All posts tagged: scales

Pay scales for teachers and leaders from September 2024

Pay scales for teachers and leaders from September 2024

Published by skeptic

DfE confirms pay scales following offer of 5.5 per cent to teachers and leaders DfE confirms pay scales following offer of 5.5 per cent to teachers and leaders More from this theme Recent articles The new pay scales for 2024-2025 have been confirmed by the Department for Education. It comes after the government approved teacher and leader pay rises of 5.5 per cent, pledging to hand schools £1.2 billion towards the cost of covering them. But the School Teachers’ Review Body estimated its recommendations would cost around £1.65 billion over a whole school year, and the DfE has said schools will need to put some of their own money into the deal to help make up the difference. Local authority-maintained schools must follow these pay scales but academies and free schools are allowed to set their own. Here are the new pay rates, effective from September 1, 2024. Pay scales for teachers Pay scales for school leaders Here is the plain text version Classroom teachers England excluding London Unqualified teacher pay range 2023 2024 Minimum …

NBC scales back The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in latest blow to late night TV

NBC scales back The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in latest blow to late night TV

Published by skeptic

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails NBC is officially cutting back The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon from five nights a week to four, with reruns airing on Friday nights. The major decision comes just months after the network announced it was eliminating the house band from Late Night with Seth Meyers due to budget cuts. For the past few seasons, Fallon has consistently taped new Friday night episodes despite his competitors, including ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, CBS’s The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, only taping four each week. Late Night with Seth Meyers has also only been airing four original episodes weekly. As late-night viewership has declined in recent years, networks have been forced to take these money-saving measures. “Sadly, it’s the reality of broadcast and a shrinking market – streaming eating into this, and YouTube eating into …

3 Best Smart Scales (2024): Luxe, Budget, and All App-Connected

3 Best Smart Scales (2024): Luxe, Budget, and All App-Connected

Published by skeptic

The humble bathroom scale has long been overdue to learn some new tricks. After all, who needs to devote precious real estate to a device whose purpose is merely to tell you your weight? The “smart scale” category sprung to life in the early days of the internet of things, but early models weren’t always the best, hampered by connectivity issues and general usability problems. As such, the category has largely stagnated; only a handful of companies are now making the devices, and some haven’t updated their product line in years. Only recently has that started to change, as newer, faster, and all-around better products have begun to hit the market again. Not only can newer smart scales track a bevy of health metrics for multiple members of your household via sophisticated mobile apps, but they’ve also ironed out all the kinks, so it’s easier than ever to track your weight. Just how smart can a scale be? And which should you buy? If an accurate weight is what’s most important to you, don’t sweat …

BP axes jobs and scales back its EV charging business

BP axes jobs and scales back its EV charging business

Published by skeptic

Photo by Kindel Media on Pexels.com Oil and gas giant BP is slashing jobs at its electric vehicle charging business and pulling out of several markets as its big bet on rapid growth in commercial EV fleets “didn’t pay off,” according to company sources. BP CEO Murray Auchincloss is making the changes at its EV charging arm, BP Pulse, to quell investor doubts over its plan to shift away from Big Oil and Gas to green energy, reports Reuters. In recent months, BP Pulse has pulled out of eight of the 12 countries it was operating in, with now the focus solely on the US, Britain, Germany, and China, where it expects to see the fastest growth in the EV market. More than 100 jobs out of a global workforce of 900 have been cut, with many employees being moved around to other divisions with “only a handful leaving the company,” the sources told Reuters. This is happening too as Tesla is laying off more than 10% of its global workforce, according to an internal …

The Guardian view on opera and circus: a populist pairing that scales the heights | Editorial

The Guardian view on opera and circus: a populist pairing that scales the heights | Editorial

Published by skeptic

Conversation about opera has become an increasingly cronky merry-go-round over the last few years, revolving not around art and imagination so much as money, elitism and whether or not the repertoire is refreshing itself at a rate that makes any significant contribution to a modern creative environment. Much of the latest discontent has focused on the forced move of the English National Opera (ENO) from its London redoubt – the Coliseum – to Manchester where, until its new home is built, it will do the rounds of existing venues. So it is refreshing to find Welsh National Opera (WNO) out on the road with a revival that stares down many of the resulting anxieties, while reframing the underlying debates in a way that detractors of the art form would do well to heed. After opening its new season with an old repertory staple, Così fan Tutte, it is touring Benjamin Britten’s more challenging Death in Venice, about the fixation of an ageing writer for a beautiful young boy he spots in a Venice that is succumbing to a cholera …

The best bathroom scales and smart body monitors to track your health, tried and tested

The best bathroom scales and smart body monitors to track your health, tried and tested

Published by skeptic

Bathroom scale and smart body monitor FAQ   Dr Jet Khasriya, specialist in bone and mineral biology and GP for doctor-on-demand app GPDQ, shares her advice on how smart scales work. How do smart bathroom scales work? “It uses a small, non-harmful electrical impulse to measure impedance in different tissue types. If you step onto a scale with your skin exposed it can give you a rough estimate about your body composition.” Are bathroom scales accurate? “The best way to measure body fat or bone density is using old fashioned callipers or more modern methods such as DEXA scanning. These are, however, quite difficult to learn and not readily available to the average consumer. While it’s true that, with the more widely available health scale technology, the exact initial measurement you are given  is not entirely accurate, the ability of the technology to log your readings allows you to see change over time, which in itself is a very reliable metric.” What are the best bathroom scales available? “I have personally tried the Withings Body …

Three Facial Features Can Tip the Scales in a Close Election

Three Facial Features Can Tip the Scales in a Close Election

Published by skeptic

A candidate’s looks are important when it comes to winning an election. Studies have found that people can usually guess who won an election merely by looking at photos of the candidates. Other studies have found that political candidates who look more attractive, competent, trustworthy, or dominant have an edge over their opponents. But what exactly is the winning look? Which specific facial features give some candidates an advantage at the ballot box? Is it a large forehead, a square chin, or something else? Three Empirical Studies in Germany Two behavioral scientists in Germany, Jan Landwehr and Michaela Wänke, recently reported the results of three studies in which they investigated the relationship between physiognomy and electability (Landwehr & Wänke, 2023).[1] In the first study, 27 participants viewed the faces of 40 individuals (20 females and 20 males) and rated each person’s electability on a Likert-type scale. “Would you elect this person to an important political office?” The available options ranged from 1 (I could hardly imagine it) to 7 (I could imagine it well). Male …

Modular coffee scales for the perfect brew

Modular coffee scales for the perfect brew $99

Published by skeptic

If you’re passionate about coffee, you know that the secret to a perfect cup lies in the details. The WeighMaster coffee scale is a testament to that belief, offering coffee enthusiasts and professional baristas a high-precision tool to elevate their brewing process. This scale is not just about measuring; it’s about achieving a consistent, flavorful experience with every pour. The WeighMaster’s design is a standout, providing a modular system that grows with your coffee journey. You can customize your scale, which means your coffee station stays uncluttered, without the need for multiple gadgets. The multi-display feature is particularly useful, allowing for a collaborative brewing experience that’s enjoyable for both novices and seasoned experts. Early bird tier pledges are now available for the ingenious project from roughly $99 or £79 (depending on current exchange rates), offering a considerable discount of approximately 36% off the average retail price, while the Kickstarter crowd funding is under way. For those just starting out, the WeighMaster is a friendly guide, offering step-by-step instructions to get you brewing like a pro …