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Purdue-based startup manufactures high-value fragrance chemicals, improves biofuel production
September 11, 2014
Mahdi Abu-Omar, founder and president of Spero Energy Inc., conducts research on the company's single-step catalytic process to create high-value chemicals. Spero Energy is one of more than 20 startups created in fiscal year 2014 from Purdue University innovations. (Purdue Research Foundation photo)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Purdue University innovator is commercializing technology that creates high-value, renewable chemicals used in the flavor and fragrance industry from wood lignin and that could make biofuel production more efficient.
Mahdi Abu-Omar, president and founder of Spero Energy Inc. and the Purdue R.B. Wetherill Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, said these industries face challenges to make their products in a more efficient, environmentally friendly and cost-effective manner.
"The chemicals used by the flavor and fragrance industry are some of the most expensive and high-value substances produced in today's market," he said. "Currently those chemicals are made from petroleum. We have developed a method to convert wood lignin into valuable chemicals for both the flavor and fragrance industry at a lower cost and a method to improve production for the biofuel industry."
Abu-Omar said the technology is a single-step catalytic process that converts lignin in wood into two products: dihydroeugenol, which is a valuable chemical used in the flavor and fragrance industry, and lignin-free material that could be used for the production of biofuels.
"Flavor and fragrance companies now have the option of producing dihydroeugenol, which has a spicy and sweet odor and flavor, from renewable rather than petroleum-based resources," he said. "Biofuel companies now could produce more biofuels from the same quantity of wood and wood byproducts because the lignin has been removed."
Spero Energy has an exclusive option to license the technology through the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization. A video about Spero Energy is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90u01yi7pMk.
Spero Energy has received a six-month SBIR Phase I grant from the National Science Foundation worth $150,000 and a nine-month SBIR Phase I grant from the Department of Energy worth $149,882. Company officials also won the 2014 Midwest Clean Energy Challenge Biofuel Prize.
Abu-Omar said the company has business plans for both the flavor and fragrance industry and the biofuel industry, plans to scale up its production, and looks to validate its products for the flavor and fragrance industry.
"We are looking for investments and joint ventures with a chemical company that has manufacturing experience, which will help us further develop our products for the flavor and fragrance industry," he said. "We also are looking to scale up our production so we can have an impact on the worldwide biofuels market."
Abu-Omar said Purdue's entrepreneurial atmosphere has benefited Spero Energy.
"The Purdue Foundry and Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization have been critical allies in developing our business plans, making connections with knowledgeable people and providing access to business and legal assistance," he said.
Spero Energy is one of 24 startups based on Purdue intellectual property that were launched in the 2014 fiscal year. For information on other Purdue intellectual property ready for licensing and commercialization, visit http://www.otc-prf.org. For more information about available leadership positions, investing in a Purdue startup or licensing a Purdue innovation, visit http://www.purduefoundry.com.
About Spero Energy Inc.
Spero Energy Inc. is an Indiana-based technology company with the mission of developing cost competitive conversion of non-food biomass feedstock to high value chemicals (HVCs) and renewable fuels. Spero Energy is developing processes for a range of renewable specialty chemicals targeting flavor and fragrance ingredients, high-performance materials and pharmaceutical markets. For more information, visit http://www.speroenergy.com.
About Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization
The Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology-transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2014 Incubator Network of the Year from the National Business Incubation Association for its work in entrepreneurship.
Purdue Research Foundation contact: Steve Martin, 765-588-3342, email@example.com
Source: Mahdi Abu-Omar, 765-430-3266, firstname.lastname@example.com


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Organizational Health provides a foundation for maximizing human potential and alignment throughout an organization. There are many factors that can be included in defining Org. Health; cohesiveness, morale, adaptation, staff engagement and communication effectiveness. All things being equal, a healthy organization will outperform an unhealthy organization every time. It stands to reason that a healthy organization will become smarter over time as it continues to grow through innovation, while an unhealthy organization must commit huge resources to the retention, hiring and turnover reduction of key staff to remain competitive.
At Dunbar Organizational Health, our focus on staff engagement serves as a gateway to all other roads that lead to strong organizational health. Engaged staff members find meaning and purpose in their work, and that helps them to routinely do that "little bit of extra" that outperforms the competition. Senior leaders sucked into the drama of daily operations and that tolerate underperforming teams often do not address the actual root cause: disengaged staff members!
Your organizational health can not only be measured, it can be improved and strengthened to become one of your strongest competitive advantages. Contact us to schedule a complimentary climate assessment and to learn more about our live and virtual training program options.

subset: commoncrawl


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I used to be of the mindset that the adjective "lovely" could never modify a sentence about packing. Friends who loved packing disturbed me. What about the act of turning your possessions into a game of Tetris meets Survivor could be at all enjoyable? And I hated the idea of overpacking and lugging around something heavy, so I tended to underpack...meaning I ended up serially making mistakes like not packing any socks, or, returning to college, forgetting to pack the keys to my dorm room. Yes, really.
Like many stressful, unpleasant activities, packing is all about attitude. Though I used to be a flighty and ineffective packer who procrastinated until the last hour, I've amended my ways because, as my mom wisely pointed out: if you're going to love travel you're going to have to get better at packing. It could be a friend's weekend at a lake, it could be to stay over your relatives' during the holidays, it could be month backpacking in South America or it could be 5 days walking the Scottish Highlands--every trip has its own demands for stuff and it all takes some level of thought and prep.
Slowly, since my self-imposed packing intervention, I have gradually improved as a packer. I now think of packing as a fun activity. The pre-travel. A chance for strategy and a challenge in resourcefulness.
Right now, I'm in the midst of confronting my largest packing challenge yet: leaving my home in New Jersey to live in Ilsan, South Korea for 12 months. In the travel community, specifically backpackers and round-the-world (RTW) travelers, there are only two travel rules to follow: 1) Pack light. 2) Pack lighter. But this not so much travel as relocation without the U-Haul. So a couple of tee shirts, a pair of Merrils and a poncho will not suffice. As it's a huge task and I feel that I truly cannot pack light and need to throughly pack for several seasons, several casual and professional occasions I have started weeks in advance, doing a little bit every day. This is the big fish of packing.
My dishwasher sized suitcase. Packing for South Korea has begun!
Mull it over: Take into account the length of your trip, what kind of activities you are prioritizing while there, and where exactly you're going to be. If you already have a trip itinerary, if you are going on a guided tour, for example, read it over and jot down what you think you would want to be wearing each day. You can't beat a checklist. Rick Steves has a great packing checklist for traveling Europe that is very basic to start from.
A few extras are ok: And they may make the trip even more pleasant. Especially for long term travelers. I refuse to believe that I can love to travel but therefore shouldn't be allowed to like clothes! Wearing the same solid tee shirts and jeans and walking shoes every single day for weeks on end is soul-wrenchingly drab to me. I usually remedy this by bringing my favorite jacket to layer over them and one or two pretty scarves and some suitcase-space friendly stud earrings and rings. Wear perfume every day and have some room for it in the suitcase? I say go, for it. Think about a few extras you'd like as long as they're not going to be weighing you down, they'll add some personality to how you look and feel while traveling.
Research! This is probably the most important one! Did you know that it is impossible to find Western style deodorant in South Korea? Neither did I until I found a packing list from South Korea travel vets online. Read about what you will and won't be offered in your hotel and what essential goods like toiletries and over the counter medicines, should you need them, are readily available and their price range. Important for international travel: find out how easy it will be to use your debit card and take out money and be sure to alert your bank anyway to your travel plans. Finally, don't underestimate the weather, either and default to preparing for the cold. A word you've probably heard before: layers, layers, layers.
Luggage smarts: The backpack is the wheel of travel for a reason. After trials and tribulations with other luggage combos, I try to travel with a backpack and ONLY with a backpack whenever I can. There are few places a backpack can't go and when you're traveling mostly on foot and are dealing with irregular hostel check in times, layovers, countries without ubiquitous elevators--backpacks rule. You can keep your stuff with you at all times and get around easily. You would actually be amazed at what the cylindrical style backpack can hold. Even wheely suitcases don't do cobblestones easily, I assure you.
And again, attitude: You've prepped and strategized. You're almost through! Keep positive. I say make a few days out of packing, a few chunks at a time. Put on NPR or Motown music or Top 40 and plunk your suitcase in the middle of the floor and get to it! You're going places.


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Yes, yes, I know – I have been a terrible blogger. All my dreams and plans of documenting my amazing research trip in real time so as to save all of my impressions for posterity, and giving you all a little window into the life of a beginning researcher, went out of the window once I actually landed in England and became so preoccupied with my day-to-day reality there. The trip was amazing, and I am still harbouring a little hope that I will recap it in a couple of photo-heavy posts in the near future (just as soon as I finish this really stressful deadline-filled stretch of time that I'm currently in). In the meanwhile, here's a little book review on the last book I've read.
From the description I was sure, for some reason, that this was a detective mystery book, so I was a bit surprised when it veered off in other directions. At first I was completely drawn into the world of this book. It had a Sherlock-y vibe – slightly dusted with charcoal, Victorian, taking place in Scotland Yard. The 'feeling' of the book – its setting, atmosphere, details, ideas, and language, are its best qualities. Its worst qualities? the narrative, which was overly twisted, and its internal logic. I am completely willing to suspend disbelief and delve into a world that works according to different natural laws, I only ask that it will be consistent and logical (the king of this sort of thing is Brandon Sanderson, who takes after the legacy of world-builders such as Tolkien). Here I felt that there was no such logic with the special powers of one of the characters who can "see" the future. I did like the inventiveness of Pulley, who based the science in her book on the Victorian notions of physics, and among them the idea of 'aether' an element that supposedly permeated all the spaces in the world. and was responsible for gravity and the travelling of light. I also liked the descriptions of Mori's clockwork shop – cosy and whimsical, a combination of the British and the Japanese, it was one of the highlights of the book. One last thing I highly disliked was the way that Grace's character developed; I really liked her at first since it is a tendency of mine to adore female scientist characters, especially in historical novels, but she quickly devolved into a weak and annoying character.
P.S. – am I the only one who was really shipping Mori and Thaniel? At one point I was sure the writer was hinting at that as well, but I'm not sure if I imagined it


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Asked on CNN's State of the Union how much damage the recent admissions of marital infidelity by Nevada Sen. John Ensign and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford have done to the Republican Party's already struggling brand, Pawlenty said "it's hard to quantify that."
"But clearly there's been damage," Pawlenty quickly added.
"Anytime you have leading figures who are engaged in behavior that is sad and troubling and hypocritical, other people are going to look at that and say, 'They don't walk the walk,'" Pawlenty CNN Chief National Correspondent John King. "And so the words and the actions don't ring true."
Pawlenty called the situation between Gov. Sanford and his wife, Jenny – the couple is currently separated because of the governor's extramarital affair – "a sad and troubling situation."
"I'm proud of Jenny for her strength . . . and, frankly, I was glad to see her not standing at the press conference [where Sanford admitted the affair last week] like many others have and kind of charting her own path."
And Pawlenty had harsh words for his embattled counterpart in South Carolina.
Sanford "should not have left the state and not allowed people to know how to contact him in case something happened," Pawlenty told King. "Your staff has to be able to reach you and reach you quickly for all the obvious reasons – natural disaster, terrorism, or other events," Pawlenty also said.
Asked about the GOP's relationship with its socially and fiscally conservative base, Pawlenty said Republicans need to return to their values.
"If you're going to be, for example, the party of fiscal discipline and be the person who's talking about fiscal responsibility, then you better do that. Hypocrisy doesn't sell. And, the Republicans have to be true to their values, true to their principles and walk the walk."
After appearing to criticize some in his own party, Pawlenty was quick to take the edge off that harsher tone.
"Now, we live in a world where people aren't perfect. . . There's going to be dumb things that happen, sad things that happen, heartbreaking things that happen. So we can't expect perfection."
I have to agree with Pawlenty on all the points, especially the one where Jenny Sanford wasn't standing next to her husband at the press conference. Why do these wives feel the need to do this? It's baffling and insulting. And though my politics differ, as a woman, my heart and prayers go out to her and her sons. To have to do this publicly is a horror.
Where is Gov. Palin?
Gov. Palin is in Germany thanking our wounded warriors.
Jenn– the difference between GOP sex scandals and Democratic sex scandals is that the GOP has positioned itself as the "family values" party, the "defenders of traditonal marriage" and Jesus.
So, when men who have been ranting about how letting gays marry will tear apart the fabric of society and harm the institution of marriage turn around and repeatedly break there own marriage vows, THAT'S news!
Democrats, on the other hand, are the party of "live and let live"– what people do privately doesn't effect or harm others, so let's just be tolerant. "Judge not...", if you will.
When you don't CLAIM to be "holier than thou" you don't have to BE holier than thou, see how that works??
Jenn, you may want to look up the word hypocrite, and then re-think that comment of yours. Just saying.
If you ask me both parties are damaged and dysfunctional. They both should be disbanded and a people's party for the peple be initiated. We the people are the only ones who can do that. If you are satisfied with this take care of our brother attitude then you keep these political sex fiends, money grabbers and praisers of child molesters in office. Otherwise go to the polls and put them out of office. Lets take back our country. Other countries have the cajales to doo it.
The republicans need to get back to our Founding Fathers of small government, strong defense, and individual responsibility. The democratsw are still the party of welfare and big government dependence so you have to vote for them. The special interest of the democrats are just as corrupt as any republican special interest including Halibutton.
I don't understand why more people don't see the hypocrasy in this situation. While standing there with his moral rightgeousness he has been having this affair for well over a year, yet I've heard people say that at least he didn't lie about it . Gov Sanford has been living a lie for a long time. The hypocrisy is the real problem for the GOP. They try to legislate morality and when one or ten of them slip up, then he's only human. When a democrat slips up he is a godless pervert. There is no compassion. That's why I am hoping the american people keep seeing through the party that refuses to move forward, that refuses to work with a president who has reached out to them and the party that has no new ideas.
To Conservative Jenn:
The prob;em with you conservative Republicans is that you constantly preach family values and moral values, as if every Republican is a saint and that every Democrat is the anti-Christ. That is wht when Sanford and Ensign are caught with their pants down screwing other woman it is the ultimate in hypocrisy. believe me, no Conservatice Republican knows Jesus Christ, they are all a bunch of greedy self righteous idiots. You all should read the New Testament sometimes, when Jesus gace his sermon on the mountain, "blessed are the poor, for theis is the kingdom of God". When Republicans stop wanting to give away tax cuts to their wealthy buddies, when they stop cuting money for educationa for the poor, then maybe, just maybe, they might be able to return to Christ;s flock.
The GOP has been going down hill for quite some time. The affairs are one thing , but what they do to our Country is what we have to avoid.Their policies are based on the rich getting richer and not listening or caring about the average middle class citizen.I call it TERRORIZM
Humans are religious creatures everything we do is shapped by our religion, whether we recognise it or not. Our forefathers didn"t want religion left out of politics (that's impossible), they wanted politics left out of religion. What a politician claims to be his/her religion doen't neccesarily match what they actually believe. Many people claim to be Christians who are not.
Send Sanford to Argentina where he belongs and let his wife step into his office. I applaud her ability to show true face and not play the game.
Republicans have no one to blame but themselves. They have tried to make family values an issue only to prove that they have NONE. Palin is just as bad as Stanford when she tried to USE her children as ploitical props. Unwed mothers is not the family values I have. DRAGING special needs children around like a badge and getting upset when someone uses a photo against her is not the values I have.
The big difference between the DEMs and REPUBs is the Dems do not try to act like they are better than everyone else when the REPUBS preach their values and then show they do not pratice what they preach deserves contempt.
The probable reason that Mr. Sanford did not transfer power to his Lt. Govenor, Andre Bauer is that the Lt. Govenor is Andre Bauer. That is also the reason few South Carolianians are calling for his resignation. If you want to know more (and get an "I don't believe it" reaction), Google "Andre Bauer" along with any of the following words:
"police officer pulls gun on", "speeding" (3 instances), "airplane crash", "private driver". We don't want or need Andre Bauer. As big a mistake as Sanford is, Bauer is unbelievably less responsible. As for not being in touch, that is what we have come to expect of Sanford: Someone who is really really "out of touch".
Republicans talk about returning to their values, but from what I see, they are all talk and no action! They preach to the rest of us that we should conduct our lives morally and right, then they get caught cheating on their wives! A note to Republicans.........stop preaching what you are not doing yourselves! Sanford is not the first Republican to cheat on his wife, but it is really ironic that he trashed Bill Clinton so badly for his mistake years ago. The Republicans need to stop acting so high and mighty, and accept the fact that they, or any of us are not perfect. Democrats are not immune to cheating either, but the difference is that the Dems don't put themselves out there as being so pure and perfect.
This behavior has nothing to do with Democrats,or Republicans.It is a betrayal to the sanctidy(sp) of marriage.Before you get married men and women need to really do some soul serching.If you have the urge to jump in bed with every good looking person of the opposite sex at a party;at the beach;or meeting on the sudewalk ,you are destined for trouble after "I DO"
I agree with David E.
The Republicans are certainly in bad shape, who do they have left to represent them now or when they want to run for the presidency in 2012. It is more than the cheating that is the problem, it is their high moral stance that they keep preaching about, and then in secret they are the worse cheaters of all. You just can't trust too many Republicans. Sanford left his state for a week without telling anyone where he was and in his news conference, he made a fool of himself, is that the kind of person we want to take that 3:AM call, I sure wouldn't want the US to be in the hands of a person like him.
Republican criticizing Republican LOL No wait, according to Faux news Sanford is a Democrat.
Funny how a little sex scandal can shake up the GOP but it stood like stone statues while Bush and Cheney lied and lied and LIED about Iraq, the 9/11 attacks, domestic spying, use of torture, prison camps, etc.
Talk about lies and foolishness. Why does't the Governor
sign off on Al Franken. Minn is not composed of all Repubes.
Unless he seats this man , he is toast and who cares what
he has to say about Sanford!!! Birds of a Feather Bed Down
I would like to point out how funny it is when a Repub gets caught with his "PANTS DOWN" someone has to say "Obama is taking the country in the wrong direction. AT least Obama is taking action and even if things are not moving as fast as everyone would like things are moving in a direction that is positive. I can see by the way some posters here haate Obama so much they would rather see the country fail than to see him succeed. It is clear that as the country recovers the Republicans will look silly for all their POLICIES OF NO. No is not an answer to the questions of today.
"And so the words and the actions don't ring true."
Sums it up nicely.
A real headshaker.
Unfortunately, infidelity is rampant in our society and NOT just with politicians.... Its sad that those that are in the public eye and admit their wrong doings are made to look like the worst people in the world. It seems like it is the male politicians that admit the sexual misdoings, but what about all the femals politicians that stray? Maybe its because they are more discreet and don't openly admit to the world that they have been unfaithful. What is this world coming to where we have to blame the whole political party to which the wronged politician is associated with just because that person has strayed. Let God be the judge...as he always has been and always will be and let the families try to put their lives and marriages back on track without the public/media trying to interfer.
Obama's favorable ratings on his policies are plunging....
He's losing the battle against unemp[loyment....
His outreach to Iran ended in total disaster as Ahmadinejad is telling him to mind his own business....
N. Korea laughs at him and does whataever it wants....
And he's spending us into bankruptcy......
Dems can start packing in 2010.
Sorry that you don't seem to get it either.
It is about individuals, very flawed ones. Sanford, Ensign, Vitter, but also Clinton, Spitzer, and Edwards.
The difference is the right claims moral high ground and screams whenever someone on the left does something untoward.
THEY are the hypocrites. Maybe you should pay better attention.


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Quick housekeeping note - this video has been mistimed. The track is 4:40 long, not 7:23.
Wear headphones when you listen to this - only by doing that will this track by Japanese noise-rock band, Zeni Geva come anywhere close to bearing out my feeling that it sounds like the world of possibilities which heavy metal could have pursued as suggested by the coda to Helter Skelter. If you know that song, I've always felt that the bit after John Lennon's comically shrill burst of saxophone suggests heavy rock picking itself up off the floor of its own bugged out exhaustion, renewing itself anew and charging into battle with the forces of ennui. Contained within this track are those self same aural wars and if it doesn't quite attain full spiritual transcendence, there's no disputing the sense of spiritual uplift.
Peel dedicated this track to his family who on 16/2/92 had been to Norwich to see The Wedding Present.
Video courtesy of Ruben Guastapaglia.


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Piotr Michael, an LA-based actor and comedian, released this YouTube video earlier this week of himself doing some of the most incredible celebrity impersonations I've ever heard — despite the fact that certain frothing killjoys claim that impersonations are the "lowest form of comedy, just below puns." This guy somehow flawlessly transforms himself from Ian McKellen to Steve Buscemi to Steve Martin to Maggie freaking Smith and just absolutely nails it every time. There's a bit more Charlie Sheen peppered in there than I'd care for, but heck, I'll give him that one.
At the very least, he's way less obnoxious than that dude married to Christina Hendricks, that's for damn sure.
Via Buzzfeed


text: 10 out of 10 William Cardiff bassist keeping in practice Good Points+ Good range of songs for mixed levels of ability, good notation and tab, good backing tracks, clean split between pass present and bass absent. Bad Points− Would have been marginally easier to follow if the melody line had been sung on vocal songs, but this is a very minor cavil. Confirmed purchase: 08 December 2014 Published on: 12 January 2015


text: ปีที่ 2 ฉบับที่ 4 ตุลาคม - ธันวาคม พ.ศ. 2559 Transient diabetes insipidus (DI) or gestational DI should be recognized in the pregnant women who present with polyuria and polydipsia. Transient DI is characterized by loss of anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) effect which regulates water balance. The main pathogenesis is increased metabolic clearance of ADH mediated by vassopressinase that is synthesized from syncytiotrophoblast in placenta. This condition commonly occurs in 2nd and 3rd trimester of pregnancy. Psychogenic primary polydipsia and pre-existing DI are essential for the differential diagnosis. Therefore, water deprivation test should be done. The important characters to differentiate gestational and central DI are ability of kidney to increase urine osmolarity after administration of vasopressin and DDAVP during water deprivation test. Central DI typically responds to vasopressin and DDAVP. However, gestational DI is only responsive to DDAVP, but is resistant to vasopressin. Thus, treatment of choice in transient DI is DDAVP. The clinical courses are terminated in approximately 4-6 weeks after delivery. โดย : นัฐยา พานิชย์ดี(1), พรรณธิพา ต้นสวรรค์(2) Keywords Category


text:
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Zoom Video Communications is about to do its part to save the USPS.
(Bloomberg) -- Big tech companies like Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, long seen as some of the world's most desirable workplaces offering countless perks and employee benefits, are losing some of their shine.The Silicon Valley companies dropped out of the Top 10 "best places to work" in the U.S., according to Glassdoor's annual rankings released Tuesday. HubSpot Inc., a cloud-computing software company, grabbed the No. 1 ranking while tech firms DocuSign Inc. and Ultimate Software were three and eight, respectively.Facebook, which has been rated as the "best place to work" three times in the past 10 years, was ranked 23rd. It's the social-media company's lowest position since it first made the list in 2011 as the top-rated workplace. Facebook, based in Menlo Park, California, was ranked seventh last year.Google, voted "best place to work" in 2015 and a Top-10 finisher the previous eight years, came in at No. 11 on Glassdoor's list. Apple Inc., once a consistent Top-25 finisher, was ranked 84th. Amazon Inc., which has never been known for a positive internal culture, failed to make the list for the 12th straight year.Microsoft Corp. was one of the lone big technology companies to jump in the rankings. The Redmond, Washington-based software company moved to No. 21 from 34 a year ago.The annual list ranks companies using employee reviews on areas such as compensation, benefits, culture and senior management. Many of the big tech companies, including Facebook and Google, have been criticized this year for a myriad of issues, and in some cases employees have publicly opposed executive decisions.At Google, employees have protested against the company on a number of topics, including the company's "intimidation" tactics against worker organizers. The results of an internal employee poll at the internet search giant, reported by Bloomberg in February, showed that fewer employees were inspired by Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai's vision than a year earlier. It also found fewer workers believe senior management could successfully lead the company into the future.At Facebook, which just like Google provides employees with perks including free meals, corporate transportation and laundry services, workers have pushed back internally against leadership on some policy issues, such as the decision not to fact-check political advertisements.(Updates with top 10 table after sixth paragraph)To contact the reporter on this story: Kurt Wagner in San Francisco at firstname.lastname@example.com contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at email@example.com, Andrew Pollack, Alistair BarrFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg) -- TikTok owner ByteDance Inc. is testing a new music app in emerging markets as it tries to pull off another global sensation akin to its viral video-sharing service.Called Resso, the new app is now available in India and Indonesia, two of Asia's most populous countries and places already keenly familiar with TikTok. Since an initial launch six months ago, Resso has been installed by about 27,000 users across the iOS App Store and Google Play, according to data compiled by Sensor Tower, which said the numbers indicate promotion of the app began in earnest at the end of November.ByteDance, the world's most valuable startup, has been quietly developing the app to challenge the likes of Spotify and Apple Music in countries where paid music services have yet to garner large audiences."The dilemma for all three companies is how to monetize a price-sensitive user base with low relative incomes," said Michael Norris, research and strategy manager at Shanghai-based consultancy AgencyChina. "At the moment, it's a race for active users in the developing world. Commercial realities will be put aside, at least for now."Unlike Spotify, Resso displays real-time lyrics and lets users post their comments under individual songs. They can also generate music-accompanied GIFs and videos, emulating a favorite feature of TikTok. The app offers a monthly paid subscription service, which costs 119 rupees ($1.70) in India, the same as Spotify. Premium Resso users will be able to download music and listen ad-free.The Beijing-based company has secured rights from Indian labels T-Series and Times Music, Bloomberg News previously reported.A TikTok Craze Is Minting Celebrities and Ruining Lives in IndiaYet there are still no rights deals with the world's three largest music companies -- Warner Music Group Corp., Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment -- which control the vast majority of popular music and whose catalogs would be crucial for Resso to catch on globally, according to people familiar with the matter.Record companies credit TikTok with minting a new generation of music stars, including Lil Nas X, the singer of "Old Town Road." As it has attracted hundreds of millions of users with their music, however, those companies are now demanding ByteDance increase the licensing fees it pays."Resso is currently in a beta testing phase," a Resso representative said in a statement. "We are optimistic about its long-term prospects but we are still very early in the process and only in a limited number of developing markets."ByteDance was valued at $75 billion last year in part because investors are confident about its reputation as a mobile app factory. But the seven-year-old startup is still on the lookout for its next major breakout hit after TikTok and news aggregator Toutiao, its first signature app. With the paid music app, ByteDance is also looking to expand its revenue stream beyond advertising to counter a slowing home economy that has dampened advertisers' appetites.A rare global feat for a Chinese internet company, TikTok has been installed nearly 1.5 billion times since launching in 2017. New U.S. users grew 38% to 11.6 million in the third quarter, according to Sensor Tower, up from 8.4 million a year earlier.But its Chinese ownership has become a lightning rod for criticism as tensions rise between the U.S. and China over trade and technology. American politicians and teen users alike have expressed concerns about the app's handling of user data and censorship of politically-sensitive expression.Testing out Resso in its chosen markets gives ByteDance the breathing room to scale up the service slowly and out of the intense spotlight that's placed on its other services.(Updates with analyst comment in fourth paragraph)\--With assistance from Muneeza Naqvi.To contact the reporters on this story: Zheping Huang in Hong Kong at email@example.com;Lucas Shaw in Los Angeles at email@example.com contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at firstname.lastname@example.com, Vlad SavovFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Google comes out on top in new ranking as 'workers are increasingly prioritising culture over cash'.
Today we found three 'cheap' tech stocks trading under $10 per share with the help of our Zacks Stock Screener that investors might want to buy heading into 2020...
Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) announces the launch of new studio to expand portfolio and push the boundaries of interactive entertainment.
Alphabet (GOOGL) closed the most recent trading day at $1,342.89, moving -0.01% from the previous trading session.
The biggest news from last week is Google CEO Sundar Pichai taking over as CEO of Alphabet as well, and it was accompanied by other news covering labor trouble, European taxes, Verily and Waymo.
The U.S. Justice Department will review plans by Alphabet Inc-owned Google to buy fitness tracker maker Fitbit Inc for possible antitrust issues, a source told Reuters on Tuesday. The $2.1 billion deal will give search and advertising giant Google the capability to take on Apple and Samsung in the crowded market for fitness trackers and smart watches. Watchdog groups like Public Citizen and the Center for Digital Democracy, among others, have urged antitrust enforcers to block the deal on the grounds that it will give Google even more data about American consumers.
The U.S. Justice Department will review plans by Alphabet Inc-owned Google to buy fitness tracker maker Fitbit Inc for possible antitrust issues, a source told Reuters on Tuesday. The $2.1 billion (£1.64 billion) deal will give search and advertising giant Google the capability to take on Apple and Samsung in the crowded market for fitness trackers and smart watches. Watchdog groups like Public Citizen and the Center for Digital Democracy, among others, have urged antitrust enforcers to block the deal on the grounds that it will give Google even more data about American consumers.
Loon, a unit of Google's owner Alphabet Inc, which uses high-altitude balloons to provide mobile internet to remote areas, has signed a key access airspace agreement with Uganda. The deal grants Loon overflight rights crucial to its plans to provide floating balloon-enabled internet services in neighboring Kenya, the company said on Tuesday. The permissions are key to the firm's ambition of providing internet access to rural and remote populations that receive poor connectivity from traditional telecoms in Kenya, said Scott Coriell, the company's Head of Global Communications.
Adobe Systems (ADBE) acquires sculpting app called Oculus Medium from Facebook. This will enhance its Substance app for 3D texturing.
Intel (INTC) unveils new "Horse Ridge" quantum control chip with an aim to realize quantum practicality.
(Bloomberg) -- Alphabet Inc.'s Google isn't liable for defamatory content posted on its platforms after 2009, India's top court ruled, reaffirming immunity for Internet companies in the world's second-most populous nation.The verdict, which reiterates a 2015 ruling, comes as a relief for social media companies, online retailers and service providers who are facing increasing pressure from the Indian government to regulate online content. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government plans to bring rules to regulate social media platforms and a law on data privacy that seek to levy heavy fines on companies in the event of violations.However, the top court ruled that Google India Pvt. Ltd. will have to face defamation charges in cases lodged before 2009, when India's information technology laws were amended to provide online and social media service providers immunity for content posted by a third party. They will have to take down content only after a court order."Any other view would make it a despot strangling the free flow of ideas, which is what the internet is all about," Justices Ashok Bhushan and K.M. Joseph of the top court said in the verdict.The case originated in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh when a construction material company Visakha Industries Ltd. sued Google for a blog post against use and manufacture of asbestos cement sheets. Google appealed to the country's top court after the state high court ruled against it. However, Google will still face the defamation charges because Visakha's case was lodged before the 2009 amendment.Google maintained that content is neither published nor endorsed by the company and it is just a platform provider.To contact the reporter on this story: Upmanyu Trivedi in New Delhi at firstname.lastname@example.com contact the editors responsible for this story: Unni Krishnan at email@example.com, Abhay Singh, Pradeep KurupFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Apple (AAPL) is dominating the wearables market, courtesy of Apple Watch, AirPods and Beats headphones, per latest data from IDC.
It is surprising to see that Communication Services sector outperforming the broader market this year amid a prolonged rally.
EU antitrust regulators are considering taking a tougher line against tech giants by forcing them to do more to ensure a level playing field, a senior European Commission official said on Tuesday, a move which could affect Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google. The four U.S. tech companies are currently in EU competition enforcers' crosshairs, with rivals complaining about being shut out of key markets. The Commission has traditionally ordered companies to halt anti-competitive practices.
(Bloomberg) -- Google asked the government to eliminate rules that categorize anyone watching "child-directed" content online as under 13 while regulators revamp privacy regulations that could have a sweeping impact on the company's YouTube video service.The Alphabet Inc. unit filed comments with the Federal Trade Commission on Monday as the agency considers changing its rules under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, which regulates how internet companies collect data on young people.In September, Google agreed to pay $170 million to the FTC to resolve claims that YouTube violated COPPA by serving targeted advertisements to children under 13. In response, YouTube agreed to end personalized ads on any videos deemed "made for kids" starting in January, a potential hit to sales for the company and its thousands of video creators. The FTC settlement also holds creators on the site responsible for future violations, which has sparked panic among some producers on YouTube's sprawling network.In its comments, the company argued against FTC rules that automatically identify viewers younger than 13 based on the content of videos."This does not match what we see on YouTube, where adults watch favorite cartoons from their childhood or teachers look for content to share with their students," YouTube wrote in its public comments. "This is why we support allowing platforms to treat adults as adults if there are measures in place to help confirm that the user is an adult viewing kids content."One critic of YouTube said the company's response was inadequate."This is a COPPA cop-out by Google," Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, one of the groups that complained to the FTC about YouTube. "They should be telling creators that they apologize for involving them in their massive multiyear violation of the U.S. law."The popularity of kids' programming has put YouTube in an uncomfortable position. The company has maintained that the site isn't for children, and doesn't allow viewers under the age of 13. It created a separate app for kids, but its audience is tiny compared to the full site.After the FTC settlement, YouTube told creators that they would have to identify when videos are aimed at children under 13. When that happens, YouTube now turns off ads that rely on web browsing behavior and other targeting data, which earn more for YouTube and creators.On Monday, YouTube also asked the FTC for "balanced and clear guidelines" to help creators comply with COPPA. The company said that content not intended for kids can sometimes involve a traditional kids activity, such as gaming and art. "Are these videos 'made for kids,' even if they don't intend to target kids? This lack of clarity creates uncertainty for creators," YouTube said.YouTube doesn't disclose its sales or break out what portion of the videos on its service are "child-directed." Indeed, the company likely can't automatically make such nuanced judgments on the millions of videos it runs online, despite having some of the world's best technology for identifying and categorizing images and clips.Read more: YouTube Will Rely on Spotty AI to Comply With FTC SettlementIn recent weeks, some YouTube creators launched a campaign to tell the FTC that rewriting the COPPA rules and the settlement could hurt them financially and reduce the quality of programs. The agency has received thousands of comments on what has previously been a sleepy area of law.The FTC has issued guidance under COPPA for what constitutes videos "directed to children." YouTubers in have expressed frustration that the definitions are still too vague.The FTC also allows sites that aren't aimed at kids to put in place an age screening for viewers. That way, if kids do end up there, the site's operators can reduce data collection, although children often lie about their age online. Some creators, including one of those who helped launch the petition to the FTC, have urged YouTube to adopt a comparable solution. YouTube didn't address that on Monday in its blog. To contact the reporters on this story: Ben Brody in Washington, D.C. at firstname.lastname@example.com;Mark Bergen in San Francisco at firstname.lastname@example.com contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at email@example.com, Alistair BarrFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg) -- For Li Mo, the footage of black-clad people clashing with police and vandalizing storefronts proved the final straw. The images of Hong Kong protesters fighting for greater autonomy from Beijing incensed the mainland-born postgraduate student and she could no longer remain on the sidelines. So, she joined China's fangirl army.Ever since anti-government demonstrations in Hong Kong turned violent this summer, China's celebrity-obsessed young generation have patrolled Facebook, Twitter and Weibo, ready to pounce on perceived slights and defend their motherland. Nicknamed "fangirls" because they exhibit the same fervor most often reserved for pop-culture icons, these women and men flood social media with slogans and memes shaming brands -- sometimes with far-reaching consequences.Fangirls called out Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey for supporting Hong Kong protesters, prompting China's state broadcaster to drop National Basketball Association games. They triggered boycotts of brands from Coach to Apple. Many got swept up by Facebook and Twitter account takedowns. And in a recent incident, the onslaught of vitriol they directed at Hong Kong pop-star Joey Yung forced her to apologize for a single Facebook selfie, but not before she got canned from a high-profile gala.The Hong Kong unrest spurred Li into action. She quickly picked up typical fangirl behavior -- endlessly liking and re-posting trending anti-protest diatribes on Weibo for example -- encouraged that hundreds of thousands shared her values. "I couldn't remain silent any longer," the 28-year-old said. "I don't idolize anyone, I only idolize China."Read More: Moment of Truth on China Is Coming for Rest of Corporate AmericaWhile many Westerners, particularly Americans, see China's citizens as forced into supporting Beijing or muzzled from expressing their true feelings, fangirls suggest more earnest and resilient backing for their country's government. They show how large pockets of China's youth are rising up to defend their country against what they perceive as mistreatment and misrepresentation by outsiders, and they underscore a growing sentiment that's shaping how China interacts with the world.China's government has increasingly taken its propaganda efforts overseas, but fangirls' deep convictions set them apart -- and perhaps make them more potent -- from often wooden, state-sponsored online commentators. Known as wumao, or the "50-cent army," those bloggers are named after the amount they are said to make from each patriotic posting.The emergence of fangirls comes at a time Beijing is trying to engage younger Chinese by using rap music, cartoons and chat-app stickers to deliver Communist Party ideology. Homegrown corporations like Tencent Holdings Ltd. often aid such efforts. A system of education that often stresses the humiliation China suffered at the hands of foreigners also prepared the ground for their rise.They're also the latest online patriots to hop the Great Firewall dividing the internet in mainland China from the rest of the world -- with a decidedly millennial twist. They call their nation "Brother Ah Zhong" (Brother China), describing it as a pop idol who debuted 5,000 years ago and now boasts a fan base of 1.4 billion.Fang Kecheng, assistant professor of communication and journalism at the Chinese University of Hong Kong sees state influence working hand-in-hand with young nationalist netizens, including fangirls who take note of the narrative on state media, then act upon it. "That's not to say they are entirely manipulated, or being passively used as a tool," he says. "There are things they're searching for, such as a common identity and the ability to express their opinions."Read More: Here's What China Is Telling Its People About Hong Kong ProtestsJack Zhou, a 20-year-old hair stylist in central China, is one of a score of volunteer leaders of a 20,000-strong fangirl community. People like him help focus and channel raw emotions that often threaten to spill out of control. In between haircuts, he monitors a chat group of 400 users on messaging app QQ. Participants are charged with spawning content for the group's main Weibo account. One of their latest productions is a three-minute video showcasing protester violence in Hong Kong, from setting a man on fire to ganging up on a police officer and trying to snatch his pistol. They called on those who can access sites like Facebook and YouTube to share the clip, which has English captions. "Let the world know the truth," is their slogan.Zhou's group has participated in several major online crusades to defend Beijing's line on Hong Kong over the past three months, he said. They spammed Instagram accounts of pro-Beijing celebrities with emojis of the Chinese flag, infiltrated Facebook live streams to clash with pro-democracy sympathizers, and plastered Communist Party slogans on the sites of news outlets from CNN to the Washington Post. Their hard work paid off when the Communist Party's Youth League and state media came out in praise of the campaigns, he said.Read More: China Celebrities Help Fan New Generation of NationalistsTheir motivations are widely misunderstood, said Zak Dychtwald, author of Young China: How the Restless Generation Will Change Their Country and the World. English-language media writing off Chinese pride as a product of propaganda and brainwashing only fans the flames of nationalism, he said. "There's ardent pride in the country and fangirls want to defend it," he added. "The energy and sentiment driving the movement in China is genuine."Zhang Dong, 30, emigrated to Laos in 2013 to work as a tour guide after he graduated from college in China. Only then did he understand how the world depicts his country in such a "horrible" manner. Every day, he churns out dozens of posts on the accounts he registered for the purpose of discrediting Hong Kong's protesters. He's called them "cockroaches," "traitors," and "HKIS," juxtaposing images of them with Islamic State terrorists. There's "essentially no difference" between the two groups, he said.Zhang is proud of his independence. "I've never received any money from the Communist Party," said Zhang. "If we were wumao, the Chinese government would have owed us hundreds of millions yuan by now."Fangirls represent another front in social media giants' efforts to curb disinformation campaigns. In August, Twitter suspended nearly 1,000 accounts originating from China, which the company identified as part of a state-backed operation to undermine Hong Kong's protests. Facebook and Google took similar action. That take down didn't have a lasting effect as new accounts emerged to replace those that were removed, a study from social media research firm Astroscreen shows.Read More: How Fake News and Rumors Are Stoking Division in Hong KongFangirls like Trista Wang say they have been unfairly targeted by these platforms. "Just one Chinese flag can get your account suspended," said Wang, a traditional Chinese medicine therapist in the port city of Qingdao. She insists Facebook is biased toward Chinese patriots like her, pointing to Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg's recent China-bashing remarks. "I used to have good feelings about Zuckerberg," Wang said.A Facebook representative said the company only removes content that violates its community standards. In response to inquiries on two specific fangirl accounts that were disabled or restricted, the representative pointed to policy violations in relation to the use of fake identities, bullying and harassment. A Twitter representative said it acts against accounts for policy breaches but declined to comment on individual examples citing privacy and security reasons.Fangirls could disappear as fast as they emerged. That's because nationalist movements are always a double-edged sword for the government, said Chinese University's Fang. "When something self-organizes to a certain size, it becomes a taboo -- even if it's only online."Or they could morph into something more alarming. Zhou, the volunteer leader, has already become a kind of online vigilante, notifying the police about a China-based Weibo user expressing support for Hong Kong. He said he was content that the police quickly identified and arrested the blogger. "We must rally all the forces we can to eradicate the soil that breeds Hong Kong separatists," he said.To contact the reporter on this story: Zheping Huang in Hong Kong at email@example.com contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at firstname.lastname@example.com, Edwin Chan, Colum MurphyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. is officially returning to the Las Vegas CES technology conference for the first time in decades to discuss its stance on consumer privacy -- rather than pitch a new hardware product.The company's senior director of privacy Jane Horvath will be speaking on a "Chief Privacy Officer Roundtable" on Jan. 7, according to the CES agenda.Horvath, along with executives from Facebook Inc., Procter & Gamble Co., and a commissioner from the Federal Trade Commission, will discuss how companies build privacy at scale, regulation and consumer demands.Apple's last major official appearance at CES was in 1992 when then Chief Executive Officer John Sculley gave a presentation at a Chicago version of the summit to introduce the failed Newton device.More recently, Apple's technology has influenced CES despite the company not officially presenting. It made news last year for a privacy billboard during the Vegas event that exclaimed, "What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone." Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. also touted Apple launching video streaming directly on third-party TVs.Each year, accessory makers fill the CES exhibit halls with cases and other peripherals for Apple devices. Behind the scenes, Apple managers roam the halls to identify future technology and scan the competitive landscape, while members of Apple's supply chain team meet with component makers to potentially source parts for future devices.While Apple has taken a backstage approach to the conference, rivals including Google, Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. have used the event to promote their latest voice-based products, spur interest from potential partners and try to beat Apple to the punch ahead of major product announcements.To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Gurman in Los Angeles at email@example.com;Ed Ludlow in San Francisco at firstname.lastname@example.com contact the editors responsible for this story: Tom Giles at firstname.lastname@example.com, Alistair Barr, Andrew PollackFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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text: Home News Make 2012 unforgettable – Dive Manado! News Make 2012 unforgettable – Dive Manado! By Ang - March 1, 2012 Share on Facebook Tweet on Twitter Indonesia is a far flung destination famed for it's mind blowing scuba diving and sumptuous resorts. And Indonesia's dive resorts certainly live up to this reputation. If you are looking for a special dive holiday, celebration or just want to spoil yourself, then you cannot go wrong with an Indonesian dive holiday. From a golden shoreline, the private villas and bungalows enjoy an uninterrupted view of lavish surroundings. Fine dining, relaxing spa treatments or a refreshing cocktail with your own private sea view… these are just some of the simple pleasures that make the Indonesia a must see stop off. Professional, friendly and always with an eye on the small details, your every whim is catered for. After all, having traveled all that way, you deserve something really special waiting at the other end. 31st Aug £1950 Guest lecturers will be Mark Erdmann, Gerry Allan & Massimo Boyer. There will be 6 nights of workshops in the evening as well as a treasure hunt, gala dinner and birthday party. This is all in addition to your 7 nights full board in a pool view room at the Eco Divers Manado Minhasa resort and 6 days diving Eco Divers Resort Manado – Fish Geek Week Diving in Bunaken national park, Sulawesi, Indonesia is the stuff of dreams for many divers, especially for underwater photographers. And with the indomitable duo of Eco Divers Manado and Minahasa Lagoon, you are guaranteed dives that will not only thrill and amaze but also make your dive buddies green with envy. Fill your log book with wondrous wall dives, daring drifts, colourful corals and a host of impressive and rare critters and creatures while you relax in this impressive yet welcoming resort. The Minahasa Lagoon is a well established and respected resort in Sulawesi but has retained its intimate size and relaxed atmosphere. There are 15 sea view Cottages and 8 garden view rooms. All have en suite, air con, mini bar, hairdryer and a terrace. The resort have also converted 2 of the sea view cottages to be fully wheelchair accessible. Wherever you chose to stay, you are never far from the unspoilt, private beach front and surrounded by the lush rain forest. Join the 10th birthday fun and learn all about the incredible eco system around Manado on Fish Geek Week! Minahasa Lagoon are celebrating their 10th birthday in style in 2012 and for their Fish Geek week you will be able to join a host of events during your stay. Room upgrades and additional diving can be added prior to travel – please just ask your travel consultant. Mike has been diving the wrecks of the Red Sea for more than ten years and has done a huge amount of research to put the wrecks into their time and place. He's an enthusiast for diving in general and more so for understanding what wrecks can tell us about the times they came from. Mike Ward Brings the wrecks alive with his unique understanding of the wrecks and indepth briefings before every dive. Making a great dive something far more interesting and special! Escorted get wrecked with Mike Ward! The Escorted Get Wrecked tour gives you the chance to pick the brains of an expert. This is the itinerary for those divers that want to know more about the wrecks they are visiting. Each wreck dived bristles with the history and stories that brought it to the Northern Red Sea. Throughout the ages, this region has been vital to shipping routes. Many vessels entered the narrow bottle neck between the Sinai and main land Egypt, but some never exited, caught out by the sharp reefs and numerous island spits that dot the horizon. The Northern Red Sea is quite unlike any other wreck destination and with Mike's expertise, the beauty of the region is undeniable. The Escorted Get Wrecked itinerary is perfect for any diver – novice to technical. From 5m to 50m, there is undeniably something for everyone. A stimulating experience for the mind and the eyes, understanding more about the wrecks visited on the route, really helps to see the wrecks in their full glory. Mike is escorting 21st July £1095 & 22nd Sept £1195 Cyclone – Red Sea Camel – Red Sea Grand Sea Serpent Seaserpent – Red Sea Last chance oppertunity to get away this weekend for a super special offer! Enjoy a week in the sun on one of the UK's favourite Red Sea Liveaboards Come and dive with this award winning dive centre! Enjoy a stunning week of diving in the Red Sea and experience why Camel is the Dive Centre of the Year! Enjoy the beautiful Southern Red Sea in style on Grand Sea Serpent and dive the incredible Daedalus, Rocky and St Johns in style. Last place left for a female share. Diving Simply the best of the southern Red Sea. Enjoy a week of being pampered on this experienced liveaboard and enjoy some world class diving! 25th Mar £725! 10th March £585! 8th March £1050! 6th April £995 RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR News Fancy a warm winter getaway with lots of diving? News Scuba Travel Special Offers News Scuba Travel Special Offers News Scuba Travel Special Offers News Scuba Travel Dive Show specials News Latest offers from Scuba Travel Popular postsAllFindex with JimNewsPhoto FINishTrip ReportsOpen Water… & BeyondMore News Fancy a warm winter getaway with lots of diving? Mario Vitalini - December 11, 2019 by Melissa Channe Bored with the winter weather? Thought about travelling to the Maldives but not too sure when... Scuba Travel Special Offers December 5, 2019 Scuba Travel Special Offers November 7, 2019 Scuba Travel Special Offers November 1, 2019 Scuba Travel Dive Show specials October 18, 2019


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Here is my latest addition to the burp cloth stash. This one sat in the den way too long before I finally sat down yesterday and made myself finish it.
I added it to the shop today too. Glad to see my listings growing bit by bit. This one is called BonnetChick


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Metaforic crosses swords with software pirates
Company joins a number of vendors in the application hardening market with a technology that embeds protections in a program at compile time.
The market for pirated software is enormous, so it's no surprise that there's a growing market for antipiracy/antitampering software in response. Glasgow, Scotland-based Metaforic Ltd., the newest vendor in what analysts have dubbed the application hardening market, debuted its MetaFortress product in April and announced its entry in North America this week.
Software piracy:
How to prevent software piracy: Security management pro Mike Rothman discusses several ways organizations can prevent software piracy and protect their intellectual property.
Application hardening tools help repel software pirates: Application hardening vendors can make life difficult for software pirates, forcing them to turn to more profitable, low-hanging fruit.
IDC and the Business Software Alliance estimate that a third of the global software market is for pirated copies -- tens of billions of dollars, mostly in Russia, China and Vietnam. The theft runs the gamut from games and standard business applications, such as Microsoft Office, to high-end specialty code worth hundreds of thousands of dollars that businesses in emerging markets can purchase for a fraction of their legitimate price.
Software crackers may reverse-engineer the code or simply break the licensing protection, the low hanging fruit in many cases.
MetaFortress runs an analyzer on code to determine where and how to insert protections and then embeds the protections in the program at compile time. Like other products in this space, this approach allows organizations to separate antitampering measures from the development process if they choose, which will improve efficiency and sidestep messy turf battles within an organization.
Chief competitors in this space are Arxan Technologies Inc., Cloakware Corp., PreEmptive Solutions LLC and V.i. Laboratories Inc. They use a variety of sophisticated obfuscation techniques well beyond standard obfuscation inserted by developers, and dynamic encryption methods far stronger than the usual encryption "wrappers" that can be cracked by capturing and decompiling code at run-time.
MetaFortress' differentiators in the market are ease of deployment and the ability to debug code after the solution has been applied, said Andrew McLennan, CEO at Metaforic The latter is an important tool to help certify compliance for software interoperability.
"With debugging, you can disprove that security has any influence on or is interfering with the software; it's a comfort for the customer." McLennan said. "You can continue to pass unit tests or integration compliance regimes that all large software vendors run on their applications."
McLennan said this will be especially valuable with virtualization software and for Windows.


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Yesterday I jumped out of a plane and fell towards the planet at 120mph in free fall. It was amazing.
For those of you tempted to do a skydive, do it. For those of you who don't think you could do it, feel the fear and do it anyway. It is honestly the most exhilarating and majestic things you could ever do, and once you have done it you will want to do it again.
I will try to tell you about my experience as best I can but I warn you it will probably sound a bit like a story book because I don't want to miss out any details! Scroll down for photos, and a video when I work out how..
I awoke yesterday morning slightly hungover. Piece of advice number 1, dont do this. Going out on wednesday night was a brilliant idea at the time, but skydiving on 3 hours sleep and a hungover belly wasn't. On the other hand I have proved it is still doable!
I got to the airfield at 9:30am for check in, where we were briefed, told how position yourself as you fall, and genrally made to feel confident! The tandem parachute instructors must have carried out a minimum of 800 solo jumps, been rigorously tested mentally and physically, and carry out regular inspections every few years for them to be allowed to be an tandem dive instructor, so you are in safe hands!
It took about 20 minutes to get up to 12,000ft in the small aircraft. I don't know if it was because my hangover had numbed my senses, or that I was genuinely too excited, but the nerves didn't really hit me until I saw the other divers in the plane jump out the like rag dolls. And by this time it was too late, I too was falling out the door of the plane, 12,000 ft up in the sky, like a rag doll.
The first thing my instructor told me to do when I left the plane is yell. So that's what I did, a lot. It is so so easy to forget to breathe as you leave, the temperature is -4 degrees up there, and you fall so fast it instantly takes your breath away so screaming stops this! As you fall, the wind literally tears past you. It does dry your mouth out a bit, but thats mostly because mine was open all the way, screaming…
You fall through the air for 40 seconds. If you were going at this speed when you jumped off the top of The Shard, it would take you 1 second to hit the ground! Then suddenly, the roar of the wind stops, and it goes silent. This is when the parachute goes up and you can really start to take in what is around you and were you are.
It is a really strange feeling to describe, but it is like you are weightless and floating in the air. After I had finished laughing, my instructor honnestly said to me "Lets go walking through the clouds" and we did, literally. It was like walking though steam. One of the highlights of the jump was coming out one cloud, to see a small fully circular rainbow on the cloud below us, with our shadow in the middle of it. But unfortunately there was not pot of gold.
I was given control of the parrachute and told to pull down as hard as I could on the left side, as I did so the parachute began to turn faster and faster until we dropped out the sky, before I spun it back by pulling the other handle. It was very fun.
We continued to float down in the parachute, doing various turns and looking at the view. I could see the coast, and apparently on a good day you can see london from higher up. Then we landed in the field below.
I really don't even think my description has done the jump justice, you just have to do it for yourself. One of the best things is the adrenaline rush, once you hit the floor you cant stop smiling for hours. You laugh at everything, and words come out your mouth without even thinking about them.
While the skydive was one of the best experiences ever, I wasn't just doing it for fun. I was raising money for the J's hospice, a local charity which provides hospice and respite care to 18-40 year olds with life threatening conditions. It is a great charity who do so much, so far I have raised over £250 but I am still collecting so if anyone wishes to donate the website is here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/bronyaskydives
If not, then you should organise your own jump and raise some money for charity yourself! I know I keep saying it but it really is AMAZING.
For those of you who worry about the parachute not opening, the instructors jump with a 300 square ft parachute, and a back up parachute if the first one isn't good enough or doesn't open. There is also a computer in the kit which measures the pressure, height and speed which you are falling, if for some reason they are unable to release the parachute, the computer does it for them! So in my mind, the chances of continuing towards earth at 120mph were too slim to worry about!!


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About the game
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Car Drift Racers was made by BrightestGames.com
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text:
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If you want to stay at the best hotel in Palmerston North, Trip.com is here to help! Book hotels in Palmerston North via the Trip.com website or app, it's easy and hassle-free. In Palmerston North, both areas with attractions and the city center are good places to stay. For trips in Palmerston North, you can choose hotels around the city center or accommodations near popular attractions.
Every day, travelers worldwide arrive at Palmerston North Airport to start their vacations and business trips in Palmerston North.
On Trip.com, there are 44 recommended hotels in Palmerston North. When looking for hotels in Palmerston North, there are likely good options at a nightly budget of just 108 AUD. There are 1 five-star hotels in Palmerston North at an average price of 118 AUD per night. There are 25 four-star hotels in Palmerston North at an average price of 117 AUD per night. There are 15 three-star hotels in Palmerston North at an average price of 91 AUD per night. There are 1 two-star hotels in Palmerston North at an average price of 62 AUD per night. There are not many well-known chain hotels in Palmerston North, but staying at a unique local hotel will make you feel at home. In Palmerston North, chain hotels such as Copthorne are one of the top choices among travelers. Those who favor Copthorne can choose a hotel under its name. A popular hotel in Palmerston North, Arena Lodge is also one of the highest rated. If you're still unsure, Trip.com recommends B-K's Motor Lodge.
There are quite a few famous attractions in downtown Palmerston North, such as Kids Republic, Daisys Bikes. The most popular attractions for tourists in Palmerston North are Real Escape Game, Palmerston North i-SITE Visitor Information Centre.
Average Temperature
• January to March: 20.06°C during the day, 14.84°C at night
• April to June: 13.63°C during the day, 9.08°C at night
• July to September: 11.73°C during the day, 7.51°C at night
• October to December: 16.38°C during the day, 11.88°C at night
Average seasonal Rainfall
• Spring: 58.2 cm
• Summer: 77.5 cm
• Autumn: 81.83 cm
• Winter: 88.27 cm


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Congratulations to PREMIERSHIP Winners DIY!
DIY must have had a title hangover party as they crashed to a 2-0 loss to a determined Bats side. They had already secured the title and finish one point clear of the rest after a fantastic season. Well done lads!
Runners up – Unatletico finish in second and will look to go one better next season. They finish with a thumping 6-2 defeat of Six on the Beach
Top goalscorer – M Batchelor of Bats Oap was our Top Scorer.


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Prevention is better than cure
LNG Industry
Introducing high fidelity simulators for LNG plant verification and validation.
Private sector employment in the US increased by more than 1 million jobs between 2007 and 2012 (approximately 1%). Oil and natural gas industry jobs increased 40% during that same period according to the US Energy Information Agency (EIA).1 During that time, LNG production increased by 25% and the EIA forecasts that demand and production will continue to increase until at least 2035. With this kind of projected growth, LNG plant owners/operators must find ways to shorten design and build times for new plants and plant expansions without sacrificing safety. Dynamic, real-time simulation can play a significant role in meeting these challenges.
Traditionally, dynamic simulators have been used for control room operator training. These simulators replicate the control room environment and distributed control systems (DCS) user interface. The benefits of simulation training are well known and well documented across the energy industry. But beyond operator training, today's high-fidelity simulators can also serve plant owners with their growth strategies.
The use of dynamic, real-time simulation for verification and validation (V&V) is a process that has been proven as effective in the nuclear energy industry and it transfers well to LNG facilities. Using an approach similar to that of the nuclear industry, LNG companies can evaluate the feasibility of the design and engineering for a new plant or expansion before it is built. In addition, verification of plant modifications helps ensure the expected operating results. This ultimately saves money throughout the design and construction process.
When used for V&V, simulators reduce design cost and project risk for:
- Validation of plant system process designs.
- Design and validation of digital instrumentation and control (I&C) strategy.
- Design and validation of human-machine interface.
- Use as a platform for human factor engineering (control room design).
- Validation of plant operation procedures.
Understanding simulation V&V
The US Army began using software V&V in the 1970s as part of its Anti-Ballistic Missile System programme. V&V standards were subsequently developed by the Institute of Electronics Engineers in 1986 and 1993,2 and by the American Nuclear Society in 1987.3 The American Society of Mechanical Engineers V&V standard is in review.4 V&V is now widely used by government organisations such as NASA and the Department of Defense.
As coding and simulation technology have developed over the years, so has V&V. Today, high definition (HD) simulators, also called high fidelity simulators, create a V&V platform to help identify design errors before they are incorporated into plant construction and speed commissioning.
For clarification, the AIAA Guide for Verification and Validation of Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations defines V&V as:
- Verification – the process of determining that a model implementation accurately represents the developer's conceptual description of the model and the solution to the model.
- Validation – the process of determining the degree to which a model is an accurate representation of the real world from the perspective of the intended uses of the model.
For years the oil and gas industry has relied on steady state simulation to design individual systems around overall plant production objectives. While suitable for individual system design, there is a trade-off between engineering analysis, real-time performance and continuous operation. These systems lack the feedback from integrated plant operations. Even with the latest advances in computer technology, the computational fidelity of steady state models cannot faithfully duplicate real-time performance across the entire range of plant operation. Real-time models must return accurate results though the full range of system operations. However, steady state codes generally are not numerically robust under all operating conditions to be able to do this.
Dynamic, high fidelity simulation gives owners/operators the ability to holistically view a plant's operations in real-time. The modeling shows the integration and interaction between the plant's piping, equipment and control system, and it reproduces the integrated plan dynamic performance for a wide range of start-up, steady state and shutdown operations.
Having the model work as an integrated system allows engineers and operators to see primary, secondary and tertiary effects. These model developments have been spurred by users' need to defend the validity of simulators' responses to local, state and federal regulators, and to the control system vendors that use the simulators to validate their products.
When built in conjunction with design data, this type of simulator helps validate the interface design between systems. The following questions can be answered:
- Has the controls vendor faithfully implemented the strategy and coded the system correctly?
- With the control strategy provide the designed results?
- Will the operating procedures work in practical application?
- Will the plant behave as expected, especially the secondary and tertiary effects that may arise from a plant upset?
- Are there better ways of displaying information to make the plant operator controlling this particular process more effective?
A different development process
Using the simulator for V&V requires a different approach than a conventional training simulator. Traditionally, all plant design data is collected and used to build the simulator models. V&V simulators require an iterative process of building models where interim deliveries help the engineers validate and adjust their design concept and the plant model grows over time along with the design process. This approach provides value early in the design/ build process of the plant.
Newer code developments have the computational capability to allow simulators to preserve the simulation fidelity and accuracy while running in real time. These tools can run synchronised real-time simulation models for full-scope balance-of-plant systems. Engineering grade simulators solve systems of differential equations and exchange results as feedback between the networks of the multi-physics interactions. The codes are synchronised so the exchange of calculation results and the code execution happen according to the same timing as in the operating plant.
The simulator must match the performance of the real plant within certain tolerances, and that performance must be repeatable. In real-time simulation the model must run transients from real plant data and they must represent the realistic performance at any given time.
Linking the dynamic real-time simulation models to the plant's DCS provides the best way to validate performance. Traditional loop-back testing platforms used by many DCS vendors do not provide a suitable level of integrated plant performance data to yield accurate, integrated plant response to an operator's action or a plant malfunction. Dynamic, high fidelity simulators are capable of predicting a plant's behavior in both normal and abnormal operating conditions. In contrast, older training simulators were designed by building code around the transmitters to produce a desired response that the operator could see. They relied heavily on plant performance data. When the plant is still under construction, no data exists and the simulator must reliably predict plant performance based upon solid first principles modeling.
Human factors engineering
Design based on how humans naturally interact with technology is called human factors engineering (HFE). It is a more developed process of what is commonly called ergonomics.
The simulator allows HFE to accurately test the effectiveness of the user interface for the plant control system. With the advent of DCS, more information about the plant is available to the operator than ever before. How that information is displayed, how various colours relate to plant status, what information is always available to the operator or shift supervisor are all critical to safe and efficient plant performance. As operators respond to abnormal and emergency events in real-time on the simulator, HFE can test the effectiveness of the following:
- Location of information
- Density of information
- Information overload
- Problem diagnosis and resolution
- Alarm management
- Electronic procedures
- Regulator comfort.
Employing human factors engineering (HFE) can reduce operator fatigue and the chances of human error, thus reducing the risk of plant upsets.
Looking Forward
For today, simulation-based V&V presents an opportunity for LNG companies to build or expand their facilities to meet growing demand and maximize profitability through more efficient designing, building and commissioning.
The goal of the simulation-based V&V is to find problems when they are least expensive to fix. Having a commissioning team wait while a permissive or set-point problem prohibits plant start-up is not only frustrating, but also extremely expensive. Thus, the financial benefit of simulation is clear.
The complexity of modern LNG facilities dictates the need for simulation for operator training. Purchasing the simulator early in the plant design process and using it to validate plant performance can shave days off plant start-up, paying for the simulator that will also be used as the life cycle training device.
- 'Oil and gas industry employment rising fast', available at http://www.energyglobal.com/news/exploration/articles/Oil_and__gas_industry employment_rising_quickly542.aspx#.Us6FXWRdX88
- 'IEEE Standard for Software Verification and Validation Plans', IEEE 1012-1986 and 'IEEE Guide for Software Verification and Validation Plans', IEEE 1059-1993.
- 'Guidelines for the Verification and Validation of Scientific and Engineering Computer Programs for the Nuclear Industry', ANSI/ANS-10.4-1987.
- ASME Code and Standard V&V 30, 'Verification and Validation in Computational Simulation of Nuclear System Thermal Fluids Behavior', Footnotes 2-4 from Stoots, C. M. , et. al. , 'Verification and Validation Strategy for LWRS Tools', INL/EXT-12-27066, September 2012.
- 'AIAA Guide for the Verification of and Validation of Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations', AIAA Standards G-077-1998e, from Stoots, C. M., et. al. , 'Verification and Validation Strategy for LWRS Tools', INL/EXT-12-27066, September 2012.


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text: D'Evelyn's educational philosophy embraces the concept that mathematics is an essential component in the development of an educated mind. The study of mathematics develops and refines the use of logical reasoning skills. The disciplined approach to mathematics is readily extended to all other areas of thought, providing an essential element to many occupations and further schooling, especially in the sciences. The Saxon series is used in the math program. This series is based on the belief that students can master the concepts of math through daily practice. Each lesson contains only a few problems illustrating the concept introduced in that lesson. The remaining problems, which become increasingly more difficult as the year progresses, are a review of all previously presented concepts. Each lesson is thus a cumulative review, and the problems require that the students develop fluency in problem solving to successfully complete the lessons.


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I've been home for a couple days, fellow-travelers, and I've talked to a few of you about the amazing things the transformational community there practiced as the conference drew to a close. Looking back at my previous CycleCast dated March 19, and which in still in effect through April, I can see how energies identified then have played out in this latest drama. (You can easily view that entry by clicking on the "Cyclecasts" line at the bottom of this post.)
At that time, I wrote about the need for courage to face the challenges ahead, through which we would grow, and affirmed that we did indeed have the inner resources needed to rise to the challenge. If you'll read the April 2 post immediately following this one, you'll see that that "prediction" was spot on. To recap, as the afternoon session of the last day was closing, the featured speaker Rupert Sheldrake was stabbed in the leg by a man who approached him in the question-and-answer period. However, due to the effective and compassionate action by those in attendance, all turned out for the highest and greatest good. Now, that's real cut and dry, so page down and read the April 2 post!
{{and come back here}} Okay, so it was quite a day. Are we fellow-travelers the only ones who have managed to walk away from it seeing the positive, empowering energy around this event? I've been reading what I can find online (not much), and it's either straight news reporting (the Santa Fe New Mexican had the best article), or yet another chance to diss those who, like Sheldrake, dare to work on the cutting edge. Here is my bottom -line take on the event: The strong, effective, compassionate response by the conference attendees has uploaded a major input of positive change into the morphic field, and that energy is available for transformational actions from here forward. (And, no, we do not need to add "security" guards to every public gathering, you mainstream bloggers you.)
Here are the energies I identified in my CycleCast for that day: It's about growing up, fellow-travelers. The time of I Want is fulfilled, and now we look to the greater goals of the collective. By choosing commitment, we can Trust enough to apply our Realizations with the power that comes from combining with others. If we can see through the crossing lines, the resolution is really simple; it's only our complex thinking that sends us off the map.
We've had our Cake, fellow-travelers, and eaten it too. A little time musing by the Window shows us which Rod we must take command of. Something must pass away for the new to come in: fill the Coffin with reverence and let it go. The Chain won't hold us back if we see it as a link to the new cycle.
Welcome to the business and personal website of me, Jan Burch - aka Jan4insight - owner & practitioner of Geo-Glow Consulting. Call me a "Renaissance woman" > My business aims to be your go-to source for holistic energy work and intuitive readings. My creative side makes (and sells!) gorgeous one-of-a-kind handcrafts and fabulously colorful print-on-demand gifts and more. Here at my site, you can find me on the Web, order a reading, learn more about my energy work services, and check in with my occasional musings. Legal stuff: This site uses cookies, and some posts may contain affiliate links. Thank you very much.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
CycleCast for the Events of April 2, 2008, at the 10th Annual Science and Consciousness Conference
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