Archive for the ‘Free Software’ Category

Route optimisation: The missing piece of the driver shortage solution – The Scotsman

TAP CEO Colin Ferguson says: The fleet sectors have tried to recruit their way out of the driver shortage for many years, but this is not a complete solution.

However, while they wait for government to decide whether to intervene, there is something fleets can do now, today, which will significantly reduce their driver deficit.

Trade and industry bodies across all fleet sectors have been urging government to address the driver shortage for several years, but say it is now critical due to:

- The loss of EU drivers due to Brexit and Covid19

- The lack of test provision during 2020

- The introduction of IR35 self-employment rules which deterred agency drivers

- A bottleneck in HGV driver medicals

These factors have coincided to create a perfect storm for many service and freight sectors who are also experiencing extremely high demand as the economy rebounds from lockdown.

An acute shortage of HGV drivers is suctioning drivers from the van and Class 2 rigid workforce, as the vocational Class 1 drivers can command higher levels of pay.

Big brands such as Tesco and Haribo have recently told the national press this is affecting their businesses; and several councils have also appealed for drivers to fulfil vital civic functions.

Optimising the fleet assets industry already has must be the first step to solving the driver crisis, says Ferguson. Fleet optimisation is a win-win for industry, he says, bringing greater productivity, lower costs and a reduction in emissions.

TAP has demonstrated with many of its fleet customers that optimisation typically results in better asset utilisation of up to 30 per cent. This was validated when the company won an Innovation in Cost Reduction award for its technology at the Great British Fleet Awards recently.

Fleets can implement the huge and proven savings from optimisation by taking on more work, or they can reduce their fleet needs by making each vehicle and journey more productive. Either way they are more profitable and more efficient.

Fleet optimisation also meets wider social and political concerns as by reducing the number of vehicles required for service visits or deliveries, it helps to reduce congestion, and improve air quality.

TAPs award-winning platform is one of the most advanced fleet optimisation solutions available, capable of optimising fleet application, identify the most suitable applications and fastest ROI for electric vehicles, and prioritise operator requirements. The software is available as Pay As You Go, software as service, or can be integrated into other commercial fleet offerings.

"Our PAYG model starts at as little as 99p per vehicle day and reduces to 49p for a longer-term contract. This allows fleets to undertake completely risk-free trials, Ferguson says. They could run an entire fleet pilot for less money than the cost of recruiting a single driver.

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Route optimisation: The missing piece of the driver shortage solution - The Scotsman

OK, you’re paying data charges in the EU, but you can still roam free in, er, Iceland – The Register

In good news for Brits concerned about hitting roaming caps the next time they visit the EU, the UK has sorted out that particular issue in a post-Brexit trade deal with Norway, Iceland, and, er, Liechtenstein.

The deal, which was announced in June, is good news for exporters of Scotch whisky and cheesy favourites such as Cheddar, Caerphilly, and Wensleydale.

We doubt the mobile reception is great, but it's very beautiful

In return, lower import tariffs on shrimps, prawns, and white fish could see prices for posh sandwiches and canaps reduced while fish-and-chip shops now have a more predictable supply. According to fishing trade mag Intrafish, the UK is "by far Norway's largest market for frozen haddock fillets, which the British use in their fish and chips."

"We have given on cheese, but we got a little more on fish," Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg told Reuters last month.

UK.gov, meanwhile, was back to its favourite pastime of chopping "red tape".

"The deal's cutting-edge digital provisions mean we're slashing red tape [and] making it easier than ever for our businesses to export across borders. Electronic documents, contracts and signatures will result in less paperwork, saving British firms time and money," chirped a government statement.

What's more: "Under the deal it will be possible to cap the charges mobile operators are allowed to charge each other for international mobile roaming, a world-first in an FTA, keeping costs low for holiday makers and business travellers in Norway and Iceland."

Liechtenstein, one of Europe's smallest countries with an area of just 160km2 (62 square miles), has for some reason been omitted from the list. We suspect it is because the Liechtenstein mobile phone system is attached to Switzerland, with many contracts subject to the Swiss legislation.

While we wait to hear back from the Department for International Trade to see what they have to say, travellers are already looking to book their getaways.

According to a study last year, when Liechtenstein isn't getting mistakenly invaded by Switzerland it topped global broadband league tables with mean download speeds of 229.98Mbps light years ahead of the 37.82Mbps registered in the UK. You can also walk its length in six hours.

For whale watchers, what could be more exhilarating than a trip to Norway to see the gentle giants in their element. And if you're really lucky, you could spot a Russian-trained Beluga whale sporting a St Petersburg-made camera harness begging for food as it carries out covert missions.

And if getting all hot and steamy is your thing, then a trip to the Mount Fagradalsfjall volcano which has been dormant for some 6,000 years before it burped into life earlier this year could make a lovely romantic weekend break.

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OK, you're paying data charges in the EU, but you can still roam free in, er, Iceland - The Register

Wall Street’s top analysts have turned more bullish on these stocks – CNBC

An employee of the Internet company Facebook walks through the courtyard of the company campus in Menlo Park, California.

Christoph Dernbach | picture alliance | Getty Images

When Wall Street analysts take a more bullish stance on a particular stock, it could mean that the name is undervalued and has room to run.

The stocks mentioned in this article have either received a bullish coverage initiation or a significant price target boost from analysts with a proven track record of success.

TipRanks' analyst forecasting service works to pinpoint the Street's best-performing analysts, or the pros with the highest success rate and average return per rating. These metrics factor in the number of ratings published by each analyst.

Wall Street's best-performing analysts have turned more bullish on these five stocks.

According to Needham analyst Scott Berg, Thryv Holdings is "Thryv-ing in the hot marketing software space." As such, the top analyst initiated coverage with a Buy rating and set a $42 price target. This implies that shares could gain 31% over the next 12 months.

"Thryv competes in the Marketing Software space, which on its own, can support significant long-term growth, we believe," Berg said. He added, "Thryv's long-term product strategy is rooted in the large segment for Marketing Software, which Gartner estimates had over $16 billion of total spend in 2019 growing at 20.7% per year."

What makes the company an industry stand-out? The analyst points to its legacy Marketing Services segment, which includes the Yellow Pages brand.

"We think the legacy business represents a large, cash-generating, low-cost, customer acquisition channel that assures steady demand from established companies seeking more modern marketing solutions," Berg said.

Additionally, Thryv recently released ThryvPay, its integrated payment solution that makes it possible for small and medium-sizedbusinesses to accept credit card and ACH payments through its platform or through a dedicated mobile app.

This new product, in Berg's opinion, is "not fully discounted by the current share price," with the analyst noting that the "payments opportunity is large and adds model optionality."

Berg also highlights the fact that the company's key software as a service metrics have gotten stronger over the past few quarters, which he believes could "translate to accelerated revenue growth from a pandemic trough." Thryv also started working on new go-to-market channels at the end of last year, and this has already had a positive effect on lead generation and pipeline growth.

Berg is the eighth best-performing analyst on Wall Street, thanks to his stellar 77% success rate and 33.9% average return per rating.

Two monopoly lawsuits filed by the Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of states that sought to break up Facebook have just been dismissed. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg believes that the FTC didn't "clearly define the market" and argues that its claims about Facebook's share of the market were "too speculative and conclusory to go forward."

Boasberg also noted, "Although the court does not agree with all of Facebook's contentions here, it ultimately concurs that the agency's complaint is legally insufficient and must therefore be dismissed."

Following this development, Bank of America Securities analyst Justin Post reiterated a Buy rating on the social media company. In a further bullish signal, the analyst boosted the price target from $390 to $400, putting the upside potential at 14%.

Expounding on his even more optimistic approach, Post said, "While we would expect the FTC/states to refile, given the prep time that undoubtedly went into the original filing, we see this ruling as an important reminder of the challenges the government faces in establishing that Facebook (or its large-cap peers) have illegal monopolies."

After multiple calls with legal experts, Post thinks the likelihood that Facebook will be broken up is very low, based on not only history but also precedent. "We view this dismissal as a positive step based on: 1) highlights the hurdles U.S. antitrust enforcers face in trying to break up tech companies, and 2) a noticeable change from continued negative regulatory news over the last year," he commented.

That being said, the court's decision is "a small win in a long battle," as laws surrounding the antitrust environment could be changed by both Congress and the EU.

Although the new privacy protections for Apple's iOS 14 fueled some investor concern as it will require apps to request permission to track users, Post remains unfazed. "Though increasing adoption of iOS 14.5 poses the risk of a bigger revenue impact in 3Q, we continue to think FB has strong ability to capitalize on shopping this year, and the Street will likely stay optimistic on several under-monetized and under-valued FB assets (Messenger, WhatsApp, Watch, Reels, AR/VR) to drive growth post-2021," the analyst stated.

With a 76% success rate and 30.2% average return per rating, Post scores the #38 spot on TipRanks' list.

Roper Technologies develops software and engineered products for a range of end-markets including health care, transportation, commercial construction, food, energy, water, education, as well as academic research.

For Oppenheimer's Christopher Glynn, the company's long-term growth story appears strong, with the analyst stating that the runway is "still attractive." Even more optimistic about Roper's prospects, the five-star analyst bumped up the price target from $505 to $560 (16% upside potential) in addition to reiterating a Buy rating.

Glynn commented, "We see continued headroom for ROP shares, noting: (1) strong +hsd organic outlook Q2Q4 2021, supported by all four segments and key underlying divisions; (2) rapid debt reduction (post Vertafore/other bolt-ons) yielding to renewed acquisition pipeline execution out of 2021; and (3) overall competitive differentiation and gross margin profiles across the enterprise."

In the first quarter of 2021, Roper paid down roughly $500 million in debt, which brought net debt/EBITDA down from 4.7x to 4.2x sequentially. So, if ROP allocates all free cash flow for deals in 2022-2023, Glynn estimates approximately 2.5x PF net leverage for YE23. Additionally, the analyst thinks "greater deal flow/3.5x-plus leverage would likely support ~$1.00-plus free cash flow per share."

It should also be noted that adjusted EPS rose 18% on 20%-plus EBITDA, with organic top-line growth landing at -1%.

"The Q2 2021 organic comparison eases to (3)%/Q2 2020 from +4%/Q1 2020, and, coupled with various markets positioned to improve sequentially (at stages during 2021; TransCore, Neptune, Deltek, CBORD, iTradeNetwork, Process & Industrial), should afford a high quality path relative to guidance for $14.7515.00 adjusted EPS," Glynn said.

What's more, along with raw accretion, Glynn believes the deals "work well long-term" for Roper. With this in mind, he forecasts 6% EBITDA [compound annual growth rate] for both Neptune and TransCore, which are two of the company's larger anchor deals from the early 2000s.

Given Glynn's 69% success rate and 20.5% average return per rating, he is one of the top 170 analysts tracked by TipRanks.

Cohu just scored a thumbs up from Rosenblatt Securities analyst Scott Graham, thanks to multiple top-line catalysts. In addition to initiating coverage at Buy, the analyst put a $65 price target on the stock, suggesting 88% upside potential.

Graham acknowledges that concerns related to mix have "restrained the stock and reduced its valuation relative to peers." However, he believes that Cohu will outperform over the next year due to "high quality earnings growth and a building cash balance/acquisition opportunity."

The firm tells clients that the semiconductor space is in a "Mother of All Cycles" period, as a result of "continuing penetration of AI in major semi sub-sectors." Based on the firm's estimates, this cycle could last through 2023 and beyond.

"We believe COHU, with the Auto and Industrial markets having turned up, is now on this train. We expect COHU's sales to continue to benefit from this backdrop and its targeted strategies which seek to tap faster-growth niches and seculars in its markets," Graham noted.

The analyst highlights the fact that COHU's sales are correlated to Wafer Fabrication Equipment capex, which is set to rise 20% to 30% this year. Given current trade estimates, this market is currently valued at $70 billion-plus, with it poised to reach $100 billion in the next five years. On top of this, the company's SOC test segment is "in a market benefiting from increasing IC content in devices/applications, namely smartphones, autos, industrial and compute," according to Graham.

When it comes to Cohu's strategy, the company is taking a "targeted" approach, in Graham's opinion. Not only is Cohu scaling its semi test sales, but it is also increasing its penetration of the auto space and boosting its contractor attachment rates, which the analyst believes could fuel an improvement in margins.

As for recurring revenues, Graham sees this as an "undervalued aspect of the stock's valuation" because although they might grow at a slower pace than systems sales, they are "more resilient in down cycles and have higher margins than systems sales."

Currently, Graham is tracking a 69% success rate and 14.9% average return per rating.

Even with 50% sales growth for CY21E "in some of the most desirable, duopolistic large total addressable market ($70 billion-plus) markets in semis," Bank of America Securities analyst Vivek Arya points out that Advanced Micro Devices has lagged its peers in the space year-to-date. That being said, the analyst still has high hopes for the company's growth prospects.

To this end, Arya not only kept a Buy rating on the semiconductor player but also gave the price target a lift, with the figure moving from $110 to $120 (33% upside potential).

Arya points to three catalysts that could propel shares higher including a possible product push-out from Intel (INTC) as well as the recent Google endorsement, which could lead to a breakout for AMD's data center segment.

When comparing AMD's Milan and Intel's Ice Lake, Arya tells investors that the former's offering is superior in terms of both single and multi-thread workloads and "Arm-based cloud instances in scale-out workloads where Arm historically had an edge."

Expounding on this, Arya stated, "This clear outperformance should allay competitive fears, especially as AMD next-gen 5nm products ramp in 2022 while media reports now suggest INTC 10nm Sapphire Rapids is not expected until Q2 2022 with TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor) 5nm equivalent products (INTC 7nm) not until at least 2023. AMD is already seeing results with accelerated server share in Q1 2021."

Additionally, AMD's share of the supercomputing market has increased by more than 2x in the last six months, and 5x in the last year, which shows "AMD's improved competitiveness in HPC, a strong leading indicator for future cloud/enterprise momentum," in Arya's opinion.

He added, "Even more notable, AMD now powers three of the top ten supercomputers, the same number as INTC for first time ever."

Looking at the valuation, Arya calls it "compelling" at "just 6x CY22 EV/sales for 25%-plus sales growth from 2020- 2023E." This reflects a significant discount to other infotech companies.

Arya's 70% success rate and 28.1% average return per rating support his #83 ranking on TipRanks' list of best-performing analysts.

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Wall Street's top analysts have turned more bullish on these stocks - CNBC

ISRO is offering two free online courses with certificates in July-August – India Today

ISRO is offering two free online courses on Geospatial Modelling and Geospatial Technology. Students and professionals can apply for the same and get certificates upon completion. (Photo: PTI)

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is offering two free online courses on Geospatial Modelling and Geospatial Technology through its Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) centre. Students and professionals can apply for the same and get certificates upon completion.

The free online certificate courses are titled Geospatial Modelling for Watershed Management, and Geospatial Technology for Hydrological Modelling.

The two online courses are for both students and professionals who are interested in learning about the fields of soil and water conservation.

Geospatial technologies including remote sensing, GIS and GPS has emerged as a powerful tool in recent years for assessment and monitoring of watershed management.

Course dates: August 2 to 6, 2021

What will students learn?

Eligibility

Note: There are limited number of seats and registration will be done on a first-come first-serve basis.

How to register

How to attend classes

How to get certificate

Hydrological modelling is an effective and essential tool for assessment, prediction and management of water resources, hydrological parameters and water movement/demand/use scenarios.

Course dates: July 19 to 30, 2021

What will students learn?

Eligibility

Note: There are limited number of seats and registration will be done on a first-come first-serve basis.

How to register

How to attend classes

How to get certificate

Read: ISRO launches free online courses for students, professionals: Check details here

Read: How to get an IIT internship: How to apply, sample questions and pro tips from ex-interns

Read: Want to work with Amazon? Here's how to apply for a job at Amazon India

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ISRO is offering two free online courses with certificates in July-August - India Today

New tools quantify costs, benefits of urban greenspace investments – GCN.com

New tools quantify costs, benefits of urban greenspace investments

New technology could help cities around the world improve peoples lives while saving billions of dollars. Urban InVEST, a suite of free, open-source software modelscreates maps to help decision-makers understand the links between nature and human wellbeing and evaluate the tradeoffs between development and conservation.

Even as developers and city planners increasingly see the benefits tree-lined paths and community gardens, they lacked detailed information about where a garden might help protect a neighborhood from flooding or trees might lower air temperatures. Researchers with the Stanford Natural Capital Project developed the free, open source software to help city planners visualize where investments in natural elements, such as parks and marshlands, can provide community benefits.

Urban InVEST uses spatially explicit biophysical and socio-economic models so users can quantify and map the way various urban designs can impact multiple urban services, such as water management, heat island mitigation and mental health benefits. By showing the costs and benefits to communities by socioeconomic status and vulnerability, the software helps design cities that are better for both people and nature, said Anne Guerry, chief strategy officer and lead scientist at the Natural Capital Project.

Urban nature is a multitasking benefactor the trees on your street can lower temperatures so your apartment is cooler on hot summer days, she said. At the same time, theyre soaking up the carbon emissions that cause climate change, creating a free, accessible place to stay healthy through physical activity and just making your city a more pleasant place to be.

The software combines environmental data, like temperature patterns, with social demographics and economic data, like income levels, according to the Stanford News Service. Cities can upload their own data or access a variety of open data sources, from NASA satellites to local weather stations.

The Urban InVEST toolset features models for terrestrial, freshwater, marine, and coastal ecosystems, as well as a number of helper tools that help users locate and input data and with understanding and visualizing outputs.

Were answering three crucial questions with this software: where in a city is nature providing what benefits to people, how much of each benefit is it providing and who is receiving those benefits? said Perrine Hamel, lead author on a new paper about the software published inUrban Sustainabilityand livable cities program lead at the Stanford Natural Capital Project at the time of research.

Urban InVEST was tested in several cities, including Shenzhen, China, Paris and Minneapolis. It builds on the Natural Capital Projects existing open-source Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) platform, which is used in over 185 countries.

In Shenzhen, China, the researchers used Urban InVEST to determine that natural infrastructure like parks, grassland and forest could limit severe storm damage by soaking up rain and diverting floodwaters, avoiding $25 billion in damages. Trees and parks were reducing Shenzhen the daily air temperature in by 5.4 degrees during hot summer days, a value of $71,000 per day.

In Paris, the software showed where investments in more greenspace in low-income neighborhoods without access to such spaces could improve health and wellbeing in an equitable way.

In the Minneapolis-St. Paul region, private golf courses were selling off their land for development in the face of declining revenues. City planners, trying to decide whether to use the land for neighborhoods or parkland, used Urban InVEST to better understand the different outcomes. The software indicated that new parks could increase urban cooling, keep river waters clean, support bee pollinators and sustain dwindling pockets of biodiversity, Stanford officials said. New residential development, on the other hand, would increase temperatures, pollute freshwater and decrease habitat for bees and other biodiversity.

Cities, more than any other ecosystems, are designed by people. Why not be more thoughtful about how we design the places where most of us spend our time? Guerry said. With Urban InVEST, city governments can bring all of natures benefits to residents and visitors. They can address inequities and build more resilient cities, resulting in better long-term outcomes for people and nature.

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New tools quantify costs, benefits of urban greenspace investments - GCN.com