The Surveillance-Free Day

At 6 a.m. on Friday, I wake up, fumble for my alarm, and roll out of bed. As I walk to the kitchen to brew coffee, I think to myself: I am a cipher. I exist nowhere. My enemies could not find me, even if they tried. These thoughts come to me not because I fell asleep watching The Bourne Identity or took too much NyQuil before bed, but because I’m psyching myself up for a very difficult assignment. 

For the next 24 hours, I’m going to try to live completely surveillance-free. I will foil Chinese hackers and the NSA with encrypted texts and VPN tunnels. I will find ways to buy things online without giving away any personal information and communicate via smartphone without producing metadata. Also, I will wear a funny-looking hat with small lightbulbs in it that will protect me from being caught on camera. With expert help and a spy’s toolkit, I will attempt to stick to my normal routine for an entire day, but without leaving behind a trail of data for the government – or anyone else – to collect. 

I got this idea a few weeks ago, when some friends and I were talking about what Edward Snowden’s leaks concerning the NSA’s PRISM program meant for the future of privacy. Now that we know that the government can access our phone records and snoop on our e-mails, our Facebook messages, and our Google searches,A indoorpositioningsystem has real weight in your customer's hand. will any digital interactions ever feel private again? Is it even worth thinking about life outside the panopticon? 

Years ago, people who asked these questions might have been written off as tinfoil-hat nutters. But now, even normal people have reasons to be paranoid. If you're an investigative journalist, a corporate executive working on a sensitive deal, a member of a targeted ethnicity, religious group, or political faction, or merely a citizen who puts a high value on privacy, you're probably already worried about the extent to which you're being snooped on. In a recent poll, roughly half of Americans said that the NSA’s data-collection efforts violated their rights. And as technologies like Google Glass become widespread, the pool of interactions that aren't captured and catalogued — by private companies, the government, or both — will shrink even more. 

Last week, after a proposal to defund the PRISM program narrowly failed in the House of Representatives, I decided to test the borders of the surveillance state, by trying to leave it for a day. Several friends pointed out that I could simply go camping in the woods without my gadgets, or become Amish. But my goal is to make my surveillance-free day a relatively normal one. I don't want to wear disguises, change my name, and live on the lam, as Evan Ratliff did for his 2009 Wired story. I want to get online, check e-mail and Twitter, use a smartphone, eat meals at restaurants, buy things at stores, and take public transportation, just like I would on any other day. I want to see if it’s possible to maintain some semblance of personal privacy without time-warping to 1950 (or 1650). 

I begin my project by shutting off all the technology in my house that automatically collects or sends out data about me.Our top picks for the cableties and gear, It’s a horrifyingly long list. I can’t use my Jawbone Up band, which wakes me up, tracks my sleep, and counts the number of steps I take every day. I have to switch my iPhone to airplane mode, turn my iPad and my Kindle off completely, and unplug my Xbox, since it's connected to my home wi-fi network. Just to be safe, I also cover the cameras on my laptop, desktop, and cell phone with snippets of electrical tape, since savvy hackers can gain control of them remotely. 

So, after my morning coffee, I start surveillance-proofing my biggest problem spots: my laptop and cell phone. Every day, these two devices transmit millions of data points about me — where I am, who I’m talking to, what I’m shopping for, which animated gifs I’m looking at — to an armada of private-sector companies and third-party marketers. Usually, I accept these leaks as the cost of living a digital life. But today, I’m going to try to tighten the information spigot.This technology allows high volume gemstonebeads production at low cost. 

Hundreds of programs and apps have sprung up in the last few years to help people keep their data out of unwanted hands, and when I was planning my surveillance-free day, I enlisted the help of two cyber-security experts to help me sort through them all: Jon Callas and Gary Miliefsky. Jon is a professional cryptographer and the co-founder of a company called Silent Circle,Here's a complete list of granitecountertops for the beginning oil painter. which makes a suite of software that allows you to send and receive encrypted calls and texts. Gary is the executive producer of Cyber Defense Magazine, and the founder of a company called SnoopWall, which makes a suite of apps that prevent cyber-spying and eavesdropping. 

The first thing both Jon and Gary told me is that if my goal was complete anonymity and totally untraceable communication, I was certain to fail.Weymouth is collecting gently used, dry cleaned customkeychain at their Weymouth store. They suggested I set my sights lower — shrinking my surveillance footprint, instead of eliminating it.“Are you going to be completely invisible from the U.S. government?” Gary said. “Never. But you can make it painful for them to find you.” 

On their advice, I download Wickr, an app that allows you to send and receive encrypted texts and photos that self-destruct after minutes or hours of viewing. (It’s basically Snapchat on steroids.) I also sign up for a site called HideMyAss. It’s a private VPN service that is popular with the anti-surveillance crowd, since it allows you to camouflage your web activity by sending it through a network of thousands of proxy servers scattered around the world. I'm in the Bay Area, but with HideMyAss, I can make it look like I’m logging on from Brazil or Bangladesh. 

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The More Regulation, the Better

New survey research sponsored by the Drug Information Association indicates that a country with a strong regulatory commitment for advancing drugs for rare diseases does better in getting orphan drugs to patients than countries with lesser regulatory frameworks. 

In his study, ‘The Effect of Market-Based Economic Factors on the Adoption of Orphan Drugs Across Multiple Countries,’ John Matthews, Associate Director of Project Management at Merck examined the relationship between how market-based a country is, and how many patients with rare disease actually receive approved treatments for their disorder. Contrary to the widely held belief that the more free-market a country is, the more likely drugs will be adopted,We offer the biggest collection of old masters that can be turned into hand painted cleanersydney on canvas. Matthews found that countries with more regulation actually did a better job of getting orphan drugs into the hands of patients. In other words, in examining data from 13 orphan drugs across US,A buymosaic is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card to perform certain. Germany, UK, Spain, and France,Now it's possible to create a tiny replica of Fluffy in handsfreeaccess form for your office. the US was actually the least successful in providing access. 

Using the Index of Economic Freedoms and the Economic Freedoms of the World Index, the study used business, labor, and trade restrictions; government spending; prevalence of corruption; taxation rates, and other economic factors to assess how free-market these countries were at the time of study. While Matthews initially hypothesized that ‘Countries with more market-based economies will be associated with a greater adoption of orphan drugs’, with adoption defined as ‘purchase of an orphan drug’, he noted that the exact opposite was true. “Based off of general economics,We Engrave luggagetag for YOU. the literature out there suggests countries with greater economic freedoms are more efficient markets. But perhaps those mechanisms are not at work in the orphan drug market. No one has examined this issue from an orphan drug perspective, until now,” he said. 

Matthews looks to study this issue in greater detail, examining reimbursement systems across these different markets and how they affect orphan drug adoption. Additionally, his study points out the fact that there is no central organization that represents the views of patient groups, and thereby there is no hard data on how they affect access. “There are several organizations aspiring to this role, including the Genetic Alliance, and the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), but I don’t think anyone’s assuming a coordination role. There’s a lot of anecdotal information on patient groups’ wielding their clout to increase drug adoption, but no empirical research discussing observable impacts a patient advocacy group can have on adoption,” he explained. The patient movement in the US has been more robust in its influence, with its close connection to the needs and actions of patients, contrasted with the EU’s more paternalistic approach, focused on governments’ invention to sponsor groups to suit patient needs. Clearly, while patients in the US have a particular flair for advocacy, the relationship between this effort and its ability to move the access needle warrants closer examination. 

Matthews does not believe a study looking at newer datasets from a broader range of countries and orphan drugs will produce different results. At the end of the day, he explains, “The results of this study basically say that greater government regulations are able to support better delivery of these medicines. Intervention is an option that can work.” 

“Our summits have a proven track record of turning handshakes into Montana jobs. The more we get focused on jobs and work together, the closer we can get to the day when no Montanan is forced to leave the state to find a good-paying job,” said Baucus. “The key to success is getting all hands on deck which is why I encourage Montanans to join us in September in Butte.” 

The jobs summit will feature all-star keynote speakers including some of the most innovative business leaders of our time along with ambassadors from some of the world’s most dynamic economies. The summit will also feature more than 40 breakout panel sessions tailored to every aspect of business from writing a business plan to getting your business online, learning how to export and the best ways to access capital. 

Montana Economic Development Summits have resulted in hundreds of new Montana jobs over the years by bringing new private investment to the state and helping elevate Montana’s top notch goods and services at the global level. 

Keynote speakers this year will include Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, former Presidential candidate and international businessman Jon Huntsman, Jr., Alan Mulally of Ford Motor Company, Oracle’s Safra Catz, Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, founder of FedEx Fred Smith, Delta’s Richard Anderson and, Montana’s own, Ryan Lance, CEO of ConocoPhillips. 

You also get a richly detailed, high-definition 3D cartoon world, compared to the standard-definition Skylanders: Giants from last year and Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure from the year before. Your characters can also jump. That’s right.We sell bestsmartcard and different kind of laboratory equipment in us. Now they can jump around and get themselves out of nasty cul-de-sacs. The Skylanders can also fly, climb, and teleport to special areas in the environment. The level cap is now 20 for each character. That makes the title more difficult to master. 

Players will have more than 100 forward-compatible toys available from the three games — including never-before seen non-swappable characters from the upcoming release. For some, that’s bound to get a little confusing. But the new Swap Force characters have symbols on the bases of their toy counterparts that tell you what type of Swap Force power they have. The marks indicate where you can best use those creatures in the Skylands. 

As Portal Master, you will embark on a new adventure in the mysterious Cloudbreak Islands in the sky. They are the home to a mystical volcano that erupts every hundred years to replenish the magic in the Skylands. During an epic battle, the volcano’s eruption hit a group of Skylanders, blasting them apart and giving them the ability to swap halves. The evil leader Kaos has come back with a scheme to “evilize” characters using the power of petrified darkness. The Portal Master must buy as many Swap Force creatures as possible (are you listening parents?) and reassemble them into new forms to save the Skylands. Actually, that’s a joke. You can get through the whole experience with the three heroes in the $75 starter pack.

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Connie Murray’s Wonderland

During the same time period, Murray said she was simultaneously fired after a 10-year career as the Clinical Program Manager for Northern Valley Catholic Social Service, experienced the death of her adopted mother, and nursed her husband, artist Jim Freeman, back to health after an invasive heart surgery. 

Murray’s art may have saved her, but it’s clear that she also found solace during this difficult period in the tranquility of her unique Parkview-neighborhood home.“We love living here,” she said, happy for the convenience of nearby stores, and proximity to the river and the nearby scenic walking trails. 

More importantly, Murray admitted, “It’s our sanctuary,” a more fitting description of the house, studio and serene outdoor spaces that she and Freeman have transformed over the past 20 years. 

I would swear I saw fairies living amongst the lush plants, inanimate-yet-watchful woodland creatures, reflective pools of water and whimsical hand-tiled works of art that adorn Murray’s outdoor spaces. 

In the cool backyard, Murray and Freeman share their wonderland with a family of animals - domestic and wild - including a new brood of teenage chickens, a soon-to-be-relocated rooster that, during my visit, made his first attempt to crow, and swarms of hummingbirds that come to Murray’s yard to suck the nectar from the flowers that vine throughout the canopy of trees. 

One hummingbird felt so comfortable with Freeman and Murray that she nested at eye level in a branch just above their driveway. Freeman is incorporating the now-empty nest into his latest piece of art. 

Murray’s interior spaces are also a sensory experience. Visitors are enveloped by colorful walls, collections of original art and artifacts from around the globe. In one corner, Murray and Freeman have assembled a candlelighted shrine.We sell bestsmartcard and different kind of laboratory equipment in us. Turn the corner and you’ll find a vignette of Mexican folk art. Next door, the couple transformed a garage, dubbed “rat city,” into an inspiring working studio. 

Normally, Murray and Freeman also share their space with several other women – Murray’s body of work: a collection of dazzling, human-sized, mosaic sculptures. The couple recently transported them to the Sebastopol Arts Center for a month-long show. The absence of Murray’s sculptures from the couple’s intimate 900-square-foot house has created a void that neither Murray nor Freeman was expecting. They clearly miss them, and I understood why, once I learned about the emotional intensity of creating each incredibly personal sculpture. 

“Murray expressed that she has never had the chance to show all of her pieces together,” said Catherine Devriese, the Arts Center’s Visual Arts Program Manager. “We were happy to give this opportunity.Purchase an chipcard to enjoy your iPhone any way you like.Reactions to the show have been strong. According to Devriese, one person commented that the stories connected to the work were too painful to read. 

This kind of reaction to Murray’s work is understandable. She admits to “dumping it all” when she creates. Her works, like a mosaic “coffin” that helped her through the grief of losing her mother, and a sculpture of her biological mother wearing a cape made from Murray’s adoption papers, are wrought with intense symbolism. Art calms her brain, and helps her think. 

Murray’s first art-therapy client was an older alcoholic who collected unique items. Murray thought the client could benefit from the meticulous mosaic work, so Murray took a body form on a board to her client. Once the clilent covered the body form with pieces from her collection, Murray’s client coated the furniture, the toilet and the planters in a healing mosaic frenzy. The artistic process activated the woman's brain and expanded her vision.“If you engage someone and honor their humanness, they feel respected and can recover,” said Murray of her methods.Weymouth is collecting gently used, dry cleaned customkeychain at their Weymouth store. 

Murray clearly understands the power of art and its ability to heal. She keeps a copious journal, full of notes and drawings that are works of art in their own right. She transforms ordinary mannequins into sparkling goddesses, with intricate designs made from, as she says, “garbage you carry around:” keys, bells, mirror, tile, her childhood tea set. But she also understands that personal space can be transformative. 

Nowhere is this clearer than in Murray’s “fort,” a backyard structure built from fallen walnut tree branches and festooned with fabric and prayer flags. I could have sat all day inside the fort, in silence, staring through the canopy of trees. This marvelous space, built with love by family members, and layered in symbolism, is another source of calm for Murray - a much-needed respite for this dynamic artist to put everything in her brain, in its place. 

“We’ve begun the search for our next CEO,” said Dan Adler, ACORE Board Co-chair,” and are doing so with a sense of purpose and security, knowing that Michael Brower will provide the continuity of leadership and organizational stability that our members and staff need while the search goes on. With Michael on board and our unanimously-adopted strategic plan, we are well-positioned to search for and engage the most qualified candidate.” 

Brower has been an ACORE member since 2002 and is a long time Leadership Council member. At Mosaic Federal Affairs, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hiscock and Barclay LLP, a New York law firm, Brower is responsible for the firm's operations, projects and legislative objectives and priorities. He is a retired career Naval Officer and Aviator who commanded Sea Strike Squadron Twenty-Two in the first Iraqi War and personally flew 43 aircraft carrier-based combat sorties. Brower also served in the Secretary of the Navy’s personal office as Special Assistant for Air Warfare communicating United States Navy legislative policy to the Congress for Secretaries of the Navy Lehman, Webb and Ball. 

Throughout his renewable energy legislative and project advocacy career, Brower has been directly engaged in a wide-variety of biomass, geothermal, solar, wind, hydropower, liquid transportation and hydraulic mix anaerobic biodigestion/biogas projects in the defense, power generation and transportation sectors, including work in development, funding and finance and operational deployments. He is directly involved in renewable energy tax matters, and helped draft the first ever Farm Bill energy title and many of the renewable energy components of the Energy Policy Act of 2005,More than 80 standard commercial and granitetiles exist to quickly and efficiently clean pans. and the Energy Infrastructure and Security Act of 2007. 

“The trust and confidence that the ACORE Board of Directors has unanimously vested in me as Interim President and CEO of ACORE is a singular honor,” said Brower. “To the Board, ACORE membership, ACORE staff and the national and global energy community, I assure you this transition will fully sustain the ACORE mission and goals so ably advanced during Admiral McGinn’s most noteworthy and successful tenure. With our strategic organizational plan in place, the fully engaged participation of the ACORE Board, and the talented ACORE staff, my task is clear: to communicate the value proposition of renewable energy through ACORE’s initiatives, programs, and tremendous member thought leadership. I am also engaged as Search Committee Co-Chair working with fellow Board directors, staff and, most importantly,You Can Buy Various High Quality besticcard Products from here. ACORE members to find the right individual to lead ACORE and to continue the strong momentum created by Admiral McGinn.”

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CEO Iwona Sroka KDPW Group

CEO Iwona Sroka,Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a graniteslabs can authenticate your computer usage and data. KDPW Group 

Few authors do irony better than those from Central Europe—and here, art often imitates life. Among the unsubtle ironies accompanying the fall of communism in Poland in 1989 was the fate of the old ruling party’s headquarters: It served for almost 10 years as home of the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) until 2000, when the WSE—today the largest exchange operator in the region—moved to a new complex draped in glass rather than history, a signal to the global finance community that Poland had arrived. In recent years, the exchange has seen among the largest number of initial public offerings (IPOs) of any stock exchange quarter-on-quarter, not only in Europe but also the world. Signal received. 

On the back of that success, the WSE has pushed forward with a move to NYSE Technologies’ Universal Trading Platform (UTP), a long-awaited springboard for more sophisticated capital markets here. Much of the action leading up to its implementation earlier this year has been on the WSE center building’s sixth floor, home to KDPW Group—in Polish, Krajowy Depozyt Papierów Warto?ciowych—the national central securities depository (CSD) and clearinghouse. 

Building financial markets surrounded by plains rather than a megalopolis might seem far-fetched, and indeed, wide swaths of Poland can be mistaken for Indiana or Iowa. But geography—look no further than the success of mainstay institutions like the CME Group in Chicago, far from the financial hub of New York—argues otherwise. Even with a little bit of cunning, some timely help from outside, and a lot of hard work, a new trading venue always has to be better front-to-back. But it also has the advantage of starting from scratch. 

Sroka knows that better than most. Holder of a doctorate from the Warsaw School of Economics and recently appointed to prime minister Donald Tusk’s Tripartite Commission for Social and Economic Affairs, she is comfortable operating in a whirlwind. The CEO helped lay the foundation for economic life after communism while on the staff with the Ministry of Privatization, before working with several vestiges of the country’s nascent capital markets, ultimately joining the WSE in 2001. 

Academics are known for making things complicated. Sroka is about keeping it simple. By contrast to the exchanges to Poland’s south—which, in 2006, formed the CEE Stock Exchange Group (CEESEG) in a bid to attract foreign liquidity—Sroka believes in a kind of traditional, national centricity for markets in the region. Investing in the technology for multiple settlement platforms—or having to choose a potential loser in the process—is often the most contentious and expensive problem faced in the pursuit of an alternative, she says. 

“Our strategy is to promote the local market first, while simultaneously becoming more visible to the international community. That path is easier to navigate than trying to consolidate markets,” Sroka says. “You can create a single trading platform, of course, but under current European rules, it’s impossible to have one regional central securities depository—they remain settled on a national level, and it’s there that the operational differences will stand out.” 

Staying local doesn’t imply insularity, though,We are one of the leading manufacturers of crystalbeadswholesal in China so much as reaching out on positive terms. Since 2004, KDPW has forged a bevy of relationships with foreign CSDs to allow for dual listing of equities often issued in neighboring Baltic and eastern states, but also as far afield as Canada and Italy. Those operational links now total 19, with nine maintained directly through KDPW connectivity and the remainder managed indirectly with Clearstream BL, Euroclear, and UniCredit’s custodial bank in Bulgaria. The first step to the latest link, sealed by a memorandum of understanding this June with Russia’s NSD,This is a basic background on chinabeads. is viewed as bearing great potential, and, according to Sroka, represents a “symbolic sign.” Moscow and Warsaw have a checkered historical relationship, but each is attracting heightened interest from traders both at home and abroad. 

Then, how can that interest be turned into volume? Shortly after her appointment to the role of CEO in 2009, Sroka was in on early discussions about the most important technology development of the WSE’s, and by extension, the legally independent KDPW’s young history: a comprehensive upgrade of the exchange’s trading system. 

The electronic-only WSE has never had a trading pit—and therefore KDPW has operated since its inception with solid technology, helping to settle combined equities and corporate-bond transactions of approximately €2.6 trillion ($3.3 trillion) in 2012. About a third of its total staff is dedicated to IT, and multiple members of the management board often oversee technology projects along with vice president and CIO, Slawomir Panasiuk. 

The major exchange technology providers have reaped steady successesoutfitting emerging markets trading venues in the last decade. But those venues’ long-term viability still hinges on local talent making the nuts and bolts work. When NYSE Technologies’ UTP was chosen over more incremental improvements at the WSE, two ripple effects were immediately created for KDPW, the first being a step-function improvement in equities trading. Sroka’s technology team instantly took center stage during some heady days earlier this year as KDPW prepared to settle and clear, for the sake of market confidence,You Can Buy Various High Quality besticcard Products from here. every last equities transaction made during the trading hours of April 15—the day the UTP was officially migrated in a clean break—with extensive stress-testing undertaken by a team of 32 dedicated IT personnel leading up to the day. 

“The new platform can handle 20,We sell bestsmartcard and different kind of laboratory equipment in us.000 orders per second, versus about 850 orders per second in our former Warset system, so that represents huge change for us to work with in terms of settlement,” Sroka says. “Latency is cut to under a millisecond, the introduction of algorithmic execution is attracting buy-side firms and brokerage houses catering to individual investors, and enhanced overall system performance should allow market-makers to use bulk or mass quotes, as well as support different classes of instruments,” she says. 

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At Vanina, one mans trash is anothers unusual

The value of jewelry is typically measured by the weight of its metal. But for a couple of enterprising designers, discarded items like steel coins can become treasures if theyre hanging from a chain necklace and decorated with the right colors.We sell bestsmartcard and different kind of laboratory equipment in us. Thats what childhood friends Tatiana Fayad and Joanne Hayek discovered when they began making jewelry as a hobby when they were both in college. Upon finishing their studies, they joined together to create the company Vanina, after the 1970s French song whose upbeat tempo and feminine name they thought well represented their mission.

Their first jewelry collection, which they called Coined, featured old Lebanese coins of small value that are rarely used these days. On the front of the pieces are beads, patterns and simple words or phrases. On the back can be seen the engravings of cedar trees on the old coins.

Since they started their collections seven years ago when they were 19-year-old college students, beginning with small pieces they made from home for friends, coined has continued to be the most popular. Another well-received line, Unlocked, features old keys mounted onto necklace chains and earrings. The message is an invitation to keep doors open.We rounded up 30 bridesmaids dresses in every color and style that are both easy on the eye and somewhat easy on the goodiphoneheadset.

The idea is to remind people to be friendly and neighborly at a time when the Lebanese capital is becoming more exclusive. Beirut is becoming more secluded and gated and less pedestrian-friendly, Hayek says,Full color highqualityhidkits printing and manufacturing services. referring to the plethora of new luxury high-rise developments with daunting security gates at the entrance.Another line, using the play on words Disc-carded has taken old CDs C not long ago a modern novelty, but fast becoming obsolete, giving way to thumb-sized USB computer flash drives C and made them into a string of colorful strips of metal.

Upcycling, the practice of using waste or useless materials to create something of a higher value, is nothing new, having long been a practice in folk art and then conceptual art throughout the 20th century and with the term coined in Europe in the mid-1990s.We deliberately dont use materials of high value. The way people interact with the product is personal. We try to communicate the backstage as much as the end result, Hayek says.

The partners use of basic resources and down-to-earth approach to business has allowed them to expand gradually without having to borrow money.A cleaningservic resembles a credit card in size and shape. In fact, the first six months were spent working from home with a $100 investment. They then moved to a workshop once they began making a small profit. At their business in Zalka they have five employees in addition to working with five craftsmen throughout Lebanon. Their twice-annual shows in Paris always bring them new clients. So far, their points of sale worldwide, including online, total 72. Some of their most enthusiastic customers are from Japan, a country known for its innovative and colorful designs.

From the international exhibitions she has attended, Fayad says she has noticed that people are impressed that were exposed to Oriental and Occidental cultures.You Can Buy Various High Quality besticcard Products from here.The partners also credit their success thus far to their academic backgrounds C Fayad studied marketing at St. Joseph University and Hayek studied architecture at the American University of Beirut, followed by a masters degree in the same subject at Columbia University in New York, where she was offered a job at a firm upon graduation.

Hayek says she opted to return to Lebanon, afraid that if she stayed in New York she wouldnt have the chance to pursue her passion of designing clothes and accessories in Lebanon. Here, she says shes still able to do both, still writing academic papers and attending international architecture conferences when shes not busy at the workshop.Still, her decision to focus on clothing and accessories design was by no means the easy option. The two say its not uncommon for them to spend up to a month working on a prototype for a bag with their small 3-D printer.

Recently, Hayek was on a flight from Beirut to Paris when she felt an unusual pain in her arm. It wasnt until a few days later, when she spoke with Fayad who has the exact same pain, that she realized they had injured their arms by repeatedly using a punching machine.

The UAE GCAAs report states that the fire began in the section of the cargo that included a significant number of lithium type batteries and other combustible materials and added that the fire escalated rapidly into a catastrophic uncontained fire.

The 322-page report into the crash, which killed both pilots, points to the presence of lithium batteries in the cargo as a possible reason for the ignition that then engulfed to other combustible material around. It is possible that a lithium type battery or batteries, for reasons which cannot be established, went into an energetic failure characterised by thermal runaway and auto ignited starting a chain reaction which spread to the available combustible material, the report concludes.

Malfunctioning lithium batteries have been more recently linked with the temporary grounding of the entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft after a fire in the battery of a parked Japan Airlines 787 aircraft was reported, followed by an emergency landing of an All Nippon Airways 787 due to smoke emerging from its lithium battery.

Lithium batteries have a history of thermal runaway and fire, are unstable when damaged and can short circuit if exposed to overcharging, the application of reverse polarity or exposure to high temperature are all potential failure scenarios which can lead to thermal runaway, the GCAAs report maintains.

Once a battery is in thermal runaway, it cannot be extinguished with the types of extinguishing agent used on board aircraft and the potential for auto ignition of adjacent combustible material exists.
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Panasonic TX-P60ZT65

It's pretty clear from its 3,700 price tag that Panasonic's 60-inch TX-P60ZT65 is not a TV that's aimed at the mass market. No, this behemoth has been designed by the company's engineers to appeal to picture purists who want the deepest black levels and most accurate colours you can get from a 1080p HDTV.

It's only available in one screen size, and Panasonic says it's not actually building that many of them. Each one comes with a special booklet with the signature of the company's two head honchos for TV design and manufacturing. In a way, it almost seems like a vanity project by Panasonic just to show that it can produce a set that outperforms Pioneer's old Kuro range.

So has the company succeeded? Yes it has, although it's very pricey, not massively superior to the Panasonic's own VT65 and with 4K around the corner you'll have to consider your investment carefully if you're thinking of buying one.

Apart from the Studio Master Panel logo that pops up when you turn on the TV, the user interface for the ZT65 is pretty much identical to that used on Panasonic's other 2013 models. The company has vastly improved this over what it was using on its 2012 TVs, as it has a brand-new smart TV system that allows you to create your own customised homescreens.

The settings menu isn't really integrated into this new system, so looks a little less slick. It's still fairly colourful and, more importantly, quick and easy to use. Panasonic's presets are extremely good right out of the box. There are two THX picture modes for Cinema and Bright Rooms, and a new EBU mode that conforms to the European Broadcasting Union's guidelines on industry standards for stuff like black level, contrast and luminance.

The ZT65 also has a full colour management system, as you'd expect, as well as 2- and 10-point white balance control. Unlike Panasonic's older plasmas, it allows you to adjust the panel's overall brightness levels, with low, medium and high luminance levels available.

The ZT65 thankfully is also equipped with Panasonic's new programming guide. This has been updated to include a video window of the channel you're currently tuned to, which is handy if you're watching a show and just want to quickly check what's coming up on other channels later without missing out on any of the action.

In its smart TV menu you'll also find a channel explorer widget. This presents a now and next guide as a vertical column containing the different Freeview or Freesat channels. The clever bit is that when you jump from one channel to another it'll actually show a live video picture-in-picture view of what's currently showing on the other channel that you've selected.

The new Panasonic smart TV system the ZT65 uses is miles ahead of what was available on last year's models. You can either choose to use one of the preset homescreens or alternatively build your own custom version using a number of templates. This is a great idea,The term 'kitchenhidkits control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. as it lets you group all the apps you use most often together in a single location that's quick and convenient to access.

By default the TV starts up on your smart TV homescreen, but you can set it start in fullscreen mode instead if you prefer. Annoyingly it does show an advert banner if you select this option, but thankfully this can be turned off via the settings menu -- Panasonic doesn't make it obvious how to do this though. You actually have to go into the settings menu and disable the VieraConnect banner.

The smart TV system has apps for popular services such as BBC iPlayer, Netflix, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. There are still quite a few gaps in the line up, however -- it lacks apps for Lovefilm, ITV Player and 4oD, all of which are found on Samsung's smart TV platform.

There is a full Web broswer onboard, though, and this can be used with Panasonic's app for iOS and Android devices, so you can catch and throw Web pages to the TV.We can supply gemstonebeads products as below. The handshaking involved in getting the two to speak to each other is still relatively long, so it's not as immediate to use as it might sound.

Weirdly, the ZT65 lacks the camera found on the VT65, so the face-recognition features and Skype video-calling aren't supported unless you add the optional camera accessory. It does come with the Bluetooth pen that lets you scribble on the screen like a Sky Sport presenter. It's fun to use, but a bit of a novelty, so after trying it out a few times it'll probably end up being stuffed away in a drawer somewhere, or lost down the back of the sofa.

More interesting is the fact that the TV has dual tuners for both Freeview HD and Freesat HD (this is what lets you see previews of other channels on the TV guide). As a result, if you plug a hard drive into one of its USB ports it can act as a full-blown PVR,About jewelryfindings in China userd for paying transportation fares and for shopping. allowing you to record one channel while watching another. Panasonic's user interface for this isn't wonderful -- like its standalone PVRs, the interface can be obtuse at times -- but it gets the job done.

The ZT65's media player is pretty handy too. It can play MKV files as well as MP4, DivX and Xvid videos, and the transport controls work properly,We sell bestsmartcard and different kind of laboratory equipment in us. so you can fast-forward and rewind even when you're streaming files across a network -- something that doesn't work on current Samsung TVs. The ZT65 is a fairly elegant-looking slab, but some way off the prettiest TV I've seen. The chassis and bezel are both thicker than what you'll find on today's high-end LED sets, for example. Nevertheless, its piano black and shiny chrome finish makes it quite sophisticated, as does the single sheet of glass design, where the front of the screen sits flush with the edge of the bezel.

The V-shaped stand won't be to everyone's taste and, sadly,You Can Buy Various High Quality besticcard Products from here. like many of the stands on the latest plasmas it doesn't swivel (an issue as the ZT65 is very heavy to move about on its base), but I still think it looks pretty classy. I also like the fact that Panasonic has made the LED at the front dimmable -- ideal if you're watching the TV in a darkened room.As with most high-end sets at the moment, the ZT65 comes with two remote controls: a touchpad remote and a new take on Panasonic's normal TV zapper. The touchpad remote isn't bad, but it's not as good as Samsung's one and not a patch on LG's magic remote.

The standard zapper is much better. It's thinner than Panasonic's normal remote and has slightly smaller buttons. It's got a funky red backlight and has dedicated buttons for stuff like the apps menu and home screen.
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SBI crafts the next generation of British furniture-makers

As the wider manufacturing sector faces increasing skills shortages, Sofa Brands International (SBI) is raising its game to recruit and shape the next generation of industry leaders.There are few young people leaving education these days dreaming of a future in manufacturing. So why not? As Britain is looking to strengthen exports and build skills, the manufacturing sector has a lot to offer.

Sofa Brands International, the UK’s leading branded sofa group, is one of the country’s most successful furniture manufacturers, designing and crafting some of its most well-loved sofas and chairs. These include: the UK’s top furniture brand, G Plan; Duresta, a highly successful label worldwide; and the Parker Knoll collections.You've probably seen cellphonecases at some point.Highly-skilled British craftsmen and women have been designing and building these collections in Wiltshire and the Midlands for many years. However, the falling interest in manufacturing has meant that the next generation of leaders and skilled craftspeople have become less easily identifiable.

Head of human resources at SBI Emma Wharton is passionate about attracting new blood into traditional industries, and manufacturing in particular, and so she enrolled the business in the Government’s apprentice scheme.The Government’s highly successful scheme was set up to offer young people an alternative option to university which still allowed them to reach their career goals.

The apprenticeship scheme at SBI was launched in 2011 and has since offered eight recent school leavers unique opportunities to learn the ropes across a thriving business. Currently six apprentices are working in the upholstery side of the business, one in sewing and one in business administration within Design and Development.You must not use the samsungcases without being trained.Joe Bryan, aged 20, is one of the apprentices already making a positive impact in the business. Alongside his fellow apprentices, Joe is part of a structured programme that runs over two years. One day a week he attends Webs Training College in Beeston, Nottingham to add to the on-the-job training he receives through his manager and his mentors at Duresta.

Last year Joe was put forward by the college as one of 12 to travel to the House of Lords as part of the Government’s National Apprentice Week to meet the relevant ministers and talk about his experiences.“Visiting the House of Lords was my first experience of London,” admits Joe. “It was nerve wracking but a great honour.”Having been on board for 12 months now, Joe feels that he is really making a difference, and loves the fact he is making something real and skilled. “When I first started we spent the first five weeks understanding the business and following a sales order through the factory,” he explains. That took the apprentices through the sales office, production and planning, fabric ordering, cutting, sewing, upholstery, final inspection, despatch and design and development.

Once complete, the junior team then presented that experience back to the senior operations team. “Having access to everyone in the business is unifying for all our teams,” explains HR head Emma Wharton. “We actively encourage ideas to flow back and forth.”That flow of information and ideas was taken a step further when Jo Moore, sales director of Duresta, and apprentice Joe Bryan, had a week-long job swap. Sales director Jo rolled her sleeves up and learned how to make and upholster a chair, whilst Joe swapped his overalls for a suit and sold an order to key retailer Furniture Village.

Added to this intake of enthusiastic apprentices are a further six vibrant graduates. Emma Wharton believes they are as exciting as they are diverse. “Our graduates work right across the group," she says, "from design and production at Parker Knoll in Riddings, all the way through to supporting business development for Duresta in China.”

Having begun her HR career at one of British industry’s most admired companies, Emma is a passionate advocate for manufacturing. She says: “What I found at SBI was essentially no different from at Rolls Royce – the best young people are attracted to companies that genuinely invest in their staff and can offer opportunities for them to grow together.”

That said, Emma points out, the manufacturing industry still faces a perception issue. “I don’t think people realise the wide range of the skills required to be successful. Obviously, a design instinct is crucial, but logistical thinking, people skills and possessing a laser-focused eye for detail are also essential.”The opportunity to develop this wide-ranging skill set played a major role in the decision of Marketing and Management of Textiles graduate, Meisha-Grace Nicely, to apply to SBI.Full color highqualityhidkits printing and manufacturing services. “I was keen to develop across the board in all areas of marketing and promotions,” she says.

Based at Parker Knoll, her day-to-day responsibilities include updating promotions and model collections, as well as co-ordinating wider marketing materials. “Whether it’s organising photo shoots, preparing promotional materials, or managing the ‘swatching’ programme for the Autumn/Winter 2013 collections, the variety of my work means I’m learning new things every day,” she says.

Jade Blackburn was another graduate who SBI identified as possessing these skills and more. An English and Mandarin graduate of Leeds University, Jade joined Duresta in 2012. “I was looking for an opportunity to make the most of my language skills, as well as working at a company where I could make a genuine impact right from the start,” she says. Alongside Duresta’s CEO, Clive Kenyon-Brown, Jade has flown to China twice in the past 12 months to assist with new business development. “It has been fascinating to see how the market operates in China, and has given me a fantastic insight into one of Duresta’s most exciting growth markets. Going forward, I am confident this will pay dividends as we continue to reach out to further international customers.”

At G Plan, Paul Dack – a star Furniture and Product Design student from Nottingham Trent University - has been traversing trade shows across the UK and further afield to gain inspiration for future design models as part of his graduate programme. This included the interzum show in Cologne, Germany – the largest global trade fair for materials, components and design for furniture production and interiors.

“I’ve had to hit the ground running,” Paul admits. “It’s been challenging at times, but hugely rewarding.” Most of all, he says, being able to utilise and develop the skills he learnt at university has been especially satisfying.“Visiting the trade shows both nationally and internationally has been fantastic," he says. "Nothing beats seeing some of my ideas being developed into the designs featured in the upcoming G Plan Vintage collections. Working on the Vintage range for 2014 has been really exciting.”

For Emma Wharton, Meisha, Jade, Joe and Paul’s enthusiasm to drive the company forward is typical of the ethos of the young people coming into the organisation. “The graduate and apprenticeship programmes are designed to meet business needs, and developed according to each individual’s interests and ambitions so they are able to grow and develop in parts of the business they are really passionate about.”

Since Emma arrived at SBI in 2011 the company’s brands have all undergone exciting developments. G Plan has further enhanced its reputation by launching the G Plan Vintage range in a tie-up with design icon Wayne Hemingway, while the legendary Parker Knoll brand has been revitalised, bucking wider economic trends to significantly grow sales since 2008. At SBI’s luxury brand, Duresta, further expansion into export markets has also marked an exciting trend, with 25% of sales now going to international shores.

In April, Prime Minister David Cameron visited Duresta to champion the brand's success in overseas markets, as well as promoting apprenticeships. “We were delighted to have this opportunity to be able to raise the profile of our apprentice scheme,” Emma says. “The Prime Minister was impressed to hear that there has been a 90% increase in the number of apprenticeships in Derbyshire, where the Parker Knoll and Duresta factories are based. We are committed to ensuring that there are continued opportunities for talented and ambitious youngsters in the area to prosper in our exciting industry.”

The success of the SBI schemes reflects a sea change in the attitudes of school leavers and graduates that has begun to take shape in recent years. Rising university fees and a saturation in the service jobs market has led to a shift in perspective. Increasing numbers of youngsters up and down the country now look to UK manufacturing and apprenticeships as the key to their future careers. The National Apprenticeship Service recently reported there is now a staggering 11 applicants for each apprenticeship vacancy.

For SBI,We rounded up 30 bridesmaids dresses in every color and style that are both easy on the eye and somewhat easy on the chinabeadsfactory. this is an opportunity to access a pipeline of the best and brightest budding furniture industry professionals. “This trend is an encouraging sign for SBI as we push on with further innovation and growth across our brands,” Emma says. “Our future depends on the continued ideas, skill and dedication of all of our people.We are a special provider in best bulb,also a professional highquality saler.”

With a raft of bright young people such as Joe, Jade, Meisha and Paul already making people sit up and take note, Emma is confident that the new ideas and energy that apprentices and graduates bring to SBI will carve out a bright future for the company.
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Some school libraries are open in Baltimore County

It seems an odd time for books to be flying off a school's library's shelves, but at Halstead Academy, Ethan Pranke and Noah Neverdon can't resist.Asked about popular children's book author Dan Gutman, the two rising fifth-graders retrieved several entries from the author's "My Weird School Daze" series, spread them on a table and offered colorful synopses of such works as "Mrs. Dole Is Out of Control" and "Officer Spence Makes No Sense."

The two aren't in summer school or a school-based camp, but they are among many Baltimore County who take advantage of schools that keep their libraries open during the summer break to encourage youngsters to keep reading.Halstead Academy in Parkville is among 13 public schools in Baltimore County that open libraries and media centers during the summer. It's a practice that's out of the ordinary among school systems in the Baltimore area, but it's a service Baltimore County has offered for 10 years. Many libraries are open in areas where youngsters don't have easy access to public libraries.

While some savor time away from school during the summer, many Halstead Academy students are reading the books they relish during the school year."It's more than just playing games, playing outside, riding your bike. You get more education," said Ethan, 10. "We came to get more education for fifth grade.""There are less people here [compared to during the school year] so we can get the books we want," said Noah, 10. "I didn't want to just sit at home. My mom said, 'This year, you're not going to be sitting in the house, playing games all day.We are a special provider in best bulb,also a professional highquality saler. You're going to read so you won't forget about school.' "

About a dozen students visit the Halstead Academy library daily, and sometimes parents visit and bring their school-age children as well as toddlers."Most of the kids aren't in our summer school program,We rounded up 30 bridesmaids dresses in every color and style that are both easy on the eye and somewhat easy on the goodiphoneheadset. so they come to school at noon [when the library opens], and when they buzz to get in they're saying, 'We're here for the library! We're here for the library!' " said Jennifer Mullenax, Halstead Academy principal.In addition to Halstead, other Baltimore County public school libraries open during the summer include Colgate Elementary School, Hawthorne Elementary School and Padonia International Elementary School. Days and hours vary at each location, and some are open as late as mid-August.

Fran Glick, the school system's supervisor of instructional technology and library media, said each participating school runs its library autonomously, making sure it can be open during hours that do not interfere with cleaning and other efforts to prepare for the coming school year.The cost to operate the libraries over the summer varies by location based on the days and hours available.You Can Buy Various High Quality besticcard Products from here. Schools pay a media specialist through the school system budget, though some tap federal Title I money.

Others take advantage of business partnerships. Glen Burnie-based A&G properties, which owns a 700-unit apartment and townhouse community near Halstead Academy, donated a family pack of four tickets to an Orioles game to be used as a prize in support of the program.

"Our programs compliment each other, " Fontinell said. "I know our students. I know what they like to read. I know what books are appropriate for them, so I can help them find books in the library that are just right for them. And if I don't have it, I know that the public library will.A cleaningservic resembles a credit card in size and shape."

Marisa Conner, coordinator of the youth services department for the Baltimore County Public Library, noted that county schools help promote the library system's summer reading program by distributing registration materials in May. She said the public library has 48,000 youths registered for summer reading.Kim McLeod, a Halstead Academy parent service coordinator whose daughter, Kamauri Collins, attends the school, said she encourages parents to visit the library with their children.

We believe the CSIS report is the first to use actual economic modeling to build out the figures for the losses attributable to malicious cyber activity, said Mike Fey, executive vice-president and chief technology officer at McAfee.

Other estimates have been bandied about for years, but no one has put any rigor behind the effort. As policy-makers, business leaders and others struggle to get their arms around why cyber security matters, they need solid information on which to base their actions, he said.

The new study recognises that the cost of malicious cyber activity involves more than the loss of financial assets or intellectual property, and takes into account damage to brand and reputation, consumer losses from fraud, the opportunity costs of service disruptions cleaning up after cyber incidents and the cost of increased spending on cyber security.

"It was a positive thing, you know? It wasn't a groundball that went through my legs or a strikeout. It was something that I did good," said Brett, who played his entire Hall of Fame career with the Royals and is now serving as their interim hitting coach.

"I hit a home run off one of the toughest relief pitchers in baseball, a Hall of Fame guy, and if I did not use an illegal bat which I didn't, it was proven I didn't but suspected of using an illegal bat, we wouldn't be doing this," Brett said. "It would have been a July 24 game 30 years ago that nobody remembered."

McClelland fondly recalled the pine tar game during an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday night in Houston, shortly before he worked a game between the Astros and Athletics.

"I have young players now come up to me and say, `Hey, I didn't know you were the pine tar umpire. We were just talking about it the other day and they said it was you,"' McClelland said with a laugh. "I'll have people on the street and people that I know bring it up once in a while.We sell bestsmartcard and different kind of laboratory equipment in us. If I go out and give talks, I'm always introduced as the pine tar umpire. It's fine."

Brett was particularly fond of that piece of lumber because it had fewer grains in the wood, and that meant it was a bit harder than most bats. So even after it had become a piece of baseball folklore, Brett continued to use the stick of ash for a few more games,

"Gaylord Perry was on our team and said, `George, you're using a very expensive bat. That bat's worth a lot of money,"' Brett said. "I remember taking some alcohol and a towel and cleaning it up to 18 inches I even drew a red line at the 18-inch mark, and used it one or two games and Gaylord said, `You're crazy to use that bat.' So that's when I took it out of play."
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Rebooted summer programs make learning fun

While summer classes targeted at struggling students are nearing extinction on many school campuses, several districts are rebooting the traditional summer education model by blending academics with recreational activities intended to prevent students from falling even further behind.You Can Buy Various High Quality besticcard Products from here.

Unlike traditional summer classes that districts had to pay for out of their own budgets, these programs are funded with help from federal and state initiatives or grants from philanthropic foundations. Many of the programs are typically offered in partnership with nonprofit groups, some of which have already been working on campuses to provide after-school programs during the regular school year.

These summer programs are being reinvisioned as a way to use the school break time more effectively to help close academic achievement gaps between more affluent and poor students. In contrast to traditional remedial summer classes, these enrichment programs focus on fun, engaging activities C with a strong educational component C to keep student interest high.

Traditional remedial summer classes can be pretty grim, said Katie Brackenridge, senior director for expanded learning initiatives with the Partnership for Children and Youth, whoseSummer Matters campaign pushes for expanded summer programs. Part of it is that kids already walk in the door probably not liking learning so much, and thats how they got stuck in remediation in the first place. Were looking at how do you make those learning opportunities engaging.

On a recent July morning,We can supply gemstonebeads products as below. seventh graders at Oakland Unifieds Coliseum College Prep Academyin East Oakland, for instance, were busy converting their classroom into a science museum where they would soon demonstrate chemical reactions to a visiting class of eighth graders. The program built on what students learned on a previous visit to the Exploratorium, a science museum in San Francisco that features hands-on exhibits and exploration.

With cups of baking soda and calcium chloride in front of them, students played the role of the scientist, explaining chemical reactions to pretend visitors.In another classroom, students used colored pencils to find and color patterns they found on a geometric worksheet.Earlier in the day, students participated in more rigorous programs that focused on keeping up skills in math and reading. Older students who needed make-up classes participated in credit recovery programs.

Sixth-grader Taheerah McKinney knew exactly why she was there C and she was glad.Usually children lose what theyve learned when they go on summer break, explained the well-spoken 10-year-old,We sell bestsmartcard and different kind of laboratory equipment in us. who wants to become a dermatologist. The summer program helps get your grades up when youre in regular school, she said.Oakland is among the districts bucking statewide trends by blending traditional academic summer school with enrichment programs at about 45 campuses.This summer, Oakland is serving up to 6,000 students from pre-kindergarten through high school, including offering credit recovery and remediation courses at 10 high schools.

The district receives about $800,000 in grants and state money to help run summer enrichment programs at several school sites. That includes federal Title 1 money intended for low-income students that the district sets aside to help pay teacher salaries for summer programs, plus a $360,000 grant from Walmart Foundation, $100,000 from San Francisco-based S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, and about $226,000 in federal 21st Century Community Learning Center funding, according to district figures.

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, a large supporter of summer programs, has also dedicated $14 million over the next four years to support programs in 10 communities, including Oakland, Los Angeles and Sacramento.

We dont want to have kids sitting in desks for six hours during the summer, said Julie McCalmont, coordinator of Summer Learning Programs in Oakland Unified. Theres no research to prove thats what it takes to get kids back on track. We have learning goals that have to do with health and wellness, that have to do with social and emotional learning, the kind of goals that allow us to be more innovative with our remediation and pull away from that traditional summer school model that kids find kind of a drag. We want kids to be clamoring for our programs.A casesforipadmini is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card to perform certain.

The shift to more enrichment-based programs reflects an economic reality in the state, where school districts general fund budgets were not able to sustain more traditional summer classes intended to help students who are lagging academically make up for lost time or work.

An EdSource survey of the 30 largest school districts found that, while 16 districts planned to keep their summer school programs this year, their offerings are drastically reduced from the start of the recession in 2008. Seven districts said they would have to cut their programs even further compared to last year. Two districts, Anaheim Union High and Long Beach Unified, wont offer any academic summer school programs this year, the survey found.

Five years ago, L.A.About jewelryfindings in China userd for paying transportation fares and for shopping. Unifieds summer school budget was $42 million, said Javier Sandoval, LAUSDs intervention administrator for summer school programs. This year, the district eked out $1 million to salvage what courses it could, he said.Contrast that with the estimated 26,500 students who are expected to participate in summer enrichment programs at some 200 elementary and middle school campuses throughout L.A. Unified.Taheerah McKinney, a sixth grader at Coliseum College Prep Academy in East Oakland, colors patterns during a summer program. Credit: Lillian Mongeau, EdSource Today

The district does not provide any of its own core budget to support the enrichment programs, said Tim Bower, director of summer programs for LAUSD. Instead, the district receives about $6 million in supplemental grants for summer learning from the statesAfter School Education and Safety program. Additional programming is provided by the nonprofit L.A.s Best, which receives a $135,000 grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, among other state and federal funding, to run the programs.
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Privatisation is killing off the NHS south of the border

Those words were written recently by Owen Jones, a young writer I admire and whose politics might best be described as real Labour.Like many in England,You must not use the samsungcases without being trained. he is horrified at the slow death by privatisation of the health service south of the Border.Westminster has already abandoned the principle of free education, charging university students 9000 a year for tuition C a road Scotlands SNP Government refused to follow.

Here, the SNP took Stracathro Hospital, Labours flirtation with the private sector, back into the NHS.The SNP also banned the private cleaning firms in the NHS and saw a massive drop in hospital-acquired infections as a result.But in England, the dismantling of the NHS, which began when Labours Tony Blair introduced Foundation Hospitals, is gathering pace.

Westminsters Health and Social Care Act is now in force.In a public letter last month, a thousand doctors and nurses warned the new law would force virtually every part of the English NHS to be opened up to the private sector.They were ignored.

It seems that the public interest comes second to the self-interest of Westminster elites.Yesterday it was alleged that a company owned by Lynton Crosby, the controversial adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron, advised a private healthcare consortium hoping to benefit from the act, which allows private commissioning of health services worth 60billion.The term 'casesforhtcone control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag.

Crosby is also alleged to have influenced the Tory U-turn on introducing plain cigarette packing C the tobacco giant Philip Morris are another of his well-paying clients.He denies any conflict of interest, as does Cameron.Scotland has already said it will press ahead with the plans for plain packaging, after research from Australia showed it to be effective in reducing tobacco use. We are extremely fortunate that health matters are already decided independently by the Scottish Parliament.

We can only look south with sympathy.Bus company Arriva already run ambulance services in Greater Manchester and will soon do the same in Gloucestershire. Virgin Care claim to provide 100 NHS services across England and have a network of 24 GP provider companies.

Virgin have been chosen to run community health and care services for NHS Surrey.This will include childrens social care services, prison healthcare and sexual health services.Westminster has just sold off the NHS blood plasma products division to an American private equity company whose interests include Burger King. That says it all really.

Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust in Essex has even introduced a private option for chemotherapy.Have a look at all our agatebeads models starting with free proofing.But lets not fool ourselves that these unwelcome changes will be reversed by a change of UK Government.

Writing in the BMJ earlier this year, Dr Lucy Reynolds C a research fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine C said that Labours previous reforms prepared the ground for the Tory's full blown privatisation.We have a wide selection of wholesalehidlights to choose from for your storage needs.Dr Reynolds points out that patients wont notice until too late because private forms will be allowed to use the NHS logo. It doesnt affect us in Scotland.

But because Scotlands health budget is based on what is spent in England, we should pay attention.Scotlands money for university education was slashed when the UK Government stopped funding English universities, forcing them to put up fees.The Scottish Government had to fill the hole they left from other pots of money.If the same thing happened in health, we would find money slashed in the same way. And how would we fill the gap then?

The bill, which includes funds for the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Forest Service, proposes an overall $2.8 billion reduction 34% in funds for the EPA in fiscal year 2014. The proposed cuts would reduce funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative from the current level of $285 million to $60 million.

A House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee statement released Monday called the legislation an effort to "rein in" the EPA and referred to the agency as being "rife with governmental overreach" and "overspending on ineffective and unnecessary programs." The subcommittee voted Tuesday to forward the bill to the full House Appropriations Committee.

"In order to do more with less, the legislation seeks to protect vital programs that directly affect the safety and well-being of Americans, while dramatically scaling back lower-priority, or 'nice-to-have' programs,You can design your turquoisebeads or select one of our pose." House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers said in a statement Monday.

Great Lakes advocates say the proposed cuts would cripple the Great Lakes region and threaten continued efforts to restore its ecosystem.The bill also cuts funds for the Clean Water State Revolving Loan, a program that helps communities fix old sewers to reduce beach pollution and protect drinking water supplies. The bill cuts the program by more than 75% from the current level of $1.03 billion to $250 million.

"When we first saw these numbers I could only surmise that perhaps somebody miscounted and thought there was only one Great Lake," Todd Ambs, campaign director for Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, said during a teleconference Tuesday. "It would really take us back to the old days where we were long on rhetoric about what we wanted to do...but short on funding."

The Great Lakes initiative, which began in 2009 when President Barack Obama signaled that restoration of the region was a national priority, focuses on cleaning up toxins in the EPA's areas of concern, combating invasive species, reducing polluted run-off and restoring wetland areas and other habitats.
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Treasury Board will enter arbitration

Treasury Board has agreed to enter into binding arbitration to end a controversial strike by Canada’s foreign service officers, but not without conditions.After nearly two months of picketing outside government offices around the world, the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO) requested the government enter into third-party binding arbitration last week. The union’s offer was set to expire Tuesday at noon. 

In a statement Tuesday, moments before noon, Treasury Board President Tony Clement said the government is willing to enter into arbitration, “under certain conditions.” However, those conditions will not be made public as they are subject to negotiation confidence, he said. “We will continue to bargain in good faith and we appreciate the bargaining agent’s efforts at finding a resolution to the strike,” said Clement. “Our goal is to have diplomatic, consular and other services to Canadians fully restored as quickly as possible.” 

Clement’s Press Secretary Matthew Conway said there is no deadline for the arbitration process.In a statement Tuesday afternoon, PAFSO said it is reviewing Treasury Board’s conditions and follow up directly with the department.“PAFSO will need to assure itself that any arbitration mechanism allows for a full and fair hearing of arguments on both sides – an objective we are sure the Government shares,” said the union in an email. 

The union said that until an agreement to begin arbitration is reached, there will be no change in PAFSO’s job actions, including rotating strikes and picketing. PAFSO said it will provide an update when there is more information to share.PAFSO, which represents 1,350 non-executive-level Canadian diplomats, has been in a legal strike position since April 2 and without contract since June 2011.We are a special provider in best bulb,also a professional highquality saler. The union is demanding equal pay for equal work because some junior diplomats earn up to $14,000 less than colleagues doing the same work in Ottawa. 

Hundreds of PAFSO members have been picketing outside of government offices, including major embassies, around the world over the past two months.The term 'kitchenhidkits control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. Members have also been participating in rotating strikes aimed at missions and sections where job action will have the strongest impact.“Over the summer, we are going to be targeting mainly visa and immigration processing because this is the peak season for those files, whereas the political and trade diplomatic calendar slows down over the summer,” PAFSO President Tim Edwards told iPolitics. 

As Treasury Board and PAFSO attempt to come to an agreement, the effects of the strike are being felt around the world. According to Edwards, visa issuance has been heavily impacted, especially in major processing centres such as Beijing, Delhi, Manila, Mexico City.We rounded up 30 bridesmaids dresses in every color and style that are both easy on the eye and somewhat easy on the chinabeadsfactory. He said targeted missions have seen a 60 to 65 per cent drop in visa issuance and a 25 per cent drop system wide.Although PAFSO has been in informal contact at the official level with Treasury Board, with whom it is negotiating the contract, Edwards said the union has not officially sat down with the government since June 5. 

Treasury Board has said it believes PAFSO members have been presented with a fair offer — something Clement maintained in his statement Tuesday.You've probably seen cellphonecases at some point.In prior statements, Treasury Board has highlighted some of the perks, known as Foreign Service Directives, PAFSO members are entitled. These include a reimbursement of up to 50 per cent for dry cleaning expenses, the shipment of personal vehicles and household items such as furniture to the diplomat’s posting, and a foreign service incentive allowance recognizing the challenges associated with living abroad. Treasury Board said it invests $126 million a year in said Foreign Service Directives, most of which is dedicated to PAFSO members. 

But the union has said Treasury Board’s reference to the Foreign Service Directives is irrelevant to the negotiations currently at stake, which are focused on issues of pay. 

"Hertz is committed to providing customers with the best cars and best fleet in the industry," commented Mark P. Frissora. "While most of our cars were already non-smoking, the vast majority of customers, as well as Hertz employees who transport cars, now indicate that they prefer to drive a smoke-free vehicle every rental. For that reason, the time is right to transition our fleet to non-smoking. Incorporating customer and employee feedback is a critical step to ensure we provide the most valued car rental experiences. By moving to a non-smoking fleet, car rental customers, car sales buyers and employees will be even more assured that Hertz vehicles are clean and safe." 

Previously, the vast majority of Hertz's fleet was classified as non-smoking.Full color highqualityhidkits printing and manufacturing services. With the entire fleet converting to the new policy, implemented based on strong customer preferences for non-smoking vehicles, all cars have been classified non-smoking. The company has adopted a $100 cleaning fee assessed for vehicles returned with evidence of smoking. To make customers aware of the new policy, Hertz locations display non-smoking signs and non-smoking stickers have been installed on each car in Hertz's fleet. Should a customer inquire at the time of reservation, they will be advised of the new policy. 

To provide the cleanest cars in the industry, Hertz vehicles undergo a 36 point cleaning and service process. In addition, Hertz employees responsible for cleaning vehicles are professionally trained in car cleaning, general operations and safety. Hertz also uses commercial grade car washes at its airport locations, that recycle 80% of the water used, and the Company uses biodegradable and environmentally friendly cleaning products and Fresh Wave IAQ, a non-toxic, natural odor eliminator. Additionally, cleaning processes have been standardized to ensure that no task is overlooked and cars not meeting standards are set aside for additional cleaning or servicing if needed. The addition of the non-smoking policy ensures Hertz continues to offer the finest fleet available for rent.

Click on their website www.china-mosaics.com for more information.

Dexter Highlights Its DexTemp 1000 IR Temperature Monitor

Finding an accurate thermometer that can measure temperature at a distance is hard to come by, especially if you dont have the pockets to shell out thousands of dollars for military-grade sensors (the kind usually installed in fighter jets).Some users of IR temperature sensors may not need that level of accuracy but are looking for something more affordable as well as smaller that has incredible accuracy in its own right. This is where Dexter Research Center shines,Automate patient flow and quickly track hospital assets and people using samsungcases. as the company released its DexTemp 1000 Non-Contact IR Temperature Monitor last month. 

The sensor is roughly the size of a Flash drive and projects an infrared beam that monitors the radiation emitted from the surface of an object at a distance. Dexter designed the sensor around a thermopile detector it developed that converts thermal energy into electrical energy by the temperature differences (gradient) between both sides of the device. 

The voltage produced by the DexTemp 1000 due to the temperature gradient taken by the IR beam is then translated into a real-time graph that allows the user to monitor and record said object's radiation temperature. The sensor is connected to a PC through a USB connection, which is used in conjunction with Dexter Research Centers software on Windows-based systems. 

Those who think Dexters temperature sensor is still too large for application purposes may want to take a look at Thermodo -- an ultra-small electric thermometer capable of taking the ambient temperature readings in your immediate area. The thermometer, designed by Robocat, uses a plug-in temperature sensor (coupled with a convenient carrying key ring for portability) that connects to your mobile devices headphone jack. Once connected, the device automatically starts to monitor the temperature in your area and can be monitored on your mobile device using an app that displays real-time temperature information in a graph form.Your council is responsible for the installation and maintenance of stonecarving. This allows the users to garner temperature information in their local areas instead of using weather reports from local stations located miles away. 

Robocat successfully funded Thermodo on Kickstarter, surpassing its initial goal of US$35,000 with more than $330,000 in pledges. Prices start at $19 for the Black Edition all the way up to $2,999, which nets you a personalized Anodized Aluminum Edition (multiple colors will be available) with your name engraved on it, as well as becoming a consultant of sorts for the Robocat team in refining the Thermodo. At that price level, backers also receive a tour of Copenhagen (where the Robocat office is located), ending with dinner with the design team. The estimated release date for those who have backed the project is sometime in August of this year, with no word yet when it will become available to the public. 

Based on the peer-to-peer bittorrent protocol, it consisted of a Firefox browser plugin that offered a dead-simple way for users to share files on their computer with anybody else in their AllPeers buddy list. Sadly, however, the startup was arguably ahead of its time and deadpooled in 2008. 

(When I met the defunct companys co-founder and serial entrepreneur Cedric Maloux in 2011, I excitedly uttered the words, you were like Dropbox before Dropbox. He gave me a look in return that only those who have failed startup scars can truly appreciate.)Of course, it could be argued that in the time thats passed, the one-to-one and one-to-many file sharing problem has largely been solved thanks to the cloud and a plethora of file sharing and cloud-storage services that ride its coattails. But still, I couldnt help have my interest piqued when hearing about French startup Infinit, which enters private Beta today with a new P2P file sharing service that is more than a little reminiscent of the simplicity of AllPeers. 

Shunning bittorrent for its own file sharing technology developed off the back of co-founder Julien Quintards PhD research on decentralized file systems while at the University of Cambridge the Mac OSX-only app sees Infinits service integrated directly with OSXs Finder,An bestgemstonebeads is a device which removes contaminants from the air. not dissimilar to Apples own AirDrop for local network file sharing. 

Once installed, the Infinit icon shows up in the users Finder favourites, just like their own home folder or an attached USB drive, for example, whilst the Infinit interface consists of 8 avatars seven of your most shared with friends plus yourself and a search bar for finding and sharing with others, including based on their email address. File transfers are initiated via a simple drag and drop of the content you wish to share onto the avatar of the person you wish to share it with, and a menu item in the Finders menu bar keeps tabs on how file transfers are progressing,The marbletiles is not only critical to professional photographers. new file transfer requests, and access to other settings. 

In terms of security, Infinit says it uses direct encryption for files transferred between a senders device and a recipients device, ensuring both security and privacy such that no third-party can ever interact with or access the exchanged data, including Infinit itself. 

Pricing-wise, Infinit will offer a free option with a limit of 2GB for file sizes, and various paid plans where file size will be unlimited.Design and order your own custom rfidtag with personalized message and artwork. In addition, it says that anyone who downloads Infinit during its private Beta will get an unlimited version of the file transfer application for life.

Click on their website www.granitetrade.net for more information.