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Generally, writers try to change the world. We think of ourselves as omnipotent while stroking prickly beards, sipping on aged wine and puffing down on fine cigars. This will be my magnus opus, we think to ourselves. Though, as luck would have it, many of these ideas go up in smoke (the others are publically lambasted upon release before being hailed as “masterpieces” three decades later in a Rolling Stone article). Michael Winterbottom doesn’t have this problem; The Trip, a big-screen reedit of an eponymous British sitcom, doesn’t aspire to be the next Citizen Kane. Instead it’s fully content being a film about two men eating lunch. In its simplicity, there’s genius; in its genius, darkness.
Presented by BBC and Revolution Films, Winterbottom’s follow-up to The Killer Inside Me chronicles Steven Coogan and Rob Brydon, two well-versed comedians playing fictionalized versions of themselves. In the film, Coogan is asked by The Observer to critique the U.K.’s finest restaurants. He’d originally promised to do it for his girlfriend, Mischa (Margo Stilley), the resident foodie, however when she backs out, Steven asks Rob, his best friend and (at times) also the bane of his existence. Cue a delicious 107 minutes of nonstop laughter as the duo tackle some of the most prestigious eateries in the world — with not only a fork and knife, but also celebrity impersonations, karaoke sessions, and a pinch of English humor.
One can’t dismiss that there’s a notion of truth within these “performances,” however. Is Brydon using this experience to channel his insecurities? Those demons that tell him that he’s unable to confront reality and that behind every joke and face-numbing voice, there’s a cry for help really a way to legitimize an otherwise boring, uneventful life? On the flip side, is Coogan’s loneliness and desperate grab for success just an act? Or is it a parody of every aspiring actor’s struggles? Was The Trip used therapeutically? An oblivious audience member (or talented film critic *ahem*) can’t know for certain, but regardless of ulterior motives, the chemistry between these two men is a major success.
On the heels of the much-hyped (but mostly critically-panned) Transformers: Dark of the Moon releasing, providing popcorn cinema at its slimiest, Winterbottom proves that intellect can make even the films that don’t aspire to be revolutionary to be entertaining and filling. The scenes set in any of the esteemed restaurants that the pair visits are priceless. Think Steve Carrel’s delivery on The Office (sorry Brits, can’t say that I’ve seen the original with Ricky Gervais — don’t crucify me) but with more Michael Caine impressions and debates about Martin Sheen’s stage presence. These moments are rewarding to any movie buff (although those less knowledgeable in classic cinema can still find jabs at The Dark Knight amusing) but they’re especially satisfying to anyone not quite taken with the four-star restaurant scene: The pompousness, hiked-up prices, food snobs, and serving sizes too small to feed a cat. With Coogan and Brydon’s appreciation for film and a culture that’s ripe for the picking, it’s a shame it took me so long to discover The Trip.
Surprisingly, amongst the lighthearted satire, there is sorrowfulness. Now, it’s not an impending doom but there are subtle hints of melodrama, which fortunately, do not seem out-of-place. The stripped score, an orchestra of piano clicks and clanks, adds eeriness to the closing of each chapter, as Coogan stares into the Northern openness, trying to fix broken relationships. And the conclusion, a simple black-and-white scene card resonates for its lack of closure, because although it reads “The End,” Steven’s journey remains an ongoing saga.


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Bijan Zanganeh dismissed as undigested remarks US President Donald Trump's remarks that decreasing purchase ...
"Iran is supplying the market with 2.5mln barrels of oil each day and excluding this volume from the oil market will certainly leave its impact; Mr. Trump speaks too much," Zanganeh said on Saturday.
He also said the recent reduction in market prices shouldn't be a concern as it "indicates a decrease in the political tensions in the region".
Zanganeh also underlined that most members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agree with extending plans to freeze oil production at the current levels.
OPEC and Russia have crafted the outline of a deal to extend their oil production cuts to the end of next year, although both sides are still hammering out crucial details, according to people involved in the conversations.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and several non-OPEC nations led by Russia will meet next week in Vienna to discuss prolonging their output curbs. Moscow had been hesitating over the need for an extension now because the current deal doesn’t expire until the end of March.
After days of talks, Moscow and Riyadh now agree they should announce an additional period of cuts at the Nov. 30 meeting, the people said, asking not to be named because the conversations are private. Russia wants the extension deal to include new language that would link the size of the curbs to the health of the oil market, they said.

domain: news


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*Disclaimer: This is an MRTV community article. The opinions, representations and statements made within the article are those of the author and not necessarily those of MRTV.*
I’ve got a new favourite game. Some people call it the ‘killer app’ on Gear VR, but search the Oculus Store and you will not find it. It is the most refined, visually impressive and immersive mobile VR experience I have played. It offers both an exhilarating single-player campaign, and fast-paced online multiplayer. It even has ‘room-scale’ positional tracking support; every step in VR is a step in the real world.
It’s a remarkable achievement, and no-one was paid to make it.
But before I continue, I need to backtrack. Its important to say how I got to this point. I have been driven away from Oculus Store – by the store itself. It is its own worst- enemy. I felt bad every time I opened it. I’d scroll and scroll, but there was not one game on there that got my interest. Every time I’d convince myself to ‘just try it’ – it always became very obvious, very quickly – there is no heart in these ‘experiences.’
The vast majority of the VR games available are not even superficially fun to play, let alone immersive.
At time of writing, there are thirty-six games in the ‘Top Selling’ category of the store. Seven of those titles were released in 2018. Eight in 2017, and the remaining games from launch of the platform. That is not a ringing endorsement for a thriving ecosystem. Does that even count as one that is still breathing?
The Oculus Go retail box boasts ‘1000+ apps, games and movies’ – ignoring the fact that this statement makes no sense at all (hundreds of thousands of films exist) – this does expose the fallacy at the heart of the Oculus Mobile storefronts. It’s quantity over quality – you are given the impression of great choice when in fact many of the titles on offer are the same experience, repackaged in a different wrapper. And much of it is poorly made. A wave-shooter is a wave-shooter, whether you are placed on a beach or in a cockpit of a spaceship.
Mobile VR gaming seems hopelessly under-funded and neglected. The entire game section looks like it’s a showcase for the best of home-brew, small development studios, or one man teams doing their best. But is it good enough? And what sort of impression is that creating for new-comers to VR?
Mobile VR – “Could do better”
By this stage, things might have been very different. The Oculus store on Gear VR could have seen VR editions of classic PC games rise to the top of it’s best selling list, while ground-up mobile VR gaming still sought to establish it’s own identity in game development and design. So many well-made titles could be optimized for performance, given a texture pack upgrade, and still offer an entirely new way to play for both first-time players and veterans of PC gaming. A huge number of man-hours had been pumped into these games originally, and it shows – as they remain fun and addictive to this day. An incredible back-catalogue of games; repackaged, reimagined and revitalised for mobile VR platforms.
A Gaming Goldmine
Games with rich, detailed worlds and exquisite gameplay already exist, they just need to be given a little attention and polish. Many PC games have had communities grow up around them, volunteers around the world working together to improve, extend and expand on the original game. For example, as of mid-November 2018, the entry for Half-Life (1998) on moddb.com lists thousands of maps, mods, addons and total-conversions – with more being released daily. There are clearly people out there that still see tremendous value in this game.
What other really incredible PC titles could be remade in VR? Games that would be a hundred times more fun than anything in the Oculus Go and Gear VR Store. What would it really take? Is this all an impossible dream?
Rediscovering a classic
Getting back to my new favourite game. As you would expect, I was now desperately seeking something more. The Oculus store was not delivering what I wanted. I turned to Google. I turned to Reddit. But the homebrew VR scene does not appear to have a central nexus of it’s own. Rather each platform (Daydream, Gear VR, Oculus Go) exist in their own siloed worlds. As I conducted search after search, scanned over endless topic titles – I saw a name. A name I had forgotten. And then I remembered, this game when it was ported to mobile handsets – it seemed like a technical marvel at the time. And now it was available in mobile VR.
The /r/quakegearvr subreddit sprang up in August 2015. The first mobile version of Quake VR arrived almost synchronistically with the PCVR version. Google Cardboard / Daydream support was released a few months later. Development is still active andlast month saw the addition of 3DoF controls (free movement of weapon) and support for ‘positional tracking.’
What do we know?
Quake for Gear VR with HD textures can run at a solid 60fps on a mobile SoC. And this port was made by a single person in their free time – what could a game studio with paid employees achieve? With the source code for Quake 1, 2, and 3 now available to anyone for free, and for use in any way they see fit; the doors are open for mobile VR development using these game engines. Custom Quake Engine FTE adds Vulkan api support to all three games, bringing with it significant performance improvements.
The best of the best in VR
And what other PC games would translate well as VR experiences?
Thief: The Dark Project (1998) seems like an excellent candidate. A game where you often need to move slowly and be very aware of your surroundings. You want to be completely immersed in the game-world. You need to be able to hear every sound, carefully peer around every corner. Being immersed will save your life.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six (1998) is a tactical first-person shooter, that similarly requires careful planning and attention to detail. A VR edition would only amplify the existing depth of this game. VR versions of Interstate ‘76 (1997) or Need for Speed: High Stakes (1998) would immediately destroy every other racing game on mobile VR platforms. Or how about Sega’s Virtua Cop (1997) and House of the Dead (1998)?
What’s wrong with this vision?
Why are we not being given the opportunity to re-experience some of the greatest PC games ever made in VR. Is it technical. Is it that some games can’t run on mobile hardware no matter how much you prune and tweak? Is it that some games risk generating simulation sickness and would require a complete redesign to account for this?
With a first-person shooter, as in the case of Quake for Gear VR, all I had to do was slow down the player walking speed. But you want to move more slowly anyway; you want to be part of that world, experiencing it from this new and fantastic perspective. It can be a form of tourism, revisiting places you may have been to before (on a monitor) – but now from an entirely all-encompassing viewpoint.
Whatever the reasoning, the reality for me is that we live in a mobile VR gaming drought – and there is very little on offer that is able to quench my thirst. I can appreciate the appeal of designing from the ground-up, brand new and exciting VR projects – but that all takes time to produce results. Mobile VR hardware is getting more capable, and game development tools are maturing to offer greater performance and improved graphics – but why not look to the past for some inspiration and release ground-breaking PC games into VR for people to enjoy and explore like never before?

domain: game


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SERIAL KILLER ADMITS TO FEASTING ON VICTIM’S BRAIN | Serial killer Rodney Tongai Jindu yesterday stunned a court in Bulawayo when he revealed that he sliced off some body parts and also removed the brains of his two victims before eating them.
Jindu (26) of Glengarry suburb in the city made headlines eight months ago in connection with the deaths of Mboneli Joko Ncube and Cyprian Kudzurunga.
He allegedly shot dead Kudzurunga (28) of Queens Park East on January 29, buried him in a shallow grave in Burnside suburb and sent a message to the deceased’s mother pretending to be her son who had suddenly decided to leave the country.
Jindu, who is facing two counts of murder, also allegedly stole Kudzurunga’s laptop and cellphone which he sold in the city centre.He also allegedly shot Ncube and dismembered the body and set the parts on fire before burying them in four shallow graves.
Jindu’s trial before Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Nokuthula Moyo yesterday failed to take off after the judge ruled that he should be examined by two doctors to ascertain his mental condition in terms of the Mental Health Act.
This was after he claimed that he ate human flesh.
“The accused person’s conduct is prima facie bizarre and abnormal. It is for these reasons that the court finds it fit that a mental examination be conducted to rule out any possibility of mental issues. This will allow the court to proceed to try the accused person after having been satisfied that he is mentally stable,” ruled Justice Moyo.
In his defence through his lawyer, Mr Tanaka Muganyi of Tanaka Law Chambers, Jindu told the court that after killing the two victims, he hired two men to dig the graves. He said the two men assisted him to place the two bodies in shallow graves.
“After shooting Kudzurunga and Ncube on separate occasions, I hired Makesure Mguni and Phathisani Ngwenya to dig the graves. They assisted me in placing the bodies in the graves. After they had left I sliced the bodies and consumed them including their brains,” he said.
Jindu, who appeared calm despite a packed courtroom, told the court that he regretted committing the two gruesome murders.He said he was intoxicated when he committed the offences after allegedly taking heroine and methamphetamine, a synthetic drug used illegally as a stimulant and as a prescription drug to maintain blood pressure.
Jindu said he developed the urge to murder his two victims so that he could experiment following an alleged general assumption that killing a human being resulted in a mental deficiency.
Jindu was arrested in June after inconsistent statements to the police after Kudzurunga went missing. He allegedly later confessed to killing the two victims and led police to their shallow graves.
According to State papers, on January 12 this year, Jindu drove to a local supermarket situated between Robert Mugabe Way and 11th Avenue and met Ncube.
They proceeded to Burnside suburb, but the motive of the trip was not mentioned in court papers.
The court heard that on arrival in Burnside, Jindu pulled out an Optima pistol serial number 13752 from his car and allegedly shot Ncube twice on the chest and he died on the spot.
He then chopped the body into pieces before burying him in four different shallow graves.
It is the State’s case that on January 29 this year, Jindu was in the company of Kudzurunga walking from Glengarry to Queens Park East. The court heard that Jindu was armed with an Optima pistol serial number 13752.
After walking for a while, Jindu, who was walking behind Kudzurunga, fired one shot from behind and shot him on the head and abdomen twice and he fell down and died on the spot. He took his cellphone and laptop.
After realising that he had killed his friend, Jindu rushed back home and hid the pistol and the now deceased’s laptop in his workshop. He took a wheelbarrow and returned to the murder scene. He shoved the body into a plastic bag, loaded it onto the wheelbarrow and pushed it back home.
He later drove to Burnside where he secretly buried the body at a vacant residential stand. Jindu took the deceased’s cellphone and laptop and sold them for $400.
Police investigations led to his arrest and he confessed that he killed the deceased and made indications which led to the recovery of the body.
The stolen goods and firearm used in committing the offences were recovered.


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Home » News » Poverty Stone – an Inner City Project
Poverty Stone – an Inner City Project
This week in Pavee Point we were delighted to take part in a North Inner City project to mark the 10th Anniversary of the unveiling of the Dublin Human Rights and Poverty Stone.
Travellers showed solidarity with other groups, and also highlighted the issue of Traveller poverty, by writing their human rights messages on stones.
Since the unveiling of the first Human Rights and Poverty Stone on the Trocadero Plaza in Paris more than 50 stones have been unveiled across the world and have become rallying points for people from all walks of life to eradicate poverty.
This workshop was organised by ATD (All Together in Dignity) Ireland and these stones will be included in a display that will be launched on the 17th of October to mark the UN day for the Eradication of Poverty.
“Wherever men and women are condemned to live in poverty, human rights are violated,” Joseph Wresinksi, founder of ATD Fourth World, an organisation set up to destroy poverty.

domain: sociology


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The benefits of sports participation are numerous, says Lyle Micheli,
M.D., Director, Division of Sports Medicine at Children's Hospital
Boston, including improved physical fitness and opportunities for
socialization. Parents should help their child find a sport they enjoy,
but too much sports can result in psychological burnout, physical
injuries, and turn the child off to physical exercise.

domain: health


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Grab This Button
Ok, I am going to attempt this. I am going to try to blog every day for the month of October. I think I tried last year, but I'm pretty sure I did not accomplish it. Probably didn't help that we were in Ukraine for about half of the month and then home with the girls the last part with a couple 24 hour plane rides in between. :) Things got really busy, and my blogging definitely didn't reach high on the priority list.... This year actually seems just as busy, but we are at least in a routine now and it seems sort of possible. Ha! I will try!
So anyway, I am going to start with some myths about Down syndrome. I thought it was interesting and thought you might think so, too. I got this information from here, and yes I copied it to share it with you, but I wanted to give credit where credit was due. So enjoy!
Down Syndrome Myths and Facts
I get emails or phone calls very often from families who have a new diagnosis of T21. Sometimes it is their friends or relatives who make the first contact. Then soon, the parents are emailing or calling. This has brought me a unique perspective of the entire process of receiving the news of Trisomy 21, Down syndrome, in utero. I would love to share some of the things that are said to me, and clear up any confusion.
My child will die young, as individuals with Down syndrome do not live longer than the mid 20′s
Reality: This is simply not true. Individuals are living well into their 50′s and even longer, now that proper medical care is being given to treat heart or other life threatening conditions. Many individuals are capable of employment, living independently, and enjoy many hobbies and activites. See our T21 individuals in the news.
Your child will suffer.
Reality: Again, this could not be further from the truth. Many people in the world require corrective surgery. If your child needs surgery for any reason, the medical care given to individuals with Ds is wonderful. You can expect your child to do beautifully, and continue to thrive. While as many as 30-50% my have a heart condition, only approximately 5% will require open heart. The care of that 5%, by qualified pediatric cardiologists, is remarkable. The remaining 25-45% will have other less invasive procedures, or just be monitored. The cardiac care these days is absolutely amazing!! All other corrective surgery is also incredible. Any medical conditions can be treated today, unlike years ago when treatment was unknown. With proper medical care, individuals go on to live happy and wonderful lives!
The physicians have told me that my child’s Down syndrome is worse than other cases.
Reality: This is simply impossible to tell in utero. Or even right at birth for that matter. Even children with many surgical needs have gone on to do amazing things. Karen Gaffney is an amazing example of an individual who needed much corrective surgery, and has gone on to do amazing things. She is not unique, this happens all over the world. I have met soo many families who have seen their family member through medical care, and the individual goes on to do beautifully in every way.
The physicians have told me my child has a mild case of Down syndrome.
Reality: While there are many different abilities for individuals with Down syndrome, a physican can not tell in utero or at birth, how a child will fare. Most instances where an individual has a more difficult time learning or behaving, is indication of a dual diagnosis. Typical children have this exact possiblity. If a child needs corrective surgery, that does notmean they will have severe developmental delays. Individuals with Down syndrome benefit from loving homes, early intervention, inclusive education, appropriate medical care and positive public attitudes.
Your chances of having a child with Down syndrome increases greatly after age 35.
Reality: Yes, indeed your chances increase. But let’s discuss the word greatly. When we see the estimated rates in the books, you may see that at age 20 it is 1/1231. At age 25 it is1/887. At age 30 it is 1/685. At age 35 it is 1/274. And finally at age 40 it is 1/78. So, yes, your chance does increase with age. And boy, when you put it that way, it sure does look like it increases greatly. However, if you were to look at these numbers in percentages, they look a little more interesting. Age 20: .08%. Age 30: .15%. Age 35: .36%. Age 40: 1%. So as one physician said to us, “Leave the guilt at the door”, because at age 39, our estimated risk was 1/100. That means there was a 1% chance of having a child with Down syndrome. That means we had a 99% chance of not having a child with Down syndrome. He went on to add, “Who would think to not have a child if you have a 99% chance of this not happening?” Now, to set the record straight, this was the way he put it. We say, ”Wow, what a miracle. We had a 99% chance of not having this gift from God. Whew, that was close!” We don’t ever want to imagine what our life would be like with out our beautiful daughter. So indeed, the numbers do increase. However, when you look at it from a percentage view point, it sure makes this drastic rise, that many professionals talk about, seem pretty insignificant doesn’t it? You have a better chance of having other things happen to you. In fact, there are a lot of ailments we all have a greater chance of having than the chance of being blessed with a child with Down syndrome. One additional point to add to this; 80% of all children born with Ds are born to mothers 35 and under. Many think this happens only to older mothers, since there is an increase. However, as you can see, the great increase is not as great as is told, so with the decrease in women having children at older ages, this makes the number of children with Down syndrome being born more often to younger moms. Numbers are interesting aren’t they?
Bringing a child who has Down syndrome into your family will be harmful to your other children.
Reality: Again, just not true! In fact it is just the opposite. Your other children actually have a higher chance of becoming more compassionate and accepting of other people. The benefits have been a best kept secret until Dr. Brian Skotko did a study on the affects of having a sibling with Down syndrome. Another unexpected blessing.
There is a higher divorce rate for families who have a child with Down syndrome.
Reality: While divorce can happen in any family, the studies are actually showing it is currently lower in the families who have a member who happens to have Trisomy 21. Perhaps it has something to do with the many lessons they teach us about life. Click here to see more on this.
This will ruin your life.
Reality: It has indeed been a new journey for all of our families, and one that can require many graces at times. (Show me parenting that doesn’t need more at some times!) But ruining our lives… that is simply not happening! An extra chromosome is all it is. The fear of that, is much more paralyzing than the reality. Enjoy your pregnancy! Enjoy your baby!
I just wanted to add that it is probably obvious that we don't think having a baby with Down syndrome has ruined our life. As a matter of fact, it is quite the opposite! That is not to say that we didn't have a tough time when we first got the news. Madalyn was our first baby girl after 6 boys. We were not expecting to have another baby, but once we accepted that, we were pretty happy. And finding out she was a girl was so exciting! But then we found out she also had DS and that was tough. Add to that, we knew she was going to have a bowel issue (Duodenal Atresia) that would require surgery at birth and heart surgery later, and you have a recipe for a little bit of stress. And it continues to be hard at times. Parenting a child with DS is not always easy. Let's face it, parenting itself is not easy! But it is so very worth it!! It is the farthest thing from ruining a life that I could ever think of. As a matter of fact, out of all the parents who have children with DS that I know, not one of them has ever indicated anything like that to me. It has always been the quite the opposite!
That may be because most (but certainly not all) of the parents I talk to are Reece's Rainbow families. :) And you know what that means! These are the people who have discovered what a joy it is to raise a child with DS! And they are bringing another child with DS into their family. Sometimes even 2 or 3 at a time! Kinda like us... :)) Ha! But the really cool part is that many of these families are adopting kids with DS without having had a child with Down syndrome previously!! I just think that is really super cool!! What an amazing organization Reece's Rainbow is!! (But that's the subject of another post). I could go on and on about this, so I better stop now.
I think I will go love on my little girlies before bedtime...

domain: medical


US 7778855 B2
A queue management system for e.g. supermarket checkouts uses counting devices located at checkouts and optimally entrances/exits in conjunction with P.O.S. information to produce a schedule of how many checkouts are needed to avoid queue length exceeding preset limits. The system includes a dynamic learning system which can optimise calculated schedules on the basis of historical data.
1. A method of operating a queuing system for users queuing to use a facility, the method comprising:
a) providing a plurality of said facilities that can be rendered operative or inoperative depending on the number required,
b) determining the number of users Q queuing to use the facility,
c) determining a desired number of users N queuing to use the facility,
d) determining a number Â, of users expected to arrive at the facility during a future timestep m,
e) determining the expected time W taken for each user to use the facility,
f) calculating by a processing system the required number S of operative facilities at time t using the ratio of the expected queue length and arrivals, to the rate of departure, such that the desired number of users N is maintained at time t+m, said ratio being given by
g) rendering S number of facilities operative.
2. A method as claimed in
A=(Q t+1 −Q t)+P
where the P is the number of users that complete a transaction at the facility between t and t+1.
3. A method as claimed in
4. A method as claimed in
where P is the number of user that complete a transaction at the facility between t and t+m.
5. A method as claimed in
6. A method as in
7. An automatic queue management system for users queuing to use facilities, the system comprising:
a plurality of facilities that can be rendered operative or inoperative according to the need,
means for counting the number Qt of users queuing to use the facilities at the time t,
timer means for determining the length of time W taken for each user to use the facility, and
processing means for receiving data from said counting means and said timer means and calculating a required number S of operative facilities at time t using the ratio of the expected queue length and arrivals, to the rate of departure, such that the target queue length is maintained at the end of a timestep m, said ratio being given by:
where N is a predetermined desired number of users queuing per facility;
Â is the number of users expected to arrive at the facility or facilities during the next timestep m; and
Ŵ is the expected length of time for incoming users to take to use the facility.
8. A system as claimed in
9. A system as claimed in
10. A system as claimed in
11. A system as in
12. A system as in
The present invention relates to a queuing system for users, e.g. people, queuing to use a facility. The invention has been devised for use in retail outlets (e.g. supermarkets), in order to provide a real-time, dynamic schedule that can be used to control the length of checkout queues, whilst helping to reduce inefficiency. The invention is equally applicable to other situations in which a plurality of facilities are available that can be rendered operative or inoperative according to need. Examples include ticket barriers and cashiers in banks. The invention is particularly suitable for situations in which a separate queue is formed for each facility but may be equally applicable to a ‘single queue’ arrangement.
It is known in retail outlets to vary the number of checkouts open according to the number of people queuing. This is normally achieved in two ways; the first is by long-term scheduling, typically done weeks in advance. This provides a fixed schedule for the retailer to work to. On the day, a manager may react to the queues that form, by taking staff from some other duties to open extra checkouts. However, this requires the manager to be able to react to the number of people queuing at any instant. It is desirable to provide a computer system which can predict the number of facilities (checkouts) needed ahead of time.
Some supermarkets guarantee maximum queue lengths and use this as a marketing tool. In these cases, there is a target queue length N. Therefore, if the total number queuing is Q, the number of checkouts required is Q/N. However, in order to have the required number of checkouts open in order to keep the queues shorter than the target length, the supermarket operator needs to be able to measure and react to the number of people queuing. Even where stores do not guarantee a maximum queue length, it should be noted that, in general, stores implicitly make a judgement about how long queues should be, and therefore a queue management system has general applicability.
It should also be noted that the number of people queuing may be considered and measured in shopping units, where a shopping unit is a number of people associated with one transaction, trolley or basket, and this is another factor to be considered when attempting to measure and control queues.
There have been some past efforts to provide a computer system for predicting the required number of facilities (e.g. checkouts) ahead of time.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,808,410 employs a system which translates door arrival information directly into a checkout requirement via a pre-determined lookup table.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,513 uses a predetermined statistical model of store transit time, combined with door arrival information, to predict checkout requirement.
The present invention provides a method of operating a queue management system as described in claim 1. Briefly stated, the invention takes into account a number of additional factors in determining the required number of facilities. Some of these additional factors are devised in novel ways and are described in the subsidiary claims. For maximum accuracy people should be counted in groups, where appropriate in a particular application (e.g. ‘shopping units’) rather than individuals.
The described method improves upon the known methods in key ways.
The use of queue length monitors, combined with live POS information, in addition to information from sensors above doors, etc for the purpose of dynamic scheduling is novel. It allows the system to produce more accurate results than the prior art, and also enables the system to learn so that it can improve its accuracy.
The system learns by gathering data from door/checkout sensors and POS information, allowing it to know what the likely number of people is who will arrive at the checkouts, given the information available. The specific learning technique used by the system could be one of: neural networks, vector quantisation, linear models, non linear models, statistical models, support vector machines etc.
The prior art uses predetermined models, which are not adaptive to change, and which are difficult to configure (often sub-optimal guesses must be made for the parameters of such systems). Other more general staff scheduling methodologies base their estimates on sales forecasts, drawn up well in advance. This means that they cannot, for example, schedule staff correctly for a store which has only recently opened, or properly adapt to recent changes in a store's configuration or popularity. By using a learning system to learn the behaviour of a store in a dynamic way, it is possible to improve on the prior art, by being much more responsive to changes to a store, new stores, etc. The described system also improves on the prior art by optimising the result using real data gathered from checkout monitors about real conditions in the store 24/7, with no human intervention. In addition, because the system learns dynamically, and makes optimal use of the information available, the system can be fault tolerant, to faults in the sensors; for example if a door sensor ceases to function, the system can quickly learn that the data from that door sensor is no longer relevant to the results, and so adapts to correct itself. The prior art arrangements do not have this property, and will give incorrect results in the event of a failure, up until a human intervenes and corrects the fault. Furthermore, conventional fixed schedulers cannot address variations in demand caused by short term variances in the input conditions, such as bad weather or one-off local events, which may cause uncharacteristic variations in the required number of facilities, whereas a dynamic system can respond to such changes.
Since the system takes in information about the status of a store dynamically, and knows what is likely to happen, it is able to produce both short and long term staffing schedules to account for what is likely to happen during the rest of the day, and in future days. These schedules are constantly revised and updated with the latest possible information, in contrast to existing scheduling systems, which generally are run only from time to time (often as infrequently as once every two weeks or more).
An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Operation of the System
The operation of an embodiment of queue-management system is illustrated in
The above-described system may be implemented in a computer system for operating the queue management system.
The details of a predictive queue management system as used in a supermarket are illustrated in more detail in
A central processing system 10 receives inputs from
Central processor 10 calculates the number of cashiers required according to a cashier requirement equation indicated at block 101. The derivation of the cashier requirement equation will now be explained.
Counting devices 11 are used to calculate the number of people E that have entered the supermarket in time step m and the number of people D that have left the supermarket in time step m. The conversion of people to shopping units can be made by comparison of people entering and leaving the supermarket with the number of transactions occurring in a time period.
Queue counting devices 12 supply the total number of people Qt across all checkout queues at time t.
POS devices 13 supply the average time W taken to clear one customer and the number P of the transactions that occur in a time step m.
The Checkout Requirement Equation
Qt=Total number queuing across all checkouts at time t
A=Queue arrivals across all checkouts over a timestep of m seconds
W=time taken to clear a shopping units (in seconds)
Now, queue at time (t+1)=queue at time (t)+arrivals−departures
Departures is the number of shopping units that leave the queue (checkout)
An equation for the number of checkouts required (S) can now be derived:
For the checkout requirement equation to be useful, three things must be known:
The determination of these is not trivial, and the following methodology is used to avoid a number of pitfalls.
Total Queue Size
The total size of the queue is measured by using the sensors 12. These are positioned over the queue to determine how many shopping units are queuing. The sensors can be IRISYS thermal imaging sensors, although other technologies could be used. The queue size used by this system is measured in units that correspond to shopping units, i.e. shopping trolleys or baskets for a supermarket example. IRISYS queue sensors produce queue length data in shopping units. A conversion from people to shopping units may be necessary for alternative sensors.
Number of Arrivals at the Queue
An attempt to directly measure the number of arrivals at the queue could be made by counting people into the queue literally as they arrive. However, there are difficulties associated with this (i.e. people switch queue, or sometimes they leave and then rejoin queues because they forget something, etc). These difficulties make a direct measurement of the number of arrivals hard.
In order to solve this problem, a better approach is to calculate arrivals (A) as follows:
where P is the number of POS transactions that occur.
i.e. the number of arrivals is equal to the change in the size of the queue, plus, P the number of customers that leave the queue by checking out.
The calculation of A takes place in block 104 in
The number of shopping units that pass through the checkout can be found directly by reading the electronic Point Of Sale (POS) information from devices 13 at the checkouts, or from any other equivalent equipment.
This approach relies only upon accurate measurement of the total queue size, which is somewhat easier than directly measuring the arrivals. The POS information is exploited to assist in keeping the figure accurate.
Average Time it Will Take for a Person to Checkout
The determination of the average checkout time over a period (m) can be performed by taking the number of POS events that happen over the total number of checkout seconds, i.e.
Given Q, A and W, we can say how many checkouts are required.
In terms of predicting how many checkouts are required, a major difficulty is that A or W is not known until after the time has passed, as the methods for determining each of these require knowledge of the future (the future queue size and the number of POS events that happen respectively).
Therefore, some kind of prediction must be made of what the values of A and W will be.
Again, the choice of methodology for making these predictions is open. This example uses the following methodology:
We can retrospectively find the values of A and W, looking at what has already happened (i.e. we can retrospectively generate a training set).
So, as the system that will be performing the prediction runs, it observes what the values of A and W are over time, and uses these to compose a training set, as indicated by block 102 in the figure.
This training set along with instantaneous data is supplied to prediction algorithm 103 to be used to create two predictors, one for each of A and W, represented as Â and Ŵ.
The arrival predictor takes in three extra variables as part of its training set, to make its prediction:
These three figures are themselves used to generate twelve other figures each. The numbers are placed into a Binary Exponential History. This takes the numbers for each minute, and then averages them over 12 different time periods (2 minutes, 4 minutes, 8 minutes . . . up to 4096 minutes).
Multiple Linear Regression is then used to create an approximate linear function for the number of arrivals that there will be over the next (m) minutes, given the 36 different averages for what has happened previously.
Average Time Taken to Checkout
The checkout time predictor takes the average checkout time W measured over the past few minutes to predict the average checkout time over the next (m) minutes. The past checkout time is fed into another Binary Exponential History of size 12, to give 12 different averages for the checkout time. Multiple Linear Regression is then used to produce an approximate linear function for arrival time over the next (m) minutes, given the 12 different averages for what has happened already.
The Prediction Equation
Now, the number of checkouts required for a future time period (Ŝ) can be calculated as follows:
The prediction equation allows, retrospectively, the optimum staffing levels throughout a day to be calculated.
By making predictions for the values of A and W, as detailed above, one can attempt to predict optimum staffing levels ahead of time.
While the above description relates to methods of calculation based on average transaction times, the invention is not restricted to the formulae represented in the description alone. Other methods based on distributions of transaction time may also be applied in the invention.


So I was working on my bike installing my HID. I got them finally to work but I tried to start up the bike and nothing happens. Here are the things that does work: all the lights and the rev needle goes up and down. However I don't hear the fuel pump prime. I had to take out the whole front end when I had to install the hid. I double checked the harnesses and the connections to see if they are all connected properly.


UMzukulu KaShafuza – Noma Ningasizonda Mp3
Noma Ningasizonda is another track by UMzukulu KaShafuza from the project titled Noma Ningasizonda – Single. Remember to share with your friends!
- Artist: UMzukulu KaShafuza
- Track Title: Noma Ningasizonda
- Album: Noma Ningasizonda – Single
- Date Added: 2022
- Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
- Format: MP3/M4A
- Status: The track is currently available for you to listen online and download below for free.


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The 22 million-acre Western Arctic reserve, also called the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, is vital to thousands of caribou, millions of migratory birds, polar bears, wolves and musk oxen.
At Wilderness, we work to ensure that oil development in the Western Arctic Reserve occurs responsibly and that sensitive special areas are protected from drilling.
The Western Arctic Reserve provides some of the world’s best and most sensitive wildlife and bird habitat - including the famous Teshekpuk Lake.
The Wilderness Society works with the Department of the Interior, which manages the reserve, to keep drilling rigs out of the most sensitive areas.
We work with a number of local, regional and national conservation groups to help protect the Western Arctic Reserve.
Wilderness is a precious resource with many human, natural and economic benefits that we need to protect.
Need inspiration to protect wilderness? Enter our Wild Days of Summer give-away to win airfare to visit your favorite wild place.
- Thursday, October 8, 2015
The Wilderness Society has issued the following statement from Dan Smuts, Senior Regional Director for California:
- Thursday, October 1, 2015
For more than a decade, Senator Dianne Feinstein has worked with California’s desert communities to develop and advance legislation, the California Desert Conservation and Recreation Act (CDCRA), which would safeguard precious natural, recreational, cultural and historic resources. Because her legislation remains stalled in Congress, the Senator recently called on President Obama to use his authority to designate three national monuments for critically important areas proposed in her bill - Mojave Trails, Sand to Snow and Castle Mountains.
- Wednesday, September 30, 2015
“The Wilderness Society is glad to see these key positions being filled,” said Nada Culver, Director of The Wilderness Society’s BLM Action Center. “We’ve worked with all of these individuals in their other roles at BLM and are glad to see their skills and commitment recognized in their new positions.

domain: geography


Bailey Residential Internet Coverage
With just over 500 residents, Bailey is definitely one of the smallest villages in North Carolina. There are many neighboring rural areas that expand the reach of this community, including Langley Crossroads, Woodcrest Park, and Middlesex. Whether you live within Bailey itself or on the outskirts of the village, there are multiple high speed Internet options that could be available to you.
CenturyLink is a primary choice for many in the Bailey area. This national Internet service provider has a massive presence in Bailey, reaching the entire city. The network doesn't stop there. Instead, it sprawls across much of North Carolina, spreading to communities in all directions past Bailey. Depending on your needs, you could choose from DSL or fiber optic service in Bailey.
Another popular choice in the Bailey region is Time Warner Spectrum. This massive cable provider offers a network that rivals CenturyLink's, bringing consistent and affordable service to all of Bailey.
Fastest Internet Service Providers in Bailey
Spectrum offers internet at speeds up to 100 Mbps
Viasat offers internet at speeds up to 25 Mbps
HughesNet offers internet at speeds up to 25 Mbps
CenturyLink offers internet at speeds up to 20 Mbps


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I plan to acquire the new Dreamcatcher and begin experimenting with receiving the Ku band signal. I was active during the L-band phase when we used the CHIP board. .
It’s difficult to tell from the Ku footprint map what results I might expect in southern Arizona about 50 miles north of the border with Mexico. Appears to be close to the fringe and drops off very quickly to the south.
Anyone have an idea of how dependable the signal might be in this area? Looks similar to the band in the mid west or Maine.


The two pieces snap together around the ignition wires. Wire holes are 8mm diameter, the automotive spark plug wire size supplied in E-Mag kits. Mounting holes are for 6/32 bolts.
The wire guards are much easier to install than rubber grommets. The raised circle on the face fits into a 1″ hole in the baffle.
Parts are printed from ABS filament that has a glass transition temperature higher than Nylon. N50KB has 175+ hours on its wire guards and has experienced no thermal distortion or other problems.
2 pair (4 cylinder engines) $16.00, shipping included. There was a price increase in January 2020 necessary due to increased postage and shipping materials costs.
Disclaimer: The wire guards are being offered below cost of production, packaging and shipping. Design and personal time costs are not included in the price. The wire guards are offered as a way in which fellow amateur aircraft builders who do not have direct access to 3D printers can obtain parts at a reasonable price.
FOR EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ONLY!


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The International Training Network for Water and Waste Management (ITN) Africa is a network of experienced professional organisations that provide qualified advice, information, consultancy, research and training in the water and sanitation sector. The ITN (Africa) Network started in the late eighties as part of the IDWSSD initatives to promote and accelerate provision of water and sanitation in Africa. The ITN Africa is an off shoot of a global programme that was established in 1985 as part of the decade initiatives to promote accelerated improvements in the provision of safe water supplies sand sanitation.
The ITN which is self managed has grown to be an indigenous network addressing pertinent issues of water and sanitation within the region. The ITN is an international response to the challenge of building national capacity to provide water and sanitation to the rural and urban poor.


text:
Moist- Cross Stitch Kit And Pattern
Tax included. Shipping calculated at checkout.
Possibly my least favourite word, "moist" should only be used to describe cake OR stitched beautifully in a cheeky cross stitch.
- 4" bamboo embroidery hoop
- White cross stitch fabric (14 count aida)
- Pre-measured DMC Embroidery Thread
- 3 x needles
- Colour printed chart/ pattern
- Step by step, illustrated instructions
- Design area: 2.8 x 3 inches (using 14 count Aida fabric)
- Stitches:39 x 43
- Colours: 6
- Stitches: Full Cross Stitches

domain: artistic


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Sunday, 20 November 2011
Welcome to Sunny Sunday!!
It is Ooh That's Pinteresting! on Tinagray.me
In keeping with Tina's Sunshine theme today I thought I would share some of the pins from my Yellow board with you all.
Yellow is one of my favourite colours. The colour of daffodils, sunshine and happiness. It lifts my spirits and I hope it does the same for you too.


Škoda electric Enyaq to come in 5 variants
Škoda has now announced technical details for the first purely electric production model based on MEB; the Enyaq SUV. Five different performance variants (three with rear-wheel drive and two with four-wheel drive) and three battery sizes will be available.
The entry-level model is the Škoda Enyaq iV 50 with a rear-mounted 109-kW electric motor and a battery with a gross capacity of 55 kWh (net usable: 52 kWh), which should enable a range of up to 340 kilometres. The next variant is the Enyaq iV 60 with 132 kW output and a 62 kWh battery (net: 58 kWh), which according to Škoda can cover up to 390 kilometres. The Enyaq iV 80 with 150 kW output is the most powerful of the three rear-wheel-drive versions and offers a WLTP range of up to 500 kilometres with its 82 kWh battery (net: 77 kWh).
The 82 kWh battery is also used by the two versions that are equipped with a second electric motor and thus four-wheel drive: the 80X and the vRS, which deliver 195 kW and 225 kW respectively. The maximum range of both four-wheel-drive versions is up to 460 kilometres.
The smallest battery of the Enyaq iV 50 is interesting in this context: so far, no battery with 52 kWh net been mentioned in other MEB models. In the ID.3 the Pure model comes up to 45 kWh net (48 kWh gross). The middle variant ID.3 Pro corresponds to the Enyaq iV 60 (62 kWh gross, 58 kWh net) and the battery of the ID.3 Pro S corresponds to the one from the 80’s or RS models of the Enyaq (82 kWh gross, 77 kWh net). While the ID.3, according to the previous VW specifications, always reaches an output of 150 kW (regardless of the battery size), Škoda has staggered the output with 109 kW, 132 kW and 150 kW for the single-engined versions.
The Czech Volkswagen subsidiary describes the car’s charging capacity with “up to 11 kW” AC and with “up to 125 kW” DC. In the basic version, the Enyaq iV does not have a three-phase onboard charger – even the ID.3 Pure only has a two-phase charger with a maximum of 7.2 kW. Škoda has chosen a similar gradation for the DC charging power as VW did for the ID.3: The version with the smallest battery only manages 50 kW, the 58-kWh battery 100 kW and the 77-kWh version manages the maximum specified 125 kW.
The Enyaq iV is 4.65 metres long, 1.88 metres wide and 1.62 metres high. The wheelbase is 2.765 metres and has a boot-capacity of 585 litres.
Unlike the ID.3 and the announced MEB models Seat el-Born and Audi Q4 e-tron, the Enyaq iV is not built in Zwickau. Production of the purely battery-electric SUV based on the modular e-drive system (MEB) is scheduled to start at the Škoda main plant in Mladá Boleslav on a line with MQB models at the end of 2020. The production model is to be presented before the end of this year, and advance sales are also to start with the premiere. Škoda has not yet revealed prices. There will be a specially equipped and optically differentiated “Founders Edition” at the start, which is limited to 1,895 units – in reference to the year of foundation.
- ADVERTISEMENT -


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Complete Stage 3 of the Combustible Cladding Checklist
What Queensland building owners need to know
Queenslander building owners have 2 remaining weeks to complete stage 3 of the combustible cladding checklist. This stage requires building owners in Queensland to engage an RPEQ Certified Fire Engineer and register their details through the online Combustible Cladding Checklist.
This regulation only applies to owners of buildings that are class 2 to 9 of type A or B construction (excluding houses and townhouses), which were built or had cladding altered between 1 January 1994 and 1 October 2018.
Any building owner that fits this description must register their building and complete the 4 stages before their listed deadline.
Stage 3 follows the registration of buildings and completion of the Combustible Cladding Checklist (Stage 1) by 29 March this year.
Additionally, Stage 3 follows the completion of the building industry professional statement and Combustible Cladding Checklist (Stage 2) by 31 July.
Stage 3 of the Combustible Cladding Checklist
Following the current stage, the final requirement is to ‘complete the building fire safety risk assessment, fire engineer statement and the combustible cladding checklist (part 3)’ by 3 May 2021.
What do you need to do?
For building owners, the most effective approach is to partner with an organisation that can provide assessment and guidance throughout each phase of this process.
Hendry’s experienced practitioners can provide fire engineering services and complete a thorough assessment of your building’s risk profile. We have performed works across 200 sites in Queensland to assist clients in understanding and managing their cladding risk as part of this government initiative.
Our practitioners also feature on several industry panels on fire safety concerning combustible cladding, including the VBA, AIBS and the International Fire Safety Standards coalition under the United Nations.
We can work with you to complete your building registration and provide an assessment of the risk profile of your buildings to develop a solution that maximises safety and compliance.

domain: law


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Heavy lift, breakbulk and project cargoes maritime transportation firm Zeamarine Singapore Pte Ltd, is voluntarily winding up, according to a public notice posted on the Government Gazette on Friday (24 April).
All creditors of Zeamarine Singapore should file their proof of debt with the Liquidators who will be administering all affairs of the company by 25 May, it said.
All debts due to the company should be also forwarded to the Liquidators.
Names and address of Liquidators are as follows:
Low Sok Lee, Mona & Teo Chai Choo
c/o Low, Yap & Associates
4 Shenton Way
#04-01 SGX Centre 2
Photo credit: Zeamarine
Published: 29 April, 2020
OctamarTM HF-10 Plus was subjected to tests conducted at a third party lab by SGS Testing and Intertek in Singapore under the supervision of ClassNK earlier this year, according to spokeswoman.
Former Regional Marine Manager of BP Singapore issued penalty of SGD 6 million; he faces an additional 28-month imprisonment term if penalty is not paid, says Judge.
Sing Fuels claiming over total 1,049.29 metric tonnes of 380 centistokes bunker fuel delivered to bulk carrier Lila Shanghai at Port Elizabeth, South Africa in July 2019, according to court documents.
Reserve Stability Number results are ‘questionable’ as almost all additives targeting asphaltene management show effectiveness in the test, says spokesman.
Singfar International partnering Lianyungang Shenghua Shipbuilding to deliver 7,000 dwt DF bunker tankers from 2023 to support decarbonisation of the Singapore maritime industry.
GSM awarded USD 1.85 million as well as SGD 5,800; Judge finds SFM Director ‘ungrateful and dishonest in his dealings with Bernard and the plaintiff,’ according to Court Judgement seen by Manifold Times.


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MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III delayed taking action against Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) chief operating officer Mark Lapid on his alleged questionable activities because of bigger political considerations, resigned Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said Wednesday.
Lim said he had informed the President about Commission on Audit (COA) findings that showed alleged "misdeeds" in TIEZA, formerly known as the Philippine Tourism Authority. He said the COA findings are just part of the discoveries made by the agency "that have never been attended to."
Asked how the President reacted to the COA report on TIEZA, Lim said: "What he did say was there are other considerations, bigger political considerations and to time it properly. I understand. There's much bigger fish to catch."
The resigned tourism chief said it would be better if new officials are appointed to TIEZA, which already has a new mandate under the Tourism Act of 2009.
"There's a new mandate. It's no longer infrastructure but investments, incentives. (We need) someone who understands tourism estate development. It needs new blood. The whole agency needs new blood," he said in an ANC interview.
He also denied that the President's inaction on Lapid's case triggered his resignation.
Mark Lapid, son of Sen Lito Lapid, was appointed acting general manager of the PTA in June 2008, replacing Ace Durano. He was elected COO of TIEZA last Feb. 22, 2010 and will remain with the agency until 2014.
A Vera Files report earlier said Lim was told to wait because Malacañang needed the vote of Lapid's father on the bill postponing the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Lapid is one of 13 senators who voted in favor of postponing the ARMM polls.


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Viterra boosted its employee workforce over the 2019/20 grain harvest period with more than 1530 people recruited to help bring in the season’s grain.
Viterra undertakes recruitment each year to significantly increase the size of its workforce during the harvest period, from October through to January, to provide an efficient, flexible and high level of service to Viterra’s grower customers.
Viterra thanks all of its seasonal workers involved in the 2019/20 harvest for their valuable contribution to meeting growers’ needs and providing growers with a smooth service during their busiest time of year.
Anyone interested in a harvest job for 2020/21 can sign-up to receive Viterra’s regular email updates on its harvest recruitment process. To receive these updates for the 2020/21 harvest and be notified of key dates such as when applications open, visit the harvest jobs page on the Viterra website to sign-up.
Harvest work is available at sites throughout Viterra’s network and does not require any previous experience with full training provided. A range of roles are available including general grain handling, grain classification and bunker or weighbridge operations.
Seasonal roles with Viterra attract a range of people including backpackers, school leavers and semi-retirees. Viterra receives positive feedback from employees about harvest work and around 40 per cent of its harvest workforce this year returned from having worked during a previous harvest.
Around 300 of the workforce this year were international travellers from 36 different countries who were located through regional South Australia to work, bringing tourism to the local communities.
Recruiting in regional areas across the state provides a significant injection into the South Australian economy, particularly generating jobs and supporting local business.

domain: agronomy


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South Korea has dropped its reference to North Korea as its "main enemy", in the country's latest White Paper on defence.
North and South Korea are still technically at war
Seoul began officially labelling its northern neighbour enemy territory in 1995 but the last time it did so, in 2000, North Korea strongly objected.
This year, Seoul simply lists the North as one of several "military threats".
The report comes as momentum builds for multi-national talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programme.
The South Korean defence ministry said in a press release that it had decided to change its reference to the North in recognition of its complicated ties with its neighbour.
Economic ties are improving, but the political situation remains extremely sensitive.
"We considered the extraordinary and dual nature of inter-Korean ties - that we have to push for inter-Korean rapprochement and military preparedness simultaneously," the ministry said.
The 2005 White Paper noted, however, that North Korea's military arsenal is increasing.
The North has added 1,000 pieces of military equipment - artillery guns and multiple rocket launchers - to its 1.2m-strong army, the paper said.
The report said that, in the event that war broke out on the Korean peninsula, the US would sent 690,000 troops and several boats and aircraft.
"The United States has a plan to send more than 40% of its entire navy, more than half of its air force and more than 70% of its marine corps to defend South Korea," the White Paper said.
Seoul and Washington forged their alliance during the 1950s, when US troops led UN forces to help South Korea against the North.
The war ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula still technically at war. In recent months, the Americans have cut back their troop presence in South Korea.
The move is in line with a general reorganisation and reduction of US troops in South Korea. The Pentagon says better technology will compensate.
The US, Seoul and other Asian nations are all concerned to help mitigate any effects of a war in the region by persuading Pyongyang to relinquish its nuclear weapons programme.
Talks on this have been stalled for several months, but North Korea has recently said it is ready to begin negotiations again soon.
A Chinese envoy will visit the North later this month to try and jump-start them, a South Korean official said on Friday.


Veolia in the UK and Ireland has a high-level of responsibility providing waste, water, and energy management services that are essential to everyday life. We take this responsibility seriously, recycling over 2 million tonnes of waste each year, generating more than 1,210GWh of renewable electricity per year and serving 1.8 million people through our municipal wastewater contracts that treat 800 million cubic meters of wastewater every day.
These services are indispensable to both the economy and society, yet we recognise the need to further reduce emissions across all sectors. This is why we are taking immediate action to drive Net Zero across our activities.
Collaborating and working across industries is at the heart of our plan to achieve Net Zero. As an industry leader, we are committed to driving new processes, business models and market opportunities to decarbonise our waste, water and energy sectors.
At Veolia, we stand in a very unique position with activities spanning the waste, water and energy sectors with opportunities for multifaceted solutions. We do not see our sector operations as separate entities, but rather as complementary activities that are mutually reinforcing to drive forward Net Zero together.
Executive Vice President, Veolia UK and Ireland
30 September 2021
Our progress so far
Resourcing the world is what we do on a daily basis through our waste, water and energy activities.
Veolia’s decarbonisation journey started back in 1966. Since 2009 our UK and Ireland activities have contributed to avoiding more than 12.6 MtCO2e by recycling and recovering waste we receive, treating wastewater and generating low carbon heat and electricity for our clients.
Veolia in Northern Ireland is working with its customers to help them lead the way in improving their own environmental performance.
Our long term contract with Northern Ireland Water sees us treat 20% of Northern Ireland's wastewater and 100% of Northern Ireland's sludge. The contract, known as Project Omega, has delivered significant improvements in water quality entering Northern Ireland’s rivers, loughs and the sea which provides benefits to the community and the local economy. Operations across the whole of the project are in compliance with the Urban Waste Water Directive, Bathing Water Directive, the Shellfish Conservation Directive and Waste Management Licence conditions.
Veolia's Northern Ireland team has help major manufacturing customers to reduce their energy consumption and transition to lower carbon solutions while delivering secure, reliable industrial utilities. Improved waste segregation and management has increased recycling and recovery.
Veolia has been awarded the Business in the Community Northern Ireland Silver CORE accreditation as a responsible company by demonstrating positive impacts across our people, the planet and the places where we operate, and advocating the benefits to encourage others to follow. Veolia has also been shortlisted in the Responsible Company of the Year category in Business in the Community’s 2021 Responsible Business Awards.
Veolia has signed the Climate Action Pledge NI, a public commitment to achieving an ambitious target of reducing our Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30% by 2030. The Pledge is a driver for business to take action on the climate emergency, working to ensure a liveable future and limit the increase in global temperatures well below 2°C.
We have delivered significant improvements in water quality entering Northern Ireland’s rivers, loughs and the sea which provides benefits to the community and the local economy.
Our commitments and roadmap
Veolia Northern Ireland has prioritised delivering low carbon services for our customers, which involves recycling and recovering waste, energy efficiency and water services. However, we need to go further and decrease the carbon intensity of these essential services that we provide.
Following external and internal consultation, we have developed an ambitious and achievable carbon reduction plan to drive us towards our 2050 Net Zero ambitions. These, in line with the Veolia UK and Ireland zone, are underpinned by the following six key commitments
1. Reducing our operational emissions
In line with Zone commitments, we are targeting 2% year-on-year reduction in our energy consumption, relying on a fully decarbonised grid by 2045, and ensuring all new company cars or vans will be fully electric or hybrid from 2026, with our fleet fully decarbonised by 2040
We are commencing work on optimising power generation and dewatering within our municipal wastewater treatment contract.
Our next step in evaluating our downstream transportation emissions is to combine the above long-term commitment to a decarbonised fleet with efficiencies analyses
in our transportation routes and networks to identify, where practicable, alternative lower-overall-carbon solutions.
2. Reduce our process emissions
As with the whole Veolia UK & Ireland zone, reducing process emissions from our activities is one of the biggest challenges in our journey to Net Zero.
We will continuously review our models and calculations for our GHG process emissions and apply the learnings from the wider water and wastewater treatment industry.
3. Capture our remaining GHG emissions
For now, our focus in Northern Ireland remains on reducing our emissions as much as possible through efficiency, investment and working in partnership with our stakeholders.
However, as throughout the UK and Ireland, we recognise that capturing what remains will be necessary. We will be working with our colleagues throughout Veolia to explore our options, develop and implement the best strategy.
4. Work in partnership to reduce the emissions we do not control
We are committed to working with our various stakeholders throughout Northern Ireland to help reduce GHG emissions.
We are delighted to sign up to the Business in the Community Northern Ireland Carbon Action Pledge this year. Demonstrating leadership through actions in partnership is a vital role that businesses must play for society and we intend to continue this work.
We have also carried and will continue to carry this responsibility through to our responses to the various public consultations in Northern Ireland that are taking place around public climate and energy strategies.
5. Improve the quality of our carbon reporting
Building on the work to date to improve our GHG reporting, the continuous improvement of our reporting is an ongoing focus in Northern Ireland. This will be especially relevant as everyone’s understanding of and ability to map their carbon footprint evolves, particularly within Scope 3.
6. Continue to develop low carbon solutions for our customers
We will continue to increase our involvement and co-development work with our customers in this space. A number of additional conversations have already commenced with our clients to start work on low carbon roadmaps, in addition to the various projects already in operation. We will continue to increase this focus for our stakeholders in the coming years. How we approach new business opportunities in the most sustainable way will also be part of our scope of study and ongoing strategy evolution.
We are delighted to sign up to the Business in the Community Northern Ireland Carbon Action Pledge this year.
Demonstrating leadership through actions in partnership is a vital role that businesses must play for society and we intend to continue this work.
Veolia UK & Ireland Governance and Reporting
Veolia is committed to making changes that last. This is why carbon has a special part in our budget, allowing us to make environmentally sound key decisions. Our Executive Committee is meeting regularly to discuss our progress to reduce our GHG emissions and review investment decisions which will allow us to reach our targets. At the operational level, emphasis is placed on climate change awareness in order to allow all of our employees to make the right decisions.
We want to be transparent and open about our progress to drive forward our Net Zero ambitions. Our Net Zero Strategy and Carbon Reduction Plans will therefore be reviewed and updated annually. This will reflect any changes in organisational structure, allow us to refine data capture processes, quantify what we have achieved so far, and reassess our short, medium and long-term outlook.
Beyond this we will also hold a full-scale review of our Net Zero Strategy and Carbon Reduction Plans every 5 years.
Finally, a re-baselining and review of the Net Zero Strategy will also happen in the event of a material change to our baseline. This corresponds to a 5% variation, positive or negative, from previously calculated data.


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domain: design


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We require that the companies we lover with must use the original type of glass that the producer designates in your particular automobile
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I need 20 easy to annotate quotes from the book anything will be helpful.
In Chapter Nine of The Good Earth, Wang Lung cries recklessly, "Oh, you are too wicked, you Old Man in Heaven!" Talk about this in relation to other religious elements in the book so far.
What quotes show that Wang Lung works hard?
What gives The Good Earth literary merit?
Who is Wang Lung's fool from The Good Earth and what is their importance?
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domain: library


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|By Business Wire||
|July 9, 2014 11:45 AM EDT||
Axway (Paris:AXW) (NYSE Euronext: AXW.PA), market leader in governing the flow of data, today announced that it will release financial results for its fiscal First Semester 2014:
- Press Release: issued on Thursday July 24, 2014 after market closing, Press Releases.
- Financial Analysts’ Conference in French: held on Friday July 25, 2014 at 2:30PM CET at the Shangri-La Hotel (10, Avenue d’Iéna 75116 Paris). You can register for this event.
- Web Conference in English: held on Friday July 25, 2014 at 6:00PM CET (50 minutes). You can register for this event. You can choose between Audio Webcast or Conference Call streaming to attend the event.
Speakers for the both conferences
Christophe Fabre, Chief Executive Officer.
Patrick Donovan, Chief Financial Officer.
This document is a free translation into English of the original French press release. It is not a binding document. In the event of a conflict in interpretation, reference should be made to the French version, which is the authentic text.
Axway (NYSE Euronext: AXW.PA), market leader in governing the flow of data, is a global software company with more than 11,000 public- and private-sector customers in 100 countries. For more than a decade, Axway has empowered leading organizations around the world with proven solutions that help manage business-critical interactions through the exchange of data flowing across the enterprise, with external partners, among B2B communities, cloud and mobile devices. Our full range of solutions spans business-to-business integration, managed file transfer, API and identity management, and email security – managed on premise and in the Cloud. Axway is registered in France with headquarters in the United States and offices in 19 countries.
More information is available at www.axway.com
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There is an ever-growing explosion of new devices that are connected to the Internet using “cloud” solutions. This rapid growth is creating a massive new demand for efficient access to data. And it’s not just about connecting to that data anymore. This new demand is bringing new issues and challenges and it is important for companies to scale for the coming growth. And with that scaling comes the need for greater security, gathering and data analysis, storage, connectivity and, of course, the...
May. 1, 2016 07:00 AM EDT Reads: 812


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BRIDGE ALLAN: Sonja Cameron’s team of canvassers has been out on the streets of Bridge of Allan twice a week since Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson called a general election.
Manifesto in hand, the Scottish National Party campaigners go from door to door hoping the party’s opposition to Brexit will help in their push for a new referendum on independence.
Cameron, a 55-year-old university lecturer, has taken part in SNP campaigns for three decades.
This time, it is different, she says, as volunteers pull down their hats and wrap around scarves against the freezing wind and head off through streets already decorated for Christmas.
“I think people are energised again because they feel it can really make a difference especially here in Scotland,” she said.
The SNP hopes to win most of the 59 Scottish seats in Britain’s parliament in Westminster on December 12, which could help them secure a new vote on Scottish sovereignty.
Five years ago, 55 percent of Scotland’s 5.4 million people voted to remain in the United Kingdom with England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
“It was quite recently but a lot has changed since then,” said Alyn Smith, an SNP member of the European Parliament, who is standing in the Stirling constituency in central Scotland.
The major argument against breaking up the more than three-centuries-old union in 2014 was that it would leave Scotland outside the European Union. But the vote for Brexit in 2016 changed all that.
A majority of Scots (62 per cent) voted to remain in the bloc but are set to leave with the rest of the country by the end of January — if Johnson gets a majority next month.
Brexit has frustrated those Scots who voted to stay and reinforced a sense of alienation from decision-making hundreds of miles away in London.
“A lot of people are looking at independence anew. That doesn’t mean they’re pro-independence yet but they are coming in that direction,” said Smith.
A new vote on independence is by no means certain: according to polling, Scots are split almost 50-50 on the issue and London, which has to give its approval, is likely to resist.
“Most people are fed up with politics and don’t want another independence referendum,” said Richard Bath, editor of Scottish Field magazine.
“Scotland would be exponentially poorer if we became independent.” On the streets of Bridge of Allan, less than two miles from a statue of “Braveheart” William Wallace, Jacqueline Coyle, 58, urged the nationalists to stick to the here and now.
“I think the SNP should stop going on about leaving (the union),” she said.
“They should concentrate just now on this election and just for Brexit and forget about independence for the moment.” At the last election in 2017, the SNP saw its share of Westminster seats fall from 56 to 35.
Campaigning this time round on a slogan of “Stop Brexit”, it is trying not to scare voters.
Even if it does win people over, there are other factors to consider, said political scientist Malcolm Harvey, from the University of Aberdeen.
“Unless the SNP win all 59 seats, which is very, very unlikely, or win more than 50pc, which is also very unlikely, the other parties will be reluctant to consider that a mandate,” he added.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has already secured support from the devolved Scottish Parliament to ask London to trigger powers for a second referendum under section 30 of the Scotland Act 1998.
She has promised to submit the proposal before the end of this year and hold the so-called “indyref2” in 2020. But Johnson has ruled out even approving the request.
The nationalists are banking on a hung parliament where the main opposition Labour party would need their support to form a government.
Sturgeon has said a hung parliament is “potentially the best outcome for Scotland because it gives us a significant influence and power in that scenario”.
“I’m not a fan of (Labour leader) Jeremy Corbyn but we have to work with what we have before us,” she said at a campaign rally in Edinburgh earlier this month.__Dawn.com


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A mixture of rage and despair fills the air in Sri Lanka. The nets of fishers are empty because they cannot find fuel to take their boats out to sea.
Farmers stare blankly at their crops as they over-ripen because there’s no diesel for tractors to bring in the harvest.
In the cities, transport has ground to a halt and petrol queues extend for miles. The government cuts off electricity for several hours every day, meaning often there is no light in the evening.
Meanwhile the price of cooking gas has risen so high that many can’t afford it. Everyone fears that food will also soon become scarce and that starvation will come to Sri Lanka—a largely agricultural country that was until recently hailed as an economic growth over-achiever.
“I have never been more scared about the economy and the food situation, and what it means for our working people,” Ahilan Kadirgamar, a union activist and lecturer in Jaffna, wrote in the Sri Lankan Daily Mirror newspaper. “The state has no plan and has not given any leadership or direction, and its local officials are hiding,” they added.
The United Nations says that 70 percent of the population is already skipping at least one meal a day. The crisis started when Sri Lanka defaulted on its international debts in April, and lenders gave the government 30 days to find £63 million pounds of unpaid interest. That’s money it was simply unable to find.
Without foreign currency reserves, Sri Lanka is now barely able to import any goods—even basic medicines. The economy now stands on the brink of collapse, and so does the establishment.
“The reality is that there is no government now, and there is no leadership in the country,” says Ahilan. “The president and prime minister have no legitimacy to lead, and the empty shell of the ruling regime is cracking.”
A delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) left the island late last month, having so far failed to secure a refinancing deal with the government. They know protests could sweep the fragile regime away within weeks, or even days.
Any eventual IMF deal will involve tearing into public spending and passing the buck for the crisis to the working class and the poor. The Fund says it first wants to “stabilise” Sri Lanka’s debts. That’s bankers’ code for agreeing a new payment plan that will be funded by a fire sale of state assets.
Ministers have already agreed to give the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s oil facilities to a range of multinationals and to cut some 800,000 public sector jobs. The attacks will only add to rage on the streets.
Ahilan says workers now need to “start taking responsibility for not just our political crisis, but also our overwhelming economic woes. We have to ground our economic future in our people’s power rather than place our faith on the market.”
Read an interview with Ahilan Kadirgamar in the latest International Socialism journal
When the West’s central bankers decided to try to tackle inflation by raising interest rates, they knew there would be casualties.
In economically advanced countries, it will mean slowing down the economy and raising unemployment. In indebted nations, rate rises carry the possibility of a Sri Lankan-style debt default and the danger of economic collapse.
More than half of low-income countries are now at high risk of “debt distress” or are already in it, according to the World Bank. In the wake of the 2008 financial crash, the big central banks lowered their interest rates. They encouraged countries in the Global South to borrow from them using hard currencies, mainly the US dollar.
By 2019 this pile of “external debt” had risen to $5.6 trillion, or £4.7 trillion. That figure has risen during the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
With interest rates rising, and currencies in the Global South devaluing fast, many countries are struggling to pay interest on their loans.
The Ghanaian currency CEDI has dropped 22 percent against the US dollar this year. Now the West African country is forced to spend 45 percent of its revenue on interest payments.
In response, the government slashed fertiliser subsidies—meaning future crop yields will almost certainly fall. Fewer crops means more hunger and death for millions of already desperately poor workers and farmers.
Today’s international debt crisis in the Global South is different from the one that ravaged Latin America in the 1980s.
Back then the US brokered deals between oil rich countries with budget surpluses and poor countries in Central and South America. This time private investors are at the centre of the turmoil.
Some 57 percent of Ghana’s external debt payments go to private lenders rather than global institutions, such as the World Bank and the IMF, according to campaigning group Debt Justice.
The lenders are international investment banks, hedge funds and asset managers looking to maximise their profit. They are particularly attracted to Africa because they can get away with higher interest rates there.
Look at the difference in borrowing rates between Argentina, in Latin America, and Angola, in Africa. Argentina has defaulted on debts on nine occasions, but the government there can borrow at rates of around 7 percent.
Angola has not defaulted since the end of the civil war in 2002, yet is charged at least 9 percent interest rates, despite its loans being for shorter terms.
No wonder that many African economists accuse the financial system of racism. And no wonder many African states have instead turned to the Chinese state to borrow money.
Cyber-warfare is a ruling class tool
Workers will pay for bosses crisis
Queues formed in Bristol for dental care
Racist narratives dominate child sexual exploitation


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In the world of slots games, there is a lot that could be learned by looking at some of the different symbols used in the overall game. Slots are a type of casino game and therefore they use many symbols. There are many symbols that play a key role in winning the overall game and others that help with keeping the reels from stopping too early. While you learn these symbols through experimentation, additionally it is important to understand how to recognize the right symbols in the game.
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The symbol that represents a jackpot has different meanings in various slots games. In blackjack, it is the symbol “BC”. In roulette, it is the symbol “RR”, while in baccarat the symbol is “A”.
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Blackjack and Roulette are two other types of casino slots games available for free play. Once you play with roulette, you have the choice to choose between several different game types. Slots at a casino usually do not include a special spin type. Instead, slots games designed for free play are created to help you win. Generally, the payout is also quite substantial.
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Most websites will help you to test your luck with progressive slots aswell. If you are playing free slots online you will find that each machine includes two reels. A small percentage of machines could have three reels, while more of these will feature four. If you are searching for an exciting gaming experience that offers greater than a simple jackpot, you should definitely have a look at progressive slots.
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Saturday, April 9, 2011
After 3 long years of absence, Julieta Venegas get ready to bring Otra Cosa, her 4th studio album, to Chilean soil.
Following the success of a tour through the United States, Julieta is getting ready to win over Latin America. On May 6th she will present her show at the Teatro Caupolican located in the Capital city. With her will be the same 5 musicians which recorded the album Otra Cosa with her in Mexico and Argentina. But Julieta won't stop there. She will follow the show in Santiago de Chile with presentations in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Venezuela to finish off the tour in Latin America. After this... it will be Europe's turn as she will play Spain at the end of May and Benicàssim (Spain) and Germany in July.
From personal experience, I can tell you this much... Any one at a Julieta Venegas concert is in for a real treat. I cannot even put my finger on it. It is her sometimes satirical lyrics? Her great vocals? Her 'kookie' way of dressing sometimes for shows? Or is it the way she comes alive as the first note sounds off her accordion? The answer is probably as simple as: It's a combination of all. You cannot explain true talent. It just is and we should just sit back and appreciate its beauty.
I have been fortunate to experience this live with Julieta during her last tour in the USA 3 years ago. I even got to meet her during a CD signing. I giggled like a little kid. I've always been more prone to listen to and love male artists, but Julieta stole my heart as soon as I heard "Yo te quiero, con limon y sal (I want you, with lemon and salt)" Come on the radio... and not just because it made me think of a delicious margarita. Teheeehee.
If you are a lover of latin music, then please. You must check out Otra Cosa. You won't regret it.


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SHAH ALAM: Kuala Selangor area should be the world centre of ganja production for medical research and export purposes, Selangor lawmaker Mohd Shaid Rosli proposed to the Selangor state assembly.
He said he wants his state to become the biggest ganja producer in the world as this would be more profitable than palm oil.
“Let me give you an example. You can get RM3,000 an acre per year for palm oil. Ganja brings in RM9 million a year… one acre with three harvests can get you RM9 million a year.
“If Selangor can produce (ganja) across more than 100 acres, we will be the world’s biggest (ganja) producer. This can put Selangor on the world map and make us famous,” Mohd said was quoted as saying by MalayMail.
He added that National Poison Centre Director Professor Mohamed Isa Abd Majid has conducted a study and agreed to work with a local company to plant ganja for medical research and export.
The demands for Malaysia palm oil have seen a dramatic decline due to the EU`s ban on palm oil biofuels.

domain: economics