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In August of 2002 I received a politely phrased notice from my cable company, Adelphia, addressed to "Dear Valued Customer," announcing that my monthly cable fee would be increasing. The letter explained that "like other businesses, Adelphia constantly faces increases in operational expenses such as wages, specialized training for our employees, utilities, fuel, insurance, equipment…." Missing from the missive? Any mention of another operational expense that no one at Adelphia seemed too happy to discuss. During the unfortunate latter days of his reign, former CEO John Rigas had borrowed $3.1 billion from the company and spread the money around like seed on a sun-scorched lawn. His own lawn, of course. He spent $13 million to build a golf course in his backyard, $150 million to buy the Buffalo Sabres hockey team, $65 million to fund a venture-capital group run by his son-in-law, thousands to maintain his three private jets, and $700,000 for a country-club membership. It's a wonder my bill's not going up a million dollars a month. I just hope Adelphia's subscribers aren't also paying for his bail.
In the superheated 1990s we were told repeatedly that the "democratization of capital" and unparalleled increases in productivity would level the playing field and produce unprecedented gains in everyone's standard of living. Well, far from closing the vast gap between the haves and the have-nots, the lunatic excesses and the frenzy of fraud perpetrated by our high-flying corporate chieftains have left America's 401(k)s and pension plans in ruins and more than 8 million people out of work. Meanwhile, despite the much-vaunted Corporate Responsibility Act and the highly publicized roundup of a few of the most heinous offenders, the awful truth is that the corporate tricksters have pillaged the US economy and gotten away with it. They're still living in their gargantuan houses, still feasting on their wildly inflated salaries and engorging themselves on staggering sums of stock options, while the rest of America tries to figure out how to rebuild for retirement. Or send a kid to college on a worthless stock portfolio.
Since, at its heart, the corporate scandal is a political scandal–corporate money corrupts politicians, who, by passing or neglecting to pass laws, make corporate crime possible and profitable–it's hard to see how we will ever get rid of this corporate hangover until we cure our politicians' unslakable thirst for campaign cash. Ultimately, the only way is by adopting the Clean Money, Clean Elections model, which replaces the nonstop money-grab with full public financing of elections. In the meantime, a whole raft of specific corporate reforms is urgently needed:
§ Treat stock options as the expenses they are. This reform was dropped from the Sarbanes-Oxley bill–a set of financial-sector reforms passed by Congress last summer–even before it hit the Senate floor. Tom Daschle, fresh from getting an earful from venture capitalist and big-time Democratic Party donor John Doerr (Doerr and his wife have given $619,000 to Democrats since 1999), pummeled John McCain's attempt to force a vote on stock-option reform, before jetting off to Nantucket.
§ Make breaching the Chinese wall between research analysts and investment bankers illegal. The Sarbanes-Oxley bill has done nothing to make it harder for investment banks to deceive investors with overly optimistic research, using their research departments to land banking business.
§ Prohibit accounting firms from providing consulting services while auditing a company's books. Under Sarbanes-Oxley, the provision of consulting services by audit firms is only restricted somewhat, not made illegal.


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To the editor: The members of the Portsmouth Fire Department would like to thank everyone who helped out with our annual Seacoast Area Firefighters Toy Bank this year. We are grateful for all of the wonderful gifts and toys that were donated. Because of the many generous donations, we were able to provide toys, clothing, winter jackets, pants, hats, and mittens to the many families that were in need this Christmas.
A special thank you goes out to Kane Real Estate for the donation of office space to work out of while sorting and distributing all the gifts. We would like to also thank The City of Portsmouth Welfare office, G. Willikers! on Market St, Direct Capital, Waddell & Reed, Provident Bank on Daniel St, TD Bank at Pease, Moe's of Portsmouth, Wing-itz on Lafayette Rd, Patriots Park, K-Mart, Walmart, Old Navy, Volk Packaging Corp of Biddeford, The Dust Busters, as well as the many other groups and individuals that have donated making this yet another successful year.
Thank You to all of the hard working members of the Seacoast Area Firefighters Toy Bank, Portsmouth Firefighters Local 1313, Portsmouth Fire Officers Local 4039, Portsmouth Firefighters Charitable Association, and to the Portsmouth Fire Department's administrative staff for making this another successful year!
Steve Morse
Portsmouth Firefighters
Local #1313
Seacoast Area
Firefighters Toy Bank
To the editor: Just wanted to say thank you to the city and businesses of Dover for your wonderful downtown Christmas display.
On Christmas Eve we traveled home to Maine from Rhode Island, taking the scenic route through Dover and other New Hampshire towns. Dover truly stood out, with your shooting stars hanging from the lampposts to the lights and decorations in the store windows.
We drove around a couple of times to take it all in and have been telling everyone we know how lovely it was.
So again, thank you for helping to make our Christmas Eve travels so enjoyable and memorable. Happy New Year and God bless.
Deb and Jack Dean
Naples, Maine
To the editor: In Foster's, the town of Barrington boldly announced it would not be responsible for damage to personal property within 50 feet of the roadway. This is tantamount to claiming they are not responsible should a town vehicle strike my legally parked automobile. I doubt that would hold up in a court of law. Once again, it is open season for the town's snow plows.
Our mail box has been struck multiple times over the past few years by a town of Barrington snow plow. Twice it has been destroyed. The first time I reported it to the town clerk who recorded my name and address letting me know I would be reimbursed for the cost of replacement. Nothing was forthcoming. The second time, the plow operator stopped to apologize. He was very sorry, but informed me I had no recourse to compensation. I personally appealed to a meeting of the Board of Selectmen, but it fell on deaf ears. This is absolutely unjust. When will the town of Barrington realize they are responsible for the actions of their contractors and assume responsibility on behalf of its citizens?
Randal Heller
To the editor: In the Foster's of Dec. 26 there is a Community Commentary by Mr. Wayne Merritt, in which, by innuendo, he suggests America would be better off emulating the Japanese attitude toward guns. He suggests Japan is a peaceful society. He describes himself as a "Japanophile".
I would suggest that as a "Japanophile," Mr. Merritt has blinders on. Japan in the 20th century was one of the most barbaric countries on the planet. Their cruelty exceeded even that of Nazi Germany. Does Mr. Merritt fail to remember the Batan Death March, the Cabutain Prison Camp, the Rape of Nanking? How about the use of POW's as slave labor for construction projects. Remember the "Bridge Over the River Kwai"?
Japan is a country steeped in the tradition of Bushido. Japan, even today is a society of strict "class." They still have an emperor. In the middle of the 20th century failure to follow orders resulted in instant death in the same manner of the Islamic Terrorists ... they cut off your head.
To suggest, as Mr. Merritt does in his article that Japan is "Gun Free" is flat out not true. Japanese gangsters, the Yakuza, are all heavily armed — between 1985 and 1989 there were over 200 gunbattles between Yakuza factions. There were 26 killed and many many more wounded including innocent bystanders. Obviously, the Yakuza didn't get the word that they weren't supposed to have guns, or maybe since they were gangsters they didn't care what the law said?
In a 1990 gunbattle between the police and gangsters seven people were killed, including 2 policeman. Feel free to check out the Internet and you will find a long list of crimes committed in Japan with guns. But that's not all ... they also have knives and swords.
-- In 2001, a 37-year-old school janitor killed eight elementary school students and wounded 13 with a kitchen knife.
-- In 2008, a man drove a truck into a crowd of shoppers, jumped out and started knifing the survivors. He killed seven, injured 11.
This goes to prove that the NRA is correct when the say that if someone wants to kill, they will find a way, gun or no gun.
The NRA is absolutely correct when they say the best defense against a "bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun". I am a life member of the NRA. I carry a gun in my line of work which is security. Demonizing gun owners is not only counterproductive, it is short-sighted, foolish and might I even say stupid.
Tom Seiler
To the editor: Senator Kelly Ayotte is confused and conflicted, financially, politically and logically. On one hand she rants and rails against "out of control" government spending. On the other hand she supports the ridiculously expensive concept of creating Guantanamo Bay II to hold future captured terrorists. Foreign policy and national security were never Ayotte's areas of expertise, and she won't change that fact with this latest wild idea.
We have to assume that she is aware that it costs $800K to hold a prisoner in Gitmo, over 30 times more than at federal maximum security facilities. I am sure she also fully understands both the excellent capabilities of our federal prisons and that the system has space available.
Most Republicans, if presented with such a redundant proposal by an Obama administration official, would suggest that person be sent to one of those federal prisons. But not Kelly Ayotte, she seems to favor "borrowing from the Chinese" to build an off-shore prison which isn't needed and will cost many multiples of a home based facility to operate.
Ayotte has such disrespect for legal rights that she wants terrorists held, indefinitely, without due process. Further to this point, in last year's defense bill, she proposed an amendment to legalize torture. This is extremely disappointing behavior from the former NH Attorney General who seems to have forgotten what she learned in law school about individual's rights.
Ayotte is driven not by fiscal responsibility or basic logic but by political ideology. Neither does she recognize the hypocrisy of condemning Obama for not believing in "American Exceptionalism" while at the same time insulting the American justice system and the Federal Bureau of Prisons as incapable of prosecuting and incarcerating any additional terrorists. They seem to have done very well with the terrorists associated with 9/11.
Senator Ayotte would do better to concentrate her funding efforts on the Berlin federal prison. The Berlin facility has sat empty for two years, I repeat empty for two years, due to a lack of operating funding and would provide 400-500 local jobs once opened.
Dave Potter
North Hampton
To the editor: God has welcomed twenty-six angels into his home above where they will be safe, wrapped in the arms of God, with the serenity of peace and love.
So young and yet so innocent, not knowing what tomorrow will bring their love, their laughter, and their smiles as our Angels they will sing.
They will sing in your hearts, and you will always hear, the voice of your loved one for they have no fear.
Let the faith and strength begin to heal you since God took your loved ones away
Rest in peace, my little angels 'til we all meet again someday.
Barbara A. Rogers
To the editor: I got to say that having more gun control is a great idea. Those that want to hunt that is fine. Those that want to target practice that is fine. But let's get rid of the semiautomatics.
Those that should have those type of guns should be those that are in service, like police and those that are in service. Those that are target practicing, like here in town, should not be allowed to do so. Who is to say that they will in turn use those guns on any of us. We don't know what they will do with them.
Believe in protecting their property and such but they can do that with regular guns and not those that fire more than two shots at a time. The Police Department. here in town allows people to target practice with such guns. It sounds like a war zone.
I can image what it was like with the children and teachers that was in the school when the person, mentally ill person, went in and shot and killed 26. We need stricter laws when it comes to semi-automatic guns and guns of the same type. We don't need to outlaw guns for it will be like it is with outlawing marijuana. They will get them no matter what. We need to make sure that mentally ill people can't get hands on guns period. How to do that is what is needed. Am afraid for my life also knowing that the police allow people to target practice, for four hours, with such guns.
Belinda Gleason
To the editor: What Mr. "NRA" LaPierre keeps getting quoted on, since his news conference, is, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." When a good guy with a gun came upon the scene of Congresswoman Giffords' shooting, he nearly drew on a bystander who was holding down the shooter. That looked like a bad guy to him, fast assessment. A good guy with a gun coming along can extend the emptying of weapons' ammo. More chance for struck or dead bystanders.
What comes to mind is that in the wide world, the reasoning LaPierre uses is precisely the one that keeps our military spending rising way beyond the spending of all the rest of the world combined. The U.S. spends insanely into huge debt on our military (while other needs are neglected), so we can be the good guy with the gun coming along to take out the bad guy with the gun. We are the NRA to the rest of the world. No wonder LaPierre doesn't see his reasoning as laughable.
Really, for the cultural change we need, post Sandy Hook Elementary's victims, we must draw back from ammo-releasing and fighting as solution to problems. Exploration of options is needed. How else can we get to peace without obliteration being the result of our "helping"? I look for leadership that thinks this through and breaks the mold that gets us perpetual and costly war and war readiness. Everyday and non-stop war, sadly, accustoms us to death and murder. This can and must change.
Lynn Rudmin Chong
To the editor: I am writing this letter to thank the members of AARP's six chapters here in Maine. Maine is number one in all of New England when it comes to food insecurity. Especially during the winter months many in our state grapple with keeping food on the table. AARP's six chapters made an extraordinary effort to help by hosting local food drives that support food pantries and other programs such as Meals on Wheels.
The chapters collected more than 6,500 pounds of food this year and several made sizable cash donations as well. These contributions will go a long way toward helping low-income Mainers who might otherwise go hungry in the coming months.
As they did last year, many local businesses participated in the AARP Chapter food drives making the effort a true community affair. With Maine ranking ninth in the nation for food insecurity, it is especially important for us all to be aware of the needs of others.
AARP was founded more than 50 years ago by a retired educator, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, who recognized the power of community and the difference each one of us can make through "creating the good." We applaud the AARP chapters for their dedication and generosity.
Greg Cross
AARP Maine Community Outreach Director
To the editor: While I do not often quote or even read the Bible, many of those who are strong gun rights supporters, and so called "Christians", often use the Bible to support their views. During the current debate regarding the need for some reasonable gun safety legislation, a biblical quote came to mind. The quote comes directly from Jesus when he was being arrested by the Romans in the garden of Gethsemane. Peter pulls a sword to defend Jesus, Jesus tells him to put it away and that "all who draw the sword will die by the sword" (Matthew 26:52).
These words from Jesus are more relevant today than when He first spoke them. Those calling for more guns in response to the continuing gun violence in America need to heed the words of Jesus. More guns will simply lead to more gun violence, and those who use and possess guns will be and are more likely to die from guns.
The time is long past due to place reasonable limits on gun and gun related equipment. Every right we have, even those provided by the Second Amendment, come with limits. Every right also requires that we behave responsibility in the exercise of those rights. When the rights of an individual place the greater society at risk then it is appropriate for that society to place reasonable and lawful restrictions on those rights.
The time has come for sane gun safety legislation.
Rich DiPentima
To the editor: This is an open letter to U.S. Sen. Ayottte.
After the massacre at Sandy Hook, too many parents are living with empty bedrooms. We cannot fathom the agony that has been injected into the lives of those families.
Yes, citizens have a constitutional right to bear arms, but as a society we have a responsibility to prevent slaughter and remove the horrendous specter that assault guns and rifles casts over everyone of us. While the fiscally irrational, big government suggestion from the NRA insults our intelligence, your deflection of the real issue to mental health screams that you are more concerned for your political career and the health of a political party than for our society and nation.
Article 10 of our State Constitution implores us to protect our democracy from private interest or emolument (political career) behavior of our representatives. So as a responsible citizen, I am writing to you to insist that you step up and represent us now. I am also sending this to New Hampshire newspapers with the hope that all other responsible citizens will also contact you. lease have the political will to do what is best for our nation by removing assault guns, rifles and the ownership of excessive volumes of ammunition from citizens. If you cannot, then I would ask you to step down so that someone with more conviction to the whole of our society can represent us.
Steven Borne

subset: commoncrawl


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2013-11-05 - Posted by ryuo
The Frugalware Developer Team is pleased to announce the immediate availability of Frugalware 1.9, our nineteenth stable release.
No new features have been added since 1.9rc2. If you didn't follow the changes during the pre/rc releases, here are the most important changes since 1.8 in no particular order:
- Updated packages: Linux kernel 3.10.17, XOrg server 1.14.2, GNOME 3.8, KDE 4.11, LibreOffice 184.108.40.206, Mozilla Firefox 22.0 to name a few major components.
- netconfig has been replaced by NetworkManager
- frugalwareutils has been replaced by the new fvbeutils
- vi binary symlinks are now configurable, used to be hardcoded to their packages
- old display-manager-legacy.service has been dropped for the new systemd method of individual service files
- console keymaps and x11 keymaps are now managed by the systemd method
Please refer to the Frugalware Arcturus ChangeLog for more information.
Download for i686, x86_64, and arm: See our mirror list. Don't forget to check the integrity of the install images before burning!
NOTE: Click here to read more about what media you need for the installation.
If you are upgrading to Arcturus from our previous stable release (Cinna), please read the upgrade part of our documentation.


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PARIS (AP) — Air France-KLM said Friday its losses mounted sharply in the first quarter compared to a year earlier, when earnings were boosted by a gain in the value of oil price hedging contracts the airline uses to manage its fuel costs.
Air France-KLM said in a statement it lost 630 million euros ($821 million) in the January-March quarter, compared to a loss of 379 million euros a year earlier. Last year's result benefited from a 220 million euros gain on the airline's hedging contracts.
The airline, in the midst of a three-year turnaround plan, said it hopes to strengthen its position by paying down debt and reducing staff costs further.
Air France-KLM is struggling to compete against low-cost carriers and has said it expects to cut about 5,000 people in its workforce of 49,000. It said the plan is on track despite "a difficult and uncertain environment."
The company saw passenger activity rise 0.8 percent in the quarter while capacity was held nearly steady. Passenger revenue rose 1.4 percent to 4.5 billion euros.
Shares in the Franco-Dutch holding company dropped 4.3 percent to 7.65 euros a share as of midday Friday.


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Dear Amy: My husband and I read your column aloud every morning, ponder what you might say and often reply exactly as you would.
Now we have a question for you. This involves someone I would have characterized as a close friend until this year. She relocated to another city many years ago. I've happily visited her and we've traveled together as well.
I had a serious health scare this summer and let her know of it when she wrote suggesting a possible visit with us. When she comes to town to care for her aging parents, she sometimes stays overnight at our house.
For five months she continued sending us proposed dates when she would be in the area, never including a word of response to any news from me concerning my health. Finally, I let her partner know my concern about her lack of response. Her partner had been very supportive about my surgeries.
My inquiry prompted the friend to send me a vague letter about how she had missed the news about me, can't go back or undo, but can only go forward. No word of caring about the health episode, yet providing the dates she'll next be here. My husband thinks she is lying. She has a history of not keeping up her end of things, yet never to this extreme.
I'm well now; the parade of sad, mad and ugh has passed. Do I reply or remain silent and let her figure out that I'm through with this friendship? I'd like to express a clear view, kindly, from the high road, even though she has not. — Fan of the Golden Rule
Dear Fan: You had to go and bring the golden rule into this. And so you can also use this rule to calculate your own best answer.
Treat your friend as you would like to be treated — with honesty, compassion and understanding. Her lack of concern may seem strange, but I find it is surprisingly common. In my experience, people who respond well to a health crisis have a sort of perfect pitch for calamity. The rest of us freak out and run to our corners, and then try to cover up for our own inadequacy by acting vague and quickly trying to change the subject. This behavior is not right. It's not fair. But can you forgive her for this major failing?
You're through with the sad, mad and ugh part of your illness. You cannot use silence and inattention to convey your message (that's her trick). If you don't want this friendship to continue, you'll have to be honest with her about the reason.
Dear Amy: I enjoy your column and I agree with most of your advice. However, as an OB-GYN, I take issue with your advice to "David in California" regarding his daughter's excessive weight gain. You stated "she could also be using birth control, which might cause some weight gain." The vast majority of birth control does not cause weight gain, the exception being the Depo-Provera shot. Even that has been shown to cause 10 to 15 pounds, not 70.
Studies on thousands of women on the pill show they do not gain more weight than their counterparts. Most women gain some weight over time, but women on the pill tend to blame it on the pill, which is why this myth perpetuates.
I spend a lot of my clinic time dispelling the myth of weight gain and contraceptives. My counseling includes: "What really causes weight gain is an unplanned pregnancy." This puts it into perspective. — OB in Washington
Dear Ob: I was trying to encourage this father to explore and discuss possible medical or physical reasons for weight gain. Thank you for clarifying that birth control would not be the reason.
Dear Amy: "Tired" didn't like the fact that her son's fiancee didn't jump up to help with the dishes at a family meal. In my family, this would have been thought very intrusive and rude.
This young woman simply might have been raised differently. This mother should get to know her future daughter-in-law. — Polite
Dear Polite: I agree. Thank you.
Send questions via e-mail to email@example.com or write to Ask Amy, Chicago Tribune, TT500, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.


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Former New Frontier president runs for City Council in 2015
Veteran Los Angeles community activist and former New Frontier Democratic Club President Bobbie Jean Anderson has earned the endorsements of incumbent City Councilman Bernard C. Parks and Congresswoman Maxine Waters in her bid for the 8th District City Council Seat in 2015. "I am running because I was asked to run, I was sought out," Anderson told the Sentinel during an exclusive interview on Monday March 3. "Councilman Parks called me and informed me that people had unanimously suggested that I would be the best person to succeed him." Parks will be termed out as 8th District Council member.
Anderson filed to run for the seat in September 2013.
"After much thought, I have come to the conclusion that Bobbie Jean Anderson is the best candidate to preside over the 8th council district in 2015 because of her long time residency, strong ties to the Democratic Party, and her very courageous representation of the district during the redistricting process," explained Councilmember Parks.
She is a former three-term New Frontier president from 2000-2002 and current Trustee of the prestigious club.
Anderson first became prominent in 1989 when she joined several homeowners who were victims of eminent domain due to the expansion of the I-110 freeway.
Contesting that Caltrans was dealing in bad faith with the owners, Anderson along with then Assemblywoman Waters, led 150 homeowners to fight for fair market values of their homes and appropriate relocation benefits for tenants.
The event catapulted Anderson into the community and political activist that she is today.
Subsequently she earned the appointment to the LAPD Commission in 1993 by late Mayor Tom Bradley and was reappointed by Mayor Richard Riordan.
Recently she was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to the Barbering and Cosmetology Board in October 2012.
She has also been elected Delegate to the five Democratic National Conventions beginning in 1992 and ending in 2012.
She currently serves as Vice Chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party; trustee and past three-term President of New Frontier and currently serves as Communication and Publicity Chair.
A retiree of the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office 2003 and retired Field Representative for Assemblyman Mike Davis-48th District, Anderson has been a resident of the 8th District for more than 30 years.
Anderson ran unsuccessfully for the California State Assembly in 1996 that was won by Rod Wright and while this will be her second contest for public office, she has received the rare support of the incumbent.
"I am excited and honored to even be considered by Councilmember Parks to replace him on the city council. He has done many great things in South L.A. and I am humbled by his trust in me to preserve his legacy and continue to make sure that South L.A. gets its fair share of city services."


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Alright, i got Verizon DSL, i just got it like a week ago.
The problem:
I log into Win2K, and guess what, no IP. i cant ping, i cant trace route. my cd-rom goes wack.
So im thinking, well if its my NIC, then it shouldnt work in Linux, WRONG! it works fine in linux, my nic works, cd-rom works, everything is fine. why do i think its not the service? because the laptop that i have on the mini network is working fine, and its working 2k
The confusion:
I downloaded Mcafee, and well.... it didnt find anything wrong. so i dont know. I have windows on a seperate partition then the rest of the system.
The solution: Well im asking you! have you seen a viruse like that? or is it just my hardware and WIN2k acting up again.


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Someone asked me to send them an Outlook invitation. I'm not on Outlook and don't want to set up an email account just to send them an invitation.
Is there a way to send an Outlook invitation from Gmail?
There is no specific invite for an Outlook user within the default Gmail interface. Since you can send a calendar invitation within Gmail now testing the behavior of Outlook should be trivial.
Generally speaking varying clients such as Outlook, Lotus Notes, Thunderbird, etc... acknowledge the invites from a differing client; however in some cases they don't.
Based on information from this thread it appears that at least towards the end of 2007 they stopped working; going from Gmail to Outlook.
The best option is to simply send a standard calendar invitation within Gmail to see how Outlook responds.
I just tested this by creating an event in my Google Apps Calendar to my Outlook 2010 calendar at work. It successfully came through as a calendar invite, and upon accepting, it was added to my Outlook calendar, Google calendar and the acceptance response email was received in the GMail.


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Egyptian filmmaker Tamer El Said of Zero Production and The Kite Runner star and filmmaker Khalid Abdalla spearhead creation of Cimatheque theatre.
Egypt is set to get its first independent, art-house screen with the opening of the Cimatheque in downtown Cairo early next year.
"In Egyptian slang, cima means cinema," says the new venue's Iraqi-French coordinator Hana Al Bayaty, explaining the name.
Egyptian filmmaker Tamer El Said of Zero Production and The Kite Runner star and filmmaker Khalid Abdalla are spearheading the project.
The aim is to offer an alternative screening space to Egypt's heavily censored, mainstream theatres. At present, it is difficult for independent filmmakers to show their work theatrically.
The new theatre is situated in the same building as Zero Production and the Mosireen Collective, the influential civic journalism initiative, Abdalla helped set-up.
Although the 100-seat space - created by knocking two apartments together — is still under construction and not scheduled to officially open until next May, it has been operating on a makeshift basis for months.
'We're not open but we're open," says Al Bayati. "We're under renovation but we decided to use the space anyway… despite the conditions not being very comfortable the space is systematically packed… after the revolution, there is a thirst and eagerness to see alternative films. They have a critical view but the openness of a virgin mind… it's beautiful."
Over the summer, Al Bayati organised a programme of experimental works including a series of Super 8 films to come out of a Cairo workshop revolving shooting on film called Analogue Zone.
"We also showed films from independent labs in Europe such as LaborBerlin, Greek LabA and No.w.here in London," she added.
Al Bayati also opened up the programme to the audience over Ramadan, running July to August this year, for a season of screenings entitled Ramadan Movie Nights.
"It's the tradition during Ramadan to watch films. We set up a page on our Facebook page calling on people to programme a night… we ended up with a Sudanese night, a short films night and a retrospective night. They were all very different and all bringing in a different audience," said Al Bayati. "We're toying with the idea of curating 60% of the programme and then leaving the other 40% to the audience."
Alongside the screening facilities, the Cimatheque space will also feature a cafeteria, workshop space, video library and a laboratory for hand processing and digitalising super 8mm and 16mm film.
Al Bayati was speaking at the Dubai International Film Festival on the eve of a critical referendum vote in Egypt on Saturday on a draft constitution law, which has pitted Islamists against a liberal, secular and Christian opposition in deadly clashes.
"We don't know what is going to happen," says Al Bafaty. "It's difficult for me to comment because I am not an Egyptian citizen but I can see that my Egyptian colleagues are split between focusing on these new alternatives and hitting the street," Al Bayati. "The fact the situation is unstable means we can push boundaries in a way that was impossible for thirty years, but may be impossible again in the very near future."


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I gave a keynote at the North Atlantic Health Sciences Library meeting (NAHSL 2009) this week, entitled Semantic Web Technologies: Changing Bibliographic Futures? My introductory tour of semantic web technology and its application to libraries. It is no small challenge to summarize an acronym-rich and rapidly changing domain such as the semantic web, and fit it into the context of a particular domain such as librarianship, and end up making sense. Others may better judge my success.
My single slide on OWL, the Web ontology language that has been approved as a W3C standard, was, I'm afraid, somewhat dismissive of the real world benefits of the use of ontologies. I made what I believe to be an entirely defensible assertion that ontologies decline in usefulness rapidly as the scope of their application increases. To put it differently, ontologies may be useful in a constrained domain where a community has a well-structured vocabulary that is precisely specified. Their usefulness as a means to model (and interrogate) large, cross domain information models is less obvious.
The keynote immediately following my own was given by Judith Blake, of the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, ME. She is a leader in the Gene Ontology project, which is
a major bioinformatics initiative with the aim of standardizing the representation of gene and gene product attributes across species and databases. The project provides a controlled vocabulary of terms for describing gene product characteristics and gene product annotation data from GO Consortium members, as well as tools to access and process this data.
Judith's talk was an impressive explication of a community-based effort to bring coherence to a large body of data and publications in the genomic information domain, and make the results open and web-accessible. Worth noting, that this is accomplished only through ongoing maintenance of the ontologies, and extensive human-mediated tagging of information assets 'out there' in the wild. A costly, ongoing endeavor that reinforces the notion that there is often no simple, automated path to embedding semantics on the Web.
The mantra of many of those in the linked data community is simply free the data -- get it out there, and people will figure out what to do with it. There is a great deal of truth in this, but also a long term trap. Data is not always static and immutable. It often requires ongoing maintenance -- correction of errors, updating, enriching. The long term utility of linked data will depend in part on the quality of the data, and even using the latest and greatest tools of the coolest technologies available, the benefit of the data is only as good as the effort invested in maintaining it.
The Maine coast at the Samoset Resort, site of NAHSL 2009


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House Passes Bill to Support Renewable Energy
Sunday, August 5, 2007
The House yesterday passed a far-reaching package of energy legislation that would promote conservation and the use of renewable resources at the expense of the country's oil and gas interests.
The bill, which passed 241 to 172, would require more energy efficiency in appliances, buildings and power grids, which proponents of the bill say would reduce carbon dioxide emissions and electricity use. It calls for more energy efficiency measures in the Capitol building. It also would provide grants for studies to promote ethanol pipelines, installation of pumps for 85 percent ethanol fuel at gas stations and production of cellulosic ethanol.
The Democrats also won passage of a provision that would require that 15 percent of electricity from private utilities come from solar, wind or other renewable energy sources. It would be the first such requirement to apply to all the states.
The House last night also passed, 221 to 189, a companion tax package, totaling nearly $16 billion, that targets the oil and gas industry. In a letter to Congress, however, the Bush administration said Friday that the two House measures would result in less domestic oil and gas production. The letter said President Bush's senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bills.
Since taking control of Congress last year, the Democrats have identified the reordering of the nation's energy priorities as an important goal that would position their party as the principal advocates for environmentally friendly policies.
"This is the historic break with the fossil-fuel past and the beginning of the solar wind renewable era in the United States," said Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. "People will look back at this as the turning point where Congress began to embrace renewable energy."
However, the energy bill omitted several proposals, including other mandates for renewable energy, incentives for coal-to-liquid production and a tougher vehicle fuel-economy standard contained in a Senate package that was passed in June. They could be taken up later this year, when the House and Senate reconcile their energy bills, or in a possible bill on global warming.
"There are many things that will put the strength of the federal government behind energy conservation and renewable energy," Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) said of the House legislation. "This bill is some of the low-hanging fruit -- the issues that we can agree upon across regions. This is a warm-up for us to tackle those tougher issues."
Republicans pilloried the bill for ignoring ways to boost the nation's traditional energy supplies -- labeling it the Democrats' "energy scarcity bill." Republicans challenged Democrats for doing nothing to promote nuclear power, coal-to-liquid plants or new oil offshore drilling in federal waters.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) launched a drive for a new energy bill in January, but Democrats struggled over key issues. The byproduct of 10 committees, the "consensus" energy bill nearly came unraveled in skirmishes over turf and regional conflicts.
Pelosi has had to mollify members from oil- and gas-producing districts by changing provisions on oil royalties and permitting. Democrats also had to contend with opposition to the renewable electricity mandate by lawmakers from Southern states, where officials say they lack the wind or hydropower resources to meet those standards.
Earlier in the week, Rep. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), the lead sponsor of the provision, lowered the mandate from 20 to 15 percent, broadening support for the measure. Later in negotiations, supporters made another change allowing states to achieve up to 4 percent of the new mandate through efficiency. The provision passed as an amendment to the energy bill by a vote of 220 to 190.
The House energy bill left out vehicle fuel economy increases included in the Senate bill, in the face of heavy opposition from auto lobbyists, the United Auto Workers and Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.).
Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, wants to make auto fuel usage part of a broad climate change bill later in the year.
Throughout the year, Dingell squared off with Markey, a principal supporter of higher fuel economy standards. With that fight moving to a conference committee, Markey said yesterday that he wants a seat at that table.


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Dear Abby: My mother-in-law passed away recently. She was a wonderful woman, a caring and loving role model to her children and grandchildren. In her will, she left a diamond ring to her daughter, "Mimi," a diamond ring to me and the remainder of her jewelry to her grandchildren. Her house and its contents were to be divided equally between her son and daughter.
My children received a box from Mimi filled with Mom's costume jewelry. All of her expensive jewelry was missing. When I asked about the missing items, Mimi said they were in the box, and she had taken photos to prove it. My husband noticed that many valuable items were missing from the family home, as well.
Recently, my daughter and I ran into my sister-in-law in a restaurant and saw she was wearing one of the pieces of jewelry that had been intended for my children. When I asked Mimi to please take it off and give it to my daughter, she replied that she couldn't because she was "still grieving." Any advice on how to handle this?
— Heartbroken in Washington
Dear Heartbroken: What a shame. Who was the executor of your mother-in-law's will? That person should have been overseeing the disposition of her property, and that is the person you should contact now to see the deceased's wishes are complied with. If Mimi was the executor, then your next step should be to contact an attorney.
Dear Abby: I am a 25-year-old male who is still a virgin. It bugs me knowing that uglier, disgusting, less intelligent guys are having sex, while I — compassionate, smart, educated and good-looking — am not. What am I supposed to do? What is the secret to finally losing my virginity?
This has been bothering me lately because I have lost a lot of weight and feel better about myself, but it still isn't happening. I used to be extremely shy, but the confidence I gained from the weight loss has helped me in talking to strangers.
I don't get it. I feel like life is playing a cruel joke on me. I feel like the only virgin in the room. Please give me some advice.
— Ready for More
Dear Ready: Please take a moment and re-read the second sentence of your letter. If you do, you will realize that while you have lost the weight, you have not lost the anger you must have felt when, for years, you went unnoticed. The chances of losing your virginity — and more important, having a relationship — will improve if you talk to a psychologist. Unless you do, as smart, educated and good-looking as you now are, the "vibe" you emit may continue to repel women. I have seen this happen, so please give my advice serious consideration.
Dear Abby: Our son and daughter-in-law live out of state. They have a 1-year-old daughter. For their anniversary, we sent them a gift certificate saying we would pay for a night out on the town, including a hotel of their choice in the city where they live. We offered to watch our granddaughter and their dogs while they enjoyed themselves.
Their response was a resounding no! They said that it was the most selfish gift we had ever given them because it wasn't for them; it was so we could baby-sit. What do you think?
— Grandma Gayle
Dear Grandma Gayle: I think their manners are atrocious. How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!
Write Dear Abby at DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.


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Everyone Take a Half-Day: Conor Kennedy and Taylor Swift Broke Up
Ho-lee shit. No one believed Jessica P. when she told everyone in AP Calc that Conor Kennedy would be hers by Fall Formal, but it looks like that bitch somehow managed to pull it off: Us Weekly reports that Taylor Swift and Conor Kennedy have broken up.
According to the magazine, a "close friend" of Taylor's says that the couple "quietly parted ways a while ago," after Conor's dad came home around 11, paid Taylor ("$30, Mr. K! He's been asleep for hours."), and drove her home.
"It was just a distance thing. No hard feelings. They're fine."
Kennedy, 18, attends high school in Massachusetts. Swift, 22 , is a global superstar.
The pair began dating over the summer.
Taylor, a dark Christmas elf, is rumored to have become enamored of the Kennedys last year, when she gushed to Rolling Stone about having read "a 900-page-book called The Kennedy Women, which dates back to the lineage of the first Kennedys coming from Ireland in the 1800s."
The singer, who is notoriously private about her love life except for the fact that she giggles when you say her boyfriend's name and writes songs about it constantly, is not expected to comment on the alleged split.
To read Gawker's complete coverage of the Swift-Kennedy saga, click here.


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Wuerffel, Testaverde, Pace, Dayne lead college HOF class
NEW YORK — The only time Tommie Frazier and Danny Wuerffel shared the field during their brilliant college careers, Frazier's Nebraska team trampled Wuerffel and Florida in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl to win the national championship.
Wuerffel and the Gators bounced back from that record-breaking 62-24 smackdown to take the title the next season.
The former quarterbacks will cross paths again in December, when they are inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Wuerffel and Frazier, along with Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne, highlighted the latest Hall of Fame class of 12 players and two coaches announced by the National Football Foundation on Tuesday.
The rest of the players to be inducted in Manhattan are: Miami Heisman winner Vinny Testaverde, whose selection was announced Monday; Ted Brown of North Carolina State; Tedy Bruschi of Arizona; Jerry Gray of Texas; Steve Meilinger of Kentucky; Orlando Pace of Ohio State; Rod Shoate of Oklahoma; Percy Snow of Michigan State; and Don Trull of Baylor.
The new Hall of Fame coaches are Wayne Hardin, who led Navy and Temple, and Bill McCartney of Colorado.
Florida and Nebraska fans have been eagerly awaiting the inductions of their beloved All-Americans for years.
Wuerffel won the Heisman in 1996, when he led the Gators to the national championship, throwing for 3,625 yards and 39 touchdowns in coach Steve Spurrier's Fun-n-Gun offense.
"I'm thankful for what college football has meant in my life … and how it allowed me to help other people," said Wuerffel, who appeared at a news conference with Bruschi at the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in Times Square.
Wuerffel finished his college career as one of the most prolific passers in major college football history with 10,875 yards and 114 touchdown passes.
After a short NFL career, he retired to dedicate himself to ministry work in New Orleans, where he played from 1997-99 with the Saints.
In 2011, Wuerffel was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder — Guillain-Barre syndrome, which causes paralysis and problems with the nervous system but is treatable.
Wuerffel said he is just about all the way back to his old self, but endured a difficult year and a half with little energy or strength.
"You're trying to live a normal life with 20 percent of your energy, 40 percent of your energy," he said.
Frazier was a four-year starter at Nebraska, running coach Tom Osborne's option attack, and helped the Huskers to national titles in 1994 and `95. His famous tackling-breaking 75-yard touchdown run put an exclamation point on Nebraska's 62-24 victory over Wuerffel and Florida in that '96 Fiesta Bowl.
"I've seen that run a lot of times," Wuerffel said.
That loss helped propel the Gators into next season, Wuerffel said.
"I think most people would say the 1995 team was more talented," he said. "I think (the loss to Nebraska) helped that team mature."
Frazier finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1995 as a senior and finished his career with 5,476 total yards of offense and 79 total touchdowns.
"You never play the game and think you are going to be in the Hall of Fame one day," Frazier said in a statement released by Nebraska. "You just go out and try to be the best you can and whatever happens, happens. I was fortunate good things happened."
Bruschi had 52 sacks as part of Arizona's Desert Swarm defenses during the mid-1990s.
"I don't know who came up with that nickname, but thank you," Bruschi said.
–Dayne is the NCAA's career rushing leader with 6,397 yards rushing, though his bowl game yards would boost his career total past 7,000 yards if he played at a time when the NCAA counted them in regular season stats. The burly tailback won the Heisman for the Badgers in 1999.
–Brown left North Carolina State as the Atlantic Coast Conference's leader in rushing yards (4,602) and touchdowns (51).
–Gray is one of the top defensive backs to play at Texas. He finished his career with 16 interceptions and 297 tackles.
–Meilinger was a star on offense, defense and special teams for Paul "Bear" Bryant at Kentucky in the early 1950s.
–Pace is considered one of the most dominant offensive linemen in college football history. He finished fourth in the Heisman voting in 1996.
–Shoate led the Sooners in tackles for three straight seasons during his career from 1972-74.
–Snow became the first player to win the Butkus award as the nation's top linebacker and the Lombardi as the top linemen or linebacker as a senior with Michigan State in 1989.
–Trull passed for more than 4,000 yards and 27 touchdowns for the Bears from 1961-63.
–Hardin coached Joe Bellino and Roger Staubach to the Heisman Trophy at Navy in the 1960s, and then went on to become the most successful coach in Temple history.
–McCartney helped turn Colorado from a cellar dweller to a national title contender in the 1990s.


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Ontario County Sheriff's Office investigators said a Canandaigua man was charged Monday, Oct. 28, with third-degree criminal mischief after an investigation revealed he allegedly poured a container of his urine over the interior of a vehicle and into the defroster vents on or about Sept. 27.
Investigators allege Glenn R. Houle, 81, of 143 N. Main St., Apt. 7, caused approximately $1,200 in damage to the vehicle.
Houle was also charged Oct. 16 with second-degree criminal mischief. According to deputies, he caused $8,500 in damage to the victim's vehicle on Oct. 2 by allegedly pouring two quarts of his own urine over the interior of the vehicle, along with inside the defroster vents. The interior damage rendered the vehicle unusable, and the damage was covered by the victim's insurance company, deputies said.
Investigators said the two incidents involved separate victims.
Houle was arraigned in Farmington Town Court and released on his own recognizance. He is scheduled to appear in Canandaigua Town Court.


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Surely France isn't wooing Washington away from that "special relationship." Right?
Don't mess with the R.A.F.
Photographer: Matthew Chattle/Barcroft Media, via Getty Images
A leaked letter from U.S. Defense SecretaryJames Mattisto his U.K. counterpart Gavin Williamsonsuggests that the U.S. is unhappy with U.K. military spending.Mattis even appeared to hint that France mighttake the U.K.'splace as the preferredmilitary partner unless the Brits get their act together.
But wait a minute: Of NATO members, isn't the U.K. an A student when it comes to defense spending? According to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, only the U.S. and barely solvent Greece spent a greater share of economic output on defense last year. Moreover, unlike most other NATO members, the U.K. has consistently spent more than 2 percent of its gross domestic product on the military, never failing to fulfill the obligationthat U.S. President Donald Trump has held up as a measure of loyalty to the alliance.
Ten biggest military spenders in NATO in terms of GDP share
Source: NATO
In absolute terms, too, it's the second-biggest defense spender in NATO afterthe U.S., with $55 billion in last year's outlay. And it's not spending most of its budget on personnel, the way Turkey and many of the smaller alliance members do; at 22 percent of the total, its equipment spending share is closer to France's 24 percent and the U.S.'s 28 percent than to pacifist Germany's 14 percent.
So if the U.S. has a problem with the U.K.'s commitment, could it be satisfied with any of its allies at all? And could Mattis be serious about France, which has chronically failed to spend 2 percent on the military? Didn't French President Emmanuel Macron, soon after taking office last year, causethe head of the French armed forces, General Pierre de Villiers, to quit in disgust over proposed budget cuts?
Mattis, however,does have somevalid reasons to be "concerned," as his letter states, about the U.K.'s continued ability to provide a "critical military foundation" for diplomatic success.
The U.K.'s ability to maintain defense spending of more than 2 percent GDP is in question. Earlier this year, the International Institute for Strategic Studies published its annual Military Balance,
laceup sneakers Black Damir Doma ZuNmCLcr
the U.K.'s actual military outlaylast year amounted to 1.98 percent of its GDP because the U.K. economy increased faster than the defense spending. In recent years, the U.K. has only stuck to the 2 percent rule by changing what it includes in the calculation — military pensions, the defense ministry's revenues, the costs of intelligence services. NATO has accepted the accounting changes because they're generally in line with U.S. practice and because it's understandably interested in showing compliance among its members. Adjusted for inflation, the U.K. spends less on its military today than in 2010.
Kristin Mink was having lunch with her toddler in Washington, D.C., when she noticed who was sitting three tables over: EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
In a video posted to her Facebook account, Mink walks up to Pruitt and an unidentified companion and confronts him over his record of environmental deregulation and open corruption . According to Mink's video, the confrontation occurred at Teaism in downtown Washington on Monday.
"Hi, I just wanted to urge you to resign because of what you're doing to the environment and our country," Mink says. "This is my son. He loves animals. He loves clean air. He loves clean water. Meanwhile, you're slashing strong fuel standards for cars and trucks, for the benefit of big corporations."
Pruitt's smile turns to a frown as Mink speaks, and he glances nervously to the man sitting across from him.
"You've been paying about 50 bucks a night to stay in a D.C. condo that's connected to an energy lobbying firm, while approving their dirty sands pipeline," Mink continues, reading from notes. "We deserve to have somebody at the EPA who actually does protect our environment, somebody who believes in climate change and takes it seriously, for the benefit of all of us, including our children."
Mink concluded: "So, I would urge you to resign before your scandals push you out."
The video does not show Pruitt getting up and leaving the restaurant, but according to Mink, Pruitt and his two security guards left the restaurant before she returned to her seat.
Staff at Teaism could not immediately confirm whether Pruitt visited the restaurant on Monday, but said he had been seen there a few weeks ago.
This story is just the latest in an ongoing series of concerned citizens confronting Trump administration officials while dining out in public.
Mink responded to a text message from Splinter with this statement:
As soon as my husband pointed out Pruitt sitting there, I knew instantly that I had to say something to him, it was just a question of what. His actions are the source of so much of my despair for my child's future and frankly the future of humanity. He's literally sacrificing our air and water, the well-being of coastal communities, all kinds of unique natural resources, for short-term personal gains. Buying stupid crap like a soundproof phone booth for his office and first-class plane tickets with taxpayer dollars, living in housing discounted for him by an energy group while he does favors for their clients. I honestly don't know how he sleeps at night.
Dead spruce tress stand alongside W. Susitna Pkwy near Big Lake, AK on Friday April 6, 2018. (Bob Hallinen / ADN)
A fast-trackedSusitna Valley timber venture some callthe salvation of the Mat-Su's foundering port won local government approval Tuesday amid concerns about public process and log truck traffic.
The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly backed the complex proposal in a 5-2 vote near midnight.
The deal hinges on a 24,000-acre borough timber sale known as Chijuk Creek, off Oilwell Road in the Trapper Creek area about 22 miles southwest of Talkeetna and 30 miles northwest of Willow. Logswould be trucked to the government-owned portat Point MacKenzie and shipped to China.
The pace of the project and lack of competitive bids drew sharp criticism, as did a flurry of last-minute changes.
A transportation plan required before 20 to 30 trucks a day can start hauling logs was submitted just hours before Tuesday's meeting.
An amendment approved minutes before the final vote also exempts the sale from a section of borough code that calls for public input, fair-market valuation and competitive bidding.
"I have no confidence in the process that just took place," said Assembly member Jim Sykes, who cast one of two "no" votesand had called for open bids on the sale.
Others, however,cheered theprospect for new timber jobs, the removal of spruce bark beetle-killed forests and the potential for long-sought revenues for the cash-strapped, government-owned port.
"These guys are seriously committed and they're seriously going to dump a bunch of money into this community," said Randy Chivers, owner of Got Wood Alaska trucking company in Wasilla.
Thetimber is owned by logger Charlie Nash, who sued the borough and won a state Supreme Court decision before settling in 2013. Nash's suit came after the borough terminated the sale for not cutting enough trees and leaving others behind.
Locals say timber is still rotting on the ground, though Nashsaid people forget he poured millions of dollars into road improvements.
A new company,Denali Timber Management, formed late last year by a third-generation Northwest timber manager,would be in charge of logging and getting the logs to the port. A New Zealand firm, TPT Forest Products Ltd., secured markets in China for logs.
All but one of10 prior borough timber sales elicited no bids because of high transportation costs and no local markets, officials say.
Theyestimate the project could drum up nearly $900,000 a year for the port, which is losing $800,000 to $1.5 million each year.
The Assembly voted Tuesday to approve two separate contracts for the timber sale at $31.50 an acre — as establishedfive years ago in the Nash settlement — and a lease at Port MacKenzie that gives Denali exclusive rights to export logs to Pacific Rim countries for three years.
Denali's transportation plan must still get planning department approval before the contractsbecome effective. A 30-day comment period just opened.
The borough is requiring a $150-per-acre reforestation bond and a $100,000 performance bond, according to a five-page fact sheet distributed Tuesday. The borough also added Denali to the timber sale contract with Nash.
The contractors must maintain Oilwell Road in at least the same condition so costs don't increase to the local taxing district, the fact sheet says.
Denali owner Eric Oien told the Assembly he expects to make various safety upgrades, including adding a large trailer parking lot at Amber Lake 12 miles up Oilwell Road.
The Alaska Division of Forestry still needs to approve the timber sale. The state has 30 days to respond to an operations plan submitted March 12.
Citizenspacked Assembly chambers for the meeting, spilling into the hallway outside.
Numerous people testified before the vote about the lack of timefor fully vetting the proposal and the public safety threat posed by heavy log truck traffic on narrow, rutted Oilwell Road.
Kathy Ernst, a 45-year Trapper Creek resident and EMT,accusedthe borough of "contracts changed secretly" and said exempting the sale from an entire section of code established to protect the public set a bad precedent.
"I do not want to respond to an accident between a logging truck and a bus," Ernst said. "I've been on those kinds of calls."
The Trapper Creek Community Council, the advisory body located closest to the sale, hasn't had time totake a position on the sale.
The Point MacKenzie Community Councilhas concerns about log trucks adding more wear to Point MacKenzie Road, council president Gary Foster told the Assembly.
The first seven miles of road haven't been resurfaced in a decade, Foster said. "You can't continue to put enterprise out there and not do something."
Several Assembly members put the credit or blame for the deal's fate on the borough's manager, John Moosey,who faces his next performance review in May.
Sykes chastised the manager for quietly adding a week to the Chijuk timber sale contract late lastFriday while the Assembly sorted through documents thinking it expired April 15.
But Assembly member Matthew Beck said his support for the proposal reflected his faith in Moosey.
"We're putting a lot of trust in the manager if we pass this tonight to make sure the work he's given us, that he holds true to it," Beck said before the vote. "He's proven over the past five years that he can get some things done and be trustworthy."
Rotterdam, 26 April 2018 – during the Rotterdam Capital Days event, VentureCafé's Executive Director Anoesjka Imambaks announced that InnovationQuarter hasjoined the group of investors in Dutch Virtual Reality start-up Telemedia. TheRotterdam-based spin-off from national research institute TNO enables a significantincrease in the quality of Virtual Reality services and a reduction in the requiredbandwidth for streaming VR content. Tilemedia's clearVR technology removes one ofthe biggest obstacles preventing Virtual Reality from becoming widely accessible. Withthe capital injection, which is further boosted by a recent innovation loan granted by theNetherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), Tilemedia has close to € 2 mln. available foraccelerating its development and expanding its sales and marketing activities.Rotterdam, 26 April 2018 – during the Rotterdam Capital Days event, VentureCafé's Executive Director Anoesjka Imambaks announced that InnovationQuarter hasjoined the group of investors in Dutch Virtual Reality start-up Telemedia. TheRotterdam-based spin-off from national research institute TNO enables a significantincrease in the quality of Virtual Reality services and a reduction in the requiredbandwidth for streaming VR content. Tilemedia's clearVR technology removes one ofthe biggest obstacles preventing Virtual Reality from becoming widely accessible. Withthe capital injection, which is further boosted by a recent innovation loan granted by theNetherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), Tilemedia has close to € 2 mln. available foraccelerating its development and expanding its sales and marketing activities.
Unrealised potential of Virtual Reality Despite the many potential applications, Virtual Reality (VR) is only slowly catching on, for two main reasons: the limited availability of content and the high bandwidth required to stream VR – too high for the average internet connection. Tiledmedia solves this problem by cutting up the content into so-called 'tiles' and only streaming those tiles that are in the users' view. The user sees only 13% of the full image, which makes sending the entire panorama very inefficient.Unrealised potential of Virtual Reality
Tiledmedia's ClearVR technology can either increase quality by a factor of five at the samebandwidth, or stream the same quality as current applications with up to 80% bandwidth reduction. Such substantial efficiency benefits cannot be matched by any competing technology.