoted to Professor by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors on June 3. Dr. Park is the Associate Director of Affiliate Relations for Wireless @ Virginia Tech, Site Director for the Virginia Tech BWAC site, and is the founding director of the ARIAS Lab dedicated to security issues in wireless networking and cyber security.
Dr. Walid Saad was awarded the Young Investigator's Award by the Office of Naval Research. The Young Investigator Program is designed to promote the professional development of early-career academic scientists both as researchers and instructors. The funding supports laboratory equipment, graduate student stipends and scholarships, and other expenses critical to ongoing and planned investigational studies. Dr. Saad was one of 36 recipients of this year's award. Congratulations to Dr. Saad!
IEEE Communications Society Awards for 2015 have been announced and out of a total of 11 paper awards, Wireless @ Virginia Tech faculty received two.
Dr. Walid Saad received the Fred W. Ellersick Prize for his paper When Cellular meets WiFi in Wireless Small Cell Networks. The Fred W. Ellersick Prize is awarded annually, and awarded to an original paper that has been published in any of the Communication Society's magazines over the previous 3 years.
Dr. Harpreet Dhillon received the IEEE Communications Society Young Author Best Paper Award for his paper "Modeling and Analysis of K-Tier Downlink Heterogeneous Cellular Networks". This award is given to the best paper published by an author under 30 years of age in one of ComSoc's transactions or journals in the previous three calendar years. This is Dr. Dhillon's second ComSoc award in two years. Last year, he was awarded the Leonard G. Abraham Prize for the best paper published in the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications in the previous 3 calendar years.
Congratulations to Dr. Saad and Dr. Dhillon!
Wireless @ Virginia Tech continues to lead the way in solving pressing issues within the wireless communications market by successfully implementing a dynamic spectrum access (DSA) system for next generation Public Safety radios. The DSA system, a custom-designed frequency translator/repeater for FD-LTE, allows using commercially available technology and public safety LTE user equipment (UE) operating in any band to operate in the new 3.5 GHz band on a secondary basis. The primary users on this band, comprised between 3550 and 3700 MHz, are high-power and low duty cycle radar systems, and fixed satellite receive stations.
The frequency translator/repeater allows fast switching of the carrier frequency. Controlled by a Spectrum Access System (SAS), the eNode-B and attached UEs operate as usual and collect LTE radio performance parameters that the SAS can exploit. "Being able to expand the coverage and available bandwidth is important to the future of public safety." said Dr. Jeffrey Reed. "The system that we have developed will work with the developing spectrum sharing paradigm and shows a pathway to a solution for public safety."
The team of researchers will demonstrate one of the first broadband public safety DSA radio systems using a Rhode & Schwartz CMW500 eNodeB emulator and a Motorola Solutions LEX L10 and LEX 700 public safety UE at the 25th Anniversary Wireless Symposium & Summer School, May 27 - 29, 2015 at Virginia Tech. This demonstration will show the additions that are needed to existing wireless devices to make them DSA-capable.
Jeff Reed, Ph.D., the Willis G. Worcester Professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, led the development of the dynamic spectrum access system with sponsorship by the Center for Innovative Technology and the office of the Vice President of Information Technology at Virginia Tech.
The Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) in Rome, NY has opportunities for summer interns at graduate and undergraduate levels, as well as for post-docs.
There are a number of different opportunities at AFRL. Please refer to eligibility requirements for each program.
Summer Internships (US citizens):
The student internship program is now accepting applications. This is a paid internship for undergraduate and graduate students at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) - Information Directorate in Rome, N.Y. Link to the internship application.
Full-time positions available now (US citizens):
Full-time positions are available for EE, COE and CS with BS, MS, or PhD. Send your resume and transcript ASAP to Mr. Steven Farr, email@example.com.
NRC Research Associateship Program (US citizens and permanent residents): There are two types of positions: (1) post-docs and (2) senior applicants (more than 5 years beyond the PhD). Applications deadlines are quarterly: 01 May, 01 August, 01 Nov. Click here for the general program link
Select topics of interest:
1) Complex Network Inference (RO#13.20.95.B7952)
Click Here.
2) Wireless Sensor Networks in Contested Environments (RO#13.20.95.B7951) Click Here.
3) DoD SMART Program (deadline Dec 2015- US citizens): It provides MS/PhD tuition, stipend and summer internships to US citizens Click Here.
Visiting Faculty / Summer Fellowship Programs for Summer 2016 (US citizens & permanent residents):
AF Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (Application opens Sept 2015) : Click Here.
Visiting Faculty Research Program (Application deadline – Jan 2016): Click Here.
Please contact Dr. Carl Dietrich at email@example.com if you would like more information.
Dr. Walid Saad will be teaching a new engineering course, ECE Special Study 4984 in Network Science. The goal of this course is to introduce you to these emerging technologies: wireless smart phones, Wikipedia, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, iCloud, and others, that define your networked life. This is done by formulating and answering several key questions carefully selected for their relevance to everyone's networked life as well as for the underlying core engineering concepts and methodologies in the field of networking that are illustrated by their answers such as game theory, graph theory, optimization, and learning. The flyer with more details is available here!
Dr. Harpreet Dhillon, Assistant Professor with the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will be co-hosting a webinar for the IEEE Communication Society (ComSoc) titled "Small Cells, Big Gains" on Thursday, March 26 at 2 p.m., EST. Small cells can support dramatic improvements to network capacity and coverage. They are becoming increasingly important to wireless carriers' network deployment plans.
The Webinar "Small Cells Big Gains" will illustrate what is actually possible in terms of the current regulatory framework and address which is the better solution to achieve higher network capacity, more cells or more spectrum?
Speaker Cristian Gomez, who is a Spectrum Regulation and Policy Officer from Radiocommunication Bureau, International Telecommunication Union, will share his expertise from the regulatory perspective, and Harpreet S. Dhillon, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech, will guide us from a Future Technology Perspective.
Dexter Johnson, the author of IEEE Spectrum's online blog The Nanoclast will be our moderator. Registration for the webinar is free. Complete details can be found at http://www.comsoc.org/blog/small-cells-big-gains.
Dr. Walid Saad, Assistant Professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a core member of the Wireless @ Virginia Tech research group, is serving as a guest editor for a special issue of the IEEE Communications Magazine focused on Wireless Communications, Networking, and Positioning with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The Call for Papers has been issued, with a submission deadline of November 1, 2015. Complete details are available at http://www.comsoc.org/commag/wireless-communications-networking-and-positioning-unmanned-aerial-vehicles.
Wireless @ Virginia Tech faculty have been awarded NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) grant #1432416 for research on Wireless Communication Testbeds for Authentic STEM Learning. This award from the National Science Foundation will help prepare the next generation of engineering students to work in the field of wireless communications. The goal of the work is to reinforce fundamental communication engineering concepts through hands-on interactive sessions in which students use their knowledge to operate real radios in challenging environments that are generated in the Internet-accessible, FCC-licensed Cognitive Radio and Network Testbed (CORNET). Students will receive real-time feedback on their performance in tutorials and other experiences that will adapt approaches used in game applications to engage students through participation using standard web browsers on PCs, laptops, or mobile devices. As an added benefit, students will be introduced to more advanced concepts related to cognitive radio and dynamic spectrum access applications, to motivate them to pursue graduate study, research, and / or employment in these areas.
Investigators on the two-year, $626,000 interdisciplinary project include Drs. Carl Dietrich (PI) and Mike Buehrer, Vuk Marojevic, Nicholas Polys, Richard Goff, and Christian Hearn (co-PIs). Buehrer is Director of Wireless @ Virginia Tech within the Bradley Department of Electrical Engineering at Virginia Tech, and Dietrich and Marojevic are core members of Wireless @ Virginia Tech. Polys leads high-performance visualization research and practice in Virginia Tech's Advanced Research Computing group and Visionarium Lab and is a member of Computer Science department, Goff is with Virginia Tech's Engineering Education department, and Hearn (VT ECE PhD alumnus) is with Weber State University's Engineering Technology department. Dr. Taeyoung Yang (VT PhD Alumnus) was also a co-PI on the grant before moving to Intel in Hillsboro, OR. The investigators are working with a diverse network of partner institutions who will provide input for and feedback on the tutorials. More information on the NSF IUSE grant is available at http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1432416. Information on the CORNET testbed, including the new CORNET-3D, is available at http://cornet.wireless.vt.ed.
Dr. Dhillon is serving as the technical chair for the SPASWIN conference at the Indian Institute of Technology, in Bombay, India. The performance of wireless networks depends on the spatial configuration of the transmitter and receiver nodes. As a result, the modeling of such networks requires methods and tools from point process theory, stochastic geometry and random graph theory. The Spacial Stochastic Models for Wireless Networks (SpasWIN) is a workshop specifically devoted to the use of spatial stochastic models for improved design of wireless networks. The workshop is schedule for May 29, 2015. Full details of the agenda is located at http://wi-opt.org/SPASWIN.php.
Wireless @ Virginia Tech is now providing videos of the lectures presented in the Wireless Weekly Seminar Series. You can access the videos through our website here, or on our YouTube Channel and Google + page. We have uploaded the February 13, and February 20 lectures videos and will continue to add videos as they are recorded.
Dr. R. Michael Buehrer has been named the Scholar of the Week by the Office of the Vice President of Research. The Scholar of the Week award recognizes outstanding faculty for their contributions to the field of research and professional activities. Dr. Buehrer is being recognized for his contributions to wireless communications, ultra-wideband communication and sensing systems, cellular and personal communications, multiuser detection, "intelligent" antennas, and cognitive radio.
Dr. Buehrer has authored or co-authored more than 200 journal or conference papers and holds more than 10 patents. His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Office of Naval Research, and several industrial sponsors, including Boeing, Catalyst Communications Technologies, and Qualcomm Inc.
Dr Jerry Park attended the 2015 NSF Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) program PI meeting which was held in Arlington, VA from Jan 5 to Jan 7. At the meeting, he presented a poster entitled "Enforcement and Security in Dynamic Spectrum Sharing".
The National Science Foundation Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) Principal Investigators' Meeting brings together a broad group of researchers working on security and privacy. SaTC is an interdisciplinary program including technologists, social scientists, and educators from programs sponsored by by the NSF CISE, SBE, EHR, MPS, and ENG directorates.
The primary objectives for this meeting is:
to stimulate coordination and collaboration amongst SaTC PIs,
to foster collaborations among SaTC researchers across multiple disciplines,
to share experiences and learn from others' experiences in transitioning research into practice, and
to develop ideas and share methods for improving education, recruitment, and career development in cybersecurity.
More details are available at https://www.usenix.org/conference/satcpi15
M.S. student Sean Ha (advisor: Dr. Jeffrey H. Reed) has carried out an indoor propagation measurement campaign to model the 3.5 GHz band through documentation and analysis of captured channel characterization parameters such as large scale path loss, log-normal shadowing, and multipath delay spread characteristics. Measurements were carried out in traditional indoor office, hallway, lobby, classroom, computer laboratory, and hospital environments.
Results were compared to indoor path loss models used for wireless local area network (WLAN) planning in the low GHz range to investigate the applicability of extending these models to 3.5 GHz. The campaign was carried out using Virginia Tech's VIPER channel measurement system - a software-defined vector channel sounder, which allowed for an additional feasibility study of employing multi-antenna systems to increase performance in indoor environments. The 3.5 GHz band is expected to play a significant role in shaping the future of spectrum sharing, as the FCC has recently proposed a shared three-tier authorization mechanism for the band to promote unlicensed and opportunistic spectrum access. However, since the adoption of this band is new, there is a distinct shortage of propagation data and accurate channel modeling, both of which are instrumental in evaluating the performance and feasibility of wireless systems. Consequently, there is high demand for 3.5 GHz propagation research, focusing on channel characterization and spectral co-existence with primary band users.
This work is sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).
Dr. Walid Saad is serving as Organizing Co-Chair for the 2nd IEEE International Workshop on Wireless Physical Layer Security which is part of the 2015 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC) to be held in London, UK between June 8 and 12. This workshop will bring together academic and industrial researchers in an effort to identify and discuss the major technical challenges and recent results related to physical layer security in wireless networks. Paper submissions are due January 31, 2015. Dr. Saad's email address is walidsATvtdotedu. More information on the workshop can be found at http://wiphysec.org/.
The 4th IEEE National Conference on Communications (ICC) will be held in London, UK on June 10, 2015. Dr. Saad and Dr. Dhillon are working with other IEEE personnel to organize the workshop. Submissions are due January 31, 2015. More information on the IEEE Workshop is available at http://www.cwc.oulu.fi/smallnets2015/ Dr. Saad's email address is walidsATvtdotedu and Dr. Dhillon's email address is hdhillonATvtdotedu.
Dr. Jeffrey Reed, former Director of Wireless @ Virginia Tech, has been appointed to a 2 year term as a "Special Government Employee" to the CSMAC committee to advise the head of NTIA, Lawrence Strickling, on technical and policy issues such as spectrum sharing. The issues the committee will look at going forward, include "how to update enforcement tools for new, more dynamic forms of sharing, how agencies can best quantify their actual spectrum use, spectrum management via access to databases; providing the government greater flexibility and options through access to non-federal bands, and paying for costs spectrum sharing when there is no auction."
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Happy birthday Leonard Nimoy!
Leonard Nimoy (March 26, 1931) is a Jewish American film and television actor who is best known for his portrayal of Mr. Spock on Star Trek. Nimoy has said that over the long course of playing such a distinct character, he has become deeply attached to the fictional persona, and that their two identities have somewhat merged. Nimoy himself created the Vulcan salute from memories of the manner in which Jewish priests held their hand while giving blessings. The accompanying blessing, which became one of his character's best-known lines, is "Live long and prosper."
After college, Leonard Nimoy moved from Boston to California to pursue an acting career. By the mid 1950s, Nimoy had appeared in a number of films and television shows, including The Twilight Zone and Perry Mason. Nimoy's appearance on an episode of The Lieutenant caught the attention of Gene Roddenberry, who was then casting his new show, Star Trek. Nimoy was able to develop much of the character of Spock himself, creating the Vulcan Nerve Pinch and the Vulcan salute. Both Nimoy and William Shatner, who played U.S.S. Enterprise captain James T. Kirk, became hugely popular as a result of the show.
After Star Trek ended, Nimoy appeared on Mission: Impossible for two years, and then took on stage roles, including Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, and made-for-television roles. During this time, he also began to dabble with directing and producing television, for which he developed a respectable reputation. Nimoy wrote several volumes of poetry, and released an autobiography called I Am Not Spock, dealing with the identity crisis he faced because his fictional identity loomed so large in his life. He also hosted the series In Search Of... which investigated paranormal and unusual activities. He also starred in the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
By the late 1970s, Paramount Pictures decided to invest in a renewed public interest in science fiction and Star Trek, and Nimoy reprised his role as Spock in the big-screen version of Star Trek. He went on to appear in the sequel, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, as well as direct the next installments: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Nimoy left the franchise soon after, feeling that the weight of the series was too great, and that his relationship with co-star William Shatner had become incredibly strained. Nimoy spent the next few years appearing in a few films, but mostly worked behind the screen, earning a reputation as a serious director. Nimoy has frequently done narration and voice-over work for a number of television shows, and has appeared as fictionalized versions of both himself and Spock on shows like Futurama and The Simpsons. In 1995, he released his second autobiography, I Am Spock.
Nimoy repaired his friendship with Shatner, and eventually served as the best man in Shatner's wedding in 1997. Nimoy reprised his role as the original Spock in J.J. Abrams' alternate-universe adaptation of the series, released in 2009, with Zachary Quinto as the "new" Spock. Nimoy also appeared on SNL on May 9 of that year, alongside Seth Meyers on "Weekend Update" to voice his support for the new film, and to say that fans who didn't like the movie were "dickheads." Although largely retired from professional acting, Nimoy is an active philanthropist and member of the Jewish community. Nimoy narrated the documentary A Life Apart: Hasidism in America, and published The Shekhina Project, a photographic study exploring the feminine aspect of God, in 2002.
Additional Info
- Birthday Date: Wednesday, 26 March 2014


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|AK Info Institute provides you the opportunity to learn and change your future with a laptop repairing course. These courses equip students with the latest laptop repair training. Through this course, students can enter the growing laptop repairing market as a laptop engineer or technician. We have more than 5 years of experience in the technical education industry and are known for offering the best laptop repairing course in Patna, Bihar.
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JSONP Support
You can use JSONP (JavaScript Object Notation with Padding) to make a request from a server in a different domain.
Most browsers enforce a same-origin policy for asynchronous data requests, which are sometimes called AJAX. Under the same-origin policy, a browser serving a page from server.example.com could not normally request a document from api.digitalriver.com. Some exceptions are provided–most browsers make an exception for HTML


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Privacy Policy
This website does not automatically capture any specific personal
information from you,(like name, phone number or e-mail address), that allows us
to identify you individually. If this Portal requests you to provide personal
information, you will be informed for the particular purposes for which the
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your personal information. We do not sell or share any personally identifiable
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- English Rules (2015)
- Sample Game Map (as of April 23, 2008)
- Sample Units (as of April 23, 2008)
- VASSAL Module (2.1) - Courtesy of John Bowers
Successors was first published in 1995 by Avalon Hill. Some years later a second edition rulebook was published that gave more options for the Tyche cards. This updated Successors third edition builds on the foundation of the Successor 2nd edition rules set plus expansion cards that appeared in the Boardgamer. Minor refinements have been made to make the game easier to play and increase enjoyment. The map will be very similar to the original (it's a mounted map!) with some minor changes around Macedonia. Counters will have the same excellent artwork for the generals and new GMT artwork for the combat units and control markers. The Tyche cards have recieved the most changes—nearly every card has had some minor modifications and a few new cards have been added.
In addition to the changes, the rules have been cleaned up and improved. Years of questions and answers on Consimworld have been used to clarify the rules. The rules will include hints on strategy from a number a long-time Successors players, and an extended example of play.
Game Designers: Richard Berg, Mark Simonitch, and John Firer


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I love this time of the year, because all of the good events go down! ALIVE Magazine is responsible for most of those events and one of the biggest parties of the year is #WeHeartSTL, a celebration of all thing St. Louis. Join ALIVE Magazine to celebrate the Best of the City winners at the Old Post Office Plaza in Downtown St. Louis on Friday, May 29 from 7-11pm, for live music, local vendors, delicious food, drinks, dancing and an array of special surprises.
General admission is $15 and includes beer, cocktail and food sampling all evening, plus entertainment and more. VIP is $30 and includes early entry at 6:30pm, a FREE $15 Central Table gift card, FREE drinks for the first hour in the VIP balcony, FREE food and more. Gift cards will be given out at check in.
Guests can look forward to a sampling in the Bud Select Tasting Lounge, sipping Cruzan Rum cocktails, shopping from 10 local vendors, enjoying an interactive display with Missouri History Museum, smiling in our one-of-a-kind photo booth, dancing to live music from The Free Years, DJ European Soccer and more!
You can buy tickets here through Eventbrite and also make sure to RSVP on Facebook. Or if you want free tickets, just check down below! We are giving away 3 free tickets (1 single, 2 pair) of GA tickets to #WeHeartSTL. So go ahead and enter by sending us your full name to our email at email@example.com, what cha' got to lose!
Also what I want my readers to do is share what you love about St. Louis using the hashtag #WeHeartSTL and your posts will show up on the We Heart STL Best of the City Celebration website here!.
Find more information on ALIVEMag.com/WeHeartSTL


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As I'm back into training again, working my way to a few personal bests, I'll be scheduling and reporting about my training and progress towards personal goals.
Personal Bests
The personal bests I'm training to improve are my DYN: 125m, DNF: 109m, STA in competition: 5m 33s. To achieve these goals I make use of different training exercises and techniques, which consist of:
- Dry-walks
- Dry-statics
- Statics
- Crawl without breath
- DNF/Breaststroke technique
- MAX-attempts in all 3
Exceeding PB's
I want to exceed my personal bests within the next 4 months, this time I will not be focussing on a set distances or time. I will have my focus on doing maximum attempts again and thus improving my personal bests.
"Why this change in approach?" you might ask. Well; In the past few months I've been looking back at why I cease to do maximum attempts. I believe one of my restraints is my mind not allowing me to perform to my limits. When looking back on the past year; I've seen myself perform in competitions and everytime I'm in a competition it looks like I'm backing out on my own beliefs and set out paths.
Jorg, Marieke and I have been trying to pinpoint the reason why I'm backing out of it. Where I have to conclude that it includes a certain fear for blacking out and performing badly in front of a crowd. Although I'm only training for personal bests, my mind is always aware of the fact that a bad performance is witnessed and going over the top is a thing I'm not willing to experience.
So how to find a balance in all of this is my main question I'll be struggling with this next period. Because my body might be ready for a good performance, but how will I convince myself to actually do that max performance?
I will write about my progress and for the short updates right after training or the morning after I'll be using Twitter to communicate the results of the training. I added the twitter feature to the site in the Mini-Blog on the right in the main section, this is where the latest training news appears.
Schedule / Upcoming events
I will be scheduling and planning my training sessions through Google Calendar which is also available on this site, view this public calendar or you can subscribe to the shark-bait calendar with your own Google-account by adding it with the button on the bottom-right.
Here's a preview from the upcoming days in training:
Stay up to date through the rss-feeds or by reading this site.


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|Home » Files » Games
CASE: Animatronics PC torrent
CASE: Animatronics
Developer: Last Level , Aleson
Welcome to the police department, where working late can lead to tragic consequences. You're John Bishop, a swamped-with-work detective who tirelessly carries out your investigations late into the night. But tonight you are pulled from your precious few hours of rest ,and a strange dream, by a mysterious call from an old "friend." Turning your fight to find the truth into a fight to survive the night.
Your police department is left without electricity. The security system has been hacked. All exits are locked. But that is not the real problem.
Minimum System Requirements
CPU: Intel Core2 Quad Q8400
Recommended System Requirements
CPU: Intel Core i5 3470
Game Size: 382 MB
How to download from this site
Alternative Versions
Gameplay Trailer & Screenshots
|Views: 1390 |
|Total comments: 0


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Know more about this business than we do? Cool! Please submit any corrections or missing details you may have.Help us make it right
Be the first PennLive.com user to add photos or videos of Martin Kenneth C Rev
Martin Kenneth C Rev is located at 238 Reading Rd, East Earl, PA. This business specializes in Religion & Spirituality.


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Hi there! I've got an OPI polish to show you today - this is OPI Metallic 4 Life, from the Nicki Minaj collection. I picked this one up in the very early stages of my polish addiction.
It's a nice polish; a black jelly base with different sized silver hexes gives it a starry sky look. Application is easy and I'm wearing three coats of Metallic 4 Life with top coat in these swatches. The sheer amount of glitter packed into the base means that the polish will sit very thickly on your nail, but this effect can be mitigated by layering one or two coats over a black creme.
|Base & top coat:
|Base - none
Top - OPI Top Coat
|Polish used:
|OPI Metallic 4 Life - three coats


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The Joy of Music, Leonard Bernstein.
Study Piano Performance in Boca Raton
Piano Technique: Learning to Play Bach
Arioso7's Blog (Shirley Kirsten)
Blocking techniques can help to solidify tricky passages in Bach's A minor Invention (13), especially if intelligent decisions are made about landscaping broken chords with thumb shifts weaving through them. Examining measures 9 through 13 for example, I devised a blocking routine that helped me gain note security while contouring phrases with a supple wrist. In the practicing phrase I unraveled chord blocks as I followed my thumb's journey through threads of arpeggiated figures.
Exploring harmonic rhythm/ modulations, etc. integrated with a "feel" for keyboard topography advances learning on tactile, cognitive and affective levels. Blocking groups of notes, unraveling them, and using rhythms such as the dotted-8th/16th figure advance accuracy and phrase-shaping.
All the aforementioned block/learning strategies have significantly assisted students who are studying this Invention.
Play through in tempo
The Art of Fugue
In order to analyze, appreciate and comprehend the musical form called fugue, one must first know the various elements that comprise a fugue.
Every fugue has its own individual characteristic, which display a full range of human emotions. From peacefulness and tranquility to anguish and despair. JS Bach used rhythms, motives as well as melodies and harmonic movement to capture all of these human emotions. Bach used the temperaments of the different keys to establish the mood of each prelude and fugue. These same tonalities are also clearly defined in his choral works as well. Bach was acutely aware of symbolism in art and religion and used it extensively in his works and was well aware of the subtle subliminal effect it has on the listener in addition to the harmonic progressions, melodic intervals, rhythmic motives and patterns.
Bach very adept in the understanding of numerical symbolism, used numerical codes…
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Your Piano Room Acoustics
The dimensions and layout of your piano room will undoubtedly have an effect on the overall sound. Have you ever listened to a piano that is too powerful for the room it is in?
Not only can it be deafeningly loud but it will often result in a poor quality of sound. As a rule of thumb larger pianos are built for larger rooms, this is because they possess qualities and characteristics that best present themselves in larger spaces. The mighty sound of a double octave run in the lower end of a concert grand would be lost in a typical houseroom as there is insufficient space for the sound to develop and resonate.
Remember large pianos are designed to move large quantities of air & produce comparably large sound waves. To do this they need to be housed in an appropriate sized room.
What Is The…
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Optimize Your Piano Practice Time
Practice Tips for Developing a Solid Technique in Piano Performance
Practicing is both an art and a science. Every student of piano performance must remember that their achievement on the instrument will be the direct result of the amount of time and the quality of their practicing.
The art and science of practicing is not just time spent at the instrument but time spent listening to the music the student is working on, studying and understanding the harmonic analysis of the music as well as researching the time period and technical characteristics of the composer of the piece you are working on.
In addition to this, it is advisable for the student to prepare a weekly plan outlining the time spent on specific techniques, repertoire, sight-reading and review of old or previously learned repertoire.
The purpose of technique is to serve the pianist's imagination and realize his/her interpretive ideas…
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Linking Music with Other Learning Areas
Learning Strategies for Musical Success
What's in greatest demand today is not analysis but synthesis—seeing the big picture, crossing boundaries, and being able to combine disparate pieces into an arresting new whole. —Daniel Pink, author of Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us
Life is interdisciplinary and multisensory. We learn through all the senses, and we embrace the richness of opportunity and experience that is befitting our multi-intelligent capacity. The richer the brain diet stimulated by the senses, the more complex the brain becomes. Learning material presented with pictures and sound provides an emotional attachment that makes it easier to remember and more enjoyable to learn. The most effective memory-building techniques are based on the principle of association, and the strongest associations are emotional. This is multisensory learning.
Our senses evolved to work together…which means that we learn best if we stimulate several senses at once. —John Medina, Brain Rules
Subject compartmentalisation limits student…
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In Praise of Slow Practice
There are so many different ways of practising the piano and whilst it's relatively easy to identify those that are ineffective or plain incorrect, it's much harder to establish fail-safe methods which will work every time on every piece. Many believe slow practice is of little use and can be distracting or even damaging, but if worked at regularly and accurately, it promotes a much more thorough approach. In fact, practising at very slow speeds employing total concentration can transform a pianist's playing.
The first obstacle to successful slow practice is encouraging students and young pianists to view it as a valuable process. Many think it is a good idea in theory, but when it comes to practice time, it's far easier (and more pleasant too) to play as usual; up to speed with the usual hesitations or errors. It takes vast amounts of discipline to play at a fraction of the speed, which is no easy feat, but…
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A few helpful tips to improve your piano fingering
Fingering is a crucial element in piano playing and surprisingly it's often overlooked even at advanced levels. Many piano students have never adhered to any at all. Fingering is necessary because it helps a pianist remember which one of their four fingers or thumb (in each hand) is required to play a particular note or notes. It is a really useful skill to cultivate as without it piano playing will become haphazard and uneven. It's difficult to achieve any kind of consistency or fluency without sticking to the same finger patterns in a piano piece.
Some pieces will have all the fingering written in and others will need it annotated on the music or score. A good teacher will write all the necessary fingerings on the music so when you practice you will know exactly which finger goes where. This is vital for smooth fluent playing. Initially, your piano books will show you how the fingers are…
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Not those types of cookies
Cookies are small pieces of data downloaded from a website and stored in your web browser while browsing a website. They are also there to remember what you have done on the website when you return. This website (www.smallerearth.com) uses the following cookies to make your experience better;
Stores which pages within this site you view so that we can give you a recently viewed list. Facebook cookie on you machine that allows us to customize the Facebook view and personalize it so you can see if any of your friends already "like" us. Twitter cookie that allows you to see the tweets about Smaller Earth and tweet your comment directly if you are logged in to Twitter. When you login a "session" is created that allows you to navigate within the site as a known user, this is removed when you logout. Google Analytics to track anonymous information about the visitors to our site For more information http://www.google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html


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Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS
Drones are quickly becoming the new norm. How can the FAA keep up with the explosive growth? An industry that is still in the wild west stage must be regulated or your safety will be in jeopardy. Is this a new drone invasion?
Also, a transformative experience that is changing the way we may educate our children in the future!! It's being called – a Hogwart-inspired middle school. And the 3story of Pastor Larry Wright and his congregation just before the stroke of midnight on new years – when faced with a madman and an automatic weapon – what next?
'Revenge Unleashed' is about a terror revenge plot on the leaders of the U.S. Author Stephen Schwertley has taken drones and terror to another level of thinking – this author is exploring the world of drones thru his books.
This is Malcolm Out Loud
Radio & Television Host | Author | Speaker & Brink Thinker
The Human Spirit Knows No Bounds BrinkofGreatness
News and Comment AmericaOutLoud
Digital News Channel MalcolmOutLoud.TV


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Yerp Ya'll Skintimate Moisturizing Shave Gel Gets Some Sparkling Limited Edition Packaging
Someone texted me "yerp" yesterday….
I texted him back "?"
I had to Google "yerp"….Am I getting too old? Has my grasp on youthful slang slipped through my fingers? It's like waking up to a gray hair and yanking it out by the root.
I have to contend with the fact I didn't realize yerp was some sort of greeting…
I'm obviously getting old, old but still good I'd say.
Speaking of oldies but goodies Skintimate Moisturizing Shave Gel has always been such a fond favorite of mine plus it doesn't text me greeting that I have to look up in the Urban Dictionary. Y u confuse me for?
With Summer approaching Skintimate Moisturizing Shave Gel has released limited edition cans of their popular shaving cream in sparkling, iredscent packaging.
What's better than sparkling iridescent packaging?
Seriously, this sparkle addict loves the bling!
If you're wanting a close, moisturizing shave and a little bling with your leg shaving experience you can haul on of several new limited edition cans of Skintimate Moisturizing Shave Gel now at drugstores.
P.S. Did you know what yerp meant? Please TELL me I'm not freaking alone here.
Learn more at www.skintimate.com and enter their Photo Contest Sweepstakes.


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A service or a tools which can help you create an Steem account, with or without verification.
Tool which gives a possibility to browse content of a blockchain, block by block, on low level
Tools/scripts which automatically interact with Steem Blockchain
tool which after installing in your browser, extends functionalities of some Steem service
Projects which shows you data extracted from Steem blockchain in interesting way.
Read-only DataBase intarface populated with data from Steem Blockchain
Software which helps you buy/sell things with STEEM/SBD
Tools which are useful for an editing a Steem post.
Useful library or tool for a software developer
User friendly interface for Steem network
Trading SBD and STEEM
Tool which help you manage keys, your password, and do various things with your account.
Tools/scripts helpful for witnesses.
Projects which doesn't fit to any other category.


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Alan Turner is the longest high school long jumper in Illinois so far this season. That`s not good enough. He wants to be the best in the state come May.
A couple of Saturdays ago, Turner, a junior from North Chicago, leaped 24 feet 3/4 inch in the Lake Shore Invitational. That effort catapulted him to the top of the list. It also made him realize that one jump in mid-April does not make you an end-of-May state champion.


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|Alextronic Discovery
An Electronic Discovery Blog covering News, Articles
and Thoughts for the Legal and Corporate Community Author: Alexander H. Lubarsky, LL.M., Esq. - email@example.com - Tel. (415) 533-4166 OR 800-375-4222 THIS BLAWG IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE WEB SITES WWW.DISCOVERYRESOURCES.ORG OR WWW.DISCOVERYRESOURCES.COM
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Don't Forget to Network Don't Forget to Network
Until recently, networking primarily meant to me hanging at the local cigar club or dragging myself to the next reunion. In EDD land, however, networking may hold more keys to success than its schmoozing alter-ego.
The astute requesting party will certainly query the other side as to what it may or may not have living inside its network. However, the attorney deposing the adverse IT dude or dude-ette needs to have a basic understanding of networks so that the inquiry can yield fruit and so that the attorney and his or her meandering line of inquiry smacking of network naivete does not become the butt of the chuckles back at the other guy's IT water cooler.
The first rule is that the attorney should look the part. Walk into the depo with the rules of evidence tucked under one arm and the latest issue of Wired in the other. Make sure you strap on a PDA, pager or Blackberry to your belt. Compare your general appearance to any of the DEVO album covers circa 1978 and if there is even a faint resemblance you're halfway there.
Amble into the conference room with confidence and ask the court reporter if he or she will be conducting real-time stenography in Amicus II format. Have your laptop with you with a wireless d-link card flashing like the Macy's Christmas tree.
Next, memorize a bit about networks. You may not need to know the history of Java or the difference between TCP and UDP protocols nor will you be expected to distinguish bridges from routers, but at least know what a LAN is (Local Area Network that runs within an office structure) and a WAN (Wide Area Network that tends to connect remote office structures together via telephone lines, microwave or even satellite - the internet is an example of a massive WAN). Less common is a peer to peer network which connects two independent computers together or connects computers to a printer. Peer to peer technology is common in small law firms and businesses and is included in Windows 95 and beyond.
Also, know that a network is composed of a server or client work station, network interface card(s), cabling and a network OS (operating system) such as NT. A machine hooked into the network and utilizing it (the client computer or printer etc....) is known as a "node."
Most critically, however, know where files tend to be kept. In a client-server architecture the server acts as the "brains" of the network and tends to store and process applications with the clients (the terminals connected to the server) simply are receptacles for the data "served" to them by the server. This is critical when you are trying to figure out where that smoldering gun e-mail .pst file may live. You may want to devote less time inquiring about the work stations and more time understanding how the shared drive paths (UNC) on the network are configured. Of course, a user can opt to take data served to him or her and then store it locally on his or her own hard drive on the work station, so don't completely ignore the possibility that the evidence sought may exist on the drive and not the server. Ask the IT person if the individual users maintain there own private directories and if these directories exist in areas of the network that may extend beyond the scope of the office (ie, can the users access the network from home via a virtual private network (VPN) and then sore data on home computers? - if so, you will want to request mirror images of those home drives).
Don't forget to ask the IT individuals which folders on the network are "shared" and accessible by multiple users. Who has access to shared folders? What is the path to the shared folders? Are these folders password protected or otherwise secured?
Perhaps most critically, don't fail to include backup procedures in your query. Find out how often the network server is backed up. Is it backed up on the whole, or are certain directories backed up? Is the backup automatic? To what media is data backed up (tapes, CD's, on-line storage vaults etc...)? Where is this backup media kept? Is it rewritten? If so, how often? What processes or technology is required to restore backed up media? What, if any, retention policy (read, destruction policy) does the corporation follow?
This basic understanding of network structures and usage will make you a more formidable presence during the deposition and will facilitate the revelation of discoverable data that will hopefully contain your smoking gun or at least your smoldering slingshot. Once you have accomplished your task of making the other guys reveal their data landscape so that your side can thereafter narrowly request such data from the server, you can pat yourself on the shoulder, head down to the local watering hole and partake in the more entertaining type of networking.
posted by Alexander | 12:59 AM