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Africa: Does South Africa Really Understand Africa?
By Eliot Pence
South Africa has spent over a decade defining itself as different from the rest of Africa. Now, as its foreign policy pivots back to Africa and seeks to cash in on the continent's growth, the country has sought to define itself as the leader of, and commercial gateway to, the continent. But the differences between South Africa and the rest of Africa are stark. If South Africa is nothing like the rest of Africa, what claim does it have to be its gateway, let alone its leader? Does South Africa even understand Africa?
There are a number of reasons why South Africa should be a leader in Africa. It's the continent's largest economy and home to its most sophisticated financial system. It has a constitution that is inclusive and progressive. But increasingly South Africa is misunderstanding the opportunities and challenges of the continent, even as it professes an interest in them.
As inbound investors steer away from Johannesburg, and the rest of the continent focuses its attention on capturing growth opportunities, South Africa's lawmakers concentrate more and more on fundamentally different concerns: resuscitating anemic growth, unlocking paralyzed labor markets, and balancing its obligations to country-club affiliations like BRICS and IBSA.
South Africa's central claim as a 'gateway' to Africa rests on the assumption that it offers investors a secure and sophisticated landing pad filled with local partners able to take foreign investors into a rapidly expanding continental market. With the notable exception of telecommunications (MTN has outpaced nearly every corporate investor in Africa, earning over 75 percent of its profits outside of South Africa), the reality is that the country's commercial access and influence is limited regionally and economically.
Nearly 90 percent of South Africa's trade is focused on SADC countries, only two of which (Zambia and Mozambique) are in Africa's top 10 fastest growing economies. Only 1 percent of Nigeria's total imports came from South Africa and the country is Ethiopia's 22nd largest investor, despite a growth rate of over 10 percent. Two of the emerging strategic energy markets in the world, East and West Africa, receive just 10 percent of South Africa's inbound trade and investment.
South African companies continue to benefit from the mistaken notion held by many multinationals in the US and Europe that because they are South African they have a better understanding of the markets in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. But South African firms historically haven't seen the rest of Africa as a particularly attractive export destination.
South African companies' external expansion plans were initially focused on developed markets, such as Australia. In the 1990s, South African multinationals greeted the emergence from apartheid with trepidation and felt that risk diversification was better served by expansion outside the continent. There is only limited evidence to suggest that they are any better acquainted with the continent's growth story now.
One telling demonstration of this is the route the South African government's own pension fund, the Public Investment Corporation, has taken into the continent. Despite a 100-year history, its board only started to take Africa's growth seriously two years ago when it authorized the fund to allocate up to 10 percent of its $114 billion in assets in the rest of Africa. To its credit, it is doing so gradually because it "doesn't understand the African market [or risks] very well," according to its CEO, Elias Masilela.
Standard Bank — itself engaged in an ambitious pivot back to Africa, investing $100 million in building new African subsidiaries to do so — has labeled South Africa's expansion "constrained" and "narrow" and called on its policy makers to articulate a more China-like "focused strategy" to the continent's growth markets. A recent paper investigating the South African government's "gateway strategy" by the South African Institute of International Affairs draws an even more frank conclusion: the gateway "rhetoric" belies the gateway reality.
Rhetoric or not, the effects of South Africa's limited commercial exposure to Africa's growth markets has seeped into its diplomacy, reflecting a deeper misreading of its place on the continent. In its "Vision 2030" document, South Africa's National Planning Commission admitted as much: "South Africa is perceived as a bully [and] self-interested hegemon that acts in bad faith among neighboring countries."
The report goes on to state that South Africa's policy-makers "tend to have a weak grasp of African geopolitics" and often only "muddle through" negotiations concerning cooperation and integration with its African counterparts. As a result, diplomatic missteps pile up in places like Nigeria – the continent's future economic powerhouse – over petty visa issues.
The palace coup South Africa orchestrated earlier this year to reserve the African Union presidency to Ms. Dlamini-Zuma – President Zuma's ex-wife – displeased the continent's smaller countries, which are traditionally given the top job. Even after having lobbied to get the position, South Africa seemed not to want it, after realizing it had neither the budget nor the capacity to promote its interests (97 percent of the AU's budget is western-backed and 40 percent of the positions are unfilled).
Having visited only two non-SADC countries on official state visits, President Zuma's travel plans have not helped the situation. With such a limited travel agenda, it's little wonder that South Africa lined up on the opposite end of most African countries on the two defining regional conflicts of the past two years (Libya and Cote d'Ivoire).
South Africa's history is hardly Africa's. But increasingly, neither is its future. If South Africa is to remain a leader – economically, diplomatically – it must look at Africa anew and not assume it is the best place to enter the continent, or even that it really understands it at all.
Eliot Pence is a director at the Whitaker Group, and Global Governance 2022 Fellow. He heads the firm's oil and gas practice. In 2012, The Diplomatic Courier named him one of the 99 most influential foreign policy leaders under the age of 33.


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Hair Straightener Contains Dangerous Chemicals, FDA Says
Nearly a year ago, we warned you that a popular hair product which turns frizzy locks smooth and luxurious may be endangering the health of the salon workers who use it. Well, now the Food and Drug Administration has made it official.
The FDA issued a warning letter to the makers of Brazilian Blowout saying their product contains dangerously high levels of formaldehyde. Known to many as the stuff used to pickle frogs for biology class, formaldehyde is a chemical the National Cancer Institute calls a cancer-causing substance.
But the company says the product is safe and is working with the FDA to clear up the "misunderstanding."
Brazilian Blowout markets itself as formaldehyde free, but an FDA analysis of the product found unacceptably high levels of methylene glycol, the liquid form of formaldehyde. Levels ranged from 8.7 percent to 10.4 percent, far higher than the 0.2 percent considered safe by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Panel.
The FDA told the California company that makes Brazilian Blowout to stop misleading customers and misbranding its product. In the warning letter, Michael W. Roosevelt, acting director of the Office of Compliance at the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition wrote: "It is your responsibility as a manufacturer, to ensure that the products your firm markets are safe."
Mike Brady, the chief executive for Brazilian Blowout, points to numerous tests done by OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration). "We have been tested countless times by OSHA," Brady says, "And we have never exceeded a safety standard ever," he tells Shots.
Brady says he will work with the FDA, but in the mean time, he says salons can "continue to confidently offer the Brazilian Blowout Treatment to your customers with the knowledge that Brazilian Blowout falls well below the stringent standards set forth by OSHA," he says in a statement on the company website.
The investigation of Brazilian Blowout was prompted by complaints from an Oregon hair stylist who said she suffered chest and throat pain and nosebleeds after using the product.
According to the FDA, other complaints have included eye irritation, blurred vision, nausea, rashes and vomiting.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

subset: commoncrawl


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You may be wondering -- as I was before we started a project with the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation over a year ago -- "what the heck does Big Data have to do with climate change?"
To start, here's a piece from Climate Central that exemplifies the new power of big data.
"Big Data allows you to say simple, clear things...to tell people about their climate locally in ways they can understand."
Through taking information created all around us and applying thoughtful analysis, we can comprehend and unleash it to solve our greatest challenges. For EDF, that means partnering with the country's top universities and most innovative companies to address the biggest challenge of our time -- climate change.
Today we launch the newest version of the Los Angeles Solar & Efficiency Report (LASER), a data-driven mapping tool that can help stakeholders and local leaders understand climate and pollution risks in their own communities. Empowered by this information, they can seek out and maximize available resources to deploy clean energy, reduce climate pollution, and create tens of thousands of much-needed jobs.
A call to action
Last March President Obama announced the launch of his Climate Data Initiative, which put a spotlight on the need and potential to use knowledge-driven insights to help communities effectively mitigate, prepare, and adapt to climate change. This was followed by the United Nation's Big Data Climate Challenge in May.
By releasing these maps today, we humbly join an international movement of individuals, public entities, and private companies who are maximizing the potential of shared information to inform, educate, and usher in a new wave of innovation and opportunity.
Speaking of opportunity, although Los Angeles is famous for its nearly year-round sunshine, it is leaving about 98 percent of its rooftop solar potential untapped. Achieving just 10 percent of that would drive the creation of 47,000 solar installation jobs and could reduce carbon pollution by nearly 2.5 million tons annually. This is the equivalent of taking more than half a million cars off the road every year.
New, low-carbon energy options are critical to reduce greenhouse gases and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. We're already experiencing impacts of a changing climate, and Los Angeles County is projected to get REALLY HOT in the coming decades. Using groundbreaking climate projections by Dr. Alex Hall and the UCLA Department of Atmospheric Oceanic Sciences, the LASER maps show that, by mid-century, Los Angeles' urban core and downtown will experience three times as many extreme heat days (above 95 degrees Fahrenheit) as today, and the valleys and areas of high elevation will experience four times as many.
All air is not equal in L.A.
Half of California's most vulnerable population lives in L.A. County, based on analysis from Environmental Protection Agency data and the CalEnviroScreen. That means there are 3.7 million people living in communities in L.A. County -- 38 percent of the county -already over-burdened by harmful pollution and other risk factors that make them especially impacted by climate change. A majority of these vulnerable areas are home to low-income families and communities of color. As one of these maps demonstrates, there are polluting fossil fuel power plants right in the middle of many of these communities.
The most polluted areas in L.A. can grow thousands of clean energy jobs
There's an overwhelming bright spot on the LASER maps. It turns out that some of the communities most vulnerable to air pollution and extreme heat impacts -- like East Los Angeles, South Los Angeles, and the San Fernando Valley -- also have some of the highest job creation potential through rooftop solar installation and energy efficiency, both of which also reduce climate and air pollution.
Fortunately, California is already planning to prioritize clean energy and other low-carbon investments in the state's most vulnerable communities via proceeds from its successful cap-and-trade program. Just last month, California Governor Brown allocated $225 million specifically to disadvantaged communities, above the mandated 25 percent of program proceeds.
Data can overcome barriers
This set of visual tools can help overcome language, technical, and literacy barriers and bring all affected parties to the table to tackle difficult policy challenges. LASER maps serve as a valuable and empowering educational tool for communities facing increased risks as a direct result of climate change. Through increased understanding and openness, these maps can help create and advance a vision for a cleaner, healthier future for the region.
Information is power. It's not just for the data crunchers, the politicians, or even the climate nerds; it's for everyone and can start a conversation that everyone can access.


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Ivory White - Baked Enamel On Aluminium Gloss
Rechargeable battery table lamp with slim durable metal body and an internally ribbed conical diffuser providing soft ambient side and downlight. Available in anodised Aluminium, solid Brass, solid Copper and painted finishes. Dimensions 220mm x 95mm (8½") x (3½") Light Source Options - 1W Warm White 2700K LED (Standard) - 1W Warm Candle 1800K LED (Optional) Battery & Charging Sanyo Li-Ion 3.7V 2600mAh, 100 - 240V Approved for worldwide usage Rating IP 52 - Dust protected & dripping water when tilted up to 15°
NEOZ is a lighting design and manufacturing company based in Sydney, Australia specializing in Cordless Lamps and Cordless lighting systems for commercial, hospitality and home environments worldwide.


text: At L.R. Hill Custom Builders, Inc. our commitment is to build the highest quality home possible. Craftsmen who are unsurpassed in their fields construct each of our homes of the finest materials. We currently build in prestigious communities in and around Virginia Beach and Chesapeake Bay. At L.R. Hill Custom Builders, Inc. we specialize in innovatively combining classic traditional designs with contemporary detail to create gracious homes of unique character and timeless value. Distinctive yet practical, our homes receive our personal supervision to insure that only the finest materials and most meticulous craftsmanship go together to create homes of superior quality.


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Looming interest rate increases and falling commodity prices foreshadow a decrease in land values.
Investment in U.S. farmland is still competitive with alternative investments, but the era of extremely low interest rates and extraordinarily high commodity prices is drawing to a close, according to a new report from the Rabobank Food & Agribusiness (FAR) Research and Advisory group.
"We'll likely see lower commodity prices this year, but they aren't going to be low enough long enough to substantially impact land values over the coming year or so," says report author and Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR) senior analyst, Sterling Liddell. "In the short term, strong farmer balance sheets and high rental rates will support current levels. However decreasing commodity prices will keep the values from accelerating as rapidly as they have been."
The report, "Land Values Peaking Out—But Not Down," finds in the medium term, the single greatest risk to U.S. agricultural land values is looming higher interest rates. Interest rates have been increasing through the first half of 2013, but based on the current Federal Reserve policy, a significant increase isn't expected until 2014 or 2015.
"We are entering an era where planning how you're going to pay for your land is likely to become as important as planning for marketing your crop," notes Liddell.
The report forecast finds a decline in land values in the central U.S. of 15 to 20 percent over the next three years. In the Western and Southeast U.S., the decline will be less marked than in the Midwest. The key determinant in the susceptibility to land value changes is an area's reliance on grain and oilseeds. While an increase in interest rates will have a similar impact on agricultural land values throughout the country, the amount of change will depend on the type of crop production and proximity to urban areas.
Central U.S.
Since the four dominant commodity crops (corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton) compete for the same acres in the Midwest, Plains and Delta regions, global grains/oilseed prices will be key factors in determining land values. As global stocks grow, prices will drop, leading to some decline in values over the next two to three years.
Corn led the ramp-up in commodity prices and the associated increase in ag land values. As such, if corn were to fall below 4.50/bu for an extended period of time, a significant decrease in land values could follow.
Western U.S.
Vernon Crowder, senior analyst with FAR, co-authored the report and notes that in the Western U.S. agricultural land values are expected to move in the same direction as those in the Midwest.
"The changes seen in land values in the West, especially those in California, should be less dramatic than that of the rest of the country," said Crowder. "This is due in large part to the diversity of crops grown in the region."
Orchards, vineyards and irrigated land in the Western U.S. have seen extreme increases in land values due to strong market prices and growing export demand. Interest rates will be the primary determinant of any decline in the value of farmland, but the strength of the U.S. dollar is also important due to the rate of exportation for many commodities produced in the Western U.S. A stronger U.S. dollar will negatively impact exports.
Southeast U.S.
The Southeast U.S. has seen a modest appreciation of irrigated cropland, as it weathers a severe drought. Florida in particular is in the midst of a difficult era, due in part to weather, disease, increased competition from imports and influence of the struggling housing market leading to a lack of appreciation of farmland value.
Expected increases in interest rates and declines in major cash commodities will lead to a difficult medium term, especially if commodity price declines lead to a reduction in land rents.
The full report explores the drivers behind the increase in ag land values, factors responsible for determining interest rate increases and regional variations. The full report is available exclusively to clients of Rabobank, Rabobank, N.A. and Rabo AgriFinance.


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Could geothermal drilling cause an eruption?
Canlaon volcano, Philippines
Geothermal energy is one of those sources of energy that might be able to solve a lot of the planet's energy problems – heck, the Earth has a lot of heat it is trying to get rid of, so taking that heat and turning into energy seems like an easy (and clean?) way to stop using fossil fuels and the like. Of course, like any supposed panacea, it has its problems.
However, one aspect that gets people are riled is whether drilling into areas of active magmatism might actually cause volcanism. Just in the last few weeks, a controversy was sparked in the Philippines when 20 earthquakes were felt soon after drilling for a new geothermal prospect on Canlaon Volcano. Now, as many of you know, I love to remind people "correlation does not mean caustion" – that is, just because you had drilling and seismicity, it doesn't mean that the two are related. In fact, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) can't even determine whether the earthquakes were volcanic, tectonic or something else – mostly thanks to the fact that their equipment was being moved at the time. However, what can be said is that little to no seismicity has been recorded at Canlaon since these tremors at the end of March even with new seismometers in place around the volcano.
Canlaon is an active volcano, in fact the most active in the central Philippines, last erupting in 2006. Most of its eruptions produce VEI 1 or 2 explosive events with minor ash and phreatic explosions, but it has erupted at least 5 times in the last decade. With a volcano this active, it wouldn't be surprising to record seismicity, especially if an eruption might be in the works. PHIVOLCS thinks that the volcano is not headed towards eruption and that the tremors – whatever the cause – are not the result of the drillings as part of the Northern Negros Geothermal Production Field. However, some people who felt the tremors think otherwise, even suggesting a congressional inquiry into the tremors and their relation to the drilling and Canlaon. This would be a serious issue as Canloan (the volcano) is close to Canlaon City (population ~50,000). This is not a new accusation in the Philippines either, as the Aetas believed that drilling caused the 1991 eruption of Pinatubo (partial link that requires registration, sorry!), which was clearly not the case.
I would be very surprised if any human drilling possible today would have any effect on a system as large and complex as a volcano. There have been a number of research drilling programs that attempted to drill directly into the active parts of the volcano, such as the conduit at Unzen or the flanks of Kilauea/Mauna Loa. Neither of these drilling programs had any effect on the eruptive activity at the respective volcanoes. Sometimes, you do hit areas where steam can cause an explosion in the drill hole (such as the linked video in Iceland) and drilling is likely the cause of the infamous "mud volcano" in Indonesia, but these are related the water and heat rather than new movements of magma. It might be easy in one's mind to link geothermal drilling to any increase in "restlessness" at any volcano nearby, but there is no hard evidence that drilling can have such a direct effect on volcanism.


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BusinessIncrease Your Productivity With Mind Maps
Improve Communication
Bring all your departments, global branches and suppliers to one meeting location. Keep everyone on the same page so nothing is ever overlooked.
Access anywhere
All web browsers and both Android or iOS devices are supported. There is no installation or plugins required. Benefit from the highest security standards & data encryption.
Share and Collaborate
Collaborate on your maps and see changes in real-time. High performance is maintained even with unlimited collaborators. Share mind maps openly and hassle-free.
Use Mind Maps for Your Business
Professional mind map software is a versatile tool that all departments in your company can utilize. Here are six of the most important mind mapping use cases for professionals:
Meeting Management
Project Planning
Client Work
Bring all participants onto the same page
- Prepare and distribute the meeting agenda
- Add important links, graphics and documents
- Take effective meeting minutes
- Assign actionable tasks
- Export directly to project management tool
Brainstorm, plan and collaborate
- Brainstorm and flesh out your project idea
- Collect all project related material in a central place
- Outline a project plan and export to MS Word
- Create a stakeholders list
- Export tasks directly into agile projects
Communicate and present information
- Visualize complex information in one single map
- Attach documents, graphics and notes
- Invite clients via email or link to collaborate with you
- Turn maps into dynamic slideshows for presentation
- Update maps during subsequent client meetings
Plan ahead to stay on top
- Outline your complete business strategy
- Set goals and milestones
- Grant access to individual departments
- Increase accountability among employees
- Revise and update maps periodically
Your Benefits
Thousands of organizations and freelancers already benefit from using online mind maps for business. Here's how a professional mind mapping software such as MindMeister can benefit your company too:
Efficient communication and collaboration
Good communication is one of the most important factors for the success of a business. With its big focus on online collaboration, MindMeister revolutionizes business communication, leading to a more focused team effort and faster, more substantial results.
Better overview, better decisions
Mind maps display connections, hierarchies and relationships between single topics. They literally enable to you to see the big picture of a situation or problem, which makes them ideal for decision making.
High Security
The MindMeister servers are located in an ISO-certified data center in Frankfurt, Germany. We provide 99.9% service uptime for our paid accounts.
Increased productivity
Mind maps help you comprehend and process information faster, resulting in more efficient planning and execution of tasks. Mind mapping can increase productivity by an average of 23%.
Case Studies
Real companies are achieving real results with MindMeister every day. Read their success stories to find out how they use MindMeister and what part mind map software plays in their success.
Computer Software
"We first started out using MindMeister through casual means, but it quickly became an indispensable tool for our projects."Read full story
Internet Marketing Service
By using MindMeister with their clients, MinneApp has reduced their turnaround times by 77%.Read full story
Internet Community
Biggerplate uses MindMeister and Google Workspace to effectively manage their remote team and reduce meeting times.Read full story
Helen Crozier
Productivity Consultant
Using MindMeister, Helen is able to collaborate more efficiently with clients and increase her billable hours by 50%.Read full story
Dave Maxfield
"Mind mapping is great for lawyers because it lets them collect information, organize it in a meaningful way and turn it into a compelling case to present in court."Read full story
Marketing & IT Service Provider
"We are seeing our clients adopt MindMeister outside of their coaching program too. A true testament to the value that MindMeister brings to business owners."Read full story
Jürgen Schulze
Information Security Expert
"There is no mind mapping tool more sophisticated and user-friendly than MindMeister. I practically force it onto everyone I work with."Read full story
Johannes Epple
The author Johannes Epple uses MindMeister to brainstorm, create characters and develop his fictional stories. It's even cured his writer's block.Read full story
Research Hospital
"With MindMeister, the clinical workflow appears more organized...It is great for clinical rounds and as a hand-over tool."Read full story
Estate Agency
The Dewaele Group uses MindMeister and Google Workspace for Work to improve their meeting and project management.Read full story
Software Developer
ChatWork uses MindMeister to dramatically decrease meeting time and create in-house documents such as proposals and reports.Read full story
Dream Harvest
Game Developer
The developer team at Dream Harvest use MindMeister to create game design documents and share their vision in a meaningful way.Read full story
Harvey John
Recruitment Consultancy
Harvey John uses MindMeister and Google Workspace for Work to plan and design their new company website.Read full story
Consulting Group
Renshi uses MindMeister and Google Workspace for Work to improve performance of personnel and profitability for their clients' businesses.Read full story
Financial Planning Firm
"After a presentation with MindMeister people often come up to me and tell me how engaging it was, how easy they found it to follow my explanations because of the map."Read full story
Milligan Partners
"MindMeister's main benefit is having everything on one page in a very professional, presentable way. The way it looks and operates is easy to understand for clients."Read full story
Online Photo Service
Pixum has managed to increase meeting efficiency by 30% using MindMeister and Google Workspace for Work.Read full story
Riser Biker Network
Software Developer
"Using the collaborative apps from Google and MeisterLabs has saved us tremendous amounts of time and helped avoid misunderstandings. Without this workflow we wouldn't have come as far as we have over the past year."Read full story
Evoca builds collaborative knowledge sharing platforms for their clients using MindMeister and Google Workspace.Read full story
Eliška Cikán
Office Manager
Eliška Cikán uses MindMeister for her work at edition a, an Austrian book publisher where she manages the entire office.Read full story
Client Liaison
Using MindMeister, MeisterTask and Google Workspace, Equitem help their clients to achieve financial peace of mind.Read full story
Grupo JHR
Project Management
Grupo JHR use MindMeister, MeisterTask and Google Workspace apps to manage projects collaboratively across their four different businesses and offices.Read full story
Product Development
LiveBy manage their product development, from design to implementation, using MindMeister, MeisterTask and Google Workspace.Read full story
IT Enterprise
Bespoke Software Solutions
IT Enterprise use MindMeister and Atlassian tools to provide software solutions which meet 100% of their clients' requirements.Read full story
The LearningManager team uses MindMeister's integration with Confluence to efficiently collaborate with clients and keep everyone on the same page.Read full story
Rare Carat
Tech Startup
The diamond startup Rare Carat uses MindMeister's integration in Confluence to organize knowledge and keep their globally distributed team on the same page.Read full story
CREA Mont Blanc
Environmental NGO
CREA Mont Blanc use MindMeister and MeisterTask to investigate the effects of global warming in their region.Read full story
Housing NGO
ESEB use MindMeister, MeisterTask and Google Workspace to provide safe and environmentally-friendly housing for families across Europe.Read full story
Jasmine Powers
Marketing Agency Founder
Jasmine Powers uses MindMeister and Google Workspace to plan and implement effective content marketing strategies.Read full story
Software Startup
BigBangThemes uses MindMeister and MeisterTask to manage their distributed team and never miss a deadline.Read full story
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NewOrbit uses MindMeister and MeisterTask to deliver outstanding Agile software projects.Read full story
Event Design Collective
Event Design & Training
Connecting a global team and clientele using MindMeister and Google Workspace.Read full story
Features and Pricing
MindMeister is no one-size-fits-all solution. Compare MindMeister's different plans to find out which one is exactly right for you.
Up to 3 mind maps. Share. Collaborate. Import.
Basic includes
Mind mapping with:
Personal includes
Everything in Basic, and:
Pro includes
Everything in Personal, and:
Business includes
Everything in Pro, and:


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Free US shipping on orders over $200 - Applies automatically at checkout
Since 1969, designer Rei Kawakubo has redefined what to expect from the fields of high fashion and luxury with her seminal label, Comme Des Garçons.
From punk inspired anti-fashion to opulent avant garde conceptualism to redefined basics, Comme Des Garçons output may vary from collection to collection, but the individualistic spirit, uncompromising quality and masterful construction are permanent hallmarks of the Comme Des Garçons label.
No prizes for guessing; Comme Des Garçons SHIRT is an offshoot collection that pays particular attention shirts, although other garments and accessories are released under the SHIRT banner. The true focus, rather than any one specific garment, is the juxtaposition of casual, ready to wear, effortless style, with carefully considered and meticulously crafted elements like bold, off-kilter colors and patterns, patchwork construction and shape.
If a size is not listed, it is sold out.
Your wishlist has been temporarily saved. Please Log in to save it permanently.


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Windows Edition-Servicing Command-Line Options
Applies To: Windows 7
This content applies to Windows 7. For Windows 8 content, see Windows Deployment with the Windows ADK.
You can use the Windows® edition-servicing commands to change one edition of Windows® 7 to a higher edition within the same edition family. The edition packages for each potential target edition are staged within a Windows 7 image. This is referred to as an edition-family image. Because the target editions are staged, you can service a single image, and the updates will be applied appropriately to each edition in the image. This can help reduce the number of images you have to manage, but it might increase the factory time or end-user time spent in the specialize configuration pass.
Offline changes do not require a product key. If you change to a higher edition using offline servicing, you can add the product key using one of the following methods:
Enter the product key during the out-of-box experience (OOBE).
Use an unattended answer file to enter the product key during the specialize configuration pass.
Use Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) and the Windows edition-servicing command-line option /Set-ProductKey after you set the edition offline.
The base syntax for servicing a Windows image using DISM is:
DISM.exe {/Image:<path_to_ image_directory> | /Online} [dism_options] {servicing_command} [<servicing_argument>]
You can use the following edition-servicing options on an offline image to list editions or to change a Windows image to a higher edition:
DISM.exe /Image:<path_to_ image_directory> [/Get-CurrentEdition | /Get-TargetEditions |/Set-Edition | /Set-ProductKey]
The following edition-servicing options are available for a running Windows operating system:
DISM.exe /Online [/Get-CurrentEdition | /Get-TargetEditions]
The following table provides a description for how each edition-servicing option can be used. These options are not case sensitive.
When used immediately after an edition-servicing command-line option, information about the option and the arguments is displayed. Additional Help topics might become available when an image is specified.
Displays the edition of the specified image.
Displays a list of Windows editions that an image can be changed to.
/Set-Edition:<target_edition_ID> {/ProductKey:<product_key>}
Use the /Set-Edition option without the /ProductKey option to change an offline Windows image to a higher edition. Use /Get-TargetEditions to find the edition ID.
Use the /Set-Edition option with the /ProductKey option only to change a running Windows Server® 2008 R2 operating system to a higher edition.
On a running Windows Server operating system only:
The /Set-ProductKey option can only be used to enter the product key for the current edition in an offline Windows image after you change an offline Windows image to a higher edition using the /Set-Edition option.
If you do not enter the product key when you set the edition of your offline image, you must either enter the product key during OOBE, or use an unattended answer file to enter the product key during the specialize configuration pass.
You cannot use edition-servicing commands on a Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) image.
To maintain edition-specific customizations, you should apply edition-specific answer files after the edition upgrade.
If you want to run the /Set-Edition option against a 64-bit image with more than 30 language packs, you must run it from a 64-bit computer. Otherwise, you might receive an out-of-memory error. This limitation only exists if you are manipulating a 64-bit image from a 32-bit computer. This limitation does not exist when you run this option on a computer that matches the architecture of the image.
You cannot set a Windows image to a lower edition. The lowest edition will not appear when you run the /Get-TargetEditions option.
When you run the /Get-TargetEditions option, only the edition of Windows that you can change the image to will appear. Note that end users will not be able to use Windows Anytime Upgrade (WAU) to change Windows 7 Starter edition to the Windows 7 Home Basic edition. They can use WAU only to upgrade from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Home Premium or higher editions, or to upgrade from the Windows 7 Home Basic edition to the Windows 7 Home Premium or higher editions.
You cannot set a Windows image to a higher edition in a different Windows family.
Windows families and edition ranking: (ranked lowest to highest)
Consumer and Retail Family
Windows 7 Starter
Windows 7 Home Basic
Windows 7 Home Premium
Windows 7 Professional
Windows 7 Ultimate
A European regulatory edition of Windows will be identified with an N appended to the edition name and can be changed to a higher edition only within this family.
A Korean regulatory edition of Windows, with the Korean Language Pack, will be identified with a KN appended to the edition name and can be changed to a higher edition only within this family.
Volume Licensed
The Windows Edition Servicing commands are not applicable to Volume Licensed editions of Windows. You can only upgrade to a higher edition of Windows if it is in the Consumer and Retail family.
Windows 7 Professional
Windows 7 Enterprise
See Also
Change the Windows Image to a Higher Edition
What Is Deployment Image Servicing and Management?
How Deployment Image Servicing and Management Works
Deployment Image Servicing and Management Command-Line Options
Driver Servicing Command-Line Options
Operating System Package Servicing Command-Line Options
Languages and International Servicing Command-Line Options


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LUGANO/GENEVA, Switzerland, 21 November 2014 – The possibilities for personalised vaccines in all types of cancer are revealed today in a lecture from Dr Harpreet Singh at the ESMO Symposium on Immuno-Oncology 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland.
"One of the biggest hurdles in cancer immunotherapy is the discovery of appropriate cancer targets that can be recognised by T-cells," said Singh, who is scientific coordinator of the EU-funded GAPVAC phase I trial which is testing personalised vaccines in glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive brain cancer. "In the GAPVAC trial we will treat glioblastoma patients with vaccines that are ideal for each patient because they contain personalised antigens."1
For all patients in the GAPVAC study, researchers will identify genes expressed in the tumour, peptides presented on the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) receptor (i.e. peptides which will be seen by T-cells), cancer specific mutations, and the ability of the immune system to mount a response to certain antigens. Based on this information, two vaccines, called actively personalised vaccines (APVACs), will be constructed and administered following conventional surgery.
The first vaccine will be prepared from a warehouse of 72 targets previously identified by the researchers as relevant for treatment in glioblastoma. These peptides have been manufactured and put on the shelf ready to be vaccinated in patients. Patients will be given a cocktail of the peptides they express and which their immune system can mount a response to.
Singh said: "A patient may express 20 of these 72 targets on their tumour, for example. If we find that the patient's immune system can mount responses to 5 of the 20 targets, we mix the 5 peptides and give them to the patient. We mix the peptides off the shelf but the cocktail is changed for each patient because it is matched to their biomarkers."
The second vaccine is synthesised de novo based on a mutated peptide expressed in the tumour of the patient. Singh said: "That peptide is not in our warehouse because it just occurs in this one single patient. The patient receives APVAC-1 and APVAC-2 in a highly personalised fashion in a way that I think has never been done for any patient."
He added: "GAPVAC has two major goals. One is to show that personalised vaccines are feasible, since this is one of the most complicated trials ever done in cancer immunotherapy. The second is to show that we can mount far better biological responses in these patients compared to vaccination with non-personalised antigens."
Singh's previous research has shown that vaccination with non-personalised antigens leads to better disease control and longer overall survival in phase I and phase II clinical studies in patients with renal cell cancer.2
Singh said: "For the non-personalised vaccines we used off-the-shelf peptide targets that were shared by many patients with a particular cancer. Using this approach we have successfully vaccinated patients with renal cell cancer, colorectal cancer and glioblastoma."
He added: "During this research we identified other targets that appeared in very few patients or even, in extreme cases, in a single patient. Often these rarer peptides are of better quality, meaning they are more specifically seen in cancer cells and occur at higher levels. This led us to start developing personalised cancer vaccines which contain the ideal set of targets for one particular patient. We hope they will be even more effective than the off-the-shelf vaccines."
Singh continued: "A very simple example from something established is trastuzumab in breast cancer. Trastuzumab was originally given to every breast cancer patient and the efficacy was just seen in a subset. Now only about 20% of breast cancer patients receive trastuzumab and the personalised aspect is just based on the low abundance of Her2, the target."
Singh believes that personalised vaccines hold promise for all types of cancer, and that personalisation could also be applied to adoptive cell therapy.
He concluded: "Personalisation is not limited to vaccines but is a general principle that could be applied to cancer immunotherapy more broadly. We are starting with vaccines but we are also thinking about how to use personalised antigens in adoptive cell therapy."
1. Glioma Actively Personalised Vaccine Consortium (GAPVAC): www.gapvac.eu
2. Walter S, et al. Multipeptide immune response to cancer vaccine IMA901 after single-dose cyclophosphamide associates with longer patient survival. Nat Med. 2012;18(8):1254-1261. doi: 10.1038/nm.2883. Epub 2012 Jul 29.
"Novel cancer antigens for personalised immunotherapies" – Friday, November 21 – Session 3 – 13:10 CET.
Information contained in this press release was provided by the abstracts authors and reflects the content of the studies. It does not necessarily express ESMO's point of view.
About the European Society for Medical Oncology
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) is the leading European professional organization committed to advancing the specialty of medical oncology and promoting a multidisciplinary approach to cancer treatment and care.
ESMO's mission is to advance cancer care and cure through fostering and disseminating good science that leads to better medicine and determines best practice.
ESMO's scientific journal, Annals of Oncology, ranks among the top clinical oncology journals worldwide. ESMO events are the meeting place in Europe for medical oncologists to update their knowledge, to network and to exchange ideas.
To find out more about ESMO, please visit: www.esmo.org


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|In this Sept. 12, 2013 photo, a vender, right, sells mooncakes to a customer, left, at a shop in Shanghai, China. The mooncake, a traditional pastry that's given during the Chinese mid-autumn festival, has become the unlikely latest casualty of Beijing's anti-corruption campaign. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
HONG KONG (AP) — Mooncakes — the hockey-puck-sized pastries Chinese give each other every year for the mid-autumn festival — were always more about tradition than delicacy: Some people don't even like them. But in recent years, as corruption eroded confidence in government, the unscrupulous made the dense, calorific cakes even sweeter.
Luxurious boxes of mooncakes can contain far more than the traditional filling of lotus seed or red bean paste and a salted egg yolk symbolizing the moon. Some have rare ingredients such as abalone, shark fins or bird's nest. Gift sets can even include items such as gold coins, top-notch wines, mobile phones and diamond rings.
Now, in an effort to combat bribery and extravagant spending, China's Communist Party leadership has singled out the tradition in its austerity drive. It has banned the use of public money to buy the pastries and associated gifts, dampening demand just as the market hits its usual peak ahead of the Sept. 19 festival.
"Decadent styles have polluted our festival culture in recent years with the sending of increasingly extravagant gifts such as mooncakes and hairy crabs, drifting further away from our frugal virtues," Vice Premier Wang Qishan, head of the party's internal watchdog panel, said last week, according to state media.
Mooncakes — or, more often, mooncake coupons redeemable at stores — have been so common as gifts from offices and state-owned companies to employees that a secondhand market has emerged for the vouchers among scalpers in Chinese cities such as Shanghai. But such commerce has dwindled under President Xi Jinping's austerity drive.
"Business is not as good as last year. It's dropped about 60 percent, mainly due to fewer official receptions," said Zhang, a trader who gave only his surname as he hustled for business in a subterranean walkway near a busy Shanghai shopping street.
Xi's effort already has crimped income at posh restaurants after new party rules were brought in at the start of the year curbing spending on food and drink. It's part of his effort to gain support in a country where corruption and a widening wealth gap have become sources of public discontent.
Some 280,000 tons of mooncakes worth 16 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) were sold in China last year, according to the China Association of Bakery and Confectionery Industry. But given the frugality campaign, "we may see a big drop in this year's sales figures," said an official surnamed Yu.
Mooncakes, typically sold in boxes of four, retail at supermarkets for $20 to $50. But offerings have become increasingly lavish to appeal to the growing middle class in China, where there is a strong culture of gift-giving aimed at showing off status and building up goodwill.
Decadent varieties are stoking concern that they're being given in exchange for favors or used for other corrupt purposes, said Hu Xingdou, an economics professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology.
"We can see that gift-giving has been morally degenerated into a dirty means of bribery," Hu said.
Banks and jewelers have even gotten in on the act. In Beijing, the China Gold Coin Co. is offering solid-gold mooncake-shaped ornaments for as much as 19,250 yuan ($3,150).
"Some companies and unsavory businessmen take it up a notch" by giving bribes in the form of mooncakes packaged in gold, diamonds or other jewelry worth tens of thousands of dollars, said Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group in Shanghai.
Variations include stuffing cash in the packages or including coupons to buy other things, Rein said. He added that Xi's crackdown may be forcing people to opt for more low-key gifts like herbal medicine.
Mooncakes are also involved in a peculiar form of tax evasion at Chinese offices, which give them to employees as gifts. Instead of an actual mooncake, it's common for companies to buy coupons at a discount from manufacturers to be redeemed at shops.
That eliminates the cost and effort of transporting large amounts of food that could spoil in the late summer heat in fancy packaging that could be damaged. But many workers don't actually redeem them, and instead sell them for cash to coupon scalpers like Mr. Zhang for extra income.
"The companies are happy because it's a business tax write-off, the employees are happy because they get money and they don't have to pay income tax," said Rein. "If it's a state-owned enterprise, it's the laobaixing — the everyday Chinese — who are bearing the brunt of the costs for these illicit incomes."
Zhang was one of 15 scalpers who set up shop with a stool and sign offering to "recycle" mooncake coupons in the pedestrian passageway near Shanghai's East Nanjing Road. The scalpers were buying coupons for half their face value and selling them for 75 percent.
Zhang, who takes three weeks off his job as a hotel lobby manager every year to trade mooncake coupons, complained that the frugality drive had hurt his business.
He said that when he finds a seller, he usually gets just one or two coupons. "It was often eight or 10 coupons last year."
Researcher Fu Ting in Shanghai and video producer Zhang Weiqun in Beijing contributed to this report.


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We are once again sitting right in the middle of that beautiful time period when updated jailbreaking tools are available, which allow us to free our iOS devices from their technical shackles. For those who have been sitting with an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad running Apple's iOS 5.1.1 firmware, you will no doubt be aware that after weeks of hard work and research, Pod2g and his team have released an untethered jailbreak for all existing iOS devices, excluding the third-generation Apple TV.
Full list of compatible devices for 5.1.1 untethered jailbreak are as follows:
- iPhone 4S
- iPhone 4
- iPhone 3GS
- iPad (3rd gen)
- iPad 2
- iPad 1
- iPod touch 3G
- iPod touch 4G
- Apple TV 2G
As a part of that hard work, the Chronic Dev Team have provided the necessary updates to their Absinthe tool, which was originally released back in January, and was the tool behind jailbreaking the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2 (on iOS 5.x) for the first time. Absinthe is an extremely simple GUI tool which allows users to inject the necessary files into their device so that they can benefit from the untethered jailbreak. If you happen to be sitting with an iOS 5.1.1 device in your hand, then read on for full details on how to use the Absinthe app to achieve an untether.
Important Note:
- Make a complete backup of your device using iTunes or iCloud before jailbreaking your device.
- If your iPhone relies on an unlock, do not update to stock iOS 5.1.1 firmware and for the time being stay away from Absinthe.
- If you have a passcode set on your device, make sure you disable it before following the instructions below.
How To Use Absinthe iOS 5.1.1 Untethered Jailbreak
Step 1: Download Absinthe 2.0 from here.
Step 2: Once the tool has been downloaded, find the compressed file and extract all of the contents like you would with any standard zip file. Place the files on your desktop for easy and quick access.
Step 3: Using a standard 30-pin connector cable, connect the device to be jailbroken with your computer.
Step 4: Launch the Absinthe tool through the executable file which you downloaded in step 1. When launched, the program will show an initial interface that will have some text-based information on it, and a "Jailbreak" button.
Step 5: If the device is connected properly as per step 3 then the Jailbreak button should be available. Press the button to begin the jailbreak process.
The initial Absinthe tool for iOS 5.0.1 accompanied with it a new method for jailbreaking iOS devices, so with that in mind, don't be alarmed if the device looks like if it is going through a restore process. The progress bar on the Absinthe GUI will provide user feedback, please don't touch the device at this time.
Step 6: When the payload process is complete and you're confronted with your device's lock screen, the ever familiar Cydia icon will be present on the home screen. The device is now successfully jailbroken untethered and you can now install any extensions or packages via Cydia, provided that your device is supported by them.
Screenshots of Cydia running on iPad 3 and iPhone 4S, iOS 5.1.1
One of the great things about Absinthe and something which users – and us – love is the simplicity of the tool. Although the production and implementation of a jailbreak is extremely difficult and requires a very unique skill set, the dev teams have managed to produce a tool that is extremely user-friendly and simple to use.
You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the Web.


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Chase Decides To Steer Clear Of Debit-Card Fees
Chase said using one of these won't cost more.iStock
When Bank of America decided to introduce a $5 per month debit-card fee, consumers weren't happy. One senator even said it amounted to BoA "sticking it to customers."
All that noise might have encouraged JPMorgan Chase & Co. to steer clear. After testing out the concept in Georgia and northern Wisconsin for eight months, the bank said today that it scrapping the pilot next month and would not impose fees anywhere else.
The Wall Street Journal reports that means Chase is following the footsteps of U.S. Bancorp, Citigroup Inc., PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and KeyCorp, which have decided against debit-card fees.
A host of critics including President Obama have attacked BofA's plan to start charging account holders $5 a month if they use their debit cards to make purchases (ATM transactions are free).
Citibank has said its tests, like Chase's, showed consumers really hate the idea of debit card fees. It has raised its fee for a basic checking account but has said it won't impose a debit fee.
US Bank also has said it has no plans for such a fee, although Wells Fargo has begun conducting its own tests of a $3 monthly charge and some regional banks like SunTrust, a big presence in the Southeast, have started charging a fee similar to BofA's.


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by David Crane [email protected] Gunwriters David Fortier (David M. Fortier) and Ken Hackathorn have both recently written articles about the HK45 and HK45C .45 ACP combat pistols, and both articles can be viewed at the Vickers Tactical Inc. website (VickersTactical.com). The articles are in PDF format and are downloadable. Vickers Tactical, Inc. is owned by gunsmith/pistolsmith and retired U.S. Army …Read More »
Tag Archives: future handguns
Sneak Peak: Prototype HK P46 4.6x30mm Pistol: HK MP7A1 PDW Companion Weapon
by David Crane [email protected] HKPro.com has a pic and description of the prototype HK P46 4.6x30mm "Ultimate Combat Pistol" (UCP). The P46 is apparently a follow-on to the HK MP7A1 PDW (Personal Defense Weapon), which is Heckler & Koch's original weapon chambered for the 4.6x30mm cartridge. The following comes directly from the HKPRO.com HK P46 (4.6x30mm) Ultimate Combat Pistol page: …Read More »
FN Five-SeveN: Is this the handgun of the future?
FN Five-SeveN Pistol FN Five-SeveN Pistol: Future of Things to Come? by: T.J. Mullin At the turn of the century when military handguns first were being chambered for smokeless cartridges, there was a tendency to make them in the same bore size as their military rifle counterparts. This is why we have .30 and .32 caliber revolvers in Sweden, Norway …Read More »


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A 44-year-old man was struck by a car and killed Saturday night in the Avalon Park neighborhood on the South Side, authorities said.
The man stepped into northbound traffic on the 7900 block of South Stony Island Avenue at about 11:15 p.m., Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Amina Greer said.
He was struck by a 1997 Chrystler Cirrus as it proceeded through a green light, Greer said. He was not in a crosswalk at the time, Greer said.
The man was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 12:21 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
He was identified by the medical examiner's office as Christopher Cooper of the 2700 block of South Indiana Avenue.
Police have issued the driver of the Cirrus, 23-year-old Frederick Jackson, a citation for failing to exercise due care.
Twitter: @ChicagoBreaking


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Still learning to place buy order at the right time.
Candlestick analysisBhagyashree, , Candlestick Analysis, bearish, Bullish, candlestick charts, green candle, red andle
This needs to be revised as i have forgotten everything.
Bullish View
Bearish View
- Bearish-GAP-SHORT-BICON-25-10-2019 October 25, 2019
- FEDERAL BANK – BEARISH ENGULFING October 17, 2019
- Cummins India – Bearish Engulfing – 24Sep19 September 25, 2019
- Day29-Tata Motors DVR – Bearish Piercing – 12Sep19 September 12, 2019
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How this forum help stock traders?
Stock Trading is business, the success depends not just on capital or subscribing advisory services or participating workshops. The factors such as your awareness level about business, Efforts and your contributions, Smartness, Knowledge in analysis and trading instrument, availability of infrastructure and emotional control determine your success.


text:
DownHill Rush
In front of you, there is an extreme bicycle challenge. Warm up the pedals and reach the finish within the top three positions, in order to complete the current level. For extra help in reaching the finish on time, you can use water battles, baseball bats, and all means necessary to outrace your opponents even if you have to literally eliminate them out of the competition. Watch over your back, as all these items can be used against you.


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Jesus. Does anybody just release an album these days? First the Black Crowes fiasco and now this...
Brian Smith doesn't agree with me, by the way. He thinks it's a great idea.
I don't have a problem with the strategy, I suppose (though it is a giant "fuck you" to monthly publications, as much of an endangered species as they are these days), just the self-importance of it all.
Anyhow, here's Jack White and company's plans for the new release...and achieving lasting world peace. Full statement follows:
The Raconteurs are happy to announce that in one week's time their second album, entitled Consolers Of The Lonely, will be available EVERYWHERE Tuesday, March 25th.
"Album" meaning: full length vinyl, CD and digital formats; and "everywhere" meaning: local mom and pop Indie retailers, corporate superstores, supermarkets, iTunes, Amazon, the band's own website and any other location that could get the record up and going this quickly (some places couldn't move this fast, so they will join in as soon as they can).
It contains 14 new recordings and is being released globally on Third Man Records in conjunction with our marketing/distribution partners, XL Recordings and Warner Brothers Records.
The album was mastered and completed in the first week of March. It was then taken immediately to a vinyl pressing plant. Then to a CD pressing plant. Then preparations to sell it digitally began. March 25th became the soonest date to have it available in EVERY FORMAT AT ONCE. The band have done no interviews or advertisements for this record before this announcement.
The purpose: to get the album to the fans as soon as possible and as we promised. We wanted to get this record to fans, the press, radio, etc., all at the EXACT SAME TIME so that no one has an upper hand on anyone else regarding it's availability, reception or perception.
With this release, the Raconteurs are forgoing the usual months of lead time for press and radio set up, as well as forgoing the all important "first week sales". We wanted to explore the idea of releasing an album everywhere at once and THEN marketing and promoting it thereafter. The Raconteurs would rather this release not be defined by it's first weeks sales, pre-release promotion, or by someone defining it FOR YOU before you get to hear it.
Another purpose was to also allow people to have their own choice as to exactly which format they would like to hear the album in IMMEDIATELY, rather than having to wait for their favorite format to become available. The band are also not releasing any version of this record that contains bonus tracks. Musically this album will be the same as the band created it no matter what format it is purchased in (The sound quality of each format however, is a different story. The Raconteurs recommend hearing it on vinyl, but the choice is of course up to the listener).
The band also prefer that fans buy the album as a whole instead of breaking up the tracks, but until iTunes and other digital services allows bands to release their albums with the option of NOT breaking it up, it will be sold in that fashion on those particular sites. On the band's website however, the album will be sold in its entirety as an mp3 at 320kb bit rate. Also in Japan, fans will be able to download the record via their mobile phones, as that is how a majority of recorded music is consumed there.
The reason we are announcing this release one week ahead of time is because of retail pre-ordering and stocking, information about this album's imminent release was bound to come to light and could be confusing to fans. Also in the event that the record leaks, we didn't want this method of release to be seen as a REACTION to such a leak. It's not. The actual worst thing about a leak is the usual poor sound quality, akin to watching a movie on a wristwatch instead of in a theater. Which for the album's creators is a bit of a letdown, but again, it is completely up to the listener.
There will be a video up on the internet for the first single, "Salute Your Solution", on the 25th as well, provided it gets edited in time. We just filmed it the other day!
We hope not to confuse anyone with too many options, or deny them the formats that they like best. The Raconteurs feel very strongly that music has worth and should be treated as such. Thank you to all those who respect music in this fashion, and thank you to our label partners for working with us to get this album to fans in as many formats as possible all at once.
Thank you, and we hope that you enjoy Consolers Of The Lonely.
The Raconteurs
The guys are generally pleased when Willy Wonka drops by!


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This set is tailormade to fit the "Elegant Logo Extrusion" After Effects template by Motion Revolver. To see how this sounds fits the template, you should visit the Videohive site with the template HERE.
The sounds do also fit any other intro, logo or revealer project, where an elegant and spacey atmosphere is needed. Each sound contains also a "tagline appearance beep" sequence at the end as seen in many modern movies and intros.
- Deep Horizon Version : 0:17
- Eternity Version : 0:17
- Infinity Version : 0:17
- Wideo Open Version : 0:17
- Harmony Version : 0:17
If your ultimate goal is to fully engage the viewer – to connect at the deepest emotional level – you've come to the right place!
Sonic Media Design (aka Sonic Cube) is a Swiss multimedia production company servicing your media production needs. We specialize in flexibility, creativity, and customer service. We believe that we are more than just a service but we are committed to SERVING every client. Let us take your vision and ideas and combine them with our professional skills to deliver a product that will reach your audience in a powerful way.
With 15 years of scoring experience in every style imaginable from dramas, comedies, reality, documentaries, commercials, movies, videogames, etc., our custom scores are a choice you can rely on whether you need the whole series, a specific theme or a main title. Trust us to interpret your vision into music. We will create the perfect audio compliment for your production. If budget is your concern, let us customize a hybrid package between custom music and library. We'll make it work!
We're excited about what we have to offer you! Feel free to check us out, view the services, and watch our samples! Once you're done, make sure you contact us and let us know what production needs you may have! Browse our site and find out why more and more people are turning to Sonic Media Design for their production needs.
- Deep Space Impacts – 30 free impact sound fx ( 10 bass, 10 medium & 10 high freq. range fx )
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Joshua Kerievsky - AnzeneeringJoshua KerievskyCEOIndustrial Logic Inc.
schedule 8 years agoSold Out!
60 Mins
Anzen. It helped a 100-year-old, 60,000-person aluminum manufacturer regain its greatness. It powers the culture, operations and massive growth of an online artisan marketplace. It's the common denominator of every great Lean and Agile principle and practice. Anzen is the Japanese word for safety.
Every day, your time, money, information, reputation, relationships and health are vulnerable. Anzeneers protect people from injuries, hazards or near-misses by establishing anzen in relationships, workspaces, codebases, contracts, processes, products and services.
When anzen is present in a software product, everything just works: people regularly use and recommend the product; engineers modify it without fear; it contains few defects; it can be deployed with ease; it is immune from threats; and it helps protect the organization's finances, reputation and investors. Anzen is a gateway to habitual excellence.
Anzeneers approach failure as an opportunity to introduce more anzen into their culture, practices, and tools.
In this talk you will learn what anzen is, how it promotes safe risk taking, how to identify faux safety, when it can be taken too far, challenges of growing an anzen culture and what it means to be an Anzeneer.
Julian Harty - If not now, when? If not you, who?Julian HartyFounderCommerceTest Limited
schedule 8 years agoSold Out!
60 Mins
Improving Education and Learning in India and beyond
We are fortunate, software and technology provides us with choices, a relatively good income, and enables us to learn and discover virtually any topic or subject.
Agile software development practices enable us to do a better job, sooner than many other approaches to creating software. We can try things without waiting for 'everything' to be defined, adapt based on experiences and feedback, and get people involved who the software touches.
Two years ago, I visited some schools in Western Kenya to see some classrooms I'd sponsored. That visit and subsequent visits to Southern India, spurred me to apply lean & agile software development practices, to improving teaching, learning and education through appropriate technologies. Each pilot project needed to be adapted to the context of the schools, environment and region in order to function.
We have an opportunity, and perhaps an obligation, to apply our skills and expertise to helping others. In doing so, paradoxically we gain more than we realise. Sustainability and ultimately success will come from peers in India who choose to get involved, waiting for 'others' doesn't cut-it.
Linda Rising - Science or Stories?Linda RisingIndependent consultantLinda Rising LLC
schedule 9 years agoSold Out!
60 Mins
Smart people are logical and objective. They (we) look at the evidence to help make the best possible decisions. We are not influenced by hype or emotion and as a result our behavior reflects the best the world has to offer. Cognitive science now tells us that these beliefs about ourselves and others (especially scientists) are wrong. All of us tend to make decisions based on intuition or emotion and then justify those decisions later with logic, a process called rationalization. The most influential element in our environment is not scientific evidence but stories. We love stories. Research shows that we are more likely to buy a product or embrace a process because of a friend, colleague, or relative and ignore evidence that might go against that decision. Are these bad things? Is there anything we can do about it? We have a long history of being influenced by stories and it has helped us survive. Linda suggests that the real answer is we need both approaches -- stories and emotion + evidence and logic. Both approaches have flaws and benefits. Linda will share examples and tell her own stories to try to convince you and try to help us do a better job of making decisions.
Julian Harty - Agile Mobile TestingJulian HartyFounderCommerceTest Limited
schedule 8 years agoSold Out!
90 Mins
Find out what testing works for your mobile app.
Agile Software Development means we want to maximise progress while minimising waste. Delays cause waste, for instance wasted time and efforts; ineffective work causes waste; poor quality causes waste; and bugs cause waste and delay progress, etc.
Mobile apps and the mobile app ecosystem help determine what sorts of testing will be more valuable for the project. This workshop introduces various key concepts and factors related to testing mobile apps effectively. You will have the opportunity to practice testing mobile apps during the workshop to help reinforce your learning and discovery.
We will cover both interactive and automated testing of mobile apps, and find ways to reduce the Time To Useful Feedback (TTUF) so the project team can make more progress while reducing project waste. We will also cover various ways to gather more and better information about the qualities of our mobile codebase and of the quality of the apps-in-use.
Bring your mobile apps and mobile devices and be prepared to get involved in testing!
Shane Hastie - Product Ownership is a Team SportShane HastieGlobal Delivery LeadSoftEd
schedule 8 years agoSold Out!
90 Mins
A number of agile brands downplay the need for business analysis and requirements management on agile projects, putting large store in the role of the Product Owner.
This workshop tackles some of the problems this misconception can result in and shows how effective product ownership almost always requires a team with a variety of skills and backgrounds to be effective.
Product Ownership requires clarity of vision, alignment with organisational strategy, understanding of the development process and the ability to communicate with a wide variety of stakeholders across all levels both inside and outside the organization. The complexity of the role is most often more than a single person can (or should) cope with – effective product ownership requires a teamwork approach covering a variety of skills and knowledge.
Product ownership encompasses areas covering:
- Product Management
- Marketing
- Business Advocacy
- Customer Advocacy
- End User Advocacy
- Domain Subject Matter Knowledge
- Analysis
- User Experience and Graphic Design
- Innovation
- Communications
- Decision Making
- Legal and Compliance
Linda Rising - The Power of RetrospectionLinda RisingIndependent consultantLinda Rising LLC
schedule 9 years agoSold Out!
180 Mins
Project Retrospectives are an important part of any software development process. The Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto state that, "At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly." How can this be done? By taking the time to reflect and learn and proactively determine what should be done differently in the next iteration, release, or project. Linda's presentation will introduce techniques for project retrospectives, whether they are agile or not. The techniques help teams discover what they're doing well so that successful practices can continue and identify what should be done differently to improve performance. Retrospectives are not finger pointing or blaming sessions, but rather a highly effective process in which teams reflect on the past to become more productive in the future. Linda will share her experiences with leading retrospectives of several kinds for dozens of projects—successful and unsuccessful, small and large, in academia and industry. Her lessons learned can be applied to any project to enable teams and organizations to become learning organizations.
Ashish Parkhi / Naresh Jain - Techniques to Speed Up your Build Pipeline for Faster Feedback.Ashish ParkhiSr. Tech Manager - Software DevelopmentIDeaS a SAS CompanyNaresh JainFounderXnsio
schedule 9 years agoSold Out!
45 Mins
Experience Report
I would like to share my experience and journey on how we brought down our Jenkins build pipeline time down from over 90 minutes to under 12 minutes. In the process, I would share specific techniques which helped and also some, which logically made sense, but actually did not help. If your team is trying to optimize their build times, then this session might give you some ideas on how to approach the problem.
Development Impact - For one of our build job, below graph shows how the number of builds in a day have increased over a period of time as the build time has reduced. Frequency of code check-in has increased; Wait time has reduced; failed test case faster to isolate and fix.
Business Impact - More builds leading to quicker feedback and faster story acceptance and less story spill over.
Ankur Sambhar - Promiscuous Pairing - Yes it works !!!Ankur SambharVice PresidentJ P Morgan
schedule 9 years agoSold Out!
20 Mins
Being Agile developer, have tried & tested various flavors of pair programming over the years while working in highly motivated self-managed team. Some experiments worked while some worked better :)
This talk is about sharing the personal experience of practicing promiscuous pairing which allowed the team to be always in the beginner's mind state and being able to push the boundaries consistently.
Sachin Natu / Naresh Jain - Inverting Test Pyramid - A First Hand Experience ReportSachin NatuSr. Manager QAIDeaS a SAS CompanyNaresh JainFounderXnsio
schedule 9 years agoSold Out!
45 Mins
Experience Report
Test automation is extremely crucial in adoption of an agile delivery. However, it can take one for a ride, if the approach is not correct. In this sensational, heart throbbing, experience report, we'll share our story of how we turned around an inefficient, expensive automation style to lean, efficient style. In addition to sharing a real-world example, we'll also share some of the key challenges we faced and how we solved them. If you are convinced about the Testing Pyramid, but are struggling to invert it, then this session is for you.
Business Impact:
Earlier Defect Detection - Higher test coverage at Unit/Intermediate layers lead to earlier defect detection. Reduced number of issues found on higher test environments/Production. Reduced cost of defect fixing.
Reduced maintenance cost - UI tests are fragile and costlier to maintain Vs backend tests. No of changes in services layer are comparatively less.
Reduced test execution time - Backend tests are much faster. Almost 7-10 times faster than UI Tests - improved build certification time.
Test feedbacks are naturally distributed across layers of application. Test feedbacks are more pin pointed/ granular.
Dhaval Dalal / Naresh Jain - The Tao of TransformationDhaval DalalSoftware ArtisanCalixir Consultants Pvt. Ltd.Naresh JainFounderXnsio
schedule 9 years agoSold Out!
90 Mins
"To know, is good. To live, is better. To be, that is perfect." - The Mother
During the Agile adoption, its a common complain that many team in many organizations get caught up in the ceremonies or mechanics of Agile and fail to understand/appreciate the true value and spirit of Agile. And because of this, the original intent of the Agile movement itself is lost. This is a serious issue!
This workshop will highlight, a well-proven approach to transformation (not adoption) and show the distinct steps in this journey that an individual or a collective goes through when learning anything new. Activities, serving as examples, in the workshop, will focus to show the journey - that is, how to begin with rituals, then gradually move to practices, arriving at principles and eventually internalizing the values. Witnessing this gradual process of transformation will help participants discover for themselves their current progression. We hope this will serve as a guiding light during their Agile journey.
Finally, we will leave the participants to ponder upon and discover for themselves their ideals in life and work as this is not only applicable to software development, but also to any discipline where humans are involved, including life itself.
Zaheerabbas Contractor - Enterprise Agile Adoption: An Organizational Change Management Journey.Zaheerabbas ContractorAgile Program DirectorWipro Ltd
schedule 9 years agoSold Out!
45 Mins
Experience Report
We represent the Agile Center of Excellence at our Organization and are chartered to drive the change management initiative to imbibe Agile adoption across the enterprise.
We plan to share our experience on the Organization Change Management initiative that we took up to drive Agility across the organization. Our journey towards the derived vision and strategy to increase Agility in the system to thereby achieve:
- Nimble simplified processes.
- Ability to respond faster to change.
- And most critical: delivering increased customer value.
This is a continuous improvement journey and we initiated:
- Structured multilevel communications of CHANGE to the teams.
- Learning + Unlearning: Structured Training and Development plans (Behavioral and Technical).
- Bringing in Gamification as a tool to get millennial team members to learn quicker.
- Approach to move from "Pyramid" to "Hour Glass" structure to align with the flat team structure.
- Pilot: Career Development Framework Aligned to Agile structure and roles.
- Bringing in change of G&O to align with Agile delivery
- Enabling Talent Fulfilment to align to the Agile roles and structure
- Pilot: Performance change management- Holistic approach to drive appropriate behavior
- Brining in systemic changes to ease Agile adoption
Anand Bagmar - To Deploy or Not-to-Deploy - decide using TTA's Trend & Failure AnalysisAnand BagmarSoftware Quality EvangelistEssence of Testing
schedule 9 years agoSold Out!
45 Mins
The key objectives of organizations is to provide / derive value from the products / services they offer. To achieve this, they need to be able to deliver their offerings in the quickest time possible, and of good quality!
In order for these organizations to to understand the quality / health of their products at a quick glance, typically a team of people scramble to collate and collect the information manually needed to get a sense of quality about the products they support. All this is done manually.
So in the fast moving environment, where CI (Continuous Integration) and CD (Continuous Delivery) are now a necessity and not a luxury, how can teams take decisions if the product is ready to be deployed to the next environment or not?
Test Automation across all layers of the Test Pyramid is one of the first building blocks to ensure the team gets quick feedback into the health of the product-under-test.
The next set of questions are:
• How can you collate this information in a meaningful fashion to determine - yes, my code is ready to be promoted from one environment to the next?
• How can you know if the product is ready to go 'live'?
• What is the health of you product portfolio at any point in time?
• Can you identify patterns and do quick analysis of the test results to help in root-cause-analysis for issues that have happened over a period of time in making better decisions to better the quality of your product(s)?
The current set of tools are limited and fail to give the holistic picture of quality and health, across the life-cycle of the products.
The solution - TTA - Test Trend Analyzer
TTA is an open source product that becomes the source of information to give you real-time and visual insights into the health of the product portfolio using the Test Automation results, in form of Trends, Comparative Analysis, Failure Analysis and Functional Performance Benchmarking. This allows teams to take decisions on the product deployment to the next level using actual data points, instead of 'gut-feel' based decisions.
There are 2 sets of audience who will benefit from TTA:
1. Management - who want to know in real time what is the latest state of test execution trends across their product portfolios / projects. Also, they can use the data represented in the trend analysis views to make more informed decisions on which products / projects they need to focus more or less. Views like Test Pyramid View, Comparative Analysis help looking at results over a period of time, and using that as a data point to identify trends.
2. Team Members (developers / testers) - who want to do quick test failure analysis to get to the root cause analysis as quickly as possible. Some of the views - like Compare Runs, Failure Analysis, Test Execution Trend help the team on a day-to-day basis.
NOTE: TTA does not claim to give answers to the potential problems. It gives a visual representation of test execution results in different formats which allow team members / management to have more focussed conversations based on data points.
Howard Deiner - Agility at Scale - Platform versus Product ConcernsHoward DeinerAgile Process and Technical Practices CoachSolutionsIQ
schedule 9 years agoSold Out!
45 Mins
A common failure mode for organizations attempting to adopt an Agile style of software development occurs when an attempt is made to "Scale Agile". Suddenly, the organization finds that there are scheduling problems between teams. Delivery team members suddenly find that they are required to serve on several teams at once. Dependencies surface, and teams find it difficult to come together in a common cadence to produce working software in a continuously delivered fashion. Many times, these issues become so grave that the organization reverts back to the Waterfall model that they came to hate, but at least understood.
This session explores Agile scaling concerns, and places particular emphasis on an architecturally significant distinction in the software to be created, and the components produced to allow the software to be created. That distinction revolves around cross cutting platform concerns versus product feature creation concerns. We will examine the distinctions and explore solutions that should help your organization get past these issues when it comes to portfolio management, by paying attention to extrinsic versus intrinsic value metrics.
Karthik Kamal Balasubramaniam - Taming the DragonKarthik Kamal BalasubramaniamDirectorGrofers
schedule 8 years agoSold Out!
45 Mins
With the increasing number of Indo-Chinese collaborations in the technology space, it is important for us to identify new paradigms to coach cross-cultural teams. From a simple 'NiHao' to a more complex 'Chop-Sticks', everything comes our way when we coach these teams. It is important for us coaches, to be sensitive to the cultural needs of these teams and re-visit our coaching strategies accordingly. It's true that every team has a flavour and our strategies as coaches are almost always situational. However in this particular talk, I would like to highlight few salient cultural differences which we could harness positively for the team's benefit. I would also like to discuss few tools and practices, which the coaches could adopt while they coach their Chinese counter-parts.
Tushar Sharma - Does your design smell?Tushar SharmaTechnical Expert (Software Design and Refactoring)Siemens Research and Technology Center
schedule 8 years agoSold Out!
20 Mins
Capers Jones conducted a study in 2012 across five large corporations and found that the number of software defects that can be traced back to errors in software design was as high as64%! Hence, ensuring a high quality of software design is critical for developing high-quality software. However, as Fred Brooks observes in his book "The Mythical Man Month", software design is an inherently complex activity; the intangible nature of software makes it difficult for humans to envision, develop, and reason about its design.
This talk proposes a unique approach towards developing high-quality software design. Borrowing a phrase from the healthcare domain "a good doctor is one who knows the medicines but a great doctor is one who knows the disease", the proposed approach is grounded on the philosophy that "a good designer is one who knows about the design principles but a great designer is one who understands the problems (or smells) with the design, their cause, and how they can be addressed by applying proven and sound design principles". This talk focuses on the "disease", i.e. the design smells, its different types with the help of a comprehensive catalog, its impact on the software, and actionable suggestions to refactor them in real-world settings.
Naveen Indusekhar - Research paper on 'What happens to Engineering Manager in Agile world'Naveen IndusekharNaveen (Sr. Program Manager) and JP (Sr. Engineering Manager)McAfee, an Intel Company
schedule 8 years agoSold Out!
20 Mins
Case Study
This is an extremly simple topic with a very complex answer. I have spent last 3 years experimenting and working with lot of people to understand what happens to the so called Manager role in Agile world. With a self organizing, empowered team, does Manager still have a role? Do you shelve these senior people who drove all your deliverables in the past for your company? Do you just let go the technical expertize these people bring along?
The research information around the experiment and results will be shared and am very positive that this will help lot of organizations move forward with great benefits. We will see how certain gaps that are created with introduction of Agile can be solved through these senior professionals. At the same time teams don't need to compromize or business doesn't need to compromize on new found agility by adopting any of the Agile practices.
The very next discussion that I will touch base as part of this presentation is the role of Project Leads. Many Leads resist movement to Agile because they feel their growth will now be stagnated. Is this true? It is again an interesting data set captured by talking to Leads in waterfall world and understanding what they really aspire for.
Looking forward to sharing my insights with real implementation and resulting data that I'm sure each of you will benefit from.
Prafulla Girgaonkar / Naresh Jain - eXtreme Programming for ETL and Data AnalyticsPrafulla GirgaonkarSolution ArchitectIntegrated Decisions and Systems PuneNaresh JainFounderXnsio
schedule 9 years agoSold Out!
45 Mins
Experience Report
Over the last decade, eXtreme Programming practices like User Stories, Evolutionary Design, Test-Driven Development (TDD), Behavior Driven Developer (BDD), Refactoring, Continuous Integration and Automation have fundamentally changed software development processes and inherently how engineers work.
Having experienced various benefits from XP practices on our J2EE stack, our team started to apply these practices to extract, transform, and load (ETL) and Data Analytics side of our product. Unfortunately, there is very little guidance available in this context, esp. for the SAS Platform. Right from finding the unit testing framework to structuring the code to designing our modules and setting up a Continuous Integration builds, our team had to figure out everything, the hard way.
Join us to understand the challenges we faced during this process and how we resolved these challenges.
vinaya muralidharan / Sutap - ScrumBan Recipe – A pinch of this, a handful of thatvinaya muralidharanAgile CoachFiservSutapAgile CoachAmdocs
schedule 9 years agoSold Out!
20 Mins
Experience Report
Our talk will focus on the evolution of the Agile implementation in Amdocs.
While Kanban is widely implemented in the Amdocs Delivery unit, recently we have started experimenting with Scrum in pockets.
Taking it a step further, not wanting to lose out on our learning from Kanban, we are trying ScrumBan in a large scale project.
We will share the approach, the challenges and what we have adopted from Scrum and Kanban in this implementation.
A brief introduction to Amdocs - Amdocs is a leading provider of Customer Experience systems and services in the telecommunications domain, typically doing large scale transformation projects.
Alexey Ilyichev - Skype goes agile: don't repeat our mistakesAlexey IlyichevAgile CoachScrumTrek
schedule 9 years agoSold Out!
45 Mins
Case Study
In 2011, I worked for Qik, a startup that got aqcuired by Skype. At that time Skype was in the middle of an agile transition. Аfter aquisition, Qik team was told to adopt the Agile process used by Skype. I worked with the team as an agile coach. After adopting Skype's "agile" process, our ability to deliver was brought down to almost zero. In this talk, I'll tell you the story as it happened, analyze the key problems that we faced and describe how we finally solved them. Come to this talk, if you want to avoid similar mistakes. If you are already through with your transition, I would be interested to know if you see any patterns.
Sneha Kadam - The Lean MachineSneha KadamBusiness AnalystThoughtWorks
schedule 8 years agoSold Out!
45 Mins
After revolutionizing the automobile industry, Lean principles have been successfully applied to different knowledge areas including software development. This workshop is intended to master Lean concepts like Waste, Push&Pull systems, systems thinking, Kaizen etc. & practicing cross-functional collaboration, self-organisation and safe-fail experimentation! In this interactive game, the participants will work in a small production lines, experiencing problems and applying Lean practices to overcome them.


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Cyprus partially eases capital controls in new decree
Cyprus announced a partial relaxation of currency controls on Tuesday, raising the ceiling for financial transactions that do not require central bank approval, but keeping most other restrictions in place.
The island introduced curbs on money movements when banks reopened on March 28 after a two-week shutdown while the government negotiated a 10 billion euro bailout from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.
Cyprus's status as a financial hub has crumbled in the space of a fortnight after authorities were forced to split one bank and slap heavy losses on depositors in a second in return for the financial aid.
Its capital controls are a first for the euro zone, introduced by Cyprus as it strives to prevent a cash drain.
A Finance Ministry decree on Tuesday, the third since controls were first introduced, raised the ceiling on transactions which do not require Central Bank approval to 25,000 euros from 5,000 euros. It also permits the use of cheques worth up to 9,000 euros per month.
Other restrictions introduced last week, including a 300 euro per day cash withdrawal limit and a 1,000 euro limit on the amount travelers can take overseas, remain in place.
The decree - signed by Cypriot finance minister Michael Sarris and dated April 2 - is valid for two days. Cypriot officials have said it could take up to a month for restrictions to be fully removed.
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, who has been in power for just over a month, says he was forced to accept onerous terms imposed by lenders to avert a default and an exit by the island from the euro zone.
On Tuesday, he appointed three retired Supreme Court judges to investigate political, civil and criminal responsibilities over the demise of the economy, one of the bloc's smallest.
Cyprus last week agreed to break up its No. 2 lender Popular Bank , kept on an ECB liquidity lifeline for months, into a "good" and a "bad" bank. The bank's "good" assets will be transferred to Bank of Cyprus , where depositors have been forced into accepting massive losses on uninsured deposits of more than 100,000 euros.
The process, known as a "bail-in" sees 37.5 percent of deposits exceeding 100,000 euros converted into equity in the bank, and an additional 22.5 percent used as a buffer which could also be converted into equity if circumstances warrant it.
In a deal brokered early on Tuesday morning, it was also agreed that a small portion of the remaining 40 percent in uninsured deposits effectively frozen under the arrangement, 10 percent, be unblocked.
The Cypriot government had unsuccessfully argued that the entire 40 percent be unblocked, a source familiar with the consultations said.
(Reporting by Michele Kambas; Editing by Catherine Evans)


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Platelets are small cells that circulate in the blood. They are involved in the formation of blood clots and the repair of damaged blood vessels. When a blood vessel is injured, platelets stick to the damaged area and spread along the surface to stop the bleeding (this process is called adhesion). At the same time, chemical signals are released from small sacks inside the platelets called granules (this process is called secretion). These chemicals attract other platelets to the site of injury and make them clump together to form what is called a platelet plug (this process is called aggregation).
Sometimes the platelet plug is enough to stop the bleeding. However if the wound is large, other proteins called clotting factors are recruited to the site of injury. These clotting factors work together on the surface of the platelets to form and strengthen the blood clot.
What are platelet function disorders?
Platelet function disorders are conditions in which platelets don't work the way they should, resulting in a tendency to bleed or bruise. Since the platelet plug does not form properly, bleeding can continue for longer than normal. Since platelets have many roles in blood clotting, platelet function disorders can lead to bleeding disorders of various intensities.
Other sources
Funny Blood is a UK good cause for people with Platelet Function Disorders.
Source: The World Federation of Hemophilia


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PCM Asbestos Cassette - Item #AS0202
50/per case
PCM 25mm air sampling cassettes are designed and manufactured to meet all applicable NIOSH, OSHA, and EPA standards. The cassette housings are injection molded in-house and are individually assembled and preloaded under stringent quality control standards. Once assembled, each cassette is individually tested prior to packaging for shipment. Random lot sample testing is performed daily by an independent laboratory to ensure low background fiber counts. Laboratory results are available upon request.
- Quality 0.8um MCE Filter Material
- 2" Static Conductive Extension Cowl
- Meets NIOSH 7400 specifications
- Preloaded - ready to use
Each Zefon 25mm cassette undergoes stringent quality control that includes a 100% inspection for the correct filter/pad combination and a 100% inspection to ensure no filter parchment paper is present. Then each lot of cassettes has numerous sample blanks verified by an independent laboratory to have acceptable background fiber counts as per NIOSH requirements.


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Please review and edit your parent blog, "Make Money Blogging | A Guide for Beginners on How to Make Money Online", especially since you say that you direct so many people to it, like you've done in this article. There are a few mistakes in it.
I'm was in the third paragraph when I came across, "This post shares how I make how I make money blogging, as well as a collection of some of the best articles I've read on the topic of blogging."
I'm no grammarian or professional writer, but I figured that you wouldn't mind the assistance.


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By Agri-Pulse Staff
© Copyright Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 – Because of its contribution to agricultural productivity and sustainable farming, growers around the world continue to choose biotech crop varieties according to a report released today by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA).
The ISAAA report, Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2010, says a record 15.4 million farmers in 29 countries are growing biotech crops on 366 million acres. According to the report's executive summary, "a record 87-fold increase in hectarage between 1996 and 2010 makes biotech crops the fastest adopted crop technology in the history of modern agriculture."
Sharon Bomer Lauritsen, Executive Vice President, Food and Agriculture for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), issued the following statement in response to the report's findings:
"The 2010 ISAAA report proves once again that the global adoption of biotech crops – especially corn, soybeans and cotton – is on the rise as more and more farmers gain access to this beneficial technology. The productivity gains from biotechnology, for example, are enabling our world's farmers to better feed a global population.
"Agricultural biotechnology provides solutions for today's growers in the form of plants that are more environmentally friendly while yielding more per acre, resisting diseases and insect pests and reducing farmers' production costs.
"When you look at the rising number of acres of biotech crops planted each year (366 million in 2010 compared with 330 million in 2009), and the increasing number of farmers who have chosen this technology (15.4 million in 2010 compared with 14 million in 2009), it's obvious that biotech crops are delivering value to more and more growers around the world.
"Ninety percent (14.4 million) of these are resource-poor farmers in developing countries. In fact, developing countries grew 48 percent of global biotech crops in 2010. Because of agricultural biotechnology's contribution to combating food insecurity and problems associated with poor nutrition, it is predicted that developing countries will exceed industrialized nations in their plantings of biotech crops by 2015.
"In the United States more than 165 million acres of biotech crops were planted in 2010, and the United States remains the top country in terms of biotech acreage. The primary biotech crops grown in the United States are corn, cotton and soybeans, but also canola, squash, papaya, alfalfa, and sugar beet.
"The benefits provided by agricultural biotechnology allow growers to produce more food, feed and fiber on less land, often with significant environmental benefits. Biotechnology can help crops thrive in drought-prone areas, can improve the nutrition content of foods, can grow alternative energy sources and can improve the lives of farmers and rural communities around the globe.
"In order to fully realize these promises for a better tomorrow, we need to continue to embrace scientific innovation."
To read a summary of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) report, Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2010, and related materials, click here.
To return to the News Index page, click: www.agri-pulse.com