ETSI launches remote Plugtests^TM Programme for Mission Critical Services to accelerate adoption and interoperability

Sophia Antipolis, 28 April 2020

To accelerate Mission Critical Services (MCS) adoption and interoperability, a key enabler to MCS deployment, ETSI is running an innovative MCX Plugtests^TM Programme. Testing sessions will also benefit from the latest ETSI specification, ETSI TS 103 564, on Plugtests scenarios for Mission Critical Services.

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In the early 90s, American economist Jeffrey Sachs was a part of a team that tried to transform Russia's economy. It did not go as planned. He tells us what he thinks went so wrong. | Subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.

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Hybrid industrial cloud adoption will more than double over the next five years at 21.1% CAGR.

While new technology can certainly help streamline certain aspects of HVAC business operations, like accounting and inventory management, it still needs to be viewed as a tool to augment the capabilities of employees, not replace them entirely.

When it comes to comfort, not much beats zoning. In fact, many industry experts tout that once homeowners have experienced the comfort zoning has to offer, they will never own another house without it.

Despite the arguments regarding the practicality of heat pumps in cold climates, residents of Maine have fully embraced them.

Religious News Service reporter Bobby Ross, Jr. recently asked this question, “When adoption agencies can turn away gay prospective parents, what happens to the kids?” With conflicts between religious based adoption and foster care agencies and government non-discrimination regulations playing out across the country including the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, this is an important question. In March, the City of Philadelphia issued an urgent call for 300 new foster parents to provide loving homes for some of the over 6,000 kids in Philadelphia foster care. That same month, the City abruptly barred Catholic Social Services, one of the city’s top-rated foster agencies, from placing children with foster families. This decision makes it exponentially harder for hundreds of children in need of foster care to find homes. Foster homes are sitting empty, even as the city begs for more families to help in its foster care crisis. Catholic Social Services and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia have been serving children throughout Philadelphia for over a century. Their Catholic mission drives them to find loving homes for all children in their care, regardless of the child’s race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. Catholic Social Services currently serves over 100 children in foster homes. No family or individual has ever complained that the agency’s Catholic mission prevented them from fostering or adopting a child. Sharonell Fulton from Overbrook Farms has been a foster parent for over 25 years. She has opened her home to over 40 children, including two children currently in her care. She strives to provide a loving, stable home and treat each child as if they were her own. To do that, Fulton relies on Catholic Social Services’ help, including around-the-clock support and access to information and resources. “What justice is there in taking stable, loving homes away from children?” Fulton said in a statement to CatholicPhilly.com. “If the city cuts off Catholic Social Services from foster care, foster moms like me won’t have the help and support they need to care for the special-needs kids.” By freezing and threatening to cancel its foster care contract with the CSS, the city is “taking away this help and causing harm and heartache to countless families like mine,” Fulton said. The children will suffer if parents like Fulton do not have the support they need. In May, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court in Philadelphia on behalf of archdiocesan Catholic Social Services (CSS), Sharonell Fulton and two other women caregivers associated with the archdiocesan agency. They asked the court to halt the city’s harmful policy. A hearing is expected later this year.

Catholic adoption agencies across the state have been curtailing or stopping their work altogether as a result of a policy by the Wolf Administration that would take away a lot of their power to decide who would be the best parents for adoption. PA Rep. Dave Zimmerman (R-Lancaster) says there is still hope that a religious exemption will be granted by lawmakers for organizations. “A number of us in the House actually held up the budget because of a religious exemption, related to the Foster care and adoption,” Zimmerman told me in his Lancaster district office. Despite their determined efforts the Governor held firm and it was kept out. “They took the religious exemption out, which means an adoption agency would have to work with any type of family arrangements, whether it’s a man and wife, or an LGBT couple. They would have to work with all of those.” Zimmerman and several of his colleagues would like to see the exemption established. They have an agreement from House and Senate leadership to run bills in the fall to make that happen. “This is just one area. So the question is ‘what’s next?’” Zimmerman said. “I believe that our country and our state were established on religious liberty, religious freedom. We need to have these religious exemptions available to business and family throughout our state. It’s very important.” Zimmerman said another issue that drew debate in the last session was the compulsory age for education. The current law requires children between the ages of eight and 17 to be in school. But new regulations installed in one of the budget codes would expand that from six to 18. Zimmerman was one of the lawmakers who opposed the change. “There are a lot of issues with that,” he said. “Some children are just not ready at six. What about someone who graduates early? What about—in our district—the Plain community that gets work permits at 15?  None of that has been really addressed at this point, so there are some real concerns about the compulsory age.” The age change was something that was being pushed by the Governor, Zimmerman said. Even though it was placed in the budget, he says there will be an effort in the fall to get the change modified. ‘I also look at it as a liberties issue,” Zimmerman added. “The parents can probably make a better decision on their children than government.” Zimmerman remains very committed to pro-life issues. He voted for the Down Syndrome Protection Act and has signed on as a co-sponsor to Rep. Stephanie Borowicz’s (R-Centre, Clinton) “heartbeat” abortion bill, which he hopes to see introduced in the fall.

The 4th installment of our series on Maternal and Early Childhood Issues looks at the role the Wolf Administration has played in curtailing Catholic adoption efforts in Pennsylvania. https://fb.watch/bBXX1F6m97/ A woman we’ll call Kelly talked with me about her adoption a number of years ago through Catholic charities. She learned details of what happened as she got older. Kelly says it could have worked out any better. Kelly’s story was a familiar one for decades, but one that is happening less and less in many states across the country, as officials have placed restrictions on adoption agencies that contradict their long-held beliefs. Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf several years ago joined Democratic governors in other states to require adoption agencies to place children with same-sex parents in order to get funding. That requirement by Governor Wolf would be in direct contrast with the long-standing Catholic belief that a marriage is between a man and a woman. It is that parental combination, Catholics believe, that is the best way to raise a child. The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference appealed to the Wolf Administration for a religious exemption. It was denied in 2018, basically causing most adoption efforts by Catholic organizations in PA to grind to a halt. Similar regulations have been shutting down Catholic adoption agencies across the U.S. ever since Boston Catholic Charities did so in 2006. The efforts by the PCC to remove this burden continued on both the state and federal level. We sent an appeal to the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington to grant us a religious exemption. We worked closely with U.S. Congressman Mike Kelly on getting federal relief. A number of state senators sent a letter to President Trump asking him to provide relief for our efforts. We’re hoping that a recent Supreme Court ruling involving foster care services by Catholic Charities in Philadelphia. Fulton vs. the City of Philadelphia started when the city said it would no longer contract with Catholic Social Services because CSS would not certify same-sex couples to be foster parents In response, two foster mothers—Sharonell Fulton and Toni Simms-Busch—and the CSS sued the city, arguing that severing the contract violated their religious freedom. Fulton and Simms-Busch, the mothers who are plaintiffs, claim it was their Catholic faith that inspired them to be foster mothers.After losing in two lower courts, they petitioned the Supreme Court, which first agreed to hear the case in February 2020. Over a year later  the Court ruled that the city’s refusal due to the agency’s same-sex couple policy violated the Free Exercise Clause. Great news and a big win for religious liberty. The PCC is hoping the principal will carry over into adoptions, but the damage may have already been done. In 2019 the Diocese of Greensburg closed its adoption and foster care program after 65 years because of the decision by the Wolf Administration. Adoptions were halted by Catholic agencies in other parts of the state.  Will the adoption work done by these organizations ever return to what it once was? We can only hope and pray.

Associate Professor of Humanities Winston Chow from SMU’s School of Social Sciences has researched on the areas of urban vulnerability to climate change; sustainability in urban climatology; and perceptions of environmental and climate change in tourism. In recent years, he has published papers on the impact of weather extremes on urban resilience to hydro-climate hazards and trans-boundary variations of urban drought vulnerability and its impact on water resource management in Singapore and Johor, Malaysia. In this podcast, Associate Professor Chow will discuss the continued economic growth of a city by adopting sustainable urban development measures.

Signite® is a sustainable decoration technology which has been widely recognized by brand owners and the labelling industry as one of the most potentially transformative and progressive technologies to be developed in recent years.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Broadcaster associations representing all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have unanimously approved a resolution opposing "any new performance fee, tax, royalty or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings" on local broadcast radio stations.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to the Federal Communications Commission's adoption of an order addressing issues related to ATSC 3.0, the following statement can be attributed to NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to the Federal Communications Commission's approval of an order allowing existing channel 6 low power television stations to continue to provide analog FM radio service, the following statement can be attributed to NAB Senior Vice President of Communications Alex Siciliano:

DevOps is a hot topic, but is that heat driving adoption? Are organizations on the adoption path making headway in the cultural and technological changes necessary for DevOps success? A panel of DevOps experts discusses these and other issues in this freewheeling conversation.

• Nicole Forsgen, Founder and CEO, DevOps Research and Assessment LLC, Beaverton, OR
• Leonid Igolnik, Product Development Executive, Startup Mentor and Advisor, Sand Hill Angels, San Francisco Bay Area.
• Alena Prokharchyk, Principal Software Engineer, Rancher Labs, Cupertino, CA
• Baruch Sadogursky, Developer Advocate, JFrog, Cupertino, CA
• Shay Shmeltzer, Director of Product Management, Oracle Cloud Development Tools, Redwood Shores, CA
• Kelly Shortridge, Product Manager at SecurityScorecard, NYC

• Combating Complexity An article in the September 2017 edition of the Atlantic warned of The Coming Software Apocalypse. Oracle's Chris Newcombe was interviewed for that article. In this podcast Chris joins Chris Richardson, Adam Bien, and Lucas Jellema to discuss heading off catastophic software failures.
• AI Beyond ChatbotsHow is Artificial Intelligence being applied to modern applications? What are the options and capabilities? What patterns are emerging in the application of AI? A panel of experts provides the answers to these and other questions.

TBILISI, 5 July 2016 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopted the 2016 Tbilisi Declaration today, addressing key issues in the fields of political affairs and security, economics, the environment, human rights, and humanitarian concerns. (Full text available here in English, French and Russian.)

The Declaration, resulting from months of work by committee rapporteurs and several days of debates at the Assembly’s Annual Session in Tbilisi, contains wide-ranging policy recommendations and pronouncements, serving as policy guidance to OSCE governments and the international community. Some 300 parliamentarians from 54 countries spanning North America, Europe and Central Asia contributed to the Session’s work. The Declaration and resolutions will now be sent to parliaments and to the foreign ministers of OSCE countries as policy input ahead of the OSCE’s 2016 Ministerial Council meeting this year in Hamburg.

Among the issues covered in the recommendations adopted by the parliamentarians are transnational terrorism, the crisis in and around Ukraine, protracted conflicts in Georgia, countering corruption, energy, climate change, migration, and the rights of refugees. The Declaration is the final product of the Assembly’s 2016 Annual Session, which was held in the Georgian capital from 1 to 5 July under the theme “25 Years of Parliamentary Co-operation: Building Trust Through Dialogue.”

Stressing the theme of trust-building, the Declaration “reaffirm[s] the undiminished validity and historic role of the guiding principles and common values of the Helsinki Final Act signed in 1975, including the commitments on politico-military, economic, environmental, human rights, and humanitarian issues.” It regrets however the trend of gridlock in the OSCE and urges OSCE countries to enhance the level of co-operation in addressing common challenges.

On terrorism, the Declaration calls upon governments to strengthen co-operation and develop measures aimed at blocking the funding of terrorist organizations. It further urges the OSCE to help governments counter terrorism through pragmatic assistance and promotion of best practices.

On the crisis in and around Ukraine, the Declaration urges all parties to fully implement the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements, and “underlines respect for the principles of the inviolability of frontiers and territorial integrity, peaceful settlement of disputes, equal rights, and self-determination of peoples as stated in the Helsinki Final Act.”

Regarding climate change, the Declaration calls upon parliamentarians to promote political dialogue in order to achieve the goals set by the Paris Climate Agreement adopted last year, and to ensure that the Agreement’s targets are met “with the greatest sense of urgency by implementing robust policies and regulations on greenhouse gas emissions and facilitating the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

On migration, the Declaration stresses the importance of prioritizing the rights of those fleeing violence, and urges governments to stop imposing legal and physical barriers to the movement of people fleeing violence and to actively work toward an inclusive approach to migrants and refugees.

The Assembly also approved 15 resolutions to supplement the Declaration, addressing issues such as fundamental freedoms in the Crimean peninsula, prevention of child sexual exploitation, confidence-building measures in the Baltic Sea region, and ensuring that members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly affected by international travel bans are able to attend OSCE events.

For the full text of the Declaration and resolutions, as well as speeches, photos, videos and more, please visithttp://www.oscepa.org/meetings/annual-sessions/2016-tbilisi-annual-session. Additional photos are available on the Georgian Parliament’s Flickr pages at https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoparliament and https://www.flickr.com/photos/oscepatbilisi

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is comprised of 323 parliamentarians from 57 countries spanning Europe, Central Asia and North America. The Assembly provides a forum for parliamentary diplomacy, monitors elections, and strengthens international co-operation to uphold commitments on political, security, economic, environmental and human rights issues.

Related Stories

• Christine Muttonen of Austria elected OSCE PA President, Vice-Presidents and Committee Officers also elected
• OSCE parliamentarians consider resolutions on security, economic and environmental concerns and human rights
• Assembly’s work on migration presented to OSCE ambassadors by Ad Hoc Committee Chair Lombardi at special Permanent Council

TBILISI, 5 July 2016 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopted the 2016 Tbilisi Declaration today, addressing key issues in the fields of political affairs and security, economics, the environment, human rights, and humanitarian concerns. (Full text available here in English, French and Russian.)

The Declaration, resulting from months of work by committee rapporteurs and several days of debates at the Assembly’s Annual Session in Tbilisi, contains wide-ranging policy recommendations and pronouncements, serving as policy guidance to OSCE governments and the international community. Some 300 parliamentarians from 54 countries spanning North America, Europe and Central Asia contributed to the Session’s work. The Declaration and resolutions will now be sent to parliaments and to the foreign ministers of OSCE countries as policy input ahead of the OSCE’s 2016 Ministerial Council meeting this year in Hamburg.

Among the issues covered in the recommendations adopted by the parliamentarians are transnational terrorism, the crisis in and around Ukraine, protracted conflicts in Georgia, countering corruption, energy, climate change, migration, and the rights of refugees. The Declaration is the final product of the Assembly’s 2016 Annual Session, which was held in the Georgian capital from 1 to 5 July under the theme “25 Years of Parliamentary Co-operation: Building Trust Through Dialogue.”

Stressing the theme of trust-building, the Declaration “reaffirm[s] the undiminished validity and historic role of the guiding principles and common values of the Helsinki Final Act signed in 1975, including the commitments on politico-military, economic, environmental, human rights, and humanitarian issues.” It regrets however the trend of gridlock in the OSCE and urges OSCE countries to enhance the level of co-operation in addressing common challenges.

On terrorism, the Declaration calls upon governments to strengthen co-operation and develop measures aimed at blocking the funding of terrorist organizations. It further urges the OSCE to help governments counter terrorism through pragmatic assistance and promotion of best practices.

On the crisis in and around Ukraine, the Declaration urges all parties to fully implement the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements, and “underlines respect for the principles of the inviolability of frontiers and territorial integrity, peaceful settlement of disputes, equal rights, and self-determination of peoples as stated in the Helsinki Final Act.”

Regarding climate change, the Declaration calls upon parliamentarians to promote political dialogue in order to achieve the goals set by the Paris Climate Agreement adopted last year, and to ensure that the Agreement’s targets are met “with the greatest sense of urgency by implementing robust policies and regulations on greenhouse gas emissions and facilitating the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

On migration, the Declaration stresses the importance of prioritizing the rights of those fleeing violence, and urges governments to stop imposing legal and physical barriers to the movement of people fleeing violence and to actively work toward an inclusive approach to migrants and refugees.

The Assembly also approved 15 resolutions to supplement the Declaration, addressing issues such as fundamental freedoms in the Crimean peninsula, prevention of child sexual exploitation, confidence-building measures in the Baltic Sea region, and ensuring that members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly affected by international travel bans are able to attend OSCE events.

For the full text of the Declaration and resolutions, as well as speeches, photos, videos and more, please visithttp://www.oscepa.org/meetings/annual-sessions/2016-tbilisi-annual-session. Additional photos are available on the Georgian Parliament’s Flickr pages at https://www.flickr.com/photos/geoparliament and https://www.flickr.com/photos/oscepatbilisi

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is comprised of 323 parliamentarians from 57 countries spanning Europe, Central Asia and North America. The Assembly provides a forum for parliamentary diplomacy, monitors elections, and strengthens international co-operation to uphold commitments on political, security, economic, environmental and human rights issues.

Related Stories

• Christine Muttonen of Austria elected OSCE PA President, Vice-Presidents and Committee Officers also elected
• OSCE parliamentarians consider resolutions on security, economic and environmental concerns and human rights
• Assembly’s work on migration presented to OSCE ambassadors by Ad Hoc Committee Chair Lombardi at special Permanent Council

TIRANA, 22 July 2016 – The OSCE Presence in Albania welcomes the Assembly’s adoption today of the set of constitutional amendments aimed at reforming the justice sector. We commend the Assembly for this fundamental achievement, which was supported tangibly by many international experts and diplomats.

It is an important milestone, paving the way for the implementation of a meaningful justice reform. The amendments adopted today must now be cascaded down through the primary and secondary legislation, the procedures and policies of the entire judicial system. Reform is not genuine until it is felt by Albanian citizens in their daily lives, across the country.

The manner in which the reform package is implemented is essential for the sustainability and the success of the reform process. Sustainability and success also depend on a change in attitudes: establishing a culture of responsibility and accountability, countering impunity and consolidating respect for the rule of law at all levels of society. 

The OSCE Presence has been a committed contributor and partner of the reform process so far and stands ready to continue its active support at all levels.

Related Stories

• OSCE Presence launches nationwide ‘Justice without delays’ initiative in Albania
• OSCE Presence, German Embassy launch project to foster public discourse about Communist past in Albania
• OSCE helps Albania dispose of highly toxic chemicals

"What happened to you?" "I met a penguin." Lionsgate has revealed the official trailer for The Penguin Lessons, a cute dramedy about rescuing a penguin in Argentina. A similar story to My Penguin Friend with Jean Reno that also opened in theaters this year, but also not the exact same story. Starring Oscar nominee Steve Coogan, this poignant dramedy from director Peter Cattaneo follows an Englishman's personal and political awakening after he adopts a penguin during a cataclysmic period in Argentine history. He finds the small penguin covered with oil and cleans him up, making a new friend in the process. The main ensemble cast in here includes Björn Gustafsson, David Herrero, Jonathan Pryce, Vivian El Jaber, Aimar Miranda, Micaela Breque, Tomas Pozzi, and Ramiro Blas. It was shot in Spain though it takes place in Argentina. After premiering at TIFF, the movie will open in the UK next April - still waiting for a US date. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Peter Cattaneo's The Penguin Lessons, direct from YouTube: From Penguin Random House's bestselling book of the same name by Tom Michell, The Penguin Lessons is the true story of a disillusioned Englishman who went to work […]

Adoption of the CCITT Specification and Description Language (SDL)

ITU-T D.263 - Supplement on Principles for increased adoption and use of mobile financial services (MFSs) through effective consumer protection mechanisms

Gabe Camarillo, the undersecretary of the Army, said the new digital engineering policy will bring the service more in-line with industry best practices.

The post Army sets stage for broader adoption of digital engineering first appeared on Federal News Network.

IFS, the provider of enterprise cloud and Industrial AI software, has boosted its offering in the six hardcore industries it serves to 60+ in-depth Industrial AI scenarios that are available in the IFS Cloud 24R2 release, with more than 300 additional scenarios in the process of MVP (minimum viable product) validation.

Microlise Group, the global provider of innovative technology solutions, has announced the adoption of its software by Creed Foodservice, the UK provider of high-quality food & beverage products to the catering industry. 

During this exclusive webinar, moderator Jared Serbu and guest Lily Zeleke, acting DCIO for information enterprise, Office of the DoD CIO with the Department of Defense will discuss software modernization strategy at the Department of Defense. In addition, Cindi Stuebner, futurist and senior director, industry markets, defense business line at Pegasystems will provide an industry perspective.

The post For DoD, software modernization and cloud adoption go hand-in-hand first appeared on Federal News Network.

During this exclusive CISO Handbook webinar, moderator Justin Doubleday and guests Brian Hermann from the Defense Information Systems Agency and Christopher Day from Tenable will explore zero trust progress and strategy at DISA.

The post DISA pushes companies to adopt standards to ensure interoperability across zero trust architectures first appeared on Federal News Network.

Location: Electronic Resource- 

Location: Engineering Library- TK7882.B56D367 2016

Aramex UK, one of the UK’s global logistics and transportation providers, has urged for calm amid British retailers rushing to bring forward their Christmas plans this year due to ongoing trade route disruptions in the Middle East.

A divided FTC adopted a powerful rule that requires companies to make it just as easy to cancel a subscription as it is to sign up for one.

You can now "Adopt A Child" for Christmas. We will be hosting an adoption party. We hope many will donate funds to buy christmas instruments. Please help by adopting a child.  

Getting serious about prepping for her future family with boyfriend Common, the former 'Kids Say the Darndest Things' host says that she is currently enrolled in parenting classes.

In this delightful episode, Ida Grace revisits Baby Adopter Dress Up for iOS. This charming game combines babysitting, fashion costume dress-up, and nursery care for those who adore looking after little ones.

As a player, you have the opportunity to adopt and nurture a cute son or daughter. You can dress up, feed, care for, and acquire various costumes, shoes, and hats for your baby. Keep in mind that certain costumes become available as your baby grows. Some game features include:

• Game Locations: Venture into different interior rooms and external settings, including the Summer Beach and Winter House.
• Growth: Your baby will mature after 20 days, unlocking additional costume options. Dress your little one in playful outfits and share their adorable looks on social media.
• Karma: Reflects your overall gameplay progress and experience.

Embrace the joy of tending to your virtual baby and creating charming outfits! ????????

Baby Adopter Dress Up on the App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/baby-adopter-dress-up/id875064928

transcription:

Disclaimer: This transcript is generated by AIKO, an automated transcription service. It is not edited or formatted, and it may not accurately capture the speakers’ names, voices, or content.

Hello AppleViz.

This is Ida Grace and I am here today with a podcast on the baby adopter dress up app.

I want to go through a couple of quick disclaimers before I start.

First of all, I want to say that I did a podcast for this app years ago.

However, it was called Milky Baby at the time and now it is baby adopter dress up and my podcast for that is no longer available on AppleViz at least as far as I've been able to tell.

417 PM.

Ah, I wanted to tell you a disclaimer about the voice I'm using too, but the app has gone through a couple of changes anyway, so I was given the green light to go ahead and make a new podcast.

And the second disclaimer is involving the voice I am using.

I am using American Siri voice 5 because it is pride season and if you all were able to read the article that Apple put out, this voice was recorded by somebody in the LGBT community.

So I thought with pride month approaching fast, I would keep this voice on through pride season.

However, as you'll notice as I demonstrate this app, it does have some delays.

There is a little bit of delay between voiceover speech and voiceover sound.

So you will notice that comma 418 PM and it is 418 PM.

I am on the clock widget right now.

So the first thing I want to let you know is when you first open the baby adopter dress up app, it's going to ask you if you want the app to send you notifications.

I always turn that on, but all they do is notify you every 24 hours if you forget to feed the baby.

So if you don't want the notifications turned on, you don't have to do it.

Just know that if you're using this on an iPad like I am, the baby will cry and you won't get a vibration.

You'll just get because iPads don't have haptics.

So you're just going to get the baby crying if you forget to feed the baby in 24 hours.

I'm also using iPadOS 16 because the Siri voices do not auto delete for voiceover as they do in iOS 17.

They seem to be…

A Birmingham-based donkey riding charity is calling on the fun loving public to adopt a donkey this Valentine's Day to help raise vital funds

£15,000 raised for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

Because of the fall of Roe v. Wade, we’re hearing a lot more about adoption as an alternative for women who find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy. And even before, […]

The post Making Contact: Birth Parents on Adoption appeared first on KKFI.

A recent analysis of data from the ONS Business Insights report found that the number of UK businesses currently adopting AI technologies has increased by 5% since September of last year.

Wildfire [UK/Ireland, Cathy Brady, 3.5] After going missing for a year, a bipolar woman (Nika McGuigan) drops in on her sister (Nora-Jane Noone), opening the wounds of shared tragedy. Raw, unsubtle family drama against the backdrop of Northern Irish politics as Brexit threatens a fragile peace.

The film is dedicated to the memory of lead actor McGuigan, who died of cancer last year.

40 Years a Prisoner [US, Tommy Oliver, 4] Documentary recounts the 1978 standoff between members of radical Black back-to-nature organization MOVE and Philadelphia police through the efforts of the son of two of the group members to secure their parole. A strong emotional hook greatly assists in telling a tenaciously complicated story.

I would like to have seen more on the genesis of the group and the first stages of their conflict with the mayor and police. So much needs to be unwound in the 1978 standoff that the even more astonishing story of a 1985 confrontation, which resulted in Philadelphia authorities dropping a satchel bomb from a helicopter, killing 11 and burning down 65 houses, goes unmentioned here. Another doc I haven’t seen, Let the Fire Burn, focuses on that part of the story.

True Mothers [Japan, Naomi Kawase, 4.5] Parents of a kindergartner react with dismay when a woman contacts them claiming to be his birth mother. Luminous, delicate drama of shifting perspectives.

Limbo [UK, Ben Sharrock, 4] Syrian oud player grapples with guilt over family left behind as he cools his heels with other refugee claimants at a center in the bleak and isolated Outer Hebrides. Moments of deadpan humor and stark landscapes layer this exploration of displacement.

The percentage of workers in the U.S. who say they are using AI at work has remained largely flat over the last three months, according to a new study commissioned by Slack. From a report: If AI's rapid adoption curve slows or flattens, a lot of very rosy assumptions about the technology -- and very high market valuations tied to them -- could change. Slack said its most recent survey found 33% of U.S. workers say they are using AI at work, an increase of just a single percentage point. That represents a significant flattening of the rapid growth noted in prior surveys. Global adoption of AI use at work, meanwhile, rose from 32% to 36%. Between the lines: Slack also found that globally, nearly half of workers (48%) said they were uncomfortable telling their managers they use AI at work. Among the top reasons cited were a fear of being seen as lazy, cheating or incompetent.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Central American nation of El Salvador currently holds nearly 5,932 Bitcoin (BTC), and sits on over $93 million of… Continue reading El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption is paying off: $93M unrealized profit

The post El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption is paying off: $93M unrealized profit appeared first on ReadWrite.

Adopting a Market-based Approach to Boost Energy Access in Displaced Contexts Research paper sysadmin 25 March 2019

This paper evaluates the market-based approaches adopted in the MEI projects in Kenya and Burkina Faso. It articulates how such commercial strategies can be applied to the delivery of energy in displacement settings and compares this to real world examples.

• Development of long-term energy solutions in displacement settings tends to be perceived as investment that falls outside the remit of emergency responses. In addition, when emergency energy supply measures are implemented they often result in expensive, unreliable and unhealthy energy provision for those in protracted or recurrent crises.
• There is widespread agreement among humanitarian and development experts that an effective refugee response should include long-term development solutions as well as emergency relief.
• The energy access imperative is more pronounced when considering the need for effective energy distribution in practically all camp activities and basic necessities: pumping and treatment of clean water; heating and cooling for food storage and cooking; energy for livelihood activities; and provision of light for schooling, hospitals and the prevention of violence against women and children.
• Minor shifts in household energy use to basic solar lighting options and non-wood fuels would save $303 million annually on refugee fuel costs.
• Within refugee contexts in Kenya and Burkina Faso, the MEI sought to examine opportunities to use market interventions, rather than in-kind distributions, to improve clean energy access over the long-term and test the delivery of market-based approaches.