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WCAB Panel Says Orders Taking Matters off Calendar Are Not Final, Ineligible for Reconsideration

Orders taking a matter off calendar are not final orders for the purposes of seeking reconsideration, the California Workers' Compensation Appeals Board said in a what it designated as a…




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Court: Son of Sam Law Allows State to Take Murderer's Comp Settlement

A New York appeals court said a law created nearly 50 years ago to ensure serial killer David Berkowitz couldn't profit from his murder spree supersedes work comp law and…




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Exposure Testing Law for Air Ambulance Workers Takes Effect

A law requiring the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and self-insured public employers to pay for diagnostic testing after air ambulance workers are exposed to certain hazards takes effect today. Gov.




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BWC: 7% Rate Cut for Private Employers Takes Effect

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation said a 7% rate cut for private employers took effect Monday. The 7% rate cut, which the BWC said would save employers about $67 million,…




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Court Upholds Award for Carpal Tunnel, Denies Employer's Request to Take Offset

A Louisiana appellate court upheld an award of benefits for a worker with carpal tunnel syndrome and ruled that his employer was not entitled to an offset against its liability. Case: Caldwell…




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New USPSTF guidance: Continue to take low-dose aspirin if you have a history of heart attack, AFib, stroke or vascular stenting

DALLAS, Tuesday, April 26, 2022 – Earlier today, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released its final recommendations on low-dose aspirin therapy for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in adults: people who have a history ...




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Two Upstart Search Engines Are Teaming Up to Take on Google

Ask the search engine Ecosia about “Paris to Prague” and flight booking websites dominate the results. Ecosia’s CEO Christian Kroll would prefer to present more train options, which he considers better for the environment. But because its results are licensed from Google and Microsoft’s Bing, Ecosia has little control over what’s shown. Kroll is ready for that to change.




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The #1 Mistake That Ruins Most Conversations

In this episode, we unpack the concept of becoming a Supercommunicator. Charles Duhigg breaks down why effective communication isn’t about being naturally gifted—it’s a skill anyone can build through practice, self-awareness, and a few powerful techniques. We also share stories and insights that show how understanding different conversation types and adapting to digital communication can transform relationships and success. Some highlights we explore: The 3 conversation types and how to match them to avoid conflict Using “looping for understanding” to create deeper connections Why non-verbal cues are critical, especially in the digital age And more! Enjoy! FOLLOW CHARLES DUHIGG: instagram | facebook | twitter | linkedin | website Listen to the Podcast Subscribe

The post The #1 Mistake That Ruins Most Conversations first appeared on Chase Jarvis.

The post The #1 Mistake That Ruins Most Conversations appeared first on Chase Jarvis.




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What does it take to be a great software engineer?

I spent the better part of the twenty-teens working as a software developer/engineer. To be honest, I paid very little attention to intentional professional growth during most of that span. We were a relatively small company, and I lacked the confidence and experience to think ambitiously. Being a great software engineer can be satisfying and …

The post What does it take to be a great software engineer? appeared first on Nathan Rice.




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Handling Spelling Mistakes with Postgres Full Text Search

Background #

Postgres Full Text Search (FTS) is a great way to implement site search on a website running Postgres already, without requiring additional infrastructure.

On a recent engagement with a client, we were deciding between Postgres FTS and ElasticSearch. Ultimately we chose FTS because we could spin it up without having to add extra infrastructure, as we would with ElasticSearch.

Since the project was written in Ruby on Rails, we were able to use the excellent PgSearch gem to implement FTS in ActiveRecord.

Multisearch #

As we wanted a general site search, we needed to utilize multisearch. Multisearch combines multiple ActiveRecord models into one search 'document' table that you can search against. For example, if a user searches for some search term, and the search is configured for multisearch, then every single model that we mark as multisearchable will be searched for that term at the same time. See here for more detail.

Search Features #

PgSearch allows for different search features, tsearch, trigram, and dmetaphone. The default is tsearch, which uses the built-in Postgres Full Text Search.

This was great for our use case, since it also comes with highlighting, a feature that was required. The highlighting is from a field returned by Postgres FTS, where it returns the text around the search term for context and bolds the search terms.

Spelling Mistakes #

Unfortunately, tsearch does not handle misspelled words. However, as I mentioned before, PgSearch allows for other search features!

And trigram is a feature that can be installed via a Postgres extension (pg_trgm) that does just that.

Trigram #

  • The idea behind trigram search is to split pieces of text into sets of three-letter segments, and compare the sets to one another
  • If two trigram sets are similar enough, we assume there was a spelling mistake, and return the document with the correctly-spelled term.
  • As a quick example (ignoring whitespace): Consider the word Viget. Viget would make trigrams:
[vig, ige, get]
  • Now, consider our evil twin agency, Qiget. They would make trigrams
[qig, ige, get]
  • The two trigram sets match very closely, with only one of the trigrams not being the same. Thus, if we were to compare these with pg_trgm, we could reasonably tell that anyone typing 'Qiget' must have been actually looking for 'Viget', and just misspelled it.

Working Trigram into our existing solution #

PgSearch allows us to use multiple search features at once, so we can use tsearch and trigram side by side. Note that we cannot just replace tsearch with trigram due to needing some features in tsearch that are exclusive to it. Here is what an example configuration might look like.

PgSearch.multisearch_options = {
  using: {
    tsearch: {
      prefix: true,
      highlight: {
        MaxFragments: 1
      }
    },
    trigram: { 
      only: [:content]
    }
  }
}

Trigram (and timelines) causing issues #

While it was easy to slot Trigram into our multisearch, it caused a pretty serious performance hit. We were seeing 50x-75x slower searches with both features combined than with just tsearch. We needed to find a way to balance performance with handling misspellings

At the point that handling misspellings became prioritized, the entire search feature was almost fully QA'd and about ready to go out. There wasn't much time left in the budget to find a good solution for the issue.

This thread from the PgSearch repo sums it up pretty well – there were multiple other users that were/are having similar issues as we were. The top-rated comment in this thread is someone mentioning that the solution was to just use ElasticSearch ('top-rated' is doing a lot of heavy lifting. It did have the most likes...at two). We needed to find some sort of middle ground solution that we could act on quickly.

Postgres Documentation saves the day #

In the docs for the Trigram Postgres extension, the writers give an idea for using Trigram in conjunction with Full Text Search. The general idea is to create a separate words table that has a Trigram index on it.

Something like this worked for us. Note that we added an additional step with a temporary table. This was to allow us to filter out words that included non-alphabet characters.

execute <<-SQL
  -- Need to make a temp table so we can remove non-alphabet characters like websites
  CREATE TEMP TABLE temp_words AS
    SELECT word FROM ts_stat('SELECT to_tsvector(''simple'', content) FROM pg_search_documents');

  CREATE TABLE pg_search_words (
    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    word text
  );

  INSERT INTO pg_search_words (word)
    SELECT word
    FROM temp_words
    WHERE word ~ '^[a-zA-Z]+$';
  
  CREATE INDEX pg_words_idx ON pg_search_words USING GIN (word gin_trgm_ops);
  
  DROP TABLE temp_words;
SQL

This words table is therefore populated with every unique word that exists in your search content table. For us, this table was pretty large.

result = ActiveRecord::Base.connection.execute("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM pg_search_words").first['count']
puts result.first['count']
# => 1118644

Keeping the words table up-to-date #

As mentioned in the docs, this table is separate from your search table. Therefore, it needs to be either periodically regenerated or at least have any new words added to search content also added to this table.

One way to achieve this is with a trigger, which adds all new words (still filtering out non-alphabet characters) that are inserted into the documents table to the words table

create_trigger("pg_search_documents_after_insert_update_row_tr", generated: true, compatibility: 1)
  .on("pg_search_documents")
  .after(:insert, :update) do
  <<-SQL_ACTIONS
    CREATE TEMP TABLE temp_words AS
      SELECT word FROM ts_stat('SELECT to_tsvector(''simple'', ' || quote_literal(NEW.content) || ')');

    INSERT INTO pg_search_words (word)
      SELECT word
      FROM temp_words
      WHERE word ~ '^[a-zA-Z]+$';

    DROP TABLE temp_words;
  SQL_ACTIONS

end

Note that this does not handle records being deleted from the table – that would need to be something separate.

How we used the words table #

Assuming for simplicity the user's search term is a single word, if the search returns no results, we compare the search term's trigram set to the trigram index on the words table, and return the closest match.

Then, we'd show the closest match in a "Did you mean {correctly-spelled word}?" that hyperlinks to a search of the correctly-spelled word

Given more time, I would have liked to explore options to speed up the combined FTS and Trigram search. I'm certain we could have improved on the performance issues, but I can't say for sure that we could have gotten the search time down to a reasonable amount.

A future enhancement that would be pretty simple is to automatically search for that correctly-spelled word, removing the prompt to click the link. We could also change the text to something like "Showing results for {correctly-spelled word}".

Ultimately, I think with the situation at hand, we made the right call implementing Trigram this way. The search is just as fast as before, and now in the case of misspellings, a user just has to follow the link to the correctly-spelled word and they will see the results they wanted very quickly.




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FLIPPO Pet Food: A Fresh Take on Branding and Packaging Design

FLIPPO Pet Food: A Fresh Take on Branding and Packaging Design

abduzeedo

Discover FLIPPO Pet Food’s playful branding and clean packaging design, making waves in the pet food industry.

FLIPPO Pet Food is more than just a brand; it’s a lively celebration of real, natural nutrition for pets. Developed in Spain, FLIPPO takes a bold stand against traditional pet kibble, ushering in a wave of wholesome, fresh ingredients for our loyal companions. This design-centric approach comes to life through FLIPPO’s unique branding and eye-catching packaging, crafted by the talented team at invade design, Colombia.

A Visual Feast for Pet Lovers

FLIPPO’s brand identity is anything but conventional. It combines playful illustrations, vibrant colors, and friendly typography to create an experience that instantly captures attention. The visual storytelling here is intentional, aimed at communicating the brand’s commitment to quality and its promise of real food for pets. The design invites pet owners to rethink what they feed their furry friends, making every interaction with the packaging memorable.

One of the standout features of FLIPPO’s design is its use of clean lines and engaging illustrations. Each packaging element feels like an invitation to a healthier, happier lifestyle for pets. The color palette bursts with energy, reflecting the brand’s fun and light-hearted personality while reinforcing its serious commitment to pet health.

Thoughtful Typography and Brand Messaging

Typography in FLIPPO’s design strikes a fine balance between playful and practical. The brand uses bold, easy-to-read fonts that ensure key messages are clear, whether they’re displayed in store aisles or in a social media feed. This typographic choice complements the visuals, making the overall design both appealing and accessible.

Brand messaging leans into humor and relatability. FLIPPO’s playful copy engages pet owners with a tone that’s both fun and genuine. It’s a reminder that feeding our pets shouldn’t be a chore but a joyful experience, one that prioritizes their well-being.

From Concept to Reality: Behind the Scenes

The team at invade design worked meticulously to craft an identity that stands out in the competitive pet food market. Photography by Serena.Studio captures the freshness and quality of the ingredients, enhancing the appeal of the design. Together, these elements create a brand ecosystem that feels cohesive and authentic.

For those interested in design inspiration, FLIPPO offers a masterclass in branding and packaging that balances fun with function. Check out the full project and more by invade design on Behance at https://www.behance.net/madebyinvade.

Branding and packaging design artifacts

Credits

  • Identidad de Marca:
  • invade, Colombia
  • Team:
  • María Vélez
  • Agustin Hoyos
  • Mariana Castrillón
  • Tania Flórez
  • Tomás Saldarriaga
  • Mateo Ríos
  • ​​​​​​​Fotografía:
  • Serena.Studio





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8 WordPress Development Mistakes to Avoid in 2022

WordPress is an incredibly versatile and powerful platform. But, like with any tool, it’s simple to make errors while using it because of the variety of possibilities available. Although some faults might harm your website, others can be catastrophic. That’s why it’s so important to be aware of them to be safe. When it comes […]

The post 8 WordPress Development Mistakes to Avoid in 2022 appeared first on WPCult.




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Taking the Pulse of Underwater Forests

By UC Santa Barbara News A new study from UCSB’s National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis finds kelps are doing better than other key coastal ecosystem-forming species Like all marine ecosystems around the world, kelp forests are threatened by … Continue reading




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Drug Prevents Migraine When Taken Before Onset

Ubrogepant may be able to prevent or reduce migraine symptoms if taken during the early signs of a migraine attack and before headache begins.




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Building Strong Stakeholder Relationships in Procurement

Organizer: Canoe Procurement Group of Canada
Location: Online




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UKOLN Open Forum to take place prior to start of IWMW 2006.

A UKOLN Open Forum will be held on Wednesday 14 June from 10.00-12.00, prior to the official opening of the Institutional Web Management Workshop. The Open Forum will provide an opportunity to hear about some of the wider activities UKOLN is involved in. IWMW participants are invited to join the Open Forum. [2006-05-16]




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Guest Blog Post: Marketing Man Takes Off His Tie

Peter Reader has written a guest blog post for Brian Kelly's "UK Web Focus: Reflections On The Web" blog [2007-06-06]




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Plenary Talk 7: Marketing Man takes off his Tie: Customers, Communities and Communication

Peter Reader, University of Bath explains that E-communications, e-marketing and social media are hot topics for university marketers and communicators, with old ideas of 'control' looking more and more unrealistic. Now the talk is of 'influence', viral marketing, students as customers, and of client management, with the web and web technologies seen increasingly as the university's most important marketing tools. So what are the challenges, and what are the issues with which marketers will face us? Expect more of "why" and "want" than of "how"!




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United Nations Takes Another Step in Developing a Treaty on Business and Human Rights

Since it was established in 2014, a United Nations Inter-Governmental Working Group (“IGWG”) has met annually to develop a multilateral treaty to attempt to hold businesses legally accountable for harms that may be related to their global operations (the “Proposed Treaty”).  Littler Mendelson attorneys have provided testimony at all of these sessions.1 The IGWG held its most recent session from October 14-18, 2019, during which certain member States of the United Nations (“States”) and other stakeholders discussed a “Revised Draft” of the Proposed Treaty.2 This Revise




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Canada's Federal Pay Equity Act Takes Effect on August 31, 2021

Rhonda Levy and Barry Kuretzky examine Canada’s federal Pay Equity Act and offer tips to employers for establishing a pay equity plan.

Human Resources Director Canada

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Littler Mendelson Takes Aim at Pay Inequity with New Software

Aaron Crews explains Littler's Pay Equity Assessment Tool.

Employee Benefit News

View Article 




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New York Anti-Sexual Harassment Requirements Take Full Effect

Earlier this year, New York State adopted anti-sexual harassment legislation that the Governor described as the "strongest and most comprehensive" in the country, and that is now fully effective. As of October 9, 2018, employers must distribute to all New York-based employees an updated anti-sexual harassment policy that covers a number of key areas. Over the next 365 days, employers also must train all New York-based employees regarding sexual harassment and retaliation, and repeat such training annually thereafter.




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Employer Takeaways From 2nd Circ. Equal Pay Ruling

Thelma Akpan and Katelyn McCombs discuss a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decision that reversed a long-held understanding of the Equal Pay Act and could have a significant effect on equal pay litigation.

Law360

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Total Recall? Key Takeaways on the Nevada Hospitality and Travel Workers Right to Return Act

The Governor of Nevada recently signed into law Senate Bill 386, which is Nevada’s version of the trending “return to work” or “right to recall” laws being passed in other jurisdictions throughout the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  These laws typically require that employees who were laid off due to the pandemic be given priority to be offered their former jobs before external candidates are considered.  Nevada’s law, the Nevada Hospitality and Travel Workers Right to Return Act (“the Act”), does not apply to all businesses, but generally to such businesses that were most a




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Steps Employers Can Take Before a Reduction in Force to Help Protect Trade Secrets

  • Layoffs may create an increased risk of trade secret misappropriation.
  • Employers can take certain steps in advance of a reduction in force to help mitigate against this risk.




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Companies Take Advantage of the Implementation of Equality Plans to Incorporate Their Workplace Harassment Protocols

Teresa Trigueros discusses workplace harassment and its protocols.

Confilegal

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Minnesota Supreme Court Ruling is a Reminder to Think Twice Before Taking Deductions from Wages

An employer pays its managers an annual salary and in addition provides monthly advances based on an estimate of the incentive bonus the employee appears likely to have earned by the end of the year. However, if the employee's performance declines over time so that the earned bonus ends up being less than the amounts advanced over the course of the year, it seems obvious that the employer should be able to deduct the overpayments from future paychecks.




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Statutory paternity pay uptake falls amid financial pressures, stats show

Mark Callaghan says the new UK government should increase Statutory Paternity Pay “in excess of inflation,” because it would benefit businesses and families alike.

People Management

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New Maryland Wage Laws Take Effect

On October 1, 2024, Maryland’s Pay Stub/Pay Statement and Pay Transparency laws went into effect. The laws were passed during the General Assembly’s 2024 legislative session and amended the state’s Wage Payment and Collection Law and Equal Pay for Equal Work law, respectively.

Pay Stub/Pay Statement Law Requirements




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July is the New January – New State Laws Do Not Take the Summer Off

It used to be that employers had the luxury of waiting until January 1 to be vigilant for new employment laws and compliance challenges.  For the past several years, we have reported on employment and labor laws taking effect mid-year.  The trend is increasing, with states and cities passing a multitude of new workplace regulations throughout the calendar year. 




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Puerto Rico Treasury Department Takes Action in Response to Hurricane Fiona

On September 17, 2022, Puerto Rico Governor Hon. Pedro Pierluisi issued Executive Order No. OE-2022-045, declaring a state of emergency due to the passing of Hurricane Fiona through the Island. Likewise, on September 21, 2022, President Joseph Biden authorized a disaster declaration for Puerto Rico, opening up additional relief and assistance for Puerto Rico's recovery process after the devastation left by the hurricane.




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Employer Tab for Exiting Pensions at Stake in High Court Appeal

Sarah Bryan Fask says a decision clarifying when employers can exit union-brokered pension plans “potentially opens up the floodgates for a lot of employer uncertainty.”

Bloomberg Law

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New York, California Take Lead to Shape Workplace Violence Laws

Rebecca Goldstein talks about new workplace violence prevention laws in California and New York.

Bloomberg Law

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“Stop-WOKE” Takes Aim at Florida’s Colleges and Universities

Florida’s most recent anti-“WOKE” legislation places diversity-related work and diversity-focused positions on state campuses under threat.




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Kentucky Takes Aim at “WOKE” in Higher Ed

On March 14, 2024, a bill to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in Kentucky’s public universities cleared the House by a vote of 68-18.  Senate Bill 6 (An Act Relating to Postsecondary Institutions) is the most recent Stop-“WOKE” legislation aimed at eliminating diversity-related initiatives on state campuses. 




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California’s Indoor Heat Illness Prevention Regulation Takes Immediate Effect

  • California’s indoor heat illness regulation, the first of its kind in the United States, is now in effect.
  • New requirements apply to all indoor work areas where the temperature is 82° F or above, with few exceptions. Additional requirements apply for higher temperatures.
  • California employers with any work settings that are covered by the new regulation should immediately develop indoor heat illness plans and provide training to their employees.




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House GOP takes aim at Biden heat safety rules

Felicia Watson said lawmakers should oppose a proposed OSHA rule to protect workers from extreme heat because it would force employers into the role of taking care of employees like children.

E&E News

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Crash Course in U.S. Employment Law: How a Multinational Based Outside the United States Can Avoid Big Mistakes Managing a U.S. Workforce

  • Multinationals based outside the United States that enter the U.S. market and employ U.S. staff tend to encounter hurdles, and to make mistakes, because the U.S system of labor/employment regulation is of a fundamentally different character from those of every other country in the world.  




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Six high-stakes employment rules that could tilt on the election

Michael Lotito, Jim Paretti, and Shannon Meade discuss what a new administration will mean for employment law and employers.

American City Business Journals

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&quot;CALLING THE SHOTS&quot; A report commissioned by ETSI calls on EU to retake global leadership in digital standard setting

"CALLING THE SHOTS" A report commissioned by ETSI calls on EU to retake global leadership in digital standard setting

Sophia Antipolis, 10 October 2019

The report Calling the Shots: Standardization for EU Competitiveness in a Digital Era, was drawn up by an independent panel of experts brought together by Kreab at the request of ETSI and led by Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sweden. The panel who met during the first half year of 2019, gathered insights and experience from industry, politics and academia. 

Read More...




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ETSI advisor at the Stakeholder Cybersecurity Certification Group launched by the EC

ETSI advisor at the Stakeholder Cybersecurity Certification Group launched by the EC

Sophia Antipolis, 24 June 2020

ETSI is pleased to announce that it has been invited to be part of the newly formed Stakeholder Cybersecurity Certification Group. The kick-off meeting took place today. Together with the European Cybersecurity Certification Group (ECCG), composed of Member States’ representatives, the newly established Stakeholder Cybersecurity Certification Group (SCCG) will advise the Commission on strategic issues regarding the European cybersecurity certification framework. It will also assist the Commission in the preparation of the Union rolling work programme, which sets the priorities for the definition of schemes within the EU cybersecurity certification framework. ETSI will bring in its long-standing experience in cybersecurity, with standards developed both for enterprises and consumers within several of its technical bodies, including the Technical Committee CYBER.

Read More...




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Take Control: Be the CEO of Your Career and Life

Starts: Wed, 04 Dec 2024 19:00:00 -0500
12/04/2024 05:30:00PM
Location: Montreal, Canada




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Investor Alert: Fraudulent social media “investment groups” take advantage of unsuspecting investors

TORONTO – The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) warns Canadians about fraudulent “investment groups” promoted on social media like Facebook and Instagram. These groups could be running a scam called a “pump and dump.”How the scam works:




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Improving Diets and Nutrition through Food Systems: What Will it Take?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFqzYrQkSTQ



  • From Our Channel
  • News

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SpotOn is taking a break in 2015

After several successful years of bringing science communicators together in London and New York, the




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Orange. 6, Future / story and art by Ichigo Takano ; translation, Amber Tamosaitis ; adaptation, Shannon Fay ; lettering, Lys Blakeslee.

"The long-awaited sequel to the Eisner-nominated Orange! Experience the world of Orange from a whole new perspective, as the fate of the present and future timelines unfolds from the point of view of the ever-cheerful third wheel, Suwa Hiroto. Reuniting years later in college, Suwa and Naho's lives have been forever scarred by their experiences in high school. They say time heals all wounds, but sometimes, time is not enough." -- Provided by publisher.




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My little pony : friendship is magic. Season 10, Volume 1 / colors by Heather Breckel ; letters by Neil Uyetake.

A first installment in a graphic-novel rendering of Season 10 from the beloved animated series finds Twilight adjusting to new leadership responsibilities by recruiting her friends to help explore potentially dangerous regions throughout Equestria.




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How can African agriculture adapt to climate change: Perceptions of stakeholders on climate change and adaptation strategies in Ethiopia [in Amharic]

The potential adverse effects of climate change on Ethiopia’s agricultural sector are a major concern, particularly given the country’s dependence on agricultural production. Securing Ethiopia’s economic and social well-being in the face of climate change requires that policymakers and stakeholders work together to integrate climate change adaptation into the country’s development process.