The slow death of feature phones isn't putting a damper on Nokia's development plans. The Finnish company today revealed the new Nokia 207 and 208 (pictured) "candybar" devices, equipped with Internet access in a colorful package.
"For many, it will be their first phone with 3G Internet, social networks and multimedia," Nokia's Ian Delaney wrote in a blog post. "For others, it's an adaptable workhorse that can act as a second phone when it makes sense to leave your smartphone at home."
Though closely related, the two phones differ slightly: The Nokia 208 has a 1.3-megapixel camera with smart features like voice-guided self-portrait, sequential shot and Ceramic tile, and comes in dual SIM and single SIM flavors; the Nokia 207 is single SIM with no camera.
Just because they don't come with a touch screen and a virtual personal assistant, doesn't mean the new handsets are useless in this connected age. Full 3.5G HSPA Internet support provides fast online access for surfing the Web and streaming videos, as well as checking social networks and using chat services like Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp — all of which come pre-installed.
"The Nokia 207 and Nokia 208 are designed for people who like a classic phone and traditional keypad but don't want to miss out on smartphone experiences, like staying connected to social media and accessing the Internet," Timo Toikkanen, executive vice president of Nokia mobile phones, said in a statement.
Both versions carry a 2.4-inch display running on a 1020mAh battery; the single SIM variant offers more than a month's standby time, while available talk time lasts up to 12 hours on a 2G connection. The devices also include Bluetooth, micro USB, and an SD card that supports up to 32GB of storage.
All three phones — Nokia 207, Nokia 208, and Nokia 208 Dual SIM — come in red, cyan, white, and black, and will begin shipping in the third quarter for 52 Euros ($68). While the company mentioned a European release for the Nokia 207, it did not reveal details about any other regions.
Trainer David Jacobson entered Wednesday’s card just three wins shy of Todd Pletcher’s record 40 victories for a Belmont spring/summer meet.
Jacobson, whose 144 starters were 44 more than his nearest competitor, could move closer to that record Friday when he runs Sure Route in the $100,000 Magnolia Jackson Stakes, which goes as race 3 on a nine-race program that begins at 3 p.m. Eastern. The Magnolia Jackson, for fillies and mares, is run at 6 1/2 furlongs.
Jacobson’s barn has been under 24-hour surveillance from the New York Racing Association and state investigators since May 24, the day after he won four races from five starters at Belmont. Pre-surveillance, Jacobson won 19 races from 62 starters at this meet. Post-surveillance, he has won 18 races from 82 starters.
“I want NYRA to keep them here,” Jacobson said Wednesday. “I want to know when and if they’re ever going to leave. I want a heads-up. I enjoy the security.”Asked why he wants continued security, Jacobson said, “It would cost me a lot of money to have the security that I have that NYRA is paying for. Instead of having one night watchman, I have three, four, or five.”
Jacobson said that breaking Pletcher’s mark – set in 2003 –would be “very rewarding. Especially the spring meet, which is not supposed to be one of my stronger times of year.”
Sure Route has accounted for two of Jacobson’s 22 second-place finishes at the meet. Jacobson claimed Sure Route for $62,500 at Aqueduct on April 20 when Sure Route finished second in a turf race. She has raced twice on the dirt, getting beat a nose by Delightful Quality going seven furlongs on May 24 and finishing second to Royal Lahaina in the off-the-turf Mariensky Stakes on June 7.
“I pick her as one of the top two choices in there. She’s really doing well,” Jacobson said. “Six-and-a-half might be a little short for her, but at Belmont you can maybe overcome that with the wide turns. She has two really good races at seven-eighths, and she couldn’t be doing any better.”
Smart Stride returns from a near 13-month layoff for new trainer Pletcher. Part-owner Eric Fein said that Smart Stride has basically been ready to run for seven months, but races he and then-trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. were looking to run in haven’t filled. A similar problem existed recently for Pletcher, who has taken over the training of Smart Stride since Dutrow has been suspended.
“I don’t know what she’s going to do Friday,” Fein said. “Your guess is as good as mine. I don’t think Todd is crazy about her right now, but I’ve never heard anybody be crazy about her in the morning before.”
Click on their website www.tilees.com for more information.
2013年7月3日星期三
2013年6月30日星期日
Is Needed to Address Climate Change
Before we get teary eyed with joy or scoff with derision, we should take a closer look at President Obama’s June 25 speech on climate change, and set it within the context of his five years in power. This is a position he himself argued for during his speech when he said that we need to “be more concerned with the judgment of posterity” than short–term political considerations.
So is Obama, in the words of World Resource Institute President Andrew Steer, really “resetting the climate agenda” and can we honestly say that “it’s a wonderful thing to see that he is really reclaiming this issue"?
While many other environmentalists, including Bill McKibben of 350.org, are fervently hoping that this is true, history and facts demonstrate otherwise. Obama’s dismal domestic and international track record on environmental issues—it was, Ceramic tile, he who was the lead protagonist in wrecking the international climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009—and his commitment to U.S. imperial power as a representative of American corporate interests surely point toward the need for a greater and more thoroughgoing critique than a character assessment of the man himself allows for.
Furthermore, it’s hard to take someone seriously when that person has presided over the biggest expansion of the security state in U.S. history and relentlessly pursued government whistleblowers with unprecedented ferocity, when they say simultaneously in a climate speech that they are directing the EPA to generate new standards for the regulation of existing power plants in “an open and transparent way.”
With a more systematic, broader analytical framework, unimpeded by misty visions of an Obama rebirth as a climate champion, one immediately recognizes the inadequacy of his Action Plan On Climate Change to keep the planet below the critical threshold of 2 degrees Celsius of average warming.
This needs to be acknowledged, even as we welcome the fact that—after a five–year hiatus, including a re–election campaign where he never even mentioned climate change—Obama has been forced to re–engage with the central issue of our time by the power of grassroots protest, even to the extent of referencing the divestment movement and the fight against the Keystone XL pipeline.
Rather than celebrating Obama’s renewed “commitment” to environmental action, we should recognize it for what it is: After five years of doing all he can to promote fossil fuel production, it’s the first, timid, grudging response of the U.S. state to the growing environmental movement against Obama and all that he represents: the economic, political and military priorities of U.S. imperial power.
The growth of the environmental movement and its threat to U.S. imperial and corporate interests has been well catalogued, tracked and, as we now know, extensively spied upon by the U.S. security apparatus. After reporting on a raft of documentary evidence to this effect, Dr. Nafeez Ahmed writes.
There is, therefore, the overriding requirement that we continue to build the movement independent of the limitations imposed by the Democratic Party, until we achieve the kind of changes that are actually necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change, by stitching together all forces aimed at this objective.
The biosphere of which humans are a part cannot afford half measures or rely on dubious “friends” in high places. Nor can we set our sights any lower than the swift dismantling of the fossil–fuel infrastructure of death and its replacement with publicly owned and democratically controlled clean energy systems. As many studies have shown, this is eminently doable with current technology and will create millions of worthwhile jobs through the generation of genuinely renewable energy from sources such as wind and solar power, alongside massive energy efficiency and conservation measures.
Such a transformation is far less utopian than believing that capitalism can solve the problem that it created. Such a transition cannot mean a continuation or expansion of the criminal agro–fuel production, still less the increase in natural gas production through fracking, the continuation of nuclear power and the entirely ridiculous concepts of “clean coal” and carbon capture and storage, all of which Obama includes as part of his planned solution—his “all of the above” strategy.
The fact that Obama is using executive authority to attempt to push through some changes to U.S. energy and climate policy, most significantly new rules on existing power plants, is a reflection not of strength, but of his preceding weakness on the issue, turning it from a positive into a negative, as the right wing has made all the running. Notwithstanding the catastrophic climate change that levels above 350 ppm of carbon portend and have already initiated—as droughts, floods, crop failures, super–storms and wildfires become the “new normal” across the globe from Australia to India, from the U.S. to Pakistan—politicians across the political spectrum greeted the news of 400 ppm of carbon earlier in May with a giant shrug of collective indifference.
While on the one hand Obama’s action plan doesn’t require Congressional approval, and that can be seen as encouraging in the face of an utterly recalcitrant Congress, it is also a flaw. The new rules will be vigorously challenged in the courts, and as and when the other corporate party manages to work out how to win an election again, they can be overturned just as easily, assuming they have even been implemented.
It needs to be highlighted that, in contrast to how Democrats and Obama like to portray the issue, it is not a solidly partisan one. While elected Republicans are certainly more likely to be climate–change denialists, the reality is that things are much more regional and dependent on which state a political representative is from. A much more reliable indicator of whether a state’s Representative is pro– or anti– climate change policy and clean energy, is whether the state’s economy is directly connected to fossil fuels or ethanol production, than whether they are Democrats or Republicans.
And on the ground, where people are forced to deal with the growing ramifications of climate change and the disruption and cost to their lives, the picture is very different. As reported in a recent survey of self–described Republicans and Republican–leaning independents, 62 percent said the U.S. should address climate change, and 77 percent said that the U.S. should use more renewable energy sources. This is all the more remarkable given that virtually no political representative from either party has been arguing for these things, and they have certainly not appeared on the TV screens or in the newspapers of the mainstream media.
In contrast to Obama’s glib reference to work being undertaken to prevent Miami from sinking below the waves, Jeff Goodell writing in Rolling Stone, paints a very different picture, underlining the calamitous reality of climate change in an article cheerily titled “Goodbye Miami.” On our present course, it is not a question of if, but when, the city of Miami—which vies with Las Vegas as the citadel to capitalist non–conformity with nature, along with most of southern Florida—will be underwater.
Read the full story at www.tilees.com!
So is Obama, in the words of World Resource Institute President Andrew Steer, really “resetting the climate agenda” and can we honestly say that “it’s a wonderful thing to see that he is really reclaiming this issue"?
While many other environmentalists, including Bill McKibben of 350.org, are fervently hoping that this is true, history and facts demonstrate otherwise. Obama’s dismal domestic and international track record on environmental issues—it was, Ceramic tile, he who was the lead protagonist in wrecking the international climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009—and his commitment to U.S. imperial power as a representative of American corporate interests surely point toward the need for a greater and more thoroughgoing critique than a character assessment of the man himself allows for.
Furthermore, it’s hard to take someone seriously when that person has presided over the biggest expansion of the security state in U.S. history and relentlessly pursued government whistleblowers with unprecedented ferocity, when they say simultaneously in a climate speech that they are directing the EPA to generate new standards for the regulation of existing power plants in “an open and transparent way.”
With a more systematic, broader analytical framework, unimpeded by misty visions of an Obama rebirth as a climate champion, one immediately recognizes the inadequacy of his Action Plan On Climate Change to keep the planet below the critical threshold of 2 degrees Celsius of average warming.
This needs to be acknowledged, even as we welcome the fact that—after a five–year hiatus, including a re–election campaign where he never even mentioned climate change—Obama has been forced to re–engage with the central issue of our time by the power of grassroots protest, even to the extent of referencing the divestment movement and the fight against the Keystone XL pipeline.
Rather than celebrating Obama’s renewed “commitment” to environmental action, we should recognize it for what it is: After five years of doing all he can to promote fossil fuel production, it’s the first, timid, grudging response of the U.S. state to the growing environmental movement against Obama and all that he represents: the economic, political and military priorities of U.S. imperial power.
The growth of the environmental movement and its threat to U.S. imperial and corporate interests has been well catalogued, tracked and, as we now know, extensively spied upon by the U.S. security apparatus. After reporting on a raft of documentary evidence to this effect, Dr. Nafeez Ahmed writes.
There is, therefore, the overriding requirement that we continue to build the movement independent of the limitations imposed by the Democratic Party, until we achieve the kind of changes that are actually necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change, by stitching together all forces aimed at this objective.
The biosphere of which humans are a part cannot afford half measures or rely on dubious “friends” in high places. Nor can we set our sights any lower than the swift dismantling of the fossil–fuel infrastructure of death and its replacement with publicly owned and democratically controlled clean energy systems. As many studies have shown, this is eminently doable with current technology and will create millions of worthwhile jobs through the generation of genuinely renewable energy from sources such as wind and solar power, alongside massive energy efficiency and conservation measures.
Such a transformation is far less utopian than believing that capitalism can solve the problem that it created. Such a transition cannot mean a continuation or expansion of the criminal agro–fuel production, still less the increase in natural gas production through fracking, the continuation of nuclear power and the entirely ridiculous concepts of “clean coal” and carbon capture and storage, all of which Obama includes as part of his planned solution—his “all of the above” strategy.
The fact that Obama is using executive authority to attempt to push through some changes to U.S. energy and climate policy, most significantly new rules on existing power plants, is a reflection not of strength, but of his preceding weakness on the issue, turning it from a positive into a negative, as the right wing has made all the running. Notwithstanding the catastrophic climate change that levels above 350 ppm of carbon portend and have already initiated—as droughts, floods, crop failures, super–storms and wildfires become the “new normal” across the globe from Australia to India, from the U.S. to Pakistan—politicians across the political spectrum greeted the news of 400 ppm of carbon earlier in May with a giant shrug of collective indifference.
While on the one hand Obama’s action plan doesn’t require Congressional approval, and that can be seen as encouraging in the face of an utterly recalcitrant Congress, it is also a flaw. The new rules will be vigorously challenged in the courts, and as and when the other corporate party manages to work out how to win an election again, they can be overturned just as easily, assuming they have even been implemented.
It needs to be highlighted that, in contrast to how Democrats and Obama like to portray the issue, it is not a solidly partisan one. While elected Republicans are certainly more likely to be climate–change denialists, the reality is that things are much more regional and dependent on which state a political representative is from. A much more reliable indicator of whether a state’s Representative is pro– or anti– climate change policy and clean energy, is whether the state’s economy is directly connected to fossil fuels or ethanol production, than whether they are Democrats or Republicans.
And on the ground, where people are forced to deal with the growing ramifications of climate change and the disruption and cost to their lives, the picture is very different. As reported in a recent survey of self–described Republicans and Republican–leaning independents, 62 percent said the U.S. should address climate change, and 77 percent said that the U.S. should use more renewable energy sources. This is all the more remarkable given that virtually no political representative from either party has been arguing for these things, and they have certainly not appeared on the TV screens or in the newspapers of the mainstream media.
In contrast to Obama’s glib reference to work being undertaken to prevent Miami from sinking below the waves, Jeff Goodell writing in Rolling Stone, paints a very different picture, underlining the calamitous reality of climate change in an article cheerily titled “Goodbye Miami.” On our present course, it is not a question of if, but when, the city of Miami—which vies with Las Vegas as the citadel to capitalist non–conformity with nature, along with most of southern Florida—will be underwater.
Read the full story at www.tilees.com!
2013年6月27日星期四
Human Recognition Systems to launch platform
According to the company, this new system, built on its MVerify platform, allows the automated capture and verification of student identity documents, such as passports and visas. In addition, says the company, MVerify also automates the capture of student attendance during teaching sessions using fingerprint or smartcard technology built into handheld devices.
Student attendance reporting is increasingly significant for institutions with international students enrolled, as visa restrictions as well as UK Home Office Tier 4 student immigration rules have tightened.
“Tier 4 compliance is set to be one of the key topics of discussion at this yeara€?s UKCISA as universities seek to attract international students while navigating the complex Home Office reporting requirements,” Jon Busby, Business Development at HRS said. “With our extensive expertise in identity management, we have developed a cost-effective solution for the higher education sector that can simplify the Tier 4 reporting structure, reduce time spent on manual data administration and lower the associated costs. Operated from a handheld device that can be passed among students, MVerify also supports an improved student experience by enabling more time to be spent on teaching rather than taking registers.”
Well, I think the time has come to change the make-up of this current Phillies team and make some moves at the trade deadline that will help build the team for the future.
I'm not taking this point of view because the Phillies are too far out or can't make the playoffs because I've seen crazier things happen and teams get hot.I think it's time to give this team a make-over because I don't think this collection of players will get hot, and the time to take advantage of some deals that can bring some promising young talent is now.
Let's start with Jonathan Papelbon. Right now there are a number of teams that are in the playoff hunt and need closers. The Detroit Tigers need a closer! Fortunately they have three great prospects in their farm system, and I think the Phillies can get two of the three.
Nick Castellanos is listed as the top hitting prospect for the Tigers. Avisail Garcia is their best outfield prospect, and Bruce Rondon is the best arm in their system and future closer. If the Phillies could get one of the outfield prospects coupled with Rondon, they could have an outfielder to play alongside Dom Brown for a good number of years to go along with a quality arm who should be their future closer.
The next Phillies player that could get an impact prospect back in return would be Cliff Lee. The Texas Rangers are once again in the playoff hunt and need a starter. This might be a perfect fit for Lee who does have a no-trade clause in his contract but would likely not mind pitching in Texas. He pitched for the Rangers in 2011 when they went to the World Series. The Rangers have the best prospect in baseball, Jurickson Profar, a shortstop/second baseman who offers great middle-infield skills with a big bat. Unfortunately for Profar, he's playing behind two All-Stars in Texas. This deal needs to be done.
Jimmy Rollins is getting old and still has a couple years on a big contract. If Profar can be acquired, there is no need for Rollins. Send Rollins to a needy suitor, get a couple more prospects and save $11 million.
Lastly I would get rid of Carlos Ruiz, who will be a free agent at the end of the year. The Yankees could use a veteran catcher and a quality right-handed hitter. The Phils could get a catching prospect in return such as Austin Romine. The only question with this deal is if the Yankees would take on a player with a history of using a banned substance.
I would say that the Phillies need to trade Chase Utley, but I know too many Phillies fans who have named their kids Chase. This would be like trading Derek Jeter if you are a Yankees fan. You just have a talk with Utley when the time comes and make him a coach and keep him a Phil for life.
Thurles-based Andrew Slattery has yet to secure his first win of the current Turf campaign, but Ucanchoose can put that right in the five-furlong handicap. With 18 modest sorts chasing a first prize of less than €5,000, this is wide open.
Still, Ucanchoose is the most appealing option, having run his best race of the year when leading to the furlong pole over six at the Curragh last time. Declan McDonogh's mount eventually finished fifth, so he should have a live chance of getting back to winning ways over his optimum trip off a pound lower mark now.
In the 12-furlong maiden, McDonogh is also trusted to land the nap on Mick Halford's Zarkiyr at the chief expense of Ballydoyle's Waver. This is a pretty weak heat, and Waver's Curragh second to the selection's stable-mate Dabadiyan is at least encouraging, but Zarkiyr is slightly more progressive.
Stepped up to this trip for a first time in a handicap at headquarters the same day, he stayed on with great effect to lose out by just a nose to Levanto off a mark of 80. That's the single most robust piece of form, so Zarkiyr is fancied to collect.
Goolds Cross-based David Wachman might get proceedings under way in the opening juvenile maiden with Little Fastnet, a Fastnet Rock debutante that is out of Wachman's former top-class juvenile Damson.
Little Fastnet is a three-parts sister to Requinto, another smart two-year-old for the stable that won a Listed race here in 2011 before scoring twice in Group company in England. Of the three in the nine-runner affair that have been placed, Celtic Man is feared most for Bansha's David Marnane, but Little Fastnet is bred to be a bit special.
Nurse Ryan might also plunder a popular local win for Martin and Shane Hassett of Killenaule. The dual hurdle-winning mare will be suited by the fast ground and trip in the Gathering Handicap.
Click on their website www.tilees.com for more information.
Student attendance reporting is increasingly significant for institutions with international students enrolled, as visa restrictions as well as UK Home Office Tier 4 student immigration rules have tightened.
“Tier 4 compliance is set to be one of the key topics of discussion at this yeara€?s UKCISA as universities seek to attract international students while navigating the complex Home Office reporting requirements,” Jon Busby, Business Development at HRS said. “With our extensive expertise in identity management, we have developed a cost-effective solution for the higher education sector that can simplify the Tier 4 reporting structure, reduce time spent on manual data administration and lower the associated costs. Operated from a handheld device that can be passed among students, MVerify also supports an improved student experience by enabling more time to be spent on teaching rather than taking registers.”
Well, I think the time has come to change the make-up of this current Phillies team and make some moves at the trade deadline that will help build the team for the future.
I'm not taking this point of view because the Phillies are too far out or can't make the playoffs because I've seen crazier things happen and teams get hot.I think it's time to give this team a make-over because I don't think this collection of players will get hot, and the time to take advantage of some deals that can bring some promising young talent is now.
Let's start with Jonathan Papelbon. Right now there are a number of teams that are in the playoff hunt and need closers. The Detroit Tigers need a closer! Fortunately they have three great prospects in their farm system, and I think the Phillies can get two of the three.
Nick Castellanos is listed as the top hitting prospect for the Tigers. Avisail Garcia is their best outfield prospect, and Bruce Rondon is the best arm in their system and future closer. If the Phillies could get one of the outfield prospects coupled with Rondon, they could have an outfielder to play alongside Dom Brown for a good number of years to go along with a quality arm who should be their future closer.
The next Phillies player that could get an impact prospect back in return would be Cliff Lee. The Texas Rangers are once again in the playoff hunt and need a starter. This might be a perfect fit for Lee who does have a no-trade clause in his contract but would likely not mind pitching in Texas. He pitched for the Rangers in 2011 when they went to the World Series. The Rangers have the best prospect in baseball, Jurickson Profar, a shortstop/second baseman who offers great middle-infield skills with a big bat. Unfortunately for Profar, he's playing behind two All-Stars in Texas. This deal needs to be done.
Jimmy Rollins is getting old and still has a couple years on a big contract. If Profar can be acquired, there is no need for Rollins. Send Rollins to a needy suitor, get a couple more prospects and save $11 million.
Lastly I would get rid of Carlos Ruiz, who will be a free agent at the end of the year. The Yankees could use a veteran catcher and a quality right-handed hitter. The Phils could get a catching prospect in return such as Austin Romine. The only question with this deal is if the Yankees would take on a player with a history of using a banned substance.
I would say that the Phillies need to trade Chase Utley, but I know too many Phillies fans who have named their kids Chase. This would be like trading Derek Jeter if you are a Yankees fan. You just have a talk with Utley when the time comes and make him a coach and keep him a Phil for life.
Thurles-based Andrew Slattery has yet to secure his first win of the current Turf campaign, but Ucanchoose can put that right in the five-furlong handicap. With 18 modest sorts chasing a first prize of less than €5,000, this is wide open.
Still, Ucanchoose is the most appealing option, having run his best race of the year when leading to the furlong pole over six at the Curragh last time. Declan McDonogh's mount eventually finished fifth, so he should have a live chance of getting back to winning ways over his optimum trip off a pound lower mark now.
In the 12-furlong maiden, McDonogh is also trusted to land the nap on Mick Halford's Zarkiyr at the chief expense of Ballydoyle's Waver. This is a pretty weak heat, and Waver's Curragh second to the selection's stable-mate Dabadiyan is at least encouraging, but Zarkiyr is slightly more progressive.
Stepped up to this trip for a first time in a handicap at headquarters the same day, he stayed on with great effect to lose out by just a nose to Levanto off a mark of 80. That's the single most robust piece of form, so Zarkiyr is fancied to collect.
Goolds Cross-based David Wachman might get proceedings under way in the opening juvenile maiden with Little Fastnet, a Fastnet Rock debutante that is out of Wachman's former top-class juvenile Damson.
Little Fastnet is a three-parts sister to Requinto, another smart two-year-old for the stable that won a Listed race here in 2011 before scoring twice in Group company in England. Of the three in the nine-runner affair that have been placed, Celtic Man is feared most for Bansha's David Marnane, but Little Fastnet is bred to be a bit special.
Nurse Ryan might also plunder a popular local win for Martin and Shane Hassett of Killenaule. The dual hurdle-winning mare will be suited by the fast ground and trip in the Gathering Handicap.
Click on their website www.tilees.com for more information.
2013年6月25日星期二
Septic cleaning company charged with dumping waste in yard
The owner of a sewage cleaning company has been charged with cleaning a man's septic tank and twice dumping the waste on his property.
Tom Vasiliou and A&B Sewer and Drain were charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with two counts of violation of the Water Quality Act, a third-degree felony.On Sept. 15 and Oct. 1, 2012, employees of A&B Sewer cleaned the septic tank of a resident at 7221 W. Rose Canyon Road and then dumped the sewage material they had just collected into an adjacent field owned by the same person, according to charging documents.
The property owner said Vasiliou asked for permission to dump the sludge and he agreed.But Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said Vasiliou, who has held a permit to haul and dispose liquid waste since 2002, should have known better.
The alleged illegal dumping was discovered because of an anonymous citizen who saw what was going on, took pictures and submitted them to the Salt Lake Valley Health Department.Gill praised the citizen and noted that he has a special interest in environmental cases. Gill specialized in environmental crimes when he worked as a prosecutor and his office has an Environmental Task Force.
It's not just the major oil spills that need prosecuting, but smaller acts of crimes against the environment, he said, adding that the public needs to be educated to prevent them from happening."It's really important to ask our citizens to be on the lookout for that," Gill said.
The public also needs to realize that the smaller acts of abuse against the environment aren't "your typical crime" but can have a long-lasting negative effect on the environment as much as a large oil spill, he said.Vasiliou said he traditionally took the grease from septic tank and sewer line cleanings to a local oil company and other parts to South Valley Sewer, according to charging documents.
In the nineteenth century, New York City was full of Ceramic tile. You can see what that meant in this horrific image of a dead horse rotting in the street where kids were playing. But then there was a revolution that transformed New York into an experiment in urban trash planning.
Anthropologist Robin Nagle has just published a book about NY's sanitation history called Picking Up. She pored over decades of the city's records to piece together how exactly this filthy urban center was cleaned up. Below, you can see a late-nineteenth century sanitation worker in New York, sweeping up trash that would ordinarily have been left outside to decompose.
There was a police corruption scandal in the early 1890s that was so spectacular the Tammany political machine could not control the reaction. So they were kicked out of office in the mayoral elections of 1894. A guy named William Strong took over as mayor, and he swore to appoint people of integrity as his commissioners. For street cleaning, he first reached out to Teddy Roosevelt, who basically said, ‘What, are you nuts? Nobody should do that. That’s an impossible job. I’m not going to do that.’ So Roosevelt took over the police department, which was also in dire need of reform.
Mayor Strong reached out to a Civil War officer, a veteran and a self-titled “sanitary engineer” and a bit of a showman, named George Waring. He asked Waring to take over street cleaning, and they had a conversation that Waring later recounted to the press in which he said, “I’ll do it under one condition – you leave me alone. If you want to fire me, of course, that’s your right. But I will appoint and hire the people I feel are best for the job, not because they’re people you want to do favors for.
The mayor agreed and Waring immediately gave the department a hierarchical, military-type structure that is still in place today. This made people immediately responsible for very clearly defined tasks, like someone was assigned to sweep from this corner to that corner 10 blocks down, and they were going to do it inside these eight hours, and this cart was going to follow and the driver of the cart had these set hours. If there were any problems, the officer immediately in charge of that crew would have to answer for them, and then the officer above had to answer for the larger regional work.
Tom Vasiliou and A&B Sewer and Drain were charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with two counts of violation of the Water Quality Act, a third-degree felony.On Sept. 15 and Oct. 1, 2012, employees of A&B Sewer cleaned the septic tank of a resident at 7221 W. Rose Canyon Road and then dumped the sewage material they had just collected into an adjacent field owned by the same person, according to charging documents.
The property owner said Vasiliou asked for permission to dump the sludge and he agreed.But Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said Vasiliou, who has held a permit to haul and dispose liquid waste since 2002, should have known better.
The alleged illegal dumping was discovered because of an anonymous citizen who saw what was going on, took pictures and submitted them to the Salt Lake Valley Health Department.Gill praised the citizen and noted that he has a special interest in environmental cases. Gill specialized in environmental crimes when he worked as a prosecutor and his office has an Environmental Task Force.
It's not just the major oil spills that need prosecuting, but smaller acts of crimes against the environment, he said, adding that the public needs to be educated to prevent them from happening."It's really important to ask our citizens to be on the lookout for that," Gill said.
The public also needs to realize that the smaller acts of abuse against the environment aren't "your typical crime" but can have a long-lasting negative effect on the environment as much as a large oil spill, he said.Vasiliou said he traditionally took the grease from septic tank and sewer line cleanings to a local oil company and other parts to South Valley Sewer, according to charging documents.
In the nineteenth century, New York City was full of Ceramic tile. You can see what that meant in this horrific image of a dead horse rotting in the street where kids were playing. But then there was a revolution that transformed New York into an experiment in urban trash planning.
Anthropologist Robin Nagle has just published a book about NY's sanitation history called Picking Up. She pored over decades of the city's records to piece together how exactly this filthy urban center was cleaned up. Below, you can see a late-nineteenth century sanitation worker in New York, sweeping up trash that would ordinarily have been left outside to decompose.
There was a police corruption scandal in the early 1890s that was so spectacular the Tammany political machine could not control the reaction. So they were kicked out of office in the mayoral elections of 1894. A guy named William Strong took over as mayor, and he swore to appoint people of integrity as his commissioners. For street cleaning, he first reached out to Teddy Roosevelt, who basically said, ‘What, are you nuts? Nobody should do that. That’s an impossible job. I’m not going to do that.’ So Roosevelt took over the police department, which was also in dire need of reform.
Mayor Strong reached out to a Civil War officer, a veteran and a self-titled “sanitary engineer” and a bit of a showman, named George Waring. He asked Waring to take over street cleaning, and they had a conversation that Waring later recounted to the press in which he said, “I’ll do it under one condition – you leave me alone. If you want to fire me, of course, that’s your right. But I will appoint and hire the people I feel are best for the job, not because they’re people you want to do favors for.
The mayor agreed and Waring immediately gave the department a hierarchical, military-type structure that is still in place today. This made people immediately responsible for very clearly defined tasks, like someone was assigned to sweep from this corner to that corner 10 blocks down, and they were going to do it inside these eight hours, and this cart was going to follow and the driver of the cart had these set hours. If there were any problems, the officer immediately in charge of that crew would have to answer for them, and then the officer above had to answer for the larger regional work.
2013年6月23日星期日
Israel unequipped to handle high level soccer
Amsterdam hosted the Europa League final between Chelsea and Benfica a month ago. What an experience, in no small part due to the fantastic organization by the Dutch.
True, it wasn’t the biggest or most glitzy competition in the world, not even in Europe. But they understood that soccer at this level isn’t just 90 minutes on the pitch. The organizers set up special facilities for the fans around the stadium. There were souvenir stores, bars, snack bars and stands with activities and prizes.
Hours before the final, the area outside the stadium was a happening place. Trains efficiently delivered tens of thousands of fans to the Amsterdam Arena. The atmosphere was wonderful. Reaching the stadium two hours before the opening whistle wasn’t enough to enjoy everything the event had to offer.
Around 90 minutes before the beginning of the under-21 Euro semifinal between Spain and Norway last Saturday night, the area near the Netanya stadium was dullsville. Many fans came early ? not because of the special atmosphere but out of fear of getting stuck in traffic jams.
It was clear that no thought was put into the approaches to the stadium. No one greeted the fans. The Israel Football Association didn’t hire musicians or anyone to paint children’s faces. They didn’t invite photographers, didn’t set up food or drink stands, and didn’t offer contests or special deals.
There was just one small tent there, where a simple souvenir scarf was being sold at an exorbitant price. And some shirts were available at even more exorbitant prices. That’s it.
Israeli amateurism in organizing the under-21 tournament was apparent from the moment tickets went on sale. The sale opened at the end of March. Anyone who tried to order tickets during the first days for the games in Netanya discovered that on the website of the authorized ticket seller there was no map of the stadium.
“How can I know which ticket is closest to the center line?” I asked a ticket sales representative on the phone. She couldn’t help. After a few days I went to collect my tickets for the championship games in Netanya, but they weren’t available.
“We were unable to overcome a snag in the system,” someone explained to me. “Try again in a few days.” Oh well, I thought, it’s just a small screw-up.
The best tickets quickly ran out. Foreign fans who are not Hebrew speakers couldn’t obtain them. Over the first few days it was impossible to find a referral in English to the sales site, not even on the UEFA website.
Further on, it turned out that the Football Association had sold all the tickets to the championship in advance. Besides a few invitations to VIPs and cronies, no one set aside tickets for fans of the national team.
The Dutch said that after advancing to the semifinal they asked groups of fans to come to Israel, but to fly to Israel and stay outside the stadium without a ticket? There’s a limit to what people are willing to do for the under-21 Euro. They simply gave up. There were several empty seats in the stadium. That’s what happens when you give out tickets in a slew of deals to people who aren’t really interested in the tournament.
And maybe the Dutch did well by not coming and saving themselves sitting in traffic jams on the way to and from the stadium. There were 12,000 spectators at the Netanya stadium. That’s it. It’s a big event, but nothing exceptional. Still, it seems the Football Association and the police made every mistake possible. They promised to augment the trains and they didn’t; they promised efficient shuttles and didn’t come through.
On the way to the opening game between Israel and Norway, the shuttle from the Beit Yehoshua train station stood in a long traffic jam, like everybody else. After the game, hundreds of fans waited for the shuttle where it had dropped them off, and it simply never came. Ushers weren’t around, and the police had no idea what they were talking about.
Inside Moshava Stadium I was happy to see signs leading to the special exit for Highway 5. After 15 minutes of driving on an unpaved road, it turned out the exit led to a neighborhood and back all the way to the junction next to the stadium ? simply pathetic.
The situation was much worse in Jerusalem. The area around Teddy Stadium remained a construction site throughout the tournament. The access road has been under repairs for a long time, the new southern section of stands lacks a roof. It was really as if the Euro had taken everyone by surprise.
As if that weren’t enough, the police closed traffic lanes leading to the stadium before the game. Is there any greater absurdity than this?
An acquaintance of mine tried to reach the Israel-England game and didn’t make it, so he gave up and turned around. Next to Pat Junction, near the stadium, he asked the police where he could park and board a shuttle. “There’s no such thing here,” an officer answered. Dejected, he went home and didn’t watch the game on television. His seat remained empty.
Luck actually played into my hands. An hour and a half before that game, I managed with great difficulty to crawl into the Malha Mall parking garage. An hour after the game I returned to my car. Another hour passed until dozens of other frustrated fans and I managed to get out of the garage into an endless traffic jam.
We have to give credit to IFA chairman Avi Luzon. He brought to Israel a tournament of the highest level. The soccer was wonderful, and the fans came in droves to watch the stars of the future. Isco, Lorenzo Insigne, Adam Maher and others totally delivered the goods.
But it’s doubtful we’ll see here a sporting event of this order in the future. Israel’s facilities are unsuitable for hosting a World Cup, Euro, Champions League final or even Europa League final. It’s a shame the Football Association was satisfied with merely holding a championship in Israel and didn’t make an effort to produce an unforgettable show.
Click on their website www.tilees.com for more information.
True, it wasn’t the biggest or most glitzy competition in the world, not even in Europe. But they understood that soccer at this level isn’t just 90 minutes on the pitch. The organizers set up special facilities for the fans around the stadium. There were souvenir stores, bars, snack bars and stands with activities and prizes.
Hours before the final, the area outside the stadium was a happening place. Trains efficiently delivered tens of thousands of fans to the Amsterdam Arena. The atmosphere was wonderful. Reaching the stadium two hours before the opening whistle wasn’t enough to enjoy everything the event had to offer.
Around 90 minutes before the beginning of the under-21 Euro semifinal between Spain and Norway last Saturday night, the area near the Netanya stadium was dullsville. Many fans came early ? not because of the special atmosphere but out of fear of getting stuck in traffic jams.
It was clear that no thought was put into the approaches to the stadium. No one greeted the fans. The Israel Football Association didn’t hire musicians or anyone to paint children’s faces. They didn’t invite photographers, didn’t set up food or drink stands, and didn’t offer contests or special deals.
There was just one small tent there, where a simple souvenir scarf was being sold at an exorbitant price. And some shirts were available at even more exorbitant prices. That’s it.
Israeli amateurism in organizing the under-21 tournament was apparent from the moment tickets went on sale. The sale opened at the end of March. Anyone who tried to order tickets during the first days for the games in Netanya discovered that on the website of the authorized ticket seller there was no map of the stadium.
“How can I know which ticket is closest to the center line?” I asked a ticket sales representative on the phone. She couldn’t help. After a few days I went to collect my tickets for the championship games in Netanya, but they weren’t available.
“We were unable to overcome a snag in the system,” someone explained to me. “Try again in a few days.” Oh well, I thought, it’s just a small screw-up.
The best tickets quickly ran out. Foreign fans who are not Hebrew speakers couldn’t obtain them. Over the first few days it was impossible to find a referral in English to the sales site, not even on the UEFA website.
Further on, it turned out that the Football Association had sold all the tickets to the championship in advance. Besides a few invitations to VIPs and cronies, no one set aside tickets for fans of the national team.
The Dutch said that after advancing to the semifinal they asked groups of fans to come to Israel, but to fly to Israel and stay outside the stadium without a ticket? There’s a limit to what people are willing to do for the under-21 Euro. They simply gave up. There were several empty seats in the stadium. That’s what happens when you give out tickets in a slew of deals to people who aren’t really interested in the tournament.
And maybe the Dutch did well by not coming and saving themselves sitting in traffic jams on the way to and from the stadium. There were 12,000 spectators at the Netanya stadium. That’s it. It’s a big event, but nothing exceptional. Still, it seems the Football Association and the police made every mistake possible. They promised to augment the trains and they didn’t; they promised efficient shuttles and didn’t come through.
On the way to the opening game between Israel and Norway, the shuttle from the Beit Yehoshua train station stood in a long traffic jam, like everybody else. After the game, hundreds of fans waited for the shuttle where it had dropped them off, and it simply never came. Ushers weren’t around, and the police had no idea what they were talking about.
Inside Moshava Stadium I was happy to see signs leading to the special exit for Highway 5. After 15 minutes of driving on an unpaved road, it turned out the exit led to a neighborhood and back all the way to the junction next to the stadium ? simply pathetic.
The situation was much worse in Jerusalem. The area around Teddy Stadium remained a construction site throughout the tournament. The access road has been under repairs for a long time, the new southern section of stands lacks a roof. It was really as if the Euro had taken everyone by surprise.
As if that weren’t enough, the police closed traffic lanes leading to the stadium before the game. Is there any greater absurdity than this?
An acquaintance of mine tried to reach the Israel-England game and didn’t make it, so he gave up and turned around. Next to Pat Junction, near the stadium, he asked the police where he could park and board a shuttle. “There’s no such thing here,” an officer answered. Dejected, he went home and didn’t watch the game on television. His seat remained empty.
Luck actually played into my hands. An hour and a half before that game, I managed with great difficulty to crawl into the Malha Mall parking garage. An hour after the game I returned to my car. Another hour passed until dozens of other frustrated fans and I managed to get out of the garage into an endless traffic jam.
We have to give credit to IFA chairman Avi Luzon. He brought to Israel a tournament of the highest level. The soccer was wonderful, and the fans came in droves to watch the stars of the future. Isco, Lorenzo Insigne, Adam Maher and others totally delivered the goods.
But it’s doubtful we’ll see here a sporting event of this order in the future. Israel’s facilities are unsuitable for hosting a World Cup, Euro, Champions League final or even Europa League final. It’s a shame the Football Association was satisfied with merely holding a championship in Israel and didn’t make an effort to produce an unforgettable show.
Click on their website www.tilees.com for more information.
2013年6月20日星期四
Adobe Photoshop CC review
Creative Cloud changes everything. Well, maybe not everything: Adobe Photoshop CC looks nearly identical to its CS6 predecessor, but it packs several powerful new features, including a revolutionary photo motion blur corrector, more effective image upscaling (capable of getting those low-def images looking good on a Retina display), new photo geometry corrections, and multiple shape and path selections.
Since it's part of the cloud subscription, as long as you pay ￡17.58 a month for Photoshop alone, or ￡46.88 for the full creative suite (￡27.34 for upgraders from CS3 or later, ￡15.88 for the Student and Teacher edition), you'll always have access to any new features that come along. That sounds more palatable to me than the old ￡650 or ￡950 up front, though I realise that some long-time users have expressed displeasure at having to continue paying to use the software. However, with the subscription, it would take you at least 3 years to spend the previous up front money, and by then, you'd probably want to upgrade anyway.
Another way that Creative Cloud affects new Photoshop users is that they'll now get all the Photoshop tools, including features that used to be available only in the Photoshop Extended edition, such as 3D modelling and image analysis. Extended costs ￡950, so this is quite a perk, not to mention the fact that it simplifies your product choice.
You should only consider installing Photoshop on a fairly powerful PC or Mac. You also need to sign in with your Adobe ID before the installer will let you start. I installed it on a Windows 8 PC (Photoshop CC runs on Windows 7 with Service Pack 1, but not on earlier Windows OS versions) with a 3.4GHz quad-core processor and 4GB of RAM. It took about 20 minutes, and, right off the bat, I got a message saying that 3D editing wouldn't be available because of my video card or its driver. Mac users will need OS X 10.7 or 10.8.
The Photoshop UI remains largely unchanged from that of Photoshop CS6, which was a big advance over CS5. All your left-side tools and right-side panels are still available, in a choice of workspaces suited to standard image editing, 3D, motion, painting, photography, and typography. It's incredibly customisable, and you can save presets for all your customisations. The new cloud connectivity also means that you can log into a copy of Photoshop at a different location and have all your interface customisation show up.
Another helpful aspect of the interface is that, for most updated features, you can check a "Use legacy" box to get the old tool you're used to. Plenty of other little conveniences (which Adobe likes to call JDIs, for "just do it") have been added to the world's premiere photo editing software. For example, you can now nudge a path with the spacebar. Actions can now be conditional, using if/then expressions.
Behance
Behance is a social network for creative professionals, offering online portfolios and connections. It will be built into all the Creative Cloud applications, and will let users post projects for feedback from colleagues and clients. Users can post their files directly from Photoshop CC via a one-click share button at the lower left. They can share their work from within Behance, and discuss the work and even connect with potential and existing clients and freelancers.
Behance's ProSites are customisable online portfolios which Creative Cloud subscribers can use with their own URLs. I found Behance's presentation elegant, clean, and it incorporated all the essential social features du jour. I especially like the fact that it offers statistics of your page activity. You can also export photos in Zoomify format – a cool viewer that lets viewers zoom deep into large images – but I'd like to see more sharing options, like built-in email and Flickr sharing. Of course, you can do all this from Photoshop's ancillary Bridge image organiser app.
The hottest, most anticipated new feature of Photoshop CC is the modestly named Camera Shake Reduction. This was first shown by Adobe two years ago at its Max conference, and it was met with a very positive reaction. The tool analyses a photo to find the path of shake motion, and then aligns the shifted pixels. It sounds simple enough, but it's harder to get right than it may seem. This is because the path won't be the same everywhere in the photo unless you shook it exactly along a single plane – highly unlikely. You can use the tool's best guess, or select a region (or regions) where you want the blur trace to be estimated.
You can also adjust Blur Trace Bounds, Smoothing, and Artifact Suppression – the last two let me create a less "sharpened" looking result. I'd love to see a simple "effect strength" adjustment like that you get with Smart Sharpen (which, by the way, with this release gets a new Reduce Noise slider). Shake Reduction is not a panacea, but it's definitely a finer effect than even the Smart Sharpen tool. If the subject is simply out of focus, it won't help you; a simply blurry subject won't be fixed.
Photoshop CC also benefits from several new Camera Raw capabilities, some of which we've already seen in the Lightroom 5 beta. The latter includes a new geometry correction tool, Upright (see the above image). This lets you fix parallel vertical and horizontal lines. Its Auto setting attempts to fix perspective, but you can choose only to align verticals or only horizontals, or mess with the perspective to taste with transforming sliders for pincushion/barrel distortion, vertical, horizontal, and aspect ratio.
A couple more new capabilities designers will be thrilled to take advantage of are rounded rectangles and the ability to select multiple paths and shapes when applying effects. You can now save formatting of type as styles that can be easily applied to other text later. Type can also now be viewed in a way that previews system antialiasing used in web browsers. For web designers, Photoshop CC now can generate CSS code that produces the exact look designed in the software. Going in the other direction, they can also now import colour from a website's HTML or CSS code.
Read the full story at www.tilees.com!
Since it's part of the cloud subscription, as long as you pay ￡17.58 a month for Photoshop alone, or ￡46.88 for the full creative suite (￡27.34 for upgraders from CS3 or later, ￡15.88 for the Student and Teacher edition), you'll always have access to any new features that come along. That sounds more palatable to me than the old ￡650 or ￡950 up front, though I realise that some long-time users have expressed displeasure at having to continue paying to use the software. However, with the subscription, it would take you at least 3 years to spend the previous up front money, and by then, you'd probably want to upgrade anyway.
Another way that Creative Cloud affects new Photoshop users is that they'll now get all the Photoshop tools, including features that used to be available only in the Photoshop Extended edition, such as 3D modelling and image analysis. Extended costs ￡950, so this is quite a perk, not to mention the fact that it simplifies your product choice.
You should only consider installing Photoshop on a fairly powerful PC or Mac. You also need to sign in with your Adobe ID before the installer will let you start. I installed it on a Windows 8 PC (Photoshop CC runs on Windows 7 with Service Pack 1, but not on earlier Windows OS versions) with a 3.4GHz quad-core processor and 4GB of RAM. It took about 20 minutes, and, right off the bat, I got a message saying that 3D editing wouldn't be available because of my video card or its driver. Mac users will need OS X 10.7 or 10.8.
The Photoshop UI remains largely unchanged from that of Photoshop CS6, which was a big advance over CS5. All your left-side tools and right-side panels are still available, in a choice of workspaces suited to standard image editing, 3D, motion, painting, photography, and typography. It's incredibly customisable, and you can save presets for all your customisations. The new cloud connectivity also means that you can log into a copy of Photoshop at a different location and have all your interface customisation show up.
Another helpful aspect of the interface is that, for most updated features, you can check a "Use legacy" box to get the old tool you're used to. Plenty of other little conveniences (which Adobe likes to call JDIs, for "just do it") have been added to the world's premiere photo editing software. For example, you can now nudge a path with the spacebar. Actions can now be conditional, using if/then expressions.
Behance
Behance is a social network for creative professionals, offering online portfolios and connections. It will be built into all the Creative Cloud applications, and will let users post projects for feedback from colleagues and clients. Users can post their files directly from Photoshop CC via a one-click share button at the lower left. They can share their work from within Behance, and discuss the work and even connect with potential and existing clients and freelancers.
Behance's ProSites are customisable online portfolios which Creative Cloud subscribers can use with their own URLs. I found Behance's presentation elegant, clean, and it incorporated all the essential social features du jour. I especially like the fact that it offers statistics of your page activity. You can also export photos in Zoomify format – a cool viewer that lets viewers zoom deep into large images – but I'd like to see more sharing options, like built-in email and Flickr sharing. Of course, you can do all this from Photoshop's ancillary Bridge image organiser app.
The hottest, most anticipated new feature of Photoshop CC is the modestly named Camera Shake Reduction. This was first shown by Adobe two years ago at its Max conference, and it was met with a very positive reaction. The tool analyses a photo to find the path of shake motion, and then aligns the shifted pixels. It sounds simple enough, but it's harder to get right than it may seem. This is because the path won't be the same everywhere in the photo unless you shook it exactly along a single plane – highly unlikely. You can use the tool's best guess, or select a region (or regions) where you want the blur trace to be estimated.
You can also adjust Blur Trace Bounds, Smoothing, and Artifact Suppression – the last two let me create a less "sharpened" looking result. I'd love to see a simple "effect strength" adjustment like that you get with Smart Sharpen (which, by the way, with this release gets a new Reduce Noise slider). Shake Reduction is not a panacea, but it's definitely a finer effect than even the Smart Sharpen tool. If the subject is simply out of focus, it won't help you; a simply blurry subject won't be fixed.
Photoshop CC also benefits from several new Camera Raw capabilities, some of which we've already seen in the Lightroom 5 beta. The latter includes a new geometry correction tool, Upright (see the above image). This lets you fix parallel vertical and horizontal lines. Its Auto setting attempts to fix perspective, but you can choose only to align verticals or only horizontals, or mess with the perspective to taste with transforming sliders for pincushion/barrel distortion, vertical, horizontal, and aspect ratio.
A couple more new capabilities designers will be thrilled to take advantage of are rounded rectangles and the ability to select multiple paths and shapes when applying effects. You can now save formatting of type as styles that can be easily applied to other text later. Type can also now be viewed in a way that previews system antialiasing used in web browsers. For web designers, Photoshop CC now can generate CSS code that produces the exact look designed in the software. Going in the other direction, they can also now import colour from a website's HTML or CSS code.
Read the full story at www.tilees.com!
2013年6月18日星期二
PaySmart launches EMV offering in the cloud using Multos
PaySmart's Software as a Service (SaaS) approach to EMV uses cloud computing technology and MULTOS to dramatically reduce the complexity and time required to conduct an EMV migration project, especially for independent EMV issuers.
"Everything is executed under a class 5 datacenter with disaster recovery and redundancy in two separate cities, a mission-critical environment supporting high-volume transactions and the same infrastructure used by major banks, insurance companies and credit cards companies worldwide. With paySmart, an issuer can start issuing chip cards in 30 days, with almost zero investments and paying a flat, monthly fee, only for cards which are actually generating revenues. Depending on the requirements, low cost MULTOS Step/One cards can be issued, which helps to reduce the total cost of ownership of the solution", explains Daniel Nunes de Oliveira, Business Development Director of paySmart.
Oliveira reveals why MULTOS simplifies the issuance model for paySmart: "the beauty of MULTOS for us is that we can perform data preparation in the cloud and send enciphered files directly to the cards, using card personalization bureaus or instant issuance printers. What was once risky, complex and used to take a long time to deploy, has now become low risk, simple and very fast. It is not necessary to invest in infrastructure and in human resources - all software and hardware is already plugged in,Ceramic tile, in a secure, private cloud."
Julio Rost, paySmart's Marketing Coordinator says, "The idea of the new brand is to help us to communicate to customers and partners that in addition to the Smartcon products and services that have made us leaders in this industry, we are now providing EMV technology as a service, a complete offer for independent issuers who want to migrate from magstripe to chip, quickly and efficiently".
So, earlier this month I went with my lil bro to my first significant live poker event. In Troia near Lisbon in Portugal. Free hotel, Dad offering to pay for the flights – free holiday! With the chance to turn a profit playing poker…who could say no!? I tried to qualify online a few times and reached the third and final tier three times. Close but no cigar. Ah, but there are satellites when we are there….
I’m moved tables four times and I take advantage of both my chip stack and the players lack of knowledge of me to make some more moves and I’m looking pretty damn good. We’re getting down to the bubble and I’m thinking take it easy. No rash moves. Give me the rubbish I had day 1. But 77 in first position…I make a min raise. I get an all in for another min raise and call it down. His AK hits but I’m still looking fine….then an all in ahead of me and I’m looking down at 10,10. I want to slow down and let someone bust out, but I’ve got the 5th best starting hand and it would only be 2/5 of my stack to call. Too tempting. He has Jacks. Sigh. They hold up. Sigh again. Then someone busts and it’s the final ten.
Final Table – there’s me on around 30K, same-ish as three other players. The blinds are 4k and 8k, owch. I get dealt the button so the other three shorties have to go through the blinds before me. Just don’t be tenth I think, just don’t. The other short stacks make moves all in, don’t get called. Survive a round. I look down at KQs in first position. AHHHHHH! First position! The blinds have to go through the short stacks again so I let it go. And agonise about it since. I’ve then got nowt when I face all ins on my blinds. Its ok I’m thinking, I can take one blinds hit since they have to take the blinds again before me. I steal some blinds on the button against my new best friend for the day Diogo. He doesn’t look happy but neither am I. The short stacks move all in again…and survive. The blinds hits me again with nowt, nowt again, nowt again. Guy to my right goes all in. By now I’m starting to worry, expecting to look down at a 7 and “the rules for playing poker card” that comes with the deck, but low and behold KK! My meagre stack goes in, and the big blind moves all in too.
The first all in guy shows AK. Perfect. He has three aces against my kings. Couldn’t ask for better. The second caller shows Q7. Q7!?!? He’s thinking there are more cards to bust me, but the AK has him covered chipwise so if he’s third he’s out and if he’s second he’s crippled. These are the two most likely outcomes, even not knowing the cards. Stupid move. But hey, I’ll take em all day. I’m 60%ish percent with double the chips on offer. Can’t ask for better. Flop is;
So I’m out at the same time as AK but my stack is shortest so I’m tenth. With nowt. I stare disbelievingly, try to weasel a joint ninth place finish, then rap the table, say good game, and walk away to swear and drink. Poker can be so cruel at times. But overall the experience was good. Statistically I was better than one in seven players in that sat, and since Mr. Q7 had already sucked out on me one earlier on when he was underdog I definitely had the better of him too.
Mint holiday, nearly free…and as lil bro already said, I won the 20 Euros bet offering him 10/1 odds that he couldn’t catch a fish in the marina with his bare hands. I’m watching him, howling with laughter, and one of the Portuguese poker lads walks over and see’s the Golem impression going on. ‘What are you doing?’ he says.
However, the school district is not willing to fund the project alone. It will cost $30,000 to employ a coordinator. SD71 committed $10,000 and is hoping other stakeholders will also chip in.
"It's not just a school project," said Taylor. "It's bigger and more sophisticated than that. It involves municipalities, schools and other stakeholders as well. So because so many components of the community are involved it needs to be championed of some kind. And because we've already been doing a lot of work in schools like bike rodeos, we're part of the push behind this."
"We need to have every one aligned. We need adequate funding for a coordinator because from our experienced, the coordinator is key to making all of these happen. We're just a volunteer group and already have our hands full with our own activities. We're willing to help out with this but we don't have anyone that's going to take this on. It needs to be a part-time paid position for someone to do all the coordination involved."
"Everything is executed under a class 5 datacenter with disaster recovery and redundancy in two separate cities, a mission-critical environment supporting high-volume transactions and the same infrastructure used by major banks, insurance companies and credit cards companies worldwide. With paySmart, an issuer can start issuing chip cards in 30 days, with almost zero investments and paying a flat, monthly fee, only for cards which are actually generating revenues. Depending on the requirements, low cost MULTOS Step/One cards can be issued, which helps to reduce the total cost of ownership of the solution", explains Daniel Nunes de Oliveira, Business Development Director of paySmart.
Oliveira reveals why MULTOS simplifies the issuance model for paySmart: "the beauty of MULTOS for us is that we can perform data preparation in the cloud and send enciphered files directly to the cards, using card personalization bureaus or instant issuance printers. What was once risky, complex and used to take a long time to deploy, has now become low risk, simple and very fast. It is not necessary to invest in infrastructure and in human resources - all software and hardware is already plugged in,Ceramic tile, in a secure, private cloud."
Julio Rost, paySmart's Marketing Coordinator says, "The idea of the new brand is to help us to communicate to customers and partners that in addition to the Smartcon products and services that have made us leaders in this industry, we are now providing EMV technology as a service, a complete offer for independent issuers who want to migrate from magstripe to chip, quickly and efficiently".
So, earlier this month I went with my lil bro to my first significant live poker event. In Troia near Lisbon in Portugal. Free hotel, Dad offering to pay for the flights – free holiday! With the chance to turn a profit playing poker…who could say no!? I tried to qualify online a few times and reached the third and final tier three times. Close but no cigar. Ah, but there are satellites when we are there….
I’m moved tables four times and I take advantage of both my chip stack and the players lack of knowledge of me to make some more moves and I’m looking pretty damn good. We’re getting down to the bubble and I’m thinking take it easy. No rash moves. Give me the rubbish I had day 1. But 77 in first position…I make a min raise. I get an all in for another min raise and call it down. His AK hits but I’m still looking fine….then an all in ahead of me and I’m looking down at 10,10. I want to slow down and let someone bust out, but I’ve got the 5th best starting hand and it would only be 2/5 of my stack to call. Too tempting. He has Jacks. Sigh. They hold up. Sigh again. Then someone busts and it’s the final ten.
Final Table – there’s me on around 30K, same-ish as three other players. The blinds are 4k and 8k, owch. I get dealt the button so the other three shorties have to go through the blinds before me. Just don’t be tenth I think, just don’t. The other short stacks make moves all in, don’t get called. Survive a round. I look down at KQs in first position. AHHHHHH! First position! The blinds have to go through the short stacks again so I let it go. And agonise about it since. I’ve then got nowt when I face all ins on my blinds. Its ok I’m thinking, I can take one blinds hit since they have to take the blinds again before me. I steal some blinds on the button against my new best friend for the day Diogo. He doesn’t look happy but neither am I. The short stacks move all in again…and survive. The blinds hits me again with nowt, nowt again, nowt again. Guy to my right goes all in. By now I’m starting to worry, expecting to look down at a 7 and “the rules for playing poker card” that comes with the deck, but low and behold KK! My meagre stack goes in, and the big blind moves all in too.
The first all in guy shows AK. Perfect. He has three aces against my kings. Couldn’t ask for better. The second caller shows Q7. Q7!?!? He’s thinking there are more cards to bust me, but the AK has him covered chipwise so if he’s third he’s out and if he’s second he’s crippled. These are the two most likely outcomes, even not knowing the cards. Stupid move. But hey, I’ll take em all day. I’m 60%ish percent with double the chips on offer. Can’t ask for better. Flop is;
So I’m out at the same time as AK but my stack is shortest so I’m tenth. With nowt. I stare disbelievingly, try to weasel a joint ninth place finish, then rap the table, say good game, and walk away to swear and drink. Poker can be so cruel at times. But overall the experience was good. Statistically I was better than one in seven players in that sat, and since Mr. Q7 had already sucked out on me one earlier on when he was underdog I definitely had the better of him too.
Mint holiday, nearly free…and as lil bro already said, I won the 20 Euros bet offering him 10/1 odds that he couldn’t catch a fish in the marina with his bare hands. I’m watching him, howling with laughter, and one of the Portuguese poker lads walks over and see’s the Golem impression going on. ‘What are you doing?’ he says.
However, the school district is not willing to fund the project alone. It will cost $30,000 to employ a coordinator. SD71 committed $10,000 and is hoping other stakeholders will also chip in.
"It's not just a school project," said Taylor. "It's bigger and more sophisticated than that. It involves municipalities, schools and other stakeholders as well. So because so many components of the community are involved it needs to be championed of some kind. And because we've already been doing a lot of work in schools like bike rodeos, we're part of the push behind this."
"We need to have every one aligned. We need adequate funding for a coordinator because from our experienced, the coordinator is key to making all of these happen. We're just a volunteer group and already have our hands full with our own activities. We're willing to help out with this but we don't have anyone that's going to take this on. It needs to be a part-time paid position for someone to do all the coordination involved."
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