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Apdex (Application Performance Index) is an open standard for measuring performance of software applications in computing. Its purpose is to convert measurements into insights about user satisfaction, by specifying a uniform way to analyze and report on the degree to which measured performance meets user expectations. It was developed by an alliance of companies.

When engaging in application performance management, for example in the course of Website monitoring, enterprises collect many measurements of the performance of information technology (IT) applications. However, this measurement data may not provide a clear and simple picture of how well those applications are performing from a business point of view, a characteristic desired in metrics that are used as key performance indicators. Reporting several different kinds of data can cause confusion. Reducing measurement data to a single well understood metric is a convenient way to track and report on Quality of experience.

Measurements of application response times, in particular, may be difficult to evaluate because:

The Apdex method seeks to address these problems.

Proponents of the Apdex standard believe that it offers a better way to "measure what matters". The Apdex method converts many measurements into one number on a uniform scale of 0 to 1 (0 = no users satisfied, 1 = all users satisfied). The resulting Apdex score is a numerical measure of user satisfaction with the performance of enterprise applications. This metric can be used to report on any source of end-user performance measurements for which a performance objective has been defined.

The Apdex formula is the number of satisfied samples plus half of the tolerating samples plus none of the frustrated samples, divided by all the samples:

where the sub-script t is the target time, and the tolerable time is assumed to be 4 times the target time. So it is easy to see how this ratio is always directly related to users' perceptions of satisfactory application responsiveness.

Example: if there are 100 samples with a target time of 3 seconds, where 60 are below 3 seconds, 30 are between 3 and 12 seconds, and the remaining 10 are above 12 seconds, the Apdex score is:

The Apdex formula is equivalent to a weighted average, where a satisfied user is given a score of 1, a tolerating user is given a score of 0.5, and a frustrated user is given a score of 0.

The Apdex Alliance, headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia, was founded in 2004 by Peter Sevcik, President of NetForecast, Inc. The Alliance is a group of companies that are collaborating to establish the Apdex standard. These companies have perceived the need for a simple and uniform way to report on application performance, are adopting the Apdex method in their internal operations or software products, and are participating in the work of refining and extending the definition of the Apdex specifications. Alliance contributing members who incorporate the standard into their products may use the Apdex name or logo where the Alliance has certified them as compliant.

In January 2007, the Alliance comprised 11 contributing member companies, and over 200 individual members. While the number of contributing companies has remained relatively stable, individual membership grew to over 800 by December 2008, and reached 2000 in 2010. In 2008 the Alliance began publishing a blog, the Apdex Exchange, and in 2010, began offering educational Webinars. These activities address performance management topics, with an emphasis on how to apply the Apdex methodology.

= = = The Seventh One = = =

The Seventh One is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Toto. It was released in 1988, and became the best-received Toto album since "Toto IV". The title track, "The Seventh One," is only featured on the Japanese version of the album and on the B-side of the single "Pamela". It was also released on some compilations on a later date.

Steve Lukather described the writing of "The Seventh One" as a period of prolific "one-upmanship" with the band trying to impress one another with their compositions. One of the first compositions completed was the ballad "Anna," written by Lukather and Randy Goodrum. Lukather considers the song to be one of his best compositions. "Anna" was followed by "Pamela," written by David Paich, described as the "heir apparent" to "Rosanna." Paich and Lukather then composed "Stop Loving You," which both believed was sure to become a hit. Joseph Williams' influence on the album extended well beyond his strong vocals, with co-writing credit on six of the eleven tracks. The producer of "The Seventh One", George Massenburg felt the album was missing a "rocker," which led to the composition and recording of the seven-minute closing track, "Home of the Brave." To assist in writing the lyrics, Toto called on the legendary Jimmy Webb.

During the recording of "The Seventh One", keyboardist Steve Porcaro announced he was leaving the band. His decision to leave was partly influenced by his belief his contributions were not well represented in the band's music and a general feeling of being unappreciated. Porcaro was also noted to be unhappy with the level of drug and alcohol use in the band at the time. Despite his refusal to participate in the band business or publicity, Porcaro continued to contribute to the recording of "The Seventh One" and was paid as a studio musician. He also toured with the band in Europe.

By its conclusion, Toto, as well as Columbia Records, believed "The Seventh One" was one of the band's strongest albums. The first single, "Pamela," was heavily promoted by Columbia. However, shortly after its release, the president of Columbia, Al Teller, left the label. In his absence, the promotion of "Pamela" waned and it stalled at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and quickly dropped off the chart. "Pamela" was the band's last top 30 hit in the United States and Lukather described its quick drop out of the Hot 100 as "the moment that our star dwindled in America and it would take years for us to recover momentum." "The Seventh One" was the first Toto album since "Turn Back" to have fewer than two charting hits in the US, and was the lowest charting Toto album on the Billboard charts up to that point.

In Europe, "Stop Loving You" was the album's first single where it reached the top ten in several countries. Following the album's release, Toto embarked on a tour of sold-out arena shows in Europe. While Joseph Williams' vocals were not a point of contention during the "Fahrenheit tour," he struggled with his vocals during the European tour, likely as a result of substance use. In particular, Williams was unable to perform during Toto's first show in Amsterdam, a show which was simultaneously broadcast live on national radio. Though efforts were made to control Williams' drug use, ultimately Jeff Porcaro fired him from the band. Williams was the third vocalist fired from Toto due to inability to perform vocals, following the previous termination of Bobby Kimball and Fergie Frederiksen. He would later contribute vocals to the "Falling in Between" album and return as the lead vocalist for "Toto XIV."

In 2017, "Ultimate Classic Rock" ranked the album as Toto's second best, only behind "Toto IV".

and as guest musician:

"Pamela"

"You Got Me"

"Anna"

"Stop Loving You"

"Mushanga"

"Stay Away"

"Straight for the Heart"

"Only The Children"

"A Thousand Years"

"These Chains"

"Home Of The Brave"

= = = The Tifton Gazette = = =

The Tifton Gazette is a daily newspaper published in Tifton, Georgia. It is operated by South Georgia Media Group, a division of Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. CNHI acquired the paper in 2000 from Thomson.

= = = Roman Catholic Diocese of Huánuco = = =

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Huánuco is situated in Peru, is a diocese located in the city of Huánuco in the Ecclesiastical province of Huancayo.

= = = HMS Guadeloupe (1763) = = =

HMS "Guadeloupe (or Guadaloupe"), was a 28-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The ship was designed by Sir Thomas Slade, and was initially contracted to be built with the Pembrokeshire shipwright John Williams of Neyland; however he became bankrupt and the Admiralty transferred the order to the Plymouth Naval Dockyard.

"Guadeloupe" served during the American War of Independence. At Yorktown her men, stores and guns were landed to support the British Army during the siege. When she came under fire from shore batteries the British scuttled her in the York River, Virginia, on 10 October 1781 to prevent the French capturing her.

The French Navy subsequently salvaged her and then commissioned her in April 1783 after they had repaired her. She served until being deleted from their navy lists at Rochefort in 1786.

= = = No Interference = = =

No Interference is an album by Dysrhythmia. It was rereleased in 2005 on Translation Loss Records with live bonus tracks.

Dysrhythmia's official website

Discogs

= = = Irvine U. Masters = = =

Irvine U. Masters (1823 – November 1865) was the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, from 1863–1864.

Masters was born in New York and moved to Cleveland with his first wife, Naomi, in 1851.

Masters became a trustee of Ohio City. He later helped William B. Castle negotiate the merger between Cleveland and Ohio City. Masters was a member of the Cleveland City Council and was the president of the City Council three times and officially welcomed Abraham Lincoln when he visited Cleveland in 1861. Masters defeated his successor, Edward S. Flint, because of his Republican views during the Civil War. Masters resigned from office in May 1864 when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He subsequently sold his part of Peck & Masters shipbuilding company.

Masters' first wife, Naomi, died in 1863, after which he married M. Augusta Prull on October 27, 1863. Masters moved to New England and then to Nova Scotia to regain his health. His health still declined, and he moved to Pine Island, Minnesota, where he died in 1865.

Masters had three children with his wife Naomi: Willis, Harriet, and Main.

= = = Robert William Felkin = = =

Dr Robert William Felkin FRSE LRCSE LRCP (13 March 1853 – 28 December 1926) was a medical missionary and explorer, a ceremonial magician and member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a prolific author on Uganda and Central Africa, and early anthropologist, with an interest in ethno-medicine and tropical diseases.

He was founder in 1903 of the Stella Matutina, a new Order based on the original Order of the Golden Dawn, with its Hermes Temple in Bristol, UK and, later, Whare Ra (or more correctly, the Smaragdum Thallasses Temple) in Havelock North, New Zealand in 1912.

The fullest account of his life is found in "A Wayfaring Man", a fictionalised biography written by his second wife Harriet and published in serial form between 1936 and 1949.

Robert William Felkin was born in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, on 13 March 1853, the son of Robert Felkin (1828-1899), a Nonconformist lace manufacturer. His grandfather, William Felkin (1795-1874), son of a Baptist minister, remains one of the best known names in the Victorian lace industry and was mayor of Nottingham in 1851, when he exhibited at the Great Exhibition. But he overreached, and the business failed disastrously in 1864, when Felkin retired to write standard works on the lace and hosiery trades. His son and partner Robert Felkin Sr settled in Wolverhampton to take up a position as manager of the home department of Mander Brothers, varnish manufacturers. Robert Jr was educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School, where he met the explorer David Livingstone, who inspired him to become a medical missionary.

He worked for a period in Chemnitz, Germany, after his schooling, where his uncle Henry Felkin lived, and became fluent in the language. In about 1876 he began studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh. In 1878, as yet unlicensed, he joined a mission led by the Church Missionary Society to Central Africa. He travelled up the Nile to Khartoum, where he met General Gordon, and then on through what was then wild and unmapped country to the African Great Lakes. Eventually he spent two years in Africa, and became personal physician to King M'tesa, who had previously tried to kill him. In Zanzibar, he actively campaigned against the slave trade. He published several articles on tropical medicine and childbirth in medical journals, and also wrote "Uganda and the Egyptian Soudan" (1882, with Rev.C.T. Wilson), "Egypt Present and To Come" (1885), "Uganda" (1886), and other African works.

In 1881, he returned to Edinburgh when his health deteriorated to complete his medical studies (LRCP, LRCS, Ed, 1884). While still a medical student he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a member of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and a corresponding Fellow of the Berlin Anthropological Society.

In 1882 Felkin married his first wife, Mary ("Polly"), daughter of Samuel Small Mander of Wolverhampton, his father's employer, who had been a friend since childhood, and became a collaborator in both his esoteric work and his work for child welfare. They had a son (Samuel) Denys and a daughter, Ethelwyn (1883-1962), who was to publish on the legacy of the Golden Dawn under the name "Ethel Felkin".

In 1884 he studied further in Marburg, acquiring his M.D. there in 1885. Following this he practiced as a doctor in Edinburgh for some years, returning to Africa and travelling frequently with his wife in Europe.

Mary and Robert seem to have been introduced to esotericism through a Bible study circle they joined in Edinburgh; other scriptures were discussed, including the "Tao te ching" and the "Bhagavad Gita", and some members of the group were Theosophists. Robert and Mary joined the Theosophical Society in Edinburgh in 1886, but found it lacking in terms of ritual, and eventually joined John William Brodie-Innes' Amen-Ra Temple of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn on 1894-03-12.

He continued to write and publish: he edited (with others) a collection of the letters and journals of Mehmet Emin Pasha, whom he had met (translated by Mary), which appeared in 1888, and published "Hypnotism, or Psycho-Therapeutics" in 1890. Following a breakdown from strain and overwork he transferred his practice to London in 1896.

In 1903 Mary died and Robert reinforced his commitment to both Anglican Christianity and occultism. He made a retreat at the monastery of the Mirfield fathers, the Community of the Resurrection, and considered joining the order. Several of the Mirfield fathers had an interest in Rosicrucian and Golden Dawn Christian mysticism, and regarded Felkin as an eminent figure in that tradition. One of these priests, Father Fitzgerald, would later play a key role in bring Felkin to New Zealand.

Also in 1903, a schism occurred within the Order of the Golden Dawn, when Felkin and Brodie-Innes split from A.E. Waite to form the magically-inclined Order of the Stella Matutina. The poet W.B. Yeats joined the Stella Matutina and was a member for 20 years. Felkin's main temple in London was called Amoun.

From the time that Felkin assumed leadership of the Stella Matutina, he came increasingly under the influence of the "Sun Masters", the fabled Secret Chiefs of the Order, and other supposed adepts on the astral plane. Having these supposed contacts reinforced his position as leader in the order. Around 1908 he also claimed to have contacted an "Arab Teacher" called Ara Ben Shemesh ("Lion Son of the Sun"), one of the "Sons of Fire" inhabiting a Near Eastern "temple in the desert", who had been given special permission to contact and teach Western students. His first contact with Ara Ben Shemesh seems to be recounted in "A Wayfaring Man", which describes how a conversation between Felkin and Waite was interrupted by the appearance of a "shadowy presence". Felkin called for Harriet, who was clairvoyant, and she saw "a tall man in Eastern dress, kuftan, galabieh, and turban. He has a smooth olive face, and large dark eyes." Apparently this figure, described in the account as "the Chaldean", was seeking someone to help in uniting Eastern and Western teaching. Upon learning that he "believed in the Lord Jesus Christ", Felkin and Waite agreed to collaborate with him.

Another mystical teacher was Sri Parananda, whom Felkin claimed to have first seen materialising out of steam at the Bad Pyrmont baths in Germany. This apparition, described as a dark Eastern man with a beard and large black eyes, wearing a flowing robe and a peculiar conical cap, arranged with Felkin to meet him in exactly one month in the lounge of the Carlton Hotel in London. According to Felkin their subsequent meeting in the flesh was the start of a series of conversations that lasted for several years.

Felkin was initiated Freemasonry in Mary Chapel Lodge, Edinburgh, on 8 January 1907, was passed to the Fellow Craft degree on 12 February and raised to Master Mason on 26 February. On 11 April that same year he was admitted to the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (SRIA), Metropolitan College, to which only Master Masons are admitted. The officiating celebrant was Dr. W. Wynn Westcott, Supreme Magus of that society and co-founder of the Golden Dawn.

According to R. Ellwood, by the time Felkin first visited New Zealand in 1912 he was already a 32° Freemason, one of the highest to visit the country thus far. But according to K. Edney of the New Zealand SRIA, Felkin's interest in Freemasonry was probably slight; he was never Master of the Lodge nor joined the Holy Royal Arch, and it is unlikely that he joined any higher degrees; his motive for joining Freemasonry and the SRIA seems to have been to gain credibility with continental occultists and contact members of the original Rosicrucian society. Anna Sprengel, a member of this fabled German society of nearly god-like adepts, had allegedly warranted the founding of the Golden Dawn, and Felkin believed that she and her order still existed deep under cover in Germany, along with the tomb of Christian Rosencreutz. In search of this group he and Harriet travelled to Europe in 1906, 1910 and 1914, and on one of these trips he met with Rudolf Steiner and claimed to have contacted other Rosicrucian adepts. Felkin considered Steiner to be an extremely high initiate, and after their meeting incorporated elements of Anthroposophy into his practice, including homeopathy.

During their 1914 trip the Felkins became stranded in Germany when Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August. Harriet's fictionalised account of his life suggests that he had been sent there on an urgent mission by the "Sun Master" Ara Ben Shemesh, despite all warnings of impending war. They managed to avoid arrest, and escaped the country via the neutral Netherlands with the help of German Masons.

In 1912 Felkin, together with Harriet and Ethelwyn, visited Havelock North, New Zealand at the invitation of the Society of the Southern Cross. This was a prayer and meditation group closely involved with the "Havelock Work", an arts and spirituality movement embraced by the whole town. Reginald and Ruth Gardiner and Harold Large, founders of both the Havelock Work and the Society of the Southern Cross, believed that eastern methods of spiritual training such as Theosophy were unsuitable for westerners, but also felt that the Church had lost the esoteric teachings of Jesus and his disciples. They were determined to undergo rigorous training and initiation to merit learning those hidden teachings. These three had started daily meditations together, and were soon joined by Miss M. M. McLean and Reginald's sister, Miss Rose Gardiner. Reginald Gardiner considered the Havelock Work to be a cultural society "built around this silent power station". The meditation group grew, and began to incorporate simple ritual, calling itself the Society of the Southern Cross.

In 1910 the Mirfield Fathers sent a mission of help to New Zealand, preaching and conducting retreats. Miss McLean, who had met Father Fitzgerald in Britain, arranged for him to meet members of the Havelock prayer group, and he agreed to direct their spiritual work from Britain. He instructed them in an esoteric approach to Christianity, but soon decided they had reached a stage where personal instruction was necessary for further progress, and he recommended Dr. Robert Felkin for the task. Within a week the group had cabled £300 passage, supplied by Maurice Chambers and his father, Mason, and his uncle John, for Felkin, Harriet and Ethelwyn to visit New Zealand for three months. During this visit in 1912 Dr Felkin established the Smaragdum Thallasses Temple of the Stella Matutina. The New Zealand Order became known by the Maori name of Whare Ra or "the House of the Sun". Foundations of the house at Whare Ra were laid down by the architect Chapman-Taylor, who later became a member of both the Golden Dawn and the Order of the Table Round (Ordo Tabulae Rotundae), a neo-Arthurian mystical and chivalric order also brought to New Zealand by Felkin.

Back in England in 1916 Felkin was appointed Inspector General of colonial colleges for the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, although he seems never to have functioned in this capacity. In that same year he also founded three more daughter-Temples of the Stella Matutina, together with a side-order, and claimed to found the Guild of St. Raphael. He published on the theme of 'Rosicrucian medicine' and, at the height of the German U-boat activity, emigrated permanently with his family to New Zealand, as his health broke down with recurrent malaria and other tropical diseases.

One year later, in September 1917, Felkin wrote to William Westcott, one of the two major founders of the Golden Dawn, that the Smaragdum Thallassess Temple had twenty members in the Second Order, thirty-four in the First Order, and ten people waiting to join.

Felkin become involved in the Baháʼí Faith, through his meeting with ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in London in 1911 at Lady Blomfield's. Felkin introduced Maurice Chambers to the Faith and presented him with two Baháʼí ring stones that Abdu'l-Baha had given him. Felkin may have had an article on the Baháʼí Faith published in a local newspaper, although there had been an earlier article by British Baha'i Alice Buckton published circa 1909 in the Havelock Journal "The Forerunner".

Felkin spent the rest of his life in New Zealand, where he continued to practise as a consulting physician as well as a magician between bouts of ill health. His strong personality and clinical acumen, combined with a kind and generous nature brought him patients from far afield, including Australia. On 28 December 1926, he died at Havelock North, and was buried in the Havelock North cemetery facing the Whare Ra, wearing the cloak, mantle and purple cross of a Knight of the Ordo Tabulae Rotundae. He was survived by his second wife Harriet, his daughter Ethelwyn, and two sons; Harriet and Ethelwyn were later buried with him.

= = = Reynaldo Aguado Montealegre = = =

Reynaldo Tadeo Aguado Montealegre (28 October 1960, Chinandega) is the President of the International Society for Human Rights in Nicaragua. (Sociedad Internacional para los Derechos Humanos, SID-HH-Nicaragua). He is a former FSLN political prisoner incarcerated in the prison "Zona Franca" in 1986 after being found guilty of spying for the United States.

= = = Walter Forbes = = =

Walter Forbes (born 1942/43) is an American corporate executive and former Federal prisoner.

He was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey and convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and two counts of making false statements, for inflating reported incomes for the Cendant Corporation, when he was Chief Executive Officer of that company in the 1990s, and at its predecessor company CUC International.

On 2007 January 17, the 64-year-old Forbes was sentenced to over 12 years in prison, and ordered to make restitution amounting to $3.28 billion. Former vice chairman E. Kirk Shelton was ordered to pay the same figure. Forbes was released from prison on July 20, 2018.

One Department of Justice website describes this as the largest restitution order ever imposed as of July 2007. It has since been overtaken by the $170 billion restitution order against Bernard Madoff in June 2009.

Walter Forbes has no relation to the Boston Brahmin Forbes family or the Forbes family that owns and publishes Forbes magazine.

He graduated from The Hill School (class of 1961), Northwestern University and Harvard Business School.