iNews Briefs
Cayman Islands Football Association to host women’s USA University football friendlies
The Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA) will host the women’s football team from the University Of New Haven (UNH) in March for two friendly matches.
The University of New Haven will compete against the Cayman Islands women’s national team on March 15 at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex in the first of two friendly matches.
“CIFA is excited for the opportunity to host the University of New Haven,” said CIFA First Vice President, Bruce Blake.
“Hosting collegiate teams accomplishes several goals. Firstly, it provide our local players with the exposure to world class competition, as part of their development. Secondly, it initiates scholastic opportunities for our players, through relationships built with collegiate teams. Thirdly, it enhances our sports tourism product. ”
Blake added, “Not only will our players benefit on and off the field, but hosting collegiate teams adds another dimension to what football brings to Cayman’s budding sports tourism industry. Our goal in this area is to make the Cayman Islands a pre-season training hub for clubs and teams throughout North America. ”
The University of New Haven is located in West Haven, Connecticut, and its women’s soccer team competes in the North East 10 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division two. The New Haven Chargers Women’s Soccer Team ended the 2014 NCAA Division Two season with a six wins, nine losses and 2 drawn results.
Led by Head Coach Laura Duncan, UNH is expected to travel with thirty plus players and staff.
The engagement with CIFA and UNH was initiated by Florida based soccer tour company, XL Soccer Tours, who organized the logistics of the trip.
The team will play against the national women’s team, who last competed in 2014 at the Caribbean Football Union qualifiers in Turks and Caicos, on March 15 and a local select team on March 18. Both matches will be played at Truman Bodden Sports Complex.
Matches kick off at 7:00 pm at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex on Sunday March 15 and Wednesday, March 18, 2015.
LinkedIn customers claim company hacked email address books
By Linda Sandler for Bloomberg From Mashable
Professional network LinkedIn Corp. was sued by customers alleging it appropriated their identities for marketing the site to nonmembers without their consent by hacking into their external email accounts and downloading contacts’ addresses.
The customers, who aim to lead a group suit against the company, asked a federal judge in California to bar LinkedIn from repeating the alleged violations and to force it to return any revenue made by using their identities, according to a court filing last year
“LinkedIn’s own Web site contains hundreds of complaints regarding this practice,” they said in the complaint, which also seeks unspecified damages.
The case was Perkins v. LinkedIn Corp., 13-cv-04303, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).
For more: http://mashable.com/2013/09/20/linkedin-email-hack/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=rss
Grand Cayman Island fitness and swimwear models needed
Models Cayman Islands
State: Midland
Rate: USD 50 per Casting
Photographer 266163 Start Date
01/09/2015
End Date
01/09/2015
Fitness/swimwear models needed for beach shoot. Prefer a muscular Female but will work with fit Women. These shoots will be done on a regular basis with the same models. Prefer model bring a female friend to assist Her but not necessary. No experience is necessary. You will need to email several shots to [email protected] please
I will also be testing for a spy movie stunt part.
Website: http://ujena.com
Casting ID: 92538
SOURCE: http://www.onemodelplace.com/casting-calls/grand-cayman-island-fitness-and-swimwear-models-needed
Hydrogel speakers stretch across screens to play music
By Colin Daileda From Mashable
An invisible, music-playing and sound-canceling gel may soon coat your smartphone, laptop screen, television, and even your car windows.
This stretchy hydrogel speaker, a prototype invented by a team of Harvard University scientists, was created by combining saltwater and polymers that are then hooked up to electrodes. A thin rubber sheet is sandwiched between two layers of gel, and ions carry a current in the gel that vibrates the rubber to make sound waves. The process is not unlike the way the human body transmits electric signals that tell the heart to beat, which is where the Harvard team got its idea.
The gel produces the full range of sound and can be stretched across a variety of screens, including windows. It works in reverse, too, blocking outside noise while you’re reading at home.
Dr. Christoph Keplinger, one of the scientists who developed the speakers, believes the gel’s capabilities range even further. It has the ability to create local vibrations, say on individual letters of a phone’s keyboard.
“If I’m typing an email on my smartphone, I often hit the wrong buttons,” Keplinger said, in an interview with Mashable. “But if each button had its own vibration, you could feel what you touch.”
The one problem with hydrogel is the water quickly evaporates, rendering the speaker useless, and not commercially viable, until the issue is solved. The Harvard scientists have yet to come up with a solution, but Keplinger said they’re working on it. You can read more about the project here [PDF link].
So, would you be interested in a gel that can both blast music and block sound?
Inaugural Cross Country race in Cayman Islands
Race Caribbean has organised the inaugural Cayman Cross Country race to take place this Saturday (10) at the North Sound Golf Course commencing at 6:45am.
The race is over the classic cross country distance of 3.5 miles and uniquely for races in the Cayman Islands it will be run on an almost entirely grassy circuit.
This is thanks to the generosity of the North Sound Golf Course.
Pre-race registration is extremely important and is available on www.caymanactive, or contact Derek Larner for an entry form [email protected].
There will be no walkers, no pets on leashes or baby running strollers.
Race results will be instantly available on a 50-inch digital screen at the finish line tent.
Cayman Islands Postal Service receives appalling report
In the recently published 30-page report on the Cayman Islands Postal Service by government auditors it states:
Absence of Policies and Procedures
Non-compliance with the Records Management Standards
Ineffective Review of Collections for Deposit
Weaknesses of the Point of Sale (POS) System
Ineffective Credit Management Procedures
Third Party Bill Payment Collections Not Adequately Safeguarded
The Postal Service also loses approx. $1M a year.
The Report goes on to say, “The severity of these deficiencies is considered to be very high due to their risk implications for the accuracy of the government’s financial statements and exposure to losses in government asset.
“Management has attributed a number of these deficiencies to the lack of adequate staff resources, as well as some employees’ refusal to comply with instructions and directives despite repeated requests.”
The government Minister responsible for the Post Office, Hon. Kurt Tibbetts, has made no public comment as yet.
Credit Suisse says Milan offices searched by Italian tax police
From Daily Mail UK
ZURICH/MILAN, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Credit Suisse said its offices in Milan were searched by Italian tax police last month, following media reports of an investigation into whether a Bermuda subsidiary of the bank helped wealthy Italians hide undeclared funds.
The searches follow a series of investigations against Swiss banks, including Credit Suisse, into their dealings with wealthy clients and hidden offshore accounts, against the backdrop of international pressure on Switzerland’s secrecy laws.
“We can confirm that the Guardia di Finanza has conducted searches at our premises in Milan and that we are co-operating fully with the authorities,” a spokeswoman for Zurich-based Credit Suisse said in an emailed statement on Thursday.
She declined to comment on the reason for the searches, or on the media reports.
Italian media have reported that the searches were linked to an investigation into alleged tax evasion by around 1,000 wealthy Italians for an estimated 8 billion euros ($9.45 billion).
According to the reports, the checks involved a Bermuda subsidiary of the Swiss bank – Life and Pensions – which offered insurance products that authorities suspect allowed wealthy clients to hide funds offshore.
The Italian tax police declined to comment.
($1 = 0.8464 euros) (Reporting By Katharina Bart in Zurich and Silvia Aloisi in Milan; Additional reporting by Sara Rossi in Milan; Editing by Pravin Char)
Cayman Islands Chief Education Officer to retire
Cayman Islands Chief Education Officer, Shirley Wahler, has announced she will be taking early retirement as she has accepted an unexpected opportunity elsewhere.
Wahler has led the department for seven years and during that time the external exam results of graduating students has risen by 159%. She has also been responsible for guiding the education system through a period of transformation in which practical vocational studies were incorporated into the Year 12 curriculum.
In the Public Schools: Educating Caribbean Creole English speakers
By Rachel Harrison From NYU Steinhardt
Shondel Nero, associate professor of teaching and learning, studies second language and second dialect speakers. Her research examines the politics, challenges, and strategies of educating students who speak and write in nonstandard varieties of English, including Caribbean Creole English.
“As we move further into the twenty-first century, English is likely to become more diverse,” Nero said.
Nero’s research, published in Englishes in Multilingual Contexts (Springer, 2014), examines the language, identities, attitudes, and pedagogical implications that arise from rapidly increasing number of Caribbean Creole English speakers in American schools.
Caribbean Creole English speakers typically identify as native speakers of English. Yet, many teachers who work with these students in the classroom question their “nativeness” as speakers of English, and the very notion of what counts as English.
Using data from Caribbean Creole English speakers in one New York City public school as a case study, Nero explored teachers’ and students’ varied linguistic responses to Caribbean Creole English speakers. Nero argues that the contact between Caribbean Creole English and other varieties of English is already changing classroom English and calls for utilizing Caribbean Creole English as a point of departure for pedagogy, literacy development, and raising language diversity awareness.
Nero’s recommendations for educating students who speak and write in nonstandard varieties of English include confronting language attitudes, prioritizing teacher training and ongoing professional development, using activities that allow for creative uses of language, and respecting students’ language.
“If we want to prepare our students to be linguistically and communicatively competent citizens of the twenty-first century, then we must expose them to sociolinguistic variation, to the dynamic, variable nature of language, particularly to the Englishes they will hear, see, and write as they interact with users of the language from around the world,” Nero said.
For more: http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/site/ataglance/2015/01/shondel-nero-classroom-study.html
Emmanuel Thomas could head to the Caribbean
From Digicel Sportsmax
While the Caribbean islands of Dominica and St Lucia are known for their love of cricket, there is the possibility of a new kind of hero.
Jay Aston Emanuel-Thomas, a 24-year-old striker who can also operate as a winger, is best remembered for the promise he showed at Arsenal F.C. when he made strides in the reserves and made a few appearances in the first team.
He won the FA Youth Cup with Arsenal in the 2008-09 season and also won the Premier Academy League thar year. Competition for places in the team, meant Emanuel-Thomas was sent out on loan a number of times before settling down in League One with Bristol City.
He is now in his second season with his club, earning regular playing time. Emanuel-Thomas’ parents are from St. Lucia and Dominica in the Windward Islands.
Emmanuel-Thomas could very well be the man to join the ranks of heroes like Darren Sammy and Shane Shillingford, providing hope and optimism for future players, and help build the passion for football in the islands where cricket is king.
“Animate Jamaica” project sees graduation of 45 newly minted animator
From Caribbean360
According to the World Bank, the initiative explores the possibilities of positioning Jamaica as one of the global hubs of animation with South Korea, India and the Philippines.
WASHINGTON D.C., United States,– The World Bank says Jamaica has inched closer to positioning itself as a credible player in the global animation industry with the graduation of 45 newly minted animators under the “Animate Jamaica” project.
The Washington-based financial institution said Jamaica’s Minister of Finance, Dr. Peter Phillips, was “very upbeat” as he delivered the keynote address at the graduation ceremony for the first cohort in the certificate program at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus, in Kingston recently.
Making reference to the billion dollar global animation industry, which up to last year was enjoying an annual growth rate of about 9 percent, Phillips said, “We don’t need to get all of it, not even 10 percent of it, but we can get enough of it to seriously impact our current realities.”
Phillips described the graduation as “a genuinely path-breaking venture, which carries with it so many national hopes and dreams”.
According to the World Bank, the initiative explores the possibilities of positioning Jamaica as one of the global hubs of animation with South Korea, India and the Philippines, “as a means of tapping into the significant creative talent of Jamaican youth and their interest in participating more actively in the global economy.”
“Animate Jamaica” started in June 2013 when the Government of Jamaica, with the support of the World Bank Group and a suite of local and international private sector partners, staged the Caribbean’s first full-fledged animation conference, “KingstOOn”, in Kingston.
The bank said while Jamaica has only a few full animation studios, “international companies are increasingly looking at Jamaica as a country of choice for outsourcing animation production, with a number of new contracts flowing in over the last few months.”
Following KingstOOn, the Washington-based financial institution said UWI-based Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) launched a partnership with local animation studio Reel Rock GSW and Canadian software company ToonBoom to recruit and train 45 young animators over a six-month period in Kingston and the western city of Montego Bay.
Haiti AIDS research clinic wins global health prize
By Jacqueline Charles From Miami Herald
A world-renown Haiti clinic that has become a leader in global health while leading the fight against HIV/AIDS now has one more accolade to add to its file: fighter against tuberculosis.
The Haitian Group for the Study of Kaposi’s Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections (GHESKIO) has been named a recipient of the 2013 World Health Organization’s Stop TB Partnership Kochon Prize in Tuberculosis. Founder Dr. Jean William Pape was informed of the honor in a Dec. 20 letter from Partnership Executive Secretary Lucica Ditiu.
The annual prize is given to organizations that have made a significant contribution to combating TB. This year’s $65,000 prize was designated for fighting TB in conflict and refugee areas.
“GHESKIO’s leading work in HIV and TB for the past three decades and more recently for providing treatment services for the 1.5 million people who were internally displaced by Haiti’s earthquake in 2010 were especially commended,” Ditiu said.
After Haiti’s devastating earthquake, four years ago next month, GHESKIO sent mobile teams into the newly erected refugee camps to screen people for TB and opened a field hospital to provide care. The group has continued to work with those affected by the disaster, and a subsequent cholera outbreak.
The Kochon prize is funded by the Kochon Foundation, a nonprofit organization in South Korea, and winners are selected by the Stop TB Partnership, an international body that is housed at the WHO. The winner must be approved by the director-general of the World Health Organization.
Pape said the funds will help toward the construction of a TB hospital in construction. GHESKIO also is building a Family Nutrition Center, as well as continuing its outreach with residents living in the low-lying Village of God slum across from its downtown Port-au-Prince clinic.
The award ceremony for the Kochon Prize took place Jan. 31 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa.
For more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/12/24/3836603/haiti-aids-research-clinic-wins.html
Booze on a budget! 12 wines & cocktails that won’t break the bank
From the kitchn
A good meal demands a great bottle of wine or a good cocktail, and these boozy beverages don’t need to cost a fortune. Whether you’re throwing a dinner party or having a meal to yourself, here are 12 great options from the last year for booze on a budget. This roundup includes great wines found at supermarkets like Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, to simple, delicious cocktails that you can make in bulk, or easy money-saving shortcuts like a recipe for homemade limoncello.
COCKTAIL IDEAS & RECIPES ON A BUDGET
1 5 Festive (and Budget-Friendly) Punch Recipes for Your Holiday Party
2 How to Make Limoncello
3 How To Make Fruit-Flavored Vodkas
4 How To Make Homemade Bitters
5 Spiked Blueberry Basil Lemonade
6 An IKEA-Inspired Cocktail Recipe: Rhubarb Margarita
7 Pink Grapefruit Takes a Turn at the Bar: The Pink Paloma Cocktail
WINE ON A BUDGET
8 Budget Wines of the Week: 2012 Monte Velho Red & 2012 Monte Velho White
9 10 Budget Wine Picks for a Polenta Dinner
10 11 Delicious & Affordable Trader Joe’s Wines to Drink With Indian Food
11 Delicious Varietal Wines from Chile for Just $12
12 Supermarket Wine: My Top Summer Picks from Whole Foods Market
To download all the above go to:
Wooding receives LACNIC Lifetime Achievement Award
By Gerard Best From Guardian Media T&T
The Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC) has announced that Trinidad-born technology expert, Bevil Wooding was the 2013 recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Established in 2009, the LACNIC award honours people who have contributed significantly to the development of the Internet and the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“It’s an honour to receive this prestigious award from LACNIC. This was completely unexpected. This recognition strengthens my resolve to continue working to ensure that our people, institutions and governments are fully empowered to use technology for the development of our region,” Wooding said.
A pioneer in the development of technology solutions and educational resources, Wooding wears many hats in his work across the region and around the world. As an Internet Strategist and Caribbean Outreach Manger for the US-based research non-profit, Packet Clearing House, he has been the leading advocate for the proliferation of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in the Caribbean. His efforts have led to the establishment of IXPs in Grenada, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica and Barbados.
He is also the Chief Knowledge Officer at the international non-profit Congress WBN where he has pioneered the development of Internet streaming and software applications now used across the world. He has also worked with the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) to develop the Caribbean’s first-ever Digital Media syllabus.
In addition, he is one of the co-architects and the Program Director of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union’s Caribbean ICT Roadshow. The Roadshow has helped emphasise issues ranging from Internet infrastructure and broadband access in the Caribbean to cybersecurity and the impact of social media on parenting and education.
Reflecting on the award, Wooding said, “In spite of the many challenges, I am convinced that the Caribbean and Latin America has the creativity, and the capacity to make a meaningful and significant impact on the Internet and on global society.”
A virtual technology ambassador for the region, Wooding regularly represents the interests of the region at international fora. He has also come in for wide praise for his innovative initiatives to introduce young people to digital content creation through his BrightPath Foundation, a technology education non-profit.
His efforts have been distinguished by a deliberate commitment to collaboration and an emphasis on linking building regional communities.
He is also one of the founding members of the Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG). Through his contribution as Program Director, CaribNOG has become a dedicated community of computer network operators and technical stakeholders. The volunteer based group now provides a unique regional forum for sharing technical experiences and building human resource capacity.
“It is an honour to have the support and friendship of so many incredibly talented and extremely committed individuals and organisations from the region and across the world.”
Wooding’s Technology Matters column appears weekly in Thursday’s Business Guardian magazine.
The panel of judges for the award included noted Internet experts such as Ida Holz, Bernadette Lewis, Rafael Ibarra, Carlos A. Afonso and Rodrigo de la Parra.
LACNIC is an international non-government organisation established in Uruguay in 2002. It is responsible for assigning and administrating Internet numbering resources (IPv4, IPv6), Autonomous System Numbers, Reverse Resolution and other resources for the region of Latin America and the Caribbean. It is one of the five Regional Internet Registries that exist worldwide. It is managed and run by a Board of seven directors elected by LACNIC members–more than 2000 network operators providing services in 33 Latin American and Caribbean territories.
For more: http://guardian.co.tt/news/2013-12-28/wooding-receives-lacnic-lifetime-achievement-award
Memphis, Tennessee allegedly failed to process more than 15,000 rape kits
By Erin Fuchs From Business Insider
A rape victim has filed a proposed class action accusing Memphis, Tenn. of failing to process 15,000 so-called rape kits which contain bodily fluids and other evidence of sexual assault.
The victim, who’s identified only as Jane Doe, claims her own sexual assault evidence kit went untested for 13 years. She’s suing on behalf of herself and other Memphis rape victims who are in similar situations, claiming the city violated their right to due process by failing to test the kits.
Her lawsuit claims the city of Memphis had a policy of failing to test sexual evidence kits, which delayed the arrests of rapists and made the city a more dangerous place. The lawsuit said the city’s “deliberate indifference, willful and wanton conduct created a danger of an increased risk of harm of sexual abuse.”
While it seems unthinkable that a city would delay testing a sexual assault kit, backlogs of rape kits are not unheard of in America.
In June 2012 the National Institute of Justice published a report finding that “backlogged and untested sexual assault kits (SAKS) are a major problem facing forensic crime laboratories and law enforcement agencies throughout the United States.” That report came amid growing public concern after the number of untested kits at the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department reached 10,985 in 2008, according to the National Institute of Justice.
The lawsuit against the city of Memphis alleges that even more rape kits there went untested. The Tennessee city has a relatively high number of rapes per 100,000 residents — 63 compared to a national average of 26.9.
For more:
See also iNews Cayman related story “New hope for rape kit testing advocates” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/new-hope-for-rape-kit-testing-advocates/
Girl, 13, arrested at Schiphol for smuggling cocaine
From Dutch News
A 13-year-old girl has been arrested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport after she was found to be carrying around 100 grammes of cocaine in her body cavities, website nu.nl reported last year.
A military police spokesman told the website she is the youngest person arrested at the airport for drug smuggling.
The girl was travelling from the Caribbean with an 18-year-old youth, nu.nl said. The youth was not carrying drugs and was released after questioning.
The girl was picked out during a so-called 100% control of all passengers on her flight. According to the Telegraaf she came from Curacao and has now been placed under the control of social services.
For more: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2013/12/girl_13_arrested_at_schiphol_f.php
Freemium is the most profitable pricing strategy for apps
By Zoe Fox Mashable
If you’re looking to make money on an app of your own, your best bet is a freemium model. In seven of the Apple App Store’s 10 largest categories, the majority of revenue comes from in-app purchases in free apps.
But there are a couple of exceptions: Just 22% of revenue earned by navigation apps and 29% of revenue from productivity apps purchased between January and November 2013 were via freemium models.
Statista’s chart, attached, breaks down the revenue of each of the App Store’s 10 primary categories, between freemium apps with in-app purchases, paid apps and paid apps with in-app purchases.
US Embassy, T&T team up against financial crimes
From Guardian Media
Financial crimes investigators and regulators received a boost to their ongoing efforts to detect, deter, and prosecute financial crimes in T&T with the donation of specialised equipment and the provision of expertise by the US Government. Minister of National Security Gary Griffith and Chargé d’Affairs of the US Embassy in Port of Spain Margaret Diop signed an agreement to launch the Financial Crimes Advisor programme in T&T at a signing and equipment handover last year at the Ministry of National Security.
The US-T&T Financial Crimes Advisor programme enables an experienced financial crimes investigator from the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance to mentor the Police Service’s Financial Investigations Branch (FIB), Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), and T&T’s public prosecutors in their preparation of financial crime cases for prosecution.
The US Embassy also donated US$38,000 worth of investigative equipment to the FIB and FIU. The equipment includes several multi-currency discriminators which can detect counterfeit currency, optical character recognition software to read scanned documents, cameras for surveillance and evidence collection, and computer equipment. Acting Commissioner Stephen Williams and director of the Financial Intelligence Unit Susan Francois received the donations for their respective agencies.
US chargé d’affaires Margaret Diop said the programme would help combat money laundering and prevent funds from being diverted to terrorist organisations. Griffith expressed his sincere appreciation for the continued support of the US Government in addressing critical crime concerns facing T&T. The financial crimes assistance programme is an example of the many initiatives funded under the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative launched by US President Barack Obama, during his visit to T&T in 2009.
In the first four years of the initiative, the US Government provided more than US$263 million in funding to the region, providing support to T&T and its Caribbean neighbours in an effort to advance public safety and security, reduce illicit trafficking, and promote social justice.
For more: http://guardian.co.tt/business/2013-12-20/us-embassy-tt-team-against-financial-crimes
