Here is a presentation of what's new in Epicor ERP 10.1 along with the text content below the presentation for easier searching.
New setting at Company "Close PO Release at".
Configurator – Ability to reference assemblies for ease of use when doing complex coding within your configurator like calling system or Assembly DLL's.
Configurator – No Input configurators -allow document rules and method rules to execute automatically upon saving the line or getting Update your method of manufacturing and/or your order/quoting fields automatically with a custom rules base without the need for designing a configuration UI page.
Insights 2018 – Epicor Customer Conference Save the Date!


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//
//  INDCollectionButtonCellView.h
//  Indragie Karunaratne
//
//  Created by Indragie Karunaratne on 2014-04-10.
//  Copyright (c) 2014 Indragie Karunaratne. All rights reserved.
//

/**
 *  Content view for a collection view cell that displays a button.
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@interface INDCollectionButtonCellView : UIView

@property (nonatomic, weak) IBOutlet UIButton *button;

/**
 *  URL to open when the button is tapped.
 */
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSURL *url;

@end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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appsphilly
APPS Archive
HomeEyes on the Board of Education: September 19, 2019
Eyes on the Board of Education: September 19, 2019
by Karel Kilimnik
Years ago the garden of privatization seeds were sown, the garden well tended by corporate disruptors, and now in full bloom. The current administration, led by the Broad Academy-trained Superintendent William Hite, has been steadily outsourcing everything from school staff to special education services to support for central administration.
Crumbling and toxic buildings, along with past and future school closings, give lie to the District's stated goal of having "a great school close to where children live". Not long ago children walked to their neighborhood school. Teachers spent their career teaching in one or two schools. That has all changed now as the winds of corporate reform continue to blow through the District.
Corporate education supporters hold Board and CEO positions at many of the vendors who are offered contracts before the Board this month. Attuned Education Partners (Item 7) is rife with officials from TFA, Broad Academy, Relay GSE, and McKinsey & Company. The Executive Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education is on the Board of Relay GSE Board.
Item 6-Amendments to Contracts with ACS Consultants, EBS Healthcare, and Progressus Therapy – Special Education Teachers diverts more taxpayer money into the pockets of outside vendors as the District continues to struggle to recruit and retain teachers.
An honest effort toward teacher retention includes examining working conditions. Teachers have been held accountable for the failures of No Child Left Behind and the testing culture that permeates school systems. Additional stressors here include incompetent school leadership and continual turmoil inflicted by the Acceleration Network and Priority Schools turnovers. Before the corporate "dump the losers" mentality took hold, it was not uncommon for teachers to spend their professional life in one or two schools. That is true stability.
Items 41 through 47 (Mastery Charter School Renewals) present a list of seven Mastery Renaissance Charter Schools, most of whose new contracts have lingered unsigned for years. The Charter Schools Office (CSO) now recommends what amounts to retroactive renewals–without calling them that–some as far back as 2016. Although 5 of these Renaissance schools were recommended for 5-year Renewals with Conditions by the CSO when they first came up for a vote, the conditions have now been disappeared by the CSO. The renewals specify that they " do not include any school-specific conditions". What was removed that Mastery did not want to implement? The public was never told what the conditions were, so we have no way to know what was rejected by this charter operator. The District conducts all charter renewal agreements in secret. The SRC treats charter schools as clients, not as public schools, and the Board is continuing that practice. Where is that data proving the success of the Renaissance Charter School Program in ensuring "that all students have a great school close to where they live"? The District website states: "A Renaissance Charter School is a neighborhood school that is operated as a public charter school and can only enroll students from the neighborhood, also known as a catchment zone." But Councilmember Helen Gym's report provides data showing a rise in out-of-catchment students at several Renaissance charter schools.
Allowing negotiations between charter management companies and the District to be conducted behind closed doors, and allowing Charter operators to refuse to correct their academic and financial deficiencies, simply continues the SRC practice of providing cover for charter operators at the cost of actual public schools. Based on the District's 2019 Budget Vendor List, the projected cost for these seven Mastery Renaissance Charter Schools over their five-year contract is $$888, 494, 511.
Charters grow like weeds as they regularly apply for amendments to increase school enrollment (Items 39 & 40 KIPP Charter School ). Inadequate public information is provided for these expensive Items; in fact, there is not even a cost posted. The SRC actually provided far more details than the skimpy descriptions given by the Board. One of the four Board's stated priorities is "Transparency". Failing to provide adequate descriptions of what is being voted on does nothing to support that commitment.
….the Board refused to approve any more enrollment changes for charters until district-run schools were all housed in healthy buildings?
October Board of Education Action Meeting: Thursday October 17, 5 PM at 440 N. Broad Street. To register to speak, call 215.400.5959 by 3 PM Wednesday October 16, or fill out the form on the Board's webpage.
Action Items of Note
The full list of Items before the Board can be found here.
More District Outsourcing
Action Item 6: Amendments to Contracts with ACS Consultants, EBS Healthcare, and Progressus Therapy – Special Education Teachers
The Administration recommends that the Board of Education authorize The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to execute and perform an amendment of a contract, subject to funding, as follows:
With: ACS Consultants, Inc. and EBS Healthcare, Inc. Progressus Therapy, LLC
Purpose: To increase maximum number of contracted Special Education teachers and one-to-one aides from the currently authorized number of 60 to a maximum of 100 individuals
Original Start Date: 7/1/2017 Original End Date: 6/30/2020
Currently Authorized Compensation: $5,300,000
Additional Compensation: $3,500,000
All entities will be paid out of the aggregate amount not to exceed $8,800,000.
APPS Analysis: The District has been steadily outsourcing Special Education services including teachers, speech therapists, and physical therapists. Instead of providing adequate support and staffing, the District hires vendors and pays them a management fee for what used to be done in-house. We have written, researched, and analyzed ACS Consultants, EBS HeathCare, and Progressus Therapy for years. Nothing has changed except the amount of the contracts. And are we talking about a Teacher shortage or a teacher exodus? Educators are blamed for things over which they have little control: underfunded schools, test-prep curriculum, and scripted curricula that narrows teaching and learning and turns students into data points. Their wages remain stagnant while the cost of living increases.
In response to a recent nursing shortage, wages were increased, working conditions improved and more people applied to nursing schools. Similar changes have not happened within the teaching profession. Class size has increased while support services decreased. Teachers cannot be the only ones held accountable.
Privatizers Win Contract to Update Anchor Goals
Action Item 7: Contract with Attuned Education Partners – Action Plan Support
Superintendent – Contracts
Action under consideration: The Administration recommends that the Board of Education authorize The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to execute and perform a contract, subject to funding, as follows:
With: Attuned Education Partners, LLC
Purpose: To provide project planning, meeting preparation, meeting facilitation, and data review/analysis in support of the District's efforts to update the actions it takes to implement its Anchor Goals
Start date: 10/1/2019 End date: 3/31/2020
Compensation not to exceed: $142,000
Location: Administrative Office(s)
Renewal Options: No
Description: Since its release in Spring 2015, Action Plan 3.0 has helped bring focus and alignment to the District's operations which, in turn, has enabled the District to make measurable and significant progress towards its anchor goals. The District is coming to the end of the plan's five-year cycle in June 2020. In advance of that, the District would like to: 1) review and reconfirm implementation of its anchor goals; 2) establish future performance targets and metrics for each anchor goal; and 3) identify key actions to achieve those performance targets.
The District is seeking external support to help with the work needed to identify and design impactful actions. It does not have internal resources with both the required skills and available capacity to devote to this short-term, but heavy effort project. In addition, the lead partner at Attuned Education Partners successfully worked with the District's leadership team when refinements were made to the Action Plan in early 2018, and his knowledge of the District's work and progress is important to this project.
Office Originating Request: Superintendent
APPS Analysis: According to this Item, the lead partner at Attuned Education Partners "successfully worked with the District's leadership team " in 2018. SRC Resolution A-25 (February 15, 2018) approved a donation of services ($55,000) by David Rudall aka Kenwood Education Advising. David Rudall, who goes by various names, is presently listed as a Partner on the Attuned Education Learning website using the name Evan Rudall. Despite many attempts to locate a specific location, we found none. As we watch the District leadership increasing its affiliation with Broad fellows, examining Attuned's staff provides insight into how thoroughly this Administration has infused corporate education people and practices into the running of the District. Former US Secretary of Education John King (who upon leaving public service took over the reins of a corporate education called The Education Trust) collaborated with "Evan Rudall" to establish Roxbury Charter Prep in Boston. King, having taught for only three years, was in charge of curriculum while Rudall handled operations. After attending law school, Rudall took on various administrative positions with Uncommon Schools (a charter management company with schools in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts). Of the nine staff listed on Attuned's website, seven have worked in charter schools, one is a Broad alum, four have TFA affiliations, one is from Relay GSE, and two worked at McKinsey & Company. Why is the work of identifying and designing education initiatives given to a vendor with no apparent ties to Philadelphia and staff with limited experience in public education? Why does the Hite administration have to spend $142, 000 to examine its own anchor goals?
Board Bringing in Bush Reform Group?
Action Item 33: Contract with Johns Hopkins University – Curriculum Audit
Academic Support – Contracts CHIEFS FOR CHANGE
The Administration recommends that the Board of Education authorize The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to execute and perform a contract, subject to funding, as follows:
With: Johns Hopkins University
Purpose: Curriculum auditing and mapping
Start date: 9/20/2019 End date: 6/30/2020
Location: All Schools
Description: Research indicates that the achievement gap between low- and high-income students is often, in large part, a "knowledge gap," and that reading levels – especially from fifth grade onward – are closely related to students' level of background content knowledge, rather than abstract skills. To ensure that we are providing students with high-quality instructional materials and resources, the Office of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment will contract with the Johns Hopkins University to undergo a curriculum audit. Johns Hopkins University has developed a tool with which to analyze an English Language Arts curriculum in terms of the knowledge it offers students, both about the world (mainly through non-fiction texts) and about human psychology and the human condition (through both non-fiction and fiction texts). This proprietary tool, known as the Knowledge Map, analyzes curricula in terms of the content knowledge they offer students. By "mapping" the domains of knowledge implicit in each text across curricula, the Knowledge Map tool will help us answer the critical question of whether our materials provide the depth, breadth, and level of content students need to become excellent readers, engaged learners and informed citizens. This actionable data will inform our work to support student learning.
Johns Hopkins University has conducted numerous curriculum audits with large school districts and, in partnership with Chiefs for Change, has developed an extensive database of resources that will be used to assist the District during and after the proposed audit. While the District employs curriculum specialists, an independent curriculum audit through a well-respected and nationally recognized university will help us translate the research on what works for educational excellence and equity to those on the front lines of policy and practice – our teachers and staff who support teachers. Overall, this project includes a review of all English Language Arts core resources to develop a Knowledge Map (K-12); a Teacher Survey (English Language Arts and Math K-12) to gather data relative to instruction; an analysis of 11th- grade career readiness against the PA Career Education Standards, a cross-comparison of Pennsylvania's State Standards to the Common Core State Standards, and focus groups to gain a deeper understanding of teachers' needs and resources so that we can provide targeted data-driven support to our educators.
APPS Analysis: In 2008 then-Florida Governor Jeb Bush created the Foundation for Excellence In Education to promote his privatization agenda including: promoting Common Core State Standards; using test scores to evaluate teachers; A-to-F report cards for schools; expanding charter schools and online learning; and pushing states to embrace digital learning in public schools, a costly transition that often requires new software and hardware. Many of those digital products are made by donors to the foundation and funders of Chiefs For Change — including Microsoft, Intel, News Corp., Pearson PLC and K12 . Later came a spin-off advocacy group Chiefs For Change (CFC). Initially set up for state education superintendents, their dwindling membership forced them to include superintendents of urban school districts.
In 2015 Chiefs For Change split from Bush's Foundation. Dr Hite joined the Chiefs in 2017. Other members include former Newark superintendent and subsequent New Jersey State Education Secretary Chris Cerf, who imposed Governor Christie's privatization agenda on Newark and Camden; Paymon Rouhanifard, former Goldman Sachs employee and superintendent of Camden School District who laid out the welcome mat for charter chains including Mastery and KIPP; former superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) John Deasy, who resigned in the wake of a $1.3B iPad debacle coupled with a "robust travel schedule" that had Deasy out of town at times when LAUSD difficulties required a superintendent's attention. David Steiner,Executive Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and Professor of Education at Johns Hopkins University, sits on the Board of the unaccredited Relay Graduate School, created by two charter school founders who wanted a program to supply their schools with teachers with the correct ideology.
Do the Board members know who the Chiefs for Change are and what their agenda is?
More Digital Resources, Less Staff
Action Item 35: Contract with Newsela – Comprehensive Digital Library
Academic Support – Contracts
Action under consideration:The Administration recommends that the Board of Education authorize The School District of Philadelphia, through the Superintendent or his designee, to execute and perform a contract, subject to funding, as follows:
With: Newsela
Purpose: Digital library that aligns with English Language Arts curriculum for grades 4-8
Compensation not to exceed: $1,595,000.50
Location: All Elementary Schools; All Middle Schools
Description: Studies show that students need texts that reflect their personal experiences and backgrounds to remain engaged. This is especially crucial for hesitant readers; and striving students are more likely to engage in reading and learning when the text makes a real-world connection to their lives, or when they are interested in the topic. Newsela, an instructional content platform, uses relevant and timely news articles/stories from today's headlines and rewrites them at multiple reading levels. The articles/stories are culturally relevant, current, and age/grade appropriate. This allows all students to access the same content (knowledge) and learn the same grade level skills, despite varying reading levels. Through the Newsela platform, teachers and students will have unlimited access to Newsela content, standards-aligned reading activities, and insights to support core instruction and differentiation across the curriculum. This includes access to over twenty genres of content, such as primary sources, reference texts, essays, fiction, issue overviews, and more – at five different reading levels. Teachers will be able to use Newsela to teach to the standards, themes, and topics contained in the District's English Language Arts core materials as well as create custom activities, search for content by standard, get lesson ideas, and control the reading levels students see. Newsela will be accessed through the District's Curriculum Engine and/or the Newsela website. The Office of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment will provide a screencast and offer professional development to communicate to teachers how to access Newsela to enhance instructional practices and support student-identified needs. Teachers will, in turn, teach students how to access and use Newsela, and school leadership teams will provide information for families about the use of Newsela.
APPS Analysis: Let's first correct the initial sentence of the District's description: Studies show that students benefit significantly when their schools have Certified Teacher Librarians (CTL) in school libraries. School library advocate Deb Kachel wrote: "When schools have high-quality library programs and librarians who share their expertise with the entire school community, student achievement gets a boost."
These are some of the skills that CTLs bring to a school community that are missing in an online program: instructing students, both with classroom teachers and independently; collaborating with classroom teachers to prepare engaging lessons; providing professional development to teachers; facilitating the use of technology by students and teachers; providing technology support to teachers; and providing reading incentive programs. Instead of spending scarce funds on a "digital library", the Board should be making a commitment to bring back what works: books and online resources in a library with professional staff. This administration needs to follow South Carolina's commitment to have at least one school librarian with an MLIS degree (Master of Library and Information Science)in every school.
The Non-Profit, Philanthropic, Charitable-Industrial Complex
Action Item 38: Contract with 12 Plus – Postsecondary Academic and Mentoring Support Services Schools
With: 12PLUS
Purpose: To provide Post-secondary, Academic and Mentoring Support Services
Location: Hill-Freedman World Academy; Kensington High School; Penn Treaty High School
Renewal Options: Yes Number of Options: 2
Duration of each option to extend: Years: 1 Months:
Description: 12PLUS will provide individualized and school-wide post-secondary, academic, and mentoring support services for grades 9-12 at Kensington High School (KHS), Penn Treaty School (PT), and Hill-Freedman World Academy (HFWA). Additional career and college resources will be provided through fully-staffed, 12PLUS Center that will be established within Kensington High School, Penn Treaty School, and Hill-Freedman World Academy. Monthly events will also be held to promote a school-wide college-going culture, increase interest in career related fields, and celebrate student achievements. 12PLUS will partner with school faculty and administration to provide ongoing academic and behavioral monitoring for the entire student bodies of KHS, PT, and HFWA.
12PLUS will support the following tasks at each school: Individualized advising and small group workshops to assist students in exploring post-secondary options and preparing for post-secondary success; Career exploration and individualized career advising; Academic monitoring and intervention for at-risk students; Non-cognitive skill development designed to improve student engagement and academic achievement; Parent and community meetings; Professional development workshops; and Summer Transition for incoming ninth graders and graduating seniors.
Included in 12PLUS' services is the role of an Impact Director. The Impact Director will work will school staff to manage and evaluate the overall efficacy of our program. The director will create reports on a range of educational outcomes from growth in attendance to college acceptance and matriculation rates. They will also work as a liaison between 12PLUS and school administration, working closely to make sure goals are aligned. He/she will train 12PLUS Site Directors and formulate and deliver objectives on a weekly basis. Finally, the Impact Director will work to serve as an inspector of quality assurance, to guarantee that 12PLUS's service at each school is consistently excellent.
Related resolution(s)/approval(s): June 27, 2019, # 83
APPS Analysis: This Item is another example of what we have pointed out on many occasions.. A non-profit gets its foot in the door by donating its services, later they receive a contract from the District. The initial amount may seem minor but gradually increases as the District continues to outsource instead of building resources from within. Our critique has nothing to do with the quality of K12 programming but with the continued contracting to vendors. As we said in the 2018 Edition of Eyes on the Board of Education, if there were adequate numbers of counselors, social workers, and other support staff, non-profits like 12Plus would exist to supplement what was available with District staff, not impose newly created staff positions onto school staff. This is a national trend as the wealthy and corporations fail to pay their taxes–non-profits spring up to fill the desperate need for basic services. Not only do foundations supply funding but non-profits pitch their services to individuals for support. Ironically, it is our donations that help fuel these critical resources instead of fully funding our schools. We envision a world in which the District's budget includes a steady and reliable funding stream.
And what is an" Impact Director"? Why are schools being forced to accept more intrusive professional development and coaching from outside companies? Penn Treaty had the ISA consulting firm move in after being designated as a Priority School just 2 years ago. Can't we see whether that worked before another vendor sets up shop? This contract represents another step in privatizing resources within a school and handing responsibility to an outside agency.
CharterWorld Has Its Own Rules
Action Item 39 KIPP West Philadelphia Charter School – Application for Charter Renewal (Added 9.5.19)
Action under consideration: Renewal Term: July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2024
Amendment: Increase maximum authorized enrollment from 375 to 500; commencing January 1, 2020, absorbing Grades 5-8 populated with 360 students from KIPP West Philadelphia Preparatory Charter ("KWPPCS"), provided KWPPCS forfeits its charter.
Description: KIPP West Philadelphia Charter School applied for renewal of its charter in the 2018-19 school year. A renewal evaluation of this charter school was completed by the Charter Schools Office in 2019 (Renewal Report). The CSO has recommended a five-year renewal effective July 1, 2019. In accordance with SRC Resolution SRC-15, approved on June 16, 2016, KIPP West Philadelphia Charter School and KIPP West Philadelphia Preparatory Charter ("KWPPCS") are to be combined provided KWPPCS forfeits its charter. The renewal includes changes to the authorized grades and maximum authorized enrollment as previously approved by the SRC. The Board of Education will consider this application for charter renewal.
Office Originating Request: Board of Education
Action Item 40: KIPP West Philadelphia Preparatory Charter School – Forfeiture of Charter (Added 9.5.19)
Action under consideration
Description: In accordance with SRC Resolution SRC-15, approved on June 16, 2016, KIPP West Philadelphia Charter School and KIPP West Philadelphia Preparatory Charter ("KWPPCS") are to be combined, provided KWPPCS forfeits its charter. The Board of Education will consider this forfeiture.
APPS Analysis: One of the charter management companies' sleight-of-hand moves is creating similarly named schools with fragments of grades, often housed in multiple locations. KIPP practically wrote the book on this. The local KIPP Schools' website lists six schools while the District website lists five, all with slight variations in their names.
These two Action Items provide scant information. Where will these two schools be located? Last month the Board approved the selling of Whittier School to a separate, for-profit entity: KIPP Whittier Development, LLC MIS Capital LLC. This represents yet another circular lease agreement common in the charter sector. We confirmed that the KIPP West Philadelphia Preparatory Charter will be relocating to Whittier located in North Philadelphia. KIPP moves its students like pawns on a giant chess board from one part of the city to another with little regard for the communities they move to and from.
Action Item 41:Francis D. Pastorius Mastery Charter School – Application for Charter Renewal (Added 9.5.19)
Action Item 42: Hardy Williams Academy Charter School – Application for Charter Renewal (Added 9.5.19)
Action Item 43:Mastery Charter School Cleveland Elementary – Application for Charter Renewal (Added 9.5.19)
Action Item 44: Mastery Charter School Clymer Elementary – Application for Charter Renewal (Added 9.5.19)
Action Item 45: Mastery Charter School – Pickett Campus – Application for Charter Renewal (Added 9.5.19)
Action Item 46: Mastery Charter School Simon Gratz Campus – Application for Charter Renewal (Added 9.5.19)
Action Item 47: Mastery Charter School – Shoemaker Campus – Application for Charter Renewal (Added 9.5.19)
APPS Analysis: it appears that there are presently two school systems operating in Philadelphia, one consisting of district-run schools, the other privately-managed charters that include both stand-alone schools and Renaissance Charters. One in which there is accountability, the other with very little. District-run schools have to meet standards or face closure or interventions under the System of Great Schools(SGS). Strawberry Mansion High School was slated for closure last year but significant community pushback averted such action. Schools placed in the SGS Priority and Focus Schools category are then often thrown into disarray. Many were forced into the Acceleration Network; a significant portion of the faculty were forced out, without due process, after being required to reapply for their own positions in the school. In CharterWorld, though, schools like those in the Mastery chain, even those who fail to meet standards, can refuse to accept any conditions but still remain open and fully funded for up to 4 of their 5-year terms. Obviously something happened because they are now agreeing to approve their contracts. Whatever went on, negotiations about the future of these "public" schools were held with no public notification or inclusion. Several of these Mastery Schools have also been granted additional enrollment despite low academic performance.
These are the annual costs for the following Mastery schools–from the District Vendor List from the June 30th 2019 FY Quarterly Report: Gratz ($21,653,926), Shoemaker ($10,90,772), Hardy Williams ($16,502,699), Pickett ($12,583,205), Clymer ($7,782,189), Cleveland ($10,369,759). These figures do not include stranded costs incurred by the District when students leave to enroll at a charter school. When a child leaves a charter that money does not follow the child but remains at the Charter School.
APPS in the News
APPS Media Articles
Board of Education Committee Meetings
Charter Renewals
Charter School Applications
Ears on the Board of Education
Ears on the SRC
Eyes on the Board of Education
Eyes on the SRC
Focus School Reports
Philadelphia School Board
Philadelphia School Board Testimony
Philadelphia School Partnership
Posts (Newest to Oldest)
Priority School Reports 2016
Relay Graduate School of Education
School Board Nominating Panel
School Reform Commission testimony
SRC: Dissolve Thyself
Strawberry Mansion
System of Great Schools
The Battle for Wister Elementary School
The case of teacher Marianne Kennedy
Policy Committee Meeting: January 16, 2020
New Charter Application from String Theory Charters: Joan Myers Brown Academy
MaST III Charter report
Franklin Towne Middle Charter School
The Growing Influence of Jounce Partners
The second installment of Philadelphia School Board nominee reports
New Charter Application from American Paradigm: Tacony Academy Charter at St. Vincent
Testimony of Maddie Luebbert, December 20, 2019
View PhillyAPPS's profile on Facebook
View APPSphilly's profile on Twitter
Monthly Archive Select Month January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Established in 1982, Nwes is the largest enterprise agency in England, delivering business support to start-up and growing SMEs in the East Midlands, East of England, and London.
Working with Start Up Loans Company to support entrepreneurs looking to start their business, the Nwes Group provides 1-to-1 business advice, workshops, and workspace, and helps to source appropriate finance to meet the business needs.
The Nwes Group is an official Start Up Loans Delivery Partner and has a team of experienced business advisers who work closely with applicants to help prepare their business plan and cash flow forecasts. Once the case for a successful application is finalised Nwes considers the loan application and makes the final decision, and will provide ongoing mentoring support to successful applicants.


Wrist wraps are intended to enhance your grip around a barbell or dumbbell. The wraps force you to concentrate on target muscle groups when exercising by securing your wrist to a weight. Wrist wraps can also lessen the stress and fatigue your wrists and hands experience during a weightlifting session.
CARE INSTRUCTIONS: To maximize the life of your wrist wraps and to preserve our warranty/product guarantee, hand-wash your wrap with a mild detergent/soap and air dry.
Different from the velcro wraps that I was use to but I like these ones way more! Just feels great!
These are simple, good looking wraps. The only issue I have is the stitching. If the stitching was reinforced a little better then these would be perfect but other than that they're great.
Great quality, great design and repping soflete ♠ What more do you want?


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Half a million motorists spotted using phone behind the wheel
Nearly half a million people were observed using a mobile phone at the wheel during 2017, a survey by the Department for Transport has found.
Order books finally open for Audi e-tron SUV following delay
Audi's first all-electric model is finally on sale following a delay caused by a software issue.
One in 10 young driver insurance policies have parent's name as main motorist
One in 10 parents of young drivers risk a criminal record for pretending to be the main driver on the car insurance policy, new research has uncovered.
Vauxhall releases teaser image of all-new Corsa
Following the trend of 'teasing' a new model before unveiling it in full, Vauxhall has offered us a first glimpse at its all-new Corsa.
Long-term report: Out of the factory, into the fire. The Volkswagen Caddy immediately reports for duty
Viper green. Say it again, slowly and with a bit more finesse. It sounds like something you'd associate with a high performance track weapon, right? Wrong. In this instance, it relates to our newest addition to the fleet, the Volkswagen Caddy.
Duke of Edinburgh surrenders driving licence as prosecutors consider crash
The Duke of Edinburgh surrendered his driving licence as prosecutors considered whether to bring charges over a crash that injured two women.
Duke of Edinburgh surrenders driving licence after car crash
The Duke of Edinburgh has surrendered his driving licence, after being involved in a crash and then being spotted behind the wheel without a seatbelt.
Explained: What are driverless cars?
Driverless cars are a hot topic in the motoring world at the moment. Everyone's talking about them; manufacturers, politicians and transport chiefs are all nattering on about the future of cars without the need for drivers. But what are they, and what do they mean for the future of motoring? We're going to try and clear things up.
Amazon ramps up involvement in driverless car race with US developer investment
Amazon has taken a massive leap into the driverless vehicle arena by investing in autonomous technology developer Aurora.
Ferrari F40 LM sells for £4.2 million
A race-winning Ferrari F40 LM has sold for £4.2m at RM Sotheby's Paris auction.
Indian Motorcycle FTR 1200 S Race Replica launches with Akrapovic exhaust
Indian Motorcycle has revealed that its first edition FTR 1200 S Race Replica will benefit from a performance Akrapovic exhaust as standard.


Another H-34 project in Colorado-100 bullet holes!
Ho Chi Minh Trail. These guys had brass balls the size of baseballs.
One of these guys was shot down on January 31st, 1972.
I managed to find him and rescue him with a high-hover hoist rescue with my H-34.
For this rescue I received no medals, no rewards except knowing I had helped a fellow aviator out of a tight.
34 years later, he bought me a bottle of Scotch.
a good book that goes into details in "The Calvary of the Skies."


Here we go again. Every time there is a scandal in Hollywood, some smartypants decides that it's time to dust off the innuendos and myths surrounding the death of Virginia Rappe. This time, the AP is the culprit and it's up to us to let them know.
Vacationing couple Arbuckle and Normand take a jaunt down to San Diego for some sightseeing. After renting electric-powered couches, the pair zip around the expo but, would you believe it, chaos ensues.
The comedy trio of Arbuckle, Keaton and St. John take on the western genre and the macho films of William S. Hart in particular. Chaos ensues as Arbuckle and Keaton team up to take down St. John's obnoxious and lecherous bandit. A raucous adventure comedy with some rather dark bits (Keaton gleefully hides corpses in the floorboards), the short boasts some of the best chemistry in the business.
The story is as old as they come: Boy meets girl, boy dumps girl, girl makes good, boy left to stew. The plot may be old but that made it ripe for the Keystone treatment in this mad bit of slapstick.


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georginabutler	 January 19, 2018
REVIEW: 'The Snowman' – Milton Keynes Theatre, January 2018
Magical dance theatre production The Snowman is a winsome winter warmer of a show that will banish those troublesome January blues.
The Birmingham Repertory Theatre performance proved to be the perfect mid-week pick-me-up for audience members of all ages on press night at Milton Keynes Theatre. Effortlessly combining a timeless tale with visual spectacle, The Snowman whisks transfixed theatregoers off to a place of nostalgia, innocence and satisfyingly snowy Christmases.
The wide-eyed wonder of a child enjoying the festive season is captured with grace and good-humour in this charming interpretation of Raymond Briggs' beloved children's picture book, published in 1978, and the subsequent 1982 animated film.
Waking up on Christmas Eve, a young boy is delighted to discover that it is snowing. He eagerly rushes outside, gets acquainted with the white stuff and sets to work building a snowman. That evening, the anticipation of Christmas Day's imminent arrival means the boy is more reluctant to go to bed than ever before. Still restless in the middle of the night, he sneaks downstairs and creeps outside to check up on his snowman. To his astonishment, The Snowman comes alive and the pair share a special, starry-skied adventure.
georginabutler	 December 26, 2017
INTERVIEW with James Leece, The Snowman, December 2017
Dancer James Leece plays the title role in the stage show version of classic Christmas cartoon The Snowman.
Between performances and festive family fun, he found time for a chat about choreography, costumes and childhood nostalgia with Georgina Butler.
James Leece was born in Aberdeen and trained at The Royal Ballet School and London Studio Centre. He began his professional performing career dancing for Matthew Bourne's company in the early days when it was called Adventures in Motion Pictures and continued when it became Matthew Bourne's New Adventures. James has performed roles in Bourne's Swan Lake, Nutcracker!, Highland Fling, Edward Scissorhands and The Car Man. Further theatre credits include being Robbie and first cover Johnny in the West End production of Dirty Dancing at the Aldwych Theatre, and starring as the leading man, Don Lockwood, in the 2013/2014 UK tour of Singin' In The Rain.
Currently, James Leece is one of two performers alternating the title role in the Birmingham Repertory Theatre production of The Snowman at The Peacock Theatre, London dance house Sadler's Wells' West End venue. This enchanting show is based on the 1982 animated film, which was inspired by Raymond Briggs' 1978 children's book. The narrative sees a young boy and his snowman share a magical night of friendship, fun and flying.
Directed by Bill Alexander, the stage show tells the story entirely through music and dance. It features a musical score and lyrics by the film's composer Howard Blake – including the classic theme song Walking in the Air – and choreography by Robert North.
The Snowman is now an annual seasonal staple in the capital. The five-week Christmas 2017 run marks the production's 20th year at The Peacock Theatre, making it the longest-running Christmas show in English theatre history. In November 2017 the cast toured the show to Manchester and Glasgow. The tour will resume throughout January 2018, with performances in Southampton, Milton Keynes and Brighton.
Without a doubt, The Snowman has become a much-loved festive tradition for audiences and cast members alike. Indeed, James is presently donning the fluffy white Snowman suit for his sixth year in the title role. A father to two young children, and an experienced performer, he is full of admiration for this timeless show…


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yaybiscuits123 / Flickr
What Does An Erection Feel Like? The Science Behind That Wood
by Lindsay E. Mack
In "The Hamptons" episode of Seinfeld, the men try to explain the concept of shrinkage to Elaine, to which she replies, "I don't know how you guys walk around with those things." Her sentiment probably captures the way many women think about men and their anatomy. Even well into adulthood, it's pretty normal to feel head-shakingly baffled by them. And cis women all over the world have probably wondered what does an erection feel like, anyway? Is it like a water balloon down there or what?
Here are the mechanics behind an erection. First, something triggers a sense of arousal in a man. Then, the "arteries relax and open up to let more blood to flow in; at the same time, the veins close up," according to WebD. "Once blood is in the penis, pressure traps it within the corpora cavernosa. Your penis expands and holds the erection." So it kind of is like a water balloon.
Aside from some members of the trans community, women will never completely know what those sensations are like. But here are a few best efforts to explain erections to those of us who don't have that equipment. Also, it's 100 percent acceptable to giggle while reading the rest of this. I dare you not to.
So What Does It Feel Like
Steve Jurvetson / Flickr
When men discuss their erections, awareness seems to be a common theme. "The best I can describe it is that typically throughout the day, you're not aware of your penis any more than you are any other body part," Frank Kobola told Cosmopolitan. "When you pop a boner, there's this sudden hyper-awareness of your penis. It's like your dick got super-high." Apparently it becomes way more noticeable during this time.
And different circumstances can result in different types of erections. The so-called "morning wood" ones can feel different from arousal erections. "REM erections are triggered by a different part of the brain than erections that result from sexual arousal," Paul Joannides, psychoanalyst and the author of the Guide To Getting It On, said in Psychology Today. "This means that psychologically, these two different types of erection have little, if anything, in common." He even gave a sex survey so men could explain this difference, and morning erections were described as "in the way," "a nuisance," and "rarely sexual." So not all erections are created equal.
Is There A Female Equivalent
Nathan / Flickr
Is "ladyboner" just a figure of speech? Not entirely. "Because of the engorgement with blood during sexual arousal, the labia minora become turgid, doubling or tripling in thickness, as reported in in Clinical Anatomy. "Therefore, male erection equals erection of the female erectile organs." While no one will accidentally notice your turgid labia minora (and if they do, then they need to get out of your business), this function of arousal may act as the female equivalent of an erection. Maybe.


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ClickMeeting Review
By Molly McLaughlin & Daniel Brame
Clickmeeting - Free Trial
30.00 Per Month Per Host
Free trial.
Doesn't require credit card to try.
Excels at webinars.
Lacks phone support.
A little pricey for a solution that delivers only video conferencing.
Still utilizes Adobe Flash, which is scheduled for deprecation in 2020.
Limited number of video participants.
ClickMeeting is a competent video conferencing solution for small businesses that's simple to use and nicely priced. It could stand to beef up its customer support, though.
ClickMeeting begins at $25 per month (when billed annually for its MyWebinars tier), and focuses most of its product development on webinars, though it can serve as a general video conferencing solution. The webinar focus actually lends some additional quality to the video conferencing by boosting your audio-visual experience and incorporating a lot of meeting controls for the host. Still, it's slightly pricier than Cisco WebEx Meetings, our other Editors' Choice, even though that solution provides a whole business Voice-over-IP (VoIP) calling suite while ClickMeeting focuses mostly on webinars. Still, for smalll business operators seeking solely a video conferencing solution, ClickMeeting excels enough to earn an Editors' Choice designation of its own.
Getting Started With ClickMeeting
ClickMeeting offers several plans, which begin at $25 per month for two presenters and 25 attendees, and top out at $165 per month for four presenters and 5,000 attendees. If you opt to pay annually for any plan, then you can save up to 20 percent. A free 30-day trial is also available. To sign up, you first choose a page name, which will be part of your custom URL for meetings, and then you provide your name and email address. You can activate your account via email or by pairing your account with Facebook, which seems odd considering this is business-focused software. The Welcome email includes instructions to get up and running; you can also sign up for a Get Started webinar.
Like many newer web services, ClickMeeting has a progress bar that encourages you to complete your account profile which, after activation, is at 25 percent. You can choose to complete your profile via Facebook or add your details manually. You can represent yourself with an avatar, upload a profile photo, or take a photo with your webcam. ClickMeeting prompts you to create a meeting right away, which adds to your progress. The user interface (UI) is friendly, colorful, non-cluttered, and not terribly corporate-looking or dated. ClickMeeting is also easy to navigate, and it guides you step by step when setting up a meeting and handling other tasks. From your Account panel, you can see events you have created and statistics, such as meeting length, attendee numbers, and more.
You don't get a personalized dial-in number, but you can choose from a list of numbers for cities in the United States and abroad, including London and Sao Paulo. You can also purchase add-on, toll-free numbers. A full list of keyboard shortcuts is available on ClickMeeting's website, including how to mute yourself, turn off and on hold music, and more. Presenters and participants can also use ClickMeeting's VoIP service to join a call.
Cisco Webex Meetings
Zoom Meeting
Best for Large Organizations
BlueJeans Meetings
RingCentral Meetings
You can customize your meeting space with a choice of background skins, and enable features such as a Thank You page redirect URL, automatic Thank You emails for participants, auto recording, and reminders.
Setting Up a Meeting
To set up a meeting, create an event directly from your dashboard. Then, give it a name and create a unique URL. For example, my custom URL is pcmag2019biz.clickmeeting.com, and I can add to that when I create a meeting by appending something such as "/weeklystatus" to the end of the URL. From the "Start a Meeting" page, you can test your connection, which is helpful, since video conferencing can go very wrong if the Wi-Fi or network connection is faulty.
When creating meetings, you can choose between a scheduled event or a permanent event. A permanent event is always accessible and has no start or end date, which is ideal for recurring or on-the-fly meetings.
Next, add an agenda if you wish. Finally, invite participant and presenters, either manually or by choosing from saved contacts or past sessions. When inviting people, you're able to add them to your contacts as well and also link up your Facebook and Twitter contacts. To send invites, you can use one of ClickMeeting's email templates or copy the meeting details and paste those into your own email client.
Then you're ready to go. Helpfully, you can either start the meeting right away or enter the meeting room and prepare first and start the meeting later, which is a nice touch. A virtual waiting room is available for other participants; the meeting won't start until a presenter arrives.
As a presenter, files can be uploaded for sharing, either from your computer or from Dropbox . If you want to share your desktop, then you have to download an application. From the Meeting dashboard, there's access to YouTube, which is prepopulated with ClickMeeting how-to videos, but you can search for any video you want. You can also create polls. Additional attendees can be invited right from the meeting room.
If you're invited to a ClickMeeting as a participant, then simply click on the meeting URL in your email invite. Next, input your name and email address, and then test your connection. Check for plug-ins, and set up your camera and microphone. I had some trouble the first time I tried to join a meeting. I saw a "This site uses a plug-in that's not supported" message, and ClickMeeting didn't detect my camera and microphone. On my second attempt, everything went smoothly, and I was sent to the waiting room since the presenter had not yet arrived. The waiting room includes "hold" music but you can disable it.
The Meeting Experience
Once a presenter has joined, the meeting can begin. Features available include a lock option, which denies access to participants who show up late. Presenters can record the meeting; a blinking red light indicates recording is active. You can't record audio separately; everything in the conference window is captured as well.
Attendees can either use their computer's mic and speakers or dial-in by telephone. The presenter can choose between Audio modes. In Presenter mode, only presenters are allowed in for meeting prep. Q&A mode lets attendees, all of whom are muted, ask questions by pressing a button; presenters can then grant voice privileges. Once the question has been asked and answered, the presenter can then mute that participant again. Listen-Only mode mutes all attendees for the duration of the meeting. While in Discussion mode, everyone can hear and speak to one other. In Drawing mode, presenters can highlight text, draw arrows, sketch, type, and erase. When you click the End Meeting button as a presenter, you can either exit yourself or end the session and log everyone out.
All attendees can enable audio and webcam, raise their hand, post icons indicating agreement or disagreement, and speak louder or softer. Chat is available to all and can be translated into several languages. Participants can't request desktop control of other attendees or share their screen.
Video conferencing is built into every meeting, so you can choose on the fly whether to use it or not. What's nice is that you can use webcams at the same time you're sharing your screen or using whiteboard tools; up to four webcams can be active per meeting. However, this was not without its challenges. If you happen to be in the unfortunate situation of having multiple cameras, then you may run into issues. Since the entire meeting relies on Adobe Flash to work, your camera has to be compatible, and Flash needs to pick it up properly. I was unable to get my secondary camera to work at all with click meeting, but it's not necessarily the typical case.
Features and Getting the 411
You can manage access to meetings by setting a password or a token or simply leave it open to anyone who has the meeting URL. For token-protected meetings, each participant receives a unique token that only one person can use to enter the meeting.
The software is available in 11 languages and the chat text can be translated into 52 different languages. Both the original text and the translation text can be seen at the same time. This is thanks to the tight integration with Google Translate, which adds an additional level of trust to ensure that international attendees will be able to understand what you are trying to say.
ClickMeeting is compatible with PCs and Macs and with all the major browsers: Internet Explorer 8 (to access the meeting room) or 9 (32-bit only, to use the account panel); Mozilla Firefox (Free at Apple.com) 3 or higher; Google Chrome, and Apple Safari 4 or 5.
An Office plug-in integrates your account with Outlook and other Microsoft programs, while a Chrome plug-in hooks into your Google calendar. Apps for Android and Apple devices are also available, and let you schedule meetings, stream audio and video, share your screen, and record your events.
When you need help, ClickMeeting offers support by email and live chat seven days a week. You can also consult the knowledge base, which includes PDF guides to get you started as well as video tutorials covering subjects such as Audio and Video, Presentation and Whiteboard, Room Layouts, and Desktop Sharing. I used the live chat feature to ask about plan features and was answered promptly, in a friendly manner. Phone support is not available.
One of the more interesting features is Youtube integration. If you want to be able to show a video as part of the webinar, then you can link your account. Then it's a simple matter to show a video in place of a desktop share as an introduction or as an explanatory piece. This is useful if you don't want to cover something live, and instead, want to show a prepared clip.
In June 2018, ClickMeeting added the ability to charge for webinars by incorporating PayPal functionality. Users can also monitor statistics on which webinars are most successful and bring the most revenue. In addition, businesses can create a brand experience in their webinar room by adding their logo and brand colors.
ClickMeeting Makes Meetings Fun
With a variety of presentation tools, video chat with up to four participants, and both dial-in and VoIP calling options, ClickMeeting helps you create engaging meetings, whether you're looking for lively participation, a training seminar, or a brainstorming session. Its UI is appealing and easy to use, and its plans are just the right size and price for a small company. Thus, ClickMeeting is our Editors' Choice for video conferencing services for small businesses. Those with more than four team members that need to see each other should consider Cisco WebEx Meetings, our other Editors' Choice.
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About Molly McLaughlin
Molly K. McLaughlin is a New York-based writer and editor with more than a decade of experience covering technology. She has tested and reviewed all sorts of software, mobile apps, and gadgets. Before launching her freelance business, she was an editor at PC Magazine, covering consumer electronics, followed by a stint at ConsumerSearch.com, a review website. Molly also runs About.com's Android site and contributes to DealNews and other online publications. Follow her on Twitter @bloggingmolly.
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About Daniel Brame
Daniel Brame, MCSD, is a Solutions Consultant and freelance product reviewer for PCMag.com. He can be reached at [email protected]
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Making Taxes Less Taxing: How to Reduce ASC 740 Financial Statement Risk
Alan Bear
Corporate tax departments have more responsibilities today with fewer internal resources. RGP's Tax and Treasury Director Alan Bear shares how publicly traded companies can tackle one of their most significant responsibilities.
Mention "April 15th" to anyone and it's practically guaranteed you'll hear "Tax Day." Easy enough. Mention "ASC 740" to most businesspeople and you'll likely get blank stares. That's a shame because the complexity of ASC 740 can jeopardize the integrity of financial statements for publicly listed companies, resulting in issues far beyond taxes.
Under SEC rules, publicly listed companies' annual reports must include information on management's internal control over financial reporting. No small matter. If a company has to disclose a significant deficiency of internal controls, consequences could include lower analyst ratings, loss of investor confidence and negative media coverage, as well as increased costs leading to possible share price declines—and potentially, even reduced company value.
It's not just a tax and financial reporting issue. It can ultimately become a business issue.
Most companies are well-prepared for the basic filing of tax returns, making tax payments, reconciliations, and so on. But it's not that simple these days.
Expected to Do More with Less
In fact, tax departments nowadays are expected to do more with less. Sometimes a lot more. To-do lists now include accelerated reporting deadlines, changing business structures, legislative and regulatory changes, adopting new accounting standards, and global tax reform. Add to that list ASC 740's requirement to not only calculate a tax provision but to fully disclose tax risks, and you get an idea of what tax departments are up against.
The answer is often bringing in outside help. With football season about to begin, possibly the best analogy might be the use of "special teams." For most the of game, the team's got it under control on the gridiron. But, in certain situations, the coach sends in the kick-off, punting or field goal units to use their specialized skills. Same for taxes. The story of our work with one company is emblematic of this approach.
A Case Study
Our client—a global cloud-based software vendor—was concerned that their current risk documentation and tax controls weren't reflecting the company's global tax reporting requirements, including income tax compliance. The company originally thought they could transition a member of their tax team to lead a project while hiring a consultant to backfill for his regular job. We suggested the opposite. The company worried that the consultant might not be welcomed by the tax team, potentially risking the project.
After a collaborative selection process, we created a project plan clearly outlining how the consultant—now tapped to lead the special team and not serve as backfill—would collaborate with the company's tax team and communicate findings.
Despite the agreement, it was clear early on there was still some resistance within the tax team to this new arrangement, so we made an extra effort to ensure we adopted a work style consistent with the company's individual culture. Flexibility was key in learning more about each team member's individual roles—an invaluable step for how we then proceeded.
Steps for Evaluating Tax Risks
We started identifying potential tax risks by thoroughly reviewing processes, policies and procedures, as well as tax software. We also conducted confidential interviews with the tax team as well as business personnel in other departments to gain additional insights.
All the risks we identified were discussed and confirmed with the tax team before assessing tax controls. Each control was then designed specifically for that company and all procedures associated with those controls were fully documented.
We then trained the tax team on procedural changes before the final documentation was prepared. Team feedback was reviewed and changes made prior to final documentation.
As a result of this collaborative process, we were able to find ASC 740-related risks that the client did not previously identify and redesign controls to prevent future material and significant tax deficiencies.
As they later told us, their own internal review processes would never have uncovered the ASC 740 risks. Only an outside perspective made it possible.
The client was able to incorporate the new controls and procedures into their year-end tax provision, resulting in improved efficiencies as well as no audit-control related issues.
Despite some initial hesitancy, internal surveys taken afterwards showed that the procedural changes undertaken during this project ended up improving the tax team's overall job satisfaction.
The project team later met with the tax department to review the effectiveness of the changes made impacting the year-end tax provision process. This feedback resulted in even more changes being made to the documentation, creating a virtuous cycle.
The project's completion didn't end the work there, either. After each quarter's closing, we now conduct quick follow-ups with the client's tax leadership—similar to an annual health checkup—and that collaboration continues today.
As famed football coach George Allen once said: "Football is one-third offense, one-third defense, and one-third special teams." We agree. With just offense and defense, you only go two-thirds of the way. Add special teams, and you get the edge you need.
When it comes to the increasing complexity of requirements like ASC 740—not to mention dwindling internal resources—there's no better time than now to put those teams in the tax game for the win.
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November 2019 Editor's Choice
By Andrew Seldon
NEC XON hosted its annual summit in October 2019 at Sun City under the banner of 'Orchestrating a Brighter World'. The conference was supported by sponsors who each had displays in the exhibition area where they interacted with delegates over the course of the day.
Carel Coetzee.
NEC XON CEO, Carel Coetzee, launched the proceedings with a video describing how technology can and is enhancing the lives of people around the world, including those in rural areas in Africa. And Africa was a prime focus of the conference, with multiple presenters noting it is on the brink of some significant opportunities when considering the latest technologies available to organisations and people, as well as other changes that are occurring at the moment.
One of the opportunities is the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), for which 54 countries have already signed up. Once in effect, this will provide for a single continental market for goods and services, as well as free movement for business people and investments. But Coetzee added that this is only one of a number of transitions that will have a significant impact on Africa over the next 30 years. He said NEC XON is in a prime position, along with its partners, to be part of this opportunity to really orchestrate a brighter future for all.
Pieter Geldenhuys.
The future has happened
Coetzee was followed by Pieter Geldenhuys, director at the Institute for Technology Strategy and Innovation. Geldenhuys was on hand to provide a perspective on what the future would look like, globally and closer to home. He explained that defining what the future is was only the first step and that organisations, individuals and countries must make preparations to succeed in that future.
One of the areas he covered was demographics and the challenges facing most countries as their birth rates decline and people live longer. In almost all countries, including China, Russia, USA and most European states, there will be a decline in the number of young people as a percentage of the population over the next 20 to 40 years. This will have a significant impact on consumption economies since it is the 20- and 30-somethings that spend the most.
South Africa, on the other hand, will be in a healthier situation with a more evenly distributed population (distributed according to age), as the country has more young people to boost its economy. Africa itself is the only continent he expects to have an increasing population through to 2100, with all other continents' populations levelling out or declining. However, simply having the numbers of people will not make much of a difference if the continent (and South Africa) is not prepared, which includes ensuring the right skill levels are attained and available.
Geldenhuys went on to examine geopolitics, with the highlight being the challenges to free trade if the USA no longer continues its free-trade drive. He also touched on China's One Road, One Belt ambitions to secure its supply chain. The results of this could be less free trade agreements, which could be bad for some and good for others, depending on how organisations and countries align themselves.
In looking at economic trends, however, the current state of debt all around the world is a crisis that will not end well. The USA is the prime candidate for trouble in this respect, but the rest of the world has nothing to crow about as the global debt stands at over $240 trillion.
The future of technology is far more exciting, however. We are now in the end stages of the fifth wave of technology disruption driven by information technology such as networks, software and new media – which will be marked by a slowdown before the next wave takes off. However the sixth wave will create significant changes over the next 20 to 40 years. (Readers may wish to read up on the concept of 'Creative Destruction'.)
Walter Lee.
The next decade
Walter Lee, evangelist and government relations leader in the global safety division of NEC Corporation, took the stage after Geldenhuys to focus in on a few of the technologies that are going to make a significant impact in the next decade. Lee touched on a variety of subjects, such as the importance of 5G networks, the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), artificial intelligence (AI) and the convergence of cyber and physical security. This will result in the development of 'Integrated & Intelligent Operations Centres', which will manage the security and operations for a broad range of environments, from border control to city surveillance. NEC XON already has a few of these operating in Africa.
As far as 5G is concerned, he said this is not simply another network technology, but will have an impact on everything, from business to society. With it we are truly heading into a world where everything is connected, potentially at less cost than ever. Of course, security is a critical aspect of this connected world and must be built into the architecture of all services and solutions.
Moreover, 5G will allow security providers to connect more sensors to the network for broader coverage and also create opportunities for service providers to offer customers many value-added services. Lee says the era of 5G will transform what we think of as the Internet of Things (IoT) into the Internet of Everything (IoE).
AI is also a game changer and we will see more being done by intelligent algorithms than ever before, enhancing efficiency and accuracy. However, he believes that people will still play a major role in the mix as humans are still able to handle certain tasks better than AI.
Lee added that privacy would also become more important than ever, with biometrics at the centre of identity management and authentication. Lee said that as technology becomes more personal, each individual's identity would become more powerful (and reliable and secure). Importantly, he believes, the power of one's identity will remain in the hands of individuals and not be usurped by powerful corporations.
Eugene le Roux.
Continent of opportunity
Closing the conference, Eugene le Roux, chief executive of NEC XON Africa, said that Africa is in a good position to prosper in the future, a future that relies on young people to drive the agenda going forward. NEC XON sees huge potential on the continent and will use technology and its skills to contribute to the growth of the continent in various ways.
Two ways it can contribute and create social innovation include in the safety and security arena, as well as in the realm of efficiency and equality. The company will also be focusing on safe and smart cities, where it can contribute to security and safety in the areas of digital communications, personal security, infrastructure security and healthcare.
The company's cybersecurity centres are already in operation in locations around the continent where digital assets are being kept safe around the clock. These centres deal with about 400 000 incidents per month and this number is only expected to grow. The key to their efficiency is that many functions are automated – such as patch management and remediation, among others – which allows for broad application in many scenarios, as well as leaving skilled people to handle more complex tasks.
On a personal level, the company believes biometrics – such as facial recognition – will enhance the safety of individuals across the continent, functioning as their identity verification mechanism, for example to access government services and their own health records.
Global partner of the year
At the summit it was announced that NEC XON won ADVA's 'Global Partner of the Year' award. "This is a global OEM, recognising that a South African systems integrator is its top global partner," says Anthony Laing, GM of networking at NEC XON. "It signals the level of solutions across the board that we're capable of delivering to our customers based on the close, collaborative relationships we have with our OEM partners, who provide the best technologies in their sectors worldwide."
The ADVA award celebrates NEC XON's 125% year-on-year revenue growth, sales and business development through a broad presence and excellent customer relationships in Africa, its investment in ADVA technologies, and its capitalising on cross-selling opportunities into its large customer base.
"We strive to bring our customers innovative solutions that meet their practical needs," says Laing, "like the network we created for the South African National Research Network (SANReN) that connects thousands of researchers, scientists and students across Africa."
In May this year, NEC XON announced that it was deploying a national DWDM (dense wavelength division multiplex) network based on ADVA technology for SANReN, which is an initiative of the South African Department of Science and Technology hosted by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The deployment provides high-speed connectivity for research institutions, universities and other higher education institutions across the country.
The SANReN network consumes less energy and reduces truck rolls, which makes it an ecologically sound solution that delivers broadband connectivity for "researchers, educators and students, enabling them to push the boundaries of discovery and use advanced applications while collaborating with their peers in new ways".


Sarah and Adam were married this past August. Here are some fantastic pictures by Artisan of their day. Special thanks to Sabrina and the staff at Proposing Dreams for coordinating it all and making it flawless!
Sarah's bouquet was a mix of purples including callas, orchids, roses, and stock. It's linear and asymmetrical shape as very modern and sleek.
The reception at the Palladium used the same purple scheme from the ceremony.
Three different yet complimentary centerpieces decorated the guest tables.
Best wishes to Sarah and Adam!!


HOUSE RABBIT Male otter Rex Pico is a special little bunny who has come from a home with too many bunnies breeding out of control. One of 4 babies to have come from a stunning rex mum, they arrived in our care at just a few days old.
Pico and his siblings have proven to be an absolute joy to care for and are super friendly and affectionate bunnies thanks to being so well socialised by their foster mum. Now at our central rehoming place they are waiting to meet you and start their new life.
Pico has received the combi vaccination so far and once he hits 10 weeks old the branch will ensure the RHD2 vaccine is given too. When he hits puberty he will be neutered at the branch's vet or we will cover up to £100 in neutering costs out of area, but until then he will have to live as a single house rabbit because puberty will inevitably interfere with any bond. If you'd like to come and meet this special little boy then please get in touch. Please call 0161 882 0680 option 4 to meet him!


text:
samoore's musings
Some credentials
Tag Archives: iwd2018
Have I forgotten IWD already?
It's been just over a month since International Women's Day and already I've neglected at least one of the pledges I made for progress. So, I thought I'd take a look back at the notes I took from the event I ran for the BCSWomen and Scotland Women in Technology networks, featuring some inspirational women who had been nominated for the SWIT Awards 2017.
Some of the pledges made in Edinburgh by BCSWomen and SWIT attendees
First up was Talat Yaqoob, Director of Equate Scotland. Her CV for the advancement of diversity is impressive. She talked about action that she and Equate are taking to press for progress, and the need for industry and education to come together. She stressed that a 45 minute session does not "cure" unconscious bias and shared that positive gender stereotypes are crucial.
We then heard from Jude McCorry, Head of Business Development at The Data Lab. She described herself as mother, manager, employee, daughter. She has been identified by us as a role model, but we all play many roles at different times and in different contexts. She was keen to impress upon us the support that she has received from men, and that male role models can be equally as valid. And men – we *do* need your support.
Last, but by no means least, was Ilana Munckton, Director, Growth at Skyscanner. She gave us an honest account of her experience of imposter syndrome, describing reactions such as "I'm not as impressive as any of these other women". Boy do we know these: "I'm not good enough", "I don't deserve to be heard", "my skills are not as good as yours"… We tell ourselves this all the time. This still happens in a nurturing environment. And it's not just women, men suffer from this too, although I suspect men are better at faking the confidence. So how do we shut out those voices? As Ilana put it, "we need to champion intelligent, hard working women relentlessly and passionately". A positive action I learned from Ilana, then pledged to do and have almost immediately failed upon doing, is #HighFiveFriday. Every Friday she recognises someone (or some people) for being awesome. If I remember correctly she tells their manager. But just doing it is great. We may find it hard to build ourselves up, but it's a lot easier to build up others. So that was my pledge and I have two days to get started again….
(I also pledged to nominate someone for this year's Scotland Women in Technology awards, but as they are not ready for nominations I don't feel I've slipped up on that yet!)
Filed under womenintech
Tagged as bcswomen, iwd2018, pressforprogress, scotland, swit
What the travel industry did to celebrate #IWD2018
A tweet about this was the first thing I noticed about travel and IWD: Trainline partners with Code First:Girls to train 20,000 women in coding by 2020. The plan is to deliver a training programme with their staff acting as mentors for women, and Trainline will also provide financial support. Together they will campaign to raise between £0.5M and £1.5M each year for three years.
https://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/3027866/trainline-and-code-first-are-bringing-thousands-more-women-into-tech
As the DailyEdge put it, "Aer Lingus offered women priority boarding for International Women's Day and it caused a LOT of controversy". Apparently a few were calling for the same to happen on International Men's Day, and there was some rather unhelpful dialogue on Twitter, but overall this was well received by both men and women.
Today we're marking International Women's Day by offering our female guests priority boarding on short-haul flights. #InternationalWomensDay pic.twitter.com/yDDjhNdRBP
— Aer Lingus (@AerLingus) March 8, 2018
If you travelled on a Gatwick Express train you would have been inspired by quotes from famous women shared on the passenger information displays.
Go Ahead Group's Morebus shared a video of three female bus drivers, discussing what it's like when there are so many more male bus drivers.
Happy International Women's Day! #IWD2018
Our local driving heroes, Alison, Carolyn and Donna are sharing what it's like to be a bus driver in a predominantly male-based industry. View the video on Facebook: https://t.co/FZQXSo44DH… pic.twitter.com/MzayTGzwrw
— Morebus (@Morebusco) March 8, 2018
At Emirates an all-women team made flight EK 225 from Dubai to San Francisco happen. This included a fully female flight crew, and only women working on all the 'above wing' and 'below wing' activities to enable the flight to depart. This was a team of over 75 women, with over 25 nationalities between them, so there may not have been gender diversity that day, but it was certainly a diverse team.
http://starrfmonline.com/2018/03/08/iwd-emirates-female-staff-take-centre-stage/
But it wasn't just Emirates, on Monday 5th British Airways claimed a record for the most women involved in a single flight – crew, baggage handlers, check-in staff and security. (But Emirates seem to have smashed that on the Thursday, see above.) This was flight BA1484 from London Heathrow to Glasgow. easyJet had six all-female crews operating 16 easyJet flights on #IWD2018 and Virgin Atlantic had three all-female crews on flights out of Manchester, London Gatwick and London Heathrow.
http://talkradio.co.uk/news/airlines-launch-all-female-crews-international-womens-day-18030724664
One of Virgin Trains East Coast's business travel professionals spent time at Northern Ballet to share thoughts on women in leadership.
Proud to have been representing @Virgin_TrainsEC with @Tish1976 at the Women in the Lead International Women's Day networking event hosted by Northern Ballet. Great panel and inspiring conversations. #pressforprogress #InternationalWomensDay #northernballet pic.twitter.com/Z3yRAyEcxB
— Samantha McKnight (@sambeth0310) March 8, 2018
Several airports also had all-women teams on shift, including Bengaluru and Kempegowda
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/all-women-team-handles-operations-at-bengaluru-international-airport/articleshow/63220780.cms
Maersk partnered with ITC for an IWD event, #SheTrades, and shared this video:
Bold actions are needed to close the gender gap in #trade and the economy, says @UNOG_DG.
Like supporting female entrepreneurs.#IWD2018 #SheTrades #PressForProgress @ITCNews pic.twitter.com/MEfMT8OGaC
— Maersk (@Maersk) March 7, 2018
I'm proud to be a woman working in travel and transportation, and IT.
Filed under Travel & Transportation, womenintech
Tagged as aerlingus, britishairways, easyjet, emirates, gatwickexpress, gender, goahead, iwd2018, maersk, morebus, trainline, transportation, travel, virginatlantic, virgintrainseastcoast, women
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What is effective ethical governance?
Ethics and innovation go hand in hand
"Blizzard of Demand and a Blizzard of Data"
"There's nothing like a crisis to make long term change"
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Digital Engagement
womenintech
samoore's musings · Thoughts from Sharon Moore, an IBMer, but not on behalf of IBM


Marchamont Nedham, pamphleteer for Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell.
This community group is made up of a team of villagers from Heptonstall, West Yorkshire. We aim to combine a range of different skills and experience to develop a first community play in 2019.
Secretary: Mary Ellen moved to the village twenty months ago from the flatlands of Norfolk and hasn't looked back. She used to be Head of English at Attleborough Academy but now teaches adults and those with learning difficulties at Calderdale Adult Learning. She has a PhD in English and her love of Literature and History come together in perfect unison for The Brutish Multitude.
Chair: Dawn France works as a senior communications manager in the corporate world. She has previously worked in marketing, recruitment and web development. She has a track record in managing large-scale events. In the community, Dawn sings in a soul band and two choirs.
Fund-raiser: Jan Lymer is a retired business woman who is an experienced fundraiser. She has a proven track record in raising finance for local, regional and national initiatives for the last twenty years. She is a founding member of the Heptonstall Village Team.
Treasurer Guy Lymer is a professional energy analyst and part-time artist. He has served as treasurer for Heptonstall Festival and developed a website for Heptonstall Social & Bowling Club. As a founding director of Bridge Rectifier, Guy has helped establish a community resource for electronics and computing in Hebden Bridge, including training people in laser-cutting. Community art projects have involved working with primary school children for Todmorden Lamplighter Festival, and laser-cutting for Hebden Bridge Arts Festival.
Writer and dramatist Michael Crowley has written drama for BBC Radio, stage and short film. He has worked in youth and community theatre for some fifteen years and was writer in residence at Lancaster Farms young offender's institution for six years. He has published two collections of poetry, fiction and non fiction and taught creative writing at Sheffield Hallam and Edge Hill universities. In 2016 he won the Oxford Back Room Poets International Poetry Prize.
Musical Director Katie Chatburn trained in composition at the Royal Academy of Music followed by an MMus at the Royal Northern College of Music. She now works as a professional composer across a variety of fields with an emphasis on cross discipline work – including original music for radio drama, film/TV orchestration and composition, pop/rock string arranging, original theatre and dance projects, collaborations with contemporary poets and a range of educational and outreach work.
Below, left to right: Jan Lymer, Guy Lymer, Mary Ellen, Michael Crowley in St Thomas' Church Heptonstall.


text:
William Varnham Millton (10 February 1858 – 22 June 1887) was a New Zealand rugby union player and cricketer. He was the first captain of the New Zealand national rugby union team, leading them on their 1884 tour of New South Wales, and represented Canterbury in both rugby union and cricket.

Early life and family
Born in Christchurch on 10 February 1858, Millton was the eldest son of William Newton Millton, a sea captain and runholder, and his wife Caroline Millton (née Stockman). He was educated at Christ's College from 1869 to 1876, and went on to become a barrister and solicitor. On 23 April 1885, Millton married Elizabeth Anderson at St Paul's Church in Christchurch. She was the youngest daughter of John Anderson, who served as the second mayor of Christchurch, and her brother, also called John Anderson, played rugby for Scotland against England in 1872, and was the first New Zealander to appear in a rugby international.

One of Millton's brothers, Edward, also represented New Zealand in rugby union.

Cricket
A batsman, Millton was captain of both the United Cricket Club in Christchurch and the Canterbury provincial side. Between the 1877–78 and 1886–87 seasons, he played 12 first-class matches for Canterbury, scoring a total of 298 runs, at an average of 14.19 and a high score of 57. He made one 50, and took six catches. He captained Canterbury and hit the equal-highest score of the match, 35, when Canterbury had the better of a draw against the touring Australians in November 1886.

Rugby union
Millton was a  rugby representative from 1876 and captain of the side from 1878. While visiting Auckland and Wellington with the Canterbury cricket team, he met with rugby officials and suggested a tour to Australia. Subsequently, in 1884, the first New Zealand national rugby union team was selected to tour New South Wales, with Millton as its captain. He led the side in their first-ever match, a pre-tour fixture against a Wellington XV at Newtown Park in Wellington, in eight of the nine tour matches in Australia, including the three encounters with New South Wales, and was unbeaten as captain. In all he scored 35 points, including four tries. Three of his tries came in the 23–10 win against Wallaroo and University, and he scored another try in the final match against New South Wales. Millton did not appear in any Test matches because New Zealand did not play its first full international until 1903.

Millton also served as secretary of the Canterbury Rugby Football Union.

Death
Millton died of typhoid at his home in Christchurch on 22 June 1887, and was buried in St Peter's churchyard, Upper Riccarton.

References

1858 births
1887 deaths
Cricketers from Christchurch
People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch
New Zealand international rugby union players
New Zealand rugby union players
Canterbury rugby union players
Rugby union forwards
New Zealand cricketers
Canterbury cricketers
New Zealand sports executives and administrators
Burials at St Peter's Church Cemetery, Upper Riccarton
Rugby union players from Christchurch

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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text:
European Parliament backs plan to restock gas reserves before next winter
LETA/TBT Staff
RIGA - The European Parliament on Thursday, approved plans to accelerate the refilling of Europe's strategic gas reserves, so households and businesses have enough gas for the next heating season, the EU Parliament's spokesman in Latvia, Janis Krastins, told LETA.
The proposal, adopted under European Parliament's urgent procedure process, will now be negotiated with EU ministers. MEPs want to establish a mandatory minimum 80 percent level of gas in storage facilities by November 1 2022, and 90 percent for subsequent years, in order to ensure security of supply and protect Europeans from possible supply shocks.
All storage operators will also have to undergo a new mandatory certification, in order to avoid risks resulting from outside interference. Operators who fail to secure this certification will have to give up ownership or control of EU gas storage facilities. Moreover, operators will not be able to close a gas storage facility without authorization from the national regulator, Krastins said.
In order to speed up the refilling of gas reserves, the new law will also incentivize energy companies with a discount on transmission tariffs to - or from - storage facilities.
The legislative proposal was adopted by the European Commission on March 23, in the context of the Russian war against Ukraine. The Industry, Research and Energy Committee requested that the urgent procedure be applied. Parliament voted on Tuesday in favor of triggering such a procedure.
At the Versailles Summit, EU leaders requested measures to address the issue of energy independence. The proposal from the European Commission, welcomed by the European Council at their March 24-25summit, aims to reduce the risks to security of gas supply.
Baltic and Polish parliament speakers meet in Warsaw
Friday marks 40 years since European Parlt's statement of support for Baltics
Ukraine hopes to start EU accession negotiations this year – Lithuania's Nauseda
EU agrees extra EUR 500 million to arm Ukraine
Czech presidential candidate Babis says wouldn't send troops to Poland's, Baltics' aid
NATO warns of Russia's long war in Ukraine, vows to be ready
History always brings Baltic states and Poland together - Smiltens


text:
Barclays sees rising bad debt
Bank's shares pressured by risk-tendency statement
By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
Last Update: 7:24 AM ET May 26, 2005
LONDON (MarketWatch)
U.K. bank Barclays PLC warned Thursday that consumers weren't paying off their credit card debt.
Barclays said that, based on current trends, it now expects impairment losses for 2005 to be somewhat higher than in its last published risk-tendency statement.
The news pressured shares in Barclays which were last trading down 5.3% at 521 pence in a declining London market. "The trading statement has disappointed the market this morning," said analysts at bank Insinger de Beaufort. "This is due to higher-than-anticipated impairment charges and rising consumer bad debts at the Barclaycard consumer lending unit."
Merrill Lynch analysts noted that provisions are now expected to be ahead of the 1.4 billion risk tendency last published. "We believe that the market will react negatively to these figures due to disappointment both with the higher than anticipated impairment charges and a mix of earnings which continues to rely heavily (though not exclusively) on the performance of Barclays Capital for growth," said analysts at Credit Suisse First Boston.
Barclays said the slowdown across the U.K. consumer credit sector sparked a rise in potential credit-risk loans and a consequent increase in impairment losses.
The increase in delinquencies was most noticeable in credit cards, Barclays said. U.K. banking performed well in the first quarter and is making progress towards its 2005 productivity target, the bank said.
Barclays Finance Director Naguib Kheraj said that first-half cost growth is likely to be a little higher than income growth. But, "We're not expecting the same sort of acceleration in cost growth in the second half of this year as we had last year, so we're comfortable with our guidance for the full year," he added.
Barclays said it continues to target double-digit income growth for 2005, with expense growth seen broadly in line with income growth. On first-half profits, Kheraj said: "Whilst our underlying profit for the first half is likely to be similar to last year, we expect the headline performance in U.K. retail to be lower."
U.K. banking is on track to reduce its cost-to-income ratio by at least 2% this year, he said, adding: "We'll show some progress in the first half and we expect this to accelerate in the second half."


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text:
Марк Ру́ни (; 13 декабря 1983, Дублин, Ирландия) — ирландский футболист, нападающий, на данный момент не входит в состав ни одного клуба.

Карьера
Марк Руни начинал заниматься футболом в Дублинском клубе «Хоум Фарм». В 2001 году он вошёл в состав клуба «Дублин Сити», где пробыл до 2003 года. В 2003 году Руни перешёл в ЮКД. За «студентов» Руни провёл лишь один сезон и, вслед за своим старым тренером, перешёл в «Дроэда Юнайтед» в 2004 году. Марк стал регулярно выходить на поле в составе «Дрогов» и производил своей игрой приятное впечатление на зрителей. Руни потерял форму в 2005 году, во втором сезоне своего выступления за «Дроэда Юнайтед», он за 22 матча забил всего 1 мяч. Несмотря на сложный, лично для него, сезон, Марк был частью команды, с которой он одержал победу в Кубке Ирландии, победив в финале «Корк Сити» на «Лэнсдаун Роуд» 4 декабря 2005 года. Марк ушёл из «Дроэды Юнайтед» в межсезонье и вступил в состав «Дублин Сити», однако пробыл он там не долго, клуб прекратил своё существование в июле 2006 года, оставив Руни как свободного агента. В скором времени он присоединился к «Сент-Патрикс Атлетик», где и провёл оставшийся сезон. Поборовшись за место в основе «святых» на 2007 год, Руни стал искать команду, где он мог регулярно играть в основе. В июле 2007 года Руни подписал контракт с футбольным клубом «Шелбурн», который выступал в Первой лиге. Дебют Руни за Шелбурн состоялся 6 июля 2007 года в матче против «Уэксфорд Ютс», свой первый гол за Шелбурн Марк забил в ворота «Атлон Тауна», этот матч закончился со счётом 4:1 в пользу «красных». В составе Шелбурна Руни провёл 17 матчей и забил 2 гола. В конце 2007 сезона он покинул расположение клуба. На данный момент имеет статус свободного агента.

Достижения
  «Дроэда Юнайтед»
 Обладатель Кубка Ирландии: 2005

Семья
У Марка есть брат — нападающий клуба «Абердин» Адам Руни.

Примечания

Ссылки
 Профиль Марка Руни на www.shelbournefs.com
 «Дроэда Юнайтед» побеждает в финале Кубка Ирландии 2005
 «Атлон Таун» 1:4 «Шелбурн»

Футболисты Ирландии
Игроки ФК «Дублин Сити»
Игроки ФК ЮКД
Игроки ФК «Дроэда Юнайтед»
Игроки ФК «Сент-Патрикс Атлетик»
Игроки ФК «Шелбурн»