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We would like to congratulate all Shipping Lines for all their efforts in assisting TPT in meeting the go live date of 1 February 2012. It is only as a result of all the hard work and commitment to the process that we were able to achieve this milestone. We are extremely proud to announce that the majority of Shipping Lines are pre-advising via EDI. The alternative method of manual pre-advising has also been well received.

In order to ensure a smooth operational transition for all parties in the container supply chain, including those who joined late in the process, TPT will only enforce the mandatory requirement of pre-advice on 1 March 2012.

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For those that haven’t registered, until the 1st of March 2012, the pre-advise will be done manually by TPT at the time of the container entering the gates.. After this there will be no manual entries..

INTERPRETING the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code demands a common-sense approach that focuses on security procedures and not on subsequent contamination, according to the TT Club.

The club said members had raised concerns over how the code would work in practice. Members were particularly worried that a breach of security at a port or terminal would make that facility non-compliant and that this could then have a knock-on effect, ships that called there also then deemed non-compliant.

“On this basis, wherever that ship calls subsequently could also then become contaminated, unable to accept other ships without them also becoming contaminated or non-compliant. And so on,” the club warned.

The TT Club has called for common sense in interpreting and applying the ISPS Code.

“Take the example of a bomb scare in a city department store,” the club said. “After a bomb has been found, defused and removed, do the owners of the department store raze it to the ground and build a new in its place? Of course not.

“Similarly, if there is a bomb hoax, does the shop shut its doors forever? No; it searches the store and declares an all clear, which is documented. The key here is the fact that procedures are followed and that they are documented.”

The code states that all security incidents must be recorded, the Port Facility Security Plan retaining all records of security incidents and threats. Under the code’s security level 3, the port or terminal must comply with instructions from those responding to the security incident or threat. The PFSP should detail the security measures to be taken by the port or terminal.

The TT Club argued that it made sense, in the event of a security incident in a port, for the site in question to go automatically to level 3. Assuming that the PFSP was completed properly, the port or terminal would then have fulfilled its responsibilities.

“Since a recognised security organisation will have approved and tested the implementation of the plan, there should be little doubt that the requirements of the code have been followed,” the club said.

“Once the responders to the security incident have given the all clear and this has been documented by the port facility then the port facility is open for business. However, at no time, despite the occurrence of a security incident, is the port facility in breach of the ISPS Code – it has done everything required of it.

“Therefore, while this cannot be taken as a legal opinion, the pragmatic answer is that this type of contamination should not occur in the anticipated operation of the ISPS Code.”

Very interesting concept in summoning a taxi.. 

When summoning a taxi in a busy urban center, waiting for a driver who is available, paying attention and willing to pick you up can get frustrating…not to mention the annoying “upstreamers” just waiting to snag that ride before you. This curbside taxi communication system was created by a group of design students at the Xi’an University of Design and Technology and recently won the Red Dot Award for a public space concept. It uses a system of lights, tactile curbside buttons and driver interaction to make hailing a taxi quick and easy.

When a customer needs a cab, they just step onto the pressure-sensitive plate on the curb. The damage-resistant transparent top layer fits over a polypropylene lower layer that is equipped with a color-changing light. When the station is idle, the light is blue (it turns off during daylight hours to save energy). After a passenger stands on the plate for ten seconds, his location information is sent to the nearest taxi. When a driver accepts the fare and begins to travel over to the passenger, the light changes to green. The system seems like an altogether civilized way to summon a taxi, but it would have to be limited to those cities without mischief-loving citizens who would activate the plates just for fun.

Reposted from http://gajitz.com/conceptual-taxi-system-puts-civility-back-in-urban-transport/

25. Special Delivery

Extracted from http://damnyouautocorrect.com/13603/the-25-funniest-autocorrects-of-dyacs-first-year/

There’s a Fly in the Toilet …

When I went to the men’s room in the Schiphol Airport  in Amsterdam ,

I saw a fly in the toilet and didn’t think much about it,

but now I know why it’s there!

This is what we ask the till clerk at the shop or the petrol station attendant or the usher at the movies or when we do a cold call over the phone.. The invariable answer is ” I am fine thanks and you “..

Is ” How are you ” a Greeting or a Question..??

If it is to be considered a greeting can we not just greet saying Hello or Good day or something that doesn’t sound like a question..

If it is a question, then are we really and truly concerned about how a stranger is and what is happening in his or her life..?? If by chance the answer from the other person is ” i am not good and i am suffering from such and such and such ” are we really going to do something about it..??

Of course, if we ask that to someone that we know has been sick or going through a trauma or had some problems, that would be a different story altogether because then we may be genuinely concerned and might want to actually know how that person is at that time..

In some cases i have seen people being forced to answer this question.. A friend of mine underwent this whereby we were at a shop and he just said ” Hello, please can i have xxxxxxxxx ” to the till clerk to which she asked ” How are you ” and my friend was forced to respond with the cursory ” I am fine thanks ” and then continue with the business.. This made my friend guilty because he didn’t enquire about the well being of a complete stranger, although he did greet her with a Hello..

So in this case, is the ” How are you ” a real question or just an issue of manners in the eyes of the clerk or a greeting..??

There are variations among countries as well.. The Arab way of greeting probably is the longest that i have seen where they first exchange greetings and pleasantries then enquire about your health, your family’s health and other related matters before they get to actual business..

In SA , the ” Howzit ” seems to outweigh the ” How are you “.. I have noticed mostly a ” Howzit ” being said as a greeting , to which a response could also be a ” Howzit ” or a ” sharp (means its all ok) ” or the person could carry on with the business at hand without actually waiting for a response..

So should the ” How are you ” be classified as a greeting or the most rhetorical question of all time..??

Enjoy and be one of the good people..