On the third floor, PayPal President David Marcus shows me a sea of high-walled beige and grey hexagonal cubicles. The kind you stared at for 16 hours a day if you worked at a Peninsula-based, late-1990s tech company. They look identical to Yahoo’s except no purple and yellow. The walls block out most of the natural light in the room and any sign of coworkers. Even “Cubicle Guy” would have to stretch to prairie dog over them. Marcus can’t hide his contempt looking at them.
On the fourth floor, you could hold a middle school prom. It’s just a huge, flat empty space. Those same cubicles are there, only they’ve been dismantled and leaning against walls. It’s so flooded with the July San Jose sun, it’s almost blinding. “The carpets are next,” Marcus says, of the ugly beige floors with darker beige squiggles on them.
On the fifth floor, though, I see David Marcus’ vision of the future, what working at PayPal could be like. It’s an open environment with modern white and chrome desks, no walls between them. Along the walls are open collaboration seating areas meant to deemphasize conference rooms. There are still a few conference rooms that you can reserve for third party payment gateway, though very few. In their place are several small “focus” rooms that don’t operate on a schedule.The message? If you can actually see your coworkers, you don’t need more meetings, because you are always working together. Marcus mutters something about PayPal’s “meeting disease,” as we walk past.
The entire company is going to look like this soon. Nearly 3,000 cubes are getting thrown out. Marcus is going to force people to work together via every means necessary, even furniture. Force the company to operate in small teams. Force them to collaborate on everything. Force them to be — groan with me, if you’ve heard every other guy at a has-been large tech company say it — more startup-like.As he’s stripped away worker comforts, many have balked at these changes and others he’s instituted over the the year and five months he’s been in charge. Those people, Marcus says, need to go.
“There are plenty of companies in Silicon Valley that have cubicles,” he says. “They are welcome to go find them. It’s harsh but you have to let people know it’s happened. This is how it is.” He stops just short of saying, If they don’t like it, they can leave. But it’s clearly the message. “You can’t change the culture nice and slow and gently,” he says. “You need a series of electric shocks. The more violent the better.”
Marcus has inherited a turnaround story unlike almost any other playing out in the tech rustbelt today. PayPal is still the market leader in its category. Not just by market cap and number of employees but by transactions, too. PayPal isn’t a fading legacy brand like Yahoo– it’s still growing. PayPal is heralded as one of the best acquisitions in Silicon Valley history. It’s one of the key things that has been pushing eBay forward: Payments have increased from 24 percent of eBay’s revenue in 2006 to 43 percent last year. Its CEOs have repeatedly said that one day PayPal will be bigger than eBay.
Silicon Valley is obsessed with network effects, or when the benefit of others being on a site makes the experience that much better for everyone – and more valuable to the company. Network effects give you an unfair advantage over newcomers; even a challenger that’s technically better will struggle to pose a threat. (Witness PayPal’s parent company eBay.) Forget building a $1 billion company. Network effects are how you get a $10 billion company.
But PayPal is the cautionary tale of what happens when a network effect works too well. It turns out that solving the many security, fraud, trust, marketing, and chicken-and-egg challenges of building a new system for buying and selling goods around the world creates a moat so wide and deep it can actually be a problem.
Simply put: PayPal got soft. It stopped innovating, because it didn’t have to. PayPal was one of the most ambitious startups of the late 1990s, co-founded by the holy trinity of intense over-performers Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, and Elon Musk. As that talent migrated, offshore merchant account, the new team realized no one was chasing PayPal any longer. Its sprint slowed to an amble. It still grew. PayPal took a break, got a snack, and took a nap. It still grew. Pretty soon PayPal’s technical muscles started to atrophy. Pre-Marcus, PayPal was still dominant and growing but was also fat, slow, and out-of-touch.
“I’ve never seen as many things broken, and a company still being successful. It was just kinda bizarre,” says Bill Scott previous director of ecommerce UI at Netflix and one of the key new hires Marcus has brought in to transform PayPal’s user experience and make it a more lean, iterative organization.
Under PayPal’s previous regime several sources have told me that the company actively tried not to hire the best engineering talent, because great developers are a headstrong, disruptive force. They just wanted competent coders who could get the job done.
2013年8月12日星期一
2013年8月7日星期三
Dex Media Management Discusses
Good morning, and welcome to Dex Media's Second Quarter 2013 Conference Call. With me today are Peter McDonald, Chief Executive Officer; and Dee Jones, Chief Financial Officer. The statements made by the company today during this call, are forward-looking statements. These statements include the company's beliefs and expectations as to future events and trends affecting the company's business and are subject to risks and uncertainties.
The company advises you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and to consider them in light of the risk factors set forth in reports filed by Dex Media and its predecessor companies with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
This was an eventful quarter with the completion of the merger between Dex One and SuperMedia on April 30. The combination of these companies is good for shareholders, third party merchant account, our clients and the future of our employees. I again recognize and thank the Boards of Dex One and SuperMedia, as well as our advisors, lenders and shareholders for your support.
We are now 3 months into integration, and we have accomplished a lot. While the merger was consummated 4 months later than originally planned, all of the planning that had been done prior to the closing date is paying off, and we are seeing the benefits in best practices, strengthened management teams and synergies.
I'm very pleased with how the teams are working together, and I can say we are on track in that regard at this point. We have evaluated nearly all the jobs in the company. We have made some tough decisions and have identified and put in place our top 127 managers in just the first 2 months of integration. It is interesting and significant that our management team consists of nearly an even split of people from both predecessor companies.
I'm very pleased with the talent in the new company. It is important to get leadership team in place so that we can make the decisions necessary to drive the business forward. This has been a distracting time as people needed to get the "me questions" resolved. With nearly 5,000 people now in place in 135 locations, we are anxious to continue to make progress.
The HR and legal teams have done an outstanding job of getting this work completed. In each of the functional departments, we have quality leadership in place and are moving forward each day to improve this business. Marketing team is working on migrating the best products across the entire footprint and leveraging best practices. The bundles Dex One used will be rolled out to the former SuperMedia footprint, and the former SuperMedia digital bundles will be rolled into the former Dex One markets.
Over the second half of 2013 and into 2014, we look forward to rolling out additional products across our entire combined footprint. Getting all the systems ready to accommodate these new products is high on our list of priorities as we migrate our customer base to the digital world. As we get deeper into this combination, it is clear that a lot of quality work was done in each organization prior to the merger.
Today’s consumers are increasingly relying on credit cards and innovative payment methods to make purchases. As leaders in the global payment sector, Visa (NYSE: V) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA) are both poised to continue benefiting from this trend.
In 1958, the first-ever large-scale credit card program was launched by Bank of America in Fresno, Calif. The company sent out plastic “BankAmericards” with $300 credit limits to 60,000 of its customers. Bank of America soon began to license its third party payment gateway system to banks in other U.S. states. In 1970, the various issuers of the cards created an alliance to operate the program, and later renamed the company Visa.
In 2008, Visa went public in what was the highest-valued IPO in history at the time. Visa now operates in more than 200 countries and in virtually every currency. It is the largest retail electronic payments network company in the world, with over $6.5 trillion in total transactions completed last year.
In 1966, in an effort to compete with Visa, a rival credit card was created by a cooperative of California banks under the name “Master Charge: The Interbank Card.” The card had a unique Venn diagram logo, and in 1979, its name was changed to MasterCard.
In 2012, MasterCard processed 34 billion transactions with a value of $3.6 trillion. The company operates in over 210 countries and in 150 different currencies. While Visa has nearly twice as many cards in circulation, MasterCard has been growing its revenue at a faster rate of late.
Both Visa and MasterCard generate revenue primarily by collecting fees from merchants and banks based on the number and dollar value of the transactions that they process. Unlike competitors such as American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) and Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), they do not actually extend credit to their customers. The banks that issue the credit cards take on the credit risk, while Visa and MasterCard act only as middlemen, charging fees for facilitating consumer transactions.
In addition to credit cards, the companies also offer debit cards. While credit cards offer users the ability to borrow money and pay for purchases at a later date, debit card payments are immediately transferred from the cardholder’s bank account to the merchant.
In recent years, both Visa and MasterCard have also been expanding into emerging markets where most transactions have traditionally been completed in cash. As these countries continue to develop, consumer spending should increase, as will the demand for credit.
An increasingly competitive area for both companies is the Internet payment segment, where eBay’s (NASDAQ: EBAY) PayPal unit has been a leading innovator. PayPal’s customers make online payments using any card or bank account of their choice. Both Visa and MasterCard generate additional transaction volumes through PayPal, but the latter is now becoming more of a direct competitor. Last August, PayPal reached an agreement with Discover to give shoppers access to their online accounts in physical retail stores.
Based on Friday’s closing price of $184.00, Visa has a market value of $119 billion. The stock trades at a multiple of 21 times 2014 earnings estimates, while the company is expected to grow profits by 19 per cent over the next five years. MasterCard last traded at $645.57, implying a market value of $78 billion. While the stock also trades at a forward earnings multiple of 21 times, the company is expected to grow at a slightly slower rate. MasterCard’s shares are up 31 per cent this year, while Visa’s stock has gained 21 per cent.
The company advises you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and to consider them in light of the risk factors set forth in reports filed by Dex Media and its predecessor companies with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
This was an eventful quarter with the completion of the merger between Dex One and SuperMedia on April 30. The combination of these companies is good for shareholders, third party merchant account, our clients and the future of our employees. I again recognize and thank the Boards of Dex One and SuperMedia, as well as our advisors, lenders and shareholders for your support.
We are now 3 months into integration, and we have accomplished a lot. While the merger was consummated 4 months later than originally planned, all of the planning that had been done prior to the closing date is paying off, and we are seeing the benefits in best practices, strengthened management teams and synergies.
I'm very pleased with how the teams are working together, and I can say we are on track in that regard at this point. We have evaluated nearly all the jobs in the company. We have made some tough decisions and have identified and put in place our top 127 managers in just the first 2 months of integration. It is interesting and significant that our management team consists of nearly an even split of people from both predecessor companies.
I'm very pleased with the talent in the new company. It is important to get leadership team in place so that we can make the decisions necessary to drive the business forward. This has been a distracting time as people needed to get the "me questions" resolved. With nearly 5,000 people now in place in 135 locations, we are anxious to continue to make progress.
The HR and legal teams have done an outstanding job of getting this work completed. In each of the functional departments, we have quality leadership in place and are moving forward each day to improve this business. Marketing team is working on migrating the best products across the entire footprint and leveraging best practices. The bundles Dex One used will be rolled out to the former SuperMedia footprint, and the former SuperMedia digital bundles will be rolled into the former Dex One markets.
Over the second half of 2013 and into 2014, we look forward to rolling out additional products across our entire combined footprint. Getting all the systems ready to accommodate these new products is high on our list of priorities as we migrate our customer base to the digital world. As we get deeper into this combination, it is clear that a lot of quality work was done in each organization prior to the merger.
Today’s consumers are increasingly relying on credit cards and innovative payment methods to make purchases. As leaders in the global payment sector, Visa (NYSE: V) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA) are both poised to continue benefiting from this trend.
In 1958, the first-ever large-scale credit card program was launched by Bank of America in Fresno, Calif. The company sent out plastic “BankAmericards” with $300 credit limits to 60,000 of its customers. Bank of America soon began to license its third party payment gateway system to banks in other U.S. states. In 1970, the various issuers of the cards created an alliance to operate the program, and later renamed the company Visa.
In 2008, Visa went public in what was the highest-valued IPO in history at the time. Visa now operates in more than 200 countries and in virtually every currency. It is the largest retail electronic payments network company in the world, with over $6.5 trillion in total transactions completed last year.
In 1966, in an effort to compete with Visa, a rival credit card was created by a cooperative of California banks under the name “Master Charge: The Interbank Card.” The card had a unique Venn diagram logo, and in 1979, its name was changed to MasterCard.
In 2012, MasterCard processed 34 billion transactions with a value of $3.6 trillion. The company operates in over 210 countries and in 150 different currencies. While Visa has nearly twice as many cards in circulation, MasterCard has been growing its revenue at a faster rate of late.
Both Visa and MasterCard generate revenue primarily by collecting fees from merchants and banks based on the number and dollar value of the transactions that they process. Unlike competitors such as American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) and Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), they do not actually extend credit to their customers. The banks that issue the credit cards take on the credit risk, while Visa and MasterCard act only as middlemen, charging fees for facilitating consumer transactions.
In addition to credit cards, the companies also offer debit cards. While credit cards offer users the ability to borrow money and pay for purchases at a later date, debit card payments are immediately transferred from the cardholder’s bank account to the merchant.
In recent years, both Visa and MasterCard have also been expanding into emerging markets where most transactions have traditionally been completed in cash. As these countries continue to develop, consumer spending should increase, as will the demand for credit.
An increasingly competitive area for both companies is the Internet payment segment, where eBay’s (NASDAQ: EBAY) PayPal unit has been a leading innovator. PayPal’s customers make online payments using any card or bank account of their choice. Both Visa and MasterCard generate additional transaction volumes through PayPal, but the latter is now becoming more of a direct competitor. Last August, PayPal reached an agreement with Discover to give shoppers access to their online accounts in physical retail stores.
Based on Friday’s closing price of $184.00, Visa has a market value of $119 billion. The stock trades at a multiple of 21 times 2014 earnings estimates, while the company is expected to grow profits by 19 per cent over the next five years. MasterCard last traded at $645.57, implying a market value of $78 billion. While the stock also trades at a forward earnings multiple of 21 times, the company is expected to grow at a slightly slower rate. MasterCard’s shares are up 31 per cent this year, while Visa’s stock has gained 21 per cent.
2013年7月18日星期四
Minimum funding not enough
There is no formula which accurately defines an adequate school budget in Massachusetts. However, I would argue that a budget reflecting the minimum net school spending figure derived from the state's foundation budget formula established under the Education Reform Act of 1993, can serve as a definition of inadequacy. It has been demonstrated that the Foundation formula underestimated health insurance and special education cost projections by at least $2.1 billion statewide as of last year. School systems have been forced to under-fund regular education classroom instruction and/or compensate by going beyond the formula and exceeding minimum net school spending by an average of 14 percent.
In 2012-13, Worcester funded its schools at 99 percent of its required minimum, while contributing 30.1 percent of its total budget toward its Foundation Budget minimum requirement. This placed the city in the bottom 2 percent of the 328 school districts in Massachusetts. Worcester's surrounding communities contributed on average 64.9 percent of their budgets toward their school foundation budget, and contributed on average 28.8 percent above their required minimum. Since 1998, Worcester has consistently contributed less than one percent above minimum. The only exception was 2009, when it funded the schools at 1.5 percent above minimum. While many communities are taxing at or near their levy limit, Worcester has assessed at millions of dollars below its levy limit for years.
The FY14 school budget approved by the City Council will be accompanied by an allocation from free cash putting it right at minimum net school spending. Under this budget, hundreds of elementary students will attend classes of 27 or more students. In a high-poverty urban system, this situation should be third party payment gateway.
During the FY13 budget hearings, a number of City Councilors expressed concern about the elementary class size situation and, in June, 2012, the city manager and superintendent issued a joint recommendation to hire an independent third party to determine a realistic five year school budget. That recommendation was never acted upon. During the FY14 budget deliberations, my perception was that the City Council thought that funding at the minimum level (which defines inadequacy, as explained in my opening) was a significant accomplishment.
The city uses a formula agreed upon between the city manager and the former superintendent to assess the school department for administrative services. While the city has increased its charges by 19.8 percent since FY08, the actual administrative cost on the school side of the budget has only increased by 2.4 percent, despite an increase of 5.1 percent in student population.
According to the most recent data, the school department spends $4.3 million on administration. The city claims $4.9 million toward required net school spending for its administrative costs for the schools. In no other Massachusetts city does the municipality claim to spend more on school administration than the school district. In fact, among other Gateway Cities, none claim anything close to half of the amount that the school system spends. Worcester cannot afford to credit charges against the schools if they do not represent actual service delivery, since every dollar so credited becomes unavailable to educate its students. The time has come to change this practice.
Each year, the school system generates over $3 million in Medicaid payments that go into the city coffers instead of the schools. These funds are generated exclusively by services performed by school personnel and are intended to reimburse the schools. Funds that only exist because of the school department should be applied toward the operation of the schools.
In some recent years, the city has assessed the schools a 3 percent charge for processing Federal grants. In other years, a 1 percent charge has been assessed. The difference is almost $900,000 not available for classroom instruction. Most communities do not charge their schools a fee for this processing, and neither should Worcester.
No one should underestimate the challenges that Charities Online, the new way of claiming Gift Aid, is bringing to the charity sector. While the more adventurous may already have mastered it, many charities have not and might not even realise that the challenge is coming. The real crunch will come at the end of September when the old Gift Aid claim forms will no longer be accepted and Charities Online will be impossible to ignore.
Part of the problem is that Charities Online is not one system but an unholy trinity, with three ways of making claims in one. The route you follow depends largely on the size of the tax claims that your charity makes. These options reflect the diversity of the charity sector.
Many charities will use the spreadsheets that can be downloaded from the HM Revenue & Customs website. This might be relatively painless for most, but larger charities need to develop a ‘database-to-database’ solution and need either to acquire third party software or develop their own. It is unclear whether all software providers will be ready in time. Those smaller charities that do not wish to use the internet can use paper forms, but these are cumbersome to use. Will some charities with small claims simply not bother?
Complying with Charities Online cannot be done overnight. There is an activation process to go through, so it is important to leave plenty of time to get ready. Nor will many find the Government Gateway – a single page on which to register for online government services – easy to use.
Many charities will wonder why these changes were necessary. There will be some advantages for the charity sector, including speedier payments, but the changes benefit HMRC more, mainly by saving significantly on processing costs. The information submitted with claims will also enable them to be policed by HMRC in a more targeted and effective way. Charities need to understand that HMRC will be able to pick up errors in claims much more easily than in the past, so those who have got into bad habits should beware.
HMRC has faced a daunting challenge in trying to communicate these changes to 100,000 charities in a short period of time. Sector groups have done their best to help. We have urged HMRC to ensure that charities are given the time that they need to adapt and were successful in getting a six-month grace period. But the time is coming when we might need to seek some limited extensions to this, particularly where a charity uses the database-to-database solution. The transition to Charities Online is far from over.
Click on their website http://austpay.com/.
In 2012-13, Worcester funded its schools at 99 percent of its required minimum, while contributing 30.1 percent of its total budget toward its Foundation Budget minimum requirement. This placed the city in the bottom 2 percent of the 328 school districts in Massachusetts. Worcester's surrounding communities contributed on average 64.9 percent of their budgets toward their school foundation budget, and contributed on average 28.8 percent above their required minimum. Since 1998, Worcester has consistently contributed less than one percent above minimum. The only exception was 2009, when it funded the schools at 1.5 percent above minimum. While many communities are taxing at or near their levy limit, Worcester has assessed at millions of dollars below its levy limit for years.
The FY14 school budget approved by the City Council will be accompanied by an allocation from free cash putting it right at minimum net school spending. Under this budget, hundreds of elementary students will attend classes of 27 or more students. In a high-poverty urban system, this situation should be third party payment gateway.
During the FY13 budget hearings, a number of City Councilors expressed concern about the elementary class size situation and, in June, 2012, the city manager and superintendent issued a joint recommendation to hire an independent third party to determine a realistic five year school budget. That recommendation was never acted upon. During the FY14 budget deliberations, my perception was that the City Council thought that funding at the minimum level (which defines inadequacy, as explained in my opening) was a significant accomplishment.
The city uses a formula agreed upon between the city manager and the former superintendent to assess the school department for administrative services. While the city has increased its charges by 19.8 percent since FY08, the actual administrative cost on the school side of the budget has only increased by 2.4 percent, despite an increase of 5.1 percent in student population.
According to the most recent data, the school department spends $4.3 million on administration. The city claims $4.9 million toward required net school spending for its administrative costs for the schools. In no other Massachusetts city does the municipality claim to spend more on school administration than the school district. In fact, among other Gateway Cities, none claim anything close to half of the amount that the school system spends. Worcester cannot afford to credit charges against the schools if they do not represent actual service delivery, since every dollar so credited becomes unavailable to educate its students. The time has come to change this practice.
Each year, the school system generates over $3 million in Medicaid payments that go into the city coffers instead of the schools. These funds are generated exclusively by services performed by school personnel and are intended to reimburse the schools. Funds that only exist because of the school department should be applied toward the operation of the schools.
In some recent years, the city has assessed the schools a 3 percent charge for processing Federal grants. In other years, a 1 percent charge has been assessed. The difference is almost $900,000 not available for classroom instruction. Most communities do not charge their schools a fee for this processing, and neither should Worcester.
No one should underestimate the challenges that Charities Online, the new way of claiming Gift Aid, is bringing to the charity sector. While the more adventurous may already have mastered it, many charities have not and might not even realise that the challenge is coming. The real crunch will come at the end of September when the old Gift Aid claim forms will no longer be accepted and Charities Online will be impossible to ignore.
Part of the problem is that Charities Online is not one system but an unholy trinity, with three ways of making claims in one. The route you follow depends largely on the size of the tax claims that your charity makes. These options reflect the diversity of the charity sector.
Many charities will use the spreadsheets that can be downloaded from the HM Revenue & Customs website. This might be relatively painless for most, but larger charities need to develop a ‘database-to-database’ solution and need either to acquire third party software or develop their own. It is unclear whether all software providers will be ready in time. Those smaller charities that do not wish to use the internet can use paper forms, but these are cumbersome to use. Will some charities with small claims simply not bother?
Complying with Charities Online cannot be done overnight. There is an activation process to go through, so it is important to leave plenty of time to get ready. Nor will many find the Government Gateway – a single page on which to register for online government services – easy to use.
Many charities will wonder why these changes were necessary. There will be some advantages for the charity sector, including speedier payments, but the changes benefit HMRC more, mainly by saving significantly on processing costs. The information submitted with claims will also enable them to be policed by HMRC in a more targeted and effective way. Charities need to understand that HMRC will be able to pick up errors in claims much more easily than in the past, so those who have got into bad habits should beware.
HMRC has faced a daunting challenge in trying to communicate these changes to 100,000 charities in a short period of time. Sector groups have done their best to help. We have urged HMRC to ensure that charities are given the time that they need to adapt and were successful in getting a six-month grace period. But the time is coming when we might need to seek some limited extensions to this, particularly where a charity uses the database-to-database solution. The transition to Charities Online is far from over.
Click on their website http://austpay.com/.
Secure Electrans bids to bring chip
Secure Electrans has been working closely with both regulatory organisations alongside industry competitors in efforts to raise standards via the implementation of an Evaluation and Certification Framework. This aims to implement a single scheme for security in payment terminals and cards, incorporating recognition of multiple security certification card schemes and banking organisations across Europe.
Of the ￡45 billion per year spent online in the UK2, over ￡3 billion is either fraudulent or lost due to abandoned transactions 3. Under the current online payment system, 'card-not-present' transactions account for two thirds of all fraudulent card activity, leaving ecommerce as the weak link in card transaction security. This is exacerbated by the increased sophistication of cybercriminal activity, which is creating a real strain on the existing ecommerce infrastructure.
The Secure Electrans' HomePay device represents a simple, secure and convenient solution to online transactions for both merchants and consumers. Merchants or those that provide their payment processing simply add the Chip&PIN option to their checkout page. For the consumer the HomePay device is the size of a small calculator and can be connected to a home computer via USB or can access mobile devices via Bluetooth when on the move. The payment is made in exactly the same way as a shop Chip&PIN device (card-present and off-line PIN verified), providing the consumer and merchant the same security assurances online as in the high street.
The simplicity of HomePay overcomes an additional problem with current ecommerce transactions, which is that many customers are put off from buying online due to the increasing complexity of offshore merchant account, as merchants try to reduce their exposure to fraud. Indeed, current merchant examples show that between 6 and 60% of all Verified by Visa / MasterCard SecureCode / 3D-Secure transactions are abandoned4.
HomePay operates through the multi-billion pound global and trusted Chip&PIN infrastructure, and has the potential to create a standardised payment processing architecture for online transactions. Merchants would benefit from significant costs savings as Chip&PIN transaction fees are lower than the 'card-not-present' rates. This also will protect the merchant against significant chargeback costs incurred from current payment providers.
Secure Electrans' HomePay system is currently in trial phase within the UK for online shopping, smart energy pre-payment and mobile payment.
Chris Jarman, Managing Director of Secure Electrans commented: "With annual increases in ecommerce payments, it is important to bring the security and simplicity of the payment process up to a standard consumers have come to expect when paying by card on the high street. HomePay goes beyond security alone - simplicity is essential too, and consumers will no longer have to fill out page after page when checking out online; the sensation will be just like paying for a product in a shop, minus the queue!"
"We are delighted with the significant progress made by the HomePay device in the recent OSeC pilot project and audit." said the OSeC coordinator Regine Quentmeier of SRC representing the German Banking Industry Committee. "We believe that the process of implementing a Common CC Certification Scheme for SEPA is vital for raising standards and transparency within the industry in Europe. Secure Electrans have achieved an outstanding result."
A spokesperson for CESG added: "CESG acknowledges the work that has been performed by a technical community (JTEMs) consisting of equipment developers, evaluation laboratories, European Common Criteria certification bodies, and payment scheme representatives, in the production of a detailed specification (protection profile and associated supporting documents) suitable for use in the evaluation and certification of payment terminals. This work has also been greatly assisted by the OSeC Group in working towards a Common European Payment scheme, and has been able to take account of both the technical security needs and the wider operational and risk management approaches used by payment schemes. CESG is pleased to see that a UK developed product HomePay HP 100 Series, has successfully completed its evaluation in a UK CLEF and is the first in its category under this approach."
Secure Electrans Managing Director Chris Jarman concluded; "This latest achievement, when considered in addition to the huge scope of commercial uses to which HomePay can be put, is extremely exciting, since it gives a clear and comparative indication of HomePay's technical capability and versatility."
In addition to the CAS POI accreditation, the HomePay system achieved Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) level 1 and 2 certification in late 2011 and secured PCI PTS 3.1 Global Certification in October 2012. These are significant achievements that allow for interfacing with the same systems banks and merchants use in the authorisation of debit and third party merchant account.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) this week attacked Mozilla, the maker of Firefox, for being anti-business, hiding behind a veneer of populism and harboring "techno-libertarians and academic elites who believe in liberty and freedom ... as long as they get to decide the definitions of liberty and freedom."
In a long -- almost 4,000 words -- blog post, Randall Rothenberg, the CEO of the IAB US, took Mozilla to task over the open-source company's revamped third-party cookie blocking scheme, a point of contention between the online ad industry and the browser builder since the latter unveiled plans to block some of the cookies used by online advertisers to track users' Web movements, then deliver targeted ads.
While the most provocative of Rothenberg's criticisms were aimed at what he called Mozilla's values, his biggest beef with the Firefox-CCH plan seemed to be that Mozilla had set itself up as an unelected "gatekeeper" with the power to decide the fate of online businesses.
"The company's own statements and explanations indicate that Mozilla is making extreme value judgments with extraordinary impact on the digital supply chain, securing for itself a significant gatekeeper position in which it and its handpicked minions will be able to determine which voices gain distribution and which do not on the Internet," charged Rothenberg.
"The browser is certainly the gatekeeper and the gateway to the broad landscape of the Internet," agreed Ray Valdes, an analyst with Gartner, acknowledging the realities of the Web. "But most users are not aware of privacy, or simply don't care, whether it's in the browser or on Facebook. It certainly doesn't loom large in the minds of the average consumer [although] it is a hot-button issue for a small part of the user population."
Of the ￡45 billion per year spent online in the UK2, over ￡3 billion is either fraudulent or lost due to abandoned transactions 3. Under the current online payment system, 'card-not-present' transactions account for two thirds of all fraudulent card activity, leaving ecommerce as the weak link in card transaction security. This is exacerbated by the increased sophistication of cybercriminal activity, which is creating a real strain on the existing ecommerce infrastructure.
The Secure Electrans' HomePay device represents a simple, secure and convenient solution to online transactions for both merchants and consumers. Merchants or those that provide their payment processing simply add the Chip&PIN option to their checkout page. For the consumer the HomePay device is the size of a small calculator and can be connected to a home computer via USB or can access mobile devices via Bluetooth when on the move. The payment is made in exactly the same way as a shop Chip&PIN device (card-present and off-line PIN verified), providing the consumer and merchant the same security assurances online as in the high street.
The simplicity of HomePay overcomes an additional problem with current ecommerce transactions, which is that many customers are put off from buying online due to the increasing complexity of offshore merchant account, as merchants try to reduce their exposure to fraud. Indeed, current merchant examples show that between 6 and 60% of all Verified by Visa / MasterCard SecureCode / 3D-Secure transactions are abandoned4.
HomePay operates through the multi-billion pound global and trusted Chip&PIN infrastructure, and has the potential to create a standardised payment processing architecture for online transactions. Merchants would benefit from significant costs savings as Chip&PIN transaction fees are lower than the 'card-not-present' rates. This also will protect the merchant against significant chargeback costs incurred from current payment providers.
Secure Electrans' HomePay system is currently in trial phase within the UK for online shopping, smart energy pre-payment and mobile payment.
Chris Jarman, Managing Director of Secure Electrans commented: "With annual increases in ecommerce payments, it is important to bring the security and simplicity of the payment process up to a standard consumers have come to expect when paying by card on the high street. HomePay goes beyond security alone - simplicity is essential too, and consumers will no longer have to fill out page after page when checking out online; the sensation will be just like paying for a product in a shop, minus the queue!"
"We are delighted with the significant progress made by the HomePay device in the recent OSeC pilot project and audit." said the OSeC coordinator Regine Quentmeier of SRC representing the German Banking Industry Committee. "We believe that the process of implementing a Common CC Certification Scheme for SEPA is vital for raising standards and transparency within the industry in Europe. Secure Electrans have achieved an outstanding result."
A spokesperson for CESG added: "CESG acknowledges the work that has been performed by a technical community (JTEMs) consisting of equipment developers, evaluation laboratories, European Common Criteria certification bodies, and payment scheme representatives, in the production of a detailed specification (protection profile and associated supporting documents) suitable for use in the evaluation and certification of payment terminals. This work has also been greatly assisted by the OSeC Group in working towards a Common European Payment scheme, and has been able to take account of both the technical security needs and the wider operational and risk management approaches used by payment schemes. CESG is pleased to see that a UK developed product HomePay HP 100 Series, has successfully completed its evaluation in a UK CLEF and is the first in its category under this approach."
Secure Electrans Managing Director Chris Jarman concluded; "This latest achievement, when considered in addition to the huge scope of commercial uses to which HomePay can be put, is extremely exciting, since it gives a clear and comparative indication of HomePay's technical capability and versatility."
In addition to the CAS POI accreditation, the HomePay system achieved Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) level 1 and 2 certification in late 2011 and secured PCI PTS 3.1 Global Certification in October 2012. These are significant achievements that allow for interfacing with the same systems banks and merchants use in the authorisation of debit and third party merchant account.
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) this week attacked Mozilla, the maker of Firefox, for being anti-business, hiding behind a veneer of populism and harboring "techno-libertarians and academic elites who believe in liberty and freedom ... as long as they get to decide the definitions of liberty and freedom."
In a long -- almost 4,000 words -- blog post, Randall Rothenberg, the CEO of the IAB US, took Mozilla to task over the open-source company's revamped third-party cookie blocking scheme, a point of contention between the online ad industry and the browser builder since the latter unveiled plans to block some of the cookies used by online advertisers to track users' Web movements, then deliver targeted ads.
While the most provocative of Rothenberg's criticisms were aimed at what he called Mozilla's values, his biggest beef with the Firefox-CCH plan seemed to be that Mozilla had set itself up as an unelected "gatekeeper" with the power to decide the fate of online businesses.
"The company's own statements and explanations indicate that Mozilla is making extreme value judgments with extraordinary impact on the digital supply chain, securing for itself a significant gatekeeper position in which it and its handpicked minions will be able to determine which voices gain distribution and which do not on the Internet," charged Rothenberg.
"The browser is certainly the gatekeeper and the gateway to the broad landscape of the Internet," agreed Ray Valdes, an analyst with Gartner, acknowledging the realities of the Web. "But most users are not aware of privacy, or simply don't care, whether it's in the browser or on Facebook. It certainly doesn't loom large in the minds of the average consumer [although] it is a hot-button issue for a small part of the user population."
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7月7日星期日
Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak Becomes Consultant
Now in his early seventies, the often controversial but ever ebullient Ehud Barak has moved into another stage in his professional career, which in the last fifteen years has revealed from being Prime Minister of Israel to the world of international business and back to politics as defence minister in Binyamin Netanyahu’s second government. A post that he held from 2009 to 2013.
When Barak announced before the recent elections of Israel that he would be winding down his career in politics, the general feeling within the Israeli establishment that a return to the world of business was imminent.
Now this speculation has grown to be correct with Ehud Barak announcing that he has taken up the role of special consultant for the Israeli branch of the internationally known and respected Julius Baer private banking group.
One of Switzerland’s largest and longest-running banking groups , with an estimated cash management portfolio of around $300 billion and a client list that numbers among them the richest, the most famous and the most powerful people in the world from the fields of business, entertainment and sport . Now Baer has targeted Barak to be their top level account seeker in Israel, thanks to his unique connections that transfer both the world of business and politics as well as having extensive contacts in the global defence industry.
As many years involved in the country’s defence, often acting undercover when he was leader of the elite patrol group of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Barak is very well known for being to keep his cards very close to third party payment gateway.
Was born on Kibbutz Mishmar Hasharon in the centre of Israel, with his parents being Holocaust survivors. After an outstanding military, Barak made his first moves into politics, rising through a number of posts under the tutelage of the late Yitzhak Rabin to become Prime Minister, a post that he held from 1999 to 2001.
After losing the elections in 2001, he resigned from politics to enter the world of business, returning in 2008 to become eventual leader of the Labour Party, and eventually going full circle, returning to the role that he favored best, that of Defence Minister.
Even during his high-profile army career, Barak, famous for having one of the most analytical minds in Israel , found the time to study , graduating with a degree in physics and mathematics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem going on to study economics at Stanford University.
Barak hosted the distinction of being the joint most decorated soldier in Israeli history, having been awarded a Medal of Distinguished Service as well as four Chief of Staff citations for courage in the field and operational excellence.
The bank’s history goes back to the late 19th century when Julius Bar, joined up with the other partners to establish an exchange office in Zurich. Within a few years Bar’s partners decided that the world of banking was not for them, and Bar was left to soldier on on his own. A task which he succeeded in doing, building the bank up to become an international concern, through their mixture of skills in wealth management and investment consultancy, as well as securities and foreign exchange trading.
The grandson of founder Alfred J. B?r is known to be a particular supporter of Israel with a special affinity for the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. In honor of his decades-long dedication to the Technion, where he established the Marion and Alfred B?r Chair in Engineering.
In addition B?r played a very active role in establishing the Swiss Technion Society more than thirty years ago as well as serving as its president till 2009 , in gratitude, Mr. B?r was recently awarded a philosophy degree from the Technion.
Credit cards have the most-robust fraud protections. Legally, a credit card holder is responsible for no more than $50 in unauthorized purchases, and you’ll have no liability if you report a lost or stolen card before a thief can use it. That said, American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa take full responsibility for unauthorized purchases. Plus, under the Fair Credit Billing Act, if you have a billing problem with a merchant, a credit card issuer must investigate and resolve your complaint, and you can withhold payment until then.
Debit cards tied to checking accounts are subject to a different set of rules. Report a missing debit card before unauthorized charges take place and you won’t lose any money. If you report loss or theft within two business days, you’re liable for up to $50. You could lose up to $500 if you report the problem after two days but before 60 days have passed, and you may have unlimited liability thereafter. Even so, many banks will refund any fraudulent charges if you report the problem promptly and the bank has no reason to think you’re falsely reporting fraud. Plus, Visa and MasterCard generally extend their zero-liability protections to signature transactions as opposed to punching in your PIN on debit cards with their logos.
Prepaid cards, in general, do not have federal consumer protection against unauthorized transactions, although payroll cards that employers use to disburse wages are subject to the debit card rules. Still, many prepaid card issuers will reimburse you for fraudulent activity as long as you report it quickly. Register your prepaid card to make sure you’re eligible for fraud protection, and look for a card that lists at least a couple months’ worth of your past transactions when you log into your account online. Regularly check your account for suspicious activity.
Read the full story at http://austpay.com/!
When Barak announced before the recent elections of Israel that he would be winding down his career in politics, the general feeling within the Israeli establishment that a return to the world of business was imminent.
Now this speculation has grown to be correct with Ehud Barak announcing that he has taken up the role of special consultant for the Israeli branch of the internationally known and respected Julius Baer private banking group.
One of Switzerland’s largest and longest-running banking groups , with an estimated cash management portfolio of around $300 billion and a client list that numbers among them the richest, the most famous and the most powerful people in the world from the fields of business, entertainment and sport . Now Baer has targeted Barak to be their top level account seeker in Israel, thanks to his unique connections that transfer both the world of business and politics as well as having extensive contacts in the global defence industry.
As many years involved in the country’s defence, often acting undercover when he was leader of the elite patrol group of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Barak is very well known for being to keep his cards very close to third party payment gateway.
Was born on Kibbutz Mishmar Hasharon in the centre of Israel, with his parents being Holocaust survivors. After an outstanding military, Barak made his first moves into politics, rising through a number of posts under the tutelage of the late Yitzhak Rabin to become Prime Minister, a post that he held from 1999 to 2001.
After losing the elections in 2001, he resigned from politics to enter the world of business, returning in 2008 to become eventual leader of the Labour Party, and eventually going full circle, returning to the role that he favored best, that of Defence Minister.
Even during his high-profile army career, Barak, famous for having one of the most analytical minds in Israel , found the time to study , graduating with a degree in physics and mathematics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem going on to study economics at Stanford University.
Barak hosted the distinction of being the joint most decorated soldier in Israeli history, having been awarded a Medal of Distinguished Service as well as four Chief of Staff citations for courage in the field and operational excellence.
The bank’s history goes back to the late 19th century when Julius Bar, joined up with the other partners to establish an exchange office in Zurich. Within a few years Bar’s partners decided that the world of banking was not for them, and Bar was left to soldier on on his own. A task which he succeeded in doing, building the bank up to become an international concern, through their mixture of skills in wealth management and investment consultancy, as well as securities and foreign exchange trading.
The grandson of founder Alfred J. B?r is known to be a particular supporter of Israel with a special affinity for the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. In honor of his decades-long dedication to the Technion, where he established the Marion and Alfred B?r Chair in Engineering.
In addition B?r played a very active role in establishing the Swiss Technion Society more than thirty years ago as well as serving as its president till 2009 , in gratitude, Mr. B?r was recently awarded a philosophy degree from the Technion.
Credit cards have the most-robust fraud protections. Legally, a credit card holder is responsible for no more than $50 in unauthorized purchases, and you’ll have no liability if you report a lost or stolen card before a thief can use it. That said, American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa take full responsibility for unauthorized purchases. Plus, under the Fair Credit Billing Act, if you have a billing problem with a merchant, a credit card issuer must investigate and resolve your complaint, and you can withhold payment until then.
Debit cards tied to checking accounts are subject to a different set of rules. Report a missing debit card before unauthorized charges take place and you won’t lose any money. If you report loss or theft within two business days, you’re liable for up to $50. You could lose up to $500 if you report the problem after two days but before 60 days have passed, and you may have unlimited liability thereafter. Even so, many banks will refund any fraudulent charges if you report the problem promptly and the bank has no reason to think you’re falsely reporting fraud. Plus, Visa and MasterCard generally extend their zero-liability protections to signature transactions as opposed to punching in your PIN on debit cards with their logos.
Prepaid cards, in general, do not have federal consumer protection against unauthorized transactions, although payroll cards that employers use to disburse wages are subject to the debit card rules. Still, many prepaid card issuers will reimburse you for fraudulent activity as long as you report it quickly. Register your prepaid card to make sure you’re eligible for fraud protection, and look for a card that lists at least a couple months’ worth of your past transactions when you log into your account online. Regularly check your account for suspicious activity.
Read the full story at http://austpay.com/!
2013年6月4日星期二
New MacBook Pro, MacBook Air rumors spread
More and more rumors are spreading about the products that the Cupertino based Apple will be introducing during the World Wide Developers Conference beginning June 10. Though nothing is crystal clear as yet, nonetheless there is hope that many a new products will be showcased during the event and as far as we know it includes new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air versions.
But the occasion is known more for software and operating system upgrades than hardware updates and so there is apprehension in the minds of people about hardware upgrades. Then there are people who suggest that Apple may even introduce a next generation iPhone 5S version during the event besides smaller tablet with retina display, iPad Mini 2. But to be true, this seems very far fetched as not just Apple, even its manufacturing partners or even top blogs that have successfully predicted Apple products in the past are keeping mum on the issue.
Nonetheless there are credible reports that Apple may actually showcase new MacBook Pro and MacBook air 2013 version during the Apple developers conference. MacBook Pro with Retina Display was billed as the best Mac ever, and the pundits nodded their heads in agreement. The MacBook Pro has been the laptop of choice for ‘serious’ professionals. The kind that does a lot of photo and video editing, the kind that do a lot of design work and like their laptops to be a fast and efficient beast. Every generation the Pro line brings in improvements, if in nothing else in weight and thickness but usually in much more than that.
Apple made the laptop a lot enticing and attractive besides a lot more powerful than its earlier avatar. Last year it added a retina display. Usually MacBook Pros shipped with a 1440x900p resolution displays, which was fine enough for most purposes. Well, apple took that and doubled it. The MacBook with Retina display shipped with 2880×1800 screen. An eye popping number which made for an eye popping screen. Apple did a couple of more things. It removed the optical drive, quite rightly I believe, because, who uses an optical drive anymore? It added a couple of thunderbolt ports and a couple of USB 3.0 ports. It also slimmed down the whole things a bit. It wasn’t quite in the MacBook Air territory yet, but it was getting there. The only downside was the nosebleed inducing price tag. Just the base model started with $2199. Add to this warranty costs, adapter or a more storage space (the base model comes with 256 GB flash memory) and the price starts to touch $3000 mark.
But if rumors are to be believed, this very fine and top quality product is going to be a lot more improved. Now, rumors have it, this beast of a machine is in for a upgrade. What more are they planning to put on it? The most prominent upgrade centers around support for NVIDIA Geforce GTX Titan graphics card, a premium graphics card which can support a resolution of 5,760-by-1,080-pixel across three screens. Along with this there would be improved drivers, and perhaps a new version of the OSX operating system. It is almost certain that should Apple choose to introduce a new MacBook Pro, it would come with the latest CPU from Intel, which means a Haswell chip. KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in a note to investors speculated that the new MacBook Pro might also feature an improved front facing camera capable of 1080p video and a slimmer profile.
Making it even more slim and consequently lighter will help the tech giant all the more enticing. If indeed the Pro should get slimmer, it would mean that Apple would be one step closer to the moment of truth, what exactly would be left to differentiate the MacBook Air line if the Pro starts to get just as slim? As noted before, this is all just rumors for the time being. We have to wait for the next week to know for which way Apple decided to go. All taken together this would still constitute a minor upgrade, which brings the Pro up to date with the latest CPU, gives it a better camera, better graphics card and a slimmer profile, but as of now, nothing ground breaking. So things are really looking very exciting for Apple fans.
RBS and Lloyds ‘much safer’, insists Bank: Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group were not “let off the hook” after a six-month review by the Bank of England into their capital strength ended without either bank issuing new equity.
Hedge fund in insider trading case to lose billions: The hedge fund at the centre of an American insider trading investigation was preparing for investors to withdraw around $3.5 billion.
Setting out a route to growth: The sustainable management of Britain’s forest and woodland areas will top the agenda at a meeting in Cumbria hosted by Forest Research, an agency of the Forestry Commission.
Amazon customers at risk over contactless payments: Amazon has been urged to use a simple security measure to protect millions of its customers from a flaw found in “contactless” credit and debit cards. Such a card — there are 30 million in the U.K. — lets the Owner pay amounts under ￡20 in a shop by tapping it at the till without a PIN or signature.
Mark Carney given dose of retail therapy as recovery starts to gain strength: Strengthening retail sales and manufacturing output suggest that Britain’s springtime recovery is spilling over into summer, even as economic clouds linger over large parts of Europe. The retail sector defied poor weather to register an annual 3.4% rise on total sales last month, an improvement on the long-run average of 2.5%, the British Retail Consortium said.
Halted trials causes Oxford Biomedica plunge: Shares in Oxford Biomedica plunged 28% as the biopharmaceutical company put some of its trials on hold after discovering “potential impurities” in one of its raw materials.
Concerns over flagship credit scheme as banks tighten belts to tune of ￡300 million: Some of Britain’s biggest banks were forced on to the defensive on Monday as the latest Bank of England figures revealed more disappointment from its flagship initiative to boost lending.
New N Brown Chief could earn ￡4 million in 3 years: Angela Spindler, the new Chief Executive of N Brown, has been awarded a “golden hello” that could boost her total earnings to almost ￡4 million over the next three years.
Hammersmith flyover kicks off Costain’s ￡200 million TfL deal: London commuters who suffered the nightmare of last year’s five-month closure and lane restrictions on the Hammersmith flyover must hope that the ￡60 million strengthening contract awarded to Costain causes far less disruption.Read the full story at austpay.com!
But the occasion is known more for software and operating system upgrades than hardware updates and so there is apprehension in the minds of people about hardware upgrades. Then there are people who suggest that Apple may even introduce a next generation iPhone 5S version during the event besides smaller tablet with retina display, iPad Mini 2. But to be true, this seems very far fetched as not just Apple, even its manufacturing partners or even top blogs that have successfully predicted Apple products in the past are keeping mum on the issue.
Nonetheless there are credible reports that Apple may actually showcase new MacBook Pro and MacBook air 2013 version during the Apple developers conference. MacBook Pro with Retina Display was billed as the best Mac ever, and the pundits nodded their heads in agreement. The MacBook Pro has been the laptop of choice for ‘serious’ professionals. The kind that does a lot of photo and video editing, the kind that do a lot of design work and like their laptops to be a fast and efficient beast. Every generation the Pro line brings in improvements, if in nothing else in weight and thickness but usually in much more than that.
Apple made the laptop a lot enticing and attractive besides a lot more powerful than its earlier avatar. Last year it added a retina display. Usually MacBook Pros shipped with a 1440x900p resolution displays, which was fine enough for most purposes. Well, apple took that and doubled it. The MacBook with Retina display shipped with 2880×1800 screen. An eye popping number which made for an eye popping screen. Apple did a couple of more things. It removed the optical drive, quite rightly I believe, because, who uses an optical drive anymore? It added a couple of thunderbolt ports and a couple of USB 3.0 ports. It also slimmed down the whole things a bit. It wasn’t quite in the MacBook Air territory yet, but it was getting there. The only downside was the nosebleed inducing price tag. Just the base model started with $2199. Add to this warranty costs, adapter or a more storage space (the base model comes with 256 GB flash memory) and the price starts to touch $3000 mark.
But if rumors are to be believed, this very fine and top quality product is going to be a lot more improved. Now, rumors have it, this beast of a machine is in for a upgrade. What more are they planning to put on it? The most prominent upgrade centers around support for NVIDIA Geforce GTX Titan graphics card, a premium graphics card which can support a resolution of 5,760-by-1,080-pixel across three screens. Along with this there would be improved drivers, and perhaps a new version of the OSX operating system. It is almost certain that should Apple choose to introduce a new MacBook Pro, it would come with the latest CPU from Intel, which means a Haswell chip. KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in a note to investors speculated that the new MacBook Pro might also feature an improved front facing camera capable of 1080p video and a slimmer profile.
Making it even more slim and consequently lighter will help the tech giant all the more enticing. If indeed the Pro should get slimmer, it would mean that Apple would be one step closer to the moment of truth, what exactly would be left to differentiate the MacBook Air line if the Pro starts to get just as slim? As noted before, this is all just rumors for the time being. We have to wait for the next week to know for which way Apple decided to go. All taken together this would still constitute a minor upgrade, which brings the Pro up to date with the latest CPU, gives it a better camera, better graphics card and a slimmer profile, but as of now, nothing ground breaking. So things are really looking very exciting for Apple fans.
RBS and Lloyds ‘much safer’, insists Bank: Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group were not “let off the hook” after a six-month review by the Bank of England into their capital strength ended without either bank issuing new equity.
Hedge fund in insider trading case to lose billions: The hedge fund at the centre of an American insider trading investigation was preparing for investors to withdraw around $3.5 billion.
Setting out a route to growth: The sustainable management of Britain’s forest and woodland areas will top the agenda at a meeting in Cumbria hosted by Forest Research, an agency of the Forestry Commission.
Amazon customers at risk over contactless payments: Amazon has been urged to use a simple security measure to protect millions of its customers from a flaw found in “contactless” credit and debit cards. Such a card — there are 30 million in the U.K. — lets the Owner pay amounts under ￡20 in a shop by tapping it at the till without a PIN or signature.
Mark Carney given dose of retail therapy as recovery starts to gain strength: Strengthening retail sales and manufacturing output suggest that Britain’s springtime recovery is spilling over into summer, even as economic clouds linger over large parts of Europe. The retail sector defied poor weather to register an annual 3.4% rise on total sales last month, an improvement on the long-run average of 2.5%, the British Retail Consortium said.
Halted trials causes Oxford Biomedica plunge: Shares in Oxford Biomedica plunged 28% as the biopharmaceutical company put some of its trials on hold after discovering “potential impurities” in one of its raw materials.
Concerns over flagship credit scheme as banks tighten belts to tune of ￡300 million: Some of Britain’s biggest banks were forced on to the defensive on Monday as the latest Bank of England figures revealed more disappointment from its flagship initiative to boost lending.
New N Brown Chief could earn ￡4 million in 3 years: Angela Spindler, the new Chief Executive of N Brown, has been awarded a “golden hello” that could boost her total earnings to almost ￡4 million over the next three years.
Hammersmith flyover kicks off Costain’s ￡200 million TfL deal: London commuters who suffered the nightmare of last year’s five-month closure and lane restrictions on the Hammersmith flyover must hope that the ￡60 million strengthening contract awarded to Costain causes far less disruption.Read the full story at austpay.com!
2013年5月26日星期日
Man admits to using deceased's credit card
When police arrested Stephen Arsenault earlier this week, he admitted to using a credit/debit card that was in the name of a dead man.
Arsenault, 24, told police he recently found the card when his girlfriend was getting ready to move into a River Street apartment that last summer was the scene of a shootout that ended in the death of 19-year-old Billy Melchionda of Haverhill and 20-year-old Anddy Guzman of Lawrence.
Arsenault said that after finding Melchionda’s card in the apartment, he used it to buy $42 worth of gas for his girlfriend’s car and $50 worth of lottery scratch tickets at a local gas station/convenience store. Arsenault said he signed the name “WM” and scribbled on the store receipt. He told police he knew he was trying to sign Melchionda’s name to the receipt and knew that Melchionda was dead. He said he tried to use the card the next day to get gas but that it wouldn’t work. He told police he knew that he did wrong by using Melchionda’s bank card.
Arsenault was arraigned Thursday in Haverhill District Court on two counts of larceny under $250, receiving a stolen credit card, identity fraud and forgery of a document. He was also charged with possession of Class A heroin. Arsenault was ordered held on $10,000 cash bail and must appear in court June 23. Arsenault was previously charged on May 15 with 17 counts of oil painting reproduction by check and had been released on personal recognizance.
Melchionda and Guzman were shot to death the night of July 23 during a home invasion at Melchionda’s apartment at 629 River St.
Police said three masked men entered the apartment sometime between 10 and 10:30 p.m. Police reports showed the invaders’ motive was their belief illegal drugs and a large amount of cash were being kept in the home. Police said Guzman was one of the men who invaded the home and was accidentally shot during a violent struggle.
An Essex County Grand Jury eventually indicted three people on murder and other charges. Juan Carlos Sanchez, 20, of Lawrence and Joshua Cloutman, 20, and Angela Walsh, 21, both of 631 River St., were each indicted on two counts of murder, home invasion, armed robbery and armed burglary. Cloutman and Walsh, who police said lived in an upstairs apartment with their child and Cloutman’s mother, were charged with helping plan the home invasion in exchange for some of the marijuana the home invaders planned to steal from Melchionda’s apartment, police said.
In the days following the shootings, Melchionda’s mother, Jennifer Bodenraider and Billy’s father, William S. Melchionda reported to police that when they went to retrieve their son’s belongings from the apartment, most of their son’s valuables were missing. Bodenraider said many of those items were gifts from her and other family members, including a 42-inch plasma TV, a 50-inch LCD TV, an XBox 360 video game console and 60-70 XBox video games, a Movado wristwatch and gold Seiko diving wristwatch — gifts from her son’s grandfather; and two air conditioning units, a collection of baseball caps and a collection of baseball cards that his father gave him.
According to a police report, in the days following the shooting, the building’s landlord, Ronald Parolisi Jr., was questioned by investigators about the missing items. Parolisi said that after police turned the apartment over to him, he found a door had been kicked in so he secured it. He told police he hired his daughter and her boyfriend, Stephen Arsenault to remove blood from the apartment so that he could rent it out again, and that the apartment was left unsecured for a few days and that a window was left open, according to the police report.
Police said that on Monday (May 20 of this year) Melchionda’s mother came to the police station to say she’d been notified by Sovereign Bank that someone was using her son’s debit card. She told police the account was overdrawn and that her son, Billy Melchionda, had never activated the card when he received it. She said the card was in a wooden memory box inside his bedroom in his apartment, along with his social security card.
Police said Arsenault used the card twice on May 7 within a two-minute period at the Circle K Irving Gas Station in Haverhill. Police obtained store video surveillance showing Arsenault pulling into the station, putting gas into his girlfriend’s car and then entering the store to purchase scratch tickets, the police report said.
On Wednesday, Arsenault was the target of an arrest and search warrant. Police set up surveillance at his home, where they saw him drive off in a truck driven by a man who was subsequently identified as Christopher Doucette, 24, of 36 Keeley St.
Haverhill police with the assistance of state police stopped the vehicle for a stop sign violation. A search of Arsenault turned up several hypodermic needles, a shoelace and two plastic cups with lids. One cup contained a brown substance believed to be heroin while the other contained cotton balls saturated with what was believed to be heroin. He also had on him a single amphetamine pill.
Arsenault admitted to using Melchionda’s credit card, and told police it was in a bin in his bedroom, along with ammunition.
Police searched his bedroom and found 12 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition in a plastic bin, and found Melchionda’s debit card in another bin, the report said. Police also found bags of marijuana seeds in one of the bins.
Police searched Doucette and found a needle and a cup containing what appeared to be used heroin-saturated balls of cotton, along with two small bags of a brown substance believed to be heroin. Doucette was charged with possession of a Class A substance and a stop sign violation.
Arsenault told police he has drug problem that he’s been dealing with since February. He said he lives in his parent’s home along with his girlfriend and their child, the report said.
Police said that earlier this year, Arsenault opened an account at Haverhill Bank and subsequently wrote 13 checks to himself for $100 each, but the account had just 23 cents in it. Police said he also wrote his girlfriend two checks for $90 and two more for $100 from the same account, and those were cashed as well. After the bank notified police on March 1, investigators questioned Arsenault’s girlfriend, who said she did not know the checks were bad. Police said she reimbursed the bank $200 and promised to pay the balance of $177. Police questioned Arsenault, who said his friends all told him not to speak with police. Arsenault was arraigned May 15 on the larceny charges.
Arsenault, 24, told police he recently found the card when his girlfriend was getting ready to move into a River Street apartment that last summer was the scene of a shootout that ended in the death of 19-year-old Billy Melchionda of Haverhill and 20-year-old Anddy Guzman of Lawrence.
Arsenault said that after finding Melchionda’s card in the apartment, he used it to buy $42 worth of gas for his girlfriend’s car and $50 worth of lottery scratch tickets at a local gas station/convenience store. Arsenault said he signed the name “WM” and scribbled on the store receipt. He told police he knew he was trying to sign Melchionda’s name to the receipt and knew that Melchionda was dead. He said he tried to use the card the next day to get gas but that it wouldn’t work. He told police he knew that he did wrong by using Melchionda’s bank card.
Arsenault was arraigned Thursday in Haverhill District Court on two counts of larceny under $250, receiving a stolen credit card, identity fraud and forgery of a document. He was also charged with possession of Class A heroin. Arsenault was ordered held on $10,000 cash bail and must appear in court June 23. Arsenault was previously charged on May 15 with 17 counts of oil painting reproduction by check and had been released on personal recognizance.
Melchionda and Guzman were shot to death the night of July 23 during a home invasion at Melchionda’s apartment at 629 River St.
Police said three masked men entered the apartment sometime between 10 and 10:30 p.m. Police reports showed the invaders’ motive was their belief illegal drugs and a large amount of cash were being kept in the home. Police said Guzman was one of the men who invaded the home and was accidentally shot during a violent struggle.
An Essex County Grand Jury eventually indicted three people on murder and other charges. Juan Carlos Sanchez, 20, of Lawrence and Joshua Cloutman, 20, and Angela Walsh, 21, both of 631 River St., were each indicted on two counts of murder, home invasion, armed robbery and armed burglary. Cloutman and Walsh, who police said lived in an upstairs apartment with their child and Cloutman’s mother, were charged with helping plan the home invasion in exchange for some of the marijuana the home invaders planned to steal from Melchionda’s apartment, police said.
In the days following the shootings, Melchionda’s mother, Jennifer Bodenraider and Billy’s father, William S. Melchionda reported to police that when they went to retrieve their son’s belongings from the apartment, most of their son’s valuables were missing. Bodenraider said many of those items were gifts from her and other family members, including a 42-inch plasma TV, a 50-inch LCD TV, an XBox 360 video game console and 60-70 XBox video games, a Movado wristwatch and gold Seiko diving wristwatch — gifts from her son’s grandfather; and two air conditioning units, a collection of baseball caps and a collection of baseball cards that his father gave him.
According to a police report, in the days following the shooting, the building’s landlord, Ronald Parolisi Jr., was questioned by investigators about the missing items. Parolisi said that after police turned the apartment over to him, he found a door had been kicked in so he secured it. He told police he hired his daughter and her boyfriend, Stephen Arsenault to remove blood from the apartment so that he could rent it out again, and that the apartment was left unsecured for a few days and that a window was left open, according to the police report.
Police said that on Monday (May 20 of this year) Melchionda’s mother came to the police station to say she’d been notified by Sovereign Bank that someone was using her son’s debit card. She told police the account was overdrawn and that her son, Billy Melchionda, had never activated the card when he received it. She said the card was in a wooden memory box inside his bedroom in his apartment, along with his social security card.
Police said Arsenault used the card twice on May 7 within a two-minute period at the Circle K Irving Gas Station in Haverhill. Police obtained store video surveillance showing Arsenault pulling into the station, putting gas into his girlfriend’s car and then entering the store to purchase scratch tickets, the police report said.
On Wednesday, Arsenault was the target of an arrest and search warrant. Police set up surveillance at his home, where they saw him drive off in a truck driven by a man who was subsequently identified as Christopher Doucette, 24, of 36 Keeley St.
Haverhill police with the assistance of state police stopped the vehicle for a stop sign violation. A search of Arsenault turned up several hypodermic needles, a shoelace and two plastic cups with lids. One cup contained a brown substance believed to be heroin while the other contained cotton balls saturated with what was believed to be heroin. He also had on him a single amphetamine pill.
Arsenault admitted to using Melchionda’s credit card, and told police it was in a bin in his bedroom, along with ammunition.
Police searched his bedroom and found 12 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition in a plastic bin, and found Melchionda’s debit card in another bin, the report said. Police also found bags of marijuana seeds in one of the bins.
Police searched Doucette and found a needle and a cup containing what appeared to be used heroin-saturated balls of cotton, along with two small bags of a brown substance believed to be heroin. Doucette was charged with possession of a Class A substance and a stop sign violation.
Arsenault told police he has drug problem that he’s been dealing with since February. He said he lives in his parent’s home along with his girlfriend and their child, the report said.
Police said that earlier this year, Arsenault opened an account at Haverhill Bank and subsequently wrote 13 checks to himself for $100 each, but the account had just 23 cents in it. Police said he also wrote his girlfriend two checks for $90 and two more for $100 from the same account, and those were cashed as well. After the bank notified police on March 1, investigators questioned Arsenault’s girlfriend, who said she did not know the checks were bad. Police said she reimbursed the bank $200 and promised to pay the balance of $177. Police questioned Arsenault, who said his friends all told him not to speak with police. Arsenault was arraigned May 15 on the larceny charges.
2012年2月13日星期一
Pleather Lerner Arm Chairs
What does an Air Purifier from Sharper Image, 1980s David Bowie, and the pleathery chairs in Lerner have in common? They all look like they are from the future. Not a day goes by when I don’t pass by the rows of avant-garde arm chairs and feel like I am in the movie Tron and we are all but programs in the vast computer of life. What’s more is that sitting in these chairs provides the comfort to ponder such mysteries for hours.
Serving the Ferris post-mealtime crowd as well as students attempting to nab a mildly social study spot on the upper floors of Lerner, these retro recliners have a small, but loyal following. True Pleatherheads, as they are often called, must be able to enjoy the maximum comfort without falling asleep to maximize productivity— a task that deserves much applause. Early on my way to a meeting in the SGO, I decided to pop a squat in the perfectly square seat and see where it took me.
The cushion hit my bum with both rigidness and welcoming. Sort of like a troubled child coming home from military school. It let me sink in a bit, but I didn’t plunge into an abyss of sleek black textile. This probably accounts for students being able to work here without falling asleep. The lumbar support irked me a bit: one can slouch lazily, but if one desires to sit with proper posture, say a ballerina, or someone English, or someone with really good parents, it can be awkward because the horizontal of the chair is rather long, causing the knees to bend incompletely.
The pleather on the other hand was perfectly polished. I could almost see myself on it. It felt nothing of real leather, but rather of the reinforced plastic they make slip and slides with. This slipperiness should make for unreliable arm resting, but the chairs are arranged compactly side-by-side, so the double armchair action minimizes slippage. It smelt leathery, through you could tell this was the result of some polish or scent intentionally applied by the chair producer.
Extraneous to my evaluation, I must highlight one flaw that the chair will not be penalized on, but should be noted regardless. The accompanying coffee table set up is flawed. One has to crouch down to reach their belongings on it, and those who refuse to engage in such awkward behavior still can’t utilize it as a foot rest either: many people eat on these tables, so it is seen as a sort of party foul. Lerner is a social space, after all.
Serving the Ferris post-mealtime crowd as well as students attempting to nab a mildly social study spot on the upper floors of Lerner, these retro recliners have a small, but loyal following. True Pleatherheads, as they are often called, must be able to enjoy the maximum comfort without falling asleep to maximize productivity— a task that deserves much applause. Early on my way to a meeting in the SGO, I decided to pop a squat in the perfectly square seat and see where it took me.
The cushion hit my bum with both rigidness and welcoming. Sort of like a troubled child coming home from military school. It let me sink in a bit, but I didn’t plunge into an abyss of sleek black textile. This probably accounts for students being able to work here without falling asleep. The lumbar support irked me a bit: one can slouch lazily, but if one desires to sit with proper posture, say a ballerina, or someone English, or someone with really good parents, it can be awkward because the horizontal of the chair is rather long, causing the knees to bend incompletely.
The pleather on the other hand was perfectly polished. I could almost see myself on it. It felt nothing of real leather, but rather of the reinforced plastic they make slip and slides with. This slipperiness should make for unreliable arm resting, but the chairs are arranged compactly side-by-side, so the double armchair action minimizes slippage. It smelt leathery, through you could tell this was the result of some polish or scent intentionally applied by the chair producer.
Extraneous to my evaluation, I must highlight one flaw that the chair will not be penalized on, but should be noted regardless. The accompanying coffee table set up is flawed. One has to crouch down to reach their belongings on it, and those who refuse to engage in such awkward behavior still can’t utilize it as a foot rest either: many people eat on these tables, so it is seen as a sort of party foul. Lerner is a social space, after all.
2011年10月7日星期五
Oreck Partners With Knotice For Email Marketing
Knotice, the leading provider of direct digital marketing software and services, today announces that the Oreck Corporation, a noted manufacturer and retailer of easy-to-use, lightweight, powerful and durable vacuums, air purifiers and other cleaning machines, has selected Knotice's Concentri® EmailPlus to increase the targeting and effectiveness of its email marketing programs.
Taking advantage of the software's unique ability to automatically capture behavioral data, Oreck is able to take its email marketing to the next level by targeting customers based on website activity, keyword searches and more.
"Our customers range from people looking for that perfect product for their home, to larger businesses looking for the right solution for their cleaning needs," said Linda Tilt, Manager of Interactive Marketing at Oreck. "Because behavioral data is automatically collected within Concentri EmailPlus, we're now able to efficiently reach the right customer at the right time with the right information, enhancing the Oreck experience. Knotice also helps us make better use of our existing customer data, allowing us to create targeted campaigns right out of the gate."
Oreck plans to implement a variety of email marketing programs including new product announcements, timely and targeted special offers, and triggered communications.
"Many marketers are faced with the challenge of trying to integrate data from different systems just to create targeted, timely campaigns," said Knotice CEO and co-founder Brian Deagan. "Concentri is the first email marketing solution to natively capture behavioral data, giving marketers the ability to quickly and easily create and deploy targeted campaigns without wasting time or money trying to integrate their data."
Knotice (pronounced "notice") maximizes the ROI of direct digital marketing – interactive marketing communications that can be addressed to a specific individual – through process automation, increased relevance and improved performance. Working with clients throughout North America, Knotice provides efficient, effective delivery of highly targeted marketing communications through today's primary digital channels.
Knotice's on-demand software is called Concentri®. Solutions include Concentri Mobile for mobile marketing, Concentri EmailPlus for email marketing, Concentri SiteTarget for onsite targeting, along with landing page management, testing and optimization, and universal profile management for data centralization. Concentri enables marketers to easily engage today's digital consumers and grow revenue while maintaining a consistent brand experience, cutting production cycles from weeks to days, and reducing other related costs by as much as 50 percent.
Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., Oreck Corporation is a leading manufacturer in the homecare industry, offering a variety of vacuums, air purifiers, steam mops, and other cleaning products. Oreck sells its products in hundreds of Oreck Clean Home Centers, as well as through phone and online direct sales. The company distributes products in the U.S., Canada and parts of Europe.
Taking advantage of the software's unique ability to automatically capture behavioral data, Oreck is able to take its email marketing to the next level by targeting customers based on website activity, keyword searches and more.
"Our customers range from people looking for that perfect product for their home, to larger businesses looking for the right solution for their cleaning needs," said Linda Tilt, Manager of Interactive Marketing at Oreck. "Because behavioral data is automatically collected within Concentri EmailPlus, we're now able to efficiently reach the right customer at the right time with the right information, enhancing the Oreck experience. Knotice also helps us make better use of our existing customer data, allowing us to create targeted campaigns right out of the gate."
Oreck plans to implement a variety of email marketing programs including new product announcements, timely and targeted special offers, and triggered communications.
"Many marketers are faced with the challenge of trying to integrate data from different systems just to create targeted, timely campaigns," said Knotice CEO and co-founder Brian Deagan. "Concentri is the first email marketing solution to natively capture behavioral data, giving marketers the ability to quickly and easily create and deploy targeted campaigns without wasting time or money trying to integrate their data."
Knotice (pronounced "notice") maximizes the ROI of direct digital marketing – interactive marketing communications that can be addressed to a specific individual – through process automation, increased relevance and improved performance. Working with clients throughout North America, Knotice provides efficient, effective delivery of highly targeted marketing communications through today's primary digital channels.
Knotice's on-demand software is called Concentri®. Solutions include Concentri Mobile for mobile marketing, Concentri EmailPlus for email marketing, Concentri SiteTarget for onsite targeting, along with landing page management, testing and optimization, and universal profile management for data centralization. Concentri enables marketers to easily engage today's digital consumers and grow revenue while maintaining a consistent brand experience, cutting production cycles from weeks to days, and reducing other related costs by as much as 50 percent.
Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., Oreck Corporation is a leading manufacturer in the homecare industry, offering a variety of vacuums, air purifiers, steam mops, and other cleaning products. Oreck sells its products in hundreds of Oreck Clean Home Centers, as well as through phone and online direct sales. The company distributes products in the U.S., Canada and parts of Europe.
2011年9月19日星期一
Watch out, dust mites! Maintenance month is on
Maintenance involving my person is getting more demanding as the years go by. First off, the eyes need attention. They are red, itchy, tearing year-round. After a thorough examination, the optometrist prescribed stronger lenses. She also noted that the lids and lashes are inflamed, needing care. On a piece of paper, she jotted down instructions: wash lashes daily, get medication, buy anti-dust-mite covers for mattresses and pillows. The last item on the list gave me pause. What are dust mites? Never heard of them. I left the optometrist's office somewhat perplexed.
At home, as a first step, I looked up the word "mites" in the dictionary. It said that they are "any of various tiny animals." A procrastinator, I put action on dust mites on the back burner and went on to other items.
Next on the agenda was the yearly blood test with its attendant cholesterol results. I bravely went for the test, but somewhat dreaded the cholesterol numbers, because of my consumption of salami and other items on the forbidden list during the past year.
A visit to my ear-nose-andthroat specialist is also a yearly occurrence. A few years ago, I had to admit that the years had taken their toll and my once-perfect hearing was deteriorating, as had previously happened to my eyesight. Asking people to repeat things or giving the wrong answers was getting embarrassing. Now another hearing test has been scheduled, after which I am due to receive a new hearing aid. I think I will finally have to come to terms with the fact that the place for a hearing aid is in my ear and not in the top drawer of my night table where it usually rests.
Another area needing constant care are my teeth. A visit to the dental hygienist is also on the agenda.
Having taken care of my personal needs, I turned my attention to my surroundings. For one thing, my super stereo radio, part of a fairly old component system, has become quite stubborn lately, refusing to budge from the CJAD station, which I once programmed. A visit from a technician has to be scheduled. The venetian-blind cords, too, are showing their age, getting worn, thin and torn. Must get someone to install new ones.
When I called the vacuum cleaner technician to inspect my faulty machine, I was surprised to see that he did not come alone. After the technician examined my machine and suggested repairs, his lady companion showed me their new product, an attractive cylindrical-shaped air purifier. First though, she activated a hand-held gadget that measured air quality in the room that it judged to be "very bad." The lady explained that this was in part because of dust mites in carpets and upholstery. The air purifier, she said, would reduce dust levels in the air, removing the culprits.
My ears perked up. There they were again, the DUST MITES! Though I did not purchase the rather expensive air purifier then and there, I rushed to the computer to check out "dust mites." Did I get an eyeful!
Seems that dust mites, which are microscopic bugs, live on dead skin cells. Though harmless for most people, their waste products, a major component of house dust, can cause allergic reactions, like wheezing, sneezing, itchy and watery eyes, even asthma attacks. Since dust mites love a warm and humid environment, mattresses and pillows on beds are their primary habitat. A typical used mattress can contain tens of thousands of these critters, keeping unsuspecting occupants nightly company. Carpeting and upholstery also harbour large numbers of dust mites.
Thoroughly worried, my research finally prodded me into action. I am now the proud owner and user of nifty anti-dust-mite mattress - and pillow covers. I also pay attention to reducing humidity, letting lots of fresh air into rooms and practicing extra cleanliness.
Meantime, though, considering that I am surrounded with dust mites in the rooms and that germs and bacteria are lurking in the kitchen, I decided it would be best to wear a protective armour around the house.
At home, as a first step, I looked up the word "mites" in the dictionary. It said that they are "any of various tiny animals." A procrastinator, I put action on dust mites on the back burner and went on to other items.
Next on the agenda was the yearly blood test with its attendant cholesterol results. I bravely went for the test, but somewhat dreaded the cholesterol numbers, because of my consumption of salami and other items on the forbidden list during the past year.
A visit to my ear-nose-andthroat specialist is also a yearly occurrence. A few years ago, I had to admit that the years had taken their toll and my once-perfect hearing was deteriorating, as had previously happened to my eyesight. Asking people to repeat things or giving the wrong answers was getting embarrassing. Now another hearing test has been scheduled, after which I am due to receive a new hearing aid. I think I will finally have to come to terms with the fact that the place for a hearing aid is in my ear and not in the top drawer of my night table where it usually rests.
Another area needing constant care are my teeth. A visit to the dental hygienist is also on the agenda.
Having taken care of my personal needs, I turned my attention to my surroundings. For one thing, my super stereo radio, part of a fairly old component system, has become quite stubborn lately, refusing to budge from the CJAD station, which I once programmed. A visit from a technician has to be scheduled. The venetian-blind cords, too, are showing their age, getting worn, thin and torn. Must get someone to install new ones.
When I called the vacuum cleaner technician to inspect my faulty machine, I was surprised to see that he did not come alone. After the technician examined my machine and suggested repairs, his lady companion showed me their new product, an attractive cylindrical-shaped air purifier. First though, she activated a hand-held gadget that measured air quality in the room that it judged to be "very bad." The lady explained that this was in part because of dust mites in carpets and upholstery. The air purifier, she said, would reduce dust levels in the air, removing the culprits.
My ears perked up. There they were again, the DUST MITES! Though I did not purchase the rather expensive air purifier then and there, I rushed to the computer to check out "dust mites." Did I get an eyeful!
Seems that dust mites, which are microscopic bugs, live on dead skin cells. Though harmless for most people, their waste products, a major component of house dust, can cause allergic reactions, like wheezing, sneezing, itchy and watery eyes, even asthma attacks. Since dust mites love a warm and humid environment, mattresses and pillows on beds are their primary habitat. A typical used mattress can contain tens of thousands of these critters, keeping unsuspecting occupants nightly company. Carpeting and upholstery also harbour large numbers of dust mites.
Thoroughly worried, my research finally prodded me into action. I am now the proud owner and user of nifty anti-dust-mite mattress - and pillow covers. I also pay attention to reducing humidity, letting lots of fresh air into rooms and practicing extra cleanliness.
Meantime, though, considering that I am surrounded with dust mites in the rooms and that germs and bacteria are lurking in the kitchen, I decided it would be best to wear a protective armour around the house.
2011年6月12日星期日
Best Things to Do for Your Body NOW
You probably already know that going for a swim within 30 minutes of chowing down on a sandwich isn’t going to cause you to cramp up and sink helplessly to the bottom of the pool. But there’s plenty more lame summertime advice that you might still believe. We set the record straight.
MYTH: Peeing on a jellyfish sting will ease the pain.
Though it may sound convenient–if also totally gross!–urine hasn’t been proven to curb the hurt. What has: vinegar. “Its acidity is believed to inactivate the stingers and diminish the pain,” says Stanford University School of Medicine emergency-medicine doctor Paul Auerbach, M.D., author of Medicine for the Outdoors. Soak a paper towel in household white vinegar and hold it on the wound for about 30 minutes. Afterward, use an OTC hydrocortisone cream to quell any itching. (If, however, you start to feel dizzy or nauseated or develop any kind of rash, you may be having an allergic reaction and should get yourself to a doctor right away, says Auerbach.)
3 Pain Management Tricks
MYTH: Going in and out of air-conditioned buildings can make you sick.
If you feel congested or start sniffling, it’s likely due to summer allergies, says pulmonologist Neil Schachter, M.D., author of The Good Doctor’s Guide to Colds and Flu.
“People who have allergies–even small sensitivities–may be affected when moving from a clean-air environment into one that’s full of Mother Nature’s irritants,” he says. If your symptoms are on overdrive, try staying inside on very hot, humid days, when outdoor allergens are at their most potent. And keep your home dust- and mold-free by cleaning your AC filter every month or by investing in a HEPA air purifier that nixes 99 percent of airborne contaminants.
MYTH: The safest place to be during a lightning storm is in a car because it has rubber tires.
You’ll be safe in a car, but not because of the rubber tires, says John Jensenius, a lightning-safety specialist for the National Weather Service. The car’s frame is like a metal cage–if struck, lightning will flow around its outside.
(Metal is a good conductor of electricity; rubber is not.) If you’re driving in a storm, don’t touch metal door handles or the radio, which is wired to the outside antenna.
MYTH: Flip-flops are kind to your feet.
“Most flip-flops don’t have adequate arch support, cushioning, or shock absorption,” says Manhattan-based foot doctor Jacqueline Sutera, D.P.M. Wearing them all summer, every summer could lead to pinched foot nerves, heel pain, tendinitis, and strained arches. If you can’t quit flops entirely, buy ones that have at least a three-quarter-inch semi-cushioned sole and built-in arch support. Even better, go for a strappy sandal; simple thongs force your toes into an unhealthy clenched position when you walk, encouraging hammertoe growth. Or try cute, beachy wedges (three inches high or less), which offer more support in just about every foot area and help distribute your body weight more evenly.
MYTH: A dip in the pool can do double duty as a shower.
Consider this: Most people don’t rinse off before they go swimming. “Chemicals in personal-care products, sweat, and makeup can interfere with chlorine, making it much less effective,” says Michele Hlavsa, R.N., M.P.H., of the CDC’s Healthy Swimming Program. The result? Public pools in particular are often swimming with nasties such as cryptosporidium, which can bring on diarrhea, ear infections, and skin rashes. Showering after a dip can wash bacteria off your skin and cut your risk of getting sick. Use soap–a quick hose-off may not be enough.
MYTH: Peeing on a jellyfish sting will ease the pain.
Though it may sound convenient–if also totally gross!–urine hasn’t been proven to curb the hurt. What has: vinegar. “Its acidity is believed to inactivate the stingers and diminish the pain,” says Stanford University School of Medicine emergency-medicine doctor Paul Auerbach, M.D., author of Medicine for the Outdoors. Soak a paper towel in household white vinegar and hold it on the wound for about 30 minutes. Afterward, use an OTC hydrocortisone cream to quell any itching. (If, however, you start to feel dizzy or nauseated or develop any kind of rash, you may be having an allergic reaction and should get yourself to a doctor right away, says Auerbach.)
3 Pain Management Tricks
MYTH: Going in and out of air-conditioned buildings can make you sick.
If you feel congested or start sniffling, it’s likely due to summer allergies, says pulmonologist Neil Schachter, M.D., author of The Good Doctor’s Guide to Colds and Flu.
“People who have allergies–even small sensitivities–may be affected when moving from a clean-air environment into one that’s full of Mother Nature’s irritants,” he says. If your symptoms are on overdrive, try staying inside on very hot, humid days, when outdoor allergens are at their most potent. And keep your home dust- and mold-free by cleaning your AC filter every month or by investing in a HEPA air purifier that nixes 99 percent of airborne contaminants.
MYTH: The safest place to be during a lightning storm is in a car because it has rubber tires.
You’ll be safe in a car, but not because of the rubber tires, says John Jensenius, a lightning-safety specialist for the National Weather Service. The car’s frame is like a metal cage–if struck, lightning will flow around its outside.
(Metal is a good conductor of electricity; rubber is not.) If you’re driving in a storm, don’t touch metal door handles or the radio, which is wired to the outside antenna.
MYTH: Flip-flops are kind to your feet.
“Most flip-flops don’t have adequate arch support, cushioning, or shock absorption,” says Manhattan-based foot doctor Jacqueline Sutera, D.P.M. Wearing them all summer, every summer could lead to pinched foot nerves, heel pain, tendinitis, and strained arches. If you can’t quit flops entirely, buy ones that have at least a three-quarter-inch semi-cushioned sole and built-in arch support. Even better, go for a strappy sandal; simple thongs force your toes into an unhealthy clenched position when you walk, encouraging hammertoe growth. Or try cute, beachy wedges (three inches high or less), which offer more support in just about every foot area and help distribute your body weight more evenly.
MYTH: A dip in the pool can do double duty as a shower.
Consider this: Most people don’t rinse off before they go swimming. “Chemicals in personal-care products, sweat, and makeup can interfere with chlorine, making it much less effective,” says Michele Hlavsa, R.N., M.P.H., of the CDC’s Healthy Swimming Program. The result? Public pools in particular are often swimming with nasties such as cryptosporidium, which can bring on diarrhea, ear infections, and skin rashes. Showering after a dip can wash bacteria off your skin and cut your risk of getting sick. Use soap–a quick hose-off may not be enough.
2011年5月8日星期日
Writers’ decked up for new regime
It's change in the air, or so it seems. When the new government takes charge, possibly next week, a new-look and decked up Writers' Buildings will welcome it. To that end, the state PWD has already started renovating the seat of power in West Bengal.
PWD secretary A R Bardhan said that they were planning for total overhaul of the secretariat. "Even the chief minister's secretariat is not in good shape. But this will be done in phases."
There will be new water purifiers and mobile phone chargers as well.
The toilets are going to have self flashing auto eye, so that the flash works automatically. In one of the toilets on the first floor, a hand dryer has been installed. Automatic shoe polishers will soon be installed in the toilets. Last year, when Italian delegates had gone to a stinking toilet, it was a loss of face for the state administration. They had come to meet the chief minister.
The chief minister's chamber will have a new look, an official said and added that the decor of the chief secretary's room had been changed. "New furnitures have been added and old telephones removed."
The rotunda meant for meetings will be given a new look and two giant screen televisions will be installed. The cabinet room on second floor will have computers and projectors along with Wi-Fi facility. There will also be space for secretarries.
The visitors room for the chief minister will also be refurbished. The sitting pattern will be realigned and the statue of Mahatma Gandhi will have a new look. PWD plans to set up a new waiting room for ministers who do not have office in Writers' Buildings.
Similarly, IAS officers posted outside Writers' will have a lounge.
PWD officials are planning to remove the stores on the ground floor, as over 3000 sq feet is used by these stores. "Store of the jail's department near Lyons' Range occupy huge space. We will remove all stalls," an official said.
Even as renovations are on, several IAS and IPS officers have asked for more space. Some officers wanted space in the VIP zone. DGP Naparajit Mukherjee recently wrote to chief secretary Samar Ghosh for additional space.
Once PWD officials know the size of the new cabinet, the finer details of the newlook secretariat could be worked out.
PWD secretary A R Bardhan said that they were planning for total overhaul of the secretariat. "Even the chief minister's secretariat is not in good shape. But this will be done in phases."
There will be new water purifiers and mobile phone chargers as well.
The toilets are going to have self flashing auto eye, so that the flash works automatically. In one of the toilets on the first floor, a hand dryer has been installed. Automatic shoe polishers will soon be installed in the toilets. Last year, when Italian delegates had gone to a stinking toilet, it was a loss of face for the state administration. They had come to meet the chief minister.
The chief minister's chamber will have a new look, an official said and added that the decor of the chief secretary's room had been changed. "New furnitures have been added and old telephones removed."
The rotunda meant for meetings will be given a new look and two giant screen televisions will be installed. The cabinet room on second floor will have computers and projectors along with Wi-Fi facility. There will also be space for secretarries.
The visitors room for the chief minister will also be refurbished. The sitting pattern will be realigned and the statue of Mahatma Gandhi will have a new look. PWD plans to set up a new waiting room for ministers who do not have office in Writers' Buildings.
Similarly, IAS officers posted outside Writers' will have a lounge.
PWD officials are planning to remove the stores on the ground floor, as over 3000 sq feet is used by these stores. "Store of the jail's department near Lyons' Range occupy huge space. We will remove all stalls," an official said.
Even as renovations are on, several IAS and IPS officers have asked for more space. Some officers wanted space in the VIP zone. DGP Naparajit Mukherjee recently wrote to chief secretary Samar Ghosh for additional space.
Once PWD officials know the size of the new cabinet, the finer details of the newlook secretariat could be worked out.
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