A mine shell (directly translated from the german term minengeschoss) is an ammunition type consisting of a very high-capacity high-explosive shell. The type was originally developed in Nazi Germany during WW2 to increase the effectiveness of the Luftwaffe's aircraft guns.
The word mine in the name mine shell does not refer to the common use of the word as in a land mines or naval mines. It is an ammunition term used in several Germanic languages meaning explosion with minimal fragmentation effect or maximum explosive effect. In other words, the explosion itself is meant to do the majority of the damage to the target.
A mine shell differs from conventional high explosive rounds in that it has much thinner walls which allows for more explosive content. This gives the shell a much bigger explosion at the expense of shrapnel. Beyond impact effect mine shells have different weight properties compared to regular high explosive shells. Explosive filler is lighter than metal which makes the projectiles a lot lighter which in turn gives them higher muzzle velocity compared to heavier shells. A disadvantage is that the same lower mass reduces range as the projectile has correspondingly less momentum.
The type was developed in Nazi Germany at the end of the 1930's due to problematic trials with the 20 mm MG FF cannon. Its conventional high explosive rounds didn't have satisfactory results against aircraft as the fragments had insufficient effect on construction integrity or control surfaces compared to the actual explosion. As a result of these trials, the German ministry of air defense "Reichsluftministerium", or "RLM" for short, ordered a development of new 20 mm cannon shell in 1937 which should have increased explosive force at the expense of impact and fragmentation effect.
Conventional explosive ammunition was made by drilling the explosive cavity into a solid steel shot, a design which due to the massive impact and structural integrity of such a round, made sense when seeking to penetrate hard targets. By contrast, aircraft are lightly constructed and overall relatively soft targets, and unless they struck hard areas such as engines or armour such shells tended to punch through their structure rather than transfer their kinetic force to it - which meant that such a massive impact was to some degree superfluous. It could also even be conducive to over-penetration, where a shell passes through the target before exploding. German ordinance engineers therefore took a new approach, and designed a round made from drawing steel into a suitable shape, giving thinner-wall construction and therefore space for a far greater amount of explosive filler than previously. The metal also had to be high-quality steel to keep the structural integrity. The new ammunition type was given the designation Minengeschoss, German for 'mine-shell,' due to the larger explosives payload.
The new invention was highly successful. It was, indeed, less effective at penetrating deep into target aircraft or breaching their internal armour than the conventional rounds used by the RAF in WW II, but the power of the explosions inflicted serious damage wherever they occurred within the structure of the plane, rendering these apparent disadvantages less relevant.
As well as creating larger explosions this new ammunition type also came with another desirable trait. Explosive matter is a lot lighter than steel, which gave this new ammunition type a low weight and thus, for an equal amount of propellant, correspondingly higher velocity. Like the greater explosive payload this was also a big advantage, as air combat involves shooting at fast-moving targets.
Conversely and equally significantly, another way the Luftwaffe benefitted from the new ammunition's lower weight was that when they deployed small, light guns only capable of firing low-powered propellant cartridges they could still achieve useful velocities, and this, in combination with the larger explosive warhead gave such weapons a much greater effect than they could have had firing conventional rounds. Examples are the 20mm MG FF/M (The Minengeschoss-firing version of the MG FF), well-suited to mounting in the wings of the Luftwaffe's light and compact Bf 109 fighters, and 30mm MK 108. Both weapons were highly militarily significant, the first during some early stages of the conflict, the latter during the second half.
Unfortunately for the Reich, one disadvantage of Minengeschoss shells is that the lower momentum of the lighter round also caused it to lose its velocity relatively quickly; they adopted a partial solution to this shortcoming when it came to 30mm caliber shells by introducing a more streamlined type, the Ausf.C, which overcame air resistance more effectively - albeit at the loss of a little explosives capacity.
As volume increases with the square of the radius of a cylinder, and as autocannon shells are close to cylindrical in shape, the advantages of low weight and high explosive payload furnished by the Minengeschoss approach were particularly manifest in large calibre weapons such as the 30mm MK 108, which were used with devastating results on allied bombers in the later air campaigns of the war in Europe.
Minengeschoss ammunition was first fired in combat from the MG FF/M during the Battle of Britain in 1940 by the Luftwaffe's Bf 109E and Bf 110C fighters. Subsequently it was used in the Luftwaffe's standard 20mm gun, the MG 151/20 cannon, one of the best 20mm weapons of WW II,  and in the high-velocity 30 mm MK 103, amongst others.
To give some impression of the actual difference in payloads between these shells: the 20 mm M-Geschoss shell (used in MG 151/20 and MG-FF/M cannons - the same shell was used in both cartridges) had an 18 g HE filling while the typical filler load in conventional 20 mm shells at the time was 6 to 10 g.
In 30 mm caliber different M-Geschoss designs were available: the original blunt-nosed Ausf.A had an 85 g filling of nitropenta (PETN), which was reduced to 72 g in the more streamlined Ausf.C shell (the "missing" B was a practice shell). In comparison, the PGU-13/B HEI round for the GAU-8/A Avenger gun of the A-10 Warthog contains only a 58 g explosive filler, while the 30 mm OFZ shell of Russian GSh-301 and GSh-30-6 cannons has a 48.5 g filler.
After the defeat of Germany in World War II, several countries started using the design for their own post-war aircraft armament, for example in the HE shells of Britain's ADEN cannon and the French DEFA 540. The guns themselves were developments of the German Mauser MG 213.
Sweden developed several different mine shells in several different calibers after the war. Some examples being a mine shell variant for the 20 x 110 Hispano cartridge and one for the 57 x 230R Bofors cartridge.
The type is still used today in autocannons such as the Mauser BK-27.
^ a b "Shell types: Minengeschoß".
^ Note: The information in Forsyth 1996 is on the design and construction of the MK 108 and the relevant Minengeschoss.
^ Beskrivning över 20 mm AKAN m/49. Stockholm: KFF förlag. 1955. Sweden. 1955.
^ Flyghistorisk revy nummer 31, SAAB 18. Sweden: The Swedish air historical society. 1984. p. 76.
^ "Gripens vapen (the weapons of the Griffon) pdf" (PDF).
This page was last edited on 13 April 2019, at 16:45 (UTC).


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Country Creatures is a collaborative remix extended play (EP) by Icelandic musician Björk; Swedish musician Karin Dreijer under their alias Fever Ray; and electronic music duo the Knife, consisting of Dreijer and their brother, DJ and record producer Olof Dreijer. The three remixes were initially released digitally as individual singles on 6 September 2019 followed by a limited edition 12" vinyl by One Little Indian Records released on 1 November 2019.

Background

Country Creatures takes its title from the two songs remixed in the collection: "This Country" from Fever Ray's album Plunge, and "Features Creatures" from Björk's Utopia, both released in 2017; one cover art of the EP combines those of both albums. In a social media post announcing the collab, Björk revealed that she chose the Fever Ray track she would remix and vice versa.

On 5 September 2019, Fever Ray shared a photo on their Instagram page featuring them and Björk with a countdown clock. At midnight, three separate remix singles were released, one a remix of Fever Ray's "This Country" done by Björk and two remixes of "Features Creatures", one by Fever Ray and the other by the Knife. Despite the fact that the Knife officially disbanded in 2014, Stereogum notes that the name is sometimes still used on remixes. Björk adds her own vocals to Fever Ray's track, and her remix is titled "This Country Makes It Hard to Fuck".

It was also announced that the three remixes would be collected in a limited edition vinyl called Country Creatures, released by Björk's label One Little Indian on 1 November 2019.

Critical reception

Consequence of Sound noted Björk's reworking of Fever Ray's "This Country", calling it "a disturbing, dissonant industrial collage" and praised their newly added vocals as "haunting".  It described Fever Ray's "Features Creatures" remix as "moody atmospherics" and noted the Knife's more dance-oriented take on the track, and in comparing the two felt that they offered "a fascinating look at [Karin Dreijer's] different musical palettes".

Track listing

Versions
"Features Creatures"

 Album version (CD/digital) – 4:50
 Album version (vinyl) – 4:41
 Fever Ray Remix – 4:07
 The Knife Remix – 4:36

"This Country"
 Album version – 3:12
 Björk Remix – 3:02

Release history

References

2019 albums
Albums produced by Björk
Fever Ray albums
The Knife albums
Björk albums
One Little Independent Records albums

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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ACGME sponsoring institution emergency categorization
By Beth C. Bolyard
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the response and needs of graduate medical education (GME) training programs continue to evolve. In order to adapt to the changing circumstances, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) announced that it is transitioning away from allowing a sponsoring institution to self-declare its status under the Three Stages of GME during the COVID-19 Pandemic guidance announced on March 24, 2020. Instead, the ACGME is implementing a new approach for the characterization of GME operations during the pandemic, with a Non-Emergency Category (formerly Stages 1 and 2) and an Emergency Category. This approach is effective July 1, 2020.
Under the ACGME's new approach, institutions must request Emergency Category acknowledgment and still must comply with all ACGME Institutional Requirements throughout the term of the emergency categorization. Programs at sponsoring institutions with emergency categorization must continue to prioritize these areas: work hour requirements; adequate resources and training; adequate supervision; and fellows functioning in their core (primary) specialties.
Institutions that have not requested or are not granted this acknowledgment default to the Non-Emergency Category, in which all ACGME institutional requirements and common and specialty-specific program requirements apply.
ACGME's goal of the new Emergency and Non-Emergency categorization approach is to provide a process for managing accreditation concerns resulting from pandemic-related educational disruption. Regardless of categorization, sponsoring institutions and programs must continue to ensure that residents and fellows can successfully complete their training programs and become eligible for board certification.
Beth C. Bolyard Of Counsel
Columbus 614.227.4858 VCard

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Posts Tagged 'flex'
Adobe open sources Flex
Last week while I was in San Francisco, I sat down for an hour with David Wadhwani, the VP of product development for Flex and Ely Greenfield, one of the Flex architects. After I wrote my original post about open sourcing Flash, I got a note from David asking if I would be willing to spend some time to help him understand the issues that I raised in that post and its follow ons. This afternoon David called to tell me that Adobe was announcing that it was open sourcing Flex v3. I was especially happy when he said that my posts and our conversation had an impact on his thinking about open source and Flex. There is a press release with the announcement as well as a FAQ on the basics.
The basics of the announcement are that Adobe will open source Flex v3, due later this year, under the Mozilla Public License (MPL), which is sensible given that they have already open sourced their Tamarin Javascript engine via Mozilla. Before that happens, Adobe will make daily builds of Flex available (the source is already available, but daily builds gives better visibility). Also, they will open their bug tracker to the public in preparation for the open source version of Flex.
Adobe is taking a slow approach on governance. Unsurprisingly, the initial set of committers will be folks from Adobe, and the governance model is underspecified. Right now, the FAQ says that the schedule and roadmap for Flex will continue to be defined by Adobe. There are stated plans to create a subproject process and subprojects could be managed by people outside Adobe, and incorporated into the Flex tree. The full governance model is not yet determined, and will be influenced by feedback and what actually happens between now and the end of 2007, which is the target for the transition to being a full open source project.
I think that there are likely to be some concerns around use of the Flex trademark. Unlike Java, where (in theory anyway) an open source Java could pass a compatibility test suite and gain access to the trademark, the open source version of Flex cannot be called Flex. It remains to be seen whether this will actually impact participation in the project.
Flex, but Not Flash
This is a good first step for Adobe, but it's just the first step. The Flash player is not being open sourced at this time, but when I talked with David he told me that that Adobe had been telegraphing the fact that they were going to open source Flex for about 20 months, since the opening of Adobe Labs. When I asked him about the Flash player, he said that open sourcing Flex should be viewed as a telegraphing of Adobe's intentions. Of course, there's a big difference between intentions and actual followthrough, so we'll have to wait and see how the Flex project ends up working out.
Adobe is moving pretty quickly. When I met with David a week and a half ago, I got the impression that he and Ely had decided that they wanted to open source Flex, but hadn't cleared it with his management chain. A week and a half later, they are making an announcement. As I've mentioned, this is just a first step for Adobe, and there are plenty of opportunities for things to go sideways. Nonetheless, I think that Adobe has understood the importance of openness and is taking some initial exploratory steps to do what's necessary.
If you think that an open source Flex is important, then you should go to the new discussion forum that Adobe is setting up for open source Flex. There are a lot of things which are intentionally unspecified, and there is still lots of time to give Adobe feedback on this move. I know that I'm going to keep giving them feedback for as long as they continue to solicit it.
Scoble has a video interview that lets you hear some of what I've heard from David and Ely.
Tags:adobe, flex, open source, ria
Posted in computers, internet, open source | 24 Comments »
Ryan, Open Source, and Flash
A few weeks back, I had dinner in Seattle with Ryan Stewart and Brian Zug. Over the course of several hours we covered a number of topics, including a crash course in open source software. Yesterday Ryan posted some of what he learned during our conversation, including his conclusions about whether or not open sourcing the Flash Player was a good idea. That post generated a bunch of traffic, so Ryan put up a follow up post on his personal blog.
Unfortunately, many people reading Ryan's post or one of the aggregated excerpts didn't have the context which prompted the dinner and the posts. All of this took place in the context of three blog posts which I wrote last month where I took a look at Adobe's Flex/Apollo technology from the point of view of the openness of the technology. I'm interested in Flash only as a component of Flex. I'm not interested in singing/dancing web pages or in Flash based ads, but much of the reaction to Ryan's post was centered around traditional uses of Flash in web pages. Many people said "oh, open sourcing it will destroy compatibility". Yet the context of the discussion included ways of maintaining compatibility.
The most interesting response that I found was from Ted Patrick at Adobe. Ted shed some light on the ways that Adobe/Macromedia have involved customers in the development of previous versions of the Flash Player. This was useful information to have — I think that I was probably more ignorant of these facts than Ryan was, truth be told – and suggests to me that there is some culture of working with people outside of Adobe/Macromedia. Perhaps most encouraging was his acknowledgment that Adobe could be more open. Of course that's not a commitment to be more open, and indeed, he warns that becoming more open will not happen overnight. I am not expecting something to happen overnight — after all, I've waited 9 years for Java, and am still waiting. The wheels do have to start turning sometime, though.
Tags:flash, flex, open source, ria
Posted in internet, open source | 1 Comment »
Following up on "The Microsoft of the Web"
My post "Adobe wants to be the Microsoft of the Web" attracted enough feedback that I think it's worth a follow up.
I'm going to begin by trying to clarify two aspects of what I said in the post, and then try to treat blog posts and comments in light of those clarifications.
What do I mean by the Microsoft of the Web?
When I say this, I mean that a single company determines the direction of a technology. Input from other parties might be considered but the company has the final say. I don't mean this to be a comment on avariciousness of the company, or about the use of monopolistic business practices. It is a statement about having a huge degree of control over an important technology area, not the manner in which control was obtained.
The Flex/Flash stack has many things going for it. Very broad distribution. Users who are somewhat accustomed to upgrading the Flash plugin. Excellent development tools. This gives the stack a powerful position in the market and a good launching point to gain an even stronger position in the new RIA space. There actually is an RIA space, and the problems of incompatible multi-vendor technology in the HTML/CSS/Javascript stack are real and bigger than the problems of plugin version detection and upgrade. OpenLazslo is the only other competitor on my radar, and they have a very good technology, but businesswise they are at a disadvantage when stacked up against Adobe name recognition, tooling, marketing etc. Because the Flex tools story is so compelling to so many developers, they are going to choose Flex. So unless something else happens, when the web is RIAs (which I think is the direction) Flex will be the web, and thus Adobe will be in a Microsoft like dominant position.
What are the properties of a sufficiently open technology?
I don't think that all software must be free or open source. I don't begrudge companies who want to charge money for software. I do think that the many properties of the "open source" model result in big benefits to certain classes of technologies, and things like RIA foundations for the web fall into that category. My thinking on this has been shaped by my participation in the Apache Software Foundation, and by books like Democratizing Innovation, The Future of Work, The Success of Open Source, and Benkler's paper "Coase's Penguin" (I want to include "The Wealth of Networks" here, but I'm stuck at page 272). In short, Democratizing Innovation is the goal.
Interested parties willing to make actual contributions an empowered seat in determining the future of the technology. Let's break this down. "Interested parties" — anybody who is interested. Corporations or Individuals. "Willing to make actual contributions" – People hanging out throwing rocks but not providing proposals and/or code don't count. "Empowered seat" – being at the table means having a vote, and not having to pony up money to participate, unlike, say, the W3C. Votes not being overridable at the whim of a single person, unlike, say, JCP 2.6. "determining the future of the technology" – this should be self evident. I am not saying this will be easy. Sun has yet to define the governance model for OpenJDK, and how they handle the governance issue will be of huge importance.
Compatibility is important – a significant part of the value (to me) of the Flash/Flex stack is portability/compatibility. It is self defeating to allow compatibility to go out the window. Properly handled, I think that compatibility suites of some kind coupled with trademark usage could go a long way here. Also, distribution of the Flash plugin has a huge impact on compatibility. While people can and do download plugin upgrades, it is also the case that the plugin that gets included in the browsers has a significant advantage, in the same way as the browser that is bundled in the operating system. Adobe already has that relationship with the browser folks. If they were to steward an opened Flash/Flex responsibly, I would think that relationship would be secure.
Availability of source code enables parties working on an open technology to collaborate whenever possible, including bugfixes and enhancements. It allows an interested party to show up with a working prototype for a new feature rather than just a paper design, for example. Because of the way that open source and free software have been defined, people think that it's all about the licensing and availability of source. But all that stuff is just a facilitator for the collaboration. But more on that in a forthcoming post.
Elsewhere in the blogosphere
Ryan Stewart doesn't want an open source Flash because he is concerned about compatibility. Just because Flash opens up doesn't not guarantee that it will fragment into a billion versions, or even 5 (existing versions notwithstanding). The value of Flash is in the cross platform compatibility. If people are stupid enough to try gratuitous forking, they are not going to get adopted. This is what Sun has always been afraid of with Java, and I am happy to see that they finally got over it. When the value of your technology is portability/compatibility, the will be very strong pressure to remain compatible. Not only that, there is the distribution issue that I mentioned above.
Andrew Shebanow had several issues:
He took issue with the "sensationalistic title" — the title came as a direct quote of something I said in the Twitter backchannel, and I hope the paragraphs above on the meaning of "The Microsoft of the Web" expose more of the reasoning behind the statement.
He invokes "the web will route around 'bad' players" as an argument for why this will not happen. Perhaps the web will route around. Then again, people could have routed around Windows by buying Macintoshes. It's a lot harder to route around when your business critical application has already been built.
He makes an emotional argument about the ethicality of Adobe, which I wouldn't presume to dispute. Yet, corporations must answer to their shareholders demands for profits, and I think that the path I outlined about doesn't require Adobe to be avaricious or have monopolistic tendencies. The only thing stopping it is whether the Flex adoption curve hits an inflection point. Which it hasn't yet – otherwise I wouldn't have bothered to post.
Jay Pullor, one of the founders of Pramati, posted about Dekoh, ther Java based RIA technology. I have to confess to a large degree of skepticism regarding Java based RIA technology, mostly due to the Java plugin distribution problem. Yes, I know there is Java Web Start, but my personal experience with Web Start based apps has been hit or miss and disappointing. There's also the process/governance issues, which his post didn't address.
Via the comments I found James Ward's piece "How I overcame my fear of flash" from a few weeks ago. He basically admits that he is hoping Adobe will do the right thing on the openness front. I'm pointing out that hoping may just be that, due to all the forces in play around the technology and in the market. This is too important to me to leave to hope.
David Temkin from LazsloSystems weighed in on some of my comments about OpenLazslo. He pointed out that:
OpenLazslo does have an open public process for defining things like APIs, and that the process is open to non Laszlo contributors
Lazslo Systems has hired a community manager to accelerate the development of a community around OpenLazslo
He agreed that their community is at a very early stage, which means that there hasn't been a lot of testing of the public process
(Disclosure: David is an old friend, and I have been a fan of the OpenLazslo technology for some time. I would really like to see them get a chance to compete in the marketplace of ideas for the RIA space.)
John Dowdell and David ? from Adobe also responded in the comments, and I was very pleased that they wanted to engage in conversation around the post. John was trying to suss out what my real requirements were for opennes around the Flash file format. I hope that the second section above provides the insight that he was looking for. (if not, there's always the comments again). David provided some additional facts about the openness of various parts of Flex and the Flex dev tools. I think his position is that the only part of Flex that isn't open source is the Flex framework (which sits on top of ECMAScript). The framework ships with source, and apparently, the licensing allows modification and integration. I think that a full story includes both Flash and Flex, since Flash is subsumed into the Flex story. In regard to the Flex framework David said:
Now, all of that said, we haven't open sourced the Flex framework itself, just the underlying engine it runs on. We haven't standardized the Flex framework, but we have standardized the language it in (in addition to ECMAScript, we leverage CSS). Given all this, how important is it to you that we open source the framework itself? What would this change for you?
Again, I would point to the second section above, which describes my conception of an appropriately open environment, but which goes beyond some people's notion's of open source (although no-one else involved with Apache would be surprised by my list, with the possible exception of the compatibility stuff). What it would change for me is that it would give me the assurance that your "good behavior" regarding Flex wouldn't suddenly change when there was a management or other change at Adobe. It would demonstrate your trust and regard for a decently sized community of people that feel these issues are important, and who would reward that demonstration of trust with the fruits of their intellects.
There were a few other comments/trackbacks which I plan to address in the comments or in additional posts.
I see two leading contenders for RIA foundation technologies. OpenLazslo and Flex/Flash/Apollo. OpenLazslo is the underdog, with a really good technology and the basics of a good governance system, but with a fledgling community. Adobe has the advantage as the bigger player, with deeper pockets, more recognition, a better tools story, but no real story on governance/openness. Some components of Flex are source available, but as I mentioned above, source availability is an enabler, not the end goal.
Tags:adobe, flash, flex, open source, openlaszlo, ria
Adobe wants to be the Microsoft of the Web
I suppose this will be the one "technical" post about the whole Adobe Engage thing.
For several years, I worked on Chandler, a cross platform desktop app which uses the open source wxWidgets toolkit to hide platform differences from an application. I am currently managing the Cosmo engineering team, which is developing a web UI for Chandler data which is stored in the Cosmo server. In a previous life, during 2000, I built a rich internet app (RIA) using Flash and Java.
The problem as I see it
I think that a lot (but not all) apps will become RIA's, and the base platform technology for RIA's is very important. Too important to be controlled, or designed by any single party. The current vogue toolchain, AJAX, has this property. It also has the property of being a cross platform development nightmare. On the desktop, you commit yourself to a single cross platform library/technology, and then you spend the rest of your time wrestling with it. In AJAX, you have multiple browsers on each platform that you want to support. Not only that, you have multiple versions of each browser. If your use of AJAX is limited to simple animation and so forth, that's not that big a deal. But when you want to build something that has rich interaction, all those versions are a compatibility nightmare. There are also the performance problems with Javascript. Firefox partisans will be shouting "Tamarin". Only problem with Tamarin is that it doesn't help IE or Safari or any other browser. So much for platform independence.
Enter Flash/Flex. Flash has a great cross platform story. One runtime, any platform. Penetration of the Flash Player is basically the same as penetration of browsers capable of supporting big AJAX apps. There are nice development tools. This is highly appealing.
What is not appealing is going back to a technology which is single sourced and controlled by a single vendor. If web applications liberated us from the domination of a single company on the desktop, why would we be eager to be dominated by a different company on the web? Yet, this is what Adobe would have us do, as would the many who are (understandably, along some dimensions, anyway) excited about Flex? Read Anne Zelenka's post on Open Flash if you don't think that Flash has an openness problem. I'm not eager to go from being beholden to Microsoft to being beholden to Adobe.
Unfortunately, there don't really seem to be many alternatives. There's OpenLaszlo, but much as I like the Laszlo folks, perusing the mailing lists shows that it's still pretty much a Laszlo show. So while the licensing is better, the community development part doesn't seem to be much better. There's also the possibility of Adobe having a change of heart regarding the openness of Flash and Flex. But it's hard for me to see why they would do that. I guess we can only hope that Adobe's experience with Tamarind warms it to the benefits of a more open model for the future of Flash. Sun has finally woken up, so maybe it's not impossible for Adobe to either.
[Update: see my followup]
Tags:adobe, flash, flex, open source. openlaszlo, ria


I want to install srsLTE with BladeRF 2.0 Micro xA4 but I couldnt do it. Is there any specific srsLTE installtion tutorial that Nuand support in order to install srsLTE with BladeRF 2.0 Micro xA4.
We don't have an official srsLTE installation tutorial at this time. Have you tried the steps on the srsLTE GitHub? What issues are you facing?


Hollywood glamour and elegance pair feminine curves with masculine definition. Noble. Distinguished. Statuesque. 2 x #8 32 x 1. Type: Pull. Collection: Mulholland. CtC (Inches) : 3. CtC (mm) : 76.2. Finish: Satin Nickel. Length (Inches) : 3.75. Length (mm) : 95.25. Projection (Inches) : 1.13. Projection (mm) : 28.702. Width (Inches) : 0.75. Width (mm) : 19.05.


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Rachel Brosnahan | Rachel Brosnahan uncomfortable handling gun in film
Rachel Brosnahan's character in 'I'm Your Woman' "made [her] nervous".
The 30-year-old actress portrays Mob wife Jean in the new film and she admitted she didn't feel "comfortable" having to hold a gun in the movie and the weapon made everything around her feel "different".
She told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: "Sometimes in movies it feels like someone shoves a gun in the actor's hand, whereupon power surges through his veins, and the person suddenly miraculously knows how to use it. I'm not comfortable handling guns.
"My character in this new film made me nervous. I'm bad at handling guns and — for the first time — it scared me. I hadn't realised that suddenly I, and everything else around, would feel really different.
"For a film once before, I had to learn to shoot. I wasn't happy."
And it isn't just on set that guns make the 'Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' star uncomfortable.
She added: "Another only time was my single inexplicable date with a guy who for some reason took me to a shooting range. Trust me, this was a one date only."
Rachel isn't the only actress to share her unease at using a gun on camera.
Julianne Moore underwent FBI training for 2001's 'Hannibal' and insisted she "hated" everything about handling a firearm.
She said: "I hate guns. Trainers tell you, 'Oh, you'll love shooting after a while.' No. I hate loading. I always get my skin caught. I hate pulling the trigger."
Gwyneth Paltrow swore never to wield one on screen again after just one experience.
She has said: "In 'A Perfect Murder,' I broke one of my cardinal rules of never touching a gun, and I actually was made to hold one. I won't do that again."
And Meryl Streep has insisted that stars shooting guns in their films just give firearms positive publicity.
She said in 1999: ""Every movie star who points a gun is not only selling their movie — they're selling the gun. The NRA couldn't pay these people enough money to hold a rifle for their ad — yet they're making that ad — and for gratis. Our profession doesn't take responsibility for the images we put out in the world."
Drew Barrymore was so opposed to the idea of guns, she refused to have them used in 'Charlie's Angels' – which she starred in and co-produced – so instead she, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu underwent intensive martial arts training.
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Autoplay videos on iOS devices e.g. iPad, iPhone?
Forum » Off Topic Discussion » Autoplay videos on iOS devices e.g. iPad, iPhone?
Is there a way to have an iOS device autoplay the selected video? Right now, I select a module, the page loads with a "play" button in the middle of the video frame. I tap "play", and immediately the video starts and pauses! I then have to tap "play" in the video player controls!! I've attached in photos the sequence I go through for every video.
Given the modules are so short (I know there's another ahead on that point) I spend more time tapping next, play etc than I do watching the videos, a real shame as I LOVE the content.
Is this a Safari browser issue? I note I have to login every time I visit too, which seems odd; most websites give you the option of remembering details.
Now, if you'd release an app to access your courses, that would be AWESOME!!
I'd like to second this request, though not device specific. Autoplay would be lovely.
First up I would suggest you use chrome instead of safari and also make sure you're on the most recent version. We have had multiple requests for autoplay and this is on our developer's to-do list. Apologies for the hassle in the mean time.
Great that auto play is on the list, thank you!
Not so good your suggestion to not use Safari... why would anyone develop a modern website that doesn't work natively on a Mac? I'm not installing and using Chrome just for HPA, no matter how good your courses are!
Hey Mark, our website and courses do work on Safari and 99% of members have no trouble. We have found however that of all the available web browsers Chrome is the most stable. Most of the issues with browsers come from people not updating their browser of choice but if you're in the small percentage of members having a genuine issue with Safari it's not a big deal to download Chrome as well and that doesn't mean you need to use Chrome for all your browsing. Web browser choice is obviously a personal choice but as a mac user I still use Chrome over Safari as do the rest of our mac based staff.


Purchase Manager prepares a purchase budget for the forthcoming financial year. Purchase budget is prepared with the help of production planning department. It contains detailed information regarding quantity to be purchased, quality of materials, time of purchase and the sources of procurement. A schedule of materials and components needed for various jobs, known as bill of materials, is also prescribed for working out details of purchase budget. A bill of materials is also useful in exercising control over the utilization of materials.
The purchase officer initiates action for the purchase of materials only when he receives a request for the same. The store-keeper and departmental heads send requisition slips to purchase department giving details of materials required by their departments etc. A purchase requisition is a form used as a formal request to the purchasing department to purchase materials.
This form is prepared by the store keeper for regular stock materials and by the departmental head for specific materials not stocked as regular items. The storekeeper knows when an action or fresh procurements is to be initiated. He will send the requisition when materials reach re-ordering level. He retains one copy of the requisition with him for future reference .It is on the basis of purchase requisition that orders are placed for materials.
Purchase Manager remains in touch with various suppliers of materials. The quotations are invited for the purchase of specific items. After receiving quotations a comparative study is made regarding terms and conditions offered. The factors to be considered include price, quantity, quality, time of delivery, terms of payment, trade discount and reputation of suppliers. After looking at various factors a final decision is taken about the supplier of goods.
After selecting a supplier a formal purchase order is sent for the supply of goods. A purchase order is sent on a printed form and is duly authorized by the purchase manager. This order should contain details about the quantity, quality, price, mode of delivery, terms of payment etc. The purchase order authorizes the vendor to despatch goods specified in it. It establishes a contractual relation between the buyer and the vendor.
A purchase order normally bears a date by which the goods must be delivered It is in the interest of the organization that goods are received in time for keeping uninterrupted flow of materials. The suppliers may be reminded of the date of delivery of goods. A follow-up of purchase order is necessary to receive stocks in time.
In big concerns the task of receiving materials is assigned to the purchase department whereas in small concerns this work is done by the store keeper. After unpacking goods their quantity is compared to that given in delivery challans. Any discrepancy in items is reported to the purchase department. The specifications and quality of goods is also checked at this stage.
Lastly, purchase department checks the invoices supplied by the vendor with that of its own records. The quantity, quality, price, terms etc. are compared with those given in purchase order. After making full checking the invoices are sent to accounts department for payment.


text:
Broken Windows & Proxy Vote Rigging – Both Invite More Serious Crime
Malcolm Gladwell's book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference discusses the "Broken Window theory.
If a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge. Soon, more windows will be broken, and a sense of anarchy will spread.
In the following post I argue that relatively minor problems, like how items left blank on a proxy are counted and how Broadridge labels shareowner proposals, sends a signal. Just like an abundance of graffiti tells you gangs are in charge, switching blank votes to management and relabeling shareowner proposals to gibberish tells you that shareowners are indifferent and that corporate managers have a clear invitation to more serious crime. I ask readers to take a simple action at the end of the post that, like fixing broken windows, could lead to the end of much more serious abuses.
One of the best sources for weeding out the significant from the large volume of information coming out of the SEC that is relevant to shareowners and directors is theCorporateCounsel.net. Here's a January 3rd post from Broc Romanek entitled Corp Fin's New Position on Use of "Vote All of Board's Recommendation" Button. I've added a few links.
Recently, Broadridge sent this letter to companies explaining a big change going forward over how voting choices will be displayed. Here is an excerpt from the letter:
Broadridge, transfer agents and other service providers in the proxy distribution industry were recently informed of a new interpretive position being taken by the staff of the SEC that will affect the 2013 proxy season. Under that position, Broadridge and other service providers can no longer present shareholders with a "Vote with the Board's Recommendations" button when soliciting proxies or voting instructions online, over the telephone, or through Broadridge's unique mobile voting platform, unless they are also presented with a "Vote Against the Board's Recommendations" button.
Over the course of the last several months, Broadridge has engaged in an extensive dialogue with the Broadridge Independent Steering Committee, as well as with the SEC, to better understand the SEC's new interpretive position and to explore ways that it could accommodate the SEC's new position in light of its potentially negative impact on retail voting. Due primarily to technical complications presented by director election proposals and the Dodd-Frank required say on pay frequency vote, the presentation of a "Vote Against the Board's Recommendations" option was not currently feasible. Accordingly, after careful consideration, we have developed a new structure to implement this new interpretation to ProxyVote.com, our online voting platform, Mobile ProxyVote, our mobile voting platform and to IVR, our telephone voting platform. Under this new structure, ProxyVote, Mobile ProxyVote.com and IVR will be revised as follows:
ProxyVote.com – The "Vote with the Board's Recommendations" button has been removed and ProxyVote.com has been revised to more closely track the presentation of voting options on proxies and voting instruction forms (VIFs). Specifically, as is currently the case with respect to proxies and voting instruction forms, shareholders are presented with the option of voting on each item individually and are informed of the Board's voting recommendations with respect to each of the items for which their votes or voting instructions are being solicited. Shareholders are encouraged to vote individually and are informed that if they select the "Submit" button without selecting any items individually, their proxies and voting instructions will be cast in accordance with the recommendations of the board of directors.
Mobile ProxyVote – The "Vote with the Board's Recommendations" button has been removed and shareholders are presented with the option of voting on each item individually. Shareholders also are informed of the fact that their votes or voting instructions will be cast in accordance with the recommendations of the board of directors as a consequence of their not voting on each item individually. Shareholders are presented with a link to another page where they can see the recommendations of the board on an item-by-item basis and vote in accordance with such recommendations by selecting the "Submit" button without voting on each item individually.
IVR – Telephone voting will be revised to encourage shareholders to vote individually but will allow shareholders to submit votes or voting instructions without voting individually. Shareholders will need to affirmatively elect not to vote individually. If they do so, they are informed that their votes and voting instructions will, as a consequence, be cast in accordance with the recommendations of the Board of Directors.
This change in position is important as it has the potential to swing more votes than nearly any disclosure in the proxy statement would…
See also, Setting Expectations for 2013 Proxy Season, NYSE Euronext, 1/4/2013 and SEC's new position on voting buttons necessitates changes to online and telephone proxy solicitation, Holland & Knight LLP, Paul S. Lawler. At first, I thought maybe this change would decrease the number of blank votes going to management. After further reflection, it may be a net positive but it is very hard to tell. Here's a screen shot of one of my upcoming proxies or more specifically the voter information form (VIF) prepared by Broadridge, in this case for Costco. (I wrote most of this post several weeks ago.)
As you can see, the "Vote With the Board's Recommendation" button is very large and tempting for busy shareowners who may wish to finish up voting quickly. I hadn't actually analyzed Costco, so wasn't sure yet how I would vote (later announced my vote here). However, in this example I voted for all directors and for the shareowner proposal but left items 2 and 3 blank. Here's the next screen.
As you can see, Broadridge fills in the blank votes with votes cast per the board's recommendation… in this case "For," and places a small asterisk * referencing the following note above in the grey box:
Specific voting instructions were not provided. Proposals will be voted as recommended by the soliciting committee.
Under the newly announced system, Broadridge gets rid of the "Vote with the Board's Recommendations" button and substitutes a "Submit" button, which does much the same. However, they do warn shareowners in advance that if you select the SUBMIT button without specifying a choice, "your vote instructions will be cast in accordance with the recommendations of the Board of Directors." The next screen shot was sent to me from Broadridge, as an example of the new form of proxy (VIF).
While advising shareowners on the first screen, in advance of changing their vote, is a plus, shareowners may mistakenly believe they are not voting with management if they leave the same two items blank and fail to read the center box. SEC Rule 14a-4(b)(1) says,
A proxy may confer discretionary authority with respect to matters as to which a choice is not specified by the security holder provided that the form of proxy states in bold-face type how it is intended to vote the shares represented by the proxy in each such case.
Is the warning contained in the center box in the required bold-face type? It doesn't look so to me… at least it is no bolder than most of the other type on the proxy. Broadridge claims that VIF's aren't proxies, and don't have to meet these regulatory requirements. Neither do they appear to have to meet the requirements of SEC Rule 14a-4(a)(3), which requires that the form of proxy
Shall identify clearly and impartially each separate matter intended to be acted upon, whether or not related to or conditioned on the approval of other matters, and whether proposed by the registrant or by security holders.
We've seen many examples of Broadridge identifying shareowner proposals with either gibberish or with non-descriptive titles that force shareowners to read the proxy proposal carefully to be able to determine what the proposal is about. Unfortunately, too many shareowners won't bother to read beyond the titles and will just vote with management when they don't understand the issue. See "Corrected" Ballot at Altrea Tips Votes to Management.
Take Action: The SEC should require VIFs to be treated the same as proxies. Additionally, a ballot item that isn't marked should be treated as an abstention, not a vote for management. Let's put an end to what essentially amounts to rigged voting in corporate elections. Small changes can make a big difference if thought of as a tipping point. If you agree, please fill out the SEC's Investor Advisory Committee form with something like the following:
The IAC should ask staff for a legal opinion discussing what legal requirements apply to VIFs and how, if at all, do they differ from those that apply to proxies. The IAC should recommended changes necessary so the same protections are afforded to retail investors as are afforded to shareowners with direct registration.
The IAC should try to level the playing field by recommending the Commission take action on the rulemaking petition to eliminate blank votes from automatically going to management submitted by James McRitchie and others at http://www.sec.gov/rules/petitions/2009/petn4-583.pdf.
The IAC should recommend the Commission amend Rule 14a-4 to remove the provision that confers discretionary authority on matters where choice has not been specified by the security holder or beneficial owner, should explicitly extend such prohibition of discretionary authority to companies where beneficial owners fail to provide instructions, and should make similar amendments to other rules that may provide such authority.
blank votes, Broadridge, Broadridge Independent Steering Committee, Broc Romanek, IAC, Investor Advisory Committee, IVR, Mobile ProxyVote, proxy, Proxyvote.com, recommendations, Rule 14a-4(a)(3), Rule 14a-4(b)(1), SEC, SECIAC, theCorporateCounsel.net, VIF, VIFs, voter information form
Report Shows Carbon Divestment Does Not Increase Portfolio Risk
GMI Analyst Updated: Webinar January 31


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text:
La montañesa del Pirineo (Erebia gorgone) es un lepidóptero ropalócero de la familia Nymphalidae.

Distribución
Endémica de los Pirineos. Se encuentra en el Balneario de Panticosa, puerto de Benasque, puerto de la Picadura, Puerto de La Bonaigua, Montes de Cabriols, Montes del Homme, puerto de Envalira, puerto de Aubisque y Tourmalet, Cauterets y Circo de Gavarnie.

Hábitat
Zonas con hierba entre rocas y pequeños pedreros, pendientes fuertes con abundancia de gramíneas. La oruga se alimenta de Poa annua, Poa alpina, Poa trivialis y Festuca ovina.

Período de vuelo e hibernación
Univoltina, una generación de mediados de julio hasta finales de agosto. Hibernación como oruga en dos temporadas.

Referencias

Enlaces externos
 Biodiversidad Virtual
 Asturnatura
 European butterflies (inglés)

gorgone
Taxones descritos por Jean Baptiste Boisduval
Animales descritos en 1832
Fauna de los Pirineos


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Heroin was Actually a Brand Name!
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Exciting opportunities exist next season to secure sponsorship space on our Zone League squads jerseys across all three grades.
The squad had a great season this year with both First and Reserve grades reaching the semis and Reserve grade narrowly losing the Grand Final. With further building we believe the squad has the ability and depth to go further next season.
Packages can also be put together to include field signage.


Morning for the sun and snorkelling weary vacationers begins unusually early. The first group gets up and eats breakfast 7:00. Then the captain by a boat on the calm sea carries them to the port in Wakai. The second group, which we are in as well, their breakfast of rice receives at 8:00 and are waiting for the captain with the boat to get to the port from which a speedboat would get us all to Ampana. Suddenly rises a great wind, the sea begins to billow, palm trees are shaking in the wind, flowery curtains in the chalets flap like flags. Our boat is severely delayed, finally we spot it swinging in the waves. For some reason the boat at a high speed passes our bay. It turns out the big waves make it impossible to drive up to the shore, so the boat is taken to a quiet bay behind the horn at the side of the village. The captain refuses to take us to the port in a storm, because waves can damage the boat. We begin to fidget, because we need to get in time for the speedboat that will take us to the Ampana to the cars. We are ready to offer the captain additional fee of 100,000 rupees, that is certain to inspire him for heroic deeds. We say goodbye to the hostess who was feeding us with delicious food all the four days. Also the captain rushes to say goodbye to his wife and for the safety on the sea brings a son-in-law. We ask Antonio the Catalan, who remains on the island, to pray for us so we arrive without issues. We are worrying all that we won't make it in the time for the speedboat, going on the foaming sea. It seems that we cannot really get further away from our hospitable island. The engine puffs silently and slowly pulls us across the waves forward. Towards the harbour, the waves subside, and since the further ride is on a downwind, we realize that we will come in time – 10:00 precisely.
But when we arrive at the port we learn that the speedboat is delayed because of the storm. Boringness at the port building begins. We walk around the local shops, market. We are taking pictures of goats, rosters, dogs and the fish put up for sale. Ināra purchases a bright, flowery dress. Now she feels like the most beautiful girl in the village. Some storm survivors get some cold Bintang beer at a local hotel and for a moment feel a small surge of happiness. We buy cooked, warm eggs for lunch. We learn that because of the storm the speedboat will not come at all today. We are stuck in the islands. Some kind locals offer us to arrange a boat right here on the spot. Begins haggling for the fee. For a giant price (3.5 million rupees per boat) we are offered to be carried in two boats, one of which would be very slow. Then, after Agnese's trip with the local official on a motorcycle there appears another better option – an offer to take us for a slightly lower price, and all by a single boat. Only this will happen much more slowly, like with a ferry. We understand that this is estimated as 4 hours. We take 6 other foreign tourists with us on the boat.
We leave at 13:05. As we will later need to conclude, we will be on the way more than 6 hours instead of the 4 hours. For a long time it even seems that the ship is more roaring in our ears, than moving forward. Landscape among the islands remains unchanged for hours. We don't notice any waves in the sea, so it is not clear why the speedboat was afraid to come. We are lying criss-cross on the plank floor. An association arises with the Syrian refugees in boats crossing the Mediterranean. All the way we are tossing about, changing postures. Somewhere we get squeezed one way or another. We play a "board game" – "No, thanks" for a bit – as if there is no table it can not really be called a "table-top game". While the engine is roaring we also try to waste time by a game – Silent Phone – in which one to another whisper in the ear the 8 titles of Latvian University museums which are well-known to Ilgonis. Only three museums remain and return to Ilgonis – the History, Oceanography and Literature, of which there actually only the first one exists. Still lying on our backs we wave our arms and legs for a bit, but after that continue to be located in a horizontal position, stunned by the the boat engine and stiff. A new association rises with the cartoon about Shrek, when Shrek with his beloved Fiona and the Donkey were sitting in the chariot and went to Princess Fiona's parents to the kingdom far away. Donkey completely bored asked every minute – Have we arrived yet! – Shrek tired to answer him and shouted to donkey – Hold your tongue!- After keeping silent for a little, the Donkey found another entertainment. He blew up the mouth and time by time puffed loudly very close to Shrek's ear. Also we like such donkeys were tossing and turning in the far way to Ampana and to ourselves quieter or louder asked – Have we arrived yet! – I guess someone also made the the annoying mouth-pops in between, just the engine of the boat was louder and no one heard.
The price of the speedboat Hercules was 150'000IDR per person but we got the money back when it turned out that it won't come. Initially we chose the speedboat as the ferry is not going from Wakai to Ampana on Mondays and we could not wait till Tuesday.
It seems that after the big eclipse, the car problem and the night drive in 2 teams of 6 people all the possible in Indonesia has been fulfilled. However it is not so. The adventures won't finish, the mechanic from Luwuk will come to help. After all of that we wake up in the morning at Ampana ferry pier in different places – some in the cars, others in the ferry waiting room on the stools. Like some seals.
In the terminal on the floor the ants eat up the remainings of the dead cockroaches. Toilet, as fitting in a public place, is rather "criminal". Roosters are singing, next to the small cafe's near the pier dogs ar chasing chickens. For the breakfast we have avocados that we bought yesterday in the market – big, dark, ripe and delicious. For the tea ordered in the local cafe the sugar has been added richly, not easy to drink from it, more similar to syroup. However warmth and some joy comes from it. We buy 12 tickets from Ampana to Wakai, each for 58000 rupees. We leave the cars at the pier to wait for us returning from the small islands.
On the ferry we make ourselves comfortable in the economic class – some on the chairs, some on specially designed sleeping-shelves. We decide that 80% Indonesians are smoking as there is smoke smell everywhere. Meanwhile in the business class there is an AC, feeling like in a fridge. As guests we get some karaoke songs dedicated to us. All the songs are like "schlager" [pop songs usually about love associated in Latvia with German culture] – melodic and similar to each other. We get happy about the Bintang (Indonesian word for star) beer cans in the fridge of the ferry cafeteria. In the water there are unknown long fish swimming, visible are many schools of little silvery fish. Sometimes some flying fish disturbed by the ship flies by. Everyone sleeps for a long stretch of road to renew the sleep resources "sweated out" during the night drive.
After 4h of journey we notice islands. When we get out of the ferry we arrive in a considerable scorch, the hostess Irina is waiting for us, divides us along 2 boats and brings us to a lovely corner of paradise on the Togean island. Palms, white sand, small houses on stilts, hammocks, warm sea. Some warming up in snorkelling. Wonderfully delicious dinner with fish, rice, fruits, the palm wine bought the previous evening. We introduce ourselves to 4 Finnish people and sing some songs (Ai Sulavesi stūru stūriem, Maza zaļa vardīte, Anders' solo about frogs in Swedish and some more beloved Latvian songs).
After the dinner we hold an improvised disco on the beach in the light of shining plankton. Suddenly around 20:30 the generator breaks down. In a complete happiness we go to sleep. There is no light, no TV, not possible to charge the electronics. Nothing is disturbing our tender sleep – neither in houses, neither in tents, nor in hammocks. Only the she-dog Lucky steals the wet clothes hung out for drying (especially Rudolf's) and chews them at the trunk of a palm with much care. Some bigger crabs get found and involved in a photosession. Silently are lulling and singing cicadas. In our camp and in Indonesia all is calm.
The ferry is named Tuna Tomini and it goes several times a week from the harbour east of Ampana.
Some of us took the mattresses for sleeping from the business class on the ferry. It seems to be fine, just need to pay 10'000IDR for the "rental". If you want to sleep – absolutely worth it!
The electricity gets switched on at around the sunset time around 6pm and off at around 11pm in the Sunset Beach "resort" normally.
The boat cannot accommodate 12 people plus the captain and Irina at the same time, so we had to split.
Here one has to explain that we set up the base camp on the previous evening on the sea side – some under the mosquito net, some in the tent like me, some just in sleeping bag.
So I am looking through the net of the tent entrance and see that the Sun has risen quite above the horizon. Nothing has been missed and the camp is waking up bit by bit, our travellers' group is gathering the sleeping accessories and preparing for the Big Event. Special glasses get distributed, cameras with light filters get set up and everyone reserves the nicest square meters of the beach for themselves.
Our activities are also observed by several Indonesians which arrived on the beach in the morning with their mopeds. They are, however, shyly sitting in the bush and our contact does not happen.
At 7:30 IT starts, first as a slight gap in the Sun's puck that looks like someone would have bitten a round biscuit. Later it becomes similar to the protagonist of the classical computer game Pacman till around 8:44 we await a moment when for 3 minutes the Sun gets lost from the firmament. No, in fact it is not getting lost anywhere, just the puck of the Moon gets in the front of it with its broad back and in these latitudes, where we have come to not in the most easiest way, a strange twilight sets in for a moment. With the diminishing of the Sun's light it gets noticeably colder. There were some clouds in the sky since the early morning which, when the eclipse was approaching, tried to cover the Sun, but they didn't have courage to spoil the most important moment.
Meanwhile the first Indonesian group gets replaced by some other young generation Sun observers who have the special glasses as well in their inventory.
To describe the eclipse itself nothing suitable comes to the mind. It is indescribable by words.
When the brightness of the Sun comes back a photo of the united Latvia-Sweden eclipse observers' group is made. The last joy in the water on this coast and we get ready for going back. After the Indonesian boys have shown us their tricks in the water, they climb palms and get us more than ten coconuts for which they get a small but fair fee. The coconut water turns out to be very refreshing.
At 10:30 we start driving with an aim to reach Ampana during this day – a place from where it is planned for us to go to Togean islands. Since it is a hot day, the crews crave for another swim. A half-suitable place gets found on the seaside and the heated bodies refresh in the warm sea.
We continue our trip for a bit more than an hour and then our bright and important day is, however, darkened by a "cloud" – we get a phone call from the crew of the third car with a message that their car has broken down and does not move. Since we are quite some stretch of the road in front of them, we return to evaluate the situation. All the signs are showing that the car has got left without a clutch which has not managed to withstand the stress of the several days in mountain serpentines. There are no tools and solutions initially, but we must do something. In the closest village using the "rich knowledge of Indonesian language" a durable rope gets bought and we pull the defective car to the Salodik village. The previously acquired new acquaintance Ipin gets called who promises to come and help.
Of course, this turn of events changes our plan considerably.
After a long discussion and involvement of several Indonesian "specialists" the solution is as follows – we trust the car to the locals together with a set sum of the many-zeroes money which would be necessary for its repair and also leaving in this car a big part of our belongings so everyone could move to the two other cars (luckily they are seven-seaters after all). In this way we would continue our road to Ampana, but the car after the repair would be delivered there by the locals and we would get it back after returning from the Togean islands. The risk, as a matter of course, rather great, but we don't have any other acceptable options at 11pm.
Then the most complicated starts as after the already long day we still decide to go to Ampana where we arrive in the ferry terminal at 3:45am. The previously planned schedules have failed so we without pleasure choose to enjoy the not-so-comfortable hotel named "car" till the departure of the ferry.


text:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Announces Second Quarter 2018 Results
Reports net sales of $376 million and billings of $389 million; Reaffirms 2018 outlook
BOSTON – Global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt ("HMH" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: HMHC) today announced its operating and financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018.
Operating Highlights:
Year to date results outperform the market demonstrating merits of HMH 2020 strategy
Extensions year to date Net Sales growth of 5% and Billings growth of 10%
Texas gives 100% alignment rating to HMH ELA programs, CA panels recommend HMH Science program, and FL review process of HMH Math underway for 2019 adoptions
Financial Highlights:
1 The 2018 amounts have been impacted by the January 1, 2018 adoption of the new revenue standard. Please refer to the quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 2, 2018 for further details.
"As we head into the third quarter, which is historically the busiest quarter in HMH's selling season, we are encouraged by our results for the first half of 2018," said Jack Lynch, Chief Executive Officer of HMH. "Despite a trough year in the market, HMH is performing well in new adoption opportunities and delivering strong growth in our Extensions businesses."
Joe Abbott, Chief Financial Officer of HMH added, "We remain on track to deliver against the targets we set at the start of the year and have reaffirmed our fiscal year 2018 outlook. We have submitted our next generation core programs for evaluation in all three of next year's large state adoptions, an important milestone as we execute on our strategy."
Second Quarter 2018 Financial Results:
Net Sales: HMH reported net sales of $376 million for the second quarter of 2018, down $17 million compared to $393 million in the same quarter of 2017. The net sales decrease was driven by a $11 million decrease in our Education segment, coupled with a $6 million decrease in our Trade Publishing segment. Within our Education segment, the decrease was primarily due to lower net sales from Core Solutions, which declined by $24 million to $152 million. The primary drivers of the decrease in Core Solutions sales occurred in adoption states, where customer orders are expected to occur later than in the prior year, and in open territory states, where many customers are deferring new Core Reading and Math materials purchases until the release of next generation programs beginning in 2019, partially offset by an increase in open territory sales of Core Science programs. Partially offsetting the decrease in our Core Solutions sales was an increase in sales from our Extensions businesses, which primarily consist of our Heinemann brand, intervention, supplemental and assessment products as well as professional services. Extensions businesses net sales for the current period increased $13 million to $187 million in 2018 primarily driven by higher Heinemann net sales. The primary driver of the increase in our Heinemann net sales was sales of the Fountas & Pinnell Classroom product, which was introduced in the third quarter of 2017. Within our Trade Publishing segment, the decrease was due to lower backlist sales in addition to a decline in ebook sales and lower frontlist sales. Partially offsetting the aforementioned Trade Publishing sales decline was an increase in licensing income.
Billings: HMH reported billings of $389 million for the second quarter of 2018, down $6 million from the same quarter of 2017. Education and Trade Publishing segment billings for the second quarter of 2018 were $353 million and $36 million, respectively, compared with $353 million and $43 million, respectively, for the same periods in 2017. Our Trade Publishing segment billings decrease was due to lower backlist billings in addition to a decline in ebook billings. Frontlist billings were also lower. Partially offsetting the aforementioned was an increase in billings for licensing income. Within our Education segment, there was an increase in billings from our Extensions businesses of $20 million to $188 million in 2018 primarily driven by higher Heinemann billings. The primary driver of the increase in our Heinemann billings was billings of the Fountas & Pinnell Classroom product, which was introduced in the third quarter of 2017. Offsetting the increase in our Extensions businesses was a decrease in billings from Core Solutions, which declined by $20 million from $185 million in 2017 to $165 million. The primary drivers of the decrease in Core Solutions billings occurred in adoption states, where customer orders are expected to occur later than in the prior year, and in open territory states, where many customers are deferring new Core Reading and Math materials purchases until the release of next generation programs beginning in 2019, partially offset by an increase in open territory billings of Core Science programs.
Cost of Sales: Overall cost of sales decreased 7%, or $15 million, to $202 million in the second quarter of 2018 from $216 million in the same period of 2017, primarily due to lower volume in 2018 resulting in a decrease of $10 million. Further, there was a $5 million reduction in publishing rights and pre-publication amortization.
Selling and Administrative Costs: Selling and administrative costs increased $7 million to $174 million for the second quarter of 2018 from the same period of 2017, primarily due to an increase in discretionary costs, such as travel and entertainment and professional fees, of $4 million in connection with the Company's transformation initiatives, $3 million of higher depreciation as a result of our increased investment in business systems, technology platforms and infrastructure and higher net labor costs of $2 million, primarily attributed to higher employee benefit and medical expenses as well as planned merit increases partially offset by labor savings taken under the 2017 Restructuring Plan . Additionally, variable expenses such as commissions, samples, transportation and depository fees were $1 million higher in the current period. Offsetting the increase in selling and administrative costs was a decrease in IT expenses of $2 million relating to maintenance contracts, hardware and telecommunications and a decrease in office lease cost due to office space reductions mostly associated with actions taken under the 2017 Restructuring Plan.
Operating Loss: Operating loss for the second quarter of 2018 was $9 million, a $23 million improvement from the $32 million operating loss recorded in the same period of 2017 primarily due to the $33 million charge in 2017 associated with our 2017 Restructuring Plan, which did not occur in 2018, partially offset by the aforementioned changes in net sales and selling and administrative costs.
Net Loss: Net loss of $23 million in the second quarter of 2018 was $24 million, or 50%, lower compared to a net loss of $47 million in the same quarter of 2017, due primarily to the same factors impacting operating loss and a favorable change in our tax provision of $4 million, from an expense of $6 million for the same period in 2017 to an expense of $2 million in 2018. The reduction in expense was primarily due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 ("2017 Tax Act") resulting in a lower annual effective tax rate and our ability to utilize indefinite-lived deferred tax liabilities as a source of future taxable income in our assessment of realization of deferred tax assets.
Adjusted EBITDA: Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of 2018 was $62 million, an $11 million unfavorable change from the $73 million in the same quarter of 2017, primarily due to the aforementioned changes in net sales.
Six Months Ended June 30, 2018 Financial Results:
Net Sales: HMH reported net sales of $595 million for the first six months of 2018, down $20 million from the same period of 2017. The net sales decrease was driven by a $13 million decrease in our Education segment, coupled with a $6 million decrease in our Trade Publishing segment. Within our Education segment, the decrease was primarily due to lower net sales from Core Solutions, which declined by $29 million from $242 million in 2017 to $213 million. The primary drivers of the decrease in Core Solutions sales occurred in adoption states, where customer orders are expected to occur later than in the prior year, and in open territory states, where many customers are deferring new Core Reading and Math materials purchases until the release of next generation programs beginning in 2019, partially offset by an increase in open territory sales of Core Science programs. Also contributing to the decline in Core Solutions was the non-recurrence of the $5 million one-time fee we recognized in 2017 in connection with the expiration of a distribution agreement. Partially offsetting the decrease in our Core Solutions sales was an increase in sales from our Extensions businesses of $15 million from $294 million in 2017 to $309 million in 2018 primarily driven by higher Heinemann net sales largely attributed to the Fountas & Pinnell Classroom product, which was introduced in the third quarter of 2017. Within our Trade Publishing segment, the decrease was due to lower physical sales in the Young Reader's & General Interest categories in addition to a decline in overall ebook sales. The decline in ebook sales was driven by the reduced ebook sales. Partially offsetting the aforementioned Trade Publishing sales decline was an increase in licensing income.
Billings: HMH reported billings of $571 million for first six months of 2018, a decline of $8 million compared the same period of 2017. Education and Trade Publishing segment billings for the first six months of 2018 were $498 million and $73 million, respectively, compared with $501 million and $79 million, respectively, for the same periods in 2017. The billings decrease was driven by a $6 million decrease in our Trade Publishing segment, due to lower physical sales in the Young Reader's & General Interest categories in addition to a decline in overall ebook billings. Partially offsetting the aforementioned was an increase in billings for licensing income. Within our Education segment, there was a decrease in billings from Core Solutions, which declined by $30 million from 2017 to $201 million. The primary drivers of the decrease in Core Solutions billings occurred in adoption states, where customer orders are expected to occur later than in the prior year, and in open territory states, where many customers are deferring new Core Reading and Math materials purchases until the release of next generation programs beginning in 2019, partially offset by an increase in open territory billings of Core Science programs. Also contributing to the decline in Core Solutions was the non-recurrence of the $5 million one-time fee we recognized in 2017 in connection with the expiration of a distribution agreement. Offsetting the decrease in billings in Core Solutions was an increase in our Extensions businesses. Extensions businesses billings for the current period increased $27 million from $269 million in 2017 to $296 million in 2018 primarily driven by higher Heinemann billings. The primary driver of the increase in our Heinemann billings was billings of the Fountas & Pinnell Classroom product, which was introduced in the third quarter of 2017.
Cost of Sales: Overall cost of sales decreased 5%, or $19 million, to $345 million in the first six months of 2018 from $365 million in the same period of 2017, primarily due to lower volume in 2018 resulting in a decrease of $10 million coupled with a $9 million reduction in publishing rights and pre-publication amortization.
Selling and Administrative Costs: Selling and administrative costs slightly increased for the first six months of 2018 due to an increase in discretionary costs of $3 million related to travel and entertainment, promotion and advertising in connection with the Company's transformation initiatives, an increase in professional fees of $4 million in 2018 which related to a $5 million non-recurring insurance reimbursement received in 2017, and an increase in depreciation expense of $2 million as a result of our increased investment in business systems, technology platforms and infrastructure. Offsetting the increase in selling and administrative costs was lower IT expenses of $5 million relating to maintenance contracts, hardware and telecommunications, lower incentive compensation of $2 million and a decrease in office lease cost of $1 million due to office space reductions, mostly associated with actions taken under the 2017 Restructuring Plan. Additionally, labor savings taken under the 2017 Restructuring Plan were offset by higher employee benefit and medical expenses as well as planned merit increases.
Operating Loss: Operating loss for the first six months of 2018 was $96 million, a $33 million improvement from the $129 million operating loss recorded in the same period of 2017 primarily due to the $37 million charge in 2017 associated with our 2017 Restructuring Plan, which did not occur in 2018, and the reduction in cost of sales partially offset by the aforementioned changes in net sales.
Net Loss: Net loss of $125 million in the first six months of 2018 was $43 million, or 26%, lower compared to a net loss of $168 million in the same period of 2017, due primarily to the same factors impacting operating loss and a favorable change in our tax provision of $14 million, from an expense of $21 million for the same period in 2017 to an expense of $7 million in 2018. The reduction in expense was primarily due to the 2017 Tax Act resulting in a lower annual effective tax rate and our ability to utilize indefinite-lived deferred tax liabilities as a source of future taxable income in our assessment of realization of deferred tax assets.
Adjusted EBITDA: Adjusted EBITDA for the first six months of 2018 was $47 million, a $2 million unfavorable change from $49 million in the same period of 2017, primarily due to the aforementioned changes in net sales.
Cash Flows: Net cash used in operating activities for 2018 was $164 million compared with $140 million in 2017. The $24 million increase in cash used in operating activities from 2017 to 2018 was primarily driven by unfavorable net changes in operating assets and liabilities of $37 million primarily due to unfavorable changes in inventories. The increase in net cash used in operating activities was also offset by more profitable operations, net of non-cash items, of $13 million. HMH's free cash flow, defined as net cash from operating activities minus capital expenditures, as of June 30, 2018 was a usage of $251 million compared with a usage of $224 million for the same time period in 2017. The primary drivers of the unfavorable change in free cash flow was an increase in the net cash used in operating activities due to the aforementioned reasons. As of June 30, 2018, HMH had $31 million of cash and cash equivalents compared to $235 million of cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments at December 31, 2017. Additionally, HMH had $50.0 million outstanding on its revolving credit facility at June 30, 2018.
Corporate Initiatives:
HMH continues to implement its ongoing initiatives to improve the Company's operational efficiency and right-size its cost structure. Organizational design changes, aimed at reducing complexity in the organization, were completed in 2017, and HMH expects to substantially complete the remaining planned actions by the end of 2018. The identified initiatives are expected to result in approximately $70 million to $80 million in annualized cost savings by the end of 2018.
At 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, August 2, 2018, HMH will host a conference call to discuss the results with its investors. The call will be webcast live at ir.hmhco.com. The following information is provided for investors who would like to participate:
Passcode: 9096148
Moderator: Brian Shipman, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations
Webcast Link: https://edge.media-server.com/m6/p/7mjctxqd
An archived webcast with the accompanying slides will be available at ir.hmhco.com for one year for those unable to participate in the live event. An audio replay of this conference call will also be available until August 11, 2018 via the following telephone numbers: (855) 859-2056 in the United States and (404) 537-3406 internationally using passcode 9096148.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures:
To supplement our financial statements presented in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and to provide additional insights into our performance (for a completed period and/or on a forward-looking basis), we have presented adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. These measures are not prepared in accordance with GAAP. This information should be considered as supplemental in nature and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Management believes that the presentation of these non-GAAP measures provides useful information to investors regarding our results of operations and/or our expected results of operations because it assists both investors and management in analyzing and benchmarking the performance and value of our business.
Management believes that the presentation of adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to our investors and management as an indicator of our performance that is not affected by: fluctuations in interest rates or effective tax rates; levels of depreciation or amortization; non-cash charges; fees, expenses or charges relating to acquisition-related activities, including purchase accounting adjustments, integration costs and transaction costs, as well as to securities offering- and debt refinancing-activities; charges associated with restructuring and cost saving initiatives, including severance, separation and facility closure costs; certain legal settlements and awards; and non-routine costs and gains. Accordingly, management believes that this measure is useful for comparing our performance from period to period and makes decisions based on it. In addition, targets in adjusted EBITDA (further adjusted to include the change in deferred revenue) are used as performance measures to determine certain incentive compensation of management. Management believes that the presentation of free cash flow provides useful information to our investors because management regularly reviews free cash flow as an important indicator of how much cash is generated by general business operations, excluding capital expenditures, and makes decisions based on it.
Other companies may define these non-GAAP measures differently and, as a result, our use of these non-GAAP measures may not be directly comparable to adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow used by other companies. Although we use these non-GAAP measures as financial measures to assess our business, the use of non-GAAP measures is limited as they include and/or do not include certain items not included and/or included in the most directly comparable GAAP measure. Adjusted EBITDA should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, net income or loss prepared in accordance with GAAP as a measure of performance; and free cash flow should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, net cash provided by operating activities prepared in accordance with GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to be a measure of liquidity nor is free cash flow intended to be a measure of residual cash flow available for discretionary use. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these non-GAAP measures. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures (to the extent available without unreasonable efforts) and related disclosure is provided in the appendix to this news release.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (NASDAQ:HMHC) is a global learning company committed to delivering integrated solutions that engage learners, empower educators and improve student outcomes. As a leading provider of K–12 core curriculum, supplemental and intervention solutions and professional learning services, HMH partners with educators and school districts to uncover solutions that unlock students' potential and extend teachers' capabilities. HMH serves more than 50 million students and 3 million educators in 150 countries, while its award-winning children's books, novels, non-fiction, and reference titles are enjoyed by readers throughout the world. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com
Brian S. Shipman, CFA
Senior Vice President, Investor Relations
brian.shipman@hmhco.com
Bianca Olson
SVP, Corporate Affairs
bianca.olson@hmhco.com
The statements contained herein include forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes," "estimates," "projects," "anticipates," "expects," "could," "intends," "may," "will," "should," "forecast," "intend," "plan," "potential," "project," "target" or, in each case, their negative, or other variations or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not statements of historical facts. They include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, our results of operations, including billings and net sales; financial performance, financial condition; liquidity; products and services, including for new adoptions; outlook for full year 2018; prospects; growth; markets and our positions therein; strategies, including with respect to investing in our Core Solutions and Extensions businesses and operational excellence; efficiency and cost savings initiatives, including actions thereunder and expected impact and timing; the industry in which we operate; and potential business decisions. We derive many of our forward-looking statements from our operating budgets and forecasts, which are based upon many detailed assumptions. We caution that it is very difficult to predict the impact of known factors, and, of course, it is impossible for us to anticipate all factors that could affect our actual results. All forward-looking statements are based upon information available to us on the date hereof.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. We caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual results may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained herein. In addition, even if our results are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained herein, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods.
Important factors that could cause our results to vary from expectations include, but are not limited to: changes in state and local education funding and/or related programs, legislation and procurement processes; changes in state academic standards; state acceptance of submitted programs and participation rates therefor; industry cycles and trends; the rate and state of technological change; state requirements related to digital instruction; changes in product distribution channels and concentration of retailer power; changes in our competitive environment, including free and low cost open educational resources; periods of operating and net losses; our ability to enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights; risks based on information technology systems and potential breaches of those systems; dependence on a small number of print and paper vendors; third-party software and technology development; possible defects in digital products; our ability to identify, complete, or achieve the expected benefits of, acquisitions; our ability to execute on our long-term growth strategy; increases in our operating costs; exposure to litigation; major disasters or other external threats; contingent liabilities; risks related to our indebtedness; future impairment charges; changes in school district payment practices; a potential increase in the portion of our sales coming from digital sales; risks related to doing business abroad; changes in tax law or interpretations; management and other personnel changes; timing, higher costs and unintended consequences of our operational efficiency and cost-reduction initiatives; and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other news releases we issue and filings we make with the SEC. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events described herein may not occur.
We undertake no obligation, and do not expect, to publicly update or publicly revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or to persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained herein.
Appendix: Financial Tables