Economic deterioration of emerging markets is causing alarm among Korean enterprises. With the financial markets in emerging economies in chaos, there is growing concern for those companies that have already made investments or have been exporting to those markets, since they can be hit by rapid decrease in local spending. Domestic exporters have invested heavily in the region in an attempt to lower their dependency on the US and Chinese markets. Their direct investment in India, Indonesia and Brazil for eight and half years from 2005 to June 2013 amounts to 12.8 trillion won.
In particular, the Hyundai Motor Company is in trouble since India and Brazil are two major markets in the volatile region. It has a plant in India with 600,000 units of annual production capacity, which makes it the second largest among overseas manufacturing bases. Last year, it completed a factory in Brazil that can produce 150,000 units a year in order to enter the South American market.
In India, Hyundai Motors sold 220,000 units in January-July 2013, 5 percent yearon-year drop. That is still an increase in sales, given that the country’s total auto sales in the same period fell 10% to 1,450,000 units compared with last year. But there is possibility of production cuts in the event that demand is further easing.
This year, the company has seen an increase in sales: Russia with a year-on-year increase of 2.1%, Brazil with 128.3%, and China with 30.4%. And yet, Hyundai is nervous about whether an economic crisis will be expanded to other emerging markets.
Hyundai Motors is less worried about its plant in Brazil, but feeling a sense of crisis. Hyundai’s model named HB20, which is specifically designed for the Brazilian market and introduced at the end of 2012 after opening a new plant in the country, has been so popular that more than 70,000 units were sold until June2013. Nevertheless, the company is still concerned that its auto sales might lose momentum.
Meanwhile, it is difficult for domestic steel makers to export their products to faraway countries, such as Brazil and India. Therefore, steel exporters are experiencing poor sales performance in those nations. The industry is keeping a close watch on the situation in emerging economies because economic slowdown can affect their plan to build production facilities in Brazil and India.
Since 2005, POSCO, the world’s fifthbiggest steelmaker, has been proceeding with a steel mill project in Odisha, India with US$12 billion in investments. But the company has yet to set the start date of the offshore merchant account. In addition, the Korean steelmaker announced in July that it decided to pull out of its second steel mill development in Karnataka. Even though local residents’ opposition was the main reason behind POSCO’s decision, the choice can be interpreted in a way that faltering economy in India is a hindrance to its steel mill project. In other words, the company isin disadvantageous situation because a strong dollar will lead to the increase in raw material prices in the event of a financial crisis in emerging markets. Recently, the company’s direct investments in foreign markets jumped 40%.
The domestic electronics industry also began to keep a close eye on the situation. Samsung Electronics is running seven factories that manufacture TVs, mobile phones and home appliances in Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, and India although the company is exporting massive volumes of its products to those countries. A spokesperson for Samsung Electronics said, “We think that fluctuations in currency can have a negative effect on our export performance. So, we are closely monitoring the situation,” adding, “We anticipate that the rise in raw material prices will eventually happen.”
LG Electronics is in trouble as well. Since 2009, the company has concentrated on the expansion of its brand shops in rapidly growing and volatile economies of some Asian and Latin American countries. LG has been heavily involved in those markets due to the financial crisis in the US and the EU.
For mobile phone makers, the smartphones market in India, one of the world’s major markets together with China and the US, is of concern. According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics (SA), Samsung’s market share in India was 42%, ranking top in the first quarter of this year. Until last year, its annual growth rate for the Indian mobile phone market was 163%, surpassing that of markets in China (86%), Japan (24%), and the US (19%). But the market research firm says that in case of contraction in local demand, it is difficult to expect rapid growth.
Construction companies, chemical suppliers, and shipping companies in Korea, for which emerging markets are of little importance, are also keeping a close watch over the situation while anxious about the global economic contraction arising from those countries’ currency crisis.
However, the construction sector does not think that they are highly vulnerable to exchange rate fluctuations since they are mostly paid in dollars. An industry source remarked, “We are not heavily affected by exchange rate volatility in that we mostly purchase materials in neighboring countries in dollar. But we think that shrinking economy may cause a slight decrease in demand.”The chemical industry is not feeling the economic pain, either. Exports to certain Asian and Latin American countries are miniscule amounts. Besides, locally made products are consumed by local people.
The shipping sector, like the chemical industry, is not directly hit by economic woes of rapidly growing and volatile economies. Nonetheless, shipping companies consider the possibility of some reduction in commercial traffic caused by economic slowdown. An official in Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) pointed out, “The emerging markets account for merely 10% of the total markets. But there is possibility of reduced commercial traffic and a decrease in ocean freight rates. So, we will wait and see what happens next, and prepare for measures if necessary.”
The Korean securities industry also believes that the impact of speculation about emerging economies on the shipping industry is minimal owing to increasing freight rates, as well as expectations that the condition in the shipbuilding industry will improve thanks to economic recovery of the Euro zone. Analyst Lee Kang-rok from Kyobo Securities said, “We are temporarily witnessing the stock price adjustment process for the shipping industry caused by rumors about economic crisis in volatile markets in Southeast Asia. But Korean companies are expected to win more contracts in September when the vacation for European ship-owners is over.”
The situation in some Asian and Latin American countries is affecting our exports at the moment. According to Korea’s export performance from January to July 2013 by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), the growth of Korean exports to India fell 7.1%from a year ago. Korea also saw a year-on-year decrease of 15.7% and 15.1%in exports to Indonesia and Brazil respectively. Given that Korean exports grew 0.5%so far this year, exporters find themselves floundering in those markets for seven months.
Read the full products at http://austpay.com/!
2013年9月2日星期一
2013年8月28日星期三
Inside SnapScan
Stellenbosch’s SnapScan, whose smartphone application won MTN Business’s 2013 App of the Year award this week, is betting that consumers will take to the idea of making in-store payments using their mobile phones instead of credit or debit cards.SnapScan falls under FireID, the company that now houses six start-up technology businesses, SnapScan being the most recently launched.
FireID started life as an information security company specialising in “two-factor authentication” technology for mobile phones. It was funded by billionaire Johann Rupert, through Reinet. Justin Stanford, one of FireID’s co-founders, was instrumental in securing the initial capital injection. However, Stanford was unable to convince Reinet’s investment committee to continue investing and in 2011 it pulled its funding of FireID, forcing the company to lay off its 40 employees. A month later, former Mxit boss Alan Knott-Craig, through World of Avatar, came to the rescue, but the terms of the arrangement were not made public.
SnapScan co-founder, 28-year-old Kobus Ehlers, says there are a number of benefits to this approach for retailers. “It takes about 30 seconds to sign up. We issue a QR code, which you print, and you’re done.”Merchants without bank accounts can cash out their takings at the end of the day. “Customers can pay with the app, the retailer can then get a voucher code at the end of the day that they can punch in at a Standard Bank ATM — or hand over at a Spar — and get cash.”
If customers don’t have the app installed, scanning the QR code will take them to the relevant app store where they can download it.“Payment information sits securely in the app,” Ehler says. “So, your card details only have to be put into the app once and thereafter all you have to do is enter your Pin. This means we never transmit your card details to the merchant.”
The company makes its money by charging a small transaction fee to the retailer on each purchase. This fee varies. “We take a small transaction fee, much like the acquiring component to third party merchant account,” Ehlers says. SnapScan has a partnership with Standard Bank, which means it can process transactions at “competitive rates”, he adds.In addition to transaction fees, SnapScan offers its customers the option of accessing analytics or running loyalty programmes, both of which are billed as add-ons.
The company offers three products. The first is an “instant merchant product” aimed at informal retailers who want their takings in cash. The second is the “standard” product that settles into a bank account like a traditional point-of-sale (POS) unit. The third is an “enterprise solution” designed to integrate with existing POS systems.
SnapScan started out operating in a number of stores around Stellenbosch. Ehlers was surprised by the good response and the company is now planning to expand to Cape Town and Johannesburg. However, the timing isn’t confirmed yet. Expansion will be gradual and carefully monitored, he says.
“We work very iteratively. We want to understand the market really well. We’ve been really impressed with amount of repeat purchases we’ve seen in Stellenbosch along with the low rate of people abandoning it. To maintain that momentum we need to do a controlled roll-out.”Part of that means making sure SnapScan is accepted in multiple stores. “No one’s going to commit to an app if they can only use it in one store.”
Alipay, China's largest third-party e-payment provider, announced on Tuesday it will discontinue its still-nascent offline-payment service, a move widely perceived as a capitulation to its State-backed rival, China UnionPay.
While the company declined to elaborate on its reasons, industry observers believe Alipay's encroachment into the business of offline payments was eating away market share once firmly held by the country's largest card processor. UnionPay has recently insisted that its services are still required to conclude all bank transactions.
The abrupt cancellation of the collect-on-delivery service stands in stark contrast to Alipay's bold entry into the market last year, when it unveiled a 500 million yuan ($81.7 million) investment plan with the introduction of a handheld device to consolidate package tracking records with card payment functions.
The rollout was part of the broader strategy of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Alipay's parent, to grab a bigger share of business in the financial sector and satisfy soaring demand for package-tracking from China's booming e-commerce industry.
According to iResearch, a Beijing-based IT consultancy, online payments are expected to account for only 15.8 percent of all online transactions in 2015. About 70 percent of all online purchases made on China's business-to-customer sites are paid on delivery.
While Alipay holds almost half of the online-payment market, that has failed to translate into even bigger revenue, given consumers' preferences to pay for online-purchased, big-ticket items at the time of third party payment gateway.
Delivery people in China typically carry two devices, one for tracking and the other a portable POS terminal. Alipay's wireless device was able to combine both functions into one machine, ensuring that merchants receive payment within 24 hours of delivery.
Zhu Zhu, a Hangzhou-based company spokeswoman, said that over 10,000 such devices, which cost less than its competitors, were installed nationwide to cover e-commerce logistics, airlines operators, hotels, and similar businesses.
According to a news release by Alibaba's public relations team in Hong Kong in March, each Alipay device cost 3,000 yuan. To encourage use of the device, Alipay allowed package delivery services and e-commerce sites to use them for an unlimited period of time by paying a 500-yuan-per-device deposit.
Alipay said at the time that it was "essentially giving away these devices ... and is showing it's willing to lose money on hardware in exchange for a piece of the potentially vast revenue stream from COD processing fees," it said.
Read the full products at http://austpay.com/!
FireID started life as an information security company specialising in “two-factor authentication” technology for mobile phones. It was funded by billionaire Johann Rupert, through Reinet. Justin Stanford, one of FireID’s co-founders, was instrumental in securing the initial capital injection. However, Stanford was unable to convince Reinet’s investment committee to continue investing and in 2011 it pulled its funding of FireID, forcing the company to lay off its 40 employees. A month later, former Mxit boss Alan Knott-Craig, through World of Avatar, came to the rescue, but the terms of the arrangement were not made public.
SnapScan co-founder, 28-year-old Kobus Ehlers, says there are a number of benefits to this approach for retailers. “It takes about 30 seconds to sign up. We issue a QR code, which you print, and you’re done.”Merchants without bank accounts can cash out their takings at the end of the day. “Customers can pay with the app, the retailer can then get a voucher code at the end of the day that they can punch in at a Standard Bank ATM — or hand over at a Spar — and get cash.”
If customers don’t have the app installed, scanning the QR code will take them to the relevant app store where they can download it.“Payment information sits securely in the app,” Ehler says. “So, your card details only have to be put into the app once and thereafter all you have to do is enter your Pin. This means we never transmit your card details to the merchant.”
The company makes its money by charging a small transaction fee to the retailer on each purchase. This fee varies. “We take a small transaction fee, much like the acquiring component to third party merchant account,” Ehlers says. SnapScan has a partnership with Standard Bank, which means it can process transactions at “competitive rates”, he adds.In addition to transaction fees, SnapScan offers its customers the option of accessing analytics or running loyalty programmes, both of which are billed as add-ons.
The company offers three products. The first is an “instant merchant product” aimed at informal retailers who want their takings in cash. The second is the “standard” product that settles into a bank account like a traditional point-of-sale (POS) unit. The third is an “enterprise solution” designed to integrate with existing POS systems.
SnapScan started out operating in a number of stores around Stellenbosch. Ehlers was surprised by the good response and the company is now planning to expand to Cape Town and Johannesburg. However, the timing isn’t confirmed yet. Expansion will be gradual and carefully monitored, he says.
“We work very iteratively. We want to understand the market really well. We’ve been really impressed with amount of repeat purchases we’ve seen in Stellenbosch along with the low rate of people abandoning it. To maintain that momentum we need to do a controlled roll-out.”Part of that means making sure SnapScan is accepted in multiple stores. “No one’s going to commit to an app if they can only use it in one store.”
Alipay, China's largest third-party e-payment provider, announced on Tuesday it will discontinue its still-nascent offline-payment service, a move widely perceived as a capitulation to its State-backed rival, China UnionPay.
While the company declined to elaborate on its reasons, industry observers believe Alipay's encroachment into the business of offline payments was eating away market share once firmly held by the country's largest card processor. UnionPay has recently insisted that its services are still required to conclude all bank transactions.
The abrupt cancellation of the collect-on-delivery service stands in stark contrast to Alipay's bold entry into the market last year, when it unveiled a 500 million yuan ($81.7 million) investment plan with the introduction of a handheld device to consolidate package tracking records with card payment functions.
The rollout was part of the broader strategy of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Alipay's parent, to grab a bigger share of business in the financial sector and satisfy soaring demand for package-tracking from China's booming e-commerce industry.
According to iResearch, a Beijing-based IT consultancy, online payments are expected to account for only 15.8 percent of all online transactions in 2015. About 70 percent of all online purchases made on China's business-to-customer sites are paid on delivery.
While Alipay holds almost half of the online-payment market, that has failed to translate into even bigger revenue, given consumers' preferences to pay for online-purchased, big-ticket items at the time of third party payment gateway.
Delivery people in China typically carry two devices, one for tracking and the other a portable POS terminal. Alipay's wireless device was able to combine both functions into one machine, ensuring that merchants receive payment within 24 hours of delivery.
Zhu Zhu, a Hangzhou-based company spokeswoman, said that over 10,000 such devices, which cost less than its competitors, were installed nationwide to cover e-commerce logistics, airlines operators, hotels, and similar businesses.
According to a news release by Alibaba's public relations team in Hong Kong in March, each Alipay device cost 3,000 yuan. To encourage use of the device, Alipay allowed package delivery services and e-commerce sites to use them for an unlimited period of time by paying a 500-yuan-per-device deposit.
Alipay said at the time that it was "essentially giving away these devices ... and is showing it's willing to lose money on hardware in exchange for a piece of the potentially vast revenue stream from COD processing fees," it said.
Read the full products at http://austpay.com/!
2013年8月7日星期三
Plausibility aside, bedtime story
The second film in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series - there are 10 novels in total to work with, so prepare for more - is an odd, yet not un-entertaining thing.
The plot feels akin to that which an exhausted father might try to conjure on the fly as his child begs for an original bedtime story late at night, and it's probably because co-writer Rick Riordan, author of the books, was doing precisely this before he decided to release his semi-delirious ramblings to a larger audience.
Now, these ramblings are on the big screen, in 3D, whether they make sense or not. The premise of the series is that the Greek gods were a rather unfaithful lot - many of them shacked up with third party payment gateway, resulting in a bunch of demigods, or half-bloods as they're unceremoniously dubbed here, who all have very mortal-sounding names like Percy,Tyson and Grover and spend the majority of their time at a retreat in the woods outside New York called Camp Half-Blood, run by Stanley Tucci and a centaur.
In this instalment, Percy (Logan Lerman) starts off miserable. After preventing a war between the gods, he's plagued by the fear that he's just a "one-quest wonder." Then, he discovers he has a cyclops half-brother who suffers from incredibly poor depth perception and white-guy dreadlocks. On top of this, he's unable to connect with his father, Poseidon (part of the communication barrier may have something to do with the fact that he keeps speaking to a lake, when Poseidon is god of the sea. Just a hunch).
Fortunately, the camp happens to keep a prophet on staff, so Percy wanders up to ask her what gives. She explains he is destined either to save the world or ruin it - it's unclear which. She also uses the word "raze" at one point, and Percy has to clarify that she doesn't mean "raise" (smart).
Ultimately, he decides it's his destiny, or something like it, to travel to the Bermuda Triangle - apparently called the Sea of Monsters in the Greek god community - capture the Golden Fleece, bring it back in order to heal a dying tree that happens to be the reincarnation of Zeus's half-blood daughter Talia, all while preventing a tortured camper named Luke from resurrecting the evil god Kronos.
It's a lot to take in, but the details hardly matter. Director Thor Freudenthal is clearly on a mission to have fun rather than pay attention to mythological consistency or any remote sense of plausibility, and that's fine. It's how we end up in a Manhattan cab driven by three female zombies who accept payment only in drachmas, or at an abandoned amusement park on an island where Polyphemus appears to be using the Golden Fleece as a burping cloth (it does look absorbent).
Riordan's humour also comes through in a series of mortal-meets-immortal culture clashes - the gateway to the underworld, for instance, is reportedly located in Hollywood. And, if you want to deliver something to a god, you simply visit Hermes, who runs a high-tech enterprise out of a UPS branch.
Any moral heft in this film is carried by Lerman, best known for his role in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and this is a good thing - he can step up to lead but also knows when to let others take the spotlight, and he's got a way of delivering bizarre humour in a way that only makes it funnier. One of the best lines in Sea Monsters comes near the end, when Percy says, "Finding out you have a destiny is a lot like finding out you have a cyclops for a half-brother - it's not as bad as you think."
Not your run-of-the-mill lesson to walk away with, that's for sure. Of course, nothing here is run-of-the-mill, which is what makes it so appealing. This isn't to say there won't be endless moments of frustration with absurd plot twists, onedimensional characters and way too much power given to a fleece blanket, but somehow all these wrongs add up to an inexplicable right. It's why children love improvised bedtime stories - a meandering, faulty narrative can be a ton of fun.
Deputy Green said: “Changes to the economic climate have continued to affect the housing market. The demand for affordable homes is increasing each month, which means people are waiting longer for high risk merchant account. I’m confident that the significant policy changes proposed by the Minister for Planning and Environment will, alongside other initiatives such as our Deferred Payment and Deposit Loan Schemes, help to deliver affordable homes targeted to those who need them most.”
The Affordable Housing Gateway has just published its monthly waiting list report for July and it shows that there are currently a total of 1,340 people in need of various types of social housing. However, this figure does not take into account the unmet demand for other groups such as key workers. It is also important to recognise the growing need for over-55s and life-long homes to meet the needs of an ageing population and that certain groups, such as single people and childless couples under 50 do not presently qualify for social rented housing. More sites may therefore be required over time to meet the needs of these groups.
Deputy Green said: “The Gateway is now giving us very reliable data on the housing requirements of our community but I am concerned that certain groups are still excluded. We will need to deal with that in time through the development of a long-term housing strategy, work which the new Strategic Housing Unit has underway. One of the key areas that will need to be considered is how we take care of the housing needs of essential key workers, particularly those that support our Health Service.”
Read the full products at http://austpay.com/.
The plot feels akin to that which an exhausted father might try to conjure on the fly as his child begs for an original bedtime story late at night, and it's probably because co-writer Rick Riordan, author of the books, was doing precisely this before he decided to release his semi-delirious ramblings to a larger audience.
Now, these ramblings are on the big screen, in 3D, whether they make sense or not. The premise of the series is that the Greek gods were a rather unfaithful lot - many of them shacked up with third party payment gateway, resulting in a bunch of demigods, or half-bloods as they're unceremoniously dubbed here, who all have very mortal-sounding names like Percy,Tyson and Grover and spend the majority of their time at a retreat in the woods outside New York called Camp Half-Blood, run by Stanley Tucci and a centaur.
In this instalment, Percy (Logan Lerman) starts off miserable. After preventing a war between the gods, he's plagued by the fear that he's just a "one-quest wonder." Then, he discovers he has a cyclops half-brother who suffers from incredibly poor depth perception and white-guy dreadlocks. On top of this, he's unable to connect with his father, Poseidon (part of the communication barrier may have something to do with the fact that he keeps speaking to a lake, when Poseidon is god of the sea. Just a hunch).
Fortunately, the camp happens to keep a prophet on staff, so Percy wanders up to ask her what gives. She explains he is destined either to save the world or ruin it - it's unclear which. She also uses the word "raze" at one point, and Percy has to clarify that she doesn't mean "raise" (smart).
Ultimately, he decides it's his destiny, or something like it, to travel to the Bermuda Triangle - apparently called the Sea of Monsters in the Greek god community - capture the Golden Fleece, bring it back in order to heal a dying tree that happens to be the reincarnation of Zeus's half-blood daughter Talia, all while preventing a tortured camper named Luke from resurrecting the evil god Kronos.
It's a lot to take in, but the details hardly matter. Director Thor Freudenthal is clearly on a mission to have fun rather than pay attention to mythological consistency or any remote sense of plausibility, and that's fine. It's how we end up in a Manhattan cab driven by three female zombies who accept payment only in drachmas, or at an abandoned amusement park on an island where Polyphemus appears to be using the Golden Fleece as a burping cloth (it does look absorbent).
Riordan's humour also comes through in a series of mortal-meets-immortal culture clashes - the gateway to the underworld, for instance, is reportedly located in Hollywood. And, if you want to deliver something to a god, you simply visit Hermes, who runs a high-tech enterprise out of a UPS branch.
Any moral heft in this film is carried by Lerman, best known for his role in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and this is a good thing - he can step up to lead but also knows when to let others take the spotlight, and he's got a way of delivering bizarre humour in a way that only makes it funnier. One of the best lines in Sea Monsters comes near the end, when Percy says, "Finding out you have a destiny is a lot like finding out you have a cyclops for a half-brother - it's not as bad as you think."
Not your run-of-the-mill lesson to walk away with, that's for sure. Of course, nothing here is run-of-the-mill, which is what makes it so appealing. This isn't to say there won't be endless moments of frustration with absurd plot twists, onedimensional characters and way too much power given to a fleece blanket, but somehow all these wrongs add up to an inexplicable right. It's why children love improvised bedtime stories - a meandering, faulty narrative can be a ton of fun.
Deputy Green said: “Changes to the economic climate have continued to affect the housing market. The demand for affordable homes is increasing each month, which means people are waiting longer for high risk merchant account. I’m confident that the significant policy changes proposed by the Minister for Planning and Environment will, alongside other initiatives such as our Deferred Payment and Deposit Loan Schemes, help to deliver affordable homes targeted to those who need them most.”
The Affordable Housing Gateway has just published its monthly waiting list report for July and it shows that there are currently a total of 1,340 people in need of various types of social housing. However, this figure does not take into account the unmet demand for other groups such as key workers. It is also important to recognise the growing need for over-55s and life-long homes to meet the needs of an ageing population and that certain groups, such as single people and childless couples under 50 do not presently qualify for social rented housing. More sites may therefore be required over time to meet the needs of these groups.
Deputy Green said: “The Gateway is now giving us very reliable data on the housing requirements of our community but I am concerned that certain groups are still excluded. We will need to deal with that in time through the development of a long-term housing strategy, work which the new Strategic Housing Unit has underway. One of the key areas that will need to be considered is how we take care of the housing needs of essential key workers, particularly those that support our Health Service.”
Read the full products at http://austpay.com/.
2013年7月22日星期一
President Aquino's SONA 2013
This is my fourth SONA; only two remain. Almost four years have passed since I was approached by various camps to urge me to run for the presidency. They said: “We know that our country’s problems cannot be solved in the blink of an eye, in one year, or even within the six-year term of a President. But just begin, and we will be one with you in nurturing change.”
Even then, I was aware of the significant problems that I would have to face. From being a candidate, to being President, or even after I step down from office, the difficulties I will have to face are no joke. Widespread transformation of society is my objective, and I am aware that there are many things and many people I would have to confront in order to achieve this. But I was not raised by my parents to back down in the face of challenges. I would not be able to live with myself if I had refused the chance to alleviate the suffering the Filipino should not have to endure.
We have answered the call, and those who have been with us from the start have only grown in number. I believe that if what I have been doing is right, then our allies will only grow. Just this May, I asked you, Boss, are we going in the right direction? Your reply: “Yes, and let us accelerate the transformation of society.” I asked for allies that would help steer the country in one direction, and you delivered. The truth is, not only the majority, not even nine of twelve, but nine of the offshore merchant account are individuals that I recommended to you. The message of the past election is clear: Yes, let us keep going, let us add to the 8,581 sitios that we have electrified; let us add to the 28,398 families who were once informal settlers but who finally have, or will soon have, decent homes; let us increase the not less than 40 billion pesos in additional funds that go to education, health, social services, and many others because of the right and more efficient collection of taxes; we feel all the other tangible signs that society is truly changing. I have become even more optimistic because of your message; it is clear that I am not alone in carrying these responsibilities. How can I not be encouraged, when even the likes of Mr. Ni?o Aguirre are helping shape our future? Just think: Though unable to walk, he climbed all the way to his fourth-floor precinct, just so that he could vote and contribute to true social transformation. Thank you, Mr. Aguirre.
There is no shortage of Filipinos who are ready to pitch in, and this is the source of the change we now experience. The strategy—maximize opportunities for all, especially for those most in need. We are not content to wait for the trickle-down effect; we cannot leave their fate—their receiving the benefits of progress—to chance. What we call inclusive growth—this all-encompassing progress—is the principle that drives every initiative, every action, and every decision of your government. The only ones who will be left behind are those who chose not to venture onwards with us, simply because they did not seize the opportunity.
The basis for this principle: Widespread opportunity is the key to comprehensive and sustained progress. Let us not forget that these opportunities are but seeds. We must water them with diligence, nourish them with determination, and cultivate them with dedication. Let us take a look at our TESDA-DOLE scholars. Of the 503,521 people who have graduated from their programs, an estimated six out of ten have found jobs. Before this, according to studies conducted by DBM, from 2006 to 2008, only 28.5 percent of TESDA graduates found jobs. Last year, under TESDA’s IT-BPO program, 70.9 percent of the graduates found employment. Under the electronics and semiconductor program, the percentage of employed graduates reached 85 percent. It is clear: You are the ones who will shape this growth, you are the ones who will determine whether the fruits of our labors become sweet and ripe for the picking, or if you will let them rot away and waste the chances that this new chapter in our history has given us.
Let us go through everything one by one. Our objective to expand the reach of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program: achieved. The over 700,000 household beneficiaries we found upon coming into office in 2010 have now grown to almost 4 million households in the three years of our administration.
There is more: According to research conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, compared with those who only finished the elementary level, the income of high school graduates is 40 percent higher. Is it not right that we maximize the help we give these families, so that our young beneficiaries can finish high school, thereby helping them make the most out of the benefits of this program? That is why next year, families with children up to 18 years old will be included in this program so that their children will be able to finish high school.
Let us move on to education. Our goal is to raise the quality of learning that our children undertake, so that once they finish their schooling, they can seize the opportunities now opening up in society: accomplished. We have finally erased the backlog we inherited in books and high risk merchant account , and if Secretary Armin Luistro continues to demonstrate true grit, even the backlog we inherited in classrooms will also be erased this year. And there is even more good news: Now, we also have the ability to prepare for the additional needs that the implementation of the K to 12 program will require.
The problems that plagued Brother Armin in the DepEd are no laughing matter. Just think: one textbook used to be priced at 58 pesos; since he assumed office, the price of the exact same textbook has gone down to 30 pesos. What would have happened if we had been paying the proper price from the beginning? If we had saved the difference of 28 pesos for all the books bought, at five textbooks for each of the estimated 20.7 million students in our public school system, the equivalent would amount to almost 2.9 billion pesos. These savings alone could have funded our plans to repair and rehabilitate around 9,502 classrooms.
If Brother Armin didn’t have strength of will, he could have just left this culture of negligence in his agency for his successor to deal with. He could have also left the backlog, as well as the growing gap of needs because of the rising number of enrollees each year. But instead of being content, instead of saying, “This will do. My job is done,” Brother Armin will build even more chairs and classrooms, and will buy even more books, to ensure that even the needs in future years will also be met.
The proof is in the data: This sector grew 3.3 percent in the first three months of 2013. This is triple the 1.1 percent growth it recorded in the same time period in 2012. That is why we continue to sow initiatives that will certainly bear the fruits of even greater progress for our farmers.
For example, the coconut sector. According to research conducted in 2009, coconut farmers make up one of the poorest sectors in the country. Let us look at the process of growing coconuts: Once planted, farmers wait seven years for the coconut tree to bear fruit; but after this, two generations will be able to benefit without doing anything else apart from harvesting the fruit. We have the potential to vastly increase the income of this sector if we can foster a culture that truly encourages hard work and productivity. The solution: intercropping.
That is why various government initiatives are in place to help free our fisherfolk from the broad net cast by poverty. An example would be our initiative for Bataraza in Palawan. The waters here brim with fish. But because the fish cannot be brought to the merchants on time, still fresh, the fishermen end up having to dry the fish and sell tuyo instead. It is such a waste, because every three kilos of lapu-lapu is only equivalent to one kilo of tuyo. What if the freshness of the fish could be preserved in a cold storage facility? You could go to the merchant and still sell your catch at full price. You would exert the same amount of effort, but you would receive the right compensation for it. That is why the cold storage facility in Bataraza has already been built. In addition, we are also constructing new piers in strategic areas to raise productivity and income. We are constructing and adding new roads, bridges, and other kinds of infrastructure, including various services, for our fisherfolk.
If there is one topic my name is often associated with, that would have to be Hacienda Luisita. I would like to inform you that back in February, in compliance with the decision of the Supreme Court, the Department of Agrarian Reform has completed the list of qualified beneficiaries for the land in Luisita. According to Secretary Gil de los Reyes, the process to determine the beneficiaries’ lots began last week, and the turnover of these lots will begin in September of this year.
Even then, I was aware of the significant problems that I would have to face. From being a candidate, to being President, or even after I step down from office, the difficulties I will have to face are no joke. Widespread transformation of society is my objective, and I am aware that there are many things and many people I would have to confront in order to achieve this. But I was not raised by my parents to back down in the face of challenges. I would not be able to live with myself if I had refused the chance to alleviate the suffering the Filipino should not have to endure.
We have answered the call, and those who have been with us from the start have only grown in number. I believe that if what I have been doing is right, then our allies will only grow. Just this May, I asked you, Boss, are we going in the right direction? Your reply: “Yes, and let us accelerate the transformation of society.” I asked for allies that would help steer the country in one direction, and you delivered. The truth is, not only the majority, not even nine of twelve, but nine of the offshore merchant account are individuals that I recommended to you. The message of the past election is clear: Yes, let us keep going, let us add to the 8,581 sitios that we have electrified; let us add to the 28,398 families who were once informal settlers but who finally have, or will soon have, decent homes; let us increase the not less than 40 billion pesos in additional funds that go to education, health, social services, and many others because of the right and more efficient collection of taxes; we feel all the other tangible signs that society is truly changing. I have become even more optimistic because of your message; it is clear that I am not alone in carrying these responsibilities. How can I not be encouraged, when even the likes of Mr. Ni?o Aguirre are helping shape our future? Just think: Though unable to walk, he climbed all the way to his fourth-floor precinct, just so that he could vote and contribute to true social transformation. Thank you, Mr. Aguirre.
There is no shortage of Filipinos who are ready to pitch in, and this is the source of the change we now experience. The strategy—maximize opportunities for all, especially for those most in need. We are not content to wait for the trickle-down effect; we cannot leave their fate—their receiving the benefits of progress—to chance. What we call inclusive growth—this all-encompassing progress—is the principle that drives every initiative, every action, and every decision of your government. The only ones who will be left behind are those who chose not to venture onwards with us, simply because they did not seize the opportunity.
The basis for this principle: Widespread opportunity is the key to comprehensive and sustained progress. Let us not forget that these opportunities are but seeds. We must water them with diligence, nourish them with determination, and cultivate them with dedication. Let us take a look at our TESDA-DOLE scholars. Of the 503,521 people who have graduated from their programs, an estimated six out of ten have found jobs. Before this, according to studies conducted by DBM, from 2006 to 2008, only 28.5 percent of TESDA graduates found jobs. Last year, under TESDA’s IT-BPO program, 70.9 percent of the graduates found employment. Under the electronics and semiconductor program, the percentage of employed graduates reached 85 percent. It is clear: You are the ones who will shape this growth, you are the ones who will determine whether the fruits of our labors become sweet and ripe for the picking, or if you will let them rot away and waste the chances that this new chapter in our history has given us.
Let us go through everything one by one. Our objective to expand the reach of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program: achieved. The over 700,000 household beneficiaries we found upon coming into office in 2010 have now grown to almost 4 million households in the three years of our administration.
There is more: According to research conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, compared with those who only finished the elementary level, the income of high school graduates is 40 percent higher. Is it not right that we maximize the help we give these families, so that our young beneficiaries can finish high school, thereby helping them make the most out of the benefits of this program? That is why next year, families with children up to 18 years old will be included in this program so that their children will be able to finish high school.
Let us move on to education. Our goal is to raise the quality of learning that our children undertake, so that once they finish their schooling, they can seize the opportunities now opening up in society: accomplished. We have finally erased the backlog we inherited in books and high risk merchant account , and if Secretary Armin Luistro continues to demonstrate true grit, even the backlog we inherited in classrooms will also be erased this year. And there is even more good news: Now, we also have the ability to prepare for the additional needs that the implementation of the K to 12 program will require.
The problems that plagued Brother Armin in the DepEd are no laughing matter. Just think: one textbook used to be priced at 58 pesos; since he assumed office, the price of the exact same textbook has gone down to 30 pesos. What would have happened if we had been paying the proper price from the beginning? If we had saved the difference of 28 pesos for all the books bought, at five textbooks for each of the estimated 20.7 million students in our public school system, the equivalent would amount to almost 2.9 billion pesos. These savings alone could have funded our plans to repair and rehabilitate around 9,502 classrooms.
If Brother Armin didn’t have strength of will, he could have just left this culture of negligence in his agency for his successor to deal with. He could have also left the backlog, as well as the growing gap of needs because of the rising number of enrollees each year. But instead of being content, instead of saying, “This will do. My job is done,” Brother Armin will build even more chairs and classrooms, and will buy even more books, to ensure that even the needs in future years will also be met.
The proof is in the data: This sector grew 3.3 percent in the first three months of 2013. This is triple the 1.1 percent growth it recorded in the same time period in 2012. That is why we continue to sow initiatives that will certainly bear the fruits of even greater progress for our farmers.
For example, the coconut sector. According to research conducted in 2009, coconut farmers make up one of the poorest sectors in the country. Let us look at the process of growing coconuts: Once planted, farmers wait seven years for the coconut tree to bear fruit; but after this, two generations will be able to benefit without doing anything else apart from harvesting the fruit. We have the potential to vastly increase the income of this sector if we can foster a culture that truly encourages hard work and productivity. The solution: intercropping.
That is why various government initiatives are in place to help free our fisherfolk from the broad net cast by poverty. An example would be our initiative for Bataraza in Palawan. The waters here brim with fish. But because the fish cannot be brought to the merchants on time, still fresh, the fishermen end up having to dry the fish and sell tuyo instead. It is such a waste, because every three kilos of lapu-lapu is only equivalent to one kilo of tuyo. What if the freshness of the fish could be preserved in a cold storage facility? You could go to the merchant and still sell your catch at full price. You would exert the same amount of effort, but you would receive the right compensation for it. That is why the cold storage facility in Bataraza has already been built. In addition, we are also constructing new piers in strategic areas to raise productivity and income. We are constructing and adding new roads, bridges, and other kinds of infrastructure, including various services, for our fisherfolk.
If there is one topic my name is often associated with, that would have to be Hacienda Luisita. I would like to inform you that back in February, in compliance with the decision of the Supreme Court, the Department of Agrarian Reform has completed the list of qualified beneficiaries for the land in Luisita. According to Secretary Gil de los Reyes, the process to determine the beneficiaries’ lots began last week, and the turnover of these lots will begin in September of this year.
2013年7月9日星期二
Rand gains as platinum strike ends
The rand gained for a second day as an illegal strike at a South African platinum company ended and the dollar weakened against major peers before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke speaks tomorrow.Anglo American Platinum, the world’s biggest producer of the metal, said miners at two of its operations returned to work today.
Gold jumped to a two-week high as Bernanke prepares to speak amid speculation he will provide further guidance on plans to scale back asset purchases.“It looks like the strike news is starting to lose its effect,” Jim Bryson, head of foreign-exchange trading at Rand Merchant Bank, said by phone from Johannesburg.
“The rand is strengthening in line with everything else. With Bernanke speaking tomorrow, the market is in wait-and-see mode.”South Africa’s currency advanced 1 percent to 10.0631 per dollar as of 4:12 p.m. in Johannesburg.Yields on benchmark 10.5 percent bonds due December 2026 dropped 13 basis points, or 0.13 percentage point, to 7.99 percent.Bullion slid 23 percent last quarter as some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value and Bernanke said the Fed may slow asset purchases this year if the economy continues to improve in line with its third party merchant account.
"We were looking for a platform that could match our commitment to relationship banking and quality service and we found what we were looking for in DNA," said Scott Hamer, president and Chief Executive Officer, Community Bank - Wheaton/Glen Ellyn. "The platform's open architecture will enable us to easily integrate complementary solutions from Fiserv, third-parties and developers of DNAapps to create a unified banking platform built around the customer. We'll gain a comprehensive view of our relationships across channels and products for increased efficiency and deeper, more meaningful interactions."
Recognized by industry leading analysts for its best-in-class technology, user experience and breadth of functionality, DNA from Fiserv is the first open, relationship-centered core banking platform built for global collaboration. The platform employs a real-time, relational data model designed around the person, not the transaction, so that Community Bank - Wheaton/Glen Ellyn staff can securely view complete profiles of their retail and commercial customers by person, product or account. Integrated CRM and business intelligence tools help bank staff offer relevant products and services during the onboarding process and throughout each customer interaction.
With the platform's open architecture, Community Bank - Wheaton/Glen Ellyn can easily enhance DNA with solutions from Fiserv and third-party partners. The bank will also have access to the DNAcreator(TM) development toolkit, which allows bank IT professionals to create and sell custom core extensions called DNAapps to other financial institutions via the DNAappstore(TM). DNAappstore is the first online marketplace for core innovation and global collaboration, creating the potential for additional revenue for the bank through shared custom applications.
"With its selection of DNA, Community Bank - Wheaton/Glen Ellyn has demonstrated its commitment to fully understanding its customers' needs and providing quality products through state-of-the-art delivery channels," said Steve Cameron, president, Open Solutions Division, Fiserv. "The platform's open architecture, DNAappstore and full array of integrated solutions will help Community Bank - Wheaton/Glen Ellyn adapt to a changing market without sacrificing the efficiency and customer service benefits of a tightly integrated platform."
MDC betrayed the workers of Zimbabwe even at its birth in 1999. There were two contradictory forces during the launch of MDC. While revolutionary workers wanted an independent party to fight the neo-liberal policies of the Mugabe regime, reactionary forces made up of conservative members of ZCTU, middle class organisations, the church and NGOs were inclined towards an abstract fight for 'democracy' i.e. bourgeois/liberal democracy. The latter group prevailed hence the movement spearheaded by the working class fighting the IMF's neo-liberal structural adjustment programme was hijacked by a party ready to compromise with neo-liberalism by supporting privatisation. So yes, Tsvangarai is ideologically a 'puppet of the West' (as Mugabe dismisses him) whose agricultural policy has been dictated by the white settler bourgeoisie or commercial farmers. He is seen as the better of the two evils as Zimbabweans are fed up with Mugabe's tyranny and third party payment gateway, not that he represents the interests of the working class in any shape or form. When the only socialist MP elected on an MDC ticket Munyaradzi Gwisai put forward an alternative land programme he was attacked and threatened with expulsion from the organisation. Because of its conservative outlook MDC attracted many white farmers to its side. Eddie Cross, a leading member of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries became the MDC's economic advisor. His policy is to speed up privatisation (of services like water and health) and meekly and vigorously implement the IMF conditionalities that are responsible for the current economic crisis.
However, it must be noted that when workers formed MDC in Zimbabwe, MMD in Zambia, the Australian Labour Party and the Labour Party in Britain they were intervening in politics. The idea was to elect trade union delegates to parliament in order to legislate laws and measures that would protect workers - something that industrial action was unable to achieve. However, this did not in any way advance the course of the workers except to bring about reformism within capitalist society. Unfortunately this strategy was based on the false premise that the power of the bourgeoisie resides in parliament. On the contrary, the power of the bourgeoisie resides in capital outside parliament and in fact capital controls the state and parliament itself.
As Vladimir Lenin correctly observed, for a revolution or for revolutionary 'regime change' to take place workers need revolutionary theory. The workers' slogan should be; 'revolutionary regime change' because not every regime change will deliver on the demands of the working class. Left to their own devices trade unions as mass organisations are incapacitated from playing that role. The history of all revolutions has taught us that left to their own devices the workers, however revolutionary, cannot transcend trade unionism or economism. Or as Rosa Luxemburg put it, 'the objective conditions of capitalist society transform the economic functions of the trade unions into a sort of labour of Sisyphus, which is nevertheless, indispensable' . The historical limits of trade union politics therefore is that it inherently amounts to 'bourgeois politics of the working class' , its consciousness cannot transcend the boundaries of bourgeois ideology and consistently develop revolutionary consciousness. Only revolutionaries can make a revolution. That is, only a politically party made up exclusively of professional revolutionaries can deliver on the demands of the working class.
Put differently, the major weakness of the trade unions, according to Lenin, is ideological. Hence Lenin's insistence that 'without a revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement', indeed, there can be no revolutionary 'regime change'. It is the historical duty of revolutionary intellectuals to inject that revolutionary theory to the workers from outside through deliberate propaganda and agitation. Agitation means that revolutionaries must champion the daily struggles of the workers for better wages and conditions of service while propaganda is about imparting revolutionary theory or working class ideology to the workers.
Trade unions were created by the working class during the period of the peaceful development of capitalism - they are essentially defensive organisations of the workers to increase the price of labour in the labour market, and for the improvement of labour conditions. Revolutionary Marxists endeavourer by their influence to unite them with the political party of the proletariat. Revolutionary parties must set up cells within trade unions to win them to their side. Winning influence in trade unions and setting up party cells for them is particularly important as workers are the most consistent fighters for justice and true democracy and yet they do not develop revolutionary consciousness spontaneously on own their own.
While revolutionary activists must work in existing trade unions they must always be preserved as broad organisations of union members affiliated to different political parties. It is not advisable to try and bring them under the direction of a single party. Indeed, to try to make all trade unionists BNF members would be dangerous and ill advised as it might narrow the dimensions of the trade union movement and thus weaken the solidarity of the workers themselves. This is not the same thing as saying that unions should steer clear of politics. It is important that the trade union movement forges strategic and tactical alliances and partnerships with progressive political parties such as the BNF and non-governmental organisations which have a common vision and minimum platform. However, it is wrong to identify the interests of the party with the interests of the trade unions or to try and 'make the party responsible for individual acts of individual trade unions'.
Gold jumped to a two-week high as Bernanke prepares to speak amid speculation he will provide further guidance on plans to scale back asset purchases.“It looks like the strike news is starting to lose its effect,” Jim Bryson, head of foreign-exchange trading at Rand Merchant Bank, said by phone from Johannesburg.
“The rand is strengthening in line with everything else. With Bernanke speaking tomorrow, the market is in wait-and-see mode.”South Africa’s currency advanced 1 percent to 10.0631 per dollar as of 4:12 p.m. in Johannesburg.Yields on benchmark 10.5 percent bonds due December 2026 dropped 13 basis points, or 0.13 percentage point, to 7.99 percent.Bullion slid 23 percent last quarter as some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value and Bernanke said the Fed may slow asset purchases this year if the economy continues to improve in line with its third party merchant account.
"We were looking for a platform that could match our commitment to relationship banking and quality service and we found what we were looking for in DNA," said Scott Hamer, president and Chief Executive Officer, Community Bank - Wheaton/Glen Ellyn. "The platform's open architecture will enable us to easily integrate complementary solutions from Fiserv, third-parties and developers of DNAapps to create a unified banking platform built around the customer. We'll gain a comprehensive view of our relationships across channels and products for increased efficiency and deeper, more meaningful interactions."
Recognized by industry leading analysts for its best-in-class technology, user experience and breadth of functionality, DNA from Fiserv is the first open, relationship-centered core banking platform built for global collaboration. The platform employs a real-time, relational data model designed around the person, not the transaction, so that Community Bank - Wheaton/Glen Ellyn staff can securely view complete profiles of their retail and commercial customers by person, product or account. Integrated CRM and business intelligence tools help bank staff offer relevant products and services during the onboarding process and throughout each customer interaction.
With the platform's open architecture, Community Bank - Wheaton/Glen Ellyn can easily enhance DNA with solutions from Fiserv and third-party partners. The bank will also have access to the DNAcreator(TM) development toolkit, which allows bank IT professionals to create and sell custom core extensions called DNAapps to other financial institutions via the DNAappstore(TM). DNAappstore is the first online marketplace for core innovation and global collaboration, creating the potential for additional revenue for the bank through shared custom applications.
"With its selection of DNA, Community Bank - Wheaton/Glen Ellyn has demonstrated its commitment to fully understanding its customers' needs and providing quality products through state-of-the-art delivery channels," said Steve Cameron, president, Open Solutions Division, Fiserv. "The platform's open architecture, DNAappstore and full array of integrated solutions will help Community Bank - Wheaton/Glen Ellyn adapt to a changing market without sacrificing the efficiency and customer service benefits of a tightly integrated platform."
MDC betrayed the workers of Zimbabwe even at its birth in 1999. There were two contradictory forces during the launch of MDC. While revolutionary workers wanted an independent party to fight the neo-liberal policies of the Mugabe regime, reactionary forces made up of conservative members of ZCTU, middle class organisations, the church and NGOs were inclined towards an abstract fight for 'democracy' i.e. bourgeois/liberal democracy. The latter group prevailed hence the movement spearheaded by the working class fighting the IMF's neo-liberal structural adjustment programme was hijacked by a party ready to compromise with neo-liberalism by supporting privatisation. So yes, Tsvangarai is ideologically a 'puppet of the West' (as Mugabe dismisses him) whose agricultural policy has been dictated by the white settler bourgeoisie or commercial farmers. He is seen as the better of the two evils as Zimbabweans are fed up with Mugabe's tyranny and third party payment gateway, not that he represents the interests of the working class in any shape or form. When the only socialist MP elected on an MDC ticket Munyaradzi Gwisai put forward an alternative land programme he was attacked and threatened with expulsion from the organisation. Because of its conservative outlook MDC attracted many white farmers to its side. Eddie Cross, a leading member of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries became the MDC's economic advisor. His policy is to speed up privatisation (of services like water and health) and meekly and vigorously implement the IMF conditionalities that are responsible for the current economic crisis.
However, it must be noted that when workers formed MDC in Zimbabwe, MMD in Zambia, the Australian Labour Party and the Labour Party in Britain they were intervening in politics. The idea was to elect trade union delegates to parliament in order to legislate laws and measures that would protect workers - something that industrial action was unable to achieve. However, this did not in any way advance the course of the workers except to bring about reformism within capitalist society. Unfortunately this strategy was based on the false premise that the power of the bourgeoisie resides in parliament. On the contrary, the power of the bourgeoisie resides in capital outside parliament and in fact capital controls the state and parliament itself.
As Vladimir Lenin correctly observed, for a revolution or for revolutionary 'regime change' to take place workers need revolutionary theory. The workers' slogan should be; 'revolutionary regime change' because not every regime change will deliver on the demands of the working class. Left to their own devices trade unions as mass organisations are incapacitated from playing that role. The history of all revolutions has taught us that left to their own devices the workers, however revolutionary, cannot transcend trade unionism or economism. Or as Rosa Luxemburg put it, 'the objective conditions of capitalist society transform the economic functions of the trade unions into a sort of labour of Sisyphus, which is nevertheless, indispensable' . The historical limits of trade union politics therefore is that it inherently amounts to 'bourgeois politics of the working class' , its consciousness cannot transcend the boundaries of bourgeois ideology and consistently develop revolutionary consciousness. Only revolutionaries can make a revolution. That is, only a politically party made up exclusively of professional revolutionaries can deliver on the demands of the working class.
Put differently, the major weakness of the trade unions, according to Lenin, is ideological. Hence Lenin's insistence that 'without a revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement', indeed, there can be no revolutionary 'regime change'. It is the historical duty of revolutionary intellectuals to inject that revolutionary theory to the workers from outside through deliberate propaganda and agitation. Agitation means that revolutionaries must champion the daily struggles of the workers for better wages and conditions of service while propaganda is about imparting revolutionary theory or working class ideology to the workers.
Trade unions were created by the working class during the period of the peaceful development of capitalism - they are essentially defensive organisations of the workers to increase the price of labour in the labour market, and for the improvement of labour conditions. Revolutionary Marxists endeavourer by their influence to unite them with the political party of the proletariat. Revolutionary parties must set up cells within trade unions to win them to their side. Winning influence in trade unions and setting up party cells for them is particularly important as workers are the most consistent fighters for justice and true democracy and yet they do not develop revolutionary consciousness spontaneously on own their own.
While revolutionary activists must work in existing trade unions they must always be preserved as broad organisations of union members affiliated to different political parties. It is not advisable to try and bring them under the direction of a single party. Indeed, to try to make all trade unionists BNF members would be dangerous and ill advised as it might narrow the dimensions of the trade union movement and thus weaken the solidarity of the workers themselves. This is not the same thing as saying that unions should steer clear of politics. It is important that the trade union movement forges strategic and tactical alliances and partnerships with progressive political parties such as the BNF and non-governmental organisations which have a common vision and minimum platform. However, it is wrong to identify the interests of the party with the interests of the trade unions or to try and 'make the party responsible for individual acts of individual trade unions'.
2013年6月30日星期日
Public-private partnerships can stimulate national
After reading the 2013/14 financial year Budget, I realised that it’s high time Uganda initiated some contemporary forms of project financing. Our country has pressing infrastructure needs which must be addressed by enhanced performance in key primary growth-stimulating sectors that will aid fundamental growth. Can Uganda singly finance her major development “conduits” in the short run? Whereas this is what any pro-development Ugandan would quest for, the answer is a big No!
So, if we cannot singly finance our development programmes from the local revenue least the population would stride for insurrections against Uganda Revenue Authority’s Allen Kagina for “over squeezing water from a rock, moreover in a dry season, does it mean our development programmes should lag behind or we wait for three to four years when the first barrel of oil is expected? We have many options awaiting our hard work.
Let me shed some light on this modern way of project financing that presses minimal burden on the government and taxpayer - the fundamental concept of Public-Private Partnerships PPPs, and the different rationales for their use.
PPPs have been defined in various ways but I will point out a generic definition: “A contractual arrangement between the government and private sector provider in which the two parties enter into a long-term agreement, up to 20 to 30 years, to build a new infrastructure facility or to rehabilitate an existing one for the purpose of undertaking a public service on behalf of the government.
The private party is required, under the terms of the project agreement, to take responsibility to mobilise finance equity as well as debt in order to complete the facility according to agreed specifications and schedule and the latter would benefit by way of i compensation from a revenue fund, ii charges or fees collected by the private party from users or customers, or iii a combination of compensation and charges or fees.
The private party is liable for the risks arising from the performance of its function; and offshore merchant account, equipment or other State resources may be transferred or made available to the private party.” A thorough reading of my definition will certainly point the readers to public entities as key engines to drive Uganda to the next level so as to be in consonance with Vision 2040.
Based on the definition above, it is obvious that PPPs can cover many different sectors and also include different levels of risk-transfer/ risk-sharing between the public and private sectors. This flexibility on the issue of “what is considered as PPP” can allow numerous innovations and variations in structuring projects, as long as they further the overall goal of PPPs, namely, to provide more available and high quality public services that are affordable, and which provide better value for money to both government and end-users without necessarily overstraining the government and the taxpayer.
Specifically, the most important reason behind PPPs is that while the public sector is accountable for ensuring that public services get delivered, it is not, in many cases, the best service provider in terms of cost, quality and ability to manage commercial risks. This limited ability of the public sector to manage commercial performance well is aggravated by the accelerating demand for infrastructure in developing economies of which Uganda is no exception.
PPPs offer better value for public money throughout the entire life of the project by: allocation of each of the project’s risks to the party that is best placed to manage each risk, harnessing of private sector’s incentives for better innovation, and commercial management expertise by involving the private sector more directly in the provision of public services, more efficient project delivery based on performance-based management principles, often transferring of financing responsibility to the private sector, thus freeing up limited public sector capital budgets to address other pressing social and developmental priorities. Some multilateral development partners, as one of the measures to ensure project viability, make institutionalisation of PPPs a pre-requisite for governments to qualify for funding.
The Uganda Government PPP Framework Policy, which Cabinet approved on March 10, 2010, gives mandate to relevant government departments to be responsible for implementation of PPPs while working closely with the Ministry of Finance’s PPP Unit. Implementation of PPPs, however, imposes financial commitment on the government’s future Budgets, thus requiring approval from Ministry of Finance.
My interpretation, therefore, is not meant to cause unnecessary exhilaration to the accounting officers of some of the entities as PPP regime requires a lot of planning, feasibility analysis, project screening and stakeholder management strategies. It is not uncommon for PPPs, despite their justification, to collapse on the shoulders of their initiators during the planning and procurement stages due to lack of proper planning when a lot of resources both human and financial have been wasted.
Reports have begun to circulate that you are linked with a move to Liverpool. As each day turns into night, the coverage on your transfer has grown stronger. People close to Shakthar say your arrival at Anfield is imminent. I hope they are right. I hope that every newspaper that has linked you to Liverpool proves accurate. You see – we don’t really boast a good track record with players linked with us. A prime example was last year when Tottenham hijacked our moves for Clint Dempsey and Gussi Sigurdsson, who if had joined Liverpool, we would have possibly finished in the top 4. With you, it could be different. At least I hope so faithfully. There are rumors linking you elsewhere which simultaneously propel my sanguinity towards pleading you to join the Reds.
You could wonder – why a club that was once the most illustrious is in dire need of your services. You are right to question our so called ascent to the Champions League. Since we finished second to United about five years ago, we have rarely posed a threat in the Premier League to the “New Top 4”. Henrikh, even our coaching staff, once the most stable position in English Football, has switched as often as the value of the British pound.
Kirkby, arguably dubbed to be the magma of producing the greatest talents in British Football, is enduring a meager revival after a dry, unfertile spell. Three years ago, our record was greater than Manchester United. Today, we are the benign interest of the Red Devils’ mockery. Our trophy cabinet has been heaved with dust since the end of the Kenny Dalglish’s first managerial spell at Liverpool. The more and more I dwell into our misfortunes, you might consider not coming at Anfield to don the Liverbird on your chest.
Read the full story at austpay.com!
So, if we cannot singly finance our development programmes from the local revenue least the population would stride for insurrections against Uganda Revenue Authority’s Allen Kagina for “over squeezing water from a rock, moreover in a dry season, does it mean our development programmes should lag behind or we wait for three to four years when the first barrel of oil is expected? We have many options awaiting our hard work.
Let me shed some light on this modern way of project financing that presses minimal burden on the government and taxpayer - the fundamental concept of Public-Private Partnerships PPPs, and the different rationales for their use.
PPPs have been defined in various ways but I will point out a generic definition: “A contractual arrangement between the government and private sector provider in which the two parties enter into a long-term agreement, up to 20 to 30 years, to build a new infrastructure facility or to rehabilitate an existing one for the purpose of undertaking a public service on behalf of the government.
The private party is required, under the terms of the project agreement, to take responsibility to mobilise finance equity as well as debt in order to complete the facility according to agreed specifications and schedule and the latter would benefit by way of i compensation from a revenue fund, ii charges or fees collected by the private party from users or customers, or iii a combination of compensation and charges or fees.
The private party is liable for the risks arising from the performance of its function; and offshore merchant account, equipment or other State resources may be transferred or made available to the private party.” A thorough reading of my definition will certainly point the readers to public entities as key engines to drive Uganda to the next level so as to be in consonance with Vision 2040.
Based on the definition above, it is obvious that PPPs can cover many different sectors and also include different levels of risk-transfer/ risk-sharing between the public and private sectors. This flexibility on the issue of “what is considered as PPP” can allow numerous innovations and variations in structuring projects, as long as they further the overall goal of PPPs, namely, to provide more available and high quality public services that are affordable, and which provide better value for money to both government and end-users without necessarily overstraining the government and the taxpayer.
Specifically, the most important reason behind PPPs is that while the public sector is accountable for ensuring that public services get delivered, it is not, in many cases, the best service provider in terms of cost, quality and ability to manage commercial risks. This limited ability of the public sector to manage commercial performance well is aggravated by the accelerating demand for infrastructure in developing economies of which Uganda is no exception.
PPPs offer better value for public money throughout the entire life of the project by: allocation of each of the project’s risks to the party that is best placed to manage each risk, harnessing of private sector’s incentives for better innovation, and commercial management expertise by involving the private sector more directly in the provision of public services, more efficient project delivery based on performance-based management principles, often transferring of financing responsibility to the private sector, thus freeing up limited public sector capital budgets to address other pressing social and developmental priorities. Some multilateral development partners, as one of the measures to ensure project viability, make institutionalisation of PPPs a pre-requisite for governments to qualify for funding.
The Uganda Government PPP Framework Policy, which Cabinet approved on March 10, 2010, gives mandate to relevant government departments to be responsible for implementation of PPPs while working closely with the Ministry of Finance’s PPP Unit. Implementation of PPPs, however, imposes financial commitment on the government’s future Budgets, thus requiring approval from Ministry of Finance.
My interpretation, therefore, is not meant to cause unnecessary exhilaration to the accounting officers of some of the entities as PPP regime requires a lot of planning, feasibility analysis, project screening and stakeholder management strategies. It is not uncommon for PPPs, despite their justification, to collapse on the shoulders of their initiators during the planning and procurement stages due to lack of proper planning when a lot of resources both human and financial have been wasted.
Reports have begun to circulate that you are linked with a move to Liverpool. As each day turns into night, the coverage on your transfer has grown stronger. People close to Shakthar say your arrival at Anfield is imminent. I hope they are right. I hope that every newspaper that has linked you to Liverpool proves accurate. You see – we don’t really boast a good track record with players linked with us. A prime example was last year when Tottenham hijacked our moves for Clint Dempsey and Gussi Sigurdsson, who if had joined Liverpool, we would have possibly finished in the top 4. With you, it could be different. At least I hope so faithfully. There are rumors linking you elsewhere which simultaneously propel my sanguinity towards pleading you to join the Reds.
You could wonder – why a club that was once the most illustrious is in dire need of your services. You are right to question our so called ascent to the Champions League. Since we finished second to United about five years ago, we have rarely posed a threat in the Premier League to the “New Top 4”. Henrikh, even our coaching staff, once the most stable position in English Football, has switched as often as the value of the British pound.
Kirkby, arguably dubbed to be the magma of producing the greatest talents in British Football, is enduring a meager revival after a dry, unfertile spell. Three years ago, our record was greater than Manchester United. Today, we are the benign interest of the Red Devils’ mockery. Our trophy cabinet has been heaved with dust since the end of the Kenny Dalglish’s first managerial spell at Liverpool. The more and more I dwell into our misfortunes, you might consider not coming at Anfield to don the Liverbird on your chest.
Read the full story at austpay.com!
2013年6月25日星期二
Shakopee looks forward to business boost from Emerson
The owner of Turtle’s Bar & Grill in Shakopee won’t have a ringside seat for the coming arrival of a new and very large factory outside the downtown core, but Bryan Turtle says there’s little doubt his business will feel the impact.
“Anytime you bring in new jobs you see increased spending in the community,” said Turtle, whose family-run bar, restaurant and banquet center has operated in Shakopee’s old downtown district since 1990.
Turtle said he’s fired up by the recent news that a division of St. Louis-based multinational Emerson Electric will bring 500 jobs to an empty 500,000-square-foot building kitty-corner from Valleyfair.
Turtle’s enthusiasm is shared by the city, whose effort to lure Emerson Process Management Rosemount began about six months ago. The business already has about 1,500 employees in Chanhassen and began scouting the Twin Cities area for another site late last year.
The project, which involves taking over a partly completed building once planned as a complex for ADC Telecommunications, will take about five years to complete and will benefit from more that $6 million in state and local subsidies.
When fully staffed, Emerson will rank among the largest employers in Shakopee. Scott County and Canterbury Park’s seasonal workforce currently are at the top of the list, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
The average annual salary for the Emerson jobs is expected to by around $65,000. Samantha DiMaggio, Shakopee’s economic development coordinator, said the addition of Emerson, combined with the existing workforce at Seagate Technology, will result in a significant pool of highly paid engineering jobs in the city.
In addition to Emerson employees, the company’s move to Shakopee is expected to generate more than 800 spin--off jobs for firms that will do business with Emerson, according to Greater MSP, a regional development partnership.
“You bring 500 more people into a community and there’s going to be 500 more lunches that get served,” said Mayor Brad Tabke. “There’s the added business for firms that clean buildings, do landscaping and supply food service within that building. There are benefits for businesses as diverse as gas stations, dry cleaners,third party payment gateway.”
Turtle said the arrival of another large employer, SanMar Corp., already has given him a preview of the bump in business he could get from Emerson. He said he has noticed an increase in lunch and catering business since early this year after SanMar, a clothing manufacturer, opened a distribution facility with about 150 employees.
Greater MSP also has calculated that the Emerson project will generate more than 300 construction and construction-related jobs.
Shakopee Chamber of Com-merce President Angie Whit-comb says the feedback from members largely centers on relief that the long-vacant ADC site will finally be occupied. “Here’s a beautiful building that’s been sitting empty for about 10 years now, and to have somebody come in and take it over is fantastic,” she said.
Dave Menke, a senior vice president of Opus Development Corp. of Minnetonka, said Emerson’s move to the property removes uncertainty over its future, a factor than could draw other development to the area near Hwy. 169 and County Road 101. He said Opus expects to close on its purchase of the entire 110-acre site in July and will sell about half of it — including the partly completed building — to Emerson.
Opus already has announced preliminary plans for a 200,000-square-foot industrial building it will construct on the other portion of the site, which will be adjacent to the Emerson building. It will be a speculative project. Menke said his company believes there is significant demand for industrial space in the Shakopee area, especially for large blocks of space.
Opus’ long-term plans include constructing several other industrial buildings and possibly some office buildings.
Menke said it’s difficult to measure the specific impact of Emerson’s presence on development prospects for Opus’ site but said, “A company like Emerson committing to the property only bodes well for the future development that we have planned.”
Tabke said development of the former ADC site also will help the city move ahead with plans to transform a nearby former rock quarry into Quarry Lake Park. The 105-acre site currently lacks the public access road that had been expected to come with the ADC development.
“Anytime you bring in new jobs you see increased spending in the community,” said Turtle, whose family-run bar, restaurant and banquet center has operated in Shakopee’s old downtown district since 1990.
Turtle said he’s fired up by the recent news that a division of St. Louis-based multinational Emerson Electric will bring 500 jobs to an empty 500,000-square-foot building kitty-corner from Valleyfair.
Turtle’s enthusiasm is shared by the city, whose effort to lure Emerson Process Management Rosemount began about six months ago. The business already has about 1,500 employees in Chanhassen and began scouting the Twin Cities area for another site late last year.
The project, which involves taking over a partly completed building once planned as a complex for ADC Telecommunications, will take about five years to complete and will benefit from more that $6 million in state and local subsidies.
When fully staffed, Emerson will rank among the largest employers in Shakopee. Scott County and Canterbury Park’s seasonal workforce currently are at the top of the list, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
The average annual salary for the Emerson jobs is expected to by around $65,000. Samantha DiMaggio, Shakopee’s economic development coordinator, said the addition of Emerson, combined with the existing workforce at Seagate Technology, will result in a significant pool of highly paid engineering jobs in the city.
In addition to Emerson employees, the company’s move to Shakopee is expected to generate more than 800 spin--off jobs for firms that will do business with Emerson, according to Greater MSP, a regional development partnership.
“You bring 500 more people into a community and there’s going to be 500 more lunches that get served,” said Mayor Brad Tabke. “There’s the added business for firms that clean buildings, do landscaping and supply food service within that building. There are benefits for businesses as diverse as gas stations, dry cleaners,third party payment gateway.”
Turtle said the arrival of another large employer, SanMar Corp., already has given him a preview of the bump in business he could get from Emerson. He said he has noticed an increase in lunch and catering business since early this year after SanMar, a clothing manufacturer, opened a distribution facility with about 150 employees.
Greater MSP also has calculated that the Emerson project will generate more than 300 construction and construction-related jobs.
Shakopee Chamber of Com-merce President Angie Whit-comb says the feedback from members largely centers on relief that the long-vacant ADC site will finally be occupied. “Here’s a beautiful building that’s been sitting empty for about 10 years now, and to have somebody come in and take it over is fantastic,” she said.
Dave Menke, a senior vice president of Opus Development Corp. of Minnetonka, said Emerson’s move to the property removes uncertainty over its future, a factor than could draw other development to the area near Hwy. 169 and County Road 101. He said Opus expects to close on its purchase of the entire 110-acre site in July and will sell about half of it — including the partly completed building — to Emerson.
Opus already has announced preliminary plans for a 200,000-square-foot industrial building it will construct on the other portion of the site, which will be adjacent to the Emerson building. It will be a speculative project. Menke said his company believes there is significant demand for industrial space in the Shakopee area, especially for large blocks of space.
Opus’ long-term plans include constructing several other industrial buildings and possibly some office buildings.
Menke said it’s difficult to measure the specific impact of Emerson’s presence on development prospects for Opus’ site but said, “A company like Emerson committing to the property only bodes well for the future development that we have planned.”
Tabke said development of the former ADC site also will help the city move ahead with plans to transform a nearby former rock quarry into Quarry Lake Park. The 105-acre site currently lacks the public access road that had been expected to come with the ADC development.
2013年6月16日星期日
Rahm Emanuel is losing control of his city
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel cakewalked into office, from his former position as the White House chief of staff to President Obama, to succeed the two-decade reign of Richard M. Daley. Like Daley, Emanuel faced weak opponents who grumbled at his supersize war chest, thickly padded by financiers from Hollywood to Wall Street. But unlike Daley, Emanuel promised two things Chicagoans do not hear often: pledges for more government transparency, and to make “tough choices” to fix the city’s ballooning budget deficit.
Now, midway into his inaugural term, the honeymoon is over. Emanuel faces scrutiny from groups Daley never alienated: public sector unions, liberal progressives and minority coalitions on the city’s South and West side. Since his election, Emanuel’s approval numbers started dropping, and some are charging him as racist — a “murder mayor” deaf to the marginalized swaths of Chicago suffering from escalating street violence, inadequate transit and the largest mass school closing in U.S. history. While he reigns as mayor in a city traditionally ruled by Democrats, many consider him a Republican in donkey blue clothing, who, like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), swept into office and immediately hauled out the budget cleaver.
“Daley didn’t make enemies of labor unions, but now, the police, the fire, everybody essentially is now in opposition to Rahm and that didn’t have to happen,” says Dick Simpson, a former Chicago alderman who now teaches political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
To the surprise of no one familiar with his Washington reputation, many see the mayor as combative, refusing to take public input seriously, and allied so closely to his tight pool of corporate benefactors that the nickname “Mayor 1%” and Twitter hashtag #OneTermMayor have gone viral. Even some members of his party — a tribe that rarely breaks ranks — are scratching their heads in public. Most notable: Cook County board president Toni Preckwinkle, who told the Chicago Reader two weeks ago that his decision to close so many schools was “a terrible idea” and “demoralizing.”
The numbers reflect the many confrontations Emanuel has faced these past two years: his proposal to reduce public library hours and staff; a contentious teacher strike that was the city’s first in 25 years; escalating gun violence that entered national headlines since last summer; a five-month renovation project that will shut down a major transit line on the South Side, primarily affecting black commuters; lackluster efforts to better the city’s unemployment rate that remains above 10 percent; and conflicting agendas on spending priorities, like the controversial announcement that 50 public schools will be shuttered in the city’s neediest neighborhoods to help shore up funds. That announcement happened to come the same week as another to spend $300 million in public money to build a new basketball arena and renovate Navy Pier, projects Emanuel promises will create 10,000 construction jobs, but others are calling white elephants in the making.
“He’s been an excellent CEO, he gives orders and things happen,” says Dick Simpson, a former Chicago alderman who now teaches political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “His weakness is that he’s not so good on democracy.”
In his campaign for mayor, Emanuel was scrutinized by his opponents as not being “from Chicago,” a technicality that his legal team ultimately dismantled, but a contention that still lingers as the mayor strives to show that he feels the pain of his constituents, even if a growing number may not fully believe he feels as sharp a sting.
Example: Daley left office on the heels of a $1.15 billion privatization deal involving selling the city’s 36,000 parking meters to a consortium owned, in part, by Morgan Stanley. The deal was not only later debunked as a financial catastrophe for the city — the city’s inspector general later said it was valued for $974 million more — but one that became a hot button issue for residents, as it cost them nearly triple to park on city streets, and made parking costly in some neighborhoods where meters previously didn’t exist. Since day one in office, Emanuel made it clear he understood the political liability of not doing something to rectify the situation. But critics say what he is proposing feels shaky.
After Morgan Stanley delivered the city a bill for an extra $49 million in fees — it turns out few city council alderman read the fine print that mentioned being charged for lost revenue from street festivals or disabled parking — Emanuel is proposing a new deal that once again made Sunday parking free, in exchange for allowing the company to extend parking hours, up to 10 p.m., in some neighborhoods. Emanuel’s talking point for selling the swap is “trying to make a little lemonade out of a big lemon.” But many aldermen, spurred by local media reports that Emanuel’s numbers were flawed — and worried their constituents will run them out of town on a rail — are demanding hard data from city hall to determine if, indeed, the numbers add up in their favor.
It doesn’t look good: A recent Tribune analysis concluded that Morgan Stanley would actually reap more under Emanuel’s new deal, to the tune of $517 million in additional revenue above meter fees. John Arena, a freshman alderman in the city’s 45th Ward, has been one of the few in the city council to demand accountability for the new deal, and he says the parking meter fight is an example of the mayor not coming clean about whose side he’s ultimately on.
“Transparency is the one thing the mayor was very vocal about in his campaign, and that’s been something he’s not fully lived up to,” Arena says. “Of course, when you’re in power, some of those promises may change, but my point of view is, transparency is more important now after the Daley years when it was a very closed circle of confidants and advisers and it’s led us into a bad place.”
Politically, the swap has the potential to test the patience of an electorate that the Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows is already on the wane: 52 percent of voters believe Emanuel has not kept his campaign pledge to rid government of insider deals, an increase from 39 percent last year.
If there is a legacy issue that may determine whether Emanuel’s reform agenda is best for Chicago, or a debacle in the making, it’s likely his decision in May to permanently shutter 50 public schools. Among his top reasons why: The school district must close its $1 billion deficit and the number of schools is disproportionate to the district’s population loss.
Again, many dispute his data. Between 2000 and 2013, the city says it lost 145,000 students according to census data, an 18 percent drop; however, school enrollment dropped much less, just 6 percent. Also, the $1 billion in savings the city says it will generate from the school closings is not likely to happen considering the district admits that the majority of that money will get redirected into the receiving schools as capital investments — which means the budgetary nightmare will still remain as frightful. Read the full story at austpay.com!
Now, midway into his inaugural term, the honeymoon is over. Emanuel faces scrutiny from groups Daley never alienated: public sector unions, liberal progressives and minority coalitions on the city’s South and West side. Since his election, Emanuel’s approval numbers started dropping, and some are charging him as racist — a “murder mayor” deaf to the marginalized swaths of Chicago suffering from escalating street violence, inadequate transit and the largest mass school closing in U.S. history. While he reigns as mayor in a city traditionally ruled by Democrats, many consider him a Republican in donkey blue clothing, who, like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), swept into office and immediately hauled out the budget cleaver.
“Daley didn’t make enemies of labor unions, but now, the police, the fire, everybody essentially is now in opposition to Rahm and that didn’t have to happen,” says Dick Simpson, a former Chicago alderman who now teaches political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
To the surprise of no one familiar with his Washington reputation, many see the mayor as combative, refusing to take public input seriously, and allied so closely to his tight pool of corporate benefactors that the nickname “Mayor 1%” and Twitter hashtag #OneTermMayor have gone viral. Even some members of his party — a tribe that rarely breaks ranks — are scratching their heads in public. Most notable: Cook County board president Toni Preckwinkle, who told the Chicago Reader two weeks ago that his decision to close so many schools was “a terrible idea” and “demoralizing.”
The numbers reflect the many confrontations Emanuel has faced these past two years: his proposal to reduce public library hours and staff; a contentious teacher strike that was the city’s first in 25 years; escalating gun violence that entered national headlines since last summer; a five-month renovation project that will shut down a major transit line on the South Side, primarily affecting black commuters; lackluster efforts to better the city’s unemployment rate that remains above 10 percent; and conflicting agendas on spending priorities, like the controversial announcement that 50 public schools will be shuttered in the city’s neediest neighborhoods to help shore up funds. That announcement happened to come the same week as another to spend $300 million in public money to build a new basketball arena and renovate Navy Pier, projects Emanuel promises will create 10,000 construction jobs, but others are calling white elephants in the making.
“He’s been an excellent CEO, he gives orders and things happen,” says Dick Simpson, a former Chicago alderman who now teaches political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “His weakness is that he’s not so good on democracy.”
In his campaign for mayor, Emanuel was scrutinized by his opponents as not being “from Chicago,” a technicality that his legal team ultimately dismantled, but a contention that still lingers as the mayor strives to show that he feels the pain of his constituents, even if a growing number may not fully believe he feels as sharp a sting.
Example: Daley left office on the heels of a $1.15 billion privatization deal involving selling the city’s 36,000 parking meters to a consortium owned, in part, by Morgan Stanley. The deal was not only later debunked as a financial catastrophe for the city — the city’s inspector general later said it was valued for $974 million more — but one that became a hot button issue for residents, as it cost them nearly triple to park on city streets, and made parking costly in some neighborhoods where meters previously didn’t exist. Since day one in office, Emanuel made it clear he understood the political liability of not doing something to rectify the situation. But critics say what he is proposing feels shaky.
After Morgan Stanley delivered the city a bill for an extra $49 million in fees — it turns out few city council alderman read the fine print that mentioned being charged for lost revenue from street festivals or disabled parking — Emanuel is proposing a new deal that once again made Sunday parking free, in exchange for allowing the company to extend parking hours, up to 10 p.m., in some neighborhoods. Emanuel’s talking point for selling the swap is “trying to make a little lemonade out of a big lemon.” But many aldermen, spurred by local media reports that Emanuel’s numbers were flawed — and worried their constituents will run them out of town on a rail — are demanding hard data from city hall to determine if, indeed, the numbers add up in their favor.
It doesn’t look good: A recent Tribune analysis concluded that Morgan Stanley would actually reap more under Emanuel’s new deal, to the tune of $517 million in additional revenue above meter fees. John Arena, a freshman alderman in the city’s 45th Ward, has been one of the few in the city council to demand accountability for the new deal, and he says the parking meter fight is an example of the mayor not coming clean about whose side he’s ultimately on.
“Transparency is the one thing the mayor was very vocal about in his campaign, and that’s been something he’s not fully lived up to,” Arena says. “Of course, when you’re in power, some of those promises may change, but my point of view is, transparency is more important now after the Daley years when it was a very closed circle of confidants and advisers and it’s led us into a bad place.”
Politically, the swap has the potential to test the patience of an electorate that the Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows is already on the wane: 52 percent of voters believe Emanuel has not kept his campaign pledge to rid government of insider deals, an increase from 39 percent last year.
If there is a legacy issue that may determine whether Emanuel’s reform agenda is best for Chicago, or a debacle in the making, it’s likely his decision in May to permanently shutter 50 public schools. Among his top reasons why: The school district must close its $1 billion deficit and the number of schools is disproportionate to the district’s population loss.
Again, many dispute his data. Between 2000 and 2013, the city says it lost 145,000 students according to census data, an 18 percent drop; however, school enrollment dropped much less, just 6 percent. Also, the $1 billion in savings the city says it will generate from the school closings is not likely to happen considering the district admits that the majority of that money will get redirected into the receiving schools as capital investments — which means the budgetary nightmare will still remain as frightful. Read the full story at austpay.com!
2013年6月8日星期六
Samsung Galaxy S3 vs iPhone 5
When the Samsung Galaxy S3 was revealed in June last year it hit the charts and has been popular ever since. The Apple iPhone came out after it, but did it do anything to change the success of the Samsung handset? Both devices have been on the market for some time now, so how have they compared?
Apple never brags about what they put in their handsets. Meaning that it makes it very hard to compare. However the processor in the device does beat that of the phones predecessor as it has twice the speed. This however is down to the fact that it comes with the A6 processor; it is not a quad core device.
The Apple iPhone 5 took 5 million pre-orders when it came out. The Samsung Galaxy S3 sold around 20 million handsets in the first 100 days and even today it sells very well.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a weight of 133g and also is 136.6×70.6×8.6mm. The Apple iPhone 5 is 112g in weight and 123.8×58.6×7.6mm. Thanks to its lightness and also thinness and innovative design, the iPhone 5 wins this category.
The Apple iPhone has a display of 4 inches and this is a retina display. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has the 4.8 inch display and this has Gorilla Glass protection with the resolution of 1280 x 720. DisplayMate compared the displays of both handsets and they said that the Samsung Galaxy S3 had the more advanced display as it came with the full gamut, while the Apple iPhone 5 had 72%. The Samsung Galaxy S3 is the winner as it comes with the best display and the third party payment gateway.
Both devices offer LTE, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, while the Samsung Galaxy S3 comes with support for microUSB. Apple has changed their connector and so you do need to get an adapter in order to be able to use your older accessories. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a charging port that is standard and as it also comes with more connectivity choices, it is our winner.
Both handsets are offered in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB version and they come with 1GB of RAM. This of course is based on the international version of the handset. Over in the US this is 2GB of RAM. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has support for SD card to expand storage and so it wins.
Both have a camera of 8MP and they support LED flash, autofocus and they record video at 1080p. They come with image stabilisation. The Samsung Galaxy S3 also has smile recognition; however it cannot beat the BSI sensor of the Apple iPhone 5. The Apple iPhone 5 camera is best in low light and only beaten by the Nokia Lumia 920, so it is the winner here.
There is the A6 processor in the Apple iPhone 5 and this is 1.3Ghz, there is also the triple core PowerVR SGX 543MPS. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has the Exynos processor with four Cortex A9 processors at 1.4GHz. It also has the Mali 400 GPU. If you are a game player and want to play 3D games, you should go for the Samsung Galaxy S3. The Samsung Galaxy S3 comes with dual cores and 2GB, so it wins.
There is a battery of 1440mAh battery with the Apple iPhone 5 and you should get around 8 hours talk time. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has the 2100 mAh battery, which should offer around 8 hours when talking on 3G. Both of the devices draw here.
The Apple iPhone 5 has iOS 6 while the Samsung Galaxy S3 runs on ICS which has now been updated to Jelly Bean 4.1. Which OS is the best is down to your personal choice? However if you want to customise you are better with Android. iOS is easier to use.
The Apple iPhone 5 is the best for the design as the Samsung Galaxy S3 has been made of plastic.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 wins for processor, display and memory. The Apple iPhone 5 wins thanks to its camera, dimensions and design. The handsets draw for their battery life and the OS. The Samsung Galaxy S3 does happen to be the more advanced of the two, but it is a close call. When it comes to choosing it could come down to the OS.
Alberola is among a growing percentage of standouts in a country with 27-percent unemployment—56 percent for those less than 25 years old. Their success also is forging a path for the euro region’s fourth-largest economy to emerge from a sixth year of recession.
Spanish exports climbed to a record €223 billion, or roughly $291 billion, last year as a drought in orders at home pushed companies to upgrade products and go abroad. It was another step away from a decade of growth fueled by mass construction and tourism.
“There’s a qualitative change in exports toward more value-added products,” said Pedro Nueno Iniesta, a professor of entrepreneurship at IESE Business School in Barcelona in a telephone interview. “Spain will always export wine, olive oil, traditional products but it’s logical that there are other more sophisticated products such as pharmaceutical ones or car components that will play a bigger role in the economy.”
The “painful” reforms undertaken by debt-strapped countries “are starting to bear fruit,” European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said in a May 23 speech in London. It’s visible in “the impressive improvement in export performance in Ireland, Spain and Portugal.”
Apple never brags about what they put in their handsets. Meaning that it makes it very hard to compare. However the processor in the device does beat that of the phones predecessor as it has twice the speed. This however is down to the fact that it comes with the A6 processor; it is not a quad core device.
The Apple iPhone 5 took 5 million pre-orders when it came out. The Samsung Galaxy S3 sold around 20 million handsets in the first 100 days and even today it sells very well.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a weight of 133g and also is 136.6×70.6×8.6mm. The Apple iPhone 5 is 112g in weight and 123.8×58.6×7.6mm. Thanks to its lightness and also thinness and innovative design, the iPhone 5 wins this category.
The Apple iPhone has a display of 4 inches and this is a retina display. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has the 4.8 inch display and this has Gorilla Glass protection with the resolution of 1280 x 720. DisplayMate compared the displays of both handsets and they said that the Samsung Galaxy S3 had the more advanced display as it came with the full gamut, while the Apple iPhone 5 had 72%. The Samsung Galaxy S3 is the winner as it comes with the best display and the third party payment gateway.
Both devices offer LTE, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, while the Samsung Galaxy S3 comes with support for microUSB. Apple has changed their connector and so you do need to get an adapter in order to be able to use your older accessories. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has a charging port that is standard and as it also comes with more connectivity choices, it is our winner.
Both handsets are offered in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB version and they come with 1GB of RAM. This of course is based on the international version of the handset. Over in the US this is 2GB of RAM. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has support for SD card to expand storage and so it wins.
Both have a camera of 8MP and they support LED flash, autofocus and they record video at 1080p. They come with image stabilisation. The Samsung Galaxy S3 also has smile recognition; however it cannot beat the BSI sensor of the Apple iPhone 5. The Apple iPhone 5 camera is best in low light and only beaten by the Nokia Lumia 920, so it is the winner here.
There is the A6 processor in the Apple iPhone 5 and this is 1.3Ghz, there is also the triple core PowerVR SGX 543MPS. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has the Exynos processor with four Cortex A9 processors at 1.4GHz. It also has the Mali 400 GPU. If you are a game player and want to play 3D games, you should go for the Samsung Galaxy S3. The Samsung Galaxy S3 comes with dual cores and 2GB, so it wins.
There is a battery of 1440mAh battery with the Apple iPhone 5 and you should get around 8 hours talk time. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has the 2100 mAh battery, which should offer around 8 hours when talking on 3G. Both of the devices draw here.
The Apple iPhone 5 has iOS 6 while the Samsung Galaxy S3 runs on ICS which has now been updated to Jelly Bean 4.1. Which OS is the best is down to your personal choice? However if you want to customise you are better with Android. iOS is easier to use.
The Apple iPhone 5 is the best for the design as the Samsung Galaxy S3 has been made of plastic.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 wins for processor, display and memory. The Apple iPhone 5 wins thanks to its camera, dimensions and design. The handsets draw for their battery life and the OS. The Samsung Galaxy S3 does happen to be the more advanced of the two, but it is a close call. When it comes to choosing it could come down to the OS.
Alberola is among a growing percentage of standouts in a country with 27-percent unemployment—56 percent for those less than 25 years old. Their success also is forging a path for the euro region’s fourth-largest economy to emerge from a sixth year of recession.
Spanish exports climbed to a record €223 billion, or roughly $291 billion, last year as a drought in orders at home pushed companies to upgrade products and go abroad. It was another step away from a decade of growth fueled by mass construction and tourism.
“There’s a qualitative change in exports toward more value-added products,” said Pedro Nueno Iniesta, a professor of entrepreneurship at IESE Business School in Barcelona in a telephone interview. “Spain will always export wine, olive oil, traditional products but it’s logical that there are other more sophisticated products such as pharmaceutical ones or car components that will play a bigger role in the economy.”
The “painful” reforms undertaken by debt-strapped countries “are starting to bear fruit,” European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said in a May 23 speech in London. It’s visible in “the impressive improvement in export performance in Ireland, Spain and Portugal.”
2013年6月5日星期三
Starbucks Finds Success in Simplicity
When we hear of using smartphones to pay for goods, we often think about Google Wallet, ISIS, PayPal‘s new initiatives, or Square, but Starbucks is the rising star and one that has found success in this emerging, yet volatile, market. The retail coffee chain’s app, which is used to pay for beverage and food purchases at many of Starbucks locations, is now driving the bulk of the $500 million worth of transactions in North America.
“The vast majority of these payments were made using Starbucks’ phenomenally successful smartphone app,” a recently published report from Berg Insights reads, “whereas mobile wallets that can be used at multiple merchants have yet to gain traction.”
Part of the reason for Starbucks’ success could be attributed to the app’s simplicity. The app, which works much like a gift card, allows users to show their Android or iPhone at Starbucks, where the phone will display a bar code that can be scanned at the point of purchase. The transaction amount is immediately deducted, and users can re-load the virtual card through their phone or at a retail location at any time. In addition, Starbucks offers a loyalty program that rewards frequent visitors with free drinks, refills, and food.
“Value-added services that enable new shopping experiences before, during and after payments will be what truly distinguish mobile wallets from the traditional payment instruments”, said Lars Kurkinen, telecom analyst, Berg Insight.
Whereas Google Wallet and ISIS requires both an NFC radio on the consumer’s phone and an NFC-equipped reader on the merchant side, an app that has either a scannable barcode or QR code doesn’t require additional hardware. Starbucks could roll out incentives too as part of its app experience in real time with push notifications and free iTunes music and app downloads through the iPhone version of the experience. PayPal’s credit card scanners as well as the Square card readers have been enabling small businesses to do more, but lack the loyalty and rewards program that Starbucks delivers as part of its app experience. On the other hard, Square and PayPal Here allows users the use of a single credit card that could be used practically anywhere whereas the Starbucks digital experience is limited to Starbucks locations.
And part of the Starbucks simplicity is perhaps why Apple is still not yet adopting NFC on its phones. By using iCloud and its Passbook service, which is in many ways like the Starbucks app, Appletickets allows users to be able to use their phones without additional hardware and merchants could readily accept loyalty cards, boarding passes, , and third party payment gateway as they already have barcode scanners so no new, expensive hardware is required.
Any as no additional hardware is required, Starbucks and Apple do not have to go through carriers for approval, Most carriers in the U.S. block Google Wallet from accessing the NFC chip on the phone as they want a cut of the profits for handling these transactions, much like how credit card companies get a processing fee from the merchant. Perhaps, if Google initially sold a reloadable Google prepaid debit card, like a Starbucks gift card, that is then tied into the Google Wallet app, and the Internet giant relied on a QR code for scanning rather than an NFC tag, then adoption may be simpler. The risk here is that a QR code isn”t as secure as an NFC tag and may not bode well for more expensive transactions.
Fresh off the production line, the Bolton outfit has sent in the 3XS Z87 Performance GTX for evaluation. Priced at ￡1,200 in its default configuration, the high-performance rig is a direct replacement for the Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge variants of years gone by.
As was the case with previous models, Scan's attempt to strike an optimum balance between price and performance has led the company to skip right past the top-of-the-line Core i7 chips and settle on the best of the Core i5 bunch, the four-core, four-thread 4670K.
It seems this 3.4GHz part is going to be the chip of choice for system integrators putting together gaming-orientated builds, but how much of an overclock we're likely to see remains something of a question mark. Our own Haswell frequency shenanigans delivered mixed results, making us wonder how far the likes of Scan would be willing to push their warranty-covered machines.
We've seen one SI play it safe and ship the Core i5-4670K at 4.2GHz, but Scan's engineers are feeling more adventurous and have the 3XS Z87 Performance GTX ramped up higher to 4.4GHz. The fact that a 44x multiplier almost feels like dangerous territory tells you everything you need to know about our faith in Haswell's overclockability, and Scan's recent history provides an interesting metric in itself.
The Performance GTX system shipped with a Core i5-2500K overclocked to 4.7GHz during the Sandy Bridge era, and a Core i5-3570K was bumped up to 4.6GHz for last year's Ivy Bridge. And both those machines used air cooling. This time around, Scan has employed a Corsair Hydro H60 liquid cooler to help keep the fourth-gen Intel chip running as comfortable as possible.
Making the most of recent product launches, graphics are provided by Nvidia's GeForce GTX 770 - which, as you know, is ultimately a faster variant of last year's GTX 680 - and it all sits atop of an LGA1150-supporting Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3 motherboard.
Scan, as always, has a wide range of configuration options available, though we suspect most consumers will find little need to stray from the default specification. This includes 8GB of Corsair Vengeance LP memory, a 250GB Samsung 840 Series SSD, a 2TB Seagate Barracuda hard disk, a Samsung DVD Writer, a dedicated Asus Xonar DGX sound card and a 600W Corsair GS-Series power supply all wrapped inside a Corsair Carbide Series 300R Windowed chassis.
When we hear of using smartphones to pay for goods, we often think about Google Wallet, ISIS, PayPal‘s new initiatives, or Square, but Starbucks is the rising star and one that has found success in this emerging, yet volatile, market. The retail coffee chain’s app, which is used to pay for beverage and food purchases at many of Starbucks locations, is now driving the bulk of the $500 million worth of transactions in North America.
“The vast majority of these payments were made using Starbucks’ phenomenally successful smartphone app,” a recently published report from Berg Insights reads, “whereas mobile wallets that can be used at multiple merchants have yet to gain traction.”
Part of the reason for Starbucks’ success could be attributed to the app’s simplicity. The app, which works much like a gift card, allows users to show their Android or iPhone at Starbucks, where the phone will display a bar code that can be scanned at the point of purchase. The transaction amount is immediately deducted, and users can re-load the virtual card through their phone or at a retail location at any time. In addition, Starbucks offers a loyalty program that rewards frequent visitors with free drinks, refills, and food.
“Value-added services that enable new shopping experiences before, during and after payments will be what truly distinguish mobile wallets from the traditional payment instruments”, said Lars Kurkinen, telecom analyst, Berg Insight.
Whereas Google Wallet and ISIS requires both an NFC radio on the consumer’s phone and an NFC-equipped reader on the merchant side, an app that has either a scannable barcode or QR code doesn’t require additional hardware. Starbucks could roll out incentives too as part of its app experience in real time with push notifications and free iTunes music and app downloads through the iPhone version of the experience. PayPal’s credit card scanners as well as the Square card readers have been enabling small businesses to do more, but lack the loyalty and rewards program that Starbucks delivers as part of its app experience. On the other hard, Square and PayPal Here allows users the use of a single credit card that could be used practically anywhere whereas the Starbucks digital experience is limited to Starbucks locations.
And part of the Starbucks simplicity is perhaps why Apple is still not yet adopting NFC on its phones. By using iCloud and its Passbook service, which is in many ways like the Starbucks app, Appletickets allows users to be able to use their phones without additional hardware and merchants could readily accept loyalty cards, boarding passes, , and third party payment gateway as they already have barcode scanners so no new, expensive hardware is required.
Any as no additional hardware is required, Starbucks and Apple do not have to go through carriers for approval, Most carriers in the U.S. block Google Wallet from accessing the NFC chip on the phone as they want a cut of the profits for handling these transactions, much like how credit card companies get a processing fee from the merchant. Perhaps, if Google initially sold a reloadable Google prepaid debit card, like a Starbucks gift card, that is then tied into the Google Wallet app, and the Internet giant relied on a QR code for scanning rather than an NFC tag, then adoption may be simpler. The risk here is that a QR code isn”t as secure as an NFC tag and may not bode well for more expensive transactions.
Fresh off the production line, the Bolton outfit has sent in the 3XS Z87 Performance GTX for evaluation. Priced at ￡1,200 in its default configuration, the high-performance rig is a direct replacement for the Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge variants of years gone by.
As was the case with previous models, Scan's attempt to strike an optimum balance between price and performance has led the company to skip right past the top-of-the-line Core i7 chips and settle on the best of the Core i5 bunch, the four-core, four-thread 4670K.
It seems this 3.4GHz part is going to be the chip of choice for system integrators putting together gaming-orientated builds, but how much of an overclock we're likely to see remains something of a question mark. Our own Haswell frequency shenanigans delivered mixed results, making us wonder how far the likes of Scan would be willing to push their warranty-covered machines.
We've seen one SI play it safe and ship the Core i5-4670K at 4.2GHz, but Scan's engineers are feeling more adventurous and have the 3XS Z87 Performance GTX ramped up higher to 4.4GHz. The fact that a 44x multiplier almost feels like dangerous territory tells you everything you need to know about our faith in Haswell's overclockability, and Scan's recent history provides an interesting metric in itself.
The Performance GTX system shipped with a Core i5-2500K overclocked to 4.7GHz during the Sandy Bridge era, and a Core i5-3570K was bumped up to 4.6GHz for last year's Ivy Bridge. And both those machines used air cooling. This time around, Scan has employed a Corsair Hydro H60 liquid cooler to help keep the fourth-gen Intel chip running as comfortable as possible.
Making the most of recent product launches, graphics are provided by Nvidia's GeForce GTX 770 - which, as you know, is ultimately a faster variant of last year's GTX 680 - and it all sits atop of an LGA1150-supporting Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3 motherboard.
Scan, as always, has a wide range of configuration options available, though we suspect most consumers will find little need to stray from the default specification. This includes 8GB of Corsair Vengeance LP memory, a 250GB Samsung 840 Series SSD, a 2TB Seagate Barracuda hard disk, a Samsung DVD Writer, a dedicated Asus Xonar DGX sound card and a 600W Corsair GS-Series power supply all wrapped inside a Corsair Carbide Series 300R Windowed chassis.
2013年6月2日星期日
How a Bizarre Obsession Advanced Science
Already years before the Nazis came to power, German scientists were propagating theories about blood purity. Though this obsession led to bizarre and dangerous theories about superiority and personality traits, it also led to medical breakthroughs.
For the majority of humanity, the outbreak of World War I was a catastrophe on an unprecedented scale. But for Ludwik Hirszfeld, it turned out to be a stroke of good fortune.
Together with his wife, Hanna, the German doctor ran a bacteriology lab in Thessaloniki, Greece, where he had nearly unlimited access to human test subjects -- the French, British, Italian, Russian and Serbian soldiers who made up the multinational Army of the Orient, stationed in this port city in northern Greece and hemmed in by German troops during the so-called Balkans Campaign of the war.
In the interest of conducting one of the largest field studies in medical history up to that point, Hirszfeld approached these languid POWs with a needle and a request to draw their blood. The doctor knew just how to approach each of the different nationalities to sweeten the deal and get a soldier to participate in his large-scale experiment.
"With the English, it was enough simply to comment that this was being done for scientific purposes," Hirszfeld recalled in his memoirs. For his "French friends," on the other hand, the resourceful doctor offered tips on whom they could "sin with impunity" with based on their blood type. He also found it easy to convince the Senegalese soldiers who were there as colonial troops in the French army. "We told them the test might be connected with possible time on leave," Hirszfeld wrote. "And black hands stretched toward us in no time at all."
In the space of just a few months, Hirszfeld enthused, it had been possible to achieve what would otherwise have taken years -- the identification of the blood types of around 8,000 soldiers from a wide range of countries. Once the doctor, long based in the western German city of Heidelberg, had analyzed his data, he believed he had made a groundbreaking discovery: "Blood group A was associated mainly with the white, European 'race,' while blood group B was attributed to the dark-skinned 'races,'" writes Swiss historian Myriam Sp?rri in a recently published book on the cultural history of blood-group research.
Hirszfeld and his colleague Emil von Dungern had developed the blood type groupings A, B, AB and O, now in wide use internationally, in 1910. Before them, in 1901, it was Karl Landsteiner who first discovered that red blood cells possess a variety of antigens.
The Nazis forced Hirszfeld, a Jew, into the Warsaw Ghetto in 1941, although he survived. The blood researcher has generally been free of any suspicion that racist motivations guided his work. Sp?rri, though, reaches a different conclusion.
The fields of research Hirszfeld founded were "eugenically charged" from the start, the Swiss historian concludes. Even during his internment, Sp?rri writes, Hirszfeld gave lectures in which he stated "that blood group distributions among Jews and the 'host peoples' they lived among were nearly identical."
The researcher, originally from Warsaw, was not alone in this choice of words, which seems so appalling from a modern-day perspective. Berlin-based serologist Fritz Schiff, for example, insisted in the academic journal Jüdische Familienforschung (Jewish Genealogical Research) that differences in the blood types of various Jewish groups could be seen "as an 'convergence' to become more like the respective 'host people.'"
Ludwik and Hanna Hirszfeld had begun spreading dubious theories in the 1920s. And, as Sp?rri writes: "The idea of 'pure blood' first expressed by the Hirszfelds held on tenaciously and was never challenged, despite new findings."
Nearly all researchers of the period shared this obsessive preoccupation with the idea of blood purity. Years before the Nazis seized power, both Jewish and non-Jewish blood-group researchers were searching for racial characteristics and signs of racial mixing in the blood, assuming the existence of such things as a matter of course.
It seems astonishing from a present-day point of view, but these extremely different players in the blood research scene were very often in agreement. In 1929, for example, Landsteiner, who had by this time emigrated to New York, took the time during a visit back to Germany to meet with the obscure race researcher Reche. In a letter to a colleague, the racist scientist who later became an admirer of Hitler, vacillated between mistrust and admiration of Landsteiner: "He is a tall, slim, good-looking man with a proud fencing scar on his left cheek; his racial type is not very apparent ? he has produced a number of very good ideas."
Hitler, too, had an ardent interest in the subject, although he obtained his information from crude sources. His inspiration for the "Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor," passed in 1935 as one of the Nuremberg Laws, was an unsavory 1917 pulp novel called "The Sin against the Blood."
Read the full story at www.airdow.com!
For the majority of humanity, the outbreak of World War I was a catastrophe on an unprecedented scale. But for Ludwik Hirszfeld, it turned out to be a stroke of good fortune.
Together with his wife, Hanna, the German doctor ran a bacteriology lab in Thessaloniki, Greece, where he had nearly unlimited access to human test subjects -- the French, British, Italian, Russian and Serbian soldiers who made up the multinational Army of the Orient, stationed in this port city in northern Greece and hemmed in by German troops during the so-called Balkans Campaign of the war.
In the interest of conducting one of the largest field studies in medical history up to that point, Hirszfeld approached these languid POWs with a needle and a request to draw their blood. The doctor knew just how to approach each of the different nationalities to sweeten the deal and get a soldier to participate in his large-scale experiment.
"With the English, it was enough simply to comment that this was being done for scientific purposes," Hirszfeld recalled in his memoirs. For his "French friends," on the other hand, the resourceful doctor offered tips on whom they could "sin with impunity" with based on their blood type. He also found it easy to convince the Senegalese soldiers who were there as colonial troops in the French army. "We told them the test might be connected with possible time on leave," Hirszfeld wrote. "And black hands stretched toward us in no time at all."
In the space of just a few months, Hirszfeld enthused, it had been possible to achieve what would otherwise have taken years -- the identification of the blood types of around 8,000 soldiers from a wide range of countries. Once the doctor, long based in the western German city of Heidelberg, had analyzed his data, he believed he had made a groundbreaking discovery: "Blood group A was associated mainly with the white, European 'race,' while blood group B was attributed to the dark-skinned 'races,'" writes Swiss historian Myriam Sp?rri in a recently published book on the cultural history of blood-group research.
Hirszfeld and his colleague Emil von Dungern had developed the blood type groupings A, B, AB and O, now in wide use internationally, in 1910. Before them, in 1901, it was Karl Landsteiner who first discovered that red blood cells possess a variety of antigens.
The Nazis forced Hirszfeld, a Jew, into the Warsaw Ghetto in 1941, although he survived. The blood researcher has generally been free of any suspicion that racist motivations guided his work. Sp?rri, though, reaches a different conclusion.
The fields of research Hirszfeld founded were "eugenically charged" from the start, the Swiss historian concludes. Even during his internment, Sp?rri writes, Hirszfeld gave lectures in which he stated "that blood group distributions among Jews and the 'host peoples' they lived among were nearly identical."
The researcher, originally from Warsaw, was not alone in this choice of words, which seems so appalling from a modern-day perspective. Berlin-based serologist Fritz Schiff, for example, insisted in the academic journal Jüdische Familienforschung (Jewish Genealogical Research) that differences in the blood types of various Jewish groups could be seen "as an 'convergence' to become more like the respective 'host people.'"
Ludwik and Hanna Hirszfeld had begun spreading dubious theories in the 1920s. And, as Sp?rri writes: "The idea of 'pure blood' first expressed by the Hirszfelds held on tenaciously and was never challenged, despite new findings."
Nearly all researchers of the period shared this obsessive preoccupation with the idea of blood purity. Years before the Nazis seized power, both Jewish and non-Jewish blood-group researchers were searching for racial characteristics and signs of racial mixing in the blood, assuming the existence of such things as a matter of course.
It seems astonishing from a present-day point of view, but these extremely different players in the blood research scene were very often in agreement. In 1929, for example, Landsteiner, who had by this time emigrated to New York, took the time during a visit back to Germany to meet with the obscure race researcher Reche. In a letter to a colleague, the racist scientist who later became an admirer of Hitler, vacillated between mistrust and admiration of Landsteiner: "He is a tall, slim, good-looking man with a proud fencing scar on his left cheek; his racial type is not very apparent ? he has produced a number of very good ideas."
Hitler, too, had an ardent interest in the subject, although he obtained his information from crude sources. His inspiration for the "Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor," passed in 1935 as one of the Nuremberg Laws, was an unsavory 1917 pulp novel called "The Sin against the Blood."
Read the full story at www.airdow.com!
2013年5月23日星期四
Troubled Visa Settlement Takes Another Hit As Retailers File Own Suit
A $7 billion antitrust settlement over credit-card processing fees that critics say would make things worse for retailers suffered another insult today as Target TGT +0.39%, Macy's M -0.04% and J.C. Penney filed their own lawsuit accusing Visa V -1.13% and Mastercard of generating monopoly profits at their expense.
Bloomberg reported the lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York. It comes two days after the National Retail Federation, the largest association of retailers, announced it will formally oppose the settlement before the May 28 deadline U.S. District Judge John Gleeson set for complaints. Wal-Mart, which led a landmark antitrust suit that generated a $3 billion settlement in 2004, also has objected.
The problem with this settlement is it is a classic case of what I call selling absolution. Class-action lawyers including Robbins Geller, Berger & Montague and Robins Kaplan filed the lawsuit in 2005 on behalf of 19 trade associations and smaller retail chains, accusing Visa and MasterCard MA -1.21% of using their 70% control of the credit-card market to charge excessive processing fees. As is typical with these firms, they worked out a settlement last July that would pay retailers $6 billion in cash and offer them $1.2 billion in reduced interchange fees for eight months after the deal is signed. The lawyers are seeking 11% of the total, or some $800 million in fees.
The objecting retailers say the settlement would actually make things worse. Buried in the settlement are releases in which every retailer that doesn’t opt out agrees never to sue the credit-card companies again with similar claims. The settlement doesn’t force Visa and Mastercard to change the policies that allow them to dictate interchange fees to retailers, however, which is what drives so many of them nuts.
Visa and Mastercard would drop their prohibition against retailers assessing a surcharge for credit-card purchases, but that is meaningless. Retailers can already discount for cash, and it would be a clueless consumer indeed who couldn’t see that a 5% discount for cash is the exact equivalent of a surcharge for using Air purifier.
Which points out the silliness of all of this litigation. Retailers complain that the credit card companies are picking their pockets to the tune of $40 billion a year and passionately, desperately want that money back. They also use clever terms like “swipe fee” to try and convince consumers that they are paying these fees every time they buy with plastic.
But retailers get a huge benefit from the ubiquitous credit-card network and the easy availability of credit that allows consumers to make impulse purchases they may or may not be able to afford. It is also naive to assume that retailers would be able to keep any reductions in interchange fees they may get out of this litigation. Retail is a fiercely competitive business and the savings would be passed through to consumers while the credit card companies cut back on perks like free airline miles.
Retailers were faced with a tough choice when their ostensible lawyers negotiated this deal. If they remained in the class, they’d agree to release Visa and Mastercard from any future litigation. If they opted out, they’d give up their share of the $7.25 billion.
It looks like a critical mass has decided to give up the $7 billion and try their luck on their own. The question is whether Judge Gleeson will pull the plug on what’s left of this settlement that rewards the lawyers who negotiated it so richly. Next Tuesday, we see how many more retailers decide to opt out.
The story that John Ryall offered about the $14,000 cash and eight credit cards in his hotel room, and the plastic bags filled with chemicals in his sports utility vehicle sounded hard to believe to police.
His grandma gave him the money to start a chemical research company, Ryall told Bensalem police earlier this month after they showed up at a Route 1 hotel room where he was staying with a woman whom police say had an outstanding arrest warrant.
The 2 kilograms of white powder and nearly 250 gel capsules in his SUV were used to make drugs to treat erectile dysfunction and an anti-estrogen pill, he allegedly told them. The credit and debit cards were given to him by friends, Ryall claimed.
Bensalem police say parts of Ryall's claims were true, but there is far more to the story.
Now, Ryall, 34, and Jennifer Claherty, 35, both from Palmyra, N.J., are facing charges of receiving stolen property and multiple counts of identity theft, conspiracy and access device crimes.
Police say their investigation began May 3 after a tip that Claherty could be found at the Route 1 motel. She had an active arrest warrant out of Scranton, where she was wanted on charges of receiving stolen property and conspiracy, according to online court records.
But as the investigation progressed, the story started disintegrating, police said. They added that the money was likely stolen from a man whom Ryall claimed was a former business partner. That man's name was on debit and credit cards in the motel room, police added.
Police said they also learned that Navratil was arrested April 30 for attempting to pass a fraudulent check for $6,600 from an account listed for a business owned by Ryall’s former partner. She also allegedly passed four other bad checks, totaling more than $31,000, through the same man's account at other banks.
The chemicals that police found in the SUV — Tamoxifen and Tadalafil — are used for treating breast cancer and erectile dysfunction, but both require a doctor’s prescription, and a license to distribute and manufacture, police said. Claherty and Ryall don’t have either, court papers show.
Bloomberg reported the lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York. It comes two days after the National Retail Federation, the largest association of retailers, announced it will formally oppose the settlement before the May 28 deadline U.S. District Judge John Gleeson set for complaints. Wal-Mart, which led a landmark antitrust suit that generated a $3 billion settlement in 2004, also has objected.
The problem with this settlement is it is a classic case of what I call selling absolution. Class-action lawyers including Robbins Geller, Berger & Montague and Robins Kaplan filed the lawsuit in 2005 on behalf of 19 trade associations and smaller retail chains, accusing Visa and MasterCard MA -1.21% of using their 70% control of the credit-card market to charge excessive processing fees. As is typical with these firms, they worked out a settlement last July that would pay retailers $6 billion in cash and offer them $1.2 billion in reduced interchange fees for eight months after the deal is signed. The lawyers are seeking 11% of the total, or some $800 million in fees.
The objecting retailers say the settlement would actually make things worse. Buried in the settlement are releases in which every retailer that doesn’t opt out agrees never to sue the credit-card companies again with similar claims. The settlement doesn’t force Visa and Mastercard to change the policies that allow them to dictate interchange fees to retailers, however, which is what drives so many of them nuts.
Visa and Mastercard would drop their prohibition against retailers assessing a surcharge for credit-card purchases, but that is meaningless. Retailers can already discount for cash, and it would be a clueless consumer indeed who couldn’t see that a 5% discount for cash is the exact equivalent of a surcharge for using Air purifier.
Which points out the silliness of all of this litigation. Retailers complain that the credit card companies are picking their pockets to the tune of $40 billion a year and passionately, desperately want that money back. They also use clever terms like “swipe fee” to try and convince consumers that they are paying these fees every time they buy with plastic.
But retailers get a huge benefit from the ubiquitous credit-card network and the easy availability of credit that allows consumers to make impulse purchases they may or may not be able to afford. It is also naive to assume that retailers would be able to keep any reductions in interchange fees they may get out of this litigation. Retail is a fiercely competitive business and the savings would be passed through to consumers while the credit card companies cut back on perks like free airline miles.
Retailers were faced with a tough choice when their ostensible lawyers negotiated this deal. If they remained in the class, they’d agree to release Visa and Mastercard from any future litigation. If they opted out, they’d give up their share of the $7.25 billion.
It looks like a critical mass has decided to give up the $7 billion and try their luck on their own. The question is whether Judge Gleeson will pull the plug on what’s left of this settlement that rewards the lawyers who negotiated it so richly. Next Tuesday, we see how many more retailers decide to opt out.
The story that John Ryall offered about the $14,000 cash and eight credit cards in his hotel room, and the plastic bags filled with chemicals in his sports utility vehicle sounded hard to believe to police.
His grandma gave him the money to start a chemical research company, Ryall told Bensalem police earlier this month after they showed up at a Route 1 hotel room where he was staying with a woman whom police say had an outstanding arrest warrant.
The 2 kilograms of white powder and nearly 250 gel capsules in his SUV were used to make drugs to treat erectile dysfunction and an anti-estrogen pill, he allegedly told them. The credit and debit cards were given to him by friends, Ryall claimed.
Bensalem police say parts of Ryall's claims were true, but there is far more to the story.
Now, Ryall, 34, and Jennifer Claherty, 35, both from Palmyra, N.J., are facing charges of receiving stolen property and multiple counts of identity theft, conspiracy and access device crimes.
Police say their investigation began May 3 after a tip that Claherty could be found at the Route 1 motel. She had an active arrest warrant out of Scranton, where she was wanted on charges of receiving stolen property and conspiracy, according to online court records.
But as the investigation progressed, the story started disintegrating, police said. They added that the money was likely stolen from a man whom Ryall claimed was a former business partner. That man's name was on debit and credit cards in the motel room, police added.
Police said they also learned that Navratil was arrested April 30 for attempting to pass a fraudulent check for $6,600 from an account listed for a business owned by Ryall’s former partner. She also allegedly passed four other bad checks, totaling more than $31,000, through the same man's account at other banks.
The chemicals that police found in the SUV — Tamoxifen and Tadalafil — are used for treating breast cancer and erectile dysfunction, but both require a doctor’s prescription, and a license to distribute and manufacture, police said. Claherty and Ryall don’t have either, court papers show.
2013年5月21日星期二
Building a Bicycle Barometer
In my day job in the United Kingdom’s Government Digital Service, I had got used to ambient information from screens that dot the office. These provide real-time updates about the progress of various projects. I wanted a bit of that for home—something I didn’t need to tap or click to check, something that was just there.
How I could achieve that came to me in April 2011 at a Rewired State “National Hack the Government Day” event, when I started playing with a Nanode microcontroller. The US $50 Nanode is an Arduino-like microcontroller designed by a group at the London Hackspace, with Internet connectivity built in. I’d had various Arduinos sitting about for a while, with the intention of learning how they work and building something network enabled. But this never quite happened: Getting an Arduino connected to the Internet requires a separate Ethernet “shield” component, which were hard to get hold of at the time. So a Nanode was just what I needed.
However, connecting the Nanode was still a little tricky. First I had to figure out some things at the local-area-network level, such as divining the hardware media access control (MAC) address used to identify the board on the physical Ethernet network. Learning how to read a value from a server on the Internet also took some time.
Coming from a Web programming background, I had difficulty getting my head around creating microcontroller code to handle connections and process the results, so I decided to keep the Nanode software fairly dumb. I programmed my Nanode to read just a single value from the Internet and move the barometer’s needle to a position based on that value. The hard work of determining that value would be done on a Web server, where I set up a Flask application on the Heroku cloud application platform. Flask is a lightweight framework for creating websites that use the Python language. It’s great for simple applications that don’t require a database. Heroku is a good fit for hosting Web applications made with Flask, and it’s free for low usage.
Next I had to decide what data to gather and how to boil it down to a single value. The U.K. government’s Met Office provides an API that gives 3-hour forecasts for 5000 locations across the United Kingdom, detailing 30 weather types (mist, drizzle, sleet, thunder, and so forth) along with the wind speed, temperature, and pollution level. For public transport information I used the Live Tube API from Transport for London, which tells you if a station is open (I wanted to know about Brixton station) and the status of each line (in my case, I was just interested in the Victoria line).
To turn the weather and transportation data sources into something meaningful, I started with the number 100, which means “You really should cycle!” The Python code deducts points for bad weather: 10 points off if it’s under 15 °C, 30 points off if it’s going to drizzle, 75 points if it’s going to thunder, and so on. Points get added if the Victoria line is not running in good service or if Brixton station is shut. Once all the additions and subtractions are done, my Flask application outputs a number between 0 and 100, which the Nanode reads as plain text.
Having lived with the Barometer for a few months, and with a little tweaking of the weightings, I’ve found it surprisingly accurate, although the weather’s been pretty bad, so it’s mostly been pointing at the Tube sign! There’s still room for improvement, though—I’d like to add information about daylight hours and maybe real-time pollution data.
The Barometer has also triggered ideas for future projects that take small chunks of information from the Web and display it on Ventilation system: I’ve just finished a whiteboard with six dials that uses a projector to display arbitrary values from a Google spreadsheet based on the dials’ settings. I’m also thinking about building something for my brother that tells him about conditions at his local golf course.
Moving from paper passports to plastic electronic IDs, will change the way people do business and communicate with the government, Nikiforov said. The chip inside the card will be capable of storing official information, like passport details and a digital signature, and additional data, such as travel documents or shopping coupons, as well as the cardholder's personal data, the minister said.
Regarding mobile number portability, or MNP, by which mobile subscribers can switch providers but keep their number, Nikiforov said, it needs to happen soon in order to bring more competition to the mobile communication market. Mobile companies will compete for each user's business to prevent their switching to other operators.
A law mandating MNP was signed by President Vladimir Putin in December last year, but faced opposition from mobile network operators, who blame high costs and incompatible infrastructure for the delays with its deployment.
Previously, Nikiforov said that mobile operators "may try not to be ready" for the planned introduction of the MNP on Dec 1. However, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said Tuesday that he expects it to happen on schedule. "I assume that everything can be done on time," Dvorkovich told reporters. "But if there is a delay, it won't be much, two to three months maximum."
National roaming is another problem that the Communications and Press Ministry is determined to solve, Nikiforov said. "It is some sort of a travel tax that you, business people, pay when you travel between regions in the same country, within the same economic space."
Recently appointed Russian Post CEO Dmitry Strashnov and Rostelecom chief executive Sergei Kalugin were also present at Tuesday's forum and answered questions regarding strategic development of the state-funded postal service and the long-distance communications provider. They answered questions from business people about delays with international parcel delivery and internet connectivity in remote areas.
How I could achieve that came to me in April 2011 at a Rewired State “National Hack the Government Day” event, when I started playing with a Nanode microcontroller. The US $50 Nanode is an Arduino-like microcontroller designed by a group at the London Hackspace, with Internet connectivity built in. I’d had various Arduinos sitting about for a while, with the intention of learning how they work and building something network enabled. But this never quite happened: Getting an Arduino connected to the Internet requires a separate Ethernet “shield” component, which were hard to get hold of at the time. So a Nanode was just what I needed.
However, connecting the Nanode was still a little tricky. First I had to figure out some things at the local-area-network level, such as divining the hardware media access control (MAC) address used to identify the board on the physical Ethernet network. Learning how to read a value from a server on the Internet also took some time.
Coming from a Web programming background, I had difficulty getting my head around creating microcontroller code to handle connections and process the results, so I decided to keep the Nanode software fairly dumb. I programmed my Nanode to read just a single value from the Internet and move the barometer’s needle to a position based on that value. The hard work of determining that value would be done on a Web server, where I set up a Flask application on the Heroku cloud application platform. Flask is a lightweight framework for creating websites that use the Python language. It’s great for simple applications that don’t require a database. Heroku is a good fit for hosting Web applications made with Flask, and it’s free for low usage.
Next I had to decide what data to gather and how to boil it down to a single value. The U.K. government’s Met Office provides an API that gives 3-hour forecasts for 5000 locations across the United Kingdom, detailing 30 weather types (mist, drizzle, sleet, thunder, and so forth) along with the wind speed, temperature, and pollution level. For public transport information I used the Live Tube API from Transport for London, which tells you if a station is open (I wanted to know about Brixton station) and the status of each line (in my case, I was just interested in the Victoria line).
To turn the weather and transportation data sources into something meaningful, I started with the number 100, which means “You really should cycle!” The Python code deducts points for bad weather: 10 points off if it’s under 15 °C, 30 points off if it’s going to drizzle, 75 points if it’s going to thunder, and so on. Points get added if the Victoria line is not running in good service or if Brixton station is shut. Once all the additions and subtractions are done, my Flask application outputs a number between 0 and 100, which the Nanode reads as plain text.
Having lived with the Barometer for a few months, and with a little tweaking of the weightings, I’ve found it surprisingly accurate, although the weather’s been pretty bad, so it’s mostly been pointing at the Tube sign! There’s still room for improvement, though—I’d like to add information about daylight hours and maybe real-time pollution data.
The Barometer has also triggered ideas for future projects that take small chunks of information from the Web and display it on Ventilation system: I’ve just finished a whiteboard with six dials that uses a projector to display arbitrary values from a Google spreadsheet based on the dials’ settings. I’m also thinking about building something for my brother that tells him about conditions at his local golf course.
Moving from paper passports to plastic electronic IDs, will change the way people do business and communicate with the government, Nikiforov said. The chip inside the card will be capable of storing official information, like passport details and a digital signature, and additional data, such as travel documents or shopping coupons, as well as the cardholder's personal data, the minister said.
Regarding mobile number portability, or MNP, by which mobile subscribers can switch providers but keep their number, Nikiforov said, it needs to happen soon in order to bring more competition to the mobile communication market. Mobile companies will compete for each user's business to prevent their switching to other operators.
A law mandating MNP was signed by President Vladimir Putin in December last year, but faced opposition from mobile network operators, who blame high costs and incompatible infrastructure for the delays with its deployment.
Previously, Nikiforov said that mobile operators "may try not to be ready" for the planned introduction of the MNP on Dec 1. However, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said Tuesday that he expects it to happen on schedule. "I assume that everything can be done on time," Dvorkovich told reporters. "But if there is a delay, it won't be much, two to three months maximum."
National roaming is another problem that the Communications and Press Ministry is determined to solve, Nikiforov said. "It is some sort of a travel tax that you, business people, pay when you travel between regions in the same country, within the same economic space."
Recently appointed Russian Post CEO Dmitry Strashnov and Rostelecom chief executive Sergei Kalugin were also present at Tuesday's forum and answered questions regarding strategic development of the state-funded postal service and the long-distance communications provider. They answered questions from business people about delays with international parcel delivery and internet connectivity in remote areas.
2013年5月16日星期四
Southeast thrives in OT at Northwest
In the first minute, Villa’s shot from the right side went directly into Southeast goalkeeper Abel Mendiola, and the Raiders’ defense cleared the deflection. That ended Northwest’s window to tie, though, because just a minute later Southeast’s set-play magic took all hope away from the home team.
After Rosillo was fouled in the corner, he crossed in on another free kick for the Raiders and set up Victor Garcia’s header. Deanda, who made three saves and often took charge on set plays in regulation, again couldn’t block it.
“It was more like holding on and surviving, but we got a break and they fouled our player,” Garcia said. “They did a quick play and I asked for it. I was at the right place.”
Southeast spent much of the night building its attack through the midfield, getting the ball to the side and either crossing or setting up a deep throw-in.
Northwest had the most offensive success with long balls over the defense to striker David Perez. Cielo Nunez’s pass to Perez in the fifth minute ended in an off-balance shot too high and wide. Bryan Villa’s pass to the same spot ended when Perez’s volley was off target.
“I couldn’t get a clean foot,” Perez said. “I tried at least getting a good chance, but it didn’t happen.”
In the 53rd minute, Giovanni Aguero laid off to Perez around 15 yards away but from a tough angle. Perez passed to Nunez, who couldn’t get a clear shot. It was the best of Northwest’s few chances. The Bruins finished with three shots on goal to the Raiders’ five.
For Northwest, this was the furthest the program has gone in the state tournament. Scoggins took over in 2007 and led the Bruins to their first tourney appearance. Last season, they earned their first tourney win and advanced to the quarterfinals before coming up short.
“To come this far and lose one before the championship, it sucks,” said Perez, a senior. “Why come this far if you won’t win it all?”
Southeast must face Dalton without midfielder and team captain Jorge Hurtado, who received a red card with two minutes remaining in overtime after shoving a Northwest player. The Catamounts, who are 21-0 and Class 4A’s top-ranked team, have beaten Kettenring’s squad three times this oil painting reproduction.
“We’ll have to play around that and persevere,” said Kettenring, who is in his first season as the Raiders coach after previously serving as an assistant for the boys and leading the Lady Raiders’ program.
The reworks inside the iPhone 5S guts, according to BGR News, were made to accommodate new handset components and features, chief of them is the sapphire-coated fingerprint sensor that serves two purposes - tougher mobile security and secured wireless payment processing via near-field communications (NFC).
Citing an unidentified source, BGR pointed to the following internal parts as the 'invisible' to the iPhone 5S: loud-speaker bracket, ear speaker bracket, vibrating motor assembly, Wi-Fi flex cable ribbon and SIM card tray.
While the leaks could not be independently verified, the iPhone parts shown were called 'plausible' by numerous blog reports, adding that the expected arrival of the revamped iOS 7, thereby spawning new features for the smartphone, indeed requires major adjustments inside.
This week, reports have suggested that Apple is ditching the physical Home button in favour a capacitive alternative. The switch was intended to provide more durability to iPhone 5S owners, made possible by the elimination of a moving part, which in turn greatly mitigates the wear-and-tear factor of the device.
At the same time, the new key will be coated with sapphire to make it scratch-resistant and beneath the same button, a fingerprint sensor chip will be embedded, which is designed to bolster the iPhone 5S' security features.
After Rosillo was fouled in the corner, he crossed in on another free kick for the Raiders and set up Victor Garcia’s header. Deanda, who made three saves and often took charge on set plays in regulation, again couldn’t block it.
“It was more like holding on and surviving, but we got a break and they fouled our player,” Garcia said. “They did a quick play and I asked for it. I was at the right place.”
Southeast spent much of the night building its attack through the midfield, getting the ball to the side and either crossing or setting up a deep throw-in.
Northwest had the most offensive success with long balls over the defense to striker David Perez. Cielo Nunez’s pass to Perez in the fifth minute ended in an off-balance shot too high and wide. Bryan Villa’s pass to the same spot ended when Perez’s volley was off target.
“I couldn’t get a clean foot,” Perez said. “I tried at least getting a good chance, but it didn’t happen.”
In the 53rd minute, Giovanni Aguero laid off to Perez around 15 yards away but from a tough angle. Perez passed to Nunez, who couldn’t get a clear shot. It was the best of Northwest’s few chances. The Bruins finished with three shots on goal to the Raiders’ five.
For Northwest, this was the furthest the program has gone in the state tournament. Scoggins took over in 2007 and led the Bruins to their first tourney appearance. Last season, they earned their first tourney win and advanced to the quarterfinals before coming up short.
“To come this far and lose one before the championship, it sucks,” said Perez, a senior. “Why come this far if you won’t win it all?”
Southeast must face Dalton without midfielder and team captain Jorge Hurtado, who received a red card with two minutes remaining in overtime after shoving a Northwest player. The Catamounts, who are 21-0 and Class 4A’s top-ranked team, have beaten Kettenring’s squad three times this oil painting reproduction.
“We’ll have to play around that and persevere,” said Kettenring, who is in his first season as the Raiders coach after previously serving as an assistant for the boys and leading the Lady Raiders’ program.
The reworks inside the iPhone 5S guts, according to BGR News, were made to accommodate new handset components and features, chief of them is the sapphire-coated fingerprint sensor that serves two purposes - tougher mobile security and secured wireless payment processing via near-field communications (NFC).
Citing an unidentified source, BGR pointed to the following internal parts as the 'invisible' to the iPhone 5S: loud-speaker bracket, ear speaker bracket, vibrating motor assembly, Wi-Fi flex cable ribbon and SIM card tray.
While the leaks could not be independently verified, the iPhone parts shown were called 'plausible' by numerous blog reports, adding that the expected arrival of the revamped iOS 7, thereby spawning new features for the smartphone, indeed requires major adjustments inside.
This week, reports have suggested that Apple is ditching the physical Home button in favour a capacitive alternative. The switch was intended to provide more durability to iPhone 5S owners, made possible by the elimination of a moving part, which in turn greatly mitigates the wear-and-tear factor of the device.
At the same time, the new key will be coated with sapphire to make it scratch-resistant and beneath the same button, a fingerprint sensor chip will be embedded, which is designed to bolster the iPhone 5S' security features.
2013年5月14日星期二
Otca’s Monkey Kit Lets You Hang Your iPad Wherever You Want
Want to hang your iPad from a tree limb? Too far out? How about on your microphone so you can see your play list, or on the tripod of your camera? Otca has created the Monkey Kit, a unique product that lets you safely hang your iPad anywhere you can wrap a heavy duty “tail” to hold it secure. Other uses include attaching it to exercise machines, putting it between cushions on a couch, securing it while working on your car, and using it as a desktop stand.
The kit consists of two parts. There is a Vacuum Dock and a Monkey Tail. The two pieces can be taken apart for storage or travel. The Vacuum Dock is 1.95-in (4.95 cm) at it’s widest point. the Monkey Tail is 36-in (91 cm) long and together the pieces weigh 1.49 pounds (676 grams). The outer surface of the Vacuum Dock is hard plastic, and there is a soft rubber dome cap included to protect the connectors when storing or traveling with the dock. The tail is wrapped in soft, grippy silicon. The Vacuum Dock is interchangeable with other products sold by the company.
I have only one negative thing to say about this product so let me get this out of the way first. The written instructions that accompany the package are awful. The print is very tiny because they have instructions in several languages on a small sheet and then complicate it further by having color combinations that look good, but are impossible to read. As an example, pale green type on light green background. Fortunately, they have excellent written and video instructions on their website for every aspect of working with the Air purifier.
To attach the kit to an iPad (or iPad mini) you place the Vacuum Dock against the back of the iPad, making sure there are no air pockets anywhere, and pump the air pump five or six times. There is no reason to hold down the Vacuum Dock like you would ordinarily have to do with other vacuum seal products. When the pump handle remains all the way in, the seal is set. The instructions note that in some cases, it is wise to check the pump handle periodically to assure the seal is still set satisfactorily, but I did not experience any problems with that.
One outstanding feature of this product is that it will work with some iPad covers. The cover must be completely smooth and nonporous and, at least from my testing, have no front cover as the front cover seems to unbalance the vacuum seal. I had two covers available to test this feature, both were smooth, but only the hard plastic one worked. However, that one worked great and it was very nice to be able to use the stand without undressing the iPad.
Using the Monkey Kit as a table top stand works well as long as you follow the directions. You have to create a half or three-quarter circle on the table surface and then make sure the iPad’s center of gravity is lined up with the stand base you have created. It is a very logical formula and after trying it a couple of times, it was easy. My son-in-law who has hands three times bigger than mine set it up with one try and loved it.
It costs about ￡800, and for that money you get a fairly standard-looking 15.6-inch laptop in the typical Acer style. This V3 series looks a bit like the Timeline models from a while back. You won't find any aluminium here, just plastic. The stand-out feature is the matte 15.6-inch Full HD IPS display. IPS screens tend to have much better viewing angles, brightness and colors than the more common TN screens.
The modest design betrays the powerful hardware inside, however. While the Intel Core i7-3630QM is the entry-level model in Intel's quad-core processor series, it's a lot faster than a dual-core processor. The Nvidia GeForce GT640M has 2 GB of video memory, and while it's not a GPU from Nvidia's GTX series, it does provide better performance than the integrated graphics. It's a chip from Nvidia's Kepler family which has 384 Cuda cores (624 MHz) and a memory bandwidth of 1.8 GHz. It's one of the few GT-class cards that's actually fast enough for playing games.
It's an impressive laptop in other areas as well. Both memory slots are filled with 4 GB DDR3 RAM modules, of the DDR3-1333 kind. Storage is provided by a 1 TB, 5400 rpm hard disk. There's also a Pioneer Blu-ray player that can also burn cds and dvds. A pretty deluxe configuration, in other words. The only thing you're missing is an SSD.
Adding an SSD yourself isn't that difficult. Acer put the replaceable components like the hard disk, WiFi module and RAM underneath a cover that's kept in place by two screws. You can't fit both a hard disk and an SSD, however, so you'll have to choose.
The kit consists of two parts. There is a Vacuum Dock and a Monkey Tail. The two pieces can be taken apart for storage or travel. The Vacuum Dock is 1.95-in (4.95 cm) at it’s widest point. the Monkey Tail is 36-in (91 cm) long and together the pieces weigh 1.49 pounds (676 grams). The outer surface of the Vacuum Dock is hard plastic, and there is a soft rubber dome cap included to protect the connectors when storing or traveling with the dock. The tail is wrapped in soft, grippy silicon. The Vacuum Dock is interchangeable with other products sold by the company.
I have only one negative thing to say about this product so let me get this out of the way first. The written instructions that accompany the package are awful. The print is very tiny because they have instructions in several languages on a small sheet and then complicate it further by having color combinations that look good, but are impossible to read. As an example, pale green type on light green background. Fortunately, they have excellent written and video instructions on their website for every aspect of working with the Air purifier.
To attach the kit to an iPad (or iPad mini) you place the Vacuum Dock against the back of the iPad, making sure there are no air pockets anywhere, and pump the air pump five or six times. There is no reason to hold down the Vacuum Dock like you would ordinarily have to do with other vacuum seal products. When the pump handle remains all the way in, the seal is set. The instructions note that in some cases, it is wise to check the pump handle periodically to assure the seal is still set satisfactorily, but I did not experience any problems with that.
One outstanding feature of this product is that it will work with some iPad covers. The cover must be completely smooth and nonporous and, at least from my testing, have no front cover as the front cover seems to unbalance the vacuum seal. I had two covers available to test this feature, both were smooth, but only the hard plastic one worked. However, that one worked great and it was very nice to be able to use the stand without undressing the iPad.
Using the Monkey Kit as a table top stand works well as long as you follow the directions. You have to create a half or three-quarter circle on the table surface and then make sure the iPad’s center of gravity is lined up with the stand base you have created. It is a very logical formula and after trying it a couple of times, it was easy. My son-in-law who has hands three times bigger than mine set it up with one try and loved it.
It costs about ￡800, and for that money you get a fairly standard-looking 15.6-inch laptop in the typical Acer style. This V3 series looks a bit like the Timeline models from a while back. You won't find any aluminium here, just plastic. The stand-out feature is the matte 15.6-inch Full HD IPS display. IPS screens tend to have much better viewing angles, brightness and colors than the more common TN screens.
The modest design betrays the powerful hardware inside, however. While the Intel Core i7-3630QM is the entry-level model in Intel's quad-core processor series, it's a lot faster than a dual-core processor. The Nvidia GeForce GT640M has 2 GB of video memory, and while it's not a GPU from Nvidia's GTX series, it does provide better performance than the integrated graphics. It's a chip from Nvidia's Kepler family which has 384 Cuda cores (624 MHz) and a memory bandwidth of 1.8 GHz. It's one of the few GT-class cards that's actually fast enough for playing games.
It's an impressive laptop in other areas as well. Both memory slots are filled with 4 GB DDR3 RAM modules, of the DDR3-1333 kind. Storage is provided by a 1 TB, 5400 rpm hard disk. There's also a Pioneer Blu-ray player that can also burn cds and dvds. A pretty deluxe configuration, in other words. The only thing you're missing is an SSD.
Adding an SSD yourself isn't that difficult. Acer put the replaceable components like the hard disk, WiFi module and RAM underneath a cover that's kept in place by two screws. You can't fit both a hard disk and an SSD, however, so you'll have to choose.
2013年2月20日星期三
Orem radar company demos product for defense department
Harris, the owner of Orem-based SpotterRF, developed a portable radar device that has received the attention of the U.S. Department of Defense. He was invited to demonstrate the Spotter M600C at the Stiletto Maritime Demonstration Program last month for the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command.
"The Department of Defense on a regular basis does investigations into new technology," Harris said. "They invite groups that might be applicable and test in real world situations."
The point of the radar is essentially to allow people to see around corners and into areas where traditional radar cannot reach. That allows military users to both move and deploy with a greater knowledge of the type of situation they are entering. During the demonstration, the Spotter M600C was set up remotely on a tripod at the mouth of the harbor. Several vessels traveled into and around the harbor. The radar communicated movements to the military vessel about a mile away, giving sailors real-time detections on a map that displayed the location, distance and speed of the target.
"We were their remote eyes where they didn't have coverage," Harris said. "Ships have large radar dishes limited by line of sight areas without view. We were in a port area where the entrance wasn't visible."
The military ship was able to get the advance alerts needed and deploy to take care of the problem. According to Harris all a person would need is a small tripod and a radio along with the M600C radar.
"Warfighting needs are rapidly changing, and our interest is in looking at mature technologies and future capabilities that could be transitioned to fill an operational need sooner than later," Dale Shiflett, NECC's deputy assistant chief of staff for strategy and technology, said in a news release. "Using the Stiletto Maritime Demonstration Program allowed us to look at the realm of possibilities for new and improved technologies. What better way to do that, than to have both the warfighter and the system developers in the same environment using the systems and having discussions on how it could work better."
Brock Josephson, SpotterRF's team lead for the demonstration, said, "The M600C was very effective at detecting all vessels coming in and out of the harbor. The system even detected and tracked a drifting jet ski."
Weirdly, you switch into macro mode by turning a ring on the lens; it snaps into a new position. I ruined more than one great photo because the lens ring had accidentally wound up in macro mode.
Superwide shots are effortless, since the RX1 inherits the Sweep Panorama feature of Sony’s other models; as you swing the camera around you, pressing the shutter button, it snaps away, creating a 270-degree, automatically stitched, usually perfect panorama in real time.
Video is gorgeous, too: 1080p high definition with stereo sound. There’s a miniplug input for an external microphone, too.
Clearly, this camera is intended for professionals or nearly pros. It’s built like a tank, all metal, with markings etched and not just painted on. Its shutter is completely silent. Its hotshoe accommodates various expensive accessories, including optical or electronic viewfinders.
It offers every kind of manual control, and you can customize it to the hilt; its scene mode dial offers three positions for storing your own memorized settings. There’s an aperture adjustment ring right on the lens, and there’s a dedicated exposure knob on the top.
Unfortunately, there are also some aspects that will drive you crazy. Focusing can be slow — in low light, really slow; as a result, this isn’t a great camera for sports, pets or children. There’s no stabilization for still photos, either. And you can’t play back stills and videos consecutively. You have to dive into the menus to switch from one form of playback to the other. That’s common to other recent Sony cameras, and it’s idiotic.
As the state has sought to profit more from the game, the Legislature has lifted most of the original restrictions, allowing it to expand from restaurants and bowling alleys to bars and large stores, and authorizing play almost around the clock.
The remaining restrictions prohibit businesses that do not serve alcohol from offering Quick Draw unless they occupy more than 2,500 square feet, and require players to be 21 years old in venues serving alcohol. (In other states, the minimum age is 18.) Removing those rules would allow small stores to offer Quick Draw, and would be likely to generate more sales in New York City, where per capita revenues are low compared with the rest of the state.
While the ZIP codes with the highest earnings tend to be in New York City — the neighborhood of Sunset Park, Brooklyn, is tops in the state, doing almost twice the business of the second-place ZIP code, northwest Staten Island, according to lottery figures — that is because city neighborhoods are far denser than those upstate.
The proposal would also allow players as young as 18 to play Quick Draw in bars, even though they cannot legally drink there.
“The restrictions have proved cumbersome and unnecessary, and have substantially reduced the amount of earnings that would otherwise be generated by the game,” reads the governor’s memo.
Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, a Brooklyn Democrat who chairs the Assembly’s Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Committee, warned in a statement that the age change could result in a generation of new addicts. About one million New Yorkers have already been identified as “problem gamblers,” he said, noting that Quick Draw has been called “video crack.”
"The Department of Defense on a regular basis does investigations into new technology," Harris said. "They invite groups that might be applicable and test in real world situations."
The point of the radar is essentially to allow people to see around corners and into areas where traditional radar cannot reach. That allows military users to both move and deploy with a greater knowledge of the type of situation they are entering. During the demonstration, the Spotter M600C was set up remotely on a tripod at the mouth of the harbor. Several vessels traveled into and around the harbor. The radar communicated movements to the military vessel about a mile away, giving sailors real-time detections on a map that displayed the location, distance and speed of the target.
"We were their remote eyes where they didn't have coverage," Harris said. "Ships have large radar dishes limited by line of sight areas without view. We were in a port area where the entrance wasn't visible."
The military ship was able to get the advance alerts needed and deploy to take care of the problem. According to Harris all a person would need is a small tripod and a radio along with the M600C radar.
"Warfighting needs are rapidly changing, and our interest is in looking at mature technologies and future capabilities that could be transitioned to fill an operational need sooner than later," Dale Shiflett, NECC's deputy assistant chief of staff for strategy and technology, said in a news release. "Using the Stiletto Maritime Demonstration Program allowed us to look at the realm of possibilities for new and improved technologies. What better way to do that, than to have both the warfighter and the system developers in the same environment using the systems and having discussions on how it could work better."
Brock Josephson, SpotterRF's team lead for the demonstration, said, "The M600C was very effective at detecting all vessels coming in and out of the harbor. The system even detected and tracked a drifting jet ski."
Weirdly, you switch into macro mode by turning a ring on the lens; it snaps into a new position. I ruined more than one great photo because the lens ring had accidentally wound up in macro mode.
Superwide shots are effortless, since the RX1 inherits the Sweep Panorama feature of Sony’s other models; as you swing the camera around you, pressing the shutter button, it snaps away, creating a 270-degree, automatically stitched, usually perfect panorama in real time.
Video is gorgeous, too: 1080p high definition with stereo sound. There’s a miniplug input for an external microphone, too.
Clearly, this camera is intended for professionals or nearly pros. It’s built like a tank, all metal, with markings etched and not just painted on. Its shutter is completely silent. Its hotshoe accommodates various expensive accessories, including optical or electronic viewfinders.
It offers every kind of manual control, and you can customize it to the hilt; its scene mode dial offers three positions for storing your own memorized settings. There’s an aperture adjustment ring right on the lens, and there’s a dedicated exposure knob on the top.
Unfortunately, there are also some aspects that will drive you crazy. Focusing can be slow — in low light, really slow; as a result, this isn’t a great camera for sports, pets or children. There’s no stabilization for still photos, either. And you can’t play back stills and videos consecutively. You have to dive into the menus to switch from one form of playback to the other. That’s common to other recent Sony cameras, and it’s idiotic.
As the state has sought to profit more from the game, the Legislature has lifted most of the original restrictions, allowing it to expand from restaurants and bowling alleys to bars and large stores, and authorizing play almost around the clock.
The remaining restrictions prohibit businesses that do not serve alcohol from offering Quick Draw unless they occupy more than 2,500 square feet, and require players to be 21 years old in venues serving alcohol. (In other states, the minimum age is 18.) Removing those rules would allow small stores to offer Quick Draw, and would be likely to generate more sales in New York City, where per capita revenues are low compared with the rest of the state.
While the ZIP codes with the highest earnings tend to be in New York City — the neighborhood of Sunset Park, Brooklyn, is tops in the state, doing almost twice the business of the second-place ZIP code, northwest Staten Island, according to lottery figures — that is because city neighborhoods are far denser than those upstate.
The proposal would also allow players as young as 18 to play Quick Draw in bars, even though they cannot legally drink there.
“The restrictions have proved cumbersome and unnecessary, and have substantially reduced the amount of earnings that would otherwise be generated by the game,” reads the governor’s memo.
Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, a Brooklyn Democrat who chairs the Assembly’s Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Committee, warned in a statement that the age change could result in a generation of new addicts. About one million New Yorkers have already been identified as “problem gamblers,” he said, noting that Quick Draw has been called “video crack.”
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