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HomeAIDeep Learning Architectures Hinge on Hybrid Memory Cube
Deep Learning Architectures Hinge on Hybrid Memory Cube
September 12, 2016 Nicole Hemsoth AI, Compute 4
We have heard about a great number of new architectures and approaches to scalable and efficient deep learning processing that sit outside of the standard CPU, GPU, and FPGA box and while each is different, many are leveraging a common element at all-important memory layer.
The Hybrid Memory Cube (HMC), which we expect to see much more of over the coming year and beyond, is at the heart of several custom architectures to suit the deep learning market. Nervana Systems, which was recently acquired by Intel (HMC maker, Micron's close partner), Wave Computing, and other research efforts all see a common need—and solution.
For deep learning workloads, the compute is not as central as pushing a great deal of data, much of it which can be reused, through the system. While FPGAs and GPUs and even some CPUs can all handle such workloads, at the end of the day, the performance per watt on specialized deep learning approaches is what will be the game changer—at least according to the few companies that are dipping toes into these fresh waters. The goal is to leverage the logic layer inside the HMC with tailored multiplier and accumulator capabilities to preserve the high memory bandwidth and lower energy consumption, which is what many of the startups in the new area of deep learning chips have discovered, albeit via different paths.
To be fair, HMC is not the only 3D memory option and in fact, it will not be the first stacked memory approach finding its way onto new systems. The Pascal GPU architecture features High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) which is an effort backed by AMD and others. HBM offers an alternative to the Intel and Micron partnership, which is valuable for Nvidia in its rivalry with Intel, especially when it comes to the emerging deep learning market—one that Nvidia had a head start with and now has Intel nipping at their heels. What is different about what Nvidia will do with Pascal is that the logic layer and its custom functions are not the central piece—the challenge for the GPU maker will be making scalable systems that can leverage HBM. For many deep learning chip startups, and research efforts such as NeuroCube, which will get to in a moment, the emphasis is at the single HMC device level. Scalability of such devices is possible (unless a NUMA-like capability is required) but for now, offers its own suite of barriers.
Wave Computing, Nervana Systems, and others have described the memory bandwidth challenges for offload architectures and the flexibility of reprogramming for FPGAs in the past. However, we have only been able to delve into limited architectural detail with both companies given their need to preserve the secret sauce that makes their chips scalable, low-power, and high performance for deep learning frameworks. An effort out of Georgia Tech called NeuroCube, however, sheds a bit more light on what is possible on top of the existing logic layer in HMC in particular.
While we cannot explicitly say that NeuroCube replicates what the other companies producing HMC-based deep learning architectures are doing, looking at the concept in closer detail shows how HMC itself is a key enabler for workloads that could benefit greatly from the reprogrammability of an FPGA and the performance of a GPU but at a lower performance price. As one of the lead architects of NeuroCube, Saibal Mukhopadhyay, tells The Next Platform, there is a middle ground between the value propositions of custom ASICs (which aren't flexible), FPGAs which is limited in the number of neural networks that can be handled at runtime, and GPUs, which work well but are not as power efficient. "We wanted to design a neural computing platform which could be software programmable and could be programmed to have different types of networks but with power efficiency numbers that are close to a custom ASIC." The real problem for any architecture outside of flexibility and power efficiency, he says, is memory bandwidth. The natural place to start is with a high bandwidth memory approach, in this case HMC (not HBM because the team already has a relationship with Micron and Intel, Mukhopadhyay says).
Although much of the material about NeuroCube puts the effort in the neuromorphic computing category, this is a different way of thinking about neuromorphic computing. Many tend to think of such devices as based on IBM's True North architecture or other biophysical-inspired "spiking" models. This is different—it is more a generalized neural network for convolutional and recurrent neural networks primed inside the logic layer of the HMC and programmable at runtime.
To highlight the programmability, performance, and power tradeoffs of custom ASICs, GPUs, and CPUs, and show the need for memory, Mukhopadhyay shared the following graphic. For the operations shown on the left, the amount of memory needed is far more than can be stored on-chip but the computations are quite simple, requiring just a multiplier and accumulation capability (no floating point—again, back to the low-precision/fixed point argument). The design of this "neuromorphic" platform has simple embarrassingly parallel operations but is limited by the ability to get the large amount of data into the chip.
Different image sizes for digit recognition. Notice the low operation density.
The Georgia Tech team's "programmable digital neuromorphic architecture with high-density 3D memory" addresses this in two ways. First, by bringing the logical compute layer for math operations into the memory stack where there is already a layer (see yellow section). Therein is the "vault controller" which pushes data from DRAM to a tiny CPU and do all of this while meeting the thermal and area constraints of the DRAM (currently at 28nm but the team found they could handle 5GHz at 15m maximum before frying the DRAM).
Below you can see the host CPU (which just sends numbers to the NeuroCube to help it decide what type of neural network is being run; it also pushes the data to the DRAM and handles that write and the results). All computation is being done on the logic area inside the HMC, which will be multiple cores with buffers, multiply, and accumulate engines that fit into the yellow space.
A closer look at the layer inside the HMC reveals a simple architecture for what are really quite simple math operations—just the concept that has spurred deep learning chip startups to circumvent existing general purpose architectures with their emphasis on floating point and lack of ultra-fast memory bandwidth and added latencies.
As a side note, since the HMC architecture already exists (although not in systems yet) with that logic layer—and since the Georgia Tech team has shown these capabilities can be added without cooking or outsizing the DRAM, there is nothing but a lack of market interest preventing Intel and Micron from designing and fabbing such a chip—if they aren't already planning to do so with the Nervana IP they acquired.
It is not difficult to see how Intel and Micron might spin out such an effort or how other startups might not try to do something similar with HBM (which has a similar logic layer—there is nothing preventing this from happening on HBM and in fact, cooking more into the logic layer is part of ongoing work at AMD via a Fast Forward project). But of course, the fatal flaw of all architectures that can solve a problem really well is always programmability. This design, which has thus far only been implemented on FPGA (the host CPU on the above slides is the simulated part) has two parts programming-wise that show an advantage over other approaches like FPGAs (not runtime programmable) or ASICs (which can only be programmed for one logic function at a time). This is software programmable, like a GPU, which opens it up to more users potentially.
So, how do these perform based on simulation results? First, take a look at how the hardware holds up at 5GHz (a critical numberbecause that's the rate the data can come into the logic layer) at both 28nm and 15nm.
The limitations in hardware for both 28nm and 15nm FinFET HMC devices–and what room that leaves to add more logic without extending the physical limitations or nuking it.
With the above in mind, look at the hardware breakdown of simulation results below.
Below, see results for training on the original digit (handwriting) recognition workload, based on simulation results at 15nm FinFET
"We have four HMC devices in our lab connected in a backplane, Mukhopadhyay says. "We have a vision for connecting these into a cognitive solver but the challenge is different. Scaling at this level is a different algorithmic and architecture question. The larger the network, the more connected machines are needed. We can explore it, but the question becomes how to virtualize such a network across these cubes."
This scalability of devices is what Wave Computing, Nervana Systems, and other startups have either solved or are trying to do with their machines—it will be interesting to see what the limitations are from the hardware side and how these outpace what is possible in software.
Full slide deck can be found here. Interestingly, it is not missing some results that were shown prior to our interview comparing various low-end Nvidia GPUs, including Tegra for performance/power comparisons. Hope to see those re-appear sometime soon or updated with more deep learning-specific GPUs than mobile/desktop versions (i.e. M40/M4, Pascal, TitanX, etc).
How High-Bandwidth Memory Will Break Performance Bottlenecks
October 21, 2021 Rob Farber HPC 2
Intel recently announced that High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) will be available on select "Sapphire Rapids" Xeon SP processors and will provide the CPU backbone for the "Aurora" exascale supercomputer to be sited at Argonne National Laboratory. Paired with Intel's Xe HPC (codenamed "Ponte Vecchio") compute GPUs running in a unified CPU/GPU …
A Cornucopia Of Memory And Bandwidth In The Agilex-M FPGA
March 8, 2022 Timothy Prickett Morgan Compute 0
When it comes to memory for compute engines, FPGAs – or rather what we have started calling hybrid FPGAs because they have all kinds of hard coded logic as well as the FPGA programmable logic on a single package – have the broadest selection of memory types of any kind …
What Faster And Smarter HBM Memory Means For Systems
July 21, 2021 Timothy Prickett Morgan Store 7
If the HPC and AI markets need anything right now, it is not more compute but rather more memory capacity at a very high bandwidth. We have plenty of compute in current GPU and FPGA accelerators, but they are memory constrained. Even at the high levels of bandwidth that have …
Wow very interesting concept. I really could see Micron jumping on this as they are looking for new ways to extend their memory architecture and that one clearly looks like a very interesting potential target. GPUs will eventually loose the race as they have the same problem as CPUs they need to cater to different applications area. Unless they specialize in a particular area so make a specific design choice for one application area they going to be left out in the cold. Intel acquiring more and more IP will eventually just slack some component onto their CPU die and it makes sense for them makes far less sense for GPUs
Your comments on the Internet are consistently about Intel > Nvidia since last year. Are you longing INTC and shorting NVDA? Seems pretty obvious
So its been shown (to my surprise) over the past few years that GPU:s are even more energy efficient than FPGA:s at running AlexNet, 24 images / s / watt on Tegra X1 and ~12 images/s/watt on Altera…
And here Nicole is claiming that FPGA:s are more efficient without any evidaaannce ? Girl please 🙂
Not my claim, the statement of the project's authors with benchmarks to support in the paper. Sharing data as I get it.


Mary Pickford needs no introduction. She was a skilled actress and comedian, a smart film executive and more than capable of directing or writing a script if that's what was needed to get the job done.
Some people have the idea that Pickford was all about playing children in lace dresses. Ha! Her talents were far more versatile and anyone spreading this nonsense is hereby ordered to watch several of her films as penance.
Pickford was amazing on the screen but did she have any skill with tarts? We shall see!
An insipid, doll-like creature, to be sure.
Well, that got a lot more serious than I intended. Let's talk about ingredients instead. The dough required only three ingredients and I used all-purpose flour, unsalted butter and full fat cream cheese. Just the basic model of everything. For the filling, I opted for seedless raspberry jam as no one likes tiny seeds in their teeth. I also made a batch with blackberry but found there was not much difference in taste.
The dough is VERY wet, though keep in mind that I made these on a rather humid day.
I experimented with sizes but found that smaller was better. I ended up with the best results when I did 1.5″ squares.
Be careful not to overfill. I used about half a teaspoon of jam per tart.
I tried chilling the dough but found more success with room temperature dough and lots of flour on my work surface.
I always like to use parchment paper on baking sheets but it is especially important here as almost all the tarts leaked some jam.
Naturally, I made these on a day when I was out of parchment paper.
I baked the tarts in a 350-degree oven for 14 minutes, checking periodically to see if the bottoms of the tarts were browned. I then let them cool for 20 minutes because hot jam is basically lava right out of the oven. The yield was about 30 tarts but this will vary depending on how thin the dough is rolled and how large the squares are.
Score: 4 out of 5. While the wet dough was a little fussy, this is a very easy and fast recipe and it looks adorable. I was so pleased with how it turned out that I made a second batch for a party and they were very popular. In fact, I can see this recipe being a great one for kids learning to bake: four common ingredients, no special pans and plenty of hands-on dough action.
The jam gets nice and tangy, the pastry is soft and mild and it's as adorable as can be! Perfect for casual dessert or for a picnic or potluck. I can also see these working very well for a tea party. I paired them with Nilgiri tea, if you were wondering.
I deduct one point for the fact that quite a few of the tarts flopped open during baking and its hard to get a consistent look. Not that this matters with kids and friends. I didn't have a single tart left over, so I can safely describe them as a hit. Well done, Miss Pickford!
Or sticker shock. I was just at the supermarket getting stuff to make pizza and saw how much a box of those tarts costs these days. Eep.
I haven't looked lately but I wouldn't be surprised. I was shocked by the price of corn flakes recently.
This does sound good and knowing dough, this would be sticky. I always had jam leak out and never could get it as perfect as the pictures show I. Magazines. I will want to tRy this too.


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District Five parent announces run for School Board Special Election
In: Education, Politics
Haley Griggs, a District Five parent and Nurse Practitioner at South Carolina Internal Medicine's Irmo office, has entered the Special Election for Lexington-Richland Five School Board. The election will take place in the Richland County portion of the district on October 12th from 7am-7pm.
"The encouragement I've received from parents, teachers, taxpayers and everybody in between has been remarkable," Griggs said as she officially filed for the seat. "I know that my qualifications have brought me to this point in time to serve the people of District Five."
Griggs signs election forms.
Griggs and her husband David have a child, JD, who is a student in District Five.
"As a strong community, there is always more that brings us together than divides us," Griggs said. "I'm ready to move forward as a community and work together with an accomplished leader like Superintendent Ross for the best outcomes for administrators, teachers, staff, students, parents and taxpayers. We have the keys to ignite our district and I'm looking forward to being a part of it."
When asked about the upcoming school year, Griggs' message is clear:
"We must have the best atmosphere for student learning and achievement. We must have the best atmosphere for a safe, in-person learning experience without shutting down our schools. Parents and taxpayers expect it and we must deliver it. We will accomplish this together as a board and there is no other option."
Griggs is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and the University of South Alabama and their family is active at Riverland Hills Baptist Church.
Previous Post: District Five seeks input from the community
Next Post: Irmo Chess Club

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


WordPress Services blog posts from 2018 – October meant readers being interested in WP Security subjects.
WordPress Services blog posts from 2018 - October meant readers being interested in WP Security subjects. TOP 3 Most viewed and shared posts are: Lazarus takes $534M in cryptocurrency in a single whoosh + 30sec WordPress Services Case Study + WP Security: 12 plugin vulnerabilities in SEPT 2018.


text: In the May 4 issue, Federal Computer Week incorrectly reported on the Labor Department's resources to fix computers for the Year 2000 problem. The article should have reported that Year 2000 work done by Labor's Inspector General's Office has been "limited by resource constraints." In the same article, FCW incorrectly characterized the amount of money Labor has left to spend on helping states make Year 2000 fixes in unemployment systems. The article should have reported that Labor can spend $160 million in fiscal 1998 and $40 million in fiscal 1999.


If you have ever taken on a gutter and downspout cleaning project on your own, you'll agree that it was an unpleasant way to squander your sunny day. So, why endure through it once again? By no means, this doesn't mean that you can dismiss your gutters and downspout and give up cleaning them. They still have to be cleaned and cleared, even though you have gutter guards. What it says is that there's a better method to get your gutters cleaned and maintained and to keep them in excellent working condition than you surrendering a free Saturday. Its easier, safer and more efficient to hire a qualified professional company, and here at Clean Pro Gutter Cleaning™, our people hope that you'll give us an opportunity to demonstrate to you what a fantastic job we can accomplish for you.
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Our technicians thoroughly examine gutters and downspouts as they clean and maintain them and, in a lot of cases, they find problems that a homeowner had no idea existed. If you want a gutter cleaning business that you can trust, then buzz us at Clean Pro Gutter Cleaning™ now.
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As soon as you have a greater knowledge of rain gutter and downspout cleaning benefits, you'll see why hiring competent professional gutter cleaners is a dollar well spent. Keeping your gutters in great working order is not an extravagance, it is something that is necessary for any region where there is a moderate to significant amount of snow and rain.
If you do not keep your gutters and downspouts in great condition you are going to wind up with water damage that can be very expensive to fix. No one likes to shell out cash on repair and maintenance, but the expense of rain gutter and downspout cleaning is insignificant compared to the cost to make repairs to damaged gutters.
Among the greatest reasons American home-owners will tell you that they avoid hiring trained professional gutter cleaners, is that they don't really want another expense. While it's easy to understand that avoiding reoccurring expenses is appealing, the truth is that paying qualified professional gutter cleaners really isn't an expense.
Rather, it is an investment. It's an investment since it assists to secure the value of your house. When you purchased your house you most likely paid a considerable deposit. Then, you've made years of mortgage payments and watched as your equity has actually grown. So, why would you endanger all of that by not paying experienced professional gutter cleaners to keep your rain gutters and downspouts in top condition?
After working hard all week there's most likely nothing you eagerly anticipate more than spending your time off doing a revolting and tiring job, right? Obviously, this isn't the case. You don't want to clean your rain gutters and downspouts. In fact, it's safer to say that no one wants to spend their leisure time cleaning their rain gutters.
The bright side is that you don't have to. When you select a proficient professional gutter cleaner you will get the advantages of having your rain gutters cleared, cleaned and maintained better than you might hope to have done yourself, while also avoiding the backbreaking work required. That certainly sounds like a win-win scenario.
Another major benefit of using a competent professional gutter cleaner is that it will help your gutters and downspouts last longer. When correctly taken care of, there are many types of rain gutters and downspouts that might last a lifetime. This is an excellent benefit because having to change your rain gutters can get quite pricey.
Rather than needing to purchase new gutters too soon, you are far better off paying a knowledgeable professional gutter cleaner to come out and clean your rain gutters and downspouts on a regular basis.
Why does disregarding your gutters cause them to break quicker? It's a simple matter of additional strain. Rain gutters are designed to be strong and light-weight. Even with their lightweight nature, they have adequate strength to safely direct water through them and into downspouts. What they lack, however, is the ability to withstand the weight of all of this water when they have added strain placed on them by yard waste that is allowed to build up.
When debris places force on gutters it causes a lot of problems. It can cause the gutters to bend, droop, deform, and warp. If the design of gutter you have is segmented it can cause the seams to leak. The strain of debris in your gutters can also lead them to break away from your home and collapse. The point is simple, if you desire your rain gutters to last then you need to make sure that they are cleaned, and maintained by a qualified professional gutter cleaner.
A typical mistake made by lots of house owners is to presume that their gutters are great since the issues aren't easily detected. Anybody can see that there's a problem when there is something major going on, but not everyone can identify more subtle indications of an issue. Do you have an idea who can find tiny issues early on before they become major problems? A trained professional gutter cleaner can.
In a lot of cases, house owners who end up with the most serious water damage are house owners that had no clue that anything was not right. They didn't notice an issue, and unbeknownst to them, there was a crack or a leakage in their gutters permitting water to rot the side of their house.
In numerous ways, this type of issue is even worse than a disastrous rain gutters failure. That's simply because a minimal broken part of your gutters that permits a little water to enter your house can result in major damage before it is noticed. What makes this issue such a severe issue is that it has been allowed to continue because the American home owners didn't realize it existed.
Gutter style has stayed mainly the same for a long time. The factor is easy, they work rather well as long as they are taken care of. While there have been modifications in products utilized, construction techniques, and designs, the underlying idea of the gutter remains easy and mainly the same. They catch water, then use a minor angle to control that water and direct it to where it will not create any damage.
What every American homeowner really needs to keep in mind is that cleaning your gutters and downspouts is not something that is optional. That would be similar to driving a cars or truck, never changing the oil, and then expecting it to never break down. Your gutters and downspouts require care and attention, and the best person to supply this is a competent professional gutter cleaner.
When you take a look at how little gutter cleaning really is, compared to the many real benefits you get, it should be perfectly clear that it is well worth investing your hard earned cash in. If you do not use a skilled professional to clean your rain gutters the only other choices are to not clean them, or to do the job yourself. Neither of these alternatives are good ones, which is why choosing a proficient professional gutter cleaner is the way to go.


Not sure what to make of this. Very little experience but does that mean automatic failure?
Guess I just need to enjoy the ride before I decide!!!!!!
Yep, hoping he is just one of those guys that have "it" and just need a chance.
He works well with Brett Brown. I'm guessing they went with an up & comer who they know while others outside the organization that were interviewed probably wanted complete control. Josh Harris has bestowed a lot of responsibility and trust in Brown. That's why we have Brand. I'm not sure I agree with this nor am I happy about it. I just hope it works.


All good boys know they should always use the doorbell.
According to the Spokesman-Review, a golden retriever puppy named Marshall, living outside Spokane, Washington, managed to ring the doorbell to let his owner know that he was ready to come back inside.
The pooch accidentally got out of the house and had locked himself on the porch on Tuesday, September 25.
According to Gizmodo, Marshall's owner, Greg Basel, had a Nest video doorbell system installed to produce a knocking sound whenever someone comes to ring the bell. Nest customers can customize their notification sounds through an app.
As Marshall pawed at the door, the video taken by the doorbell system shows the "knocking" sound as the puppy sniffs the camera. Luckily, his owner was home to let him in and you can hear the door opening at the tail end of the video.
Good boy, Marshall. He'll be bringing in the paper and helping deliver packages in no time.


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Instagram & Sales: How To Nail The Social Funnel On Insta
|In Industry
|By Kayleigh Alexandra
Instagram currently boasts over 800 million monthly active users, all liking, commenting and following accounts spanning a huge number of interests.
Whether you're a fashionista or a foodie, there's an audience out there for you. As a store owner, the photo-sharing app is a valuable resource for your brand's growth.
But the marketing funnel for Instagram works differently to other social platforms, and as such, you need to be aware of how to hack it in order to grow your store.
#InstaSales
Instagram has traditionally served the awareness or research stage of the funnel. Its heavy emphasis on content such as photos or videos lends itself to easy, visual research. Flatlays, multiple photo posts, and editable video clips all make for an accessible way to research a brand or product, deepening consumer engagement.
However, until recently, it was not seen as a sales-driven channel. Where content management systems offered plug-ins for easy sales, social platforms like Instagram had no option to make purchases in-app. Instead, brands redirected their customers to their store through a bio link. Naturally, Instagram didn't want its users leaving their app, and as such, it didn't make it easy for them to do so. Buying from Instagram just seemed a little bit too much like work…
With the introduction of Shoppable posts earlier this year, Instagram seems to be embracing native purchases on the platform — an exciting development for brands on Instagram. With that in mind, here's how to implement your social funnel on Instagram and seamlessly attract hot leads.
Before any customer can begin moving down the social sales funnel, you first need to make them aware of your brand, and that means growing followers from within your target audience. The average conversion rate across all industries is 3%, which means that for every 100 followers you get, three of them should go on to make a purchase.
But how do you get those followers in the first place, and how do you make sure they come from your target niche? There's a number of ways you can do this, but here a couple of the most effective are:
Competitions and giveaways
One of the easiest ways to quickly boost your followers is through competitions. Partner up with another non-competing brand within your niche (e.g., a sportswear brand with a gym chain) and offer a prize to users who follow your brand and tag two or three of their friends. Everybody loves a freebie, and people will happily exchange a follow in return for the chance to win.
Adding hashtags to your Instagram posts is a great way to grow your followers. However, you need to ensure you're only using hashtags that are relevant to your niche. While generic ones like #love or #summer might get you some fleeting engagement, they won't net you followers. Instead, use free tools like Websta to identify those hashtags that are of most relevance to your brand and get tagging.
Geotags
The hashtag with a twist: geotags are great for making regional-specific posts more discoverable. Locations on Instagram have feeds and Stories that any user can add to by simply tagging their location.
If you have a brick-and-mortar as well as an online presence, geotags can be used to share in-store posts, connecting with customers in your area. Alternatively, use them to promote pop-up stores or launch events in real-time to get your brand noticed.
Using region-specific Instagram posts to promote special offers to leads in your location is a great way to raise awareness for your brand. Customers in your area are more likely to be qualified leads due to their proximity, and so geotags make it easier to target them and promote your brand. Creating a solid audience locally is a good foundation for brand awareness that fosters other stages further down the funnel.
Stage 2: Engagement
Once you've built a solid base of followers, encourage them to engage with your brand so that they become more familiar with who you are and what you're all about. This is stage two of the social funnel.
Regularly post high-quality, appealing images with relevant captions and hashtags. Create a strong editorial calendar to plan your posts ahead of time, too. It'll help structure your output, and you can always amend it if you find certain types of content don't work so well. Be sure to use a social scheduling tool like Later or Schedugram to automate your calendar — they're a real time-saver.
But it's not enough to simply post great content. Liking and replying to your followers' comments helps build rapport, encouraging future engagement and strengthening their loyalty to your brand. Ultimately, your interaction with your followers will help warm leads move through the funnel to stage three.
Stage 3: Conversion
Building a loyal following off the back of consistent posting and interaction will lead to a core group of users who are most likely to convert. These users will regularly engage with your posts and have a clear interest in what you share. As a result, they're most likely to convert.
There are a number of ways you can target these users and drive sales from Instagram:
Until recently, most brands used the "link in bio" caption on Instagram posts to direct followers to their online store. These days, most brands pin Story Highlights about certain products or pages, including a "swipe up" or "see more" call to action.
However, if your followers are required to leave the app to make a purchase — which they most likely are — then your CMS functionality must be on-point. Your landing pages should be relevant to your Instagram content, with a user-friendly, mobile-responsive design and a rapid loading speed. If they're not, your hot leads might tank.
When it comes to tracking these kinds of sales, it can be tricky to come up with an accurate measurement of which posts successfully lead to conversions. Using a single trackable bit.ly link in your bio can give you a general idea of the overall success of your Instagram channel, but only broadly.
For a more granular view, you would need to create a link for each post, although this is hugely time-consuming. As such, it might be better for you to use Instagram Shoppable posts.
Shoppable posts
Instagram Shoppable tags were only recently released and were something of a game-changer for the app. Using these tags in your posts lets customers seamlessly make a purchase, without ever leaving the Instagram app. Instagram does need to approve your account for shopping, and you'll need to have an existing Facebook Page with a Facebook Shop attached to qualify, but it's a great innovation that's well worth investing in if you can.
Plus, as purchases on Shoppable posts are all made in-app, these direct sales are easily trackable and measurable. As such, it provides you with a far more detailed view of the efficacy of your Instagram channel in driving sales.
The introduction of Shoppable tags has transformed Instagram and its role in the marketing funnel. Where previously it had primarily served as a means of researching and engaging with a brand, it now plays a key role in encouraging users to swiftly and easily make a purchase without ever leaving the app.
To take advantage of the higher conversions and simplified buyer's journey that this creates, it's crucial that your brand implements this where it can.
Instagram offers ecommerce brands a wealth of opportunity when it comes to driving sales. The platform naturally lends itself to ecommerce, with its emphasis on visual content providing the perfect means for curating and presenting products. The recent rollout of the Instagram Shoppable tag has opened up even further opportunities for online retailers. As such, it's vital that you nail the social funnel and use it to see your growth soar.
Kayleigh Alexandra
Kayleigh Alexandra is a content writer for Micro Startups — a site dedicated to giving through growth hacking. Visit the blog for your latest dose of startup, entrepreneur, and charity insights from top experts around the globe. Follow us on Twitter @getmicrostarted.
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text:
Crimean Library
Crimea Under Occupation
Militarization of the Black Sea
Freedom of Navigation Monitoring
Crimea Before Occupation
Pre-War Archive
LukErg Renew to Buy More Wind Farms in Bulgaria
LUKErg Renew, a joint venture between Italy's ERG SpA (ERG) and Russia's OAO Lukoil, has received permission from the Commission on Protection of Competition (KZK), to buy four Bulgarian companies running wind farms in the northeastern village of Hrabrovo, Varna district.
In Bulgaria, LUKErg is involved in the production and wholesale sales of electricity through its companies running wind turbines on the territory of Kavarna.
Italy's ERG SpA, which controls 50% of the joint venture, has no commercial activity on Bulgarian territory.
Lukoil, which controls the other 50% of the capital of LUKErg, produces electricity through a thermal power plant and a photovoltaic plant near Burgas. The company also owns the Lukoil Neftochim refinery in Burgas.
According to the KZK report, the planned acquisition will not harm competition in the sector, and LUKErg Renew is free to buy Globo Energy, Mark 1, Mark 2, and UP Bulgaria 4, which are managed by Yordan Merakov.
The deal is viewed as a continuation of the investment activity of the company in Bulgaria, after in 2012 it bought wind turbines near Kavarna, according to the competition watchdog.
The acquisition only has an impact on the production and wholesale sales of electricity and does not violate competition rules, KZK informs.
According to data of the Electricity System Operator and the Ministry of Economy and Energy, as cited by investor.bg, in 2012, thermal power plants generated 54% of Bulgaria's electricity, the Kozloduy NPP had a share of 33%, renewable energy sources had a share of 11%, and pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations had a share of 2%.
Wind farms had a share of around 23.4% of all power plants using renewable energy sources, while hydroelectric power plants had a share of around 60%, photovoltaic plants had a share of 15.7% and biomass-running power plants had a share of 0.8% of the total.
Adapted from novinite
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Have you ever made a promise? Promises should not be taken lightly. Big or small, a promise is a promise. Whenever I promise to my sisters, we "sister promise" and lock pinkies. Sister promises are never, EVER to be broken!
In my Thesaurus, it says a promise is a person's solemn declaration that he or she will do or not do something. Other words for a promise is oath, pledge, troth, vow, word, appointment, arrangement, commitment, engagement, agreement, exc. Whenever I promise, I try my hardest to keep it, and feel trusted when I do.
(2) I will always promise, and (3) I promise the truth promise.
The Bible is packed full of God's promises to His children. I chose four promises in bible to write about. At first glance, I probably would not have thought that some of them were promises, but there are.
The first is in Genesis 9:12-16.
and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
God gave us the rainbow as a sign. Kind of like the locked pinkies for a sister promise. God promised Noah and his family that He will NEVER, again destroy all flesh with a flood. This is a example of the first, I will never promise.
Skipping over to the next book in the bible, Exodus 13:21-22, we read in this story about a promise that is declared in a different way.
"And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.
Using a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire, God leads Moses and the children of Israel on there journey. Day and night, He is promising to to be with them and show them the way. Today, God promises us in the same way, maybe not a literal, but the promise is the same. To lead us and guide us both day and night. He is promising to ALWAYS be with us! This is a I will always promise.
1 Kings 18:26-38 tells a remarkable story proving that God is real.
"And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "LORD God of Abram, Issac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.
Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to you again.
Wow! God sent His fire for Elijah as proof that He is the LORD God of the entire universe! What a powerful God we serve! So, where is the promise in this story? Well, God is promising everyone there that day, and to everyone who reads this story in the bible, that He is powerful and almighty. He is the one TRUE God. Making this the I promise the truth promise.
The last promise from the bible I will write about is in Matthew 2:9-10.
"When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen from the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.
This promise is a mixture of all three promise types. It is similar to the first rainbow promise in that it has a sign of the covenant, the star. It is also similar to the second pillar of cloud and fire promise because the wisemen followed the star like the children of Israel followed the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire. Last but not least, it is similar to Elijah's offering promise because it is a I promise the truth promise. You might think that it doesn't sound like that type of promise, but this is they way I see it. God is promising the wiseman that by following the star, they will find baby Jesus, the TRUE King. The One that would die for our sins so that we can have everlasting life with Him. That is TRUE love!
As we study these four promises in the Bible, do you notice a pattern?
Yes, all of the promises came from the sky, the heavens. The rainbow in the sky, the pillars in the sky, the fire from the sky, and the star in the sky. Each one is a promise that God keeps and will never break.
You might be thinking to yourself that this was in the olden days, things like cloud pillars and fire coming down from heaven just don't happen nowadays. Or you might be thinking that nothing big or magnificent ever happens in the sky that shows us a promise from God.
But promises from heaven still do happen today! Everyday there is something magnificent in the sky! It's called a sunrise and sunset. Blue, orange, yellow, red, purple, and pink colors light up the sky. Fluffy clouds of all shapes and sizes add to it's beauty. It IS magnificent! It IS a promise!
Sunrises are a promise because each morning, when the sun comes up, God is promising to be with us today, and he is reminding us that he sent His only Sun to save sinners like you and I. God made the sun to give us sunlight each day just like Jesus gives us light spirituality. Jesus is the light of the world!
And sunsets are a promise because every night, when the sun goes down, God is promising that the Sun will come again quickly and He will take us to heaven to live forever with our Heavenly Father.
So, next time you see a sunrise or sunset, don't just think of it as a start or finish of a long day. Think of it as your magnificent promise from heaven!
"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Have you ever witnessed a beautiful sunrise and sunset? How about a rainbow? What's one of your favorite promises in the Bible? I'd love to here what you thought of Promises from Heaven!
This was beautiful!! I really touched me!!! God's nature is a way He gives me such peace!! YOu can see His glory and magnificence in the things He's created!! Beautiful!!
Thanks, Beth! I'm glad you liked reading through these promises in the Bible. I love to be out in nature! Like you said, it is peaceful. On our property, we have a great view to watch the sun set. They really are amazing! Thank you for commenting;-)!!!
I'm so glad these words God has given me to write are able to be an encouragement! Yes, sunrises are spectacular! Especially the sunrise pictures you posted on your blog:-)! Thanks for reading, Jessica!
Great post, Brooklyne!! God's promises to us are beautiful and He always keeps them. He is faithful.
One Sunday morning I was getting ready for church when my mom got my attention and told me to come over and look at the sunrise. I walked out the front door to see a gorgeous display of colors that God painted onto the sky. Rainbows are beautiful too. God puts so much thought and detail into His beautiful creations and it's so astounding.
Thanks, Sarah! Yes, God's Word is always good and never failing.
Beautiful sunrises and sunsets just goes to show us how not by accident nature is. There was definitely a Creator who created such perfect and astonishing masterpieces!
I love this post! God never breaks His word, His promises. It's something we can use to encourage us, in hard times, in prayer, in faith, in love.
I love watching sunsets, and looking for rainbows. Not only has God made us a world that has everything we need, He also made it beautiful!
Thank you! Yes, I agree. We can always count on God's promises to be true. God is so good to us! I'm so glad He gives us not only beautiful sunrises and sunsets, but also beautiful promises.
So true buatieful post! Naomi from the blog Living For Jesus Christ.
Naomi, thanks for taking the time to read my post and follow Showers of Blessings.
You've really studied this out which is great. I hadn't thought of all those connections before. It also reminded me of the verse in Lamentations (3:23) that says God's mercies are new every morning.
Thanks, Rachel! I really like that verse! God is so good to show us mercy everyday. That verse is actually a promise too! It is a I will always promise. Each and every morning, Gods mercies are new every day. That is a promise. Forever and always!


What about search engine optimization fraud??
I understand what you mean when you are talking about how we should all write nice pages and whatnot; - how about Google scammers? I think there are ways to pay for good rankings but do they really work or is it all a fraud?
Comments for What about search engine optimization fraud??


text:
IWMA credit card used for personal costs, audit shows
By Cal Coast Times staff
The San Luis Obispo County Integrated Waste Management Authority spends thousands of dollars of taxpayer money every month on a US Bank credit card "for what appear to be personal uses," reported Carl Knudson, an investigator hired by a citizens' group. [Cal Coast Times]
Based on documents obtained under the California Public Records Act, the card has been used to pay for video rentals, online shopping, expensive meals, a business license in Georgia, and personal telephone bills. State law prohibits government officials from using public money for personal expenses.
The list of apparently private expenses is not complete. Not all of the purchases made using the credit card have been accounted for, Knudson reported. Less than 20 percent of the IWMA credit card payments to the bank have been explained.
"Of the $537,607.68 payments made to US Bank, the IWMA could only provide backup for $92,529.94, a difference of $445,077.74," according to Knudson.
The credit card was obtained from US Bank in 2010, but without the approval of the SLO County auditor. It also lacked a key signature from the IWMA. US Bank required that government agencies have the signature of the agency's legal counsel. In the IWMA's application, the space for the legal counsel's signature was left blank. Instead, IWMA secretary Carolyn Goodrich signed as the authorizing agent.
One of the findings in Knudson's report shows that the IWMA card is used monthly to pay an AT&T bill for a landline with a 238 prefix in Paso Robles in the name of Steven and Carolyn Goodrich.
CalCoastNews sought records of credit card spending from the IWMA. Many records were not produced and those documents that were turned over had been redacted. None of the redactions were explained or justified even though the California Public Records Act requires those things.
Redacted copies of those card records obtained through a Public Record's Act request show that the card is often used for renting videos, expensive meals and online shopping.
IWMA Administrator Bill Worrell recently was asked specifically for monthly credit card statements from Jan. 2012 through May 2018.
IWMA Administrator Bill Worrell and legal counsel Ray Biering
In response, Worrell emailed what he said were the July 2016 through May 2018 monthly statements. However, the page numbers were redacted from the monthly statements and many pages were omitted. The Government Code requires government bodies to explain why they are redacting or withholding records, Worrell provided no explanation or even acknowledged that pages had been omitted.
For example, the monthly statement ending Nov. 22, 2016, showed a total of $8,240.97 in charges. But many of the pages documenting the charges were missing, and only $2,661.70 in charges were explained.
Even though Worrell omitted many of the monthly credit card charges, those he did provide included yearly charges for Amazon Prime, and charges for many online movie rentals, often on weekends.
Information obtained through Public Records Act requests show a wide variety of odd charges. Here's a summary of some of those:
— On July 20, 2016, The IWMA credit card was used to pay a CalRecycle fine or fee for $600 through a private payment service. Staffers at Opay, the payment service, confirmed the $600 payment to CalRecycle was not for an IWMA charge. Reporters have filed a public records request to CalRecycle for the invoice.
— On Oct. 24, 2016, the IWMA credit card paid a $50 yearly business registration fee to the Georgia Secretary of State for a land surveying license for Worrell, a charge that appears to have no relation to the SLO County IWMA.
— On Oct. 11, 2017, Maurice Tenborg, brother of Charles Tenborg, used the IWMA credit card to purchase a 60-inch by 84-inch steel floor for $678.24 from B & B Steel and Supply in Santa Maria, according to store staffers. Both Worrell and Charles Tenborg testified in court that Tenborg had not worked at the IWMA since either 2014 or 2015. Worrell did not respond to questions about specific credit card charges or why Charles Tenborg's brother is permitted use of the IWMA credit card.
— Monthly, the IWMA card is used to pay an AT&T bill for a landline with a 238 prefix in Paso Robles in the name of Steven and Carolyn Goodrich. Carolyn Goodrich is secretary of the IWMA board, and according to records provided by Worrell, she is the person who signed for the card with the issuer, US Bank.
— Also monthly, the IWMA credit card pays $14.99 to Adobe Acropo Sub, which appears to be a computer scam. An Internet search of Adobe Acropo Sub shows multiple complaints from people about the technical support service. The Adobe site does not show "Adobe Acropo Sub" as a product or service.
In addition to the credit card purchases, several other expenditures from IWMA accounts are now under investigation:
On Nov. 21, 2014, the IWMA purchased an Isuzu Truck for $69,123.66 which it said it then handed over to 21st Century Environment Management, a private contractor for the IWMA, under a five-year lease agreement, according to Knudson's report. The company has never made lease payments to IWMA, according to the authority's Carolyn Goodrich.
In addition, the IWMA purchased four Chevrolet Silverado trucks in 2015 without board approval. The trucks were handed over to four private trash companies, according to IWMA notations. Again, no lease payments were made by the companies receiving the trucks, Goodrich said.
The IWMA was formed in 1994 to allow its member agencies — San Luis Obispo County and the cities of Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Grover Beach, Morro Bay, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo, and the Community Service Districts — to plan and implement regional solid waste and hazardous waste programs. It is not responsible for awarding trash hauling contracts.
The IWMA board meets only occasionally, but will meet in special session Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the San Luis Obispo County Supervisors' Chambers to discuss an investigation by the SLO County District Attorney's Office.
Subjects: Bill Worrell California Public Records Act Credit Investigation Public employee benefits San Luis Obispo County Integrated Waste Management Authority (IWMA)
SLO County ballot maker's messy family bankruptcy
SLO High grad avoids more jail time for arson
what the
Short Version Tenborg of ECO Solutions Illegally Dumps PG&E's Hazardous Waste at Cold Canyon Landfill. Wagstaffe protects Tenborg pro bono.
ECO Solutions Tenborg Caught Dumping PG&E Hazardous Waste at Cold Canyon Landfill. Wagstaffe from Kerr Wagstaffe is representing Tenborg for Adamski, Moroski, Worrell, Jones from PG&E, and SLO county supervisor Hill.
The really funny part of all of this is had Tenborg just ignored Karen's article this likely would have never happened. Now all of the cards will be falling, all of the people who pushed for that lawsuit against CCN will be exposed and any politician who helps/helped Bill Worrell, Ray Biering and the other conspirators will find this is an election issue.
The Streisand effect is real.
PolyInsider
Hey, SLO County DA, here is an example of a couple of guys who went to prison for scamming the State out of a bunch of money related to hazardous waste disposal, at San Francisco State University. Maybe you could call the San Francisco DA and get some pointers on how to proceed: http://sfappeal.com/2015/04/contractor-pleads-guilty-to-118-counts-of-bribery-involving-former-sfsu-official/
They need to terminate Worrell before his September retirement date to freeze him out of his pension. This guy is going to walk away with well over 100K a year in pension from the taxpayers and then the "officials" are all going to let it drop because he's "gone anyway." It looks like crime DOES pay in SLO county.
GoneFlyFishing
This whole thing is kind of funny, except what these reporters have been through. This whole issue started when CCN ran a story about a waste hauler (Tenborg) who was mishandling hazardous waste'. Tenborg, Adam Hill and James Wagstaffe ran around claiming CCN lied and Tenborg is an angel. Then they proceeded to spend bucu bucks on Wagstaffe Kerr for four or five years to prove CCN lied. Tenborg wins the trial, tries to steal reporters' homes and money, is investigated, proven to have lied all the way through. Now Bill Worrell, Adam Hill's and Tenborg's cronie, is also investigated and has apparently embezzled approximately a half million, and is now going down. Of course Adam Hill is a member of the board allowing Worrell to steal money. No one would have remembered the original story about Tenborg if they would just have kept their mouths shut. You can't make this stuff up. Enjoy the ride boys, you created it.
JordanJ
Adam Hill and his trolls spent five years trying to trash the reputations of CCN reporters even attacking their children, all to destroy reporters who have questioned the apparent pay to play in SLO County. They may have one a battle, but I hope they lose the war.
Jorge Estrada
When you understand that most training, including regulatory required training, can be performed online and most County, State and Federal meetings too can be via a webinar, then you will see that government virtually has a travel club at the expense of the taxpayers. I know this because the highly regulated and unregulated private sector companies extensively use their computers not the costly travel industry. They know this but heck a fire if you bring it up. By comparison the IWMA challenge is peanuts and only turns heads in that direction.
1965buick
Thank you CCNews. It was obvious there was 'waste' involved when they balked at someone actually looking at their finances.
Ted R
This sounds significantly more consequential than the Wallace fiasco. It also apoears to be just the tip of the iceberg. Considering the portion they allowed the public to inspect shows grand theft, embezzlement and fraud, what can we expect from the hidden portion?
discloser
Ted, it would appear to be the case that the IWMA case is even dirtier than the Sanitation District case, BUT the DA only investigated a few of the more recent conflicts of interest because they were the easy pickings. The DA's office admitted there was far more there that wasn't investigated or charged. Had it gone to trial this would all have come out, including the involvement of Bill Nicolls, John Shoals, Tony Ferrara, Caren Ray, Judge Matt Guerrero, Mary Lucey, and now the majority of the Grover Beach City Council and Mayor who are running interference for them and Wallace. Remember, the Knudsen investigation of the Sanitation District was tightly controlled by Shoals to include a very limited scope. Had it been funded privately, as the IWMA was, the revelations would have blown your socks off. Perhaps this latest corruption at the behest of the same group of players and their minions will start to attract enough state and national interest to send some of them down. It will be amusing to watch the cronies polishing up their halos and disavowing one another if it does.


Why is a Bosch dishwasher constantly running in drain mode?
My dishwasher will not turn off. I think it is in a constant drain mode though I am not sure. I tried your test for another, similar model by holding down the power'scrub and delicate buttons simultaneously, turning on and then releasing buttons. Those lights flashed and when those buttons were then pushed, the regular wash light went on.
This entry was posted in Appliance Repair Radio, Dishwasher Repair, Podcast on April 3, 2012 by Samurai Appliance Repair Man.


text:
package org.apache.druid.segment;

import java.io.Closeable;
import java.util.Optional;

/**
 * Interface for an object that may have a reference acquired in the form of a {@link Closeable}. This is intended to be
 * used with an implementation of {@link ReferenceCountingCloseableObject}, or anything else that wishes to provide
 * a method to account for the acquire and release of a reference to the object.
 */
public interface ReferenceCountedObject
{
  /**
   * This method is expected to increment a reference count and provide a {@link Closeable} that decrements the
   * reference count when closed. This is likely just a wrapper around
   * {@link ReferenceCountingCloseableObject#incrementReferenceAndDecrementOnceCloseable()}, but may also include any
   * other associated references which should be incremented when this method is called, and decremented/released by the
   * closeable.
   *
   * IMPORTANT NOTE: to fulfill the contract of this method, implementors must return a closeable to indicate that the
   * reference can be acquired, even if there is nothing to close. Implementors should avoid allowing this method or the
   * {@link Closeable} it creates to throw exceptions.
   *
   * For callers: if this method returns non-empty, IT MUST BE CLOSED, else reference counts can potentially leak.
   */
  Optional<Closeable> acquireReferences();
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


OPEC/non-OPEC is a disjunctive, if we consider the work done to reach an agreement in November with OPEC based in Vienna, followed by the December commitments from non-OPEC countries led by Russia; together these oil producers raised prices to levels never seen in the past decade. The agreement, which will be implemented during 2017, will show us whether there really is a revival of prestige and a real political presence for the Organization. In previous editions of Oil, we have considered the difficulties faced by an organization that had strong leadership in the '70s and '80s but has struggled to rebuild its image, especially since the start of the 21st century. There are many reasons for this difficulty, as we know; first and foremost, the changing role of oil itself and, as a result, that of the producing countries, which have lost power and prestige as they have confronted an almost completely changed culture of energy supply. And internal difficulties must not be forgotten, especially in the Arab countries in South American countries such as Venezuela and in some African countries. In any case, trumping everything is the confrontation with fundamentalists driven by radical Islam. While the establishments of the oil-producing Arab countries are fully immersed in this problem, sometimes even Western countries are hit by terrorism where dynasties and consolidated balances have been in play not just for decades but sometimes for centuries. The beginning of the 21st century has seen a constant decrease in oil prices, an increasingly pressing demand to move away from a system strictly centered on oil and,weighing on this, are the highs and lows of production, linked to prices.
OPEC's loss of influence was evident to everyone, a loss demonstrated by the ''triumphalist'' tone with which, in November, after months of negotiations, it announced an internal agreement, one that even included Iraq and Iran, to cut production by as much as 1.2 million barrels per day in order to raise prices through a stable and controlled system. It was no small deal, if we consider that this agreement had to sacrifice Indonesia's membership in OPEC. Indonesia had returned to OPEC after having been outside of the organization for a long time, but left again when it chose not to participate in an unexpected unanimous decision that it found counter to its self-interest.However, the triumphalist tone (that of the press and OPEC's official journal) makes sense when in the days after the November agreement the price of a barrel increased by almost 9 percent and reached a peak of $51 in the case of Brent. The optimism for the judgement, as well as for the immediate result, was based on the fact that the November agreement was foreseen in confidential talks that were already in progress. To that end, OPEC's effort was actually important for publicizing something that had not happened for more than a decade, the creation of production quotas for each country and also establishing a committee to monitor the implementation of production cuts. Immediately after the November agreement, public messages of appreciation and invitation to dialogue were sent to Russia and producing countries outside of OPEC. A good job by OPEC guides ensured that, a few weeks later with the December 2016 agreement, a goal sought for around 15 years has finally united the majority of producing countries to limit production for the common end of relaunching and stabilizing higher prices. This triumph was hailed by OPEC's official journal with a very significant title, ''OPEC makes history in Vienna'', which suggests a proud sense of regained global influence. The agreement unites 24 of the largest oil-producing countries to cut approximately 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) from the beginning of 2017 for an initial period of six months, a time which may be extended for another six months. Although we are not yet at the end of the first quarter, the results seem to justify the decision. If we simply consider only the price issue, it has increased from a depressing $31.79 per barrel in January 2016 to $53 in January 2017, an increase among the highest in recent years and a growth of 45 percent in value, the largest growth since the beginning of the global crisis in 2009. Obviously, it is not all roses - we have briefly reported on a very difficult negotiation, especially within OPEC itself, for this is a story of a group that has always suffered from difficult relations, more within itself than with non-producing or non-member countries.
Europe must continue to diversify energy sources and maintain a certain political strength if it wishes to oppose a possible U.S.-Russia agreement, which could cut its influence on energy source prices.
The agreement came out thanks to overcoming long-held internal issues within OPEC. We only have to consider Saudi Arabia's willingness to work with Iran. The purpose of the agreement, according to Saudi Minister Khalid Al Falih, is mainly to build a long-term collaboration, with the possibility of consultations and coordinated interventions in the market.
Donald Trump can only see the OPEC agreement in a positive light, as it could well favor the U.S. According to economic analysts, the increase in oil prices may revive American shale producers.
The will for a general agreement hinged on overcoming old, unresolved internal issues within OPEC. Saudi Arabia's willingness to engage Iran may prove difficult as, after the years of the embargo, Iran is racing to recover influence in all international political and diplomatic areas, and given that ambition it may not only refuse to adhere to the negotiated cuts but may even increase its production to approximately 3.9 million barrels per day. The purpose, according to Saudi Minister Khalid Al Falih, who was one of the main creators of this agreement, first within OPEC and then with non-OPEC countries, is mainly to build a long-term collaboration with consultations and coordinated interventions on the market to avoid the bad results of the last two years, in which OPEC was kept on the sidelines of almost all energy decisions while the price of the barrel collapsed. Now, although certified by these agreements, OPEC only controls a part of the oil supply and, therefore, in some ways it cannot go back to being the key player it once was. But it no longer needs to assume 100 percent of the costs, having made a ''transparent'' agreement and a comparison before the world with the other producers that often avoided energy, environmental and social discussions of an international nature. This is certainly a good political result for OPEC. In terms of political forecasting, it is also a good result considering that, while the countries of the organization traditionally experience internal conflict, especially due to Islamic radicalization, their agreement now includes more stabile non-OPEC countries. But political stability issues remain. Less optimistic economic analysts predict that soon, in the haze of the relations of non-OPEC countries, there may be a risk of recovering production, a surge which would produce a downward drive in oil prices. Then we need to consider the effect all this will have in conjunction with Donald Trump's presidency.
What will happen in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia?
For political affinities, Trump certainly represents all the major oil producers of his country, and he can only view positively a measure that may well do a favor to the U.S. According to economic analysts, the rise in oil prices can revive American shale producers. At the end of December, Bloomberg revealed that a rise in prices would have allowed producers to use the complicated American technology necessary to reappear with confidence in the market. The U.S. produces approximately 8.8 million barrels per day and has returned to the production levels of two years ago, even with only one-third of active wells compared with the maximum possible collection points. Again, according to Bloomberg, since May 2016, almost 200 extraction points have been relaunched in order to act in advance on both the presidential electoral challenge and because a possible agreement within OPEC was envisaged. Currently, shale production is at 4.5 million barrels, according to several analysts and, with a further jump of around ten dollars, a production of 5.5 million barrels a day could be reached, which would certainly not be a good result for OPEC. Donald Trump will certainly not discourage this situation. We wonder, therefore, if we are faced with a ''win-win'' scenario or whether the agreement will simply place OPEC in the limelight over the coming months. Which refers, again, to a political game involving several countries. The OPEC agreement has, for the first time in years, united Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq, and has also enabled countries in difficulty to ease domestic tension in the marketplace. Russia, knowing that this new situation will benefit the U.S., will use new talks to reach a stabilization agreement. The truth is that the country taking the biggest political gamble is Saudi Arabia, which has agreed to be responsible for almost half of the cuts. The Kingdom has ended the trade war with Iran that started at the end of 2014, perhaps even resulting in a partnership in the field of nuclear power. Venezuela is getting back into the game, having suffered, more than others, severe economic damage from the fall in crude oil prices. Putin's Russia sees a possible additional political/economic opportunity, one that it will duly exploit. Europe must continue to diversify sources of energy and maintain political strength if it wishes to oppose a possible U.S. - Russia rapprochement related to energy source prices. However, we must not be fooled by appearances. The fact that Saudi Arabia has focused so much on the agreement is due to the fact that its establishment has made room for a strong drive to diversify economic sources and to have a future with less, or even no, oil. In 2017, both the OPEC agreement and the decisions of COP 21, confirmed in COP22, are now both operational. These paths will not necessarily be different and divergent. In fact, it is conceivable that they will be long, interdependent and that the most diplomatically savvy and most economically flexible countries will take advantage of both opportunities. Thus this will be an interesting year.