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Maximizing the ROI of your IP security system
In a previous post, I presented a model for Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) in IP security, and how that could be applied to projects. In a recent post, I further explored the use of the TCO as a tool for buyers to make better business decisions. I also argued for the expansion of the TCO model to include risk factors, an increasingly important area in any industry.
Another great benefit is that a solid TCO calculation is the basis for estimating the value of the system, or the Return on Investment (ROI). As stated in the white paper "Unpacking best value" from Vested, research conducted by the University of Tennessee College of Business Administration and funded by the U.S. Air Force: "While the conventional definition of TCO is exclusively concerned with the cost side of customer value, the real power is that TCO provides a foundation for making best value sourcing decisions."
Why look at value?
The cost of your system is balanced against the expected benefit, or value of the system. What this value is depends on the industry, the customer, the application and many other factors. In the white paper "Total Cost of Ownership: Realizing Procurement's Full Potential in Value Creation" from 2016 by NIGP Business Council, the authors define value as, "a set of attributes and expectations meaningful to the organization; a fair return on investment."
In the security industry, there are some obvious values that most buyers would identify, such as reduced theft and vandalism. Other key benefits from an IP security and/or camera system can include increased – real or perceived – safety for citizens, customers or staff, and business and process improvements in for example retail and manufacturing industry.
Estimating value
To illustrate the role of value in relation to the TCO, let's revisit the simple case from our previous post, where a buyer is considering two different systems: A and B. In the below, the TCO analysis in the left figure showed that while system B had a lower price, system A had a much lower TCO over the lifecycle of the system, making it clearly the best choice from a cost perspective.
Now, let's assume that the buyer has analyzed the expected value from systems A and B, and found that system A will deliver a greater value over the lifespan of the system. For example, system A might offer tighter integration with the customer's existing systems (for instance, a point-of-sales system in retail) leading to additional revenue created. In the right figure, this is illustrated as the total created value from A and B respectively, and the difference becomes even clearer when we look closer at the resulting value after costs are deducted.
With this information, it is also possible to calculate the expected Return on Investment (ROI) for the buyer with system A and B. ROI is typically expressed as a percentage, and calculated with this formula from Investopedia:
In our hypothetical example above, the difference is significant. System A offers an ROI of 67%, while system B only offers a 20% ROI. The case for choosing system A is now even more obvious.
Which values are important to you?
In the security industry, it can sometimes be challenging to quantify the value of a deployed system, since many of the benefits are intangible. However, identifying the value is critical to create a reliable business case.
In the "Unpacking best value" white paper quoted above, the authors list real world examples of how buyers have successfully used value criteria when procuring products and services, and how more or less intangible values have also been included – such as the sustainability, aesthetics, safety, diversity, competence and responsiveness demonstrated by the different vendors bidding for the projects.
In a white paper from BSIA, British Security Industry Association, "The (Real) Price of Security Solutions" from 2016, the authors coin the term "security dividends" and argue for the importance of looking at intangible benefits that premium systems deliver: "An additional benefit of using high-quality security solutions is that they may increase business opportunities for a company. These sorts of intangible results can be described as 'security dividends'."
Vendors can help
If you find it difficult to quantify values in a buying process, a natural partner to turn to are the vendors. Vendors that have a long track record of providing complex products and services should have a very good grasp on the typical outcomes and value their system can provide, and would likely be happy to engage in a value conversation.
Challenging vendors to provide good value argumentation, and scrutinizing case stories and testimonials from other customers that have implemented similar solutions are good approaches to learn about the potential value of the system in question.
Five things to consider in defining value
Here is a way to get started on defining potential value:
- Identify which values are important to you. Map the challenges and possibilities that you face. Speak to peers, investigate case stories, and challenge vendors to help you understand more of what you should expect from the system.
- Look at direct value. What is the value created from increased loss prevention, decreased theft, minimized vandalism or prevention of burglaries?
- Look at indirect value. Will your legal expenses decrease from reduced slip-and-fall claims? Can you re-negotiate insurance costs? Will a more robust security system decrease costs such as service disruption fees due to metal theft or security problems in public transportation?
- Look at value created in new areas. Will you improve revenue in your retail stores due to store optimization solutions? Will traffic systems increase your income from parking fees?
- Look at important soft values. Will your retail security system improve staff retention and customer experience? Will your school security system decrease bullying and help attract more students? Will your city surveillance solution contribute to reduced traffic congestion, minimized pollution and improved reputation among citizens, visitors and businesses?
From theory to practice
In recent TCO posts I have demonstrated the usefulness of TCO as a tool for strategic buyers, and explained how adding the value perspective gives the buyer a more complete picture to make an informed decision.
However, while based on a lot of experience and input, the examples shown here are still hypothetical. How do TCO and ROI analyses look in the real world? In future posts, I will examine some real TCO and ROI case stories from the IP security industry.
Learn more
For more details on the TCO and ROI methodology and for a closer look at some case stories, please download the white paper:


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Supreme Court censures on-campus student stir
NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court Wednesday disapproved of protests by students on college campuses scornfully wondering if the protesters think they were "Mahatama Gandhi" practising his act of resistance "satyagraha".
A vacation bench of Justice Markandey Katju and Justice Deepak Verma made the disparaging remarks against on-campus agitation by students while dismissing a lawsuit by a girl student, challenging her rustication from Kerala-based St George College.
Indulekha Joseph was suspended from the college for organising protest demonstration against the institute management.
"What kind of a student are you? You are raising slogans, distributing pamphlets, holding press conferences, displaying placards. What do you think you are doing, a satyagraha," remarked Justice Katju.
"Do you think you are Mahatama Gandhi," Justice Katju asked.
"You are behaving like a neta (leader), not like a student. This type of netagiri is indiscipline."
The bench, however, directed the college authorities to issue Joseph a transfer certificate without adversely reflecting on her conduct in the college.
The bench dismissed Joseph's lawsuit, ignoring the apologies tendered by her counsel Krishnan Venugopal. "Apologies cannot be accepted. You cannot stab a person and say sorry."
Admitting her petition in November 2008, the apex court allowed her to appear for her graduation examination but barred her from attending classes.
She was expelled from the college in February 2007.
The daughter of a lecturer of the college, Joseph staged protests after her father was transferred from the college.
The Kottayam-based Mahathma Gandhi University, to which the college is affiliated, in its reply to the girl's lawsuit said Joseph had been nurturing enmity against the college and its management.
The university said the girl conducted a sit-in in front of the principal's office. She distributed leaflets against the college and held a press conference making unfounded allegations.
According to the university, Joseph threatened college authorities saying: "I dedicate my life to fight against the degenerated functioning. I had come to know that in my college different sorts of corrupt practices are rampant."
"I would stage a satyagraha Oct 26, 2006 at the gate of the college to attract attention of the public. I would conduct a press conference to invite the attention of the media," she was quoted as having said.
The university said the girl had a "family trait" to resort to litigation at the drop of a hat.
At the age of 4, her parents had made her perform a "protest dance" in front of the Mandi House Doordarshan office in New Delhi "to protest their inability in telecasting her performance".
Filed under Court, Immigration, Lawsuit, News | Tags: Counsel, Litigation, New Delhi | Comment Below

subset: commoncrawl


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It's in big oak tuns like these that most Beaujolais cellaring wines spend several months before being bottled. But what actually happens between the harvests and the bottle?
At harvest time, the grapes that make Beaujolais red wines are picked, whole bunches are put into vats to macerate for 4 to 15 days.
The juice at the bottom is drawn off.This is the free-run juice. Then the bunches are pressed. This produces the press juice. The two are blended
and finish fermenting together.
Then comes the maturing step. This can be done in bottles, vats, or traditional wooden containers:barrels, half-hogsheads or big tuns, where the wine becomes more rounded and complex.
Beaujolais Nouveau are primeur wines and skip this step.
That's the general principle, but the winemaker makes each Beaujolais special. Each winemaker has his own recipe and special techniques.


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School Program
A Grade Four and Five Social Studies and Language Arts Unit to Engage Your Students' Hearts and Minds
Roedde House Museum is a local Vancouver Historic House which offers hands-on activities for your students and supports and enriches the Grade 4 and 5 Social Studies and Language Arts Curricula. Guided tours by experienced docents support and enhance the downloadable "Roedde House Museum : Windows to the Past" which is a complementary curriculum in both English and French. A short five minute video showing the house is available. This program can also supplement Grade 6 & 7 Language Arts.
The school program is usually two hours long, beginning at 9.45 am and ending at 11.45 am. It is divided into three activities: a tour of the house, artifact discovery kit, and architectural drawing along with a walking tour of Barclay Square. A school tour reminder will be sent to the teachers prior to the visit to instruct them about the tour details.
Before the visit, teachers will receive a kit, the "Windows to the Past" artifacts box, which they are strongly encouraged to open and discover with their students. The museum will arrange for the kit to be delivered approximately two weeks before the visit and it should be returned when you come for your tour. Any damage, loss or theft of objects from the kit will be the responsibility of the school/class.
A fee of $4 per child will apply. Payment can be made by cheque (payable to the Roedde House Preservation Society) or cash and is due on the date of the class visit. Subsidies are possible for Schools with Enhanced Services.
If you are concerned about the special needs of any particular students, please advise us so that we may try to accommodate them as best as we can. The main floor of the museum is wheelchair-accessible through the kitchen door, on the side of the house, but unfortunately the upstairs is not.
Roedde House Museum is in the heart of Vancouver's West End. Bringing yuour class to this historic house will provide a multifaceted look at the everyday life of a young middle class immigrant family in the early years of the 20th Century.
Click here to register your school and book the tour.


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"...Weekend fun at GREEN FESTIVAL EXPO plus GOSH! READERS will get... "
GOSH!ABOUT: Tickets To Long Island BullDog Rescue's Charity Dinner
Get Your Tickets For This Amazing Event ICE-T & COCO AUSTIN HOWARD STERN'S WIFE BETH STERN JILL RAPPAPORT and TALK STOOP'S CAT GREENLEAF ___________________________ Editor in chief: Najaam Lee Contributing Location Writer: Mitchell Acks Photo credit: Google/Hamptons.comDid you know about this? *Click that Subscribe Button: http://www.GoshAbout.com Join us on SnapChat: http://snapchat.com/add/GoshAbout Follow us…Read more GOSH!ABOUT: Tickets To Long Island BullDog Rescue's Charity Dinner
Friday SWEETS!
OMG! No Beef Today! It was lashed out yesterday. If you missed it click here. I want to address the upcoming event, BORN TO MODEL SUMMIT, because this is a unique event and I want to answer a few questions we have been getting about it. Born To Model Summit is a first major event…Read more Friday SWEETS!


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Reading time ( words)
PACE Worldwide's new ST 925 Convective and Infrared System for SMT Rework combines three popular PACE products together into one convenient, low-cost SMT rework system. Comprised of the ST 325 Programmable Convective/Hot Air Rework Station, the PH 100 Low Profile Infrared Preheater and the ST 500A Z-Axis Platform, the system provides a powerful 575W convective top-side heater plus a 1,600W IR bottom-side preheater, which allows operators to safely rework PCBs for fast, efficient soldering, rework or repair, even on the highest mass, thermally challenging, lead-free PCBs.
The ST 925 features a self-contained convective/hot air SMT rework station that is fully programmable and can be used to remove and install surface mount components. From the front panel, the system can be used in either manual or "timed" modes. Manual mode means that the system generates heated airflow when the cycle button is pressed; when it is pressed a second time the system shuts off. "Timed" modes allow the operator to create up to 20 "Profiles" that consist of time and temperature parameters to ensure process control and repeatability. The system uses a pump to generate airflow that first passes through a heater, where it is warmed to the appropriate temperature, and then through optionally available heat-focusing nozzles that "shape" the air stream for the specific component. A user-friendly front panel interface with Digital Display allows for easy adjustment of temperature, flow rate and timing and intuitive programming and profile development. A unique adapter allows instant change out of Nozzles, without tools. Over 80 low-cost Nozzles are available for a wide variety of surface mount components.
The system also incorporates the new PH 100 IR Preheater, a high powered, non-contact infrared preheating system with an ergonomic, low profile design, magnetic PCB holders and intuitive 3.5" Touch Screen Display. An adjustable stand allows hands-free operation of the handpiece heater, providing access to the entire work area, and giving you the capability to perform repetitive removals and installations.
About PACE
PACE Worldwide has been providing the most innovative, cost-effective solutions in hands-on soldering, rework and repair of advanced electronics to companies and government around the globe for well over 50 years. Since the dawn of the modern electronics industry, PACE has played a key role in the development of groundbreaking products, training films, curricula, materials and electronic assembly standards, including several soldering, surface mount and thru-hole rework videos co-produced with the IPC and industry.


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Nursing leaders essential in providing quality health careBack to Article
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"We are making significant progress, and demand for qualified BECx professionals is likely to continue to grow, but perhaps the best advice at this point is:
- Get as much building science education as you can find.
- Study the "mother" BECx resource—NIBS Guideline 3—from cover to cover.
- Get out in the field to gain experience in how building science applies to the design, specification, and construction of high performance buildings. "—-Peter Yost


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One of the best places to stop in and grab a burger and more is using 2020 Culvers coupons at their locations nationwide. We checked their website and found a few Culvers deals. All you have to do is provide your email address to start saving off their many items they offer in their restaurant.
Some Culvers menu items include Butterburgers, salads, sandwiches like Reubens and Cod Fillet, as many of drink and soda options. The second reason besides their dinner options to visit, is just for their wide selection of ice cream.
In regard to Culvers locations, most of them are found through the midwest and some in the south. For a complete list of locations use the Culvers location finder.
E-Club Printable Culvers Coupons – 2020 – Sign up for their official email club to receive a variety of discounts and special offers from Culvers locations nationwide.
Flavor of the Day Culvers Coupon – 2020 – Check out the flavor of the day to see which items are featured today for their restaurant locations.


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Taxes Refunds - The Basics!
An income tax refund is in reality a kind of tax rebate. In simple words you'll be able to claim that it is actually a return on taxes you obtain when the level of tax liability is lesser as opposed to actual tax paid in a financial year. In this instance you can claim maximum refund simply because you did not declare your investing which could have some level of tax payments.
Online tax return 2016
Income tax refunds can be quite vital that you the taxpayers and the private investors, provided that the need for the guaranteed refund will probably be disclosed for many years. Mostly, the taxpayers are pushing for augmented disclosure from the tax refund as well as the associated value they create normally.
Guaranteed refund can be helpful for any salaried individual as it's likely that his/her company could possibly have deducted surplus tax because he/she never have declared some of the investment on the company. Now popular bands are using their guaranteed refund as a "simple savings plan" and continue getting money back annually.
tax refund
The way to analyze tax refund?
To investigate whether you're qualified to apply for Taxation refunds or not, you need to file your guaranteed refund documents. Salaried individual could get a form called Form-16 this also document will assist you to claim guaranteed refund. Tax maximum refund must be claimed with 12 months with the last day's assessment year as Tax refunds depend on your recently earnings and Tax liability. If you still have to disclose some income, accomplish that ASAP in order to avoid penalties regardless of the sort from tax department
How to claim the tax refund?
To claim for this you should know of specific varieties of information, including frequency of maximum refund of income tax, so that they are able to monitor efficiently and quite often their tax refund issues. You need to restrain yourself from buying unnecessary things in order that they may stir away from the refund issues.
The refund companies should educate their clients around the responsibilities related to refund issues including Revised return in the case of missed reporting any income or deductions, significance about date and acknowledgement quantity of original return filed, the effect appealing charges on partial refunds filing, and also the bad and the good side of needing many refunds.
To claim correctly you'll want your Ss number (or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number)
Your Filing Status
The exact whole volume of your tax refund
Tax refunds can even be received directly to your upon request.
When you file a Revised Return of greenbacks?
You will need to file a revised return of greenbacks once you think that you forgot or didn't file the proper documents about your investments. A Revised Return of Income request needs to be filed using Form-30. The Income tax department asia has now taken an initiative where we could check our taxes status on the internet. We merely must browse governments website and look at every little thing associated with our tax information. Utilizing an online service, Taxation returns are filed easily and refunds may be processed swiftly.
And so the final point here is, you might be permitted get refunds if additional tax may be deducted from your earnings. Don't forget the time for you to get refund is volatile, thus tend not to overpay and do your calculations intelligently. The eye paid on your own refund with the tax department is incredibly near to the ground.
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The service operates daily, using a refreshed 174 seat B737- 800 aircraft featuring 12 business class seats, upgraded in-flight entertainment, and improved seat comfort.
It replaces Qantas' previous, turboprop-operated service between Port Moresby and Cairns, and is aimed to maximize customers' connections to New Zealand, Pacific Islands, and North America.
Qantas and Air Niugini will continue to codeshare on routes between Port Moresby and Australia.*
Qantas Senior Vice President in Asia and Papua New Guinea, Benjamin Tan, said the route provides a great choice of connections for business and leisure travelers.
"The new service between Port Moresby and Brisbane opens up a range of options for all our customers.
"For business travelers, the departure and arrival times in Port Moresby make it easy to fly in, take meetings in the afternoon or the next morning, then catch a flight back to Australia later the next day.
"For leisure travelers, flights to Brisbane offer convenient connections across Australia and seamless international transfers, to North America, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands," said Mr Tan.
"Our refurbished B737 provides over 300 entertainment options and Marc Newson designed Business and Economy seats. We look forward to welcoming more travellers on board to experience Qantas," added Mr Tan.
Qantas began operating to PNG in the 1940s with two light aircraft stationed in Lae for local operations. Qantas' four engine DC4 Skymaster began flying the Sydney - Port Moresby – Lae route in 1950.
In 1959, Port Moresby was used as a refueling point for Qantas flights to Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, the Qantas and Air Niugini code share is subject to government and regulatory approvals.


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This article describes update KB3114756 for Microsoft Outlook 2010, which was released on February 9, 2016. This update has a prerequisite.
Improvements and fixes
Fixes the following issues:
- When you forward a non-delivery report (NDR) in Outlook 2010, the body of the resulting message is displayed in Chinese characters unexpectedly.
- If you select the plus signal "+" to expand a distribution list in the To field of a meeting request in Outlook 2010, Outlook 2010 may crash. This issue occurs if Outlook 2010 has a third-party add-in installed.
How to download and install the update
Microsoft UpdateUse Microsoft Update to automatically download and install the update.
Download CenterThis update is also available for manual download and installation from the Microsoft Download Center.
- Download update KB3114756 for 32-bit version of Outlook 2010
- Download update KB3114756 for 64-bit version of Outlook 2010
Update information
Restart informationYou may have to restart the computer after you install this update.
PrerequisiteTo apply this update, you must have Microsoft Office 2010 Service Pack 2 installed.
Note You may also need to apply Language Pack Service Pack 2 for any Language Packs you previously installed.
More Information
Learn about the standard terminology that Microsoft uses to describe software updates. The Office System TechCenter contains the latest administrative updates and strategic deployment resources for all versions of Office.


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Reps. Tulsi Gabbard, Colleen Hanabusa Introduce Bill to Increase Hawai'i, Nationwide Civil Defense Preparedness
Washington, DC—Reps. Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) and Colleen Hanabusa (HI-01) introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen civil defense preparedness in Hawai'i and across the country. The Civil Defense Preparedness Act of 2018 (H.R. 5399) would expand existing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) terrorism and catastrophic event grant programs to include improving nuclear, biological, and chemical attack preparedness. The grants would be used for training, protective equipment, building reinforcements, and other community preparedness measures.
In response to Hawai'i's false missile alert, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has also introduced bipartisan legislation that would improve accountability by ensuring transparent investigations and disclosure into the incident and establish best practices to strengthen state and national preparedness and disaster communications plans, among other measures.
Read the Civil Defense Preparedness Act of 2018 Here
Read a One Page Summary of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard's Bill Here
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said, "The false ballistic missile alert sent out in Hawai'i earlier this year, and the threat of nuclear attack from North Korea, reveal major gaps in preparedness measures and alert plans across all levels of our government. Addressing this must be taken seriously and made a priority in Hawai'i and across the country. My bipartisan legislation provides the means to support state and local governments to make these critical investments for our communities."
"More than two months have passed since the false ballistic missile alert revealed significant failures in our preparations for a possible attack and we are still seeking a full, transparent accounting of what went wrong for 38 minutes on January 13th. We must review HI-EMA's Attack Warning Signal system and our community response plan in the event of a biological, chemical, radiological or nuclear attack as part of the process to restore the public trust," said Congresswoman Hanabusa. "This bipartisan bill will help prioritize Department of Homeland Security grant funding for communities that need to improve training, fortify or create shelter space, and purchase new equipment. Hawaii and many other municipalities around the country will benefit from increased access to federal funding to support community preparedness and response."
"Failure of successive administrations to prevent North Korea from obtaining nuclear weapons creates a need to ensure preparedness even for the unthinkable. Congresswoman Gabbard and I are leading on this issue," said Congressman Tom Garrett (R-VA).
Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo said, "We need better preparedness in Guam, Hawai'i and other areas in our country that are especially susceptible to threats from weapons of mass destruction. North Korea directly targeted Guam last year, and while our people are confident in our island's defenses, more needs to be done to inform the public, harden facilities, and enhance coordination between our military, civilian, and law enforcement partners. I am proud to join Congresswoman Gabbard in introducing this important legislation so that DHS prioritizes funding for areas at risk from WMDs. I look forward to working with her to pass this bill and providing much needed federal resources to keep our communities safe and secure."
"The U.S. States and Territories throughout the Pacific are at the forefront of a range of potential threats, and Congresswoman Gabbard's bill will help ensure the training, infrastructure and equipment is there if needed," said Congresswoman Aumua Amata. "It's essential to have a well-planned response ready to go in the event of a sudden threat."
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has also introduced the Civil Defense Accountability Act of 2018 (H.R. 4949) that would require the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Defense (DoD), and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to publicly disclose incident and recommendation reports about the January 13 false alert. It would also compel ballistic missile civil defense agencies to review the current notification protocols for ballistic missile threats and study the best practices regarding civil defense emergencies to prevent a similar catastrophic mistake. In addition, the bill would instruct the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to publicly detail the ability of HHS and health care providers to respond to a biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear weapons attack.
Follow Rep. Tulsi Gabbard on social media:
- Facebook.com/RepTulsiGabbard
- Twitter.com/TulsiPress
- YouTube.com/TulsiPress
- Flickr.com/RepTulsiGabbard


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Columbia Medium / Firm Side Sleeper Down Chamber Pillow, White
Browse all deals at Kohl's
See more in Bed Pillows & Protectors
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* This offer may contain time-sensitive information and offers. Please check with Kohl's to confirm actual price & availability.
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Paul Lo Duca
Paul Anthony Lo Duca (born April 12, 1972) is an American retired professional baseball player and television personality. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1998–2004), Florida Marlins (2004–2005, 2008), New York Mets (2006–2007), and Washington Nationals (2008). He later became a horse racing analyst for the TVG Network and New York Racing Association. In November 2019, he agreed to a contract to work for Barstool Sports as a horse racing and gambling analyst.
|Paul Lo Duca
Lo Duca with the Los Angeles Dodgers
|Born: April 12, 1972
Brooklyn, New York
|MLB debut
|June 21, 1998, for the Los Angeles Dodgers
|Last MLB appearance
|September 27, 2008, for the Florida Marlins
|MLB statistics
|Batting average
|Home runs
|Runs batted in
|Career highlights and awards
Collegiate careerEdit
Lo Duca walked on to the baseball team at Glendale Community College (AZ) after he was not recruited or drafted out of high school. He hit .449 and .461 in his two years at the community college before transferring to Arizona State University.[1] In 1993 (the one year he played at ASU), Lo Duca was named The Sporting News Player of the Year, setting school records with a .446 batting average and 129 hits. He also was named a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, and his 37-game hitting streak is the second longest in school history. He was named ASU "On Deck Circle" Most Valuable Player; other winners include Dustin Pedroia, Willie Bloomquist, Ike Davis, and Barry Bonds.[2]
Professional careerEdit
Los Angeles DodgersEdit
Despite his college success, Lo Duca spent many years in the minor leagues after being drafted in the 25th round of the 1993 Amateur Draft. After spending 1995 with the Vero Beach Dodgers, Lo Duca was sent to the Australian Baseball League to play with the Dodgers Australian affiliate the Adelaide Giants during the 1995-96 off-season to help with his development.[3] He finally achieved a breakthrough year with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2001 at age 29. Lo Duca drew comparisons to Dodgers predecessors Mike Scioscia and Mike Piazza; all three were capable and popular everyday catchers who were homegrown through the Dodgers' organization, and all three are of Italian-American ancestry. Lo Duca's primary strength was as a contact hitter, like Scioscia, but unlike the power-hitting Piazza.
After becoming an everyday big league player, Lo Duca was named to four All-Star Games. In 2002, he was one of the best contact hitters in the majors – only Jason Kendall struck out less often, and no one had a better percentage of swings and misses.[4] In 2003, Lo Duca's 25-game hitting streak was the second longest in Dodgers history, and defensively, he ranked first in the National League in throwing out baserunners. In 2004, he led National League catchers in RBIs. In the field in 2004, he allowed 93 stolen bases, more than any other catcher in Major League Baseball.
Florida MarlinsEdit
Lo Duca was traded from Los Angeles along with Juan Encarnación and Guillermo Mota to the Marlins for Hee-seop Choi, Brad Penny, and minor league pitching prospect Bill Murphy at the 2004 trading deadline.
New York MetsEdit
Later, Lo Duca was traded to the Mets for two minor league prospects: pitcher Gaby Hernandez and outfielder Dante Brinkley. This was part of a Marlin "market correction" where most of their high-paid players were traded away after the 2005 season. Lo Duca was a member of the 2006 All-Star Team, and the Mets finished that year with a 97-65 record and made the postseason (his first playoff experience). Lo Duca hit .318, his highest average since 2001. He also had a .355 on-base percentage, a career high. Lo Duca collected his 1,000th career hit on May 30, 2007, off Barry Zito. His batting average fell 48 points that year to .272, and he played only 119 games after making a trip to the disabled list in August.
Washington NationalsEdit
After the 2007 season, Lo Duca agreed to a $5 million, one-year deal with the Washington Nationals on December 10. He was released by the Nationals on July 31, 2008, after batting .230/.301/.281.
Second stint with MarlinsEdit
On August 8, 2008, Lo Duca signed a minor league deal to return to the Florida Marlins organization.[5] LoDuca was called up on August 16.[6]
Lo Duca became a free agent after the 2008 season and did not play in 2009. In June 2009, he joined TVG Network as an analyst and began working on 2009 Belmont Stakes day.
Colorado RockiesEdit
On January 19, 2010, Lo Duca signed with the Colorado Rockies and came out of retirement. His role with the club was as a backup catcher and occasional first baseman and outfielder.[7][8] He only appeared in the minor leagues with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox during his stint in the Rockies organization, batting .233/.292/.302.
Second retirementEdit
On May 29, 2010, Lo Duca was released, and in June, he returned to work for TVG. He continues to work as a horse racing analyst for the network.
Defamation lawsuitEdit
On October 22, 2019, MLB umpire Joe West filed a defamation lawsuit in New York against Lo Duca and Action Network over comments Lo Duca made on a podcast in April 2019, recalling his Mets teammate Billy Wagner telling him in 2006-7, "Joe loves antique cars so every time he comes into town I lend him my '57 Chevy so he can drive it around so then he opens up the strike zone for me." In the complaint West denies this and says he has suffered unspecified damages as a result of Lo Duca's comments.[9][10]
Mitchell ReportEdit
On December 13, 2007, Lo Duca was named in the Mitchell Report in connection with human growth hormone (HGH) use. Lo Duca allegedly received the HGH from former Dodgers clubhouse attendant and known steroids dealer Kirk Radomski, who produced three checks from Lo Duca totaling $3,200. Federal investigators also seized handwritten notes from Lo Duca to Radomski during a search of Radomski's house. The report also claims that Lo Duca introduced several other baseball players to Radomski, including Adam Riggs, Kevin Brown, Éric Gagné, and Matt Herges.[11]
The Mitchell Report cites an October 2003 meeting among Dodgers officials that included discussion of the possible use of steroids by some players. The notes of the meeting say:
Steroids aren't being used anymore on him. Big part of this. Might have some value to trade ... Florida might have interest. ... Got off the steroids ... Took away a lot of hard line drives. ... Can get comparable value back would consider trading. ... If you do trade him, will get back on the stuff and try to show you he can have a good year. That's his makeup. Comes to play. Last year of contract, playing for 05.[12]
Six months later, the Dodgers traded Lo Duca to the Florida Marlins. Mitchell did not identify the Dodgers officials involved, nor if other players were traded because they stopped taking steroids.
On January 9, 2013, in response to the Baseball Hall of Fame announcement in which no players were elected, Lo Duca acknowledged his steroids use, tweeting "I took PED and I'm not proud of it...but people who think you can take a shot or a pill and play like the legends on that ballot need help."
Personal lifeEdit
Lo Duca was born in Brooklyn, New York, but was raised in Glendale, Arizona, and attended Apollo High School, after attending St Simon and Jude Middle School. On August 7, 2006, the New York media leaked a story about his divorce suit with his wife, Sonia (Flores) Lo Duca, a former Playboy model.[13] The leak by the New York Post led Lo Duca to threaten to stop giving interviews to the media. Lo Duca had been "one of the most helpful and available players in the Mets clubhouse," and afterward resumed giving interviews, as long as they pertained to baseball.[14] Lo Duca has a daughter, Bella Lucia, with his ex-wife.[15]
See alsoEdit
- ^ Paul Lo Duca: The Long Road Home
- ^ "#1 in College Sports". CSTV.com. May 27, 2008. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
- ^ Flintoff and Dunn Alamanac
- ^ Paul Lo Duca: Biography and Career Highlights
- ^ Marlins bringing back catcher Lo Duca Archived 2011-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Marlins promote Lo Duca from Minors Archived 2008-08-19 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/01/rockies-sign-paul-lo-duca.html
- ^ https://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=307062
- ^ "Umpire Joe West Files Defamation Suit Against a Former Player". New York Times. October 24, 2019. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
- ^ "MLB umpire Joe West suing former All-Star Paul Lo Duca for claiming he took bribes". USA Today. October 22, 2019. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
- ^ Shaikin, Bill (2008-02-17). Former Dodger Lo Duca, cited in steroids probe, apologizes for 'mistakes in judgment'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2009-05-06.
- ^ "Mitchell Report" (PDF). p. 209. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
- ^ Lo Duca's Wife Files for Divorce Archived 2006-09-01 at the Wayback Machine New York Post
- ^ Lo Duca stops talking to the media[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Sonia Flores Bio". IMDb. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
External linksEdit
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Paul Lo Duca on IMDb


text:
Waleed enjoys more than 20 years of experience working in the field of Accounting, Finance, and Auditing spread over a cross section of industries ranging from insurance and manufacturing, including assist in developing Internal Audit and Finance functions. Waleed is;
Waleed played a major role with the IMA Eastern Province Chapter as a Board Member, and carried on by leading the establishment of the IMA Western Province Chapter, and currently holds its Presidency.
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Two weeks ago, Hidden Beach debuted the first of a new three-volume remix compilation series CRATES: REMIX FUNDAMENTALS VOL 1. The series promises to be an exciting and eclectic collection of uptempo and lounge/chill Jill Scott tracks, remixed and re-imagined by some of the music industry's most talented producers and remixers.
Rod 2.0 ran a contest where readers could win a free copy of the Deluxe Edition thanks to Hidden Beach and Fortess Marketing.
The winners are: Mondella, Byron, Darion, Rodney, MJ, KlothezMinded, Diva, The Truth, TJ.
R20 is contacting the winners. The record label will send copies of CRATES: VOLUME 1. Thanks so much for reading and supporting R20!


text:
The year is coming to an end and it's time to review what we've done and what we've achieved. It's been a very busy year for Piggy Traveller, with many articles written and a brand new blog in Spanish being launched back in May.
These have been the 10 most read posts this year, ranked by popularity:
1. 30 images to fall in love with Extremadura, Spain
2. Spanish rural little gems – Robledillo de Gata
3. Quirky place names in Extremadura translated into English
4. Zalamea de la Serena and Spain's most famous mayor
5. When to go to Extremadura – Events calendar
6. The last swim of the summer – Lago de Jaraíz
7. Top 5 places for fishing in Extremadura (interview)
8. Alcántara, more than a bridge
9. Planning a trip to Extremadura: how to get there
10. Mérida day trip for nature lovers: Parque Natural de Cornalvo
© Piggy Traveller. All rights reserved.
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Do you have any specific topic you would like to read about on the blog? Share your comments below!
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Irene Corchado Resmella
An Oxford-based English-Spanish sworn translator and content writer working as ICR Translations. I share my home region of Extremadura with the world to encourage travellers to discover a different Spain. Owner of Spanish blog The Curiolancer. Follow me on Instagram.


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Sometimes with NMIS and Network Management in general, you get these funny products, like wierd devices which don't really conform to the best practices and standards for SNMP. They can be a pain to troubleshoot. Here are some tips for things we have found.
SNMP Working, but not finding Interfaces with ifIndex
When running an NMIS update, e.g. nmis.pl type=update node=NODENAME debug=true, you might stop at this line "SNMP ERROR" see below:
01:35:35 getIntfInfo, Get Interface Info of node STRANGENODENAME, model TELDAT 01:36:23 checkResult, SNMP ERROR (STRANGENODENAME) (ifIndex) No response from remote host "STRANGENODENAME" 01:36:23 getIntfInfo, ERROR (STRANGENODENAME) on get interface index table 01:36:23 notify, Start of Notify 01:36:23 eventAdd, event added, node=STRANGENODENAME, event=SNMP Down, level=Critical, element=, details=SNMP error
This looks odd because SNMP is working, but this very important operation is failing. So the problem is likely to be with support for the maximum SNMP packet size which is controlled by something called max repetition, which is actually how many SNMP PDU's will be packed into the SNMP packet.
So to troubleshoot the above you might run an SNMPWALK like this:
NMIS# snmpwalk -v 2c -c COMMUNITYSTRING STRANGENODENAME ifIndex IF-MIB::ifIndex.1 = INTEGER: 1 IF-MIB::ifIndex.2 = INTEGER: 2 IF-MIB::ifIndex.3 = INTEGER: 3 IF-MIB::ifIndex.4 = INTEGER: 4 IF-MIB::ifIndex.5 = INTEGER: 5 IF-MIB::ifIndex.6 = INTEGER: 6 IF-MIB::ifIndex.7 = INTEGER: 7 IF-MIB::ifIndex.8 = INTEGER: 8 IF-MIB::ifIndex.9 = INTEGER: 9 IF-MIB::ifIndex.10 = INTEGER: 10 IF-MIB::ifIndex.11 = INTEGER: 11 IF-MIB::ifIndex.12 = INTEGER: 12
If you ran a TCP DUMP which you would run with this command, you will need to make sure you are using TCPDUMP on the interface you are sending packets out of, check the route table on the server if you have multiple interfaces:
tcpdump -i INTERFACE host 22.214.171.124
You would see this:
01:31:37.093751 IP 126.96.36.199.48560 > 220.127.116.11.snmp: C=COMMUNITYSTRING GetBulk(29) N=0 M=10 interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex 01:31:37.115557 IP 184.108.40.206.snmp > 184.108.40.206.48560: C=COMMUNITYSTRING GetResponse(185) interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex.1=1 interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex.2=2 interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex.3=3 interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex.4=4 interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex.5=5 interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex.6=6 interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex.7=7 interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex.8=8 interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex.9=9 interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex.10=10 01:31:37.116194 IP 220.127.116.11.48560 > 18.104.22.168.snmp: C=COMMUNITYSTRING GetBulk(30) N=0 M=10 interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex.10 01:31:37.139792 IP 188.8.131.52.snmp > 126.96.36.199.48560: C=COMMUNITYSTRING GetResponse(241) interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex.11=11 interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex.12=12 interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifDescr.1="ethernet0/0" interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifDescr.2="ethernet0/1" interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifDescr.3="serial0/0" interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifDescr.4="bri0/0" interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifDescr.5="x25-node" interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifDescr.6="voip1/0" interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifDescr.7="serial2/0" interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifDescr.8="fr2"
What is interesting here is this: GetBulk(29) N=0 M=10 interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex, this is using a maximum of 10 SNMP PDU's in a packet, NET-SNMP on the command line appears to use 10 as a default OR not use bulk walks.
If you have not configured max repetitions in NMIS, you would see this:
01:41:37.093751 IP 22.214.171.124.48560 > 18.104.22.168.snmp: C=COMMUNITYSTRING GetBulk(29) N=0 M=25 interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex 01:51:37.093751 IP 188.8.131.52.48560 > 18.104.22.168.snmp: C=COMMUNITYSTRING GetBulk(29) N=0 M=25 interfaces.ifTable.ifEntry.ifIndex
Then NMIS would give you the errors above. This is using a default of M=25 which set in the Perl NET-SNMP libraries or somewhere even more obscure.
Net Result, you will need to configure your NMIS Node with
'max_repetitions' => '10',
You can find more details about SNMP things @ SNMP Tuning


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9001 W 171st, Tinley Park IL 60487 | Phone: 708-342-5838 | Fax: 708-737-7726
|AMF Lanes - Bolingbrook
|Mahomet-Seymour HS
|Andrew HS
|Marian Catholic HS
|Argo HS
|Marist HS
|Belleville East HS
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|Big Run Golf Course
|Morton (Cicero) HS
|Bleekers Bowl - Evergreen Park
|Mt. Carmel HS
|Bloom HS
|Naperville Central HS
|Bloom Trail HS
|Naperville North HS
|Bluebird Lanes, Chicago Morgan Park
|Neuqua Valley HS
|Bolingbrook HS
|New Trier HS
|Bradley-Bourbonnais HS
|Normal West HS
|Bremen HS
|Oak Forest HS
|Bremen HS
|Oak Lawn HS
|Broken Arrow Golf Course
|Oak Park-River Forest HS
|Brother Rice - Chicago
|Orland Bowl - Orland Park
|Brunswick Bowl - Romeoville
|Oswego East HS
|Carrilon Golf Course, Plainfield
|Palos Lanes - Palos Hills
|Castaways Bowl - Calumet City
|Peoria Woodruff HS
|Cedar & Laraway, New Lenox
|Pioneer Lanes - Plainfield
|Centennial Lanes - Tinley Park
|Plainfield Central HS
|Channahon State Park
|Plainfield North HS
|Chicago Christian - Palos Heights
|Plainfield South
|Conant HS
|Pleasant Plains HS
|Crete-Monee HS
|Providence Catholic HS
|Davis Creek Recreational Area
|Queen of Peace HS
|Detweiller Park - Peoria
|Reavis HS
|Detweiller Park, Peoria
|Rich Central HS
|Downers Grove North HS
|Rich East HS
|Downers Grove South HS
|Richards HS
|Eisenhower HS
|Riverside-Brookfield HS
|Elk Grove HS
|Romeoville HS
|Evergreen Park HS
|Sanctuary Golf Course - New Lenox
|Fenwick HS
|Sandburg HS
|Glenbard East
|Sarff Field
|Glenbard West HS
|Shepard HS
|Greystone Golf Course, Tinley Park
|Silver Lake Golf Course - Orland Park
|Hawthorne Lanes - Vernon Hills
|Springfield HS
|Hillcrest HS
|Square Links Golf Course
|Hinsdale Central HS
|St. Charles North HS
|Hinsdale South HS
|St. Ignatius HS
|Hoffman Estates HS
|St. Laurence HS
|Homewood-Flossmoor HS
|St. Rita HS
|Ilianna Christian HS
|Stagg HS
|Inwood Golf Course - Joliet
|Strike and Spare Lanes - Lockport
|Joliet Catholic Academy
|T.F. North HS
|Joliet Central HS
|T.F. South HS
|Joliet West HS
|Thornridge HS
|Kankakee HS
|Thornton HS
|Lakewood Bowl - Richton Park
|Thornwood HS
|Lemont HS
|Tinley Park HS
|Leyden HS
|Tinley Park Park District Soccer
|Lincoln HS
|Town and Country Lanes - Joliet
|Lincoln-Way Central HS
|Turtle Head Lake Forest Preserve
|Lincoln-Way East HS
|Wheaton Academy
|Lincoln-Way North - Frankfort
|Wheaton North
|Lincoln-Way West HS
|Wheaton-Warrenville South
|Lockport Central HS
|Willowbrook HS
|Lockport East HS
|Woodbine Golf Course
|Lyons Township HS
|York HS


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Spring 2016 MenswearRick Owens
Rick Owens claimed he was fixated on the M-65 field jacket in his Spring 2016 collection for men. Its ambiguity mesmerized him: how something that embodied the dignity of a military uniform should also become the garb of antiwar protestors. "The M-65 represents heroism but questions it at the same time," Owens mused before his show today. But if he was mesmerized, he was also likely a little confused. The substantial combat boots can't have helped. "I don't really like military references," he said. "I don't like to comment on current events."
Ironically, one of his models had no such reservations, choosing Owens' catwalk to make an incomprehensible statement about the German chancellor. While it makes sense that one would use the forums one has easy access to in order to communicate one's message, it would certainly make even more sense to get the message straight before so doing. It was a shame, however, that the subsequent furor overshadowed a collection where—more irony—Owens was doing his level best to introduce "frivolity and sparkle." "I've worked so hard on establishing a gray, soft, Joseph Beuys cocoon," he said, "and now I see that around me so much, I have to lighten things up, step it up for the competition."


text: Leave a comment Posted on December 16, 2017December 17, 2017 Writing - Life Lessons In Leadership Two weeks ago I attended the Oxygen Conference organised by Wavelength. As I had graduated from the Community Business Leaders Programme run by RSA/Power To Change/RIO/SUMS they invited me along with other graduates from different parts of the UK to take part to benefit my project The Phoenix Cultural Centre CIC and gain insights from leaders across all sectors. Everyone needs oxygen an analogy often quoted in life, when dealing with personal stress, stroppy teenagers and projects crashing together on your head it is always the first advice from a wise friend 'put your own oxygen mask on first'. Is it that it's often the case with social projects, businesses, charities and start ups that the very nature of what they are leaves their founders exhausted and overwhelmed with doubts and risk combined with a resolve that it is important to carry on regardless, where the need remains the driver despite the difficulties along the way. Power to Change contacted those of us in the Community Business Leaders programme with an opportunity to take part in the Oxygen event put on by Wavelength. Since the CBL programme has ignited a boldness I was on it like a rat up a drainpipe, and intrigued and excited to learn more, to connect with a gathering of business and social leaders from a diverse global arena. There was everything to be gained to give my project and my own leadership some reflection and insight. Power to Change have published some of our insights here. Connecting with the organisers beforehand enabled them to understand exactly what we needed from the event. To be able to be open about the challenges that leadership brought, as well as what we felt our project needed, was a refreshing change. Opened by Liam Black one of the founders of Wavelength, it was explained to the room that in order for the event to be successful it would operate under Chatham House Rule; sounds Jane Austenish doesn't it but it is more like Fight Club – as in, first rule of….. By setting the context this removes the barriers between corporate and charity, large business owner and start up and becomes honest conversations between humans trying to make good sense of how to make good things happen. Richard Addy introduced the concept of story telling, his strong example of a story of achievement and success swiftly accompanied by story two – the reality, that interwoven in all of the leaps and pinnacles were dark days, situations and struggles with circumstance poverty and integrity. He stressed the importance of putting ourselves into the picture, our real selves and what inspired us to act. Many have said that social enterprise is borne of sadness, an impetus to fix something that has gone wrong or something inside us that we want to heal and help the healing in others. The truth of it is that we can often mask our pain by channelling into social good, deflect it into building something to stop others bearing that. Telling a truthful story can allow others to see the integrity of the issues we are trying to face together and make them part of the social change movement. An authentic story shows situation to complication to resolution people want to see good news and bad news and that problems can be overcome for a better future. PURPOSE DRIVEN BUSINESS Cecilia Weckstrom from Lego told the tale of how it started, how children should have only the best and how success can be a curse if you forget your 'why' – why you exist what you wanted to do/change/be. Diversifying income streams can be a saviour to finance but a killer to concept and companies, large and small, corporate and social have to stop and take that risk. Acknowledging that others do and you must, go back to basics empowers your own belief in your own singular ideal. They went back to talking to children 'if you want to create change you have to work with young people'. We now know where the large companies were seen to be untouchable and see a return to the core be successful, to hang on to the principle and grow again actually gives some hope when so often our perception is that large, global business seem to be the root of what we believe to be wrong. Dr Aravind Srinivasan from Aravind Eyecare System who successfully treat eye problems and blindness in India spoke about keeping the purpose and efficiency at the heart of your business so that you can design for non customers – people who can't access your services – why not? Can you innovate to make it better, easier? He used the example of how a surgeon can do twice as many operations by having more nurses and they trained girls from local villages to be eye nurses a job that a specialised nurse would not undertake, this meant that the surgeon could have nurses preparing two instruments, two tables, one taking place whilst the surgeon worked on the other – twice as many people helped that way. It also highlighted the extra benefits your projects can bring. By extension another purpose is found as a result of the main purpose – in this case young women from nearby villages received education, upskilling and paid work as a result of the need for more nurses to work this way. 'Intelligence and capabilities are not enough there must be a joy of doing something beautiful' Dr V – Founder of Aravind Eyecare System There is nothing bad about profit but, the process to profit needs to be examined. Profit was described as oxygen however, as Dr Aravind pointed out – pure oxygen will kill. Both speakers were using the point that whilst profit has oxygen in its pure state it is dangerous and pointless and this is reflecting in the sea change that has been happening in the last three years – that employees need a purpose, they look for purpose in their roles no matter what they are. A refreshing change seeing large companies whose leaders are more aware and in touch, knowing the traditional CSR model isn't working (and yet even now seen as a new thing by so many companies) that they cannot 'bestow' favour on grovelling and grateful charities and socially driven organisations as good pr and marketing for them and no gain for anyone who needs the help. Whilst they are busy people with targets, so are the people who they are offering their help to who have left their duties paid or unpaid as well to help develop your CSR strategy (motivational shortcomings) as someone said ' don't tell me you can offer me people to paint a wall when I need access to your health and safety advisers, don't use up a day of my time telling me your people will fix our strategy when they haven't understood what we are trying to achieve, don't use us as a way of motivating your employees – it is not my job to stop your employees hating their jobs – make it actually mean something' In other words – make it really be what it is: Social and Responsible as well as Corporate. For social businesses it was good to meet global leaders who really believe in social impact and that the two need not be mutually exclusive. Don't allow your drive or ambitions to be suppressed by your environment change it or ship out – this is where resilience so needed in this type of business comes in, the very environment change that is needed to allow drive and ambitions will kick back when that is the very point of your existence as a project to change and grow – if it means your project is giving more people a voice in an environment hostile to that then its very nature means it must face these difficulties and stick it out, to give up and ship out isn't an option especially as the remit we generally all work under and certainly lots of funders require is that we are locally rooted and dealing with locally rooted needs. Peter KeenCBE – Director of Sport Advancement – Loughborough University has successfully coached many olympic gold medallists and gave insights into how all the elements of excellent performance are needed to proceed and succeed. Martin Narey who ran the Prison Service and Barnados spoke of listening and learning, the loneliness of leadership and David Pemsel Guardian CEO of remembering the principles of your organisations existence and adaptive leadership. The themes from speakers at the height of their professional careers or who have been there seen it and done it were refreshingly frank, the idea that families, health and easy fixes of having a healthy walk, getting enough sleep, putting boundaries around your time are really that simple and yes really that effective. That to lead requires humility as well as boldness and the best key to everything is to listen, that it is ok to doubt yourself and happy to dispel the myths of leadership. The days of hero leaders are over people look for purpose, collaboration, boldness and kindness in equal measure and a listener who will take advice on organisational decisions. Self doubt, fear of failure and anxiety will be your constant companions so the purpose has to be there, if you can't make sense of your business how will someone else. Plan and protect time to think – some decisions are intuitive – but do ensure there are times to think slow, with logic, be willing to let go. In terms of out performing the great performers outlearned others, assimilating and transferring and successful businesses encourage and tolerate a culture of constant questioning. It is ok to feel doubtful, intimidated and out of your depth, everyone feels the imposter syndrome, keep at the incremental improvements bit by bit everyday that is where the real work happens. When talking about purpose, look for friends in purpose – I help you/you help me, you understand where each other is going, what you want and need to get there and step forward for each other to help that happen – go where the good energy is, where the good people are and just push it. Look at your eulogy virtues as opposed to your resume virtues – build your life around that purpose that virtue sung as your last sunset comes. How you deal with change? We have a disruptive chaos and a paralysis and these things challenge us so look for your reason for being, what unites you, your stakeholders, common goals and values? If you stick to these trust is generated and value is created. Trust your instincts make sure you value your team and their differences and qualities Within the room was an understanding that large or small, corporate or social – businesses occupy the same space, are part of the same communities, containing the same human beings with complex needs and need to work realistically together. That the needs the social sector are meeting are usually way ahead of traditional business who need to anchor into towns and cities and networks, makes them a valuable barometer indicating change in our society. Now mental health and wellbeing have seeped in as considerations for all employers to be aware of, meet sympathetically and yet people see this happening first as social projects deal with helping those back on their feet who weren't in an environment ready to acknowledge the existence of invisible, scary health problems. The attitude of the event was that people could openly ask for help and there was no expectation that it must be given and no resentment caused or felt by answering no, by working in this way actual stuff happens rather than good intentions which as we all know pave the road to hell and whatever that is for you. We had on day two a chance to be open about our needs and ask for help, democratically people were given the chance to voice their needs and for people to come forward everyone was very engaged with the whole process. Many were inspired by the discussion about platform and purpose and not mixing up the two, something spoke of not forgetting that the platform was not the purpose and the need to have a healthy platform, many things in place to help you spring from. Some of us our communities are adrift of platform and though clinging tenaciously to purpose find a gap there. This is why we need help that the funding does not necessarily become just money but another layer of a platform. Sometimes all we need isn't a pot of money (though don't let that stop anyone ever handing some over) but belief, sometimes just an email, an introduction to someone who can open a door just by saying to lofty heights 'I recognise this value in this project and these people' so often we talk to people who admire the cut of the emperors new clothes but not the value of a good pair of warm knickers, until they are told warm knickers are this years zeitgeist – then show an interest. That sometimes is all we need, to undo the 'a prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home' or as Will Rogers definition of an expert 'an expert is a man 50 miles from home with a briefcase'. Sometimes the locally rooted, delivering to local issues needs the expert from 50 miles away to say what they have been saying for years to deaf ears. So many people shared honest stories of reaching successful pinnacles in other worlds having everything and realising it wasn't enough, no purpose to it, not enough good being made from it so they changed it, took brave leaps and realigned their purpose. It made me feel inspired by them but in fact also disconnected. How for us is it when we are trying to start something from nothing and we have nothing ourselves, how is it that we are starting these things because we are inside the problem and don't want it to continue further that we know we must act but have no platform to spring from and yet here was our chance to build one. Largely because the generosity of those who can connect reached it out to us here. Hopefully this will be the new concept and template of what real Corporate Social Responsibility is, meaningful for all and really making change and improvements in the communities that we all exist together in. The event definitely gave an oxgen burst to my resolve and purpose http://www.powertochange.org.uk/blog/above-all-breathe/


text:
Members of the U.S. Congress have slammed a decision by the Trump administration to downgrade the diplomatic status of the EU embassy in Washington, saying the move and the way it was carried out "needlessly denigrate transatlantic relations."
In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, 27 Democratic Members of Congress say they are "deeply troubled" by recent reports of the downgrade.
The lawmakers also complain that "disturbingly, this step ... occurred without Congressional consultation or apparent notification to the European Union."
"Both the substance of this decision and the undiplomatic way in which it was carried out needlessly denigrate transatlantic relations," the letter says.
The signatories include House foreign affairs committee Chairman Eliot Engel, Jim Costa of the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue and Gregory Meeks, co-chairman of the EU Caucus.
The letter, dated January 11, demands answers to a series of questions by the end of the month, asking why Congress was not consulted, when the decision was made and when the EU was informed. "Why was this decision made and and how was it reviewed and approved within the Administration?" they ask, before adding a final punch: "Exactly how does this decision to downgrade our diplomatic relationship with the EU strengthen the United States?"
But there's not only questions, there's also free advice: "We ought to support and strengthen our allies, not turn them into foes. Insulting them for no apparent reason does not typically encourage them to take a warmer view of the United States."
The letter echoes criticism voiced by members of the European Parliament in a letter last week.
"Such moves play into the hands of rival global powers and can only lead to greater fragmentation rather than much needed increased cooperation," said that letter, signed by Christian Ehler, Jeppe Kofod and Marietje Schaake, the chair and vice chairs, respectively, of the Parliament's delegation for relations with the U.S.
Schaake, a Dutch liberal, told POLITICO that the letter by members of Congress "underlines the importance of EU-U.S. cooperation, and pushes back against the hostile approach by the Trump administration."
She added that "it is very disappointing to see no Republican signatories, as transatlantic cooperation was never a partisan issue. Working together to preserve the quality of life of our people by making relevant policies for rules-based trade, security, sustainability, digitization and immigration, is our duty."


text:
The new computer science syllabus is to include programming and coding, together with logical and creative thinking and the design of programmes like computer games. An additional campaign named 'The Hour of Code' was also launched, with the aim of teaching students to code in just sixty minutes.
These developments mean that schools will need to be prepared and ensure that their ICT suites are prepared to cope with the renewed interest in this exciting subject.
Here we look at what furniture elements contribute to an excellent ICT suite:
Work stations
One of the most important considerations in an ICT suite is the workstations. With budgets being stretched to the limit, cost is always a primary consideration – but there are many more aspects of the workstation that must be taken into account concerning both choice and positioning.
Workstations need to be sufficiently spaced for the students to be comfortable, and should allow room for equipment as well as books and papers. They also need to be deep enough to allow students to rest their arms and wrists while they are typing. Work stations should accommodate both left and right handed students, and the spacing should allow students to work either solo or in pairs.
The choice of material is significant – for example, the surface should be non-reflective and an anti-slip work top is desirable. Work stations that are built from quality materials are desirable for durability and safety reasons.
Naturally, ICT suites usually need to accommodate students of different heights and ages and it is therefore advisable for schools to choose chairs with heights that can be adjusted to meet the individual student's needs. Chairs that can swivel also make it easier for students to turn towards the teacher or board.
Work stations need to be spaced to allow teachers to move around the room and so that the exits to the room are not obstructed. Additionally, spacing should accommodate students with disabilities, and should allow easy access to shared equipment such as printers.
The angled saw-tooth benching installed at Clayesmore School is a great example of well-designed work stations, giving students extra space and teachers' additional visibility over the classroom.
Teacher's station
Incorporating a teacher's station in an ICT suite gives the room a focal point for instruction, presentations and demonstrations. The teacher's desk needs to be set sufficiently apart from the screen so that the students' view is not obstructed. The area should include a computer work station that ideally is linked to presentation technology such as an interactive whiteboard. The area would also benefit from space that allows the students to gather for small group discussions. Additionally a display board can be an excellent idea, allowing the teacher to put up helpful materials and showcase examples of excellent work completed by the students.
There are plenty of items that need to be stored in an ICT suite, and it is easy to forget just how much there is that needs to be tucked away, often under lock and key. Space should be made for kits and spare equipment, together with consumables such as paper and ink cartridges. More expensive equipment such as digital cameras may need its own storage locker.
There are many different aspects of an ICT suite that can impact a student's comfort and therefore their enjoyment of the lesson. The design and layout of the ICT suite also has a significant impact on the teacher's ability to deliver the learning material in the most effective way.
With the Government's plans to increase focus on ICT subjects, schools need to invest time and expertise in their ICT suites to ensure that they not only meet all EU Regulations but offer an environment that nurtures their students' interest in a subject which is likely to be a big focus for learning in the near future.
The Innova team has a wealth of experience in optimum ICT suite design and can advise you on the best solutions for your existing or new ICT suite – take a look at our contact page or call us on 0161 477 6300.


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The synchronized record and
replay system allows the port to
thoroughly investigate incidents
or events.
"We are able to gather and
replay information from each
of our sensors to gain a better
understanding of the events as
they occurred. The replay is also
exportable, which is a tremendous
value," Dahlgren said.
"One of the reasons we decidedto use the TITAN Sentinel system isits modularity. We have added addi-tional MDA cameras, satellite AISdata and will be adding additionalVHF capabilities," he said. "As ourMDA requirements have expanded,so have the system's capabilities."Big data is of little value with-out the right interpretation.
"Somewhere in the vast amounts of data collected isvaluable information, and the rest isn't so much," Lusksaid. "A good analytics system is crucial to the datapuzzle, which singles out statistically significant infor-mation relevant to the operator. Analytics programsnow can deliver smart, actionable data from big data."Despite the current state of computing capability,Jones said, "mission commanders have a prevailingmindset: nothing beats a human being to determine if atrue threat is present. Steps can be taken to reduce falsesignatures by tuning the system to the environment —such as waves, trees or other vegetation that might movedue to wind, roads, or weather — but it has always comedown to an operator reviewing the data in real time.
"The problem with automation is the chance that
something could be missed. It's a huge liability. They
would rather [have] an operator/monitor watching
those sensors make that determination than any piece
of software," he said.
Port Canaveral, located between Miami and Jacksonville on Florida's Atlantic coast, is the second busiest
cruise port in the world. It also handles a significant
amount bulk cargo, autos, containers and unique traffic resulting from the nearby space activities at Cape
The port contracts with the Brevard County
Sheriff's Office for physical security. But the port's
security director, Jim Reynolds, must ensure security
both on the water and ashore.
"For us, the key is maritime domain awareness and
knowing what's on the water," he said.
Port Canaveral installed the CommandBridge platform
from The Mariner Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of
ARES Security Corp., to integrate, analyze and display
sensor data to provide MDA and help alert the watch
team if and when action needs to be taken.
Mariner Group's Coleman Maness said CommandBridge's open architecture allows the system to ingest
and display virtually any sensor feed, such as vessels
(AIS and radar), vehicles, aircraft and unmanned aerial
vehicles, personnel, mobile phones and tablets, specialty equipment and more.
While many ports have cameras, Maness said most
ports also need radar.
"It's important to pick up vessels that don't have
AIS," he said.
The Terma Scanter 1002 radar can detect and track
targets and slew cameras for visual identification.
CommandBridge can analyze the data input and issue
alerts when triggered by something that may be moving into an area of concern, which can be mapped
using Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates or
other boundaries.
When a virtual barrier is breached, watchstanders
are notified, and cameras that are within range can be
directed at the target, which can be brought to bear on
the vessel. The cameras can zoom in on the vessel to
determine if it's a friendly fisherman or a suspicious
boat, and follow it.
While sharing the information has been beneficial
for port partners, Reynolds said that offering it to the
Coast Guard has been problematic, largely because of
firewalls and information assurance issues.
NANAIMOPORTAUTHORITYThe TITAN Sentinel system, from Xanatos Marine, provides a common operating picture at theNanaimo Port Authority in British Columbia, Canada, with a combination of an automatic iden-tification system network, cameras, radar and weather stations that are fully integrated into theport's vessel traffic monitoring system.


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Commenter: Jim Nichols
Hi Jeff, thanks so much for this summary analysis!
As Facebook continues to innovate at a rapid pace, it is the marketer's job to translate those innovations into an enhanced experience for their current and potential fans and customers. In the last few months, there have been several changes that affect the looks of Facebook Pages, how they can be promoted, how brands can communicate on Facebook, the impact of sharing, and much, much more. But don't worry. We know that there is a lot to keep up with, so we wanted to lay out all of the recent changes in one spot to serve as a helpful guide.
What's new with the Facebook platform? Read on.
Updated Pages
Some of Facebook's changes are minor, but the recent Facebook Pages update is one of the biggest recent changes Facebook's community has seen. The main difference? Pages now look and feel more like user profiles. Page administrators can "Login as Page" and interact with Facebook as they would from their personal profile -- with brands and fans alike. Page admins will even see a specialized news feed and will be able to comment and "like" things from the brand's perspective, making for a more cohesive experience.
The appearance of Facebook Page tabs has also changed. Which brings me to my next point...
Iframes are here...
...and they have forever changed the way brands interact with their fans. We can now build even more robust user experiences inside of a Facebook Page, and best of all, we can more effectively track each user interaction.
Basically, many of the things brands have been used to doing with their creative agencies or analytics providers for the last 10 to 15 years was not possible (or at least, very difficult) to do in a Facebook Page tab. For those looking for a deep dive, read more here.
FBML might be gone, but iframes appear to be here to stay.
Sharing is caring (Sponsored Stories)
Sponsored Stories marked Facebook's first attempt to let marketers amplify the actions their customers, potential customers, and fans are taking on Facebook.
There are now four types of sponsored stories (all of which can only be seen by Facebook friends). The four types are:
The launch of Sponsored Stories confirms Facebook's commitment to its Page product, as three of the four initial triggers for Sponsored Stories are tied to Facebook Pages.
Targeting ads to updates
Facebook has started testing ads based on status updates. For example, if a user says something like, "I'm having a baby," or asks, "Hey, what's your favorite hotel in Turks and Caicos?" the ads on the right-hand column will reflect their immediate updates. Instead of saying "Sponsored" above an advertisement, it will say "Related adverts," which makes the presence of the ad seem more natural.
This is essentially the next evolution of "Sponsored Stories." It's still in its infancy and has only been rolled out to about 1-2 percent of Facebook's users for testing. But, if Facebook can combine people -- who they are, how old they are, where they live -- with intent, it essentially becomes the most massive ad platform ever…so stay tuned.
Facebook Places
At the time of the launch of Facebook Places, only 4 percent of Americans had even tried location-based services, let alone used them regularly. Foursquare and Gowalla combined have just a few million users. So when Facebook decided to get into the check-in market, location-based services finally reached the masses. Brands follow consumer habits, and with the implementation of Places, Facebook's huge scale -- 700 million accounts -- turns an increasing number of consumers into geo-social users.
And with the launch of Sponsored Stories, Facebook is reinventing the impact of check-ins by turning them in to targeted advertisements.
Brand tagging (aka, Facebook's biggest minor update)
According to Facebook, 3 billion images are uploaded to Facebook each month -- which is 10 times more than the entire Library of Congress. That's a lot of photos -- and a lot of opportunities for marketers to be featured in real-life product placements.
Not surprisingly, photos represent the most popular Facebook application. Fast Company even believes that the popularity of photos will help "brand tagging" surpass the "like" button. If you think about it, tagging a photo with a brand that's actually represented in the photo is a natural behavior. And it's the embodiment of brand advocacy.
Facebook Deals and social commerce
For those that have been waiting for "the year of social commerce" (we've all been hearing about it since 2008 or so), it's finally here. The launch of Facebook Deals marks Facebook's biggest -- and most notable -- social commerce endeavor. As of now, Deals is only being offered in limited markets, and while the nationwide rollout will be gradual, so was the rollout of Facebook itself (and now we're at 700 million users).
As of now, commerce on Facebook is growing, but limited. Right now, most people are not on Facebook to shop. However, people are shopping in massive numbers on the internet, and sharing the purchases and purchase decision-making process with their social graph. According to Wired magazine, 90 percent of all purchases are subject to social influence.
Right now, we see the value of bringing Facebook to your commerce, rather than (or in addition to) bringing your commerce to Facebook. For example, many brands have sharing buttons on their websites, but they don't know how much revenue is being driven directly via social sharing. Buddy Media recently acquired social commerce company Spinback, which enables brands to answer that question.
There's no such thing as "wasting time" on Facebook
I can't stress this one enough. Understanding the user experience is the most important element to any successful marketing campaign. And with Facebook changes rolling out regularly (there are a few more that have been announced recently), it's the only way to understand the complex and wonderful world that is Facebook.
Editor's note: This article was recruited in advance of Buddy Media's sponsorship of iMedia Connection's Websites section.
Jeff Ragovin is chief revenue officer of Buddy Media.
On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.
Login to leave comments.
Hi Jeff, thanks so much for this summary analysis!
Hey Rags! Great article! Couple of comments: First, I don't think it's realistic to expect people to tag brands in the photos they upload. That feature seems to me to be a solution in search of a problem. Second, I think that using "likes" and wall posts on Brand pages in advertising directed to your other friends implies that a give hoot about what my friends like. Sure I may ask their opinion about which flat screen TV to buy, but I couldn't care less about which fast food brand they "like". Even I get a little creeped out when I see an ad for something and a friend's picture appears in it. On the other hand, love the ability to target ads based on updates. Nothing could be more relevant to a Facebook user! Chris
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You know me as David, my middle name.
My first name is William. I am William Hitt, son of William Hitt, son of William Hitt.
My grandfather, the eldest of those William Hitts, died yesterday. His funeral will be Tuesday.
In lieu of trying now to write anything meaningful, I thought I would share this article, published a week before his death: Etowah County man served as pastor, worked with youth.
Through four decades of living in Etowah County — much of it as a reporter covering news stories — I thought I was familiar with most of its streets and roads.
After riding with Bill Hitt for two days in search of a runaway teen, I learned about back alleys, too. That was all in a day's work for Bill, I also learned.
A juvenile probation officer at the time, Bill had worn many hats in the 30 years before this hunt — preacher, pastor, construction worker, junior high camp worker and more.
Filed under: Editorial | Tagged: postaday2011 |


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Allison is Managing Director & Vice President of Time Warner Investments, where she is focused on equity investments in companies that directly enhance Time Warner's ability to meet specific strategic goals, including the delivery of new services, enhancement of an existing product, entry or expansion into a key strategic market, completion of a strategic partnership, and critical research and development.
Prior to joining Time Warner in July 2001, Allison was an Associate at Groupe Arnault, investing in and managing new media and technology equity investments for the private holding company of the Chairman of LVMH. Previously, she worked in the Global Media Group, Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley.
Allison serves as a director or active observer on the boards of several portfolio companies including Adaptive Blue (GetGlue), Audience Science, Dynamic Signal, Everyday Health, Tremor Video, Trion Worlds and Visible World. Allison currently serves on the board of the New York Private Equity Network ("NYPEN"), and co-founded the NYPEN Women's Forum.
Allison graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where she received a Bachelor of Science in Economics.


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XE Currency BlogTopics7265 Posts7310
FX markets are in a holding pattern ahead of today's policy outcome from the BoE and ECB. Both central banks are expected to keep policy unchanged, but the ECB is likely to be more of a market mover amid the accompanying press conference from Draghi. He is likely to reiterate the ECB's accommodative policy stance, which may be timely given the rising eurozone risks this week. New BoE Governor Carney is expected to bring in explicit forward guidance to reduce uncertainty. GBP has been under a sustained bout of selling pressure of late in spite another set of encouraging data releases this week, but bounced back on Wednesday after services sector PMI strength. Meanwhile, USD-JPY's uptrend was damaged by yesterday's sharp drop and is now running into selling pressure on upticks over 100.00. The CHF is edging lower as stock markets recovered some ground overnight, while AUD is underpinned after RBA deputy governor Lowe said remarks from Stevens were reinterpreted yesterday and this reduced rate cut expectations in Asia.
EUR-USD started the session close to the 1.3000 region and headed into 1.3020 early on. However, follow through was limited by EUR-JPY supply and a general lack of interest in low volumes ahead of today's ECB outcome. Liquidity was also compromised a bit by today's U.S. Independence Day holiday and ranges are likely to remain on the tighter side during the European morning session.
USD-JPY met selling pressure on upticks after the yesterday's break lower undermined the uptrend. It met selling pressure into 100.00, while weekly Japanese flow data also reduced interest for yen-funded carry trades. USD-JPY was supported into the 99.70 region by Japanese importers, but the upside is likely to remain limited between 100.00 and 100.30 amid a congestion of fresh offers that were placed on Wednesday. There was no reaction from the latest comments from BoJ Governor Kuroda, who reiterated the BoJ policy stance and vowed to maintain easy policy till the CPI target was reached. Kuroda also said that the economy was picking up and it would resume a moderate recovery.
GBP consolidated in the mid 1.52 area following yesterday's strong rally, which took Cable up from 1.5130 to highs just over 1.5300. Sterling outperformed in the wake of U.K. service sector data strength and concluded another clean sweep of forward looking data, which bodes well for the growth outlook. Cable did reach the limits of how far it can rally ahead of key event risks and it isn't surprising to see a modest correction. EUR-GBP also moved into the 0.8480 area, where corporate accounts have been very active over the last week and it traded back over 0.8520.
USD-CHF is consolidating ahead of 0.9450 in quiet trade. On Wednesday, it faltered in unison with the EUR-USD spike up, trading under 0.9445 after finding N.Y. sellers into 0.9500. Rumors of further SNB measures to defend the EUR-CHF floor made the rounds, though sources said the talk was "dubious". The CHF found some safe haven support on the back of Egypt and Portugal problems, though EUR-CHF was underpinned ahead of 1.2300 and remains safely above the SNB's line in the sand.
USD-CAD was rangebound overnight, moving inside about a 1.0500-30 band for the most part after it was unable to force a break in either direction. On Wednesday, it continued to move selling pressure on upticks, leaving it off highs from earlier in the week. Offers are still lined up from 1.0580 to 1.0600 barriers, with large stops seen in place over the figure. Positions were kept reined in front of the ECB meeting tomorrow, and the twin U.S./Canada employment reports on Friday.


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I am a born and bred Brummie and I love my city very much…I often get home sick when I leave Birmingham…especially when I go on an extended trip for a couple of months. I don't think I'll ever leave Birmingham…but if I did the number one contender for my home would probably be Leicester.
Leicester, I think gets a bit of a bad rap, I think because the city tends to look quite dull and grey. Yes, it is a largely 1960s town and that style of architecture is not my favourite…but there are some beautiful gems in Leicester that make this a city that you really ought to visit. I was looking enough to persuade a few of German friends to take a tour of the city (on the 19th September) so I could show them some of my favourite sights. This is just a written version of the tour, however as I was tour guide I didn't take many photos, so I might have to source them from else where.
Leicester itself is a very old city, it was around when the Romans were in Britain where it was known as Corietauvorum. Leicester was the capital city for the tribe of Corieltauvi – who were a Celtic Iron age tribe. When the Romans withdraw from Britain, the city changed its name. It's present name has roots back to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (c.914-942), where it has various spellings but they formulate around the idea of Ligoraceastre. Ceastre is an old now for a wall or fortified town – and Leicester did have medieval walls until the town eventually outgrew them. The Ligora part of the name is less clear – but could be an older name for the River Soar. The city today has a population of 330,000 making it the tenth largest city in the UK. It also is a very multicultural city and is predicted to be the first city in the UK to gain a non-white majority. This allows for a wonderful mix of cuisine and vibrancy in Leicester that helps to kick off that image that the city is grey.
Claim to fame
Leicester is probably not seen as a city famous for anything but that is quite untrue. Musicians include Family, Showaddywaddy, Cornershop and Kasabian. The city was also home to a butcher named John who also decided to start out making potato snack crisps, his surname of course was Walker. Pukka Pies, Foxes mints also originate here as well as companies like Cataphillar and a certain Thomas Cook started a business making day trips to the seaside. Joseph Merrick (the Elephant man), Gary Linekar and also the Attenborough Brothers all have connections to the city as well.
Train Station
As we took the train to Leicester it had to really be the first point of talk on the tour. The train station is very impressive, like most surviving Victorian buildings seem to be. The site itself has been a train station since 1840. Which was two years after Curzon Street Station was built in Birmingham. Due to the popularity of trains during the Victorian period more Leicester stations opened, with Leicester eventually having eight in total. The station changed it's name twice firstly being Leicester Campbell Street (1867), then Leicester London Road (1892) finally with the Beeching Report (1963), Leicester's train stations declined to just the one and it reverted back to just Leicester in 1969. The present building dates from 1894. Which enlarged the original train station. Recent building works in 2012 have help to modernise the station for all visitors whilst lovingly maintain traditional features.
Top Hat Terrace
If I had to pick a favourite building in Leicester, it would have to be this one. It's relatively easy to walk past this one so it's a good idea to keep your eyes peeled on London Road for it. The original owner is said to have been the inspiration for Athur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and it was home to Leicester's first private detective, Frances 'Tanky' Smith. Leicester was said to be a lawless place when the first police force was created in 1836. Smith joined four years later and along with follow officer Tommy Haynes, infiltrated gangs. Their reputations grew and they were soon the forces most successful officers. When James Beaumont Winstanley, the High Sherrif of Leicestershire, disappeared on a extended trip to Europe; the Winstanley hired Smith in a private capacity. Although Smith was successful in finding out what happened to Winstanley, he was sadly unable to return him alive, for he had drowned in Germany. Nevertheless, he was rewarded generously for his efforts, he came back to Leicester and employed his son James Francis Smith to design and build Victoria Terrace. However it is more popularly known as top hat terrace and the design of the building incorporates some of Smith's famous disguises including a Bishop, a Quaker and two Jockeys.
Peace Walk, War Memorial and Victoria Park
Leicester is quite an understated city, it doesn't boost grand buildings that make headlines like Birmingham and it hasn't embarked on a major upgrading programme. However perhaps it's most grandest statement and probably also one of it's most beautiful is that of peace walk and the war memorial situated in Victoria Park. The memorial was built in 1923. Victoria Park originated as a Racecourse which operated from 1806-1883, and was built in part things to the construction of New Walk – which allowed for the development of the area that was known as South Fields, where the park is located.
University of Leicester
Right next to Victoria Park is the University of Leicester, which is famous for the discovery of Genetic Fingerprinting and the remains of Richard III. It is also home to the Stanley Burton Centre for Holocaust and Genocide Studies – the first teaching centre to open within the UK dedicated to the teaching and research of Genocide studies. The original campus building is the Fielding Johnson one, which began life as the Leicestershire and Rutland Lunatic Asylum. The building is remarkably well preserved and although the last padded cell was removed in the 1960s, it still has both exercise yards preserved which are a nice little hidden gem. During the First World War this building was used as a field hospital for wounded soldiers returning from the front. After the War the building was donated by Thomas Fielding Johnson, which is where it gets its present name from. It become the Leicestershire and Rutland University College in 1921. The University's moto is Ut Vitam Haean, which means So that they may have life. The University was intended to be a living memorial to those who died in the First World One and remember the generation of men who were unable to gain an education before of war.
New Walk
Originally named Queen's Walk after Queen Charlotte, George III's wife. It was laid out in 1785 and when it was built it was more popularly known as New Walk, the name stuck and it is the name it still goes by. The walk was designed to give a suburban, non-muddy walkway within the town of Leicester. It allowed for the development of South Fields – which saw the race course built on what is now Victoria Park. During the 1960s, New Walk was scheduled to be demolished in order to make way for the Leicester Ring Road. The city's town planner Konrad Smigielski was horrified at the thought of losing something beautiful and ordered the road to be altered to preserve New Walk. Smigielski was appointed city planner in 1961 and was the second man in the country to be appointment to such a position. He has a bit of a bad reputation in Leicestershire and he didn't win himself any favours when he started his post – when he suggested that Leicester had very little of merit he warranted was worth saving. He placed three conversation orders of sites in Leicester, one of which was New Walk which has been preserved since 1969. The road was built but sadly during the process it destroyed much as of the remains of the Roman Forum, although Smigielski is often blamed for this loss; the Road was under construction before he entered the city planner position and it is unclear whether he could have prevented the loss of the Forum. On New Walk is also St. Stephen's United Reform Church. This church originally stood on the site of the Train Station but in order to make way for the new station St. Stephens was carefully demolished in 1891 and relocated to New Walk, where it has remained.
New Walk Museum
The museum marked the end of my tour and we walked inside to enjoy the German Expressionist exhibit. German Expressionism was seen as Degenerate art and many of the artist within the exhibit had paintings destroyed. The paintings here were able to escape Germany and a German Expressionist exhibit first opened at the museum during the Second World War and has remained a key feature of the Museum ever since.
Leicester Cathedral and Richard III Visitor's Centre
The Leicester Cathedral and Richard III Visitor's Centre are located a stone's throw from each other and the centre itself was built on the site of the 2012 discovery of the remains of Richard. It opened in 2014 and cost £4 million pounds to build.
A short walk from the cathedral is Jewry Wall, which is Britain's tallest surviving Roman Wall. It was believed to originally be a Bath House and the origins of the name Jewry Wall are unclear.
The concluded the tour of Leicester and was a lovely day with just the right amount of History and walking. If you ever fancy going to Leicester I do recommend following this route and seeing some of the sights of Leicester. I'm sure you'll enjoy Leicester as much as I do.


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Understanding the meaning behind a dream in which you are flying
Published Date 5/24/2012
Category: Life, Destiny & Meaning
During dreams of flight, you may feel liberated and free to accomplish all of your goals. Many people dream of flying because they are attempting to flee from a conflict or personal problem.
Flying dreams are centered around regaining a sense of power. However, finding it difficult to fly in a dream can be an indication that you are having trouble controlling something in your life when you are awake.
The Huffington Post reports that men are surprisingly more likely to have dreams of flying in comparison to women.
"Often times, men in today's world negotiate issues regarding freedom," psychotherapist Jeffrey Sumber told the news source. "There is great pressure to perform at work, at home, in the bedroom, financially, athletically, socially, and more and more, emotionally."
Through a psychic chat, you can learn more about your dreams and the meaning behind them. A psychic who specializes in dream interpretation can help you gain a better understanding of your subconscious mind.
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