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Canada's productivity gap continues to present questions for organizations trying to become more competitive.
Towers Watson's latest study of employee attitudes and concerns around the world, which included more than a thousand Canadians, reveals what could be a hidden contributing factor: a lack of sustainable engagement in the Canadian workforce.
Traditionally, engagement has been recognized as employees' willingness to give discretionary effort to their jobs. While most employers intuitively understand the value of an engaged workforce (and many have programs in place to measure and support engagement), the research shows the steps organizations are taking to improve engagement are falling short.
What organizations fail to take into account is that engagement today concerns more than giving extra effort. To be highly engaged in today's challenging workplace, employees must also be given the capability to excel (which we call enablement) and the capacity to maintain their efforts over time, (which we call energy). Employers are failing to create this combination of discretionary effort, enablement, and energy — the combination that forms sustainable engagement and yields a significant performance advantage over time.
Sustainable engagement matters because it is the proverbial canary in the productivity mine
Sustainable engagement is at risk globally due to prolonged economic turmoil and work environments in which people have been doing more with less, and for less, for more than half a decade — and Canada is no exception. Prospects for improvement anytime in the near future seem limited. The result is a workforce that is anxious, stressed and risk averse. These are not good traits for a company or a country trying to grow.
Sustainable engagement matters because it is the proverbial canary in the productivity mine. A growing body of evidence — both empirical and anecdotal — shows the clear value of sustaining engagement over time.
When we look at productivity and retention metrics relative to sustainable engagement, we see that organizations with high levels of sustainable engagement have less absenteeism and lower "presenteeism" (lost productivity at work) than those with high levels of disengagement. Organizations with high sustainable engagement also have less trouble retaining employees than those with disengaged workforces.
In Canada, the advantages are startling for companies whose workforce exhibits high sustainable engagement. Companies lose an average of 8.8 days annually to presenteeism for employees with high sustainable engagement versus 17.7 days for the disengaged. For absenteeism, companies lose an average of three days per year for employees with high sustainable engagement versus nearly six days for the disengaged.
And when it comes to the important productivity measure of employee retention (losing experienced employees is a significant drain on productivity), only 14% of sustainably engaged employees in Canada are high-retention risks compared with 58% of disengaged employees.
How do sustainable engagement data fall to the bottom line? Towers Watson studied the performance of a group of 50 global corporations and compared their engagement data with their specific financial results. Those with the highest level of sustainable engagement had average operating margins three times greater than those organizations with low levels of engagement.
The disturbing issue for Canada, considering how sustainable engagement affects absenteeism, presenteeism and retention, is that only 33% of Canadian workers are sustainably engaged.
But there is good news for Canadian employers: An additional 24% of workers are considered "the unsupported" — engaged in the traditional sense (willing to put in the effort) but stymied by organizational barriers to enablement and energy. Canadian workers either don't have the tools and resources to do the job, or don't have the capacity to do it. That presents a huge opportunity for employers to take measures to address the productivity needs of their employees, and to think about managing to sustainable engagement — a far more robust 21st century form of engagement.
Among sustainable engagement's three components (traditional engagement, enablement and energy), the most actionable focus area for addressing the unsupported is enablement. Driving enablement entails removing the barriers that make it easier for the unsupported to become sustainably engaged. It requires giving employees the tools, resources and support to get work done efficiently.
Examples of enabling unsupported employees might include prioritizing and organizing work for employees whether they are in the office or working from a remote office thousands of miles away. It might include making sure employees have access to efficient technology that works. It could be encouraging and rewarding a collegial work team that is ready to jump in to help; or, providing online tools and processes — with ready guidance and support — that give workers access to information to make rapid job-related decisions that promote customer satisfaction.
Energy, the third leg of sustainable engagement, entails actively supporting employees' physical, emotional and interpersonal well-being. In this kind of environment, people come to work early and stay late, not simply because they have to, but because they're involved in what they're doing.
To move a larger group of employees into the sustainable engagement camp, employers need to understand and respond to what drives sustainable engagement in their organizations. The particulars will be unique for every company, but we know the top drivers of sustainable engagement among Canadian workers are related to leadership effectiveness, stress management and work-life balance, and career development. Employers need to involve their employees at every level — leader, supervisors, human resource officials and departments and employees themselves — in addressing these areas.
There is a real imperative for change right now. The way companies do business is undergoing radical shifts, but our people-management programs and practices have not kept pace. The risks of continuing to manage the traditional way are just too great from a performance perspective.
Ofelia Isabel is Towers Watson's Canadian leader for talent and rewards.
With the global economy in a slump, it is more crucial than ever for Canada to optimize productivity. Visit financialpost.com/productive-conversations Tuesdays for more insight from some of Canada's leading business minds on how our country can overcome its competitive challenges and take advantage of new opportunities. Or, visit our LinnkedIn discussion page to offer your own suggestions and perspectives on this important topic.


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Faculty and Staff
Dr. Craig T. Cobane
- Executive Director; John and Jacque Jarve Endowed Professor in Honors
- Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
- Office: HCIC 1033
- Phone Number: 270.745.4258
Send an anonymous message to Dr. Cobane
My jump with the U.S. Army Golden Knights
My Role in the Honors College
I pretend to supervise and increase the efficiency of a great group of faculty and staff. Additionally, I oversee the strategic direction of the College and make decisions that others are glad they do not have to make. Increasingly, my time focuses on building relationships with alumni and friends of the Honors College. Finally, when I am really lucky, I hang out and try to influence a wonderful group of Honors scholars.
Educational Background
I have Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from the University of Cincinnati and a. B.S. in Political Science, from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Nekoosa, Wisconsin
Academic Interests
I primarily researched issues related to how democracies address political terrorism and the international security policy, but as my career has evolved my research has increasingly focused on issues related to educating high-achieving students and the administrative challenges of building an Honors College from the ground up.
Selected Publications
"Promoting Speech and Debate as Beneficial for College Readiness," Rostrum: A Publication of the National Forensic League, Vol. 88, Iss. 3, Winter 2014, pp. 46-48. With Jace Lux.
"High School Speech & Debate Activities and College Readiness," Rostrum: A Publication of the National Forensic League, Vol. 87, Iss. 8, April 2013, pp. 38-42. With Jace Lux.
"The Three "Ts" of Giving Back: Time, Talent and Treasure," Rostrum: A Publication of the National Forensic League, Vol. 86, Iss. 9, May 2012, pp. 32-34. With Jace Lux.
"Moving Mountains: Honors as Leverage for Institutional Change," Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2011, 101-04.
"The Role of Forensics in Selecting a College or University," Rostrum: A Publication of the National Forensic League, Vol. 85, Iss. 9, May 2011, 58-61.
"Elitism Misunderstood: In Defense of Equal Opportunity," Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2009, 53-56, (Co-authored with Anne Rinn).
"Honors in 2025: Becoming What You Emulate," HIP: Honors in Practice, Vol. 4, 2008, pp. 25-8.
"Literary New England: Planning and Implementing Domestic Travel Study," HIP: Honors in Practice, Vol. 4, 2008, 127-142. (Co-authored with Derick Strode).
"The Institutional Perspective: Why National Scholarships Matter," NAFA Journal, Summer 2007, pp. 15-6. • "BBQ with the Profs" and the Development of Collegial Associations," HIP: Honors in Practice, Vol. 3, 2007, pp, 129-141. (Co-authored with Lindsey B. Thurman).
"John F. Kennedy's Foreign Policy," Book chapter in U.S. Presidents and International Relations. Editors Carl Hodge and Cathal Nolan. ABC-Clio, Inc. Santa Barbara, CA, 2007.
"Provincial Reconstruction Teams and Security Assistance: Comments on an Evolving Concept," Defense Institute Security Assistance Management (DISAM) August 2005.
Hobbies & Interests
I enjoy international travel, reading and watching science/speculative fiction, exercising, cooking, gardening and hanging out with my two Pugs - Xerxes and Xenophon.
What Brought Me to the HC
The opportunity to take a leading role in designing and constructing the first Honors College in the Commonwealth and to work with and learn from a great group of colleagues and live in the community of Bowling Green brought me to WKU.
A Little About Myself
I became a professor as a result of JRR Tolkien and a ruined date. I am a life long member of Steeler Nation. In a former life known as my youth, I spent ten summers working in the charter sport fishing industry – many of my fondest memories are of fishing on Lake Michigan. I gave up fishing professionally to run a re-election campaign for my congressman. I miss fishing more than politics.
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subset: commoncrawl


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What is the CIDOC CRM?
The CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CRM) provides definitions and a formal structure for describing the implicit and explicit concepts and relationships used in cultural heritage documentation.
The CIDOC CRM is intended to promote a shared understanding of cultural heritage information by providing a common and extensible semantic framework that any cultural heritage information can be mapped to. It is intended to be a common language for domain experts and implementers to formulate requirements for information systems and to serve as a guide for good practice of conceptual modelling. In this way, it can provide the "semantic glue" needed to mediate between different sources of cultural heritage information, such as that published by museums, libraries and archives.
The CIDOC CRM is the culmination of over 10 years work by the CIDOC Documentation Standards Working Group and CIDOC CRM SIG which are working groups of CIDOC. Since 9/12/2006 it is official standard ISO 21127:2006.
Who we are
Over many years, CIDOC and the CIDOC Documentation Standards Working Group (DSWG)have engaged in the creation of a general data model for museums, with a particular focus on information interchange. Until 1994 the product of these activities had been the CIDOC Relational Data Model. In the interim meeting in March 1996 in Crete, the DSWG decided to engage in an object-oriented approach in order to benefit from its expressive power and extensibility for dealing with the necessary diversity and complexity of data structures in the domain. This effort resulted in 1999 in the first complete edition of the "CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model" (CRM), a product of the intensive voluntary work of a variety of contributors. In order to exploit fully the potential of the CRM as a means of enabling information interchange and integration in the museum community and beyond, CIDOC decided in London 1999 to submit the CRM to ISO for standardization. ISO, in contrast to CIDOC, has the procedures and authority to create and declare well-defined, valid editions of international recommendations. (The CIDOC CRM has been accepted as working draft by ISO/TC46/SC4 in September 2000. Since 9/12/2006 it is official standard ISO 21127:2006.


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[Updated 11 Oct 2010]
1. Test your file for playback.
Generally, files that don't playback using MediaCoder can't be converted.
Playback Test
a. Start MediaCoder
b. Load your file by either using: "File/Add.." or dragging and dropping it into MediaCoder.
c. Highlight the file and then click MediaCoder's "Play" button.
d. If your file plays correctly, then you can usually convert it.
2. Revert all your settings to default.
Many times, during experimentation, too many parameter settings may have been changed and the overall setup may be incompatible. If you experience new problems, when you had none before, revert your settings.
Reverting Settings
a. Start MediaCoder
b. Click "File" and then select "Revert All Settings"
c. Note this will default MediaCoder to it's installation settings.
3. Failure may be due to use of an Update.
Occasionally, the updating of your current build of MediaCoder may trigger failures with certain features, especially if the update is more than a few builds more recent than your earlier one. Then, the best solution would be to reinstall MediaCoder using a full installation package.
a. First download the version or build that you wish to use.
b. After you've downloaded the version/build you want to try, restart Windows.
c. If you are planning to uninstall a previous installation of MediaCoder, do so now using your "Add/Remove" programs feature in Windows.
d. Restart your computer again.
e. Once your computer has restarted, install MediaCoder.
f. Download and apply any update packages that you would like.
4. Use a short Test file
You can use the time feature to select only a portion of a file for conversion as a quick test rather than wait for hours.
Testing with the Time Feature
a. First, make all your audio and video settings.
b. Then, click on the "Time" tab
c. Using the "End Position" boxes, enter the value of 30 into the third box from the left (this is the SS box). This sets MediaCoder for only a 30 second conversion of your existing file.
d. Click "Start" to begin the conversion.
5. The combination of codecs may be incorrect for the container or selected features.
One method, of determining where the fault lies, is to setup for a basic conversion.
Basic Conversion Setup
a. Start by "Reverting all your Settings" (File/Revert....).
b. Now perform a basic setup of what you want to do. Just make changes for "Audio" and "Video" tabs. Leave the rest at default (Picture, Time..etc).
c. Click on "Start" and see what you get. If the conversion fails go to #5.
d. If your conversion works, then begin setting up other options one at a time, running a test in between each adjustment.
6. Audio and Video improper combinations or settings.
Many times you can disable the audio and run a video conversion only. This may point to audio settings problems.
Disabling Audio
a. Click on the "Audio" tab
b. Deselect or uncheck "Enable Audio"
c. Click on "Start" and run the conversion again
d. If you get a good video only conversion, then you look at your audio settings and try a different setup.
7. A wrong combination of a video format and container can be a problem.
Make sure you have the correct video format (codec) selected for the container (file extension). While many combinations are possible, only certain combinations make sense and will work. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison ... er_formats.
8. You have video enabled when you are trying to convert audio only.
Always disable the video when you are performing an audio only conversion.
Disabling Video
a. Click on the "Video" tab
b. Deselect or uncheck "Enable Video"
c. Click on "Start" and run the conversion again.
9. The "Source" engine for conversion may be incorrect.
You can try another source and your file may convert.
Source Change
a. Click on the "Video" tab
b. Deselect or uncheck "Auto Select" for "Source"
c. Using the pull down arrow, select another "Source", for instance "MPlayer"
10. Video encoder engine may be incorrect.
Sometimes using another video encoder engine will solve the problems.
Video Encoder Change
a. Click on the "Video" tab
b. Deselect or uncheck "Auto Select" for "Encoder"
c. Using the pull down arrow, select another "Encoder", for instance "ffmpeg".
11. Everything worked before the update.
This is a common error and mistake. Updating to the newest version/build may not be the best idea. Newer versions or builds have the latest features, but they may also have problems or "bugs". If you like to experiment, then go for the latest version/build, otherwise if things work, then keep the one you have.
Troubleshooting MediaCoder problems
Discuss about generic usage of MediaCoder.
Moderator: HuggiL
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1 post • Page 1 of 1


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My Aunt Sonja was born in Södra Säm December 23 1919
She died April 4 1970
In the school photo below we can see Sonja in the middle row, nr 3 from left
My mother is also there, seh is in the middle row, nr 1 from right
The teachers name is Gunnar Magnusson.
This is an enlargement of Sonja at school photo
Sonja was a happy and cheerful person.
Still, she had it troublesome
because she got diabetes
when she was only about ten years old
so it was a struggle for her many times.


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- Home
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ROCKPORT – Honey Creek Farms off Highway 231 near the AEP Power Plant in Rockport will host a Cars for a Cure car show Saturday, June 4, in conjunction with the Relay for Life of Spencer County.
Registration for the show will be from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Cost is $15 for pre-registration and $20 the day of the show. Judging will start at noon and awards will be presented at 3 p.m. Awards will include people's choice best of show, top 25 people's choice and dash plaques to the first 50 registered cars.
Concessions will also be available to those attending.
To pre-register, send name, phone number, car information and payment to Karen's Angels, 12904 Brewery St., St. Meinrad, IN 47577.
The show is sponsored by Karen's Angels Relay for Life team and all proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society.
For more information about the show, contact Chuck Tempel at (812) 630-2696, Jeff Tempel at (812) 453-6165 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com.
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Customer Completed
Police Dog Houses is proud to show some of the completed dog houses that have been sent in by customers who have completed their dog houses using our Police Dog House Plans. Each person has put their own finishing touches on their dog house. We hope you enjoying seeing their dog houses with their beautiful dogs.
If you have purchased our Police Dog House Plans, and have completed building your dog house, please feel free to email us a picture of your dog house, with your dog or dogs, and we will be happy to post it here. Please provide your dog's name and the state, province, or country where you are located.
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The worst thing about the almost two years of turmoil that we've experienced in Jefferson County schools is that it's been a continuing distraction from the school district's most important responsibility — to educate the kids who live in this county. Anything that distracts teachers from focusing their energy on giving kids the best possible education is a major flaw that should be resolved as soon as possible.
For our youths in the foothills, summer brings a freedom from school schedules for three brief months — you can read what you WANT to read. I was always excited about the first book of the summer — my choice. I love books. I love the feel of their weight, the smell and the look. To me, they represent a new beginning, hidden knowledge and the best of humanity. This may seem a bit romantic but … so be it — it's summer!
The political news is surprising as two unlikely candidates are soaring in the polls. Not many would expect a self-identified socialist to challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president, but U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is gaining some traction. He trails her in a recent Iowa poll 52 percent to 33 percent. In New Hampshire, it's 56 percent to 24 percent. No, he is not the front-runner, but his strong numbers are very surprising, and Clinton must be looking over her shoulder.
These life events just keep marching on. Our baby turns 21 next week.
Since we moved to Evergreen almost 18 years ago, we've been through a lot of milestones. Two kids started school. Three kids completed elementary school, middle school and high school. Three kids had bat-mitzvahs. I turned 40 … and then 50 … and then more. (Luckily my wife is ageless and avoided these milestones.) We celebrated a silver wedding anniversary. Two kids graduated from college, one cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Jefferson County students got a real-life lesson in civil disobedience last September when school board member Julie Williams suggested that a curriculum review committee be established that would, among other things, look into Advance Placement U.S. history classes with direction that "materials should not encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law."
Speeding on Brook Forest Road endangers residents, motorists
I am 11 years old, and I have seen at least seven crashes on Brook Forest Road. I am sick and tired of people flying up the road and sounding as loud as a race car.
Too many people have learned the hard way going too fast. A lot of the stories are dreadful, and I heard that one person even died. The others have had a lot of luck. I was shocked to see one live to see another day.
Pigs get fat. Hogs get slaughtered!
That should be the simple lesson for some grousing small arts organizations that have argued that the proposal to continue the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District and shift modest revenues from large organizations to smaller ones doesn't give them enough.
Testing is not connected to school accountability
Greg Romberg's recent column speaks of school "accountability" and testing as if they were somehow connected. In my opinion (many years in education, many years in business), they are not.
It's pretty well documented now that the "Prince of Pigskins," Tom Brady, cheated in the championship game, and in all probability in many other games as well. He is likely to be fined and suspended. His team will probably be punished, reminding us of their involvement in "film-gate" a scandal in which the league found the Patriots' actions to be outside the rules. In a way, it's a predictable situation when each team brings its own footballs. How about the NFL bring the pigskins, and everyone uses them?
A friend called the other day asking me to explain why funding for K-12 in this year's state budget wasn't larger? Also, was K-12 taking more than its "fair share" of Colorado tax dollars? I thought they were both good and important questions that perhaps deserved an answer to a larger audience.
It's déjà vu all over again — if we're a year away from a presidential election, it must be time to talk about how we pick our delegates to national nominating conventions.
It should be legal to use rain barrels
As a water conservationist and home gardener, I support the practice of capturing rainwater from my roof for use around our home, returning it to its natural sources in the ground. When I moved to Colorado a few years back, I was surprised and dismayed that the state does not allow rain barrels — something my home state of Texas proudly encouraged.
On Feb. 18, the Colorado Senate presented the House of Representatives with a take-it-or-kill-it ultimatum on a spending bill for the Department of Public Safety. The disagreement centered on whether more funds should be made available to process criminal background checks for gun permits. At that point, it looked like developing a state budget was going to be a very difficult task.
So, why did she really do it? What was Hillary Clinton's real reason for running her public e-mail through a private device and with a specially installed private server in her home while she was secretary of state?
Public business is the public's business. It shouldn't matter whether someone uses and pays for a personal device; the public policy remains the same. If a record is made, kept or maintained for a public purpose, the public deserves access to that record unless there is a specifically delineated exemption provided for in the law.
When the original "Star Trek" debuted in September 1966, our nation was about to be torn apart by an unpopular war in Vietnam and by race riots at home. In the nearly half-century since, the science-fiction juggernaut spawned five additional television series and 12 movies on its way to becoming a cultural icon.
At first, many assumed "Star Trek" to be an escapist space opera, but it didn't take long for the writers to begin secreting much bigger issues into their scripts, from racism to war to civil rights.
Mike Coffman, Colorado's congressman from the 6th District, can be a bulldog.
Once he latches onto something, he tends to hang on for dear life until the point he wants to make is clear or the issue he's pursuing has come to some kind of resolution.
You know you've reached a certain point in life when a longtime friend is recognized as a legend. And so it was for Laurie and me last week when we attended the Colorado High School Activities Association Hall of Fame induction dinner to see South Jeffco resident Marcia Neville be inducted.
The Evergreen Fire Protection District has decided to impose a $500 fee on out-of-district residents who are at fault in auto accidents where EFPD responds. It is a terrible decision that should be revoked.
Copyright © 2019
Canyon Courier is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Evergreen, Colo, and the surrounding area.


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Pastoral Care
At TES, we take the wellbeing of our students very seriously. We recognise that, in order to achieve academically, students must feel supported socially and emotionally. The Pastoral Leadership Team (PLT) is responsible for the care of all students in the school. This team consists of the Assistant Head for Student Welfare and Transition, The Year Dean for each individual Year Group and the Form Tutors. The Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education programme (PSHCE) is also run by the PLT to ensure the students are being educated about life, the challenges of growing up and issues relating to living in another culture, amongst other things.
In addition to the PLT, students are also supported by the School Counsellor and the University & Careers Counsellors, who are specifically trained to recognise and understand the problems students may be facing. Students at the school are aware of whom they can turn to for help and advice when facing challenges in their daily lives.


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OFF SPIN: Why Malcolm Tucker must diePosted: October 29, 2012 Filed under: government, Public Relations | Tags: alastair campbell, bbc, comms, government, malcolm tucker, spin, spin doctors, thick of it, traditional, ttoi, tv 11 Comments
As beautiful illicit guilty pleasures go watching BBC2's The Thick Of It is not exactly an out-of-control gambling habit.
A satirical fly-on-the-wall Yes Minister for the 21st Century Civil Servants and politicians scheme, plot and manipulate obsessed by the whims of public opinion.
Chief amongst them is the figure of Malcolm Tucker. Like 'Iago with a blackberry' as The Spectator calls him in the programme itself, he is the government's director of communications whose Machiavellian command of the dark arts of spin is direct drawn from the underworld. Nothing is too low.
"Congratulations on your first confirmed kill," he chillingly writes on a card to a junior who ill in hospital goes along with his plot to unseat the Leader of the Opposition. Out of the box the card comes from drifts a helium baloon with a picture of the deposed Leader sellotaped to it. A perfect blend of malice and slapstick.
Watching the programme is also a secret vice of comms people to talk of the programme illicitly in hushed tones.
A few years ago the subject of The Thick Of It came up in a conversation I had with someone who had worked at the heart of government in the Civil Service. "On a good day it was nothing like it," the individual said. "On a bad day it was actually a toned down documentary."
Yet, part of me thinks people will look back in years to come and find that Malcolm Tucker is a bygone relic. Obsessed with newspaper headlines and able to cajole the Priesthood of journalists with bribes and threats.
Or maybe the government comms people of the future will be just as frenetic and just as twitchy about public opinion. It's just that it'll be the bloggers and the digital journalists they'll be obsessed about.
The fourth series ended with Tucker disgraced, chased by a press pack from a police station after handing himself in to be arrested after he perjured himself at a public enquiry.
And Malcolm Tucker to use a very Malcom Tucker word is 'is damaging'.
Why damaging?
Because he forms people's warped idea of what a public sector comms person looks like. Which is why he needs to be brought down from grace. It's why he needs to die. Under a bus. Outside Parliament. With a single bunch of flowers from his ma in Scotland. Leaving a stack of cracking YouTube clips as his legacy.
Comms, like journalism, is a broad church and across it finds all sorts of characters and practices. Yet there is nothing I find in what he does remotely similar to what I do working in an environment that encourages open access to social media and open data. Central government people may disagree.
But as Alastair Campbell, the man who did most to create the late 20th century idea of a spin doctor, said recently the landscape has changed: "You can't dominate the news agenda now. The agenda is more chaotic but that's a good thing."
11 Comments on "OFF SPIN: Why Malcolm Tucker must die"
Whatever view you take, you can't deny that the thick if it was cracking comedy.
I'm off for a Twix !
Great post Dan. Love your Iago with a BlackBerry comparison. Spot on.
Malcolm Tucker, Siobhan Sharpe (of Twenty Twelve) and Terri Coverley are three examples of fictional people working in Comms/PR who are doing our reputation no favours. As a comms professional, I am able to spot the tongue clearly planted in the cheek, wince at the over-familiar phrases and enjoy the scripts for what they are meant to be – entertainment.
But the message they send is not one that we would choose if we were to script what a 'good' and effective comms pro looks like. I'd be fascinated to know what traits people think that character should have. I wonder if it wouldn't be controversial enough to make good TV?
I created a meme in February this year to describe what I do for a living for internal/corporate comms pros, as one didn't exist. (You can view it here: http://www.rachmiller.com/?p=1818) and realised in doing so that it's the Ab Fab and Campbell comparisons that most people equate PR and Comms to. Definitely time for a fresh approach and a new role model. Any volunteers?
P.s. check out this article on comms/PR stereotypes here: http://thelifeofaleedsmetprstudent.wordpress.com/2012/11/01/what-is-the-pr-stereotype/comment-page-1/
[…] OFF SPIN: Why Malcolm Tucker must die by Dan Slee […]
[…] next two blogs look at the perception of professional reputation, in OFF SPIN: Why Malcolm Tucker must die by Dan Slee, Dan suggests that The Thick of It character Malcolm Tucker is doing no favours to the […]


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Development Success Advances Foundation's Mission
THE COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG Foundation depends upon the generosity of many—more than 103,000 donors in 2004—to achieve its mission: connect America's past to the present.
Gifts help train the interpretive staff, conserve the antique and reconstructed buildings of the eighteenth-century city, and develop programs that educate and inspire guests who visit in person or through the Internet.
Gifts, grants, and payments on pledges in 2004 totaled $40,052,000. They pushed the Campaign for Colonial Williamsburg, the foundation's multiyear, $500 million comprehensive fund-raising effort, to $398,371,000, or 79 percent of its goal, by year's end.
Each gift helped fulfill the campaign's "People, Place, Purpose" goals, and illustrated the ways supporters can participate in the campaign. Underlining their admiration for such founding fathers as George Washington, Kitte and Royce Baker of Rancho Santa Fe, California, gave $1 million to endow programs that feature Nation Builders.
Leonore Annenberg of Saint Davids, Pennsylvania, pledged $500,000 through the Annenberg Foundation for Nation Builders as well. Carole Crocker of Lake City, Florida, pledged $500,000 for Great Hopes Plantation, and Ruth and Joe Lasser of White Plains, New York, added to earlier gifts of colonial coins and numismatic items, materials valued at nearly $2 million.
Virginialee and Ed Lynch of Vancouver, Washington, committed a $2.5 million bequest to the campaign. Madonna and Harold Matheson of Malibu, California, established a $421,000 charitable remainder trust to support the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute. The foundation received a record $4.2 million in estate distributions, including $1.2 million from Jeanne and Willard Hoffmire of Pittsburgh, and $1.5 million from Elizabeth and Joseph Handley of Carmel, California.
For the third consecutive year, donors to the annual Colonial Williamsburg Fund numbered more than 100,000. Fund gift totals reached a record $12,441,000. The number of new donors—27,901—set another record, as did the average gift size. People from all fifty states participated, some making multiple gifts.


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Cet article n'est plus offert.
Offert en anglais seulement
A comprehensive workshop reference, this book covers a vast array of information helpful to woodworkers, hobbyists and homeowners. It includes an overview of woodworking-related math and geometry, joinery, standard furniture dimensions, and physical properties (shrinkage rates, hardness, grading standards, etc.) of a wide variety of woods and composite materials.
There are chapters on adhesives, safety, sharpening, fasteners and finishing, with charts and tables on sizes, standards and properties of various tools and supplies, such as drill speeds for a range of bit sizes, sharpening angles for all common edge tools, saw tooth patterns for various materials, shellac mixing ratios, and much more.
Spiral-bound hardcover, 5-1/2" x 7", 239 pages, 2006.


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Although high-carbon steel
(HCS) has very good wear resistance and hardenability, it is unable to
hold an edge at elevated temperatures. High-speed steel (HSS) bits have
superior toughness and red hardness, which a power tool bit needs. Since
heat build-up will not reduce the hardness of high-speed steel, it is
ideal for continuous use, especially in hardwoods. HSS bits enter cleanly,
provide smooth sidewalls and stay sharp 10 times as long as HCS bits.
They are a good investment for the serious woodworker.


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The Cleveland Browns were expected to spend big money in free agency. They were expected to target pass rushers. They did not disappoint.
NFL.com's Aditi Kinkhabwala and Albert Breer reported that Paul Kruger agreed to terms with the Browns on Tuesday. Breer reported Kruger will sign a five-year, $40 million contract, and the Browns later announced the defensive end had agreed to a five-year deal.
"We are very excited about the addition of Paul Kruger to our team," new Browns coach Rob Chudzinski said in a team-issued statement. He is a talented linebacker who is going to make an immediate impact on our defense. When you put on the film, you see physicality, explosive pass rush and a high motor. He has been very productive for the Ravens and proved it at the highest level last season in the playoffs."
Kruger built up his value in a career year with the Baltimore Ravens by recording nine sacks, although he wasn't as effective without Terrell Suggs in the lineup. Kruger was not even on the field that much during the Super Bowl because the Ravens wanted to focus on their run defense.
The Browns wanted another pass rusher for new defensive coordinator Ray Horton, but this is a deal that could look rough in a few years. Kruger is the typical very good player who is being paid like a superstar because he made it to free agency.
Kruger always has been a role player. Now he'll be expected to be a star.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.


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Founded in 1984 by Tom Hewlett, Portland Gallery is one of London's leading Art Galleries dealing in Modern British and Contemporary paintings. A particular specialisation is the work of the Scottish Colourists, S J Peploe, F C B Cadell, George Leslie Hunter and J D Fergusson and their immediate followers including Anne Redpath and John Maclauchlan Milne.
Among the Estates which we represent are those of Mary Fedden, Edward Seago, F C B Cadell, John Maclauchlan Milne and Roland Collins.
We represent more than 20 contemporary painters and sculptors including Ken Howard, Archie Forrest, Gary Bunt, Paul Rafferty, Nicholas Hely Hutchinson, Gordon Mitchell, Oliver Akers Douglas, David Spiller, Marzia Colonna, Frances Macdonald, and David Williams-Ellis.


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Colorado says goodbye to retiring Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Bender
A who's who in Colorado's political and legal worlds showed up Friday night to give retiring Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Bender a proper send off.
"I loved the evening," Bender said afterward.
Legislators praised the judge, saying he really reached out and listened after assuming the top position on the court. And Bender was even serenaded by three judges singing "Hey, Mike Bender" (more on that later).


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$3.2 million Cash Injection for Australian Mathematics
posted by Plus @ 10:48 AM
posted by Plus @ 10:48 AM
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Another evening, another function, this one sponsored by the More Maths Grads programme. Dr Reidun Twarock, to whom I spoke earlier in the day, gave her talk on viruses and symmetry, possibly the most interactive maths I have seen. Icosahedrons made from cardboard and real footballs were thrown into the audience to help explain her mathematical concepts, and the talk was followed by a brief function in which the More Maths Grads people promoted their activities.
Journeying in this morning, I regretted somewhat the dodgy Yorkshire fish and chips I had the night before. I attended a press conference on studies conducted by the University of Bristol that suggests that not only is there trace evidence of drug usage on nearly every UK bank note in circulation, but that the notes circulate quickly enough throughout the country that no particular area has higher instances of drug use on their notes. Cocaine was found on nearly every note, whilst heroine is found on around 5%. The presence of the drugs is not simply because notes are used in drug-taking activities - even fresh new notes have some contamination because they are contaminated very early on through contact with infected notes. Cocaine is particularly sticky, and so only very brief contact can contaminate a note.
The next press conference was from Professor Terence Cosgrove from Revolymer, who has developed a non-stick chewing gum. More to the point, he was at pains to note that it is not "non-stick" but rather "low-adhesive". He has made the chewing low-adhesive by introducing a patented polymer that has hydrophilic ends, and so will wash off the pavement with water.
I spent the afternoon chatting to Plus editorial board member Chris Budd about all sorts of mathematical issues - mainly that of Euler and the role of maths in the food and drink industry. But we also touched on mathematics communication, period costumes, maths in crime solving and maths in Celtic and African knots and art. You can hear all this on the podcast very shortly.
Unfortunately my time at the BA Festival of Science is coming to an end. I am about to head into York for a session entitled "How maths changed my life" followed by the last train back to London. I certainly look forward to attending the 2008 version in Liverpool.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The evening of day 2 promised to make day 3 of the science festival very long for night-owl science journalists. I attended the Association of British Science Writers reception, which was a great affair - hardly surprising given the £400 bar tab, unlimited wine on top of this and free food. It was great to meet some well-known British science writers from UK newspapers, and observe the drinking habits of others!
My first stop on day 3 of the Science Festival was to speak to Dr Quentin Atkinson, a post-doctoral research fellow in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Reading, about his research into the evolution of Indo-European languages. He used statistical modelling techniques borrowed from evolutionary biology to date the age of the Indo-European language family and so test between the two main competing theories of Indo-European origins - that of the Kurgan horsemen and of the Anatolian farming hypotheses.
The modelling involved the use of Bayesian networks and instead of looking at how a gene might have evolved over time, he looked at certain words across the Indo-European languages and found where splits between language groups might have occurred. He looked at 200 words such as "mother", "father" and "rain" across 87 languages and found that the original Indo-European language split around 8700 years ago.
I interviewed Dr Reiden Twarock of York University on the geometric properties of viruses. This is the headline mathematics event of the festival, and tonight is accompanied by a reception sponsored by the More Maths Grads project. Dr Twarock is a thoroughly lovely and engaging lady who is using group theory and geometry to build models of how viruses form. These mathematical tools allow her to zoom in on the mechanisms responsible for virus structure and assembly. The resulting insights can then spark new ideas for the development of new anti-viral drugs. This interview will inform future news and features on Plus.
Throughout the day I chatted to a number of people regarding their posters, including some about optimisation, train timetabling, mathematical modelling of sun-spots and Bayesian modelling of Pacific Island cultural movement. These, again, will all appear as Plus news items.
Lastly I chatted to Dr Anthony Sudbery about all sorts of topics with regard to quantum computing. Parallel worlds, unbreakable codes and entangled particles were just some of topics that I pretended to know about ... .
So, now I'm off to rest my brain and then attend the mathematics function tonight. Watch our podcast and news feed for more information on these above topics over the next few weeks.
Monday, September 10, 2007
The BA Festival of Science is the UK's foremost celebration of science, engineering and technology and its impact on our society. This year the festival has made its way to York, and I (Marc West) am here on behalf of Plus to enjoy the sciencey goodness and bring you the latest news from the world of mathematics.
The festival is not solely based on maths - indeed, talks and events focusing on maths alone are few and far between, and certainly none of the activities on the first 2 days of the conference centred on it. This does not mean, however, that maths has played no part in the talks.
I spoke to former UK Olympian, and now Professor at Liverpool John Moores University, Greg Whyte about his research into the limits of human performance. You will hear this interview when the next edition of the Plus podcast is released. He was tempted into this work in part because of what he called a "ridiculous" piece of work published in the esteemed journal Nature in the 1990s.
This work postulated that come the year 2050, women would be running as quickly as men, and would then power on past and run even quicker, leaving men in their wake. The reasoning behind this statement was fairly simple. If you plotted the speeds of world record runs by females in the 1500 m, and then plotted the same graph for the males, linear regression on both sets of data would result in their trendlines crossing near 2050. This was because the decrease in the women's world record has been comparatively more than the men's.
A view of the data, and a slight amount of lateral thinking spots the mistake. To start with, it is not a surprise that the female world record speed should fall by more than the men's given that females take longer to run the distance. Secondly, linear regression is completely the wrong type of fit for the data. Professor Whyte fitted a polynomial "s" curve, which showed that the period in which the greatest amount of change made to the world record speed was in the 1960s and 70s - he postulated that this was because of drug usage among athletes.
Whyte also performed his modelling on other running distances and on swimming speeds and found that over almost all distances the difference between males and females remained at around 10%.
Other events that I have seen include a performance by children's science author Nick Arnold, and a talk hosted by Professor Robert Winston about his life. I was intrigued to know he dabbled with the idea of becoming a theatre director after university. He was passionate in his arguments that IVF has now been priced far too highly by private companies making a large profit. His current research is looking into genetically manipulating large animals so that their organs can be used in humans.
I am now off to enjoy one of the many parties and functions that the "press badge" gets you in to!
See you tomorrow,
Imagine that one day you were greeted by your boss at work and told that you had been given a 100% pay rise because of your sterling efforts. Later that day, your bank calls to let you know that your savings and investments have doubled overnight due to an odd fluctuation in the international financial markets. But just when you thought that all your years of hard work had finally paid off, you discover when buying your groceries that evening that the price of food and drink has also doubled – but that does not matter too much, this is just a small increase.
Are you in a better position than you were the night before? Even taking into account the rise in your cost of living, your net savings have increased, so should you be thanking your boss and your bank manager?
Whilst you may feel wealthier in this situation, this is simply an illusion. You still have to work as many hours tomorrow as you did yesterday to buy your groceries – nominal values have risen, but not real values.
Economists have long considered that financial markets limit the impact of traders trading on nominal values – irrational traders. This is because it is assumed that they are taken advantage of by smarter traders. However, new studies by Jean-Robert Tyran of the University of Copenhagen have shown that there are situations in which money illusion can have a massive impact on the market, especially when there is a fall in nominal values.
An interesting example is the housing market. When interest rates are low, monthly nominal interest payments on mortgages are low compared to the rent on similar properties, so people start to buy. However, if inflation is decreasing, whilst current payments on the mortgage are falling, the real cost of future mortgage payments is increasing. This is because your salary is not growing and it will take you longer to pay off your debt. These investors have fallen for the illusion. They are similar to those who pay off their credit card bill with monthly payments over 24 months, instead of over 12, as the down-payments are smaller.
Tyran's experimental studies show that if there is a monetary contraction within the market – that is, if the nominal costs of goods and services fall – firms are reluctant to follow suit and cut their prices as this would result in lower nominal profits, even if their real profit would remain the same.
This is called nominal loss aversion and results in part from the fact that our inbuilt fear of losses tends to outweigh our desire for a gain of the same amount. It can be seen in other financial areas, such as employees accepting a nominal pay increase, even if it results in a real pay-cut if it does not match inflation. Another example is a homeowner being more unwilling to sell a house at a real loss if it comes with a nominal loss rather than cloaked by a nominal gain.
Conversely, the experiments show that firms have no problem increasing their nominal prices should there be a rise in inflation and wages to maintain their real profit.
Laboratory work is often based on simplified economies, whilst interpretation of real data can be extremely difficult, so Tyran hopes that experimental research, combined with real observations of the market, can be used together to better understand money illusion.
posted by Plus @ 1:40 PM
If you enjoy stepping into the world of mathematics through the Plus website, now you can take maths on the move with you and enjoy Plus whereever you are! We are pleased to release our first Plus Podcast — Breaking the ice: Maths reshaping geometry and combating climate change. In this podcast we talk to Shahn Majid about a whole new geometry of space, find out about how mathematics is combatting climate change, as well as all the latest news from the world of maths. You can subscribe to the podcasts, or just stay tuned to Plus for the next podcast due late September.
Happy listening!
Labels: podcast
posted by Plus @ 9:44 AM


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Pantanal Ultimate Wildlife River Cruise
$7,498 Go On Your Own
2 person minimum. Price is group dependent.
Prices based on effective exchange rate at our local bank as of March 1, 2018.
Exchange rates are subject to change without notice, and additional currency equalization fees may be required at the time Wild Planet pays for local services, which may occur up until 30 days prior to departure – even if you have already made your final payment.
Pantanal Ultimate Wildlife River Cruise
- Cuiaba
- Taiama Ecological Station
- Paraguay River
- Meeting-of-the-Waters State Park
- Porto Jofre
- Pousada Piuval
- Night safaris with spotlights to search for nocturnal wildlife
- Highest density of jaguar population, in the entire Pantanal means 95% chance of jaguar sightings
- Meals are included whilst aboard the riverboat, prepared by fantastic Brazilian chefs and served either in the dining room or on open deck
- Guided horseback ride to explore the forest and grasslands for animals and birds including rheas, marsh deer, armadillos, storks, coatis, capybaras, hyacinth macaws, howler monkeys
Itinerary at a Glance
- DAY 1 Cuiaba – Caceres – Paraguay River - Barco Hotel Aguape
- DAY 2-3 Jaguar Photography Safari – Paraguay River "Bays & Tributaries"
- DAY 4 Jaguar Photography Safari – Taiama Ecological Station
- DAY 5 Paraguay River Exploration, Amolar Hills
- DAY 6 Pantanal National Park, Cuiaba River
- DAY 7-9 Meeting-of-the-Waters State Park
- DAY 10 Porto Jofre – Pousada Piuval, Transpantaneira
- DAY 11 Pantanal Exploration at Pousada Piuval
- DAY 12 Pantanal – Cuiaba
Pantanal Ultimate Wildlife River Cruise
Detailed Itinerary
Identical itinerary runs front to back or back to front depending on departure date.
Itinerary front to back:
Your guide will pick you up at 7:30am from your Cuiaba hotel and transport you to the Pantanal, first traveling 228km by car to the town of Cáceres where you will embark on your Houseboat, the Barco Hotel Aguape, and commence traveling downstream on the Paraguay river. After lunch, you will have time to relax and enjoy the scenery of the river views. In the late afternoon, we hop into launches and explore the Pantanal along the water's edge. We should see howler monkeys, capybaras, giant river otters, toucans, herons, kingfishers, and many other species. Return for dinner and overnight on the houseboat. Travel during some of the night.
After breakfast we start boat safaris, mainly searching for Jaguar. The areas we will be exploring today and tomorrow are the tributaries and "bays" that exist along the river, as well as the main river itself. These are true nature sanctuaries, with beautiful landscapes and abundant wildlife. We'll be looking for Jaguars, howler capuchin monkeys, giant otters, capibaras, caimans, anaconda, and many kinds of birds, including the hyacinth macaw.
After lunch we will set off for further safaris via speed boat, returning in the early evening for dinner and overnight on board.
Today in the morning we arrive at the northern part of the Taiama Reserve, a remote and pristine pantanal area. After an early breakfast, embark in our motorized boat and travel downstream along the Paraguay river to explore the Estação Ecológica do Taiama to search for Jaguars. We will spend the morning exploring one side of the river and switch to the other in the afternoon, hoping to encounter more interesting wildlife, including giant river otters, caimans, howler monkeys, capybaras, and many bird species. Tonight the houseboat will travel downstream toward the northern edge of Gaiva Bay, continuing until you reach the Ambolar Mountain Range. We will have dinner and overnight on-board.
Spend the morning enjoying the crossing of Gaiva bay, anchoring at the base of the Amolar Mountain range where we will disembark for a morning hike (1 mile). After returning to the boat for lunch and a little rest, we will set our in the mid-afternoon for a longer forest walk in search of monkeys, birds, and endemic species like the Bolivian Slaty Antshrike, the Chaco Titi Monkey and more. Along the hike, enjoy a quick dip in a natural swimming pool as you keep an eye out for more rare species like the Night Monkey, Chaco Puffbird, Red-andgreen Macaw, and Yellow-collared Macaw.
In the late afternoon, return to the boat for dinner around 7pm. After dinner we will set off ofr a short night walk before overnighting aboard the Aguape.
We wake up as the house boat crosses Pantanal National Park. From the boat take advantage of the best potential sightings of marshdeer and giant lilypads. After lunch, we switch gears to safari via boats, exploring the confluence of Paraguai and Cuiaba Rivers, two of the biggest in the Pantanal. With the goal of spotting a host of mammals and birds, we will safari downt the Cuiaba and its tributaries, the Negrinho and Negrao rivers. Tonight we will anchor at Porto Jofre, about 30 minutes by speedboat from Meeting-of-the-Waters State Park.
We explore Meeting-of-the-Waters State Park, which has some of the highest concentrations of Jagaur in South America. The animals here are used to human presence so boats can often approach them while remaining at a safe distance. Each day before sunrise, we depart on radio-equipped, six-seater boats with English speaking guides. There are great chances of sightings of giant otters, kingfishers, howler monkeys, and the main attraction – jaguars. It is rare to come away without having seen at least a couple of cats. We will also encounter other interesting wildlife including: capyabaras, giant river otters, caymans, howler monkeys, and anacondas to name but a few. The birdlife here is also fantastic with many different species present, including jabiru storks, toucans, trogons, hyacinth macaws along with many others. The house boat will remain anchored right by the park, meaning not a single minute is wasted!
After early breakfast, we slowly drive 150 km along the Transpantaneira, one of the best wildlife viewing areas in the entire world. Lunch will be along the way at Mato Grosso Hotel. Keep your eyes peeled for endangered marsh deer, South American coati, anaconda, giant anteater, toco toucans, tapirs, armadillos, hyacinth macaws, and a host of other animals and birds. In the afternoon, arrive at Pouso Alegre Lodge, a countryside lodge known as one of the best places for wildlife in the Northern Pantanal, home to an incredible variety of birds and mammals. After dinner we take a night Safari with spotlights, drive along the private road of the lodge. We will watch for tapirs, anteaters, foxes, raccoons, owls, spiders, snakes, nocturnal birds and other animals common to this region. Overnight at Pouso Alegre Lodge.
Full day dedicated to observing the Pantanal's flora and fauna found in and around the Pouso Alegre area. Early morning walk for bird and wildlife viewing. Return to the Lodge for Breakfast. After breakfast your guide will lead out on truck and trail safaris through the forest and grasslands to spot animals and birds, including rheas, marsh deer, armadillos, storks, coatis, capybaras, hyacinth macaws, howler monkeys, and a dozen of other animals and birds. After lunch in the afternoon we drive by open truck and explore the open lands and grasslands in search for marsh deer, South American coati, crab eating fox, giant anteater, toco toucans, tapirs, armadillos, hyacinth macaws, peccaries and a host of other animals and birds. After dinner we go on another night safari. Overnight at Pouso Alegre Lodge.
Before breakfast go for one more nature walk – a last exploration of this incredible area teeming with wildlife. Look for anteaters, armadillos, tapirs, peccaries, coati, lizards, snakes, monkeys, toucans, falcons, storks, macaws, parrots and other wild animals. After lunch travel back to Cuiaba in time for your flight. End of our services.
Please note: This itinerary should be used as a guide only and may vary from day to day depending on river conditions, weather, group decisions & desires, and circumstances beyond our control.
Brazil Lodging
Brazil Activities
At a Glance
We know you've chosen to travel with us for our wildlife emphasis, so we've included a wide variety of adventure activities designed to educate, inspire, and bring out the wonder in you. All of our activities are flexibly designed to accommodate different skill levels and interests, while exposing you to a variety of unique eco-systems in order to see the most amount of wildlife. And did we mention fun?
Adventure activities in 2 distinct regions of the Pantanal and a remote area of the Amazon expose you to more natural wonder, more ecosystems - and more wildlife - than any other conventional tour.
- Exclusive Jaguar Photo Safari
- Special expedition to search for Anacondas in the Pantanal Wetlands
- Safari by horseback, jeep, foot and boat in 2 different regions of the Pantanal
- Hike the Amazon Rainforest for endemic species
- View the Amazon from atop a canopy tower
- Kayak or canoe the Cristalino River in the Amazon
- Option to interact with natives in the Amazon
Exclusive Wildlife Activities
Jaguar Photo Safari
Photograph jaguars as they hunt caiman by the riverside - a Wild Planet Adventures Exclusive!
Search for Anacondas in the Pantanal Wetlands
Track anacondas on the wetlands between Taiama Ecological Preserve and our lodge, an area also frequented by hyacinth macaws - a Wild Planet Adventures Exclusive!
Hike the Amazon Rainforest for Endemic Species
Special excursions to see endemic species, including the White-whiskered Spider Monkey, the Spix's Red-handed Howler Monkey, and nocturnal hike for a chance to see the very rare and elusive owl-faced Feline Night-monkey.
Other Activities
Safari by Horseback, Jeep, Foot & Boat
In three distinct regions to for up-close wildlife encounters with jaguars, giant otters, tapirs and more.
View the Amazon from Atop a Canopy Tower
Hike with expert naturalist guides to a canopy tower where you can see the rainforest canopy from above, and look for monkeys, macaws and other birds.
Kayak or Canoe the Cristalino River in the Amazon
Magnificent boating through the Amazon rainforest. The crystalline river water is the life-blood for many birds and animals.
Cultural Interaction
Option to interact with natives in the Amazon
Brazil Wildlife
Rare or Endangered Possible Sightings
Primates: Bare Ear Marmoset, Feline Night Monkey, Red-Nosed Bearded Saki Monkey, Emilae's marmoset
Other Animals: Harpy Eagle, Ocelot, Puma, Azara's Agouti, Punare, Colocolo
Likely Sightings
Primates: Gold & Black Howler Monkey, Black-Tailed Marmoset, Silvery marmoset, Emilia's Marmoset, Red-Handed Howler Monkey, Duski Titi, Brown Capuchin, White-whiskered spider monkey
Other Animals: Jaguar, Brazilian Tapir, South American Coati, Capybara Paca, Giant Anteater, Southern Tamandua (lesser anteater), Crab-Eating Fox, Pantanal Cat, Crab-Eating Raccoon, Tayra, Margay, Oncilla, Pampas Deer, Nine-Banded Long-Nosed Armadillo, Six-Banded Armadillo, Giant Armadillo, Hyacinth Macaw
Prolific Sightings
Wild Planet's wildlife eco-tours and safaris are designed for nature lovers and wildlife enthusiasts. We take care to seek out wildlife that is rare, off the beaten path, and in greater numbers than you will see on conventional tours. Our expert naturalist and biologist guides will educate you in the field so your experience is intimate and unparalleled. Still, wildlife viewing can unpredictable and requires patience and sensory awareness.
Primates: Brown Capuchin Monkey, Black Howler Monkey, Duski Titi Monkey, White-Whiskered Spider Monkey
Other Animals: Giant Otter, Neotropical Otter, Black Caiman, Spectacled Caiman, Collared Peccary, White-Lipped Peccary, Marsh Deer, Red Brocket Deer, Brown Brocket Deer, Brazilian Rabbit, Brazilian Porcupine, Short-Tailed Possum
Brazil Guides
Jaguar Tracker
Mota was born in Caceres, a small city along the Paraguay River about 220 km from Cuiaba. He grew up in the surrounding Pantanal region and learned much of the Pantanal water ways and its wildlife from his father. Because of his experience on the water he is an expert jaguar spotter. His specialty is guiding for wildlife photographers as he knows the best spots and angles for beautiful photos. Mota is an expert at handling the boats and approaching jaguars with minimal disturbance. He takes excellent care of all our travelers on our expeditions and contributes greatly to the quality of the tour.
Douglas Braga Rocha
Biologist & Pantanal Tour Guide
Douglas is a Brazilian naturalist with a degree in Biology from the State University in Rio de Janeiro, and a Masters Degree in Ecology and Conservation at Federal University of Mato Grosso. He started guiding nature trips in the Chapada dos Guimaraes before guiding nature & wildlife tours throughout the diverse Pantanal eco-systems. He is an expert in the Pantanal's many biodiversity hot spots. As a guide he enjoys sharing with our guests his knowledge of Pantanal's natural history, ecology, wildlife and culture. His detailed knowledge of Brazil economics, politics and history are remarkable and he speaks excellent English.
Joelson Toledo
Naturalist Guide
Joelson has extensive experience guiding in the Peruvian Amazon and the Pantanal in Brazil, including many important conservation projects. While in Peru, he worked as a field assistant for Project Guacamayo Tambopata National Reserve, where he led groups monitoring macaw nests. There he observed the behavior between mothers and pups with micro cameras inside the nest.
As the leading field guide for the Caiman Ecological Refuge, Joelson was responsible for groups of up to 16 people specializing in birdwatching and horses. During this time he also used traps to capture herpetofauna with identification chips, made a chemical analysis of the water supply, and monitored the fish species in the Pantanal Rio Negro area.
Brazil FAQ
Brazil Facts for Visitors
Brazil is located in Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean.
Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, with a total of 8,514,877 sq km
The official and most widely spoken language in Brazil is Portuguese. Other languages include Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, English, and a large number of minor Amerindian languages.
Roman Catholic 73.6%, Protestant 15.4%, Other 11%
The currency of Brazil is the Brazilian Real.
This Trip's Exclusive Wildlife Features:
- Remote & Non-Commercial Destinations - Our Jaguar Photo Safari is in the virtually unknown Taiama Ecological Station, a protected area that is not open to the public. No traveler is allowed on the reserve, but we can circumnavigate it by boat. We average 1.5 jaguar sightings per day here.
- Sustainable & Responsible Jaguar Safaris - Our expert biologist & naturalist guides use strict protocols: we limit jaguar sightings to one small boat, for a limited time, using authentic radio-free tracking, and have access to a crowd-free habitat that requires special logistics to access.
- Exclusive Wildlife Activities - Primatologist-designed excursions to see rare primates in the Amazon and track jaguar, anaconda & giant otters in the Pantanal.
- Remote & Non-Commercial Destinations - Our Jaguar Photo Safari is in the virtually unknown Taiama Ecological Station, a protected area that is not open to the public. No traveler is allowed on the reserve, but we can circumnavigate it by boat. We average 1.5 jaguar sightings per day here.
- Sustainable & Responsible Jaguar Safaris - Our expert biologist & naturalist guides use strict protocols: we limit jaguar sightings to one small boat, for a limited time, using authentic radio-free tracking, and have access to a crowd-free habitat that requires special logistics to access.
- Exclusive Wildlife Activities - Primatologist-designed excursions to see rare primates in the Amazon and track jaguar, anaconda & giant otters in the Pantanal.


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European Commission
Press release
Brussels, 20 August 2012
European business to increase R&D spending despite crisis
Top EU businesses expect their investments in research and development to grow by an average of 4% annually over the period 2012 to 2014, according to a Commission survey of some of Europe's companies that invest the most in R&D. The figures show the importance that these companies place on R&D as a key factor for their future growth and prosperity, despite the current economic difficulties. The front runner is the software and computer services sector, which expects R&D investment to grow by 11% per year on average. In-house R&D is seen as the most relevant driver of innovation by the surveyed companies, followed by market research and related activities for new product introduction.
"This positive trend for corporate R&D investment is essential for European competitiveness," said Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science. "These companies are the main drivers in making the European economy more knowledge-based and smarter. Our future research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020, will give a further boost to innovative enterprises."
When asked about effects of policies and external factors on their innovation activities, surveyed companies highlighted the strong positive effects of fiscal incentives, national grants, EU financial support and public-private partnerships both at national and EU level. In contrast, the time needed to obtain intellectual property right protection and the costs of that protection were seen by many companies as key factors impacting negatively on their innovation activities. This confirms the importance of an efficient IPR regime for fostering companies' innovation activities.
The surveyed companies were also asked about the importance of various ways to share knowledge. Collaboration agreements with other companies stand out as the most important. For companies active in high R&D intensity sectors, this is followed by licensing in/out with other companies, and then agreements with higher education institutions and other public research organisations. For companies in medium and low R&D intensity sectors, collaboration agreements with higher education institutions and other public research organisations are seen as more important than licensing. In general, the results show the strong importance given to these various ways of sharing knowledge by many companies, which could be a sign of the increasing role of open innovation.
The EU Survey on R&D Investment Business Trends was carried out by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) at the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) and the Directorate General for Research and Innovation.
The survey results are based on 187 responses of mainly larger companies from the 1,000 EU-based companies in the 2011 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard (IP/11/1205 and MEMO/11/705). These responses were collected between 16 January and 28 April 2012.
Taken together, these 187 companies are responsible for R&D investment worth almost €45 billion, constituting around 40% of the total R&D investment by the 1,000 EU Scoreboard companies, which is a significant share of European business investment in R&D. The 4% average growth level is slightly down on the 5% growth expected in the previous survey, reflecting the worsening of the economic context.
By end-2012 the European Commission will publish its next EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, which ranks the worldwide biggest companies investing in R&D.
The survey is available at:
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YES! But How? Flake Off
If you have dandruff, you may have Malassezia on your head. That's a yeast-like fungus that lives on the scalp. Stress, illness, hormones, or a buildup of oil can cause it to grow out of control, irritating the skin and causing cells to die faster than normal. The cells clump together and fall off in visible flakes. Since Malassezia feeds on oil, washing more often helps keep it in check. Zinc pyrithione is an anti-fungal used in many anti-dandruff shampoos to attack Malassezia. Instead, try diluted oil of rosemary or tea tree, both of which have natural anti-fungal properties.
Dandruff is not always caused by Malassezia. The things that cause Malassezia infections can also cause dandruff on their own, as can dry skin. To keep the skin cell turnover on your scalp in balance, take care of yourself, eat foods with vitamins B and C and healthy fats, and get a bit of sunshine. Shampoo more often if your hair is oily, and cut down on styling products. Try these things, and your dandruff may go away without any treatment at all.
More YES! But How?
- : Is there a natural way to treat head lice?
- : Video instructions for turning your 2010 calendar into a stunning Christmas gift bag.


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Inspirational Quotes
The award was a huge boost to morale and cash flow in a difficult period that led on to further developments and successes. Shell's support in promotion, photography, media and payment was highly valued and needed - I'd highly recommend people to apply for the Shell LiveWIRE award as the total value delivered is a major win for fledgling startups and innovators.
Adam Dixon (Phytoponics)
There are some things that you can only learn by experience. You need to fail sometimes to appreciate what to do next time. However, there are many other things that are not worth going through if someone can just give you advice. So, get yourself out there, network, network, network!
Elena Dieckmann & Ryan Robinson (AEROPOWDER)
Our transition to a low-carbon economy can be delivered by making our linear economic model circular. This is not an opportunity set aside for green entrepreneurs or corporate behemoths, governments or even one for the eco-warriors. It is a chance for all of us to build circularity into every aspect of our lives and organisations, and start-ups need to play their part.
Arthur Kay (bio-bean)
If you would like to promote your business and gain acknowledgement from industry experts and media coverage, Shell LiveWIRE Award will provide you with the perfect platform and network to do so!
Bowen Guan (Carbon2Carbon)
Shell LiveWIRE gave me the support and vote of confidence I needed to develop Aceleron to the next level.
Carlton Cummins (Aceleron)
The award has definitely been part of our success story, helping to raise our profile and providing vital product development funding in the interim to closing a more significant funding round.
Charlie Guy (LettUs Grow)
The award stays true to what it promises by supporting new ideas and entrepreneurs with vital funding and exposure.
Charlotte Slingsby (Moya Power)
The single most important thing to remember as a founder is that your business will live or die by the way you prioritise.
Dan Murray (Grabble)
The Shell LiveWIRE award has allowed us to accelerate our innovative production process and has helped the company tremendously. I would suggest the awards to any young entrepreneur.
Douglas Martin (MiAlgae)
Shell LiveWIRE is a fantastic opportunity for young start-ups and entrepreneurs to get a first product out there! It gave us confidence and resources to push our idea to the next level!
Elena Dieckmann (AEROPOWDER)
Winning Shell LiveWIRE has provided us with so much more than just prize money. It has given us the confidence to push forward with Revive, the credibility to get us in the room with potential customers and the connections to allow us to realise our dream; to make money with meaning and a profit with purpose.
Fergus Moore (Revive Eco)
Winning Shell LiveWIRE came at a great timing - it helped us fund R&D when money was scarce and provided credibility which helped with fundraising.
George Kalligeros (Pushme Bikes)
The Shell LiveWIRE Award gave us the right tools to grow personally and our business. It's a great experience and we have been provided with valuable business support.
Giuseppe Baidoo (OOZE Drinks)
Excellent program to encourage the greater entrepreneurial community to work towards a global vision of a more sustainable future.
Henrik Hagemann (CustoMem)
Winning the Shell LiveWIRE award was fantastic for ChargedUp, not only did the funding help propel the business to the next stage with a working prototype but also the media coverage was excellent for our brand.
Hugo Tilmouth (ChargedUp)
Young Entrepreneur of the Year is a great award to aspire to - it's about challenging yourself to make the best of your business.
Josh Burton (Metronome Energy)
Winning a Smarter Future Award has provided us with a platform to raise our profile via the media. It also offers a seal of approval. Potential customers can look at that and think 'I'm happy to do business with this company because they have that recognition.'
Karina Sudenyte (Flawsome! Drinks)
As an early-stage company, we've benefitted enormously from our involvement with the Shell LiveWIRE programme and being part of one of the UK's foremost entrepreneurship support programs.
Matt McLaren (Entomics)
This award gave me everything I needed to make my start-up a reality. Funding, media coverage and support - I would highly recommend!
Michael McLeod (UniGreenScheme)
The Shell LiveWIRE Smarter Future Award allowed us to do the initial validation of our green business. The process of applying forces you to properly think out your idea and reconsider some assumptions. The resulting evolution of your idea is worth applying for.
Mohammed Shah (POW)
Whether successful with the award or not, the application process allows is strongly encouraged to all early businesses as it allows you to put your future plans into perspective in a clear & detailed way.
Nathan Edwards (CBD Design & Build)
Shell LiveWIRE's Smarter Future Award has given us the exposure and the resources we needed at the right time and provided us with confidence that we are on the right track.
Nicolas Kral (Phytoform Labs)
The £5000 funding facilitated product development and promotion activities. The PR and exposure was great for our brand and also me as an entrepreneur, and the credibility we have now is definitely a massive benefit to us when we meet with clients and also seek more funding.
Ravi Toor (Filamentive)
The Shell LiveWIRE award has helped us scale the company from desktop lab to small R&D facility.
Rowan Minkley (Chip[s] Board)
Shell LiveWIRE's prize helped us progress our development, it gave us the freedom to keep pushing forward at such an early and crucial stage of our company.
Ryan Yasin (Petit Pli)
You can read as many books as you want and take on as much advice as you can, but I still maintain that the best way to understand something is to go out and do it yourself, then you know intimately what to do, what not to do, and how to do it better next time.
Sam Etherington (Aqua Power Technologies)
Test and improve is a key mantra, Shell LiveWIRE has allowed us to do this.
Sam Rogers (Braw Power)
If you have an idea that could benefit society, you owe it to the rest of us to make it happen.
Solveiga Pakštaitė (Mimca)
Standing on the shoulders of the Shell LiveWIRE award has given us great credibility which has helped us attract a world-class consortium of development partners.
Solveiga Pakštaitė (mimica)
It's a fantastic opportunity to get feedback on your idea and accelerate your business
Thomas Fudge (WASE)
The Shell LiveWIRE award was a real help to the progression of Adaptavate and Breathaboard. As early stage startups, we need to validate our work to make sure we are going in the right direction. Shell LiveWIRE not only supported us and provided valuable PR, but it awesome to be part of the ecosystem of other companies and founders that are striving to make a positive change!
Tom Robinson (Adaptavate)
Sensitivity Analysis
Mon, 29 July 2002It is important to know how sensitive your forecast is to changes.


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I originally heard about this game on an #alg1chat on Twitter, read about it here from Math Tales from the Spring. One person called it Ghosts in a Graveyard, and another called it Eggs in a Basket. It just depends on the season.
You will need a worksheet with about 5 problems for students to complete.
Since it's close to Thanksgiving I found some Turkey clipart online and printed them in 3x3 squares, just the perfect size for post-it notes.
Then I stuck the post-it notes over the Turkeys.
And put the paper through the printer again.
Next, you will need to draw some scenes on the board (or make posters to use more than once). I used a farm, a road for the turkeys to cross, a meadow, and a Thanksgiving table.
Give the students the problems to and allow students to work together in their groups to come up with a "perfect" paper. Once a group is absolutely sure that they are done, check their answers and give them a turkey for each problem they have completely correct. The students can then place their turkeys in what ever scene they want. If they want to put all their turkeys in one, that's fine too.
Once all the groups are finished randomly assign a number from 1 to 5 to each scene.
For each turkey a group has in a scene, they receive that many points. The team with the most points wins!!
How did it go?
I felt rushed today because we had an early dismissal with a compressed schedule due to snow. I wasn't able to encourage students to check their work like I wanted to. I also wasn't able to go over the answers. And in one class, only one group finished the problems before the bell rang. Even with all of this going on, the students were into it. They liked working together, and some groups were aware of the importance of accuracy. Now that I have tried the game and know that I like it, I think I will laminate my turkeys and make posters with scenes. This game is a keeper.


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Whether you are looking to install a sliding automatic door at your grocery store or need repair on your retail store's automatic swinging door, there's only one name you need to know in the Harvey area: Preferred Window and Door. We've been providing automatic door services (including installation, repair, replacement, maintenance, and inspection) to Harvey business owners since 1994. No job is too large or too small for our AAADM certified technicians!
To schedule an appointment and request a FREE estimate, call us today at 708-782-4250 or contact us online.
When you are in the market for any type of automatic door installation, we always start with a FREE estimate based on an appointment at your Harvey location, where our experienced estimators bring samples and discuss your needs thoroughly.
They will carefully measure the area for installation and provide a complete estimate so there are no surprises. We then either utilize our own in-house fabrication department to prepare and size the automatic door for an exact fit or order the doors directly from the manufacturer—either way, we will meet your needs.
At every automatic door installation, our uniformed, highly-trained technicians arrive with a truck fully loaded with all the units, parts, and tools to properly install the door or window. On completion, the old parts and materials are taken away, and all that is left is a clean area with a beautiful door or window that is working just as you would expect.
Since Preferred Window and Door is a member of the American Association of Automatic Door Manufacturers (AAADM), every one of our technicians is AAADM trained to make repairs and install every type of automatic door in the market. They are known for their imagination and ingenuity. Importantly, we do not use any sub-contractors.
Preferred Window and Door knows prompt response and reliable repair for automatic doors is very important to maintain convenience and comfort for your customers while reducing liability and operating costs. Commercial property owners in the Preferred Window and Door service area (covering Chicagoland including Harvey) can rely us 24/7 for prompt response from our professional technicians.
Whether you are renovating your commercial property or outfitting a newly-built venue, automatic doors can be used in a wide range of commercial applications. When you meet with one of our AAADM certified technicians at your initial meeting (which comes with a FREE estimate!), you will discuss which type of automatic door will be best for your business and operation. We install:
You'll have the choice of glass, material, hardware, color, and more.
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Harken® ball bearing traveler cars with multipart purchases allow easy adjustment of loaded sails from the cockpit. T3205B and T3205B.HL lightweight soft-attachment cars provide a variety of rigging solutions—athwartship jib or mainsheet systems, for example. Lash Carbo T2™ or Black Magic® Loop blocks to the car for traveler control.
547: 10 mm Torlon Ball Bearing — 25 Balls
DO NOT use Harken equipment for human suspension unless product is specifically certified and labeled for such use.
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Pewaukee, WI 53072, USAMailing & Delivery InformationTel: 262.691.3320 | Fax: 262.701.5780 Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Technical Service: firstname.lastname@example.com our other locations


text: Going through a renovation is no easy task and often takes a toll on the people who live through it. But at the end of the day the end results are worth the experience. For brother-sister duo Alex and Georgie Cleary, creative minds behind fashion label Alpha60, the outcome of their 14-month renovation was a dream come true. They transformed an old community hall into this breathtaking home in Melbourne, Australia. The original building was gutted but they were able to reclaim part of the old timber, metal beams and red brick throughout to maintain the original industrial feel. The house is the perfect space to display their extensive and eclectic artwork they've collected through the years, like the giant shoe sculpture made by Georgia's partner Giuseppe Demaio. This must be a fun place to live particularly with all the special and quirky details these siblings have used in their decor.