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You're viewing posts tagged; "Economy, City & rates"
Saturday PS: Is Britain's economy recovering or does a much deeper crisis await?
What a week for the 'recovery'. British productivity figures for 2011-2012 showed the widest gap between ourselves and the rest of the Group of Seven rich nations in 18 years, and showed also that we actually produced two per cent less in 2012 than in 2007.
Meanwhile, retail sales followed a strong July with a weak August, reinforcing the impression that recovery, 2013-style, involves one step forward and most a step back again.
Across the Atlantic, the Federal Reserve Board came to the view that America's own recovery was still a poor, fragile thing and decided, after all, not to begin immediately winding down its colossal money-creation programme under which about $3 trillion has been conjured into existence and pumped into the economy, making our own £375 billion scheme look small beer.
Markets jumped for joy at the news that their favourite fun drug was still on offer, courtesy of the Fed's Dr Feelgood, Ben Bernanke.
There was, however, one bright spot, with the news that the Coalition is to spend £600 million of the money we are supposed not to have extending free school meals to all infants, including the ones whose parents need no such subsidy. This widely-ridiculed announcement came from Nick Clegg at his party conference - more than most British politicians, he uses children as human shields when any sort of difficulty raises its head, in his case the Liberal Democrats' truly appalling poll numbers.
As I have written (maybe too often) before, the critical question is whether we are living through another 1933 or 1973. If the former, then thanks to unconventional monetary policy (leaving the Gold Standard) a recovery is under way, slowly but surely. If the latter, then thanks to unconventional monetary policy (the breakdown of fixed exchange rates and a massive monetary stimulus) an inflationary blow-out and a much deeper crisis awaits us.
1) Yesterday once more?
Self-interest attracts me to the 1933 answer, my instinct towards 1973. Allister Heath, editor of City AM, looks to me like a '73-er.His excellent leader on Thursday morning mocked the 'brave new world' in which 'bad news is good news' because it gives central banks such as the Fed an excuse to keep 'monetary methadone flowing freely'.
Twenty-four hours later, Allister was less sure footed on matters pertaining to the early Seventies, with a leader bemoaning Britain's failure 40-odd years ago to build the third London airport at Maplin Sands. The project, also known as Foulness, was truly gigantic in its scale. To be fair, Allister acknowledges this - and heartily approves.
Others did not. Here is Christopher Booker:
'[T]he Maplin scheme [was] far more ambitious than almost anyone realised at the time, involving as it did not just the building of a new, third London Airport on the Essex marshes, but the biggest land reclamation scheme the world had ever seen, the building of a new city for 250,000 people, a new port equal in size to Rotterdam, the largest in Europe, not to mention the two vast swathes of destruction that would have been involved in driving special new motorways and rail links into the heart of London, across some of the most densely populated country in Britain.'
(The Seventies: Portrait of a Decade; Allen Lane; 1980)
Labour returned to power in 1974 and its Environment Secretary Anthony Crosland cancelled the whole scheme, which he had dubbed 'Heathograd', after the now-ousted Prime Minister.
2) What goes round
From 1944 to 1976, economic policy was guided, in part at least, by the goal of full employment. That was the target.
In my voting lifetime, during much of which I have been a financial or economics journalist, we have had a number of substitute targets: domestic credit expansion (an early Labour version of money-supply targets), a target for 'broad money' (Sterling M3), which includes notes, coins and bank deposits, a target for 'narrow money' (Sterling M0), including just notes and coins, tying ourselves to the European Exchange-rate Mechanism (with success or failure gauged by the 'ERM divergence indicator'),then inflation targeting and now, under the new Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, one of the targets is to be...employment.
Over the summer, Mr Carney announced that he would not think of tightening monetary policy until unemployment fell to at least seven per cent of the available workforce. The rate was then about eight per cent.
The Governor seemed to think the employment target would not be met until 2015-2016. But since then, the rate has fallen more rapidly than expected. Mr Carney hurried to a gathering of business folk in Nottingham to explain that seven per cent was not some sort of automatic trigger for tighter policy. Er, so what is it then?
I fear that, however unworthy, the suspicion is taking root that the Governor may have chosen the target to fit his preferred policy rather than vise versa. If so, it probably won't be the first time this has happened in the UK.
3) Mis-spoken
I am putting together a list of words and phrases with very specific meanings that are routinely used incorrectly simply because they sound like a grander version of something else.
'Contingent liability' is one such. It is used as a wordier version of 'liability', i.e. to describe a position in which someone is liable to do something or pay someone. A liability, in other words, that has been established.
But a 'contingent liability' will become established only if something else happens. It is upon this 'something else' that it is contingent.
Here's another: 'deadweight cost'. Again, this is used as a ten-guinea version of the bog-standard 'cost', as in: 'Layers of middle management represent a deadweight cost for British businesses.' Deadweight cost is just a heavier and more burdensome cost.
Except that it isn't
A deadweight cost is a specific economic expression, best illustrated by imagining that you visit your local butcher and are told that 2lbs of corner cut is being sold at half price, £6 instead of £12. Imagine the butcher's delight when you respond to this brilliant piece of marketing by ordering 2lbs of corner cut!
What the butcher does not know is that it was this joint that you had come to the shop to buy - at the old price. The deadweight cost of the transaction for the butcher is £6.
How about 'cross-infection', now bandied around as a double-barreled way of saying 'infection'? Its proper use relates to hospitals and other places of medical care, in which one patient is infected by another.
Any other examples gratefully received.
4) Raising a glass to Classless
MY review of A Classless Society: Britain in the 1990s, by Alwyn W. Turner has now been published by Lobster magazine. The link is
http://lobster-magazine.co.uk/free/lobster66/lob66-classless-society.pdf
5) 'Now you're a pillar of society'
BACK in the Eighties and early Nineties, colleagues and I used to predict that, in the event of shock election victory for the Monster Raving Loony Party, it would take about one week before Screaming Lord Sutch and Tarquin Biscuitbarrel would appear in dark suits explaning the need for a tough public spending round and a credible anti-inflation policy.
Such is the sinuous ability of the British establishment to turn wild men into conformists.
Now it is the turn of Nigel Farage and his UK Independence Party. Remember UKIP? It was the outfit that was no way going to bow down to political correctness. No sir.
Now we find out that some joker called Godfrey Bloom MEP has had the whip withdrawn for making stupid and disobliging remarks to some female activists. This, apparently, is now a hanging offence in UKIP, just as in all the other parties.
Welcome to the political class, Nigel.
PPS: This is now my new site. Thanks again for your patience while it was being set up. I hope you enjoy the weekend.
dan.atkinson@live.co.uk
Going South: Why Britain Will Have A Third World Economy By 2014, by Larry Elliott and Dan Atkinson is published by Palgrave Macmillan
September 21, 2013 in Author: Dan Atkinson , Economy, City & rates | Permalink | Comments (0)
13 June 2012 1:59 PM
Stealing jobs from the youth? Actually, encouraging older workers helps young Britons
The number of those above the state retirement age still working has surged in the past two decades, up from 753,000 in 1993 to 1.4million last year.
This may be pressed on some - those forced back to work by a financial crisis that has derailed the savings plans of millions - and feel deeply unfair.
But older working is a trend that will boost Britain's overall prosperity. The UK has a huge demographic bulge of those aged 45 to 66. The impact of these post-war baby boomers retiring – spending less and paying less tax – will impede the economy for another decade [more on this].
Anything that helps dissipate that demographic tsunami should be embraced.
And in any case, why wouldn't the government want to harness the workplace wisdom and decades of experience built up by older workers?
But isn't this older generation stealing jobs from the young? This, economists say, is the 'the lump of labour fallacy' – the belief that there is a fixed number of jobs in the economy. In reality, the economy expands, broadly, with the size of the workforce – one of the reasons for political acceptance of immigration.
Jeffrey Zax, an economics professor at the University of Colarado, has a pithy explanation. 'No one within the field of economics believes that, but it's a perpetual myth that we've never succeeded in killing as we would like to,' he told Reuters.
'Work comes from the ability to do something useful, and there is no fixed limit on how many useful things can be done,' he added. 'History shows we are always thinking of new things to do that are useful. So what determines how much work is possible is how much useful work there is to do.'
He said: 'Businesses and jobs come and go. None of us want to experience that personally because of the uncertainty, but the economy is always creating new opportunities.'
Research by the over-50s organisation Saga shows 70% of its members want to carry on working part-time beyond their official retirement date and not just for the money, but for 'work satisfaction, feeling useful and the social benefits'.
Government policy should do everything possible to support that.
T: @andrew_oxlade
June 13, 2012 in Economy, City & rates | Permalink | Comments (10)
How to find out what country a euro note is from
As forecasts hit fever pitch of Greece being bundled out of the euro, there was bound to be plenty of wild speculation – and a snippet doing the rounds is that holidaymakers should be worried about holding Greek euro notes.
Travel firm DialaFlight even posted a blog, swiftly removed, making some fairly bold claims about whether Greek euro notes would prove worthless if the troubled nation fell out of the currency.
It asked: 'Will other members of the Eurozone accept them? If not anyone holding Greek Euros may find themselves out of pocket.'
'Greek euro notes,' I hear you cry. 'But surely the whole point – of this euro experiment was that everybody has exactly the same money?'
And that is true. The euro is a common currency, entirely equal across all nations, and while it is printed in individual member countries, wherever your note comes from the design is exactly the same.
But while the Eurocrats would have you believe that each of those notes is absolutely equal, there is one tiny crucial difference that lets you see where they come from. That involves a little-known trick I learnt about a few years ago.
Continue reading "How to find out what country a euro note is from" »
May 16, 2012 in Author: Simon Lambert , Economy, City & rates , Funny money , Spending it | Permalink | Comments (5)
Desperate measures? Kew of Kensington promotes its very early summer sale
This picture is actually rather tragic - so desperate is Kew of Kensington in London to promote its £25 off summer dress offer (in early May) that its big sign almost totally obscures its window display.
The double-dip recession is clearly hitting hard, if the patrons of one of the wealthiest Hign Streets in the country need this kind of come-on to splash out on a new frock.
If you want to see the 'selected dresses' behind that massive sign, click here. (You're welcome for the plug, Kew.)
May 4, 2012 in Author: Tanya Jefferies , Customer service , Economy, City & rates , Spending it , The Great Depression | Permalink | Comments (0)
30 April 2012 5:15 PM
Recession or No Recession: Europe's interactive slump map
Spain has now officially joined Britain in recession, but how is the rest of Europe faring.
Thankfully for those of us who will admit to being a bit economics and chart geeky, this rather brilliant interactive map from Reuters delivers the answer to that and much more at your fingertips.
Continue reading "Recession or No Recession: Europe's interactive slump map" »
April 30, 2012 in Author: Simon Lambert , Economy, City & rates | Permalink | Comments (3)
What awful vision has persuaded Adam 'low rates' Posen to rethink his position on money printing?
The Bank of England, it seems, is finally getting a bit nervous about inflation.
Once you've finished screaming 'told you so!' there's some important shifts here to digest.
Firstly, official figures showed inflation, which had been falling, rose a smidgen in March.
Then BoE Deputy Governor Paul Tucker gave a speech acknowledging inflation as a problem.
Continue reading "What awful vision has persuaded Adam 'low rates' Posen to rethink his position on money printing?" »
April 18, 2012 in Economy, City & rates , Interest rates , Saving, investing & banking | Permalink | Comments (1)
Rising Icelandic house prices hold a lesson for bankrupt Greece and Portugal
The cost of property has long been cheaper in France than in the UK - but the gap is closing.
A European house price league table this week revealed last year's losers – Ireland, Spain and Cyprus – and the winners – Germany, France and Norway. [read the full story | read the full RICS report]
Most startling, however, was 2011's outright winner – Iceland, where prices surged 8%. There could be a lesson in this.
Continue reading "Rising Icelandic house prices hold a lesson for bankrupt Greece and Portugal" »
February 29, 2012 in Economy, City & rates , House prices & property | Permalink | Comments (2)
Cameron and Clegg gush over new shelf-stacking and burger-flipping jobs
The Government has welcomed announcements of new jobs at Asda and McDonald's with fulsome words of praise in the past couple of days.
The creation of an extra 5,000 posts at Asda this year merited an excursion to company headquarters and a staff Q&A session by Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday.
He said the expansion of WalMart-owned Asda was 'a real boost for the economy and more importantly for people around Britain seeking jobs'.
Continue reading "Cameron and Clegg gush over new shelf-stacking and burger-flipping jobs" »
January 24, 2012 in Author: Tanya Jefferies , City & business , Economy, City & rates | Permalink | Comments (2)
Chart of the day: Do you feel better off than a year ago?
Much has been made of the big financial squeeze. But if this chart, published by Vocalink, is to be believed, its effect should feel less constricting than it did a year ago.
Back then inflation was soaring while wage rises fell back to nothing. The gap remains wide, with wages continuing to fall behind price rises, but the situation has improved.
Why? Well, sadly this was no bounce back in the fortunes of the economy but due largely to a raft of tax changes.
This chart shows how average take-home wages - pay after tax and other deductions - surged higher in April and May last year.
Changes to the income tax and National Insurance system helped low earners, leaving someone on £7,475 a year £275 better off. But high and medium earners found themselves paying more.
So whether the squeeze has eased for you depends on your salary bracket - and what you buy. We'd like to hear your experience of the big squeeze...
@andrew_oxlade
January 17, 2012 in Economy, City & rates , Holidays, bills & cars | Permalink | Comments (2)
High Speed Two: Reasons to be fearful
That a UK government is willing to put £17billion into the rail system is news that should normally delight. Then you find out that it is going into High Speed Two (HS2) and you pause for thought.
I'm not completely sceptical of this project – I'm probably 75% sceptical of it. As you have to be with any massive expenditure whose infrastructural and economic benefits are far from certain.
As with the Olympic 'legacy' (ugh), the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. Or in the gagging.
It will be interesting to look back in 20 years' time and see whether we did have reasons to be fearful, but here is why I'm sceptical of HS2:
Continue reading "High Speed Two: Reasons to be fearful" »
January 10, 2012 in Author: Adrian Lowery , Economy, City & rates , Green & ethical spending , Holidays, bills & cars | Permalink | Comments (7)


Long story short, when the game came out i felt frustrated how the movelists looked, not only low res, but with lots of small errors, render wise and alignment of elements.
Based on Art by Mane6 and incorporates Images from their released MediaKit.
Two different versions will be available, one with black background and one with transparent background with black outline around text and inputs. If there is a specific version you wish i should add, just send me a message.
Update: Fixed numerous alignment issues (arrows, texts). The difference isn't as noticeable on most pages.


The Open Education Consortium in collaboration with MERLOT offers a search engine on OER (Open Educational Resources). OER are openly licensed online educational materials that allow teachers and students to freely use, share, and modify. General search yields results from the integrated database of the Open Education Consortium and MERLOT.


text:
TheInfoList
Click Here for Items Related To - Broadcast Media
Distribution of audio or audiovisual content to dispersed audiences
Broadcasting antenna in Stuttgart
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model.[1][2] Broadcasting began with AM radio, which came into popular use around 1920 with the spread of vacuum tube radio transmitters and receivers. Before this, all forms of electronic communication (early radio, telephone, and telegraph) were one-to-one, with the message intended for a single recipient. The term broadcasting evolved from its use as the agricultural method of sowing seeds in a field by casting them broadly about.[3] It was later adopted for describing the widespread distribution of information by printed materials[4] or by telegraph.[5] Examples applying it to "one-to-many" radio transmissions of an individual station to multiple listeners appeared as early as 1898.[6]
Over the air broadcasting is usually associated with radio and television, though in recent years, both radio and television transmissions have begun to be distributed by cable (cable television). The receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively small subset; the point is that anyone with the appropriate receiving technology and equipment (e.g., a radio or television set) can receive the signal. The field of broadcasting includes both government-managed services such as public radio, community radio and public television, and private commercial radio and commercial television. The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, title 47, part 97 defines "broadcasting" as "transmissions intended for reception by the general public, either direct or relayed".[7] Private or two-way telecommunications transmissions do not qualify under this definition. For example, amateur ("ham") and citizens band (CB) radio operators are not allowed to broadcast. As defined, "transmitting" and "broadcasting" are not the same.
Transmission of radio and television programs from a radio or tel
Transmission of radio and television programs from a radio or television station to home receivers by radio waves is referred to as "over the air" (OTA) or terrestrial broadcasting and in most countries requires a broadcasting license. Transmissions using a wire or cable, like cable television (which also retransmits OTA stations with their consent), are also considered broadcasts but do not necessarily require a license (t
Transmission of radio and television programs from a radio or television station to home receivers by radio waves is referred to as "over the air" (OTA) or terrestrial broadcasting and in most countries requires a broadcasting license. Transmissions using a wire or cable, like cable television (which also retransmits OTA stations with their consent), are also considered broadcasts but do not necessarily require a license (though in some countries, a license is required). In the 2000s, transmissions of television and radio programs via streaming digital technology have increasingly been referred to as broadcasting as well.
The earliest broadcasting consisted of sending telegraph signals over the airwaves, using Morse code, a system developed in the 1830s by Samuel F.B. Morse, physicist Joseph Henry and Alfred Vail. They developed an electrical telegraph system which sent pulses of electric current along wires which controlled an electromagnet that was located at the receiving end of the telegraph system. A code was needed to transmit natural language using only these pulses, and the silence between them. Morse therefore developed the forerunner to modern International Morse code. This was particularly important for ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communication, but it became increasingly important for business and general news reporting, and as an arena for personal communication by radio amateurs (Douglas, op. cit.). Audio broadcasting began experimentally in the first decade of the 20th century. By the early 1920s radio broadcasting became a household medium, at first on the AM band and later on FM. Television broadcasting started experimentally in the 1920s and became widespread after World War II, using VHF and UHF spectrum. Satellite broadcasting was initiated in the 1960s and moved into general industry usage in the 1970s, with DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellites) emerging in the 1980s.
Originally all broadcasting was composed of analog signals using analog transmission techniques but in the 2000s, broadcasters have switched to digital signals using digital transmission. In general usage, broadcasting most frequently refers to the transmission of information and entertainment programming from various sources to the general public.
Analog audio vs. HD Radio
Analog television vs. Digital television
The world's technological capacity to receive information through one-way broadcast networks more than quadrupled during the two decades from 1986 to 2007, from 432 exabytes of (optimally compressed) information, to 1.9 zettabytes.[8] This is the information equivalent of 55 newspapers per person per day in 1986, and 175 newspapers per person per day by 2007.[9]
How To Use theinfolist.com
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Should everyone have to follow the rules of a public pool, or should some people be exempt because they have their own set of rules?
According to USA Today, it's the fourth year Tahsiyn A. Ismaa'eel has taken children, participants in her summer Arabic enrichment program, to Wilmington's Foster Brown public pool. But this year marked the first time some of her elementary schoolers were asked to leave the pool, Ismaa'eel said — supposedly because they were wearing cotton shirts; shorts; and hijabs, or headscarves.
The pool manager said it's against city policy to wear cotton in public pools, according to Ismaa'eel. If it's a rule, Ismaa'eel said, "it's never been enforced." To pick on her group is discrimination, she said.
Ismaa'eel, who wears a hijab with a niqab covering her face, said she told the manager she would relay the message to the program parents. But that didn't resolve the issue.
"She (later) had a police officer come over and ask what time we were leaving," Ismaa'eel said.
A city officer often sits in a patrol car outside the pool, she noted, but it's unusual for officers to enter the facility.
"She said there are people waiting to get in and waiting for you to leave," Ismaa'eel said of the officer.
Mayor Mike Purzycki's office declined to be interviewed about the incident. In an emailed statement, John Rago, the mayor's deputy chief of staff for policy and communication, said the supposed cotton ban is a safety issue.
Neither set of rules makes any mention of cotton.


text:
@interface PodsDummy_AYCLib : NSObject
@end
@implementation PodsDummy_AYCLib
@end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Two peaks in the incidence of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) occur in pediatric patients: infants younger than 1 year and adolescents 15 to 18 years of age. Although the incidence of IMD is highest in infants, the case-fatality rate is highest in adolescents (∼20%). Epidemiologic studies also have demonstrated increased risk of IMD among college freshman living in dormitories compared with other college students and similarly aged persons in the general population. At least 75% of cases of IMD in 11- to 18-year-olds are caused by serogroups A, C, Y, and W-135; thus, IMD potentially is preventable by immunization with quadrivalent meningococcal vaccines. Meningococcal A, C, Y, W-135 conjugate vaccine (MCV4) was licensed in 2005 for use in people 11 to 55 years of age. On the basis of data indicating increased risk of meningococcal disease and fatality among certain adolescents and college students, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends administration of MCV4 to young adolescents (at the 11- to 12-year visit), students entering high school or 15-year-olds, and college freshmen who will be living in dormitories. For pediatric patients 11 years and older who are at increased risk of meningococcal disease, MCV4 also is recommended. The purposes of this statement are to provide the rationale for routine use of MCV4 in adolescents and to update recommendations for use of the meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine in pediatric patients.
Each year, 1400 to 3000 cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) occur in the United States, reflecting the 5- to 7-year cycles in incidence.1 Although the annual incidence of IMD is relatively low, ranging from 0.5 to 1.1 per 100000 population (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]), case-fatality rates and sequelae among survivors are appreciable. Death occurs in ∼10% to 14% of cases, and significant sequelae including limb or digit amputation, skin scarring, neurologic disabilities, and hearing loss occur in 11% to 19% of cases.2 Although only a portion of these cases present clinically as meningitis, Neisseriameningitidis has become the leading cause of bacterial meningitis in children after the dramatic reductions in the incidence of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae type b infections achieved after introduction of conjugate vaccines for these pathogens.
The incidence of IMD in pediatric patients has 2 peaks. The highest incidence of meningococcal disease is in infants younger than 12 months, but a second, lower peak occurs during adolescence.2 Adolescents 15 years or older are more likely than infants and children to have meningococcemia without meningitis (40% vs 20%, respectively), shock at presentation (69% vs 27%, respectively), and a fatal outcome (22.5% vs 4.6%, respectively).3 Not surprisingly then, adolescents have the highest case-fatality rate (estimated at ∼20%) of any age group. Survivors at any age are at risk of permanent sequelae.
The overall case-fatality rate of IMD in children and adults in the United States is 10% to 14%.2 From 1991 to 2002, the highest incidence of IMD in the United States (9.2 per 100000) was among infants younger than 1 year (Fig 1); the rate among adolescents 11 to 19 years of age (1.2 per 100000) also was higher than that for the general population. Thirty-eight percent of IMD cases were observed in infants and children younger than 11 years, but adolescents had the highest case-fatality rate (∼20%).
Burden of disease (percentage of cases) and rates of invasive meningococcal disease (all serogroups) in the United States, 1991–2002, according to age (CDC, Active Bacterial Core surveillance).2 The solid line correlates with rate per 100000 population, and bars correlate with burden of disease.
Certain patients are at increased risk of IMD, including patients with deficiency of the terminal complement pathway (C5-C9) or C3 and patients with anatomic or functional asplenia (ie, sickle cell disease). Healthy children also can be at increased risk of meningococcal disease if they are traveling to or living in areas outside the United States where IMD is hyperendemic or epidemic or if they are involved in a confirmed outbreak.
In the United States, more than 98% of cases of IMD in children and adults are sporadic, but since 1991, the frequency of localized outbreaks has increased, especially in schools.6 The proportion of meningococcal disease caused by serogroup Y has increased from 2% in 1989–19917 to 37% in 1997–2002.2 Currently, serogroups B, C, and Y are the major causes of IMD in the United States, each being responsible for approximately one third of all cases. The proportion of cases caused by each serogroup varies by age group; more than half of cases among infants younger than 1 year are caused by serogroup B, for which no vaccine is licensed or available in the United States.8 Seventy-five percent of all cases of meningococcal disease in people 11 to 18 years of age are caused by serogroups (A, C, Y, or W-135) included in currently available vaccines.2 The incidence of IMD caused by these vaccine-preventable serotypes peaks in people 18 years of age (1.8 per 100000), is beginning to increase substantially at 15 years of age, and decreases by 19 years of age (Fig 2).
Although ample data define the risk for IMD among certain college students, there are no studies among adolescents in living circumstances that may be similar to college dormitories (boarding schools, "sleep-away" camps, etc). In the absence of data establishing increased risk, adolescents in these circumstances should be immunized only if they fall into a recommended group by age or underlying medical condition.
In 2000, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases1,5 concluded that college students who live in dormitories are at increased risk of meningococcal disease relative to other people their age. They recommended that college students and their parents be informed by health care professionals of the risks of meningococcal disease and potential benefits of immunization with MPSV4, that college and university health services facilitate implementation of educational programs concerning meningococcal disease and availability of immunization services, and that the vaccine be made available to those requesting immunization. As of August 2004, 31 states have adopted legislation requiring colleges to provide information on risks of meningococcal disease to matriculating students and students residing on campus. Eleven of those states mandate immunization of students living on campus unless an immunization waiver is provided.
There are 2 meningococcal vaccines licensed for use in children and adults. Menomune-A/C/Y/W-135 (MPSV4) was licensed in 1981 for use in children older than 2 years as well as adults and has been recommended by the AAP for use in these children only if they are at increased risk of meningococcal disease.4 Menactra (MCV4) was licensed in 2005 for use in children 11 years and older and adults through 55 years of age. Currently, MCV4 is being considered for licensure by the FDA for use in children 2 to 10 years of age.
MPSV4 (Menomune-A/C/Y/W-135) was licensed in the United States in 1981 on the basis of safety and immunogenicity data. Immunogenicity of this vaccine was compared with immunogenicity of an existing bivalent A and C meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine, which had demonstrated 97% efficacy against serogroup A and 90% efficacy against serogroup C meningococcal disease in military recruits.15 The immunologic criterion used for licensing was an increase in serum bactericidal activity (SBA) of fourfold or greater in 90% of adults 3 to 4 weeks after immunization.
MCV4 is a tetravalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (Menactra) that contains capsular polysaccharides from serogroups A, C, Y, and W-135 (4 μg each) conjugated to 48 μg of diphtheria toxoid. MCV4 is available only in single-dose (0.5-mL) vials; vaccine is administered as a single 0.5-mL dose. Protective concentrations of antibodies are achieved within 8 days of immunization.
Studies in military recruits conducted in the United States in the 1960s demonstrated that naturally acquired bactericidal antibodies measured by SBA confer protection from IMD. SBA titers of ≥1:4 using human serum as an exogenous complement source (hSBA) are considered to be the correlate of protection against serogroup C meningococcal disease.29 This correlate of protection was used in the recent licensure of monovalent serogroup C meningococcal conjugate vaccines in the United Kingdom without the requirement for clinical efficacy trials.30 However, immunogenicity data supporting the use of these conjugate vaccines were generated by a serum bactericidal assay using baby rabbit serum (rSBA), rather than human serum, as an exogenous complement source.
Additional evaluation of rSBA threshold values were performed by using vaccine efficacy estimates from postlicensure surveillance in the United Kingdom. Postlicensure surveillance data suggested that an rSBA 4 weeks after immunization of ≥1:8 was most consistent with the observed protective effect.31 On the basis of these efficacy estimates, rSBA titers of <1:8 were proposed to be predictive of susceptibility to IMD. The proportion of responders in various clinical trials of meningococcal C conjugate vaccines and on the group C seroprevalence study conducted before introduction of group C conjugate vaccines also provide evidence that rSBA titers of ≥1:8 correlate with short-term protection.32 There exist little or no similar data linking immune response to efficacy for serogroups A, Y, or W-135.
MCV4 was licensed on the basis of demonstrated noninferiority to MPSV4 for immunogenicity and safety. MPSV4 had been licensed on the basis of efficacy against serogroup A and C meningococcal disease in military recruits.33 The primary criterion in determining immunogenic noninferiority of MCV4 to MPSV4 was the percentage of adolescents and adults who had an increase in SBA of fourfold or greater after receiving MCV4 compared with the percentage of those after MPSV4 was used. However, for licensure of MCV4, an rSBA of ≥1:128 was considered as "protective," because it would not only predict short-term but also long-term clinical efficacy.
To date, the only data concerning reimmunization with MCV4 come from a study in which 76 adolescents previously immunized with MCV4 and 77 adolescents previously immunized with MPSV4 were compared with 88 age-matched vaccine-naive adolescents.34 rSBA was measured in sera from these adolescents before (day 0) and 8 and 28 days after immunization with MCV4 (Table 3). Adolescents initially immunized with MCV4 had higher rSBA GMT before reimmunization than adolescents initially immunized with MPSV4; this difference reached statistical significance for serogroup A (P < .001) and W-135 (P < .001) but not for serogroups C and Y. In addition, a higher percentage of adolescents initially immunized with MCV4 had protective rSBA titers of ≥1:128 compared with adolescents initially immunized with MPSV4 (Table 3). Vaccine-naive adolescents had low rSBA before immunization compared with adolescents who had received MCV4 or MPSV4 previously.
Response to reimmunization with MCV4 also was assessed by determining the percentage of adolescents initially immunized with MCV4 or MPSV4 with rSBA titers of ≥1:128 before (day 0) and 8 and 28 days after administration of MCV4 and with vaccine-naive controls. All adolescents in each of the 3 groups achieved rSBA titers of ≥1:128 28 days after MCV4 (Table 3). Subjects initially primed with MCV4 achieved higher rSBA GMTs compared with vaccine-naive controls for all serogroups except serogroup A.
Among adolescents 11 to 18 years of age, a randomized, controlled trial evaluated the immunogenicity and safety of MCV4 administered concomitantly with tetanus and diphtheria toxoids absorbed for adult use (Td; Sanofi Pasteur) versus Td administered concomitantly with placebo and then MCV4 administered 28 days later. Concomitant administration of Td and MCV4 did not adversely affect immune response to antigens in either vaccine.34 When MCV4 and Td were administered concomitantly, antibody response to diphtheria antigen 28 days after immunization was greater (diphtheria GMT: 120.9 IU/mL) than when Td and MCV4 were administered sequentially 28 days apart (diphtheria GMT: 8.4 IU/mL 28 days after Td dose).
Among adolescents 11 to 18 years of age, safety of administering MCV4 and MPSV4 was assessed in 2 randomized, controlled trials.34 The percentage of subjects reporting systemic adverse events was similar in both groups (Table 4). Approximately half of the adolescents experienced at least 1 systemic adverse reaction, but less than 5% experienced at least 1 severe systemic reaction. Fever was reported by 3.4% to 5.1% of adolescents who received MCV4 and by 2.5% to 3.0% of adolescents who received MPSV4, a difference that was not significant.
Immunization with MCV4 is contraindicated among people known to have hypersensitivity to any component of the vaccine, including diphtheria toxoid, and to dry, natural rubber latex, which is used in the vial stopper. Serious adverse events are rare in later allergic persons given vaccines from vials with rubber stoppers. Any adverse effect suspected to be associated with MCV4 vaccine should be reported to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (more information can be obtained by calling 800-822-7967 or by accessing the Web site at www.vaers.org).
Whether universal immunization of adolescents with tetravalent A, C, Y, W-135 meningococcal vaccine would result in a net cost or a net savings to society depends on IMD incidence, which varies by year, the rates of death or permanent sequelae, and the cost of immunization. A recent study from the CDC suggests that universal immunization of adolescents would be cost-effective.35 However, variations in the epidemiology of and outcomes from IMD by region make it impossible to generate a precise estimate of the cost benefit. If, as expected, universal adolescent immunization with MCV4 becomes a reality in the next few years, more precise estimates should become available.
The total cost of immunizing a single adolescent with MCV4 includes direct and indirect costs. The direct costs include supplies (eg, vaccine [MCV4 = $82.00 and MPSV4 = $86.10 per dose], syringe with needle), personnel, and administrative expenses. Public and private insurers should be responsible for payment of costs for MCV4. MCV4 is included in the Vaccines for Children program. For private insurers, avoiding financial responsibility by transferring this to intermediate risk-bearing entities (eg, independent practice associations or other physician groups), individual physicians, or college health services will result in adolescents not being immunized in a timely fashion. Physicians incur significant administrative expenses when ensuring that adolescents are immunized with recommended vaccines in a timely fashion, including explaining risk and benefits of immunization to adolescents and parents; ordering, purchasing, storing, and administering the vaccine; recording immunizations in records; and other activities. Physicians should receive reimbursement for expenses associated with each vaccine administration.
MCV4 has been licensed on the basis of safety and short-term immunogenicity data in adolescents. Several postmarketing studies are planned, including a study to evaluate the duration of antibody responses in participants who received a single dose of MCV4 vaccine or MPSV4 vaccine 5 and 10 years earlier and a study to evaluate safety and immunogenicity when MCV4 is given concomitantly with tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis vaccine. However, vaccine effectiveness and herd immunity based on the ability of MCV4 to alter transmission patterns cannot be predicted from immunogenicity data alone. Information on MCV4 effectiveness, duration of protection, and herd-immunity effects obtained from MCV4 evaluation studies will be indispensable in guiding prevention policies and formulating recommendations for immunization in other age groups.
MCV4 and other meningococcal conjugate vaccines may be licensed in the United States in the near future for use in other age groups, including children 2 to 10 years of age and infants. Such vaccines are undergoing clinical trials and are likely to be more immunogenic in infants and young children compared with MPSV4, which currently is the only meningococcal vaccine licensed in the United States for use in young children.
Because of the potential limitations of these vaccines, other new approaches to meningococcal serogroup B vaccines are being pursued. With the recent sequencing of the serogroup B meningococcal genome, several new genes encoding putative membrane proteins have been identified, suggesting potential new targets for serogroup B vaccines. The availability of new meningococcal conjugate vaccines as well as the pursuit of new vaccine strategies should lead to substantial improvements in control and prevention of meningococcal disease in the United States and globally.
Although the signs and symptoms of IMD frequently are nonspecific, increasing awareness of meningococcal disease can result in people seeking medical care earlier and improved clinical outcome. In addition, educating adolescents and their parents about the benefits of receiving MCV4 is critical to prevention of a substantial number of cases of IMD. However, parents and adolescents must understand that MCV4 will not prevent all meningococcal disease, and at least 25% of cases in adolescents are caused by serogroup B.1 Educating the general public about the benefits of being immunized with MCV4 may foster increased immunization coverage rates for adolescents and substantially decrease the burden of meningococcal disease in the United States.
MCV4 offers advantages over MPSV4. First, it demonstrates a T-cell–dependent characteristic so that children given a second dose have an anamnestic or booster response not found after a second dose of MPSV4. Second, the elevated rSBA 3 years after MCV4 but not after MPSV4 immunization in adolescents suggests a longer duration of immunity than with MPSV4. Third, the experience in the United Kingdom with the monovalent meningococcal serogroup C conjugate vaccine demonstrating a reduction in nasopharyngeal carriage of that serogroup in immunized infants and children as well as herd immunity affecting nonimmunized children suggests that MCV4 also will have similar effects, although data will be necessary to demonstrate these characteristics. Finally, MCV4 should induce antibodies against most strains causing IMD among adolescents 11 years or older.
Because the initial supply of MCV4 will be limited for the next 2 to 3 years, initially only 2 cohorts can be recommended to be immunized routinely. The first cohort, young adolescents at the 11- to 12-year visit, was selected because this is the age at which a booster dose of Td already is recommended and when well visits to the pediatrician are more likely to occur than in older adolescents.2 The AAP also emphasizes the importance of more pediatric patients of this age having well visits for preventive services other than immunization. A recommendation to immunize all 11- to 12-year-olds, therefore, not only is more likely to be feasible compared with older adolescents but also should be associated with enhancing the importance of the young adolescent visit. The second cohort, entering high school students or 15-year-olds, whichever comes first, was chosen on the basis of 2 factors: the peak IMD incidence and routine medical visits by adolescents 13 years and older. The peak incidence of disease occurs after 15 years of age, but less than 20% of adolescents 16 to 18 years of age have routine medical visits to pediatricians. Some states already have high school entry laws requiring certain vaccines. Once MCV4 supply is abundant, routine immunization of all adolescents likely will be recommended. Also, within 3 years, information on duration of immunity and need for reimmunization, if any, should become available. To date, the vaccine uptake by adolescents suggests that pediatricians should do everything possible to use other medical visits (eg, sports or camp preparticipation physical examinations or evaluations for minor illnesses such as upper respiratory tract infections) to ensure that recommended vaccines are administered.
Two cohorts of adolescents should be immunized routinely with MCV4: (1) young adolescents at the 11- to 12-year visit; and (2) adolescents at high school entry or 15 years of age, whichever comes first (both evidence grade I [see the Appendix ]). Within 3 years, the goal will be routine immunization of all adolescents with MCV4 beginning at 11 years of age.
Adolescents should visit a health care professional at 11 to 12 years of age, when immunization status and other preventive services can be addressed. Subsequent annual visits throughout adolescence also are recommended.
Entering college students who plan to live in dormitories should be immunized with MCV4 routinely (evidence grade II-2).
People at increased risk of meningococcal disease should be immunized with MCV4 if they are at least 11 years of age, including • adolescents who have a terminal complement deficiency or adolescents who have anatomic or functional asplenia (evidence grade II-3); or • adolescents who travel to or reside in countries in which N meningitidis is hyperendemic or epidemic (CDC Travelers' Health Hotline 877-FYI-TRIP or online at www.cdc.gov/travel) (evidence grade II-3).
Because people with HIV infection are likely to be at higher risk of meningococcal disease, although not to the extent that they are at risk of invasive S pneumoniae infection, they may elect to be immunized with MCV4 if they are at least 11 years of age.
Children 2 to 10 years of age at increased risk of meningococcal disease (see recommendations 3 and 4) should be immunized with MPSV4, because MCV4 is not yet licensed for use in these children.
People who wish to decrease their risk of meningococcal disease may elect to receive MCV4 if they are 11 years or older.
For control of meningococcal outbreaks caused by vaccine-preventable serogroups (A, C, Y, or W-135), MPSV4 or MCV4 should be used for people 11 years or older (evidence grade II-2). MCV4 is preferred, but MPSV4 is acceptable. For children 2 to 10 years of age, MPSV4 should be used.
Immunization with MCV4 may be indicated for adolescents previously immunized with MPSV4. These people should be considered for reimmunization 3 to 5 years after receiving MPSV4 if they remain at increased risk of meningococcal disease.
Public and private insurers should be responsible for payment of costs of MCV4, its administration to adolescents for whom MCV4 is recommended, and administrative costs involved in providing vaccines to high-risk people.


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GUEST BLOG: My best meeting at the Develop Conference
After returning from the Develop Conference in Brighton this week, Mike Bithell - Develop Award-winning developer of Thomas was Alone - wrote this magical blog for Develop Online about his chance meeting with an ageing coder.
The conference, well, it kinda rocked for me this year. The volunteer stewards kept recognising me. I got to hang out with a ton of awesome journos, devs and the charming as hell Pewdie. I won a hefty award. I ate donuts on a beach. It was a good three days. But one meeting stands out.
On the Wednesday morning, I wandered into the restaurant at the conference's venue bleary eyed. It was later than I'd like, and I knew I'd missed the Cerny keynote. I was gutted. I'm a bit of a Sony fan. I queued, surrounded by holidayers and pensioners, looking around for anyone I knew to chat with over buffet scrambled eggs and single serving jam sachets. Nobody. I was, alone.
Except I wasn't. In front of me in the queue stood a short, elderly lady, politely waiting her turn to be seated. We bonded, mocking the complexity of the breakfast buffet's seating arrangements, and the manager's insistence on precision. I think the manager may have overheard my giggling, as she came over and suggested that as we were 'getting along so well, maybe we'd like to sit together to take up less room'.
And so we did. I saw a couple of chuckling industry folks as we sat down for our breakfast date (and a fair few more nodding approval at me for keeping the lady company) but we got on well.
I went through the predictable small talk list when confronted by a woman of extended years. "Do you holiday in Brighton often?", "What do your children do?", "Have you met any interesting people on the coach trip?". We had a laugh, and I grew less and less concerned about missing the keynote.
And then she asked it, the question I fear from anyone over 50, the question that instantly turns me from 'charming young man' to 'peddler of filth and innocence corruption'.
"What do you do?"
I explained that I made games, not the ones with guns, but more artsy pretentious fare. She talked about her grandchildren's love of iPad games, but how she never could work them out, despite really enjoying animation growing up (she equated games to animation, which I liked). We chatted a bit about that, but then, conversation dried up. Searching, I tried a question that I was surprised hadn't occurred to me earlier..
"What did you do before retirement? Before having a family I mean?"
"I programmed architectural simulations"
I was astonished. Turns out the woman I'd pigeonholed as an 'old lady' was creating programs to balance bridges and ensure scaffolding held up in the early 70s. She was a physics programmer. At this point, I may have freaked her out a little with my enthusiasm. We chatted more about the systems she created before marriage and children whisked her off to the gender expectations of her day. She confided the many times she'd snuck out of the office to watch Popeye cartoons in the cinema. She was a fan of two things in her early 20s, programming and animation.
I leaned in, and in a staggered whisper I murmured, "If you'd been born 50 years later, you'd be an indie game developer like me".
She chuckled at this and nodded, we then had a 10 minute conversation about how character move speeds in games are calculated. She promised to pay a bit more attention next time she watched her grandchildren playing games.
Best meeting ever. And a story to tell the next idiot who tells me women 'don't get' games programming.
Labels: Develop Awards, Develop Conference, Develop in Brighton, developers, game development, Mike Bithell, Thomas Was Alone, women in games
GUEST BLOG: Vive la punk!
As much as I don't like to admit it, I'm an old bastard, having been in the industry in various forms for 20 plus years and working with the team at Sports Interactive for 19 years.
In that time, I've seen a lot of changes. 20 years ago, hardly anyone was using email for a start, let alone high speed interweb that many people take as a human right nowadays. We've gone from bedroom coding, to being told that the only way to survive was to be a huge multi-project, multi-studio indie, from indie being the only way, to publisher owned being the only way, no studio IP ownership to Angry Birds toothpaste, from console being the only way to go, to mobile being the only way, and pretty much everyone up until a couple of years ago claiming that the PC was dead (for the record, we've done pretty well on PC constantly through this period).
It's all been pretty exciting. We're very lucky to be part of a constantly changing industry – the only stable thing being the entertainment we provide to people who play our games. But right now, for me, it is the most exciting the industry has ever been.
Effectively, we're going through punk.
Barriers to entry have, by and large, been removed. You can now make a game using one of the many platform tools available for next to nothing, and publish it yourself for Windows, Linux, Mac or Android with no barriers at all. Getting onto some of the digital retail platforms is harder, but in Steam Greenlight's case, democratic. There are a few hurdles to cross on some of the others, but none of them unsurpassable. Unless you want to be on Xbox, but I expect that'll change.
People making games in their spare time, and having hits. People able to make games around themes that they want to work on, rather than what the market tells you will sell. I'm very lucky in that, at SI, we've always made the games that we want to make with little interference, but I'm well aware that most in the last 20 years haven't had that luxury.
Of course, this new punk isn't utopia. There are still huge problems with discoverability no matter what platform you are on. I can name a lot of games that I thought would be a lot more successful than they have been, and others that have simply not been picked up on at all. When you have tens of thousands of games coming out a month, not all can be successful. But at least people are trying.
I see in the press a lot of the woes the industry has been through and still faces. But I don't see enough celebration of the success stories, such as the dozens of teams that have gone from being made redundant to releasing their own creativity, the tools that give the power to the devs, the new IP so desperately needed to push the industry forward (hey – sports games are immune to criticism there, OK!)
What's been really great for me to see has been the camaraderie amongst the new breed, particularly in the UK. I'm lucky to have met many of the devs and teams, both socially and via my work at UKIE, and it's brilliant to see people helping each other out with discoverability which is the key to success – let's not go the way of punk and let jealousy get in the way of getting creative work recognised. Or spit on each other. That would be bad.
Some old school publishers are learning, too. Those who aren't fixated on next gen consoles and hundred million dollar budgets have either worked on their future business models already, or, well, just like so many record labels in the punk era, they won't survive. They can certainly help with marketing, PR and finances for those projects that need it and, in many cases, will get extra sales on titles – but the best have learnt that they are not the talent who makes the games.
You, the developers reading this, are the talent. Make great games. The rest will follow. Vive la punk.
This blog was written by Miles Jacobson, managing director of Sports Interactive and Develop Conference advisory board member. Contact him on Twitter @milessi
Labels: Advisory Board, Develop Conference, Develop in Brighton, developers, game development, Indie Dev Marketing, Miles Jacobson, new development, social games, video games
GUEST BLOG: TALK ABOUT LUCKY
"Have you seen this game, Hunters?", he said.
"Umm, yes, in fact my company created it." I replied in mild shock.
"Cool." he stated. His very words mirroring his disposition.
"Thanks... Why are you heading out to LA?" I asked, still recovering from having met an actual player of our game.
"Oh, I'm the Head of Licensing at Games Workshop." he replied
"......", speechless.
That's how we met the Games Workshop head of licensing. Sat beside one another on a random plane trip to Los Angeles. Back then Laurent (co-founder and business director at Rodeo) and I didn't even fathom it would be the first steps down the path to us releasing an iOS version of their much loved Warhammer Quest. We were just enjoying meeting one of our childhood heroes! Time passes, and since then we've spoken to dozens of people about the inception of the project. The response is universally always the same....
"Wow! Talk about lucky!!"
I guess on the face of it, yes, it sounds more like a lottery winner story than Branson self-made-man style tale. However, as is often true of these anecdotes in our industry, meeting that particular man on that particular plane was inevitable because of how we'd positioned ourselves previously. Let me explain why...
Focus, know exactly who you are and what you do.
"We make the best turn-based strategy games on iOS". That's our company M.O. We have three games with a metacritic above 80 in our stable so far, and a hardcore group of fans who follow us for because they "get" what we're trying to attain. We know who we are, and we know who we aren't Dual stick shooters, gesture based sports titles, even flower growing sims are all experiences we've played and enjoyed. However, as a developer, our passion lies within the turn based arena. It's something we've created a foundation for, and continue to build upon. It's where we excel, what we love, and ultimately the fuel that runs our strange developmental machine. That single statement clearly explains to any outside force (whether fan, publisher, license holder, potential hire, etc), what our company is.
We know what we do. Come join us if you share our passion.
Have a solid history of games displaying the field you specialise in.
As I mentioned. At time of writing, we have three 80 and above metacritic titles. When we had the Games Workshop plane encounter we only had a lonesome release, Hunters: Episode One. However, Hunters 2 was in showable development, and was essentially a bigger and better version of the first title. Weekend philosophers say a picture is worth a thousand words... an entire game must be worth a billion. When a prospective partner can see and play your work, you're no longer theorizing and explaining. THEY are experiencing. From that experience it's much easier to envision how an existing license could work within your gameplay. I doubt many companies would entrust their hard-crafted licenses to a developer with no prior record.
Be visible.
This may sounds like a ridiculously obvious point. It's funny though to see how many developers and people in general overlook it. Say, for example, you're looking for a girlfriend / boyfriend. Would you sit at home, waiting for that perfect partner to chance a knock on your front door declaring their love. Ok, fine, if George Clooney is reading this, then feel free to ignore that last statement. However, the point still remains that no-one knows you. We knew that in our first year we'd really struggle to get our name out there. So, we attended conferences, shows, drinks nights, quizzes, all sorts, just to meet people. Ok, let's face it, these functions are generally a lot of fun as well so I'd be hard pressed to say it was all work. Facebook, twitter, blogs and websites all count towards the goal in their way. As the world of dating will tell you though, nothing is as good as a face to face!
It won't happen overnight. We still have a long way to go before Rodeo Games becomes even a vaguely recognisable industry name, but we'd have even further to go without all the founding effort.
Know what things you love.
...and by that, I don't mean love EVERYTHING. Just some things. Be passionate about them. In no particular order a few of my object loves are: Dinosaurs, Games Workshop, Sharks, Forests, Computer Games, Cats, Movies (Can't believe Universal gave Jurassic Park to another developer. Grrrr). Anyway, why does this matter I hear you ask? Let's take the plane encounter with GW as an example. We didn't talk about how we could make them millions. Or how we could take their next digital business to the next level. Our conversation consisted of which BloodBowl teams we fielded. Why Fantasy Chaos Armies were so ridiculously overpowered about fifteen years ago, and why Space Wolves will always be cooler than Ultramarines (I feel I should point out the views of Rodeo Games do not reflect those of Games Workshop!). The love of subject matter shone through and in some way affected the final outcome. I'm pretty sure that if the seat next to me was occupied by a representative from Hasbro, we wouldn't be making a Transformers game right now.
Ending on a point that seems so spectacularly simple, yet so many overlook... Know your business.
Don't be the guy we've all seen on Dragons Den who doesn't know his numbers. It's embarrassing and creates a terrible impression. If you've made the rather large steps of first creating a company and then putting yourself out there, take five minutes to know the ropes. Learn the difference between gross and net profits (Branson claimed to not know....I think he may be fibbing). Know how many units you sold in week one. Understand how advertising in games works, even if you don't currently use it. Let knowledge be the armour that shields you from the lances of questioning and pressure. Did you ever not study for an exam? Actually I did once...and turned up drunk...though that's probably a story for another time.
Know yourself, your business and your loves. Then get out there! You never know who you might meet.
Ben Murch will be talking at the Develop Conference on Wednesday 10 July http://ow.ly/mt1Mj
Labels: Ben Murch, Develop Conference, Develop in Brighton, developers, game development, mobile games, new development, video games
GUEST BLOG: IT'S ALWAYS THE NEW, NEW THING IN VIDEO GAMES
"In all the time I spent with him, I never once heard him refer to his ability to see the future. He couldn't see it – that's why he had to grope for it. He would be seized by some overwhelming enthusiasm . . . and he would be off and running down some long, dark tunnel leading God knew where. . . ."
– Michael Lewis, The New New Thing
Virtual reality helmet designed by Toshiba
What's that? You foresaw the modern era of games?
No you didn't. Maybe you saw multiplayer gaming over modems moving to the Internet, and games being slowly but surely downloaded on Steam.
Oh, and you played Snake on a Nokia.
These breadcrumbs pointed the way to today about as clearly as whether you can tell me if we will be will be ruled by our robot overlords come 2045.
It's only in retrospect the future is clear. Getting there is anything but.
The history of games comprises middling periods of dull conformity punctuated by short revolutions. Trying to predict gaming's future is a loser's game, because it's irresistible to look at the current winners and extrapolate, yet it's the revolutions that reshape the industry.
I should know! I worked at Edge back when screenshots posted in a jiffy bag from Japan constituted breaking news. I spent years writing future-gazing columns for the trade press, in which I pontificated about the end of retail. And I co-founded Pocket Gamer in late 2005, just ahead of the mobile games revolution.
I even helped put together the first 'evolve' for Develop in Brighton, after a year of raving about how the Internet was changing everything.
Hark at me, the visionary!
I was ten years too early in writing off the High Street. Worse, like everyone I foresaw people downloading FIFA 2015 for their PS4, not Clash of Clans on iPad. Indeed iPads hadn't been invented and most mobile pundits thought the likes of Vodafone would wield all the power.
I was humbled recently when I revisited a feature I wrote for Develop around the time we launched evolve at Brighton. Entitled Games 3.0, it came out a few months before a certain exec's GDC talk of the same name that really caused waves. Brilliant – except I focused on user-generated content and YouTube, barely mentioning Facebook and free games.
In economics they call it 'hindsight bias' – the belief we saw whatever has come, coming. Nearly always we don't, but we edit our past to believe so.
In truth, even those of us who predicted digital distribution didn't foresee a new industry springing up alongside it, nor did we anticipate handicaps such as content discovery.
Digital distribution was meant make everything available anywhere. In reality it's created an unpredictable hit-driven business that makes 1980's Top of the Pops look like a sober scientific analysis of popular music, with the sums done by Stephen Hawking.
When I edited the then-newly launched Develop magazine a decade ago, the talk was all about how we would manage teams of 500 people, and whether we could shoehorn emotion into photorealistic $500 million blockbusters.
Yet it's teams of 5-10 people who've reinvented gaming and most of the emotion we've seen has come from the staff departing triple-A studios as they've folded across the globe.
Don't try to predict the future of video games. But if you must bet on it, bet on change.
In the meantime, monitor every new development in technology, software, and monetization as if your career depended on it.
It does! But don't ask me exactly when, or how.
This blog was written by Owain Bennallack, the chair of the Develop in Brighton Advisory Board www.developconference.com
Labels: Advisory Board, Develop Conference, Develop in Brighton, mobile games, new development, Owen Bennallack, video games
GUEST BLOG: Next Gen Audio - The Power of Ideas
I've interviewed a few famous composers in my time. They're an interesting bunch – some perfectly relaxed, some slightly frazzled, some completely hyper, but they all have something fascinating to say.
John Broomhall
A particularly memorable moment occurred in conversation with an iconic movie maestro in front of a live audience. Having discussed some of his key works, his history and how he goes about the job, we strayed into his working relationship with orchestrators. This is sometimes a touchy subject, but no problem here. He was delightfully candid and complimentary about the contribution of the team around him. Figuring the audience of two hundred or so aspiring composers waiting on his every word might be interested in his choice of software and sample libraries, I then posed the question: "So, tell us about your studio – what technology do you use?" The terse, and somewhat unexpected, response: "Technology? F*ck the technology! What I do is all about the power of ideas!"
There are certainly many celebrated instances of sound design for moving pictures that have everything to do with ideas and little to do with technology. In fact, many were created using equipment we would now consider laughably rudimentary. The creative approach is, however, extremely sophisticated. I first experienced something of this early in my career sitting in a wildlife dubbing session watching a now famed sequence of whales beaching themselves in some exotic locale. It didn't occur to me that the accompanying sound was complete artifice until the well-known wildlife dubbing mixer pointed out the tiger, tank and aircraft sounds that had been manipulated and combined to sell the drama of that extraordinary moment when a gigantic mammal hurls itself out of the sea.
The actual location sound recorded by some poor bod with a microphone in situ was truly pathetic. The cleverly 'designed' sound was awesome. The fact it wasn't real didn't matter one bit. It conveyed the immensity of the spectacle. This was the power of an artist's ideas in play: story-telling through the choice and mix of sounds.
Such creativity is, of course, just as relevant to games. We may be inextricably linked to technology, but the power of our creative ideas is a real differentiator. However, it may require us to stray from some obvious paths that both technology tools and videogame culture and heritage tend to point us towards. For instance, a literal approach to sound choices and mix is not necessarily entertaining, informative or compelling for games either. It's a useful starting point but overriding it and embellishing it for dramatic effect to engage the power of ideas in storytelling and narrative support through audio is a rich seam, ripe for plundering.
Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are almost upon us. Their technical power for audio is clearly obviously important. Equally important is the creative 'ideas power' we bring to the table to go beyond the obvious and break new ground, bringing engaging, dramatic and impactful audio to the console games of tomorrow.
This blog was written by John Broomhall who is a game audio specialist and organises and chairs the Develop Conference Audio Track. He is currently finishing work on original music composition and production for a major AAA console title TBA soon.
Find out more at www.johnbroomhall.co.uk or get in touch on Twitter - @BPLGameAudio and @broomerslive
Labels: audio, Develop Conference, Develop in Brighton, developers, game development, John Broomall
GUEST BLOG: That's me in the corner... a video game psychologist's FAQ!
On a recent hospital visit the nurse (a woman in her 50s) asked me what I do for a living. I gave her my standard reply: "I am a psychologist specialising in cyberpsychology, so how humans interact with technology and specifically video game play." She gave me a fascinated look (it's the response I usually get) and replied: "I love playing Temple Run – why do I find it so compelling?" I answered her: "Because it makes you happy and getting high rewards compared to the effort you're putting in makes you want to play more."
Psychologists have used physiological measurements such as heart rate to measure engagement
This conversation wasn't a one off for me. When people find out what I do, they often want to know more and are instinctively interested in why humans engage in video game play. Personally, I think this speaks volumes about the power video games as entertainment on a global scale.
Developers are even more fascinated than gamers in the answer to that elusive question: "What makes people so engaged in video game play?" While developers have many ways of gauging engagement, such as churning data, sales, time spent playing, etc., as a psychologist, I am more interested in scientific measurements as a result of research around gamer engagement, which can complement and even challenge the measurements developers already use to heighten the experience for the gamer.
A comprehensive review on game play engagement is published in Computers in Human Behaviour conducted in 2012 by Elizabeth Boyle, Thomas Connolly, Thomas Hainey and James Boyle. It sheds some light on engagement and highlights gaps in the research in this area. The study reviewed research from a ten year period between 2001 and 2011 excluding educational and serious games. All the papers reviewed were from research that was referenced in academic journals and included a large number of research papers all looking at different aspects of engagement.
The paper highlights the lack of consensus about what engagement actually is, although lots of constructs have been proposed: immersion, enjoyment, presence and flow, for example. Perhaps the best known concept is flow, which is often characterised by complete optimal experience and absorption in the task one is involved in to the exclusion of everything else. Other researchers challenge this suggesting that actually immersion is a better construct as it can be more varied in terms of the subjective experience and does not, as flow does, concern itself solely with the optimal experience.
Outside of the subjective experience, engagement may be measured objectively by studying the time spent playing a game, although some researchers suggest this is difficult to justify as a concrete measurement as factors like negative motives for playing may hinder this measurement. Lab research around physiological responses in gameplay are interesting, such as work around eye movements and re-engagement post play as a useful objective measurement of immersion, whilst other physiological measurements such as heart rate can inform around emotional responses, these can be ambiguous when measured.
According to psychologists enjoyment levels and motivation to play can predict engagement
Boyle's review showed that surveys were the most popular method of studying motivation and engagement, which is fine as long as they are scientifically designed to have good validity and reliability. However, there is a lack of good qualitative research which would further enhance our understanding of the subjective experience of engagement, and this is an area that developers may consider embarking upon in terms of research.
Players want more and more out of the gaming experience and developers could utilise scientific psychological measurements of engagement as objective robust measurement tools that can be specific to genre, gamer profile, target market as well as platform. The scope to get really close to the gamer using psychological scientific measurements combined with more traditional developer measurements can only be a good thing in terms of quality of the game experience for the player.
So, if you meet a cyberpsychologist in real life, please don't ask us what we do.
Boyle, E.A., Connolly, T.M., Hainey, T., Boyle, J.M. (2012). Engagement in digital entertainment games: A systematic review. Computers in Human Behaviour, 28(3), 771-780
This blog was written by Berni Good who is the founder of Cyberpsychologist Limited (www.cyberpsychologist.com) and who is speaking at Develop in Brighton – www.developconference.com.
Labels: Berni Good, cyberpsychology, Develop Conference, Develop in Brighton, developers, people
MAY 2013: THE MONTH THAT MARKED A CULTURAL SHIFT IN VIDEO GAMES ACCEPTANCE
Yesterday the V&A announced the appointment of its first games designer in residence – 22 year old, BAFTA-winning Sophia George. The residency is a partnership between the V&A, V&A at Dundee, University of Abertay and Ukie. You can watch the BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones interviewing Sophia here .
Sophia George, the V&As new games designer in residence
Sophia will be taking inspiration from the collections at the V&A and hosting public participation workshops to, in her words, "show the public just how amazing games are." A spokesperson from the V&A explained that the museum had always been about embracing new, cutting edge culture and games were no different. The vases and pottery in the V&A were cutting edge in their time - it's just they've aged a little since those days.
On Wednesday at BAFTA's games journalism evening Christian Donlan told the audience that one of the reasons he loved games was because LA Noire transformed the way his dad viewed them, what they are, what they do and what they can be.
Last Tuesday Maria Miller, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport visited NCSOFT in Brighton to learn more about the importance and size of the video game industry in the UK. Her visit was filmed by ITV News.
The week before I was listening to Heresy on Radio 4 and Victoria Coren-Mitchell asked the panel to argue for and against video games being accepted as a new Olympic sport. They said 'yes'.
On 21st May, Microsoft not only announced Xbox One, it also announced the launch of a Halo TV series directed by none other than Steven Spielberg.
Forgive me if this blog reads a little like 'My Week in Video Games' by Ali Fearnley, aged, well none of your business what age, but this was one hell of a week for the games industry. If ever we wondered if and when this industry and the entertainment we create are going to evolve from being a sub-culture to just plain culture, from being the domain of 18-25 men to the domain of everyone, then this week confirms that this transition is definitely happening.
Even Rory Cellan-Jones in his sign off described video games as, "One of Britain's fastest-growing and most important industries." Why? Because it is. And now that we have a generation who have grown up with games and have never known a world without them, this transition, evolution and acceptance will hopefully become more widespread and happen faster.
Ali Fearnley is the conference director at Develop in Brighton. You can comment on this blog below or @developconf on Twitter and /developconf on Facebook or contact her directly at ali@tandemevents.co.uk
Labels: Develop Conference, Develop in Brighton, developers, game development, iPad, Maria Miller, mobile games, Sophia George, Ukie, University of Abertay, V&A
MEET HELEN. SHE'S YOUR FUTURE.
Meet Helen. Helen is a 40-something year old (sorry, Hels) working mother of two living in the south east of England. When I first met her fifteen years ago, she would never have dreamt she'd become a gamer. Even seven years ago, Helen had never heard of social media and didn't play games. She was irrelevant to, and ignored by, the games industry.
Then Facebook opened its doors beyond colleges, Apple launched the iPhone and the likes of Zynga and King were born. These days, the first thing Helen does when she wakes up is check Facebook on her iPhone app, mostly to post (pretty funny, it must be said) status updates about her frustrations at being stuck on level 67 of Candy Crush Saga.
She is not alone. In fact, there are millions of Helens in the UK and beyond and, together, they have breathed new life into an industry that was suffering from the longest console cycle we've ever experienced and an ever-reducing pool of gamers happy to pay £40 for boxed product. The Helens were an untapped market. Now they are making the industry billions.
Candy Crush Saga, for example, has so perfectly tapped into the psyche and lifestyle of the 'Helens' that it now has its own Wikipedia page and for good reason. It launched in November 2012 and by March 2013 had surpassed Zynga's Farmville with 45.6 million monthly active users. Its Facebook page has 20 million 'likes'. It is the most popular app on Facebook. One in seven people in Hong Kong play it. And – despite being free to play – it is the highest grossing app in the Apple and Google stores. It is so 'addictive' that some people (not mentioning any names, DAD!) have joined Facebook just so they can hassle friends for tickets to give them access to higher levels. Getting to the end (without paying) brings with it major kudos and the determination of – and downright competitiveness between - Helens to stick with it and win is leading to humorous claims of addiction.
From a games industry viewpoint, however, it's not really a laughing matter, it's one to be taken quite seriously. The Helens of this world have opened up a massive – and massively lucrative – new market: a market that is encouraging creativity and is accessible to even the smallest of players due to reduced development, publishing and marketing costs. A market that has, some might say, saved this industry and, many would say, saved a lot of jobs from being lost from within it. So when your alarm goes off in the morning, think of Helen, and thank her.
This blog was written by Andy Lane, who is managing director of Tandem Events, organiser of the Develop in Brighton Conference. You can contact him at andy@tandemevents.co.uk and follow conference updates on Twitter @developconf
Labels: Apple, Candy Crush Saga, casual games, Develop Conference, Develop in Brighton, game development, Google, iPad, iPhone, mobile games, social games
GUEST BLOG - AJ GRAND-SCRUTTON: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
When I was asked to write a blog post about something I feel passionate about in terms of game development there was something which was very prominent in my mind: the way in which people are treated in the so-called chain of command.
(Aj - right)
Looking at my career and the careers of my friends, it feels that the higher certain individuals move up that chain the more they behave like assholes to those below them. Whether this be seniors, leads, producers, directors, it was always the same, suddenly a holier than thou attitude of "Well, I've got a more important job title so I'm better than you," appears.
One thing I didn't understand until now is that job titles are just words. Since Dlala was formed last June, Craig [Thomas, co-founder Dlala Studios] and I have had an assortment of titles each. I've been Creative Director, Chief Creative Officer and now Chief Executive Officer and for the majority of that time we were the only two full time staff members!
Don't get me wrong, job titles can serve a good purpose. Having roles defined can be a good thing, but not for the purpose of forcing authoritative nonsense down the throats of incredibly talented, and often underappreciated, individuals. Job roles, and their titles, should be seen as a driver and a reward, not as a stamp of power. Looking back on my own career now I can think of one time in particular that I had some absolutely horrendous arguments over a 'promotion'. Reality was I was already doing the job itself. All the tasks, responsibilities, etc… they were all mine already, but I wanted that job title, I wanted that stamp of approval that acknowledged my hard work and effort. Not to feel superior to anyone but to know that I was progressing and recognised.
I should point out at this point that this isn't the ranting of some disgruntled developer, or a chance for me to take cheap shots at people. This is a post from someone who has moved into a role which is more focused on production/direction/management. And in that role I try to remember the following two points every day:
1 Protect Your Team
"Congratulations! You've been promoted, you are now a manager." What does this mean? This means you now have a responsibility to protect your team no matter what. The second Craig and I started hiring people we noticed a massive change of focus onto the security of our little family at Dlala. We know that if something went wrong tomorrow we could get back in the parents' garages and start again, but now we won't let it happen because we have four amazing guys who count on us to keep this studio going.
It's not just about job security, though, you need to protect your team from blame. Reality is everyone fucks up and it shouldn't be seen as a bad thing. The second you are scared to make mistakes is the second that making games becomes hard. Most important of all, protect them from yourself. It's easy when you are being shouted at to turn around, blame your team, and then take them into a room and unleash on them. Your team should never be told, "If you don't do better you will probably be out of job," because it should never get to that point. Fear is an awful, unproductive motivator.
2 You need them, they don't need you
How many successful projects have been made with just a producer, just a director or just a manager of some type? NONE. Now how many projects have been made by a single developer or a developer/artist combination? A metric fuck ton. Just remember that without your staff there is no game but without you there still could be.
As I said this isn't a post for me to slag anyone off and this is definitely not me saying I know best. This is a post for me to warn myself and a reminder of what I don't want to become.
This blog was written by AJ Grand-Scrutton, CEO of Dlala Studios. Visit http://dlalastudios.com/ for more information or contact AJ on Twitter @dnost.
Labels: Develop Conference, Develop in Brighton, developers, game development, indies, management, people, studios
Discovery is a big buzzword in the games industry. As the digital marketplace has expanded and platforms have multiplied, the floodgates have opened for developers of all ages and sizes to create relatively cheap games and market them directly to millions of gamers across multiple territories.
That's the good news. The bad news is this means the volume of games now being released has grown exponentially and the process of discovering them is now a bit like hunting for a needle in a haystack. It's easy to understand why some developers feel it's nothing more than chance that seals the fate of one game over another. It's not.
The onus is on the developer to enable gamers to make these discoveries; in the same way that big budget marketing campaigns could be accessed to enable gamers to discover blockbusters under the old order. Without developers enabling discovery, games won't make it into the charts, gamers won't buy them and months, if not years, of hard labour will go to waste.
Developers should also understand they need to do more than just promote their games. They need to start promoting themselves, too. Developers who are able to get the world to take notice of their talent are doing themselves a big favour when everyone is competing for attention. Developers by nature aren't extroverts, but more are going to have to go against their instincts and learn to shout from the rooftops. They need to get social – they need to use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube and Vimeo to promote themselves, their talent and their games.
Sitting back and relying on others to talk about their games just doesn't cut it in this digital marketplace. Why is this so important? Think about any studio with a famous figurehead. Peter Molyneux at 22Cans? Now think how infinitely easier it is for a well-known, media friendly developer to attract that vital first burst of attention to his or her creation. Heard of Curiosity? Exactly. Every snowball has to start somewhere!
The UK has a fantastic pedigree of being at the forefront of innovation and creativity in the games industry. Indie studios are doing some great work but they're not being recognised for it. They haven't yet been discovered. It's time they were. It's time these studios made themselves heard and, in turn, used their voices and talent to energise others within the industry.
A great place to start is Develop's Indie Dev Marketing conference on 10 July; it launched last year specifically to help indie developers understand – and use – PR and marketing to take their games and their studios to market on limited resources. I'd also encourage all indie studios to enter the Develop Indie Showcase, whose sole aim is to help new studios get discovered. The deadline for entry is 13 May and all of the information can be found at www.developconference.com.
Susan Marshall is content director for the Develop in Brighton Conference – 9-11 July, 2013. Speak to her susan@tandemevents.co.uk
Labels: Develop Conference, Develop in Brighton, developers, game development, Indie Dev Marketing, Indie Showcase, indies, studios
Develop In Brighton Archive
GUEST BLOG - AJ GRAND-SCRUTTON: With Great Power C...
MAY 2013: THE MONTH THAT MARKED A CULTURAL SHIFT I...
GUEST BLOG: That's me in the corner... a video gam...
GUEST BLOG: IT'S ALWAYS THE NEW, NEW THING IN VIDE...
GUEST BLOG: My best meeting at the Develop Confere...


The Economist has tightened its paywall so readers have access to five articles a month — rather than three a week — in order to nudge more registered users over into subscribing.
At the end of January, the subscription publisher changed its metered access after six months of testing. Reader research found that on average people either read five articles before subscribing or they sign up right away. And a high content threshold would allow potential subscribers to slip through the net and never hit the paywall.
"This approach has enabled us to do both: be a little more efficient on the subscription conversion while ensuring key placements like leaderboards still receive equal exposure," said Marina Haydn, managing director of global circulation.
The Economist has been pretty generous with content, erring on the side of publishing more in front of the paywall and sharing through social platforms to drive people back to subscribe, believing its journalism is its best asset. It has 1.6 million digital and print subscribers, of these 790,000 have a digital subscription, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Over the last five years, circulation profits have doubled, and the goal is to keep this growing, said Haydn. Acquiring more subscribers is one part of the puzzle, and it's also putting more effort on retention — as keeping subscribers is cheaper than finding new ones — and raising the subscription price.
The move comes as the overall tenor of the industry shifts against advertising and toward direct audience revenue. Publishers of all sizes and stripes are rolling out subscriptions and membership programs to augment weakened ad businesses. The Economist, however, has always charged for digital content. The move to tighten its paywall is a sign that it is centering its strategy even more so on direct audience revenue.
The Economist is directing more energy toward the 12-week period directly after people subscribe to get them into the habit of using its products daily. Subscribers get a welcome email signed by the editor-in-chief, product details and step by step guides to setting up the app and its newsletter portfolio. Each week onward, they're emailed with various reminders on getting to grips with its products.
In March, the publisher will increase its subscription prices by 20 percent — the first time in three years — after research found readers perceive The Economist at a higher quality than the price they're paying for it. The Economist has a long-running introductory offer of 12 issues for £12 ($15.90) before the price goes up to £179 ($237.21) a year.
This year the publisher will balance resources like budget and manpower so 30 percent is on acquiring subscribers and 70 percent on retaining them. According to Haydn, globally 45 people work on driving acquisition. In 2018, the publisher spent over £28 million ($37.11 million) in six months on marketing its full price subscriptions, according to its most recent financial report from September. Some of this will shift to spending on retention, improving customer experience and operations, but it will keep a healthy acquisition budget. Around 105 people work on retention, customer experience and digital products.
While it's the headline stories that drive subscriptions, it's when people dig deeper into other topics The Economist covers, like culture, that leads to more regular engagement and keeps churn stable, said Haydn. Products like apps, podcasts and newsletters can highlight these topic areas. The Economist launched an app for subscribers and a daily podcast, The Intelligence, which it has integrated into the app. Podcast engagement has been good, but it's too soon to share details, she added.
The publisher wouldn't divulge its churn rate. According to Piano, which helps publishers with paywalls, churn rate among publishers is around 10 percent but can vary wildly depending on subscription offers or heavy marketing pushes.
Like many subscription publishers, ongoing political sagas like Trump and Brexit have led to an extended period of growth that lasted into early 2018, but that's been slowing.


text:
Q: How do I push only one table from my development database to my production database in rails 3 I'd like to push my "defaults" table from my development database to my production database.
Any rake command to do this?

A: I think it'll make the trick:

A simple database agnostic import/export app to transfer data to/from
  a remote database.

https://github.com/ricardochimal/taps

when you want to transfer a list of tables

$ taps push postgres://dbuser:dbpassword@localhost/dbname http://httpuser:httppassword@example.com:5000 --tables logs,tags

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


I plan to revive this empty shell of a blog at some point… In the meantime, may I interest you in a photo of the best place in Glasgow at the moment?
£3.50 for a lamb shawarma wrap to absolutely die for, which was the size of a small child, and they gave me a complementary lentil soup while I waited!
A proper review will follow but, if you get a chance, the Kurdistan Shawarma on Calder Street in Govanhill is well worth your custom.


text:
International Business & Economy Liow: Mozambique Debris in Australia for Examination and Verification
Liow: Mozambique Debris in Australia for Examination and Verification
Only few debris of the plane is found
Media statement by YB Dato' Sri Liow Tiong Lai, Minister of Transport, Malaysia
The two pieces of debris which were discovered in Mozambique have been transported from Malaysia by the Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370 (MH370 Safety Investigation Team). Both pieces arrived in Australia on Sunday morning, 20 March 2016.
The MH370 Safety Investigation Team will carry out the examination and analysis on the two pieces of debris with the assistance of the experts from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia (DCA), Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and Boeing to verify their origins. This is in order to adhere to full transparency and accountability in accordance with international protocols, whereby both pieces of debris will only be examined in Canberra once it is in the presence of these experts.
The examination process is to commence on March 21 and with the assistance of the experts' team we hope to have results of the debris examination as soon as possible.
The first piece of debris was recovered from Mozambique. The second piece, also from Mozambique, had been brought to South Africa by the family who had discovered it. A Malaysian team comprising DCA, MAS and the MH370 Safety Investigation Team retrieved the piece from South African authorities.
In line with this, official updates on the examination of the debris will be shared when verified information becomes available.
In consideration of the families of the passengers and crew of MH370, I once again urge the public and interested parties to avoid undue speculation and unfounded comments until the origins of these two pieces of debris can be confirmed by the experts.
Malaysia reiterates that it is wholly and unwaveringly committed to the search for MH370. We will also keep the families of the passengers and crew informed of any new developments in the search and investigation on MH370.


text:
General election comes to NZIEC 2017
Occurring just one month before election day, NZIEC 2017 will provide a platform for New Zealand's two major political parties to outline their vision and priorities for the development of our international education industry.
Hon Paul Goldsmith, Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment, and Chris Hipkins, Labour Party Spokesperson for Education, will outline their respective party's vision for the future of our industry.
Both politicians will speak to the theme of 'The future of New Zealand's international education industry'. After their speeches, conference delegates will have an opportunity to ask them questions.
Hon Paul Goldsmith is List Member of Parliament for Epsom. In 2016, Mr Goldsmith was appointed Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment, Minister of Science and Innovation and Minister for Regulatory Reform.
Chris Hipkins is Member of Parliament for Rimutaka. Ranked number six in the Labour Shadow Cabinet, Mr Hipkins is the party's Spokesperson for Education (including Tertiary and Early Childhood Education) and Shadow Leader of the House of Representatives.
With the election fast approaching, and with immigration and student visa numbers in media headlines, what do New Zealand's two main political parties have in store for our industry?
Find out at NZIEC 2017. With tickets selling quickly, be sure to secure your place today at www.nziec.co.nz.