Fri., 6 Sep. - Tue., 10 Sep.
Sat., 14 Dec. - Tue., 17 Dec.
Located in Kenner - Louis Armstrong International Airport, this hotel is within 3 mi (5 km) of Imtt Field, Rivertown Museum & Kenner Planetarium, and Rivertown Repertory Theatre. Veterans Park is 3 mi (4.8 km) away.
Located in Kenner - Louis Armstrong International Airport, this hotel is within 3 mi (5 km) of Imtt Field, Rivertown Museum & Kenner Planetarium, and Rivertown Repertory Theatre. Veterans Park and Cafe Du Monde are also within 6 mi (10 km).
Located in Kenner - Louis Armstrong International Airport, this hotel is 0.6 mi (1 km) from Cafe Du Monde and within 3 mi (5 km) of Esplanade Mall and Lafreniere Park. Pontchartrain Center and Treasure Chest Casino are also within 3 mi (5 km).
Radisson Hotel New Orleans Airport is less than a 10-minute drive from the airport, and the free 24-hour shuttle puts the terminals within easy reach. Shopping at Esplanade Mall is a 5-minute drive away, and it's 20 minutes to the sights of the historic French Quarter.
Answer : The average time spent in New Orleans by travellers from Buffalo is five days. However long you decide to stay, give yourself plenty of time to see what makes New Orleans fantastic.
Question : What is the cheapest airline flying from Buffalo to New Orleans?
Answer : Delta Air Lines strives to keep prices low for their passengers over the next three months. Bookings are being made at just $264 and, when compared to the pricier bookings of $1,215, it's quite a deal.
Question : How many flights are there per day from Buffalo to New Orleans?
Answer : Depending on the day, the number of flight times will change, but on average there is only one. Compared to the average route departing the United States with nine flight times, you'll have fewer options.
Answer : The cheapest day to fly from Buffalo to New Orleans is on Monday. If you are trying to save some money on your next holiday look for flights on Monday.
Answer : If you are needing to save some money, look at May 14th. As of Apr 15th, it's showing the cheapest ticket at $264. That is 59% below the average for this route, so you can spend that extra money on an amazing experience in New Orleans.
Question : How much is a plane ticket to New Orleans (MSY) from Buffalo (BUF)?
Answer : They can range from $264 to $1,215. Booking far in advance can usually help you get the cheapest rate. However, usually the sooner you book, the more you'll be able to save.
Question : Which airline has the least delays from Buffalo to New Orleans?
Answer : Booking with Republic Airlines means you will arrive to New Orleans when you are supposed to. In fact, this airline has a 100% average for getting there on time. It never hurts to be prepared. If you should choose this airline, be sure to track the flight status to stay on top of the departure time.


BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — She uses a wheelchair and carries the weight of her 87 years, but Clelia Luro feels powerful enough to make the Roman Catholic Church pay attention to her campaign to end priestly celibacy.
This woman, whose romance with a bishop and eventual marriage became a major scandal in the 1960s, is such a close friend with Pope Francis that he called her every Sunday when he was Argentina's leading cardinal.
Luro's convinced that he will eventually lead the global church to end mandatory priestly celibacy, a requirement she says "the world no longer understands." She believes this could resolve a global shortage of priests, and persuade many Catholics who are no longer practicing to recommit themselves to the church.
John Paul II, Benedict XVI and other popes before them forbade any open discussion of changing the celibacy rule, and Francis hasn't mentioned the topic since becoming pope last month.
"I don't see how in any way this would form part of his agenda," said the Rev. Robert Gahl, an Opus Dei moral theologian at the Pontifical Holy Cross University in Rome.
But as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, he referred to the issue of celibacy in ways that have inspired advocates to think that the time for a change has come.
In his book "On Heaven and Earth," published last year, Bergoglio said: "For the moment I'm in favor of maintaining celibacy, with its pros and cons, because there have been 10 centuries of good experiences rather than failures." But he also noted that "it's a question of discipline, not of faith. It could change," and said the Eastern Rite Catholic church, which makes celibacy optional, has good priests as well.
"In the hypothetical case that the church decides to revise this rule … it would be for a cultural reason, as with the case of the Eastern church, where they ordain married men," he said in "Pope Francis. Conversations with Jorge Bergoglio," re-published last month by his authorized biographers, Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti.
Luro and her husband, the former bishop of Avellaneda, Jeronimo Podesta, felt ostracized from the church for many years, but she says Bergoglio didn't hesitate to minister to them when Podesta was hospitalized before his death in 2000. They became such good friends thereafter that Luro said Bergoglio called her every Sunday for 12 years, and often discussed the celibacy issue as they debated all sorts of hot topics in private conversations.
Luro now feels that the cardinals' election of a Jesuit and Vatican outsider who is committed to expanding the global church and reaffirming its commitment to the poor shows their willingness to undertake profound changes to stem an exodus of the faithful.
The Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and Vatican analyst at Georgetown University, said a first step might be for Francis to simply signal that it's OK to debate the issue.
"The Vatican led by John Paul and Benedict said that certain topics were just off the table, and any bishop who discussed them would be in trouble. And theologians who wrote about them would get into trouble. So this is part of a bigger question of how much open discussion Pope Francis is going to allow in the church," Reese said.
Still, celibacy is not dogma — a law of divine origin — but a tradition of the Roman Catholic church. Dogma cannot change, but traditions can.
In the Eastern Rite Catholic Church, seminarians who are already married can be ordained later as priests. Some married Anglican priests also have been allowed to convert to Roman Catholicism, and some widowers with families have become priests later.
But as Gahl notes, no Roman Catholic tradition allows men who have already "married the church" to later marry a wife. This would create a divided heart, a weakened commitment, and go against much of what Francis has said since becoming pope about the need for priests to deny themselves earthly pleasures as they spread the Gospel, he said.
Those resisting change say celibacy has other benefits, not least among them financial: Imagine if the world's 400,000 Roman Catholic priests all had families, presumably large ones given the church's ban on contraception. Suddenly, relatively meager priestly salaries would have to increase exponentially.
Still, tens of thousands of priests have left their ministries to marry, and many others, particularly in Africa and Latin America, have remained while having relationships with women and children on the side. Bergoglio condemns that practice in his books.
Benedict reaffirmed mandatory celibacy in response to a high-profile crusade by a married African archbishop who was excommunicated after defying the Vatican and ordaining four married men as bishops.
Bergoglio's great friend Cardinal Claudio Hummes of Brazil got into hot water when he noted that priestly celibacy is not a matter of divine law during a 2006 newspaper interview he gave before arriving in Rome to take over the Vatican's office for the world's priests. It sparked such speculation about a potential change that Hummes had to issue a lengthy statement reaffirming celibacy.
Luro was 39, separated and with six children when she met Podesta, then 45, in 1966. He was already a bishop, and very committed to social causes, advocating liberation theology as part of the Movement of Third World Priests.
"I was the first woman for Jeronimo," she recalls. Far from hiding it, they made their relationship public and launched a campaign for optional celibacy that took them to the Vatican's doors. Shortly thereafter, Pope Paul VI issued the encyclical "Sacerdotalis Caelibatus" in 1967, ratifying priestly vows of perpetual celibacy.
And after becoming Francis, he called her again, she said. Out of respect for the pope, she won't say what he told her.


ELINCOURT SAINTE MARGUERITE, France, June 7 -- His top goalkeeper has a broken arm. The news media are demanding his head. In recent exhibitions, his players have done nothing creative with their feet. And for democracy to overcome military rule in Nigeria, some believe, it is better for his team to fail than to succeed in the World Cup.
Bora Milutinovic is coaching his fourth team in soccer's world championship, and if he is concerned about any of this, he hides it well, beneath his Beatle haircut and glasses that are as thick as the intrigue surrounding Nigeria's slumping entrance into the world's most popular sporting event.
At lunch today, fewer than 48 hours after Nigeria was humbled by 5-1 in a friendly match with the Netherlands, Milutinovic laughed and joked and played Ping-Pong with his star midfielder, Sunday Oliseh.
''How can I make you happy, my friend, by losing a game to you?'' he said to Oliseh.
Those who know him well believe Milutinovic is using that same sandbagging approach to artfully prepare for Nigeria's Group D World Cup opener against Spain on Saturday.
While his friends certainly do not believe he has deliberately been outscored by 13-1 by Germany, Yugoslavia, the Netherlands and the Swiss club team Grasshoppers since late April, they do believe that Milutinovic has been experimenting, using decoy maneuvers and smartly trying to lower expectations for a team that advanced to the second round of the 1994 World Cup and won the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
The Serbian coach is famous for his craftiness and his evasiveness. His previous three teams -- Mexico, Costa Rica and the United States -- all advanced beyond the first round of the World Cup. And Nigeria hopes to exceed its performance of 1994, when it led Italy until the final minute before losing in overtime in the second round.
In the buildup to the 1998 World Cup, Germany Coach Berti Vogts predicted that Nigeria would be the ''secret surprise'' and that, at some positions, ''Nigeria has even better players than Brazil.'' No team from Africa has ever won the World Cup, and some think that Nigeria has the ferocious attacking style, the skill and depth to be the first. It is this kind of hyperbolic anticipation that Milutinovic is trying to deflate.
The Nigerian news media would like to seize something else -- Milutinovic's job. He was hired in December at a salary of $35,000 a month, according to the Nigerian soccer federation, plus a bonus of $250,000 if the Super Eagles win the World Cup. But the nation's news media are in full panic, certain that Nigeria will be lucky to win a game against Spain, Paraguay and Bulgaria.
It is a notoriously impatient country, where coaches are changed like shirts. Milutinovic's predecessor, the Frenchman Philippe Troussier (now the coach of South Africa), was ousted in September. Now Milutinovic is hearing the thumbs-down jeers of the Nigerian media.
This is familiar criticism in a sport where passion is fanatical and job security is tenuous. Milutinovic, 53, was fired by Mexico last fall, even though his team did not lose a single game in the final round of qualifying for the 1998 World Cup. Before that, he was dumped by the Americans. He is not likely to coach Nigeria beyond the World Cup. People call him a soccer gypsy, but he really is a mechanic, a master of the quick fix.
After only two months as head coach, he took Costa Rica to the second round of the 1990 World Cup. Four years later, he took an American team, half of whose players had no professional experience, and also made the second round. Patience is what he asks for from the Nigerians. A little patience.
''It's important for you to do what you need to do, not what people think you should do,'' Milutinovic said.
Of course, there are real concerns. The defense, a Milutinovic trademark, has been shaky. His top goalie, Ike Shorunmu, is out with a broken arm. And he cannot know yet about the reliability of his magnificent striker, Nwankwo Kanu, who was found to have a deformed heart valve after the Atlanta Olympics.
Kanu underwent surgery at the Cleveland Clinic -- his countrymen donated money for the operation -- and he has made a comeback at age 21 that many thought was impossible. If he stars in the World Cup, he will become an international hero. But Kanu played rarely this season for Inter Milan, his club team in Italy, and Milutinovic wonders about his stamina.
''He's a good kid, a good player, but we just don't know,'' Milutinovic said.
Because his players have been spread out across Europe, playing for club teams in England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Turkey, the coach has had his full team together only for seven or eight training sessions. There is much to work on and little time.
The outcome of the World Cup will have ramifications far beyond soccer for Nigeria. Politics is knottily intertwined with sport. Nigeria withdrew from the 1996 African Nations Cup in South Africa, after that country's president, Nelson Mandela, criticized the military regime in Nigeria for its poor human rights record and its halting move toward democracy.
The European Union applied sanctions against Nigeria, including a ban on sporting contacts, after nine rights workers were executed there in 1995, including the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa. Glenys Kinnock, a British member of the European Parliament, called in February for Nigeria to be tossed out of the 1998 World Cup.
Some fighting for democracy in Nigeria are actually hoping for defeat of the soccer team, The Economist magazine suggested recently, believing it could be an important step in further destabilizing the military regime of Gen. Sani Abacha.
If recent defeats have brought a hail of criticism, they have also brought an absence of overconfidence, said goalkeeper Peter Rufai.


While the tax implications are a very important part of your property investment strategy I would never make it the number one reason in determining what entity I buy my property in.
There are many other reasons why people buy property in varying classes, such as for security reasons or to minimise land tax.
In answering the question I explained that depreciation of property reduces the taxable income in the entity that holds the property.
So the tax rate for that entity, when the rent is included in the equation, derives the depreciation benefit you gain.
Depreciation report calculates depreciation Year 1 at $10,000.
Can you afford an investment property? find out with our calculator.
a. As you can see from the above I have grouped the personal and trust entities together.
That's because, a person is normally a beneficiary of the trust and therefore the same tax scales apply to both entities.
b. If the only income you receive is the rent on a property and that rent keeps you in the minimum threshold – then the depreciation benefit is nil.
If the property is in a trust and is negatively geared then the depreciation will increase those losses. But losses in a trust cannot be distributed and therefore are quarantined in the trust until those losses can be offset by other revenue.
This is an important note to consider when buying property in a trust as the income received via rent cannot be added to your personal income.
c. The super fund has the lowest tax rate affecting your depreciation. But this is also a good thing, as all income is only taxed at the maximum rate of 15%.
Personally, I have purchased property in my own name, my super fund and in a trust all for varying reasons.
I always seek financial advice from my accountant or financial advisor before entering a contract. That way I know the entity that ends up holding the asset is the right one from the beginning!
Informative article and straight to the point. You have named 3 structures, and the implications for 3 investment properties of $500,000 each with land tax where each structure has 1 property or all 3 properties are under 1 structure would be interesting. This may override any benefits of depreciation?


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Skin Patch Controls Blood Sugar Without Finger Pricks or Injections
Medgadget Editors Materials, Medicine, Nanomedicine
Researchers at National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) have developed a special patch for Type 2 diabetics that helps to control glucose levels in a novel way. The technology, once fully proven out and optimized, may work for days or even weeks at a time.
The patch is made of alginate, a material produced from algae, that is biocompatible and has the strength necessary to penetrate the skin when formed into needles. As such, the patch has alginate needles protruding from its bottom, but in addition there's also exendin-4 and glucose oxidase mixed in. The compounds work together to release glucose when necessary, while avoiding doing so when glucose levels are near to normal.
Illustration to represent glucose-responsive exendin-4 delivery with a microneedle patch. On top, relatively lower glucose levels (turquoise) in blood induce a mild chemical reaction with the compounds in the patch, which is not sufficient to release exendin-4. On bottom, when blood glucose concentration rises, acidity in blood triggers rapid release of exendin-4 (pink) for blood glucose regulation. Chen lab, NIBIB.
Both exendin-4 and glucose oxidase are paired with phosphate mineral particles to stabilize them within the patch, allowing them to be only active when necessary. Rising acidity levels below the surface of the skin, which happens when glucose levels rise, break down the stabilized compounds to allow them to interact with the body.
The researchers showed that their technology allowed them to control blood sugar levels in laboratory mice for up to a week at a time. Next steps will involve modifying the patch to work with larger animals before trying it out on human subjects.
Some more details according to the NIH:
Exendin-4 is similar in genetic makeup to a molecule the body produces and secretes in the intestine in response to food intake. Though it is somewhat weaker than the naturally occurring molecule, the team chose exendin-4 for its application because exendin-4 does not degrade in the bloodstream for an hour or more, so can have long-lasting effect after being released. However, it can induce nausea when too much is absorbed. To control how quickly it is absorbed, the researchers combined exendin-4 with mineral particles of calcium phosphate, which stabilize it until another chemical reaction occurs. That chemical reaction is caused by the second drug compound in the patch—glucose oxidase— that is held in its mineral buffer of copper phosphate.
[Xiaoyuan (Shawn) Chen], senior investigator in the Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Nanomedicineexplained that when blood sugar is elevated beyond a precise point, it triggers a reaction with copper phosphate and glucose oxidase to produce slight acidity, which causes calcium phosphate to release some exendin-4. Rising glucose levels trigger the release of exendin-4; but exendin-4 then gets insulin flowing to reduce the glucose level, which slows down and stops release of exendin-4. "That's why we call it responsive, or smart, release," said Chen. "Most current approaches involve constant release. Our approach creates a wave of fast release when needed and then slows or even stops the release when the glucose level is stable."
Study in Nature Communications: Microneedle-array patches loaded with dual mineralized protein/peptide particles for type 2 diabetes therapy…
Via: NIH…
Medgadget Editors

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Gazond (; also known as Gūzān) is a village in Darmian Rural District, in the Central District of Darmian County, South Khorasan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 73, in 18 families.

References

Populated places in Darmian County

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Going by their name, you'd expect 3 Squares to be another of those "quirky" Rock-based Bad Plus-type piano trios, but that's not quite the case. There is a little progressive Rock bashing on (Have We Met?) but mostly there is a more deliberate group feel that resembles some of Carla Bley's groups. David Vincent Mills' piano has some of Bley's simple and elemental style and Daren Burns is one of the few younger electric bass players I've heard who owes more to Steve Swallow than Stanley Clarke or Jaco Pastorius. That relentless Bley feel carries through the title track, "What Do You Know," "Seven & Seven," and the lazy Blues "I Wish It Was." There is also the aforementioned prog bashing on "Ear Caving Dread" and some Middle Eastern exotica on "Ashram" and "Marwa" but mostly this music is a series of distinctive musical conversations drawn out of very basic materials, a sound that gives this band its own identity.


You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'Signals' tag.
Photo – Signal traces, September 2013, Vitorino Ramos.
[…] While pheromone reinforcement plays a role as system's memory, evaporation allows the system to adapt and dynamically decide, without any type of centralized or hierarchical control […], below.
"[…] whereas signals tends to be conspicuous, since natural selection has shaped signals to be strong and effective displays, information transfer via cues is often more subtle and based on incidental stimuli in an organism's social environment […]", Seeley, T.D., "The Honey Bee Colony as a Super-Organism", American Scientist, 77, pp.546-553, 1989.
[…] If an ant colony on his cyclic way from the nest to a food source (and back again), has only two possible branches around an obstacle, one bigger and the other smaller (the bridge experiment [7,52]), pheromone will accumulate – as times passes – on the shorter path, simple because any ant that sets out on that path will return sooner, passing the same points more frequently, and via that way, reinforcing the signal of that precise branch. Even if as we know, the pheromone evaporation rate is the same in both branches, the longer branch will faster vanish his pheromone, since there is not enough critical mass of individuals to keep it. On the other hand – in what appears to be a vastly pedagogic trick of Mother Nature – evaporation plays a critical role on the society. Without it, the final global decision or the phase transition will never happen. Moreover, without it, the whole colony can never adapt if the environment suddenly changes (e.g., the appearance of a third even shorter branch). While pheromone reinforcement plays a role as system's memory, evaporation allows the system to adapt and dynamically decide, without any type of centralized or hierarchical control. […], in "Social Cognitive Maps, Swarm Collective Perception and Distributed Search on Dynamic Landscapes", V. Ramos et al., available as pre-print on arXiV, 2005.
[…] There is some degree of communication among the ants, just enough to keep them from wandering of completely at random. By this minimal communication they can remind each other that they are not alone but are cooperating with team-mates. It takes a large number of ants, all reinforcing each other this way, to sustain any activity – such as trail building – for any length of time. Now my very hazy understanding of the operation of brain leads me to believe that something similar pertains to the firing of neurons… […] in, p. 316, Hofstadter, D.R., "Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid", New York: Basic Books, 1979).
[…] Since in Self-Organized (SO) systems their organization arises entirely from multiple interactions, it is of critical importance to question how organisms acquire and act upon information . Basically through two forms: a) information gathered from one's neighbours, and b) information gathered from work in progress, that is, stigmergy. In the case of animal groups, these internal interactions typically involve information transfers between individuals. Biologists have recently recognized that information can flow within groups via two distinct pathways – signals and cues. Signals are stimuli shaped by natural selection specifically to convey information, whereas cues are stimuli that convey information only incidentally . The distinction between signals and cues is illustrated by the difference on ant and deer trails. The chemical trail deposited by ants as they return from a desirable food source is a signal. Over evolutionary time such trails have been moulded by natural selection for the purpose of sharing with nest mates information about the location of rich food sources. In contrast, the rutted trails made by deer walking through the woods is a cue, not shaped by natural selection for communication among deer but are a simple by-product of animals walking along the same path. SO systems are based on both, but whereas signals tends to be conspicuous, since natural selection has shaped signals to be strong and effective displays, information transfer via cues is often more subtle and based on incidental stimuli in an organism's social environment  […], in "Social Cognitive Maps, Swarm Collective Perception and Distributed Search on Dynamic Landscapes", V. Ramos et al., available as pre-print on arXiV, 2005.
Complex adaptive systems (CAS), including ecosystems, governments, biological cells, and markets, are characterized by intricate hierarchical arrangements of boundaries and signals. In ecosystems, for example, niches act as semi-permeable boundaries, and smells and visual patterns serve as signals; governments have departmental hierarchies with memoranda acting as signals; and so it is with other CAS. Despite a wealth of data and descriptions concerning different CAS, there remain many unanswered questions about "steering" these systems. In Signals and Boundaries, John Holland (Wikipedia entry) argues that understanding the origin of the intricate signal/border hierarchies of these systems is the key to answering such questions. He develops an overarching framework for comparing and steering CAS through the mechanisms that generate their signal/boundary hierarchies. Holland lays out a path for developing the framework that emphasizes agents, niches, theory, and mathematical models. He discusses, among other topics, theory construction; signal-processing agents; networks as representations of signal/boundary interaction; adaptation; recombination and reproduction; the use of tagged urn models (adapted from elementary probability theory) to represent boundary hierarchies; finitely generated systems as a way to tie the models examined into a single framework; the framework itself, illustrated by a simple finitely generated version of the development of a multi-celled organism; and Markov processes.
in, Introduction to John H. Holland, "Signals and Boundaries – Building blocks for Complex Adaptive Systems", Cambridge, Mass. : ©MIT Press, 2012.


text:
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Five video games set in the Middle East you need to know about
Despite the region's lacklustre presence in gaming narratives, a growing crop of games have made their mark in recent years.
Gaming is big business in the Middle East and more developers are featuring characters from the region in their video games (MEE)
Emad Ahmed
Published date: 9 June 2021 09:18 UTC | Last update: 1 year 6 months ago
The Middle East has been a growing market for video games for years now, with franchises like FIFA, Minecraft and Fortnite counting young people from the region among their most ardent fans.
Six Days in Fallujah: Another shooter game that refuses to question US militarism?
Urban centres from Istanbul to Casablanca are dotted with video game cafes, often emblazoned with the Playstation logo or lifesize vinyl posters of heavily armed characters advertising the Call of Duty series.
In gaming tournaments too, competitors from the region are well represented, with one Saudi gamer, Mosaad al-Dossary, picking up more than $560,000 in prize money playing in FIFA tournaments.
While gaming as a hobby has a wide reach in the region, when it comes to representation within video games, it's a different story.
Generally speaking, there are few non-white protagonists taking the leading roles in stories within games, although that's slowly changing, with the likes of the Yakuza and the Life is Strange series.
Middle Eastern characters and settings are fewer still, with many of the characters that are present taking the form of two-dimensional stock villains or anonymised targets to shoot at.
That said, the trend is not universal, with the examples below proving the region can offer inspiration for storytellers in the industry.
Although the original game made its debut way back in 1989, Prince of Persia (PoP for short) was cemented into the gaming mainstream after its 2003 Sands of Time reboot. The story follows an unnamed prince travelling through India with his father to visit a sultan. There, he stumbles across the so-called dagger of time, which gives the user the power to reverse and stop time. You're tasked with defeating enemies using these mystical powers, but also the power of acrobatics as you move across different platforms to reach safety.
The 2008 release of Prince of Persia was adapted into a movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal (Ubisoft)
PoP was highly notable at the time (and unfortunately, remains so) for being one of the few games led by a big-name publisher (Ubisoft) to have featured a Middle Eastern protagonist, and to have its story take place in the region. Aside from an upcoming remake of this particular entry, what's unusual is how the series has remained largely dormant for years. Sands of Time led to three separate sequels, with all titles receiving positive reviews and commercial success. It also led to a Hollywood film in 2010, but its cast headed by Jake Gyllenhaal was widely seen as a whitewashing exercise, with even the actor himself admitting he regretted taking the role.
There was also a standalone PoP game released in 2008, distinct from the rest of the series in its story, style and tone. It follows a bandit-like prince helping to restore order in a mystical and imagined Persia. The most interesting element in the game was its use of Zoroastrian motifs and symbols. The religion, once widespread in Iran, has a small following today.
Journey follows an unnamed robed character travelling across changing and tumultuous desert environments as they attempt to make their way towards a distant mountain with a split peak.
The traveller the player controls doesn't have any facial features, with glowing eyes being the only human element visible across the shadowy face.
Journey is a game heavy with religious symbolism (Thatgamecompany/Sony)
Besides gracefully floating and skidding across desert landscapes, the character also emits a chime, which can be used to communicate with other players, as well as increasing the length of their flowing scarf, allowing them to jump and fly over short distances. The sound also focuses the character's attention on abandoned sites, which then reveal images illustrating the rise and fall of a now sand-covered lost civilisation.
For a game without dialogue and little explicit exposition, Journey is packed full of symbolism that borders on the religious. Indeed, creator Jenova Chen has admitted he intended to create a "church experience", which would leave gamers in "awe". But pinning down the exact meaning is left to the player.
For this author, the game's Middle Eastern desert setting suggested something rooted in the teachings of Abrahamic faiths, but the idea of rebirth after struggle also hinted at Buddhist themes.
When the series first launched, the Assassin's Creed franchise allowed players to take control of Altair, a member of the Assassins, the infamous Ismaili military order, which elaborately dispatched its enemies, both Muslims and Christian, in sensational murders, sometimes intricately planned over years.
The developers then decided to make the series global, setting stories in the Revolutionary War-era United States, Italy during the Renaissance and Victorian England.
In 2017, the series returned to the Middle East with Origins, which takes place in ancient Egypt at the end of the Ptolemaic period, around 50BCE. The basic formula of the free-running, wall-jumping, near-invincible killer remains and the story revolves around a desert patrolman, or Medjay, named Bayek of Siwa.
Origins is set in Ptolemaic Egypt and serves as a prequel to the original Assassin's Creed game (Ubisoft)
Ostensibly a tale about Bayek's quest for vengeance after he inadvertently kills his son in a melee with a group of masked men, the protagonist finds himself caught in a struggle between the Hidden Ones, a precursor to the Assassins of the original game, and the Order of the Ancients, from whom the antagonists of the series, the Knights Templar, descend.
A game imbued with high political intrigue, the developers also took the decision to turn its vast open-world setting into an educational tool.
The game was updated a few months after release with a "discovery tour" mode, which removes all combat and turns the game into a living museum. There are over 70 tours, each focusing on a particular aspect of ancient Egyptian life, all created with the help of universities and historians. The tool proved so popular that it's available separately for those not interested in the game itself. It's a shame this gold standard of interactivity hasn't since become a common feature throughout the industry.
Heaven's Vault is a game also set in an indeterminate North African/Middle Eastern setting vaguely resembling Journey. You play as an archaeologist named Aliya Elasra, who is asked by a superior to find a fellow researcher who's gone missing, and is forced to take a robotic companion named Six with her.
The headscarf-wearing protagonist with an Arabic-sounding name takes on the challenge reluctantly, albeit with her curiosity piqued by the circumstances of the researcher's disappearance. Like any archaeologist, Elasra collects samples from different ruins and artefacts as she seeks to solve the mystery.
Heaven's Vault stars a headscarf-wearing archaeologist named Aliya Elasra (Inkle)
Steeped with ancient Egyptian themes, the player has to decipher a hieroglyphic script belonging to a lost civilisation, known only as the Ancients. The developers at Inkle studio say they created over a thousand words in this fictional language.
Heaven's Vault differs not just from other narrative games, but also those with multiple outcomes and dialogue options. That's because the choices you make via Elasra can mould her personality and how she's perceived. The choices a player makes reveal themselves as variations in the character's tone and personality. She can make herself cooperative and pragmatic, or assertive and even disdainful, depending on the situations she finds herself in. The creators should be commended for creating such a unique and memorable character.
Civilisation VI
The Civilisation series has kept gamers in trance-like states in front of their screens since the days of monitors lit by cathode ray tubes.
Starting with a small square plot of land, players control a group of humans, initially just one or two, as they go about creating settlements using the resources and geography they encounter. Over time, rival settlements appear and the player must decide on the best course of action: cooperation or warfare.
Fast forward three whole days of gameplay and a player will have established world domination and will be making their way to the Sun's closest neighbour, Alpha Centauri, to establish a new civilisation.
Civilisation VI models its version of Cyrus the Great on the historic founder of the Achaemenid Empire (2K Games)
A game so rooted in history cannot avoid mention of the Middle East, especially considering the area's role in birthing civilisation and providing the backdrop for the world's most powerful empires.
In this sense, the developers do not relegate the region and its personalities to the role of side characters but ensure they are well-rounded characters and pivotal players in the action.
One notable example in this respect is the character of Cyrus the Great, the legendary founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, whose realm stretched from the shores of the Bosphorus to the banks of the Indus and existed in some form between 550BCE and 330BCE.
Some effort has gone into making sure the in-game Cyrus and the historic monarch share common traits. Cyrus's real-life historical expansionism is reflected in the in-game version's eagerness to launch surprise invasions of a player's territory. A player controlling Persia is also rewarded in the game when they imitate the king's real-life tactics, such as consolidating territorial gains by building road networks, postal networks and a professional army.
The Persian King of Kings fares better than the historical Gandhi, who as leader of a post-Second World War India takes on a trigger-happy foreign policy stance with the country's nuclear arsenal. Originally thought to be an inside joke between developers which was accidentally left in, it turns out it's always been intentional.
This article is available in French on Middle East Eye French edition.
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Engaging story lines and relatable contexts assist readers in understanding the fundamentals of numbers and operations in base ten. Students will learn how to extend the count sequence and gain an understanding of place value in order to apply that understanding to addition and subtraction equations. Age-appropriate text and eye-catching visuals make these concepts easy to understand for beginning math students. Students will learn how a two-digit number represents amounts of tens and ones through an exciting narrative about selling popcorn. This volume meets CCSS Math Standard 1.NBT.B.2. This book should be paired with "The Popcorn Sale" (9781477720943) from the Rosen Math Readers Program to provide the alternative point of view on the same topic.


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Victoria's Secret? You rarely impress us but this has got to take the cake. Ugh.
Debbie and Allana delivering 119,000 signatures to Victoria's Secret HQ
By NICKY CHAMP
Argpphhfff.
That's the sound I made when I learned lingerie giant, Victoria's Secret had rejected a Change.org appeal to manufacture a special line of bras for women who have undergone mastectomies.
You may remember the petition went viral last month garnering 120,000 signatures in less than two weeks.
The original petition.
While things looked positive for Allana Maiden (who filed a petition) and her mum, Debbie Barrett after they were invited to meet with the Vice President of Limited Brands – Victoria's Secret's parent company – to discuss the possibility of having bras in their range fitted with prosthesis.
A spokesperson for Victoria's Secret has now revealed they will not be making the specialty bras as it's too 'complicated'.
"Through our research, we have learned that fitting and selling mastectomy bras… in the right way… a way that is beneficial to women is complicated and truly a science," Victoria's Secret vice president of external communications, Tammy Roberts Myers, told ABC News in a statement.
"As a result, we believe that the best way for us to make an impact for our customers is to continue funding cancer research."
Maiden has spoken of her "disappointment" by the company's announcement.
"I understand her decision, that there is a science that goes [with these] bras, and it's more complicated than a regular bra would be. But I felt that if anyone could do it, they could. They have everything in place," Maiden told ABC News.
Debbie and Allana.
Given Angelina Jolie's recent revelation that she underwent a preventative double mastectomy after learning she had the BRCA gene, Maiden is even more disheartened the 'Survivor Bra' line won't go into production.
"She put the news out there that you can still be attractive after having breast cancer and mastectomy," Maiden said.
"But a beautiful bra would have been a great thing to have, and now these bras are very limited."
One in nine women will develop breast cancer by the age of 85.
In Australia, 34% of those women will have a mastectomy during the course of their treatment. That's over 3% of the Australian female population. In the US, the figure is much higher, closer to 6%.
Victoria's Secret – how can helping these women to feel beautiful and confident be 'too complicated?'
Alice A 9 years ago
I don't know why anyone expected Victoria's Secret to make mastectomy bras when they sell such a minimal amount of sizes in the first place. If a company can't even acknowledge that boobs do exist past a DD or an E cup, then they're not the right company to make mastectomy bras, which require far more expertise to make and FIT than a normal bra.
Nicky 9 years ago
I feel like people making these petitions on change.org have their heart in the right place, but can sometimes back companies into a corner with people thinking up very unique petitions for change that can go beyond the companies capabilities, and then the company looks like the bad guy when they can't deliver.
It seems a little unfair that someone has made this petition with (I assume) absolutely no research into whether or not it is a realistic venture for the company. Then the petition takes off, again being signed by people with no idea into the bra manufacturing, then VS is made out to be the bad guy in this whole scenario.
I dunno, i'm just a little tired of some people who are not involved with the industry thinking that everything is possible when it's not.
Hitched
Introducing What I Eat When...


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Adult Coloring Club
New Zealand Tourism Colour Your Journey Coloring Pages Free Downloads
Tourism New Zealand has gotten together with New Zealand artist, Gabby Malpas to re-create four sketches of the North and South Island including a couple exploring Waiheke Island, Hobbiton™ Movie Set, Milford Sound and Cathedral Cove.
And the best bit is that Tourism New Zealand is providing visitors the opportunity to 'colour their journey' with the coloring pages being free to download from their website: NewZealand.com.
The artist Gabby Malpas was born and raised in Auckland and is now based Sydney where she infuses New Zealand and Pacifica culture into her work. Gabby said she is honoured to be taking destination storytelling to a new level for a place that's close to her heart.
Tourism New Zealand General Manager, Australia, Tony Saunders says it's a holiday for the mind. "It's exciting to offer people a new way to experience New Zealand – especially as we're the first National Tourism Board in the world to showcase our landscapes through colouring-in.
"New Zealand has such a rich story; we chose the four locations as they each present a different adventure and are all easily accessible from Australia. Whether it is sipping wine at a vineyard on Waiheke Island or jumping in a kayak to explore the wonders of Milford Sound, New Zealand has something for everyone."


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Secret Gold Mine And the beat goes on….
Home / Cafe Chat / And the beat goes on….
At the cafe with the lunch time menu , i'm trying to draw on some of the experiences i've had being a chef in a wide variety of places, restaurants, cafes and countries just to keep things different and interesting..Its nice to have a blank slate, a blackboard even, just to chalk up some dishes that are simple but tasty for lunch and will hopefully keep you coming back. We have have had Boeuf Bourgoignone , Coq au Vin, Gumbo No 1, Thai Green curry, Chilli con Carne, Toulouse Cassoulet, Red fish Curry etc… all on the menu board in the last month or two ,so we are very much not just a pie shop!
One of my favourite places that I worked in London was the Great Eastern Dining Rooms which is (was) on Great Eastern Street in Shoreditch. This was back in the year 2000 kids, hipsters wern't invented yet and spice was something you put in a sauce, not smoked in a pipe. And back then, the GEDR was a Italian restaurant, and actually a pretty good one. We did foccaccia, pizza and lots of rustic regional food, polenta, pasta, ravioli and rotolo. Lots of nice meats with reduced chicken stock gravys and some fried sage leaves on top. Affogatto for pudding! All very nice, and accessible. Peasant food is what was the genre at the time and places like Moro took that theme and ran with it very well and continue to do so. I still like that simple approach to a meal and think that hopefully , in many circumstances less is more really is the truth. Its hard to believe how the London dining scene has evolved since those times- the Great Eastern went from rustic Italian to Asian , along with the sister restaurant E and O in Portabello, and then in most recent times its become Reds True Barbecue. Which i'm sure is great , but i can just remember so many epic nights at that place and happy customers too who were pretty bummed out when the style changed but thats the way the game goes..
The coffee style is still developing and we get (mostly) good praise for the coffee we serve. The Bells espresso blend from Mission is our in house bean and I really like it. Its round, full and punchy (make up your own pun, i'm too lazy…), and with those ace cinnamon rolls from http://www.thesnaperybakery.com/home/ delivered daily that always sell really quick, its an awesome start to the day! Im really keen to learn more of the coffee side and the chaps at http://www.missioncoffeeworks.com/ are going to help out with some more training. . and the great thing is that every time you go for coffee training, you pick up something different that you missed the time before and the coffee gets that little bit better…and thats the bit that we really can improve as the beans are roasted to perfection and our little Faema E61 Jubilee machine is an absolute star of a coffee maker.
And just to drop in a little 'Save the date' reminder, plans are afoot to follow up our fairly epic August bank holiday Yard Party with another in April to coincide with Record store day on the 21st of April. We are working out he details about who can play and how the day might unfold but rest assured it will encompass great tunes, food, beer and atmosphere..i cant wait for it to be honest!!


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Metro Bank PLC
Metro Bank PLC Securities Litigation
Case Status: DISMISSED
On or around 12/02/2020 (Court's order of dismissal)
Filing Date: May 30, 2019
According to the Complaint, Metro Bank PLC provides retail and commercial banking services in the United Kingdom.
The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Metro Bank misclassified the risk terms of many of its loans; (2) accordingly, Metro Bank failed to maintain sufficient capital; (3) this conduct would lead to investigations by the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority; (4) this conduct would also lead to the reduction of deposits at Metro Bank from larger commercial and partnership clients; and (5) as a result, Defendants' public statements were materially false and/or misleading at all relevant times.
On October 21, 2019, the Court issued an Order appointing Lead Plaintiffs and Counsel. On January 10, 2020, Lead Plaintiffs filed an amended Complaint. Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss the amended Complaint on March 10. On December 2, the Court issued an Order granting Defendants' Motion to Dismiss.
Defendant: Metro Bank PLC
Sector: Financial
Industry: Regional Banks
Headquarters: United Kingdom
Ticker Symbol: MBNKF
Company Market: OTC-BB
Joseph Amann, et al. v. Metro Bank PLC, et al.
COURT: C.D. California
JUDGE: Hon. Andre Birotte Jr.
The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. (New Los Angeles)
1 Class Action Complaint for Violation of the Federal Securities Laws 05/30/2019
3 Order 10/21/2019
Angelo Lavdas, et al. v. Metro Bank PLC, et al.
Scott + Scott LLP (New York - Current)
The Schall Law Firm
1 Amended Complaint 01/10/2020
—Related District Court Filings Data is not available


I would love to give credit to Nintendo/Square-Enix for making the original of this song and for giving me the opprotunity to remix the crap out of it.
I hope you all enjoy. If you like this song then be sure to listen to my other remixes from titles like Sonic and Zelda. Im more than sure that they will blow your mind.
I love this game so much. Just last week started playing with my 4 year old. I Had him listen to this song and he instantly knew where it was from. Thanks so much! Do more!
I be sure to make more! Thanks, glad to hear that you and your kid enjoyed it.
Yeah, I hear ya. I own it on my wii.
Secret Of Mana, best damn RPG ever made period, and the music is also friggin epic, and this remix does the song justice, epic work man keep it up.
Thanks bro. This game is legendary, I bought it on my wii bro, been playing it ever since.
I enjoyed this piece. At first I thought 1:02-1:20ish was stolen from another catchy song.. it's on newgrounds as (CHS) Last Hope.. then I realized... yeah.. anyway, keep up the good work.
Yeah, lol. Thanks for the review bro.


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© Clase
The design and communication studio Clase presents its new publication "Park, The Magazine"•31.10.2019 • Exhibition, Project • Clase,
The design and communication studio Clase presents its new publication "Park, The Magazine"
Exhibition, Project - Clase
The design and communication studio Clase (based in Barcelona) presents Copy Park, the first issue of 'Park, The Magazine', the new biannual magazine edited, designed and published by the studio in collaboration with international professionals from different disciplines.
The event, held at the Fundació Antoni Tàpies, featured the presentation of Daniel Ayuso, partner of the studio with Sandra Parcet and founder Claret Serrahima, with the performance of the young experimental musician Shelly, and the intervention of the poet and cultural promoter Eduard Escoffet.
Each Park issue digs and delves into a different subject. The first, Copy Park, takes a close look at the concept of 'copy', covering a variety of areas ranging from surgery to recipes, including artificial intelligence and mimesis in nature: the German artist Fabian Treiber paints plastic plants. Architect and urban planner Ana Méndez de Andés writes on forgery in China. Photographer Mariano Herrera & Japanese-Valencian art director Malva G. Sawada portray children acting like adults. Architecture researchers Andrea González & Íñigo de Barrón compare alike sport centers, silos and Paradores. Brother Art Gallery sells original art reproductions. Dutch photographer Guus Kaandorp (ex Otto Kaan) & contemporary artist Pedro G. Romero scout popular flamenco lyrics. Gastronomic journalist Mónica Escudero & photographer Rita Puig-Serra research on transgenerational cookery. Irkus draws a comic about artificial intelligence and the Uncanny Valley. Clase founder and Catalan design guru Claret Serrahima shares his thoughts about his fake Hockney painting. Also, as a digital exercise for Copy Park's website, Device's Mr.Hide side Amigo Total spam the website showing what influence pornography has on our sexual life.
Daniel Ayuso (Clase), Creative Director says: "To Clase, Park represents an opportunity to free express ourselves by creating and sharing a series of content that we find interesting and therefore it define us. It also gives us the possibility to experiment, expanding the limits of our physical space and connecting to creatives from different spheres and origins. One of the most exciting aspects of this project is the dialogue we can establish with other creators, both being rewarded by enriching the process and the final output."
Josep Dols (Clase), editor of the magazine, explanis that "One of our main goals for this publication was to find an excuse to work with people who we admire. This is why each article features the unique approach of a renowned photographer, painter, writer or comic artist to the main concept, the copy."
For Edu Martínez Piracés, also editor and member of Clase "Understanding Park, The Magazine as a playground has allowed us to question and experiment with all the stablished preconceptions, specially our own ones. It is funny how Copy Park has been build last months. Every updated of it is a copy itself. The main satisfaction of Park, The Magazine is to develop a choral project. This way is too slow, but much bolder."
The magazine can be purchased online at parkthemagazine.com, playthetambourine.com and ilovepaper.co, and in physical stores in different countries, such as: Chandal, Free Time or Fundació Tàpies (Barcelona); Inga (Chicago); under the Cover (Lisbon); Charlotte St News (London); Yvory Press (Madrid); McNally Jackson and MoMA PS1 (New York); LVDB Books (Osaka), Erno (Rome), Papercut AB (Stockholm) and Pon Ding (Taipei).
About Clase
Clase is a design and communication studio based in Barcelona. We develop identities and creative direction for clients from different fields, such as fashion, furniture design, art, gastronomy and more. We seek to find their essence in order to create a unique voice and a particular language for each project, adding value to brands. From strategy to the final output, we create solutions that are both conceptually and visually rich.
The studio, founded by Claret Serrahima, combines more than 30 years of experience with the contemporary vision of the newer generations. The team consists of professionals who, outside the studio, develop their own interests as musicians, editors or teachers. Clase has a cultural approach to a commercial environment that takes projects into reflection, experimentation and formal quality
First edition of SPAM in Rome
As the first edition of Spam Roma is coming to the end, we would like to take a moment to thank PPAN and Ordine degli Architetti di Roma for inviting us being media partner with Italian-Architects and participating at the event with Anna Ramos, director of Fundació Mies van der Rohe.
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We have officially inaugurated our new office at Calle Casp, 12 (Barcelona). Visit us!
Young Talent Architecture Award 2020 breaks ground
The Young Talent Architecture Award (YTAA) 2020 has been launched on the occasion of «Perspectives: Young Architects' Forum» organised by the Architects' Council of Europe in Barcelona.
Opening & Launch - Fundació Mies van der Rohe
Presentation of the programme of activities 2020
This 2020 the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion is activated more than ever as a public platform to dissolve the boundaries between architectural research and the arts, promoting the dissemination of architecture in collaboration with an extensive and varied network of entities and People.
Prize - EU Mies Award
The winners of the european union prize for contemporary architecture – Mies van der Rohe award receive the awards in Barcelona
The European Commission and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe have presented the winners of the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award 2019.
Project - BMLD – designing with light
BMLD signs the lighting design of the restaurant Zela London
Zela restaurant is in a prominent corner of the ground floor of the refurbished Norman Foster's, Hotel Me in West End London, with two marvellous arched window facades. The space is 300 m2, rectangular in floorplan with a height of 2,90m at its centre and 3,50m at its perimeter next to the façade.
The Italian Institute of Culture of Barcelona in collaboration with Apulia Film Commission and the Filmoteca de Catalunya present "Deviazioni: Puglia fuori traccia", a selection of 7 films related to Puglia, the Italian region invited to the second edition of "Italia Repubblica Creativa", a program of cultural activities promoted by the Consulate General of Italy in Barcelona.
Installation, Opening & Launch - Consolato Generale d'Italia Barcellona
The Young ceramist Giorgio di Palma presents his permanent installation at the Italian Institute of Culture of Barcelona
On Tuesday 28th of May the young Italian ceramist Giorgio di Palma presented in the garden of the Italian Institute of Culture of Barcelona, the permanent artistic installation MUTAZIONI. Nuove forme dell'artigianato e del design in Puglia - MUTATIONS. New forms of crafts and design in Puglia.
BMLD lights Diagonal Mar Shopping Center in Barcelona
BMLD, lighting design studio based in Barcelona, has carried out the lighting renovation of the refurbishment of the Diagonal Mar Shopping Center. The studio, led by Birgit Walter, has developed a project over the past three years.
Barcelona and Brussels meet to show their public facilities to reactivate the city
Under the title '_Import WB _Export BCN. Re-activate the city', Cities Connection Project's (CCP) new event-exhibition, created in collaboration with Wallonie-Bruxelles Architectures, is opening today at the ULB – La Cambre Horta Faculty of Architecture in Brussels.
Exhibition - Cities Connection Project
The public architecture of Barcelona and Brussels demonstrates how to reactivate cities
Cities Connection Project celebrates 5 editions connecting European cities through reference architecture projects carried out by young architects and presenting a dialogue between two cities. During these years, more than 150 works – 55 projects in Barcelona- have been showcased, which has allowed 62 Catalan studios to be visible throughout all of Europe. Thus, in addition to these different connections made in Ticino, Geneva, Zurich, Lausanne and Brussels, the exhibitions were also shown in the cities of Tarragona, Lugano and Milan
In the heart of Madrid, facing imposing Madrid City Hall building. Cloudworks Cibeles is one, and many spaces. There are possibilities open to coworkers, possibilities that create community and invigorate the emergence of ideas and synergies.
Project - External Reference
Since 1944 Jané Group has been one of the main liquor stores in Tarragona. In 1980 they settled in a large area of 700 m2 in the KM1187 between El Vendrell and Comarruga, a place that Carmelo Zappulla, CEO of External Reference and Chu Uroz transformed in 2019 into a modern liquor store that will give a turn to this brand of trajectory.
The Moritz factory is since 1856, one of the first breweries in Barcelona, and one of the first to brew craft beer. Although this factory was closed for 33 years it was reformed by the Architect Jean Nouvel in 2011 and after this great leap our client asked us to turn the space around based on this remodeling
The Clockwork is the most ambitious project yet a 4-story flagship store in one of Bangkok's unequivocally cool streets Thonglor.
Project - Marcela Grassi Photography
Almudena and Jordi asked JESÚS PERALES to design a ground floor house, for them and their two children to live in. They have many hobbies, such as music, arts and crafts and cooking. They always look forward to spending time together as a family.
Exhibition, Prize - Young Talent Architecture Award
Europe's youngest architecture talent released!
Announcement of the Young Talent Architecture Award 2018 finalists that compete for the prize.
And the Winners are… Young Talent Architecture Award 2018 Winners!
The 4 Winners are: Hendrik Brinkmann, Julio Gotor Valcárcel, Matthew Gregorowski, Loed Stolte.
Prize - Young Talent Architecture Award
YTAA 2018 Awards Ceremony and Debate Collateral Event of the 16th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
The granting ceremony of Young Talent Architecture Award (YTAA), that brings together the best graduation projects from European architecture, urban planning and landscape schools, was celebrated yesterday 20th September 2018 at Palazzo Michiel in Venice.
Announcement of the winners of the Young Talent Architecture Award
The Fundació Mies van der Rohe announced today in Venice, within the frame of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, the three winners of the Young Talent Architecture Award (YTAA) 2016.
The Young Talent Architecture Award (YTAA) launches its second edition: Schools registration is now open
The Young Talent Architecture Award (YTAA) launches its second edition supporting the talent of recently graduated Architects, Urban Planners and Landscape Architects.
Exhibition, Opening & Launch - Cities Connection Project
Architecture as a "Connection"
Every year Cities Connection Project (CCP) chooses two European cities and connects them throughtheir shared knowledge and renowned architects' projectsin a 'back and forth' event.
The project exhibits 20 selected works from both cities hosted in the guest city and proposes roundtables, discussion meetings with professionals, conferences and other activities open to the general public.
Collective housing from Geneva exhibiting in Barcelona
Twenty Swiss architecture studios will exhibit a collection of their projects at the Arts Santa Mònica between 13th and 23rd November 2014, as part of the Cities Connection Project
Conferences & Talks - Labóh, Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Architecture & the Media
May 11th-14th 2020 online and in English
Conferences & Talks - Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Labóh, Architecture & the Media
Architecture & The Media. 1st European Conference on Architecture and the Media
"A series of talks, debates and networking spaces focused on the architecture and the media"
Article - Labóh, Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Architecture & the Media
Architecture & the Media: a Recap
They all agree: Architecture deserves better dissemination. This is precisely why so many journalists met up in Barcelona on May 14th and 15th at the Fundació Mies van der Rohe for the 1st European Conference on Architecture & the Media.
USM Haller in Solo Houses
Once again, USM collaborates with the best contemporary architecture and furnishes the houses of the Solo Houses project.
Exhibition - Fundació Mies van der Rohe
Re-enactment: Lilly Reich's Work occupies the Barcelona Pavilion
The artistic intervention, outcome of the first call of the Lilly Reich Grant for Equality in Architecture opens on the eve of the Women's Day. The investigation, carried out by the architect Laura Martínez de Guereñu materializes in the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion to draw attention to Lilly Reich's work, which history had relegated.
The Fundació Mies van der Rohe and Side Gallery present the intervention No Fear of Glass by the designer Sabine Marcelis in the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion.
Fundació Mies van der Rohe presents the Art Intervention Fifteen stones (Ryōan-ji) by Spencer Finch
Fundació Mies van der Rohe periodically invites artists and architects to provoke new looks and reflections through their interventions in the Pavilion, enhancing it as a space for inspiration and experimentation for the most innovative artistic and architectural creation. After SANAA, Jeff Wall, Ai Wei Wei, Enric Miralles, Andrés Jaque, Antoni Muntadas, Domènech and Anna & Eugeni Bach, among others, this year The Mies van der Rohe Foundation periodically invites artists and architects to provoke new looks and reflections through their interventions in the Pavilion, enhancing it as a space for inspiration and experimentation for the most innovative artistic and architectural creation. After SANAA, Jeff Wall, Ai Wei Wei, Enric Miralles, Andrés Jaque, Antoni Muntadas, Domènech and Anna & Eugeni Bach, among others, this year American artist Spencer Finch will be in charge of intervening in the Mies van Pavilion der Rohe with the proposal 'Fifteen stones (Ryōan-ji)'.
Fundació Mies van der Rohe opens the intervention 'mies missing materiality' by Anna & Eugeni Bach
• The artistic intervention turns the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion into a life-size mock-up and clad it with the same white material all over;
• After a transformation process that began on November 8th, the intervention has been opened today, November 16th, with the Pavilion completely white.
• Furthermore, a round table discussion has been held with the project creators Anna and Eugeni Bach and the architects María Langarita and Carlos Quintáns based on the reflections of architect and academic Juhani Pallasmaa;
The Fundació Mies van der Rohe presents 'Artists in Architecture. Re-activating modern european houses' in Vilaró House
The	Fundació	Mies	van	der	Rohe,	jointly	with	BOZAR	and	Naples University	– Frederic	II,	presents the project "Artists in Architecture. Re-activating Modern European Houses", with the support of the European Commission – Creative	Europe.
Exhibition, Installation - USM, Fundació Mies van der Rohe
USM converts the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion into a house
The Swiss firm USM has held its annual event in Barcelona, from 24 to 26 May 2018, where it has transformed the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion into a home, with the collaboration of the magazine Openhouse. The intervention also included a day of talks on art, architecture and design, with guests such as Alberto Campo Baeza, Solo Houses and UNStudio.
Exhibition - USM, Fundació Mies van der Rohe
Award Ceremony - Pavilion Workplace Competition
USM and ADEYAKA BCN are proud to present the Award Ceremony of the international competition of ideas Pavilion Workplace. The event took place today, Thursday June 6th 2019 at the Mies van der Rohe Pavillion.
AFTERMATH_CATALONIA IN VENICE. ARCHITECTURE BEYOND ARCHITECTS. A Collateral Event of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia
The Institut Ramon Llull presents the Collateral Event "Aftermath_ Catalonia in Venice. Architecture beyond architects" within the framework of the15th International Architecture Exhibition that the director Alejandro Aravena has titled "Reporting from the Front". The project is curated by the architects Jaume Prat and Jelena Prokopljević and film director Isaki Lacuesta. It uses audiovisual installations to spotlight seven cases of public architectural interventions, which were chosen as virtuous examples of architecture that improves the user's relationship with the urban, social and natural environment.
Fundació Mies van der Rohe launches the 2nd edition of the Lilly Reich Grant for equality in architecture
Marking the 135th anniversary of the birth of the german designer, Fundació Mies van der Rohe presents the 2nd edition of the Lilly Reich Grant for equality in architecture.
Article, Exhibition, Press Presentation - Fundació Mies van der Rohe
Fundació Mies van der Rohe presents: "It Begins With One Word. Choose Your Own" by Katarzyna Krakowiak
The Fundació Mies van der Rohe with the artist Katarzyna Krakowiak and curators Marcin Szczelina and Ivan Blasi present "It Begins With One Word.Choose your own", a new structure, both architectural and linguistic, on view at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion from 23 July to 23 August.
Presentedby store at Le Bon Marché
External Reference unveils the new Presentedby store at Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche, the first project of the studio in Paris.
"The simplest thing is the hardest to do" Laercio Redondo at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion
Artistic intervention at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, Barcelona.
16 September, 12 October 2020 – Opening 16 Sept. 19h
Startup Hub in 22@
The new workplace space at 22@ strives to become a pioneering centre for Barcelona start-ups. It is presented as a single, visually continuous space, but one in which various teams can work, enhancing the dimension and luminosity characteristic of this type of Poblenou office space.
Announcement of the Young Talent Architecture Award 2020 finalists that compete for the prize
12 Finalists will compete to win the Young Talent Architecture Award (YTAA) 2020 and 9 other Finalists will compete to win the Asia Edition of YTAA 2020.
Project, Opening & Launch - External Reference
Presentedby Dubai
External Reference, the award-winning architecture practice, founded and directed by Carmelo Zappulla, designs the new store in Dubai of the premium sneaker & streetwear consignment boutique, Presentedby, that opened its doors on December 9th, at Level Shoes in The Dubai Mall.
Installation, Project - External Reference
External Reference develops the first tree in the world with 3D technology that absorbs CO2.
Designed by the architecture firm led by Carmelo Zappulla, the tree is made with an intelligent biomaterial capable of absorbing more than 15 kg of CO2 per year through photolysis.
Exhibition, Article - Fundació Mies van der Rohe
Barcelona prepares to host three international events in architecture
Barcelona prepares to host three international events of reference in the field of architecture:The World Capital of Architecture and the World Congress and General Assembly of the International Union of Architects (UIA) in 2026; the XV Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urban Planning (BEAU), and the New European Bauhaus.
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A year end post…in Q2? Yes, you read that right. We are here to talk year end in May!
When you begin to process year end payroll, you will hear a lot of talk about AccuWage Software. But do you know what AccuWage Software does? Or how will it help you during year end payroll processing? A lot of people talk about the software, but everyone is so crazy busy balancing and going through Open Enrollment and buying Christmas presents that no one ever really takes the time to explain anything about it.
So, in the quiet stillness of early second quarter, Optimum Solutions is here to spend a minute on AccuWage.
AccuWage is the Social Security Administration's special software that allows you to send a test file of your EFW2 data to make sure there are no surprises when you submit your actual W2 file.
Additionally, there is an email link you can click that will automatically open an email addressed to AccuWage Help so that you can shoot them any questions you need to ask. There is also a link to a list of Regional Employer Service Liaison Officers so you can contact someone local if that is better for your specific needs.
It's never too early to start preparing for year end, so tuck this away in your file for next October so you can be ahead of the game and have AccuWage all taken care of before the craziness begins! For more help streamlining your payroll process, fill out the form to the right for a free demo of Optimum Payroll Software today!


July is the 2nd month of Summer 2018. To make the most of this month's energy use both your insight and outer gained knowledge to understand what is happening around you. If life suddenly feels as if it is falling apart always remember digging deep and remaining calm may get you through it. If you've made plans and expected a particular outcome it may not materialise, you may have to be flexible or change course.
July births are asked to be completely honest with themselves, to be truthful regardless of the rosy picture they've painted. Remember past mistakes, it doesn't mean you have to be bitter but a lesson learned will go a long way.
The energy around us this month asks us to be humble, to not feel superior to others even if pushed into a corner. Once the ego takes hold the only way is down.
Overall July is a month of feeling we've failed only to realise we haven't we just didn't notice what was going wrong and how to put it right. Once you realise there is no stopping you.


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Burma FDI Hits Full-Year Target in First 6 Months of 2014-15
Women's Activists Call for Unity Among Karen Rebel Groups
British Police to Join Thai Investigation Into Koh Tao Murders
Hopes Fade for 40 Missing After Nepal Blizzard
Hong Kong Crisis Deepens After Weekend Clashes, Talks Set for Tuesday
Reform-Minded Outsider Widodo Takes Over as Indonesia's President
Malaria's New Frontline
The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Oct. 18, 2014)
Burma Qualifies for U-20 World Cup With AFC Tournament Win
Fighting Escalates Between Gov't, Rebel Alliance in Shan State
After Months, Hundreds of Garment Workers Receive Overdue Pay
Burma's Ex-Religion Minister Gets 13 Years for Graft, Sedition
Hilton and Eden Group Open Hilton Hotel in Naypyidaw
US Seeks More From China, Asian Muslim Nations, on Islamic State
Thai Soaps Trigger Outcry Over Romanticizing Rape
Hong Kong Police Clear Protesters, Barricades at Key Site
Navigating the Rivers of Burma
Court Sentences 3 Journalists, 2 Media Owners to 2 Years in Prison
China Says Some Victims of Yunnan Land Clash Burned Alive
After Karen Groups Pledge Military Cooperation, Leadership Divisions Appear
New Political Party Aims to Put Burma's Women in Power
'Those Raised in A Locked-Up Society Are Different'
9 Jailed for Farming Confiscated Land in Mon State
Japan Jets Scrambling to Counter Rising Russian Incursions
China Expresses Concern About Indian Border Road Plan
China Blocks BBC Website as Hong Kong Tensions Rise
Burmese Media Caught Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Chinese Firm in Burma Drops Kidnapping Charges Against Student Activist
4 Sent to Prison for Involvement in Killing of Mandalay Muslim
World Bank OKs $100M for Maternal, Child Health in Burma
Chin Farmers Who Alleged Army Torture Return to Village
Offering Little Insight, Koh Tao 'Witnesses' Released: Lawyer
Burma to Begin Rice Exports to NE India
Army Orders 1,000 Villagers to Leave, As Tensions Rise Near Hpakant
Burma State Airline to Offer Scenes From the Skies
Burma's Military Appoints Point Men for Media Relations
Protesters Demand Philippine Custody of US Marine
Tensions Rise as HK Police Use Pepper Spray on Protesters, Arrest 45
Record Bust in Cambodia Signals Thai Dollar Counterfeiting Boom
'The More People Talk About HIV, the Less Discrimination We Will See'
Karen Rebel Groups Plan Military Cooperation
Look Beyond Burmese 'Scapegoats' in Thai Murder Case: Rights Group
Rangoon Tax Department Completes Annual Property Valuation
Minority Language Classes Get Boost With Burma Govt Stipend
Controversial Hat Gyi Dam Blamed for Karen Conflict
Civil Society Makes Demands in Lead-up to Resource Transparency Conference
Ministry Sells Property of Closed Factory, Promises Pay for Workers
Britain Summons Thai Envoy Over Backpacker Murders
Foreign direct investment into Burma exceeds the government's original target just six months into the fiscal year, topping $4 billion through September.
By Kyaw Hsu Mon 20 October 2014
NAYPYIDAW — Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Burma has exceeded the government's original target just six months into the fiscal year, according to Aung Naing Oo, director-general of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration and secretary of the Myanmar Investment Commission.
The Myanmar Investment Commission estimated earlier this year that FDI would reach US$4-5 billion in the 2014-15 budget year, but by the end of September, the country had already seen almost $4.09 billion in foreign investment.
"Now we do expect that $5 billion will be reached within the next three months, but we still haven't predicted how much through the end of this budget year," Aung Naing Oo told The Irrawaddy in Naypyidaw, pointing out that last year's target of $3 billion was also exceeded when Burma took in $4.11 billion.
Aung Naing Oo told Reuters last month that the government had revised its FDI estimate to more than $5 billion.
In line with government expectations, foreign investment in Burma's telecoms sector topped the list, accounting for 20 percent of the total, with the manufacturing sector following second. The entry of some international hotel chains into Burma's market has also boosted FDI.
"In the telecoms sector, more investment is coming in now than we'd expected, and another factor: the offshore blocks that the Ministry of Energy has granted foreign companies, which accounted for about $700 million this year," Aung Naing Oo said.
Qatar-based Ooredoo and Telenor of Norway have promised to dramatically boost mobile phone and Internet use in Burma, setting up networks and putting cheap SIM cards on the streets for the first time in August and October, respectively.
In the oil and gas sector, Thailand's biggest oil and gas company PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) earlier this year said it would invest $3.3 billion in Burma over five years. In late March the government announced the foreign winners—including Anglo-Dutch firm Royal Dutch Shell, France's Total, Italy's Eni, Norway's Statoil and US-based Conocophillips—of the rights to deep-water oil and gas exploration in the Bay of Bengal.
Dr. Maung Mang Lay, vice chairman of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers and Commerce Industry, said that despite growth in recent years, Burma's FDI potential remained under-realized.
"We still need better infrastructure in Burma, and other Asean countries are also inviting this FDI to come to their countries competitively," he said.
He said that while telecoms and the manufacturing sector were the big draws so far this fiscal year, the oil and gas sector would take a growing portion of the FDI pie.
"Many labor-intensive foreign garment factories are coming to the manufacturing sector. I expect that these two sectors [manufacturing, and oil and gas] will remain on top of the list at least for next year," he said.
According to figures from the Hlaing Tharyar industrial zone, Rangoon's biggest, there are more than 90 garment manufacturing operations among more than 500 factories in the zone.
"Some major investors are still waiting to invest in Burma but some are coming in, for example Nestle, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Pepsi. Other multinational companies are still doing surveys," Aung Naing Oo said.
The Myanmar Investment Commission expects FDI to reach $6 billion in the next budget year, though it has not yet announced an official target.
"The investment in heavy industry is still less than other sectors recently, because we do not have strong enough infrastructure here. We need better electricity and port facilities for them," Aung Naing Oo said.
Kyaw Hsu Mon The Irrawaddy Kyaw Hsu Mon is Senior Business Reporter at the English edition of The Irrawaddy.


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Take out the old band shirts; put your faded skinny jeans into your white sneakers and get back on track! Get ready to meet metal-warriors, punks and progheads, 'cause tonight Blackslash's live on stage. Applauding, singing along to an epic chorus and draining tinned beer – that's what it's all about.
When your old Sabbath-shirt is nothing more than a sweated rag, you know that Blackslash are the ones to save your hope for an 80's revival of Heavy Metal of the glorious days. Though the young band from Donaueschingen, Black Forest, Germany, was founded in 2007, they play the music your parents used to listen to (and were told not to listen).
Old-School-Heavy-Metal, that's what the five guys around bass player Alec Trojan stand for. And by playing neckbreaking concerts they give evidence to that. At this a galloping bass reminds you on Iron Maiden; two-part guitars let you travel time into the golden era of Thin Lizzy, while the melodious singing of front man Clemens Haas takes control over your mind.
A faithful and steadily growing fan crowd is astonished every concert by the ease Christian Haas is stroking the strings with, to push his amps to the limit supported by a second guitar Daniel Hölderle. Meanwhile David Hofmeier tortures his drums to end up in a climax of dynamic and speed.
The fact that Blackslash is not about smooth-edged pop music is approved by their fans since the release of their "Blackslash EP" in 2011. The rough and edgy Heavy-Metal disc seemed to have the finger right on the pulse and touched the nerve of the bored lunatics and winos around the South of Germany. After just a few concerts the record was sold out and therefore Blackslash started planning their debut album that winter.
By the release of "Separate But Equal" they succeeded in becoming the most charismatic rock act in their region and attracted the local's press attention to themselves.


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It seems like Blowout is all we have been talking about for the last couple of weeks. So why not bring it up one more time? Although we got to see a ton of great bands and a bunch of friends this past weekend, we didn't have the chance to see nearly enough from the metal and punk rock scenes. Luckily there is a big show this Saturday at Small's that will fill that void. But don't worry, it's not a fest. It's just a bunch of great bands playing across three stages for one low price.
The lineup for the night includes Beast in the Field, Snakewing, Touch of North America, The Amino Acids, Lizerrd, Blue Snaggletooth, Lord Centipede, Coffin Feeder and Busby Death Chair. Busby Death Chair will be kicking things off at 9:40 and Beast in the Field will end the night around 1 a.m. So this is going to be a night jam packed with awesome, non-stop music. Admission is only $10 and all ages are welcome. To stay in the loop on this event, head over and RSVP to the Facebook event page here. Make sure you get to this one early and stay late! You won't want to miss anyone on the bill!
The New Sunday Street Market at Eastern Market!
Win Tickets To See The Lawrence Arms @ Small's!
Win Tickets to Hush at the Magic Stick!
Win Tickets to the Flint Family BBQ!
New Fortune Fest at New Dodge Lounge!
A New Music School & Your New Thursday Night!
FoxFest This Friday at Tangent Gallery!
Win Tickets to Fu Manchu at Small's!
Doh! Don't Miss this Simpsons Themed Dinner!
DCFC Home Opener this Saturday!!!
The Palmer Park Art Fair is Back!


They say that three times is a charm, right? Well, then that must be pretty indicative of yet another reason why you need to buy this piece. I wouldn't let me finish the first or SECOND time I was typing up this piece's description. Rather, this is the THIRD time I'm typing this one, so it must be extra special and three times as powerful! Fate works in mysterious ways!
Either way, this piece holds the spiritual presence of one of the Empusae, the loyal devotees of the goddess Hecate. Although they use to exist in physical form and in some cases still do, most of them have rescinded to existence in spiritual form. However, this doesn't stop them from taking on physical forms, as the Empusae reserve the right to shapeshift into any animal of their choosing, including humans. With that being said, you will always be able to identify one the Empusae by the golden sandals they wear, which was a gift of their beloved goddess.
With this piece you gain the shapeshifting abilities of the Empusae. Additionally, they hold the key to the powers of their goddess, Hecate. She is considered the Mother of All Angels and the Cosmic World Soul. She maintains control over the earth, sea, and sky. She will bring you the magic of opening astral entrance ways, holy fire, white light magic, witchcraft, and sorcery, and the knowledge of all herbs and spells. She also is the goddess of necromancy, and thus, will give you a psychic connection to be able to speak to the dead. She is the goddess that protects families and blesses the daily with wealth and fortitude. She will do all these things for you and give you all of her abilities through the Empusae you are receiving.
You don't want to miss out on this piece, as it is very powerful and jammed packed with abilities and powers! Enjoy!


text:
Michael Redman
Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC)
Bala Ramanan
Microland
Access Management , Governance & Risk Management , Identity & Access Management
Vendor's Ex-Employee Allegedly Shut Down Medicaid System
Criminal Case Claims Defendant Shuttered Oregon's System for Hours Marianne Kolbasuk McGee (HealthInfoSec) • September 29, 2017
A federal criminal case alleges that a former Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Corp. employee shut down Oregon's Medicaid information systems for several hours after the vendor laid him off.
Some security experts caution organizations to take steps to minimize risks from workers who are laid off or fired.
"When an employee is suddenly fired, a few minutes of unfettered access to information systems can lead to a lot of damage," says privacy attorney Adam Greene of the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine.
'Intentional Damage'
In indictment papers filed in U.S. district court, prosecutors allege that Hossein Heydari - a resident of Maryland and former employee of HPE who was assigned to work on the Medicaid management information systems for Oregon and three other states - intentionally caused damage to Oregon's MMIS after he was laid off from his job as part of a workforce reduction.
Prosecutors allege that as part of his job duties - which are not specified in the indictment - Heydari had access to the servers that hold MMIS data. Court documents do not name the three other states where Heydari was working on Medicaid systems.
The indictment alleges that on or about Oct. 14, 2016, HPE informed Heydari that, as part of a workforce reduction, his last day of employment would be Oct. 28, 2016.
About three days after his last day of employment, the defendant "intentionally altered part of the MMIS, causing it to fail and resulting in an eight-hour loss of functionality for Oregon's MMIS system and its users," prosecutors allege.
The indictment charges that Heydari "knowingly caused the transmission of a program, information, code and command, and, as a result of such conduct, intentionally caused damage without authorization to protected computers." Prosecutors allege the conduct caused:
More than $5,000 in expenses for the Oregon Health Authority - which operates the state's Medicaid program - and HPE;
The impairment of the medical examination, diagnosis, treatment or care of individuals; and
A threat to public health.
Not Guilty Plea
Heydari on Sept. 28 pleaded not guilty to one count of "fraud and related activity in connection with computers," according to court documents, which also indicate that Heydari is indigent and represented by a public defender.
The defendant surrendered in late August after a warrant was issued for his arrest. On Thursday, he was released with several conditions, including the surrender of his passport, cooperating with collection of a DNA sample, and participating in mental health evaluation and counseling if directed by court pre-trial services, prosecutors say.
A jury trial is slated to start in the Oregon federal court on Nov. 28.
In a statement, the Oregon Health Authority tells Information Security Media Group: "In the year since this happened, we have worked closely with our vendor to ensure we have the appropriate processes and protocols in place for vendor staff who have the highest levels of security."
Neither the public defender representing Heydari nor the federal prosecutor in the case against Heydari immediately responded to ISMG's requests for comment on the case.
An HPE spokeswoman declined to comment, saying the case related to part of the business that was spun off and became DXC Technology.
DXC Technology did not immediately respond to ISMG's inquiry. In a DXC Technology press release issued in April, however, it notes that it officially launched as a business in April 2017 as the result of a merger between HPE and Computer Sciences Corp. So, it appears that the alleged incident involving Heydari occurred before the HPE spin-off.
Mitigating Risks
Greene, the attorney, says the IT and human resources departments of organizations should work closely together to address the risk to information systems posed by the firing or laying off of workers.
"While most employees who are terminated would never act to harm the organization, and all employees should be treated with respect and compassion, organizations should at least consider the increased risks posed during layoffs and other terminations," he says.
Consultant Rebecca Herold says too many organizations "have very lax, or completely missing, offboarding security policies and practices. Too many miss disconnecting all remote access to IT that executives and other workers have. ... It is a huge human-failure-made security risk.
"From the details shared, this situation could have been completely prevented," says Herold, president of Simbus, a privacy and cloud security services firm, and CEO of The Privacy Professor consultancy.
The Oregon Medicaid case spotlights the importance of quickly taking action when employees - especially those with privileged access - leave their jobs, says Susan Lucci, a senior consultant and chief privacy officer at security consulting firm Just Associates.
"When any IT worker in authority to access information like this is terminated, access should be terminated with simultaneous changes made immediately to lock them out of all points of access," she says. "This is particularly crucial due to their permissions level to create, modify and delete access points."
The three-day lag between Heydari's last day of employment and the date that the alleged incident took place is a reminder why organizations need to shut off access to data and systems promptly following the departure or notice of termination of an employee, Lucci stresses. "Best case, it happens at the exact time the employee is being terminated," she says.
It's relatively unusual for insider cases like the Oregon Medicaid case to be prosecuted, Lucci adds. "Too many cases of hacking interference go unresolved because tracing these activities is extremely difficult, and therefore the culprits are not brought to justice," she says.
The incident should prompt the state of Oregon to more rigorously vet their business associates, Lucci stresses.
Other Steps to Take
Herold suggests that organizations take a number of critical steps to reduce the risk posed by terminated employees, including:
Remove the worker's access to administrative accounts and disable their access to sensitive systems and applications, personal information files and other types of critical business assets;
Review all user accounts to validate each is valid;
Turn on logging for all accounts the worker used to ensure someone did not re-enable them after they were been disabled;
Collect from departing employees any physical security access tokens, keys, or other entry devices;
Advise management, and in appropriate instances the terminated worker's team members, that they should discontinue providing any business-related information or access to the former employee.
Herold adds these caveats regarding employees who work remotely or from home.
"I recommend you include a right to audit that remote office to determine the information and devices they have that belong to the organization, and to immediately collect them upon making the decision to terminate the worker," she says.
If this is not possible, Herold suggests requiring the installation of remote data wiping tools and then using them upon employee termination.
Whole Foods Market Investigates Hack Attack
Ousted Equifax CEO Faces 3 Congressional Hearings
Marianne Kolbasuk McGee
Executive Editor, HealthcareInfoSecurity, ISMG
McGee is executive editor of Information Security Media Group's HealthcareInfoSecurity.com media site. She has about 30 years of IT journalism experience, with a focus on healthcare information technology issues for more than 15 years. Before joining ISMG in 2012, she was a reporter at InformationWeek magazine and news site and played a lead role in the launch of InformationWeek's healthcare IT media site.
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https://www.databreachtoday.com/vendors-ex-employee-allegedly-shut-down-medicaid-system-a-10347


Family owned and operated. Servicing your needs since 1999.
currently has 40 trucks and 60 Trailers with more than 18 years of experience.
A truck and a dream out of Denton, Texas in 1999 is how MS Trucking got started as an over the road owner and operator. After two years in 2001 With only one truck and a dream Mr. Singh partnered and started a trucking company known as, All Over Transport. Over the next several years as a successful trucking company, the partners decided they would branch off on their own and open trucking companies. Today MS Truck Lines, DBA MS Trucking currently has 40 trucks and 60 Trailers with more than 18 years of experience.
Are you hauling freight through Dallas? Has your load become disorganized or damaged during transit? Our shipping experts are here to help.
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