In telecommunications, RS-232, Recommended Standard 232 is a standard introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a DTE such as a computer terminal, a DCE, such as a modem; the standard defines the electrical characteristics and timing of signals, the meaning of signals, the physical size and pinout of connectors. The current version of the standard is TIA-232-F Interface Between Data Terminal Equipment and Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment Employing Serial Binary Data Interchange, issued in 1997; the RS-232 standard had been used in computer serial ports and is still used in industrial communication devices. A serial port complying with the RS-232 standard was once a standard feature of many types of computers. Personal computers used them for connections not only to modems, but to printers, computer mice, data storage, uninterruptible power supplies, other peripheral devices. RS-232, when compared to interfaces such as RS-422, RS-485 and Ethernet, has lower transmission speed, short maximum cable length, large voltage swing, large standard connectors, no multipoint capability and limited multidrop capability.

In modern personal computers, USB has displaced RS-232 from most of its peripheral interface roles. Few computers come equipped with RS-232 ports today, so one must use either an external USB-to-RS-232 converter or an internal expansion card with one or more serial ports to connect to RS-232 peripherals. Thanks to their simplicity and past ubiquity, RS-232 interfaces are still used—particularly in industrial machines, networking equipment, scientific instruments where a short-range, point-to-point, low-speed wired data connection is adequate; the Electronic Industries Association standard RS-232-C as of 1969 defines: Electrical signal characteristics such as voltage levels, signaling rate and slew-rate of signals, voltage withstand level, short-circuit behavior, maximum load capacitance. Interface mechanical characteristics, pluggable connectors and pin identification. Functions of each circuit in the interface connector. Standard subsets of interface circuits for selected telecom applications.

The standard does not define such elements as the character encoding, the framing of characters, transmission order of bits, or error detection protocols. The character format and transmission bit rate are set by the serial port hardware a UART, which may contain circuits to convert the internal logic levels to RS-232 compatible signal levels; the standard does not define bit rates for transmission, except that it says it is intended for bit rates lower than 20,000 bits per second. RS-232 was first introduced in 1960 by the Electronic Industries Association as a Recommended Standard; the original DTEs were electromechanical teletypewriters, the original DCEs were modems. When electronic terminals began to be used, they were designed to be interchangeable with teletypewriters, so supported RS-232; because the standard did not foresee the requirements of devices such as computers, test instruments, POS terminals, so on, designers implementing an RS-232 compatible interface on their equipment interpreted the standard idiosyncratically.

The resulting common problems were non-standard pin assignment of circuits on connectors, incorrect or missing control signals. The lack of adherence to the standards produced a thriving industry of breakout boxes, patch boxes, test equipment and other aids for the connection of disparate equipment. A common deviation from the standard was to drive the signals at a reduced voltage; some manufacturers therefore built transmitters that supplied +5 V and −5 V and labeled them as "RS-232 compatible". Personal computers started to make use of the standard so that they could connect to existing equipment. For many years, an RS-232-compatible port was a standard feature for serial communications, such as modem connections, on many computers, it remained in widespread use into the late 1990s. In personal computer peripherals, it has been supplanted by other interface standards, such as USB. RS-232 is still used to connect older designs of peripherals, industrial equipment, console ports, special purpose equipment.

The standard has been renamed several times during its history as the sponsoring organization changed its name, has been variously known as EIA RS-232, EIA 232, most as TIA 232. The standard continued to be revised and updated by the Electronic Industries Association and since 1988 by the Telecommunications Industry Association. Revision C was issued in a document dated August 1969. Revision D was issued in 1986; the current revision is TIA-232-F Interface Between Data Terminal Equipment and Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment Employing Serial Binary Data Interchange, issued in 1997. Changes since Revision C have been in timing and details intended to improve harmonization with the CCITT standard V.24, but equipment built to the current standard will interoperate with older versions. Related ITU-T standards include V.24 and V.28. In revision D of EIA-232, the D-subminiature connector was formally included as part of the standard; the voltage range was extended to ±25 volts, the circuit capacitance limit was expressly stated as 2500 pF.

Revision E of EIA-232 introduced a new, standard D-shell 26-pin "Alt A" connector

The Brown–Stow House or Ichabod Stow House is a historic First Period house at 172 Harvard Road in Stow, Massachusetts. The oldest portion of this two-story timber frame house was built early in the 18th century, consisted of a single "cell" three bays wide, two stories high, with what is now the central chimney in a side bay. During the 18th century it was expanded twice, adding a rear leanto, it has had two modest 20th century additions. The house underwent a major restoration in the 1950s to return it to an 18th-century appearance; the house was built by Boaz Brown, who acquired the property in 1699 and died in 1711. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Massachusetts

The 2015 Heart of Dallas Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 26, 2015 at the Cotton Bowl at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. The sixth edition of the Heart of Dallas Bowl featured the Washington Huskies of the Pac-12 Conference against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles of Conference USA, it began at 1:20 p.m. CST and aired on ESPN, it was one of the 2015 -- 16 bowl games. Sponsored by chicken fast food restaurant Zaxby's, the game was known as the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl. Washington Huskies defeated the University of Southern Mississippi 44–31; the game featured the Washington Huskies against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. After finishing their regular season 6–6, bowl director Brant Ringler extended an invitation for the Huskies to play in the game, which they accepted. After finishing their season 9–4, Olivas extended an invitation for the Golden Eagles to play in the game, which they accepted as well. Source: Game summary at ESPN

The women's tournament in volleyball at the 2020 Summer Olympics will be the 15th edition of the event at an Olympic Games, organised by the world's governing body, the FIVB, in conjunction with the IOC. It will be held in Tokyo, Japan from 26 July to 9 August 2020. Teams were seeded following the serpentine system according to their FIVB World Ranking as of 29 September 2019. FIVB reserved the right to seed the hosts as head of pool A regardless of the World Ranking. Rankings are shown in brackets except the hosts; the preliminary round is a competition between the twelve teams divided into two pools of six teams. This round, the teams will compete in a single round-robin format; the four highest ranked teams in each group advance to the knockout stage. The sixth placed teams in each pool will be ranked eleventh in this competition; the fifth placed teams in each pool will be ranked ninth. The knockout stage will follow the single-elimination format; the losers of the quarter-finals will be ranked fifth.

The quarter-final winners will play in the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals will compete for gold medals and the losers will play for bronze medals. In order to establish the ranking of teams after the group stage, the following criteria should be implemented: Number of matches won Match points Sets ratio Points ratio Result of the last match between the tied teamsMatch won 3–0 or 3–1: 3 match points for the winner, 0 match points for the loser Match won 3–2: 2 match points for the winner, 1 match point for the loser All times are Japan Standard Time; the top four teams in each pool qualified for the quarterfinals. All times are Japan Standard Time; the first ranked teams of both pools played against the fourth ranked teams of the other pool. The second ranked teams faced the second or third ranked teams of the other pool, determined by drawing of lots; the drawing of lots was held after the last match in the preliminary round. Volleyball at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament Official website

Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in Merseyside and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, provides the majority of local government services in Knowsley, it is a constituent council of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. The current local authority was first elected in 1973, a year before formally coming into its powers and prior to the creation of the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley on 1 April 1974; the council gained borough status, entitling it to be known as Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council. Since the first election to the council in 1973 political control of the council has been held by the following parties

Brodie's Law is an amendment to the Victorian Crimes Act 1958 which makes serious bullying an offence punishable by a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment. The law is named after Brodie Panlock, a 19-year-old who took her own life after being bullied at work. Brodie's parents and Rae Panlock lobbied the Victorian Government to make the amendment. Brodie Rae Constance Panlock grew up in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne in the Australian state of Victoria with her parents and two older brothers. In early 2005, at the age of 18, Brodie started working at Cafe Vamp in Hawthorn an inner suburb of Melbourne. In March 2006, shortly after her 19th birthday, Brodie moved to a small flat in Hawthorn to be closer to work. Cafe Vamp lent her the bond money for the flat, she worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week:5 & 6 and was described as a "loyal employee" and "buoyant, compassionate, giving girl" by co-workers. Panlock had plans to save enough money to travel overseas with her brother and his girlfriend before enrolling at TAFE to study social work.

In September 2006, Brodie jumped from the top of a multilevel carpark in Hawthorn and died from her injuries in The Alfred Hospital three days later. Panlock became involved in an intermittent intimate relationship with the cafe manager Nicholas Smallwood in the fifteen months leading up to her death. Panlock became infatuated with Smallwood. In the last few months Panlock's relationship with Smallwood became unhealthy, according to Coroner Peter White, who found that Smallwood and others "systematically bullied her, both physically and emotionally". Smallwood, fellow waiter Rhys MacAlpine and, to a lesser extent, chef Gabriel Toomey, called her names, told her she was fat, ugly and a whore, they kicked and spat on her, held her down and poured oil on her hair and clothes, covered her in chocolate sauce and filled her kit bag with fish oil. Other employees intervened without effect, the cafe owner Marcus Dela Cruz turned a blind eye to the behaviour. In May 2006 after being kicked out of Smallwood's apartment, Panlock took rat poison and alcohol in a suicide attempt.

Smallwood taunted Panlock that she could not do it properly, put rat poison in her handbag. On 20 September 2006, Smallwood left her flat, she called a former school friend Ashlea Cooper. Cooper recalled that Panlock "cried hysterically" and felt that she had made a fool of herself, saying: How embarrassing... I want to die. Ash, it is over. I have had enough. It's over. Shortly after 11:00pm on 20 September 2006, Brodie jumped from the top of a multilevel carpark in Hawthorn. Four men and MAP Foundation, the company that owned Cafe Vamp, were charged with offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 for their part in bullying Panlock, they pleaded guilty to the charges on 8 February 2010, at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court. They were ordered to pay $335,000 in fines as follows: MAP Foundation – $220,000 Marcus Dela Cruz – $30,000 Nicholas Smallwood – $45,000 Rhys MacAlpine – $30,000 Gabriel Toomey – $10,000 Brodie Panlock's parents Damien and Rae Panlock lobbied the Victorian Government to make changes to the law to include serious bullying as an offence punishable by imprisonment.

On 4 November 2010 the Victorian Attorney-General asked the Victorian Law Reform Commission to review the adequacy of Victoria's criminal laws in dealing with serious bullying. The request was made to ensure that perpetrators of serious bullying receive appropriate sanction under Victoria's criminal law. On 5 April 2011, the Attorney-General introduced the Crimes Amendment Bill 2011 to Parliament, which amended the offence of stalking under section 21 of the Crimes Act 1958, to include serious bullying as a crime carrying a maximum penalty of ten years; the Bill received royal assent on 7 June 2011, commenced immediately. In the five years since the law's proclamation on 16 June 2011, fifty-eight offenders were charged with 140 offences against Brodie's Law; the Victoria Attorney-General Robert Clark announced that Brodie's Law would be discussed at the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General in November 2011. The response by the Victorian government was backed by the Federal Assistant Treasurer, Bill Shorten.

In September 2011 the New South Wales Government was examining the Victorian legislation. Damien and Rae Panlock continued to lobby the federal government because they feared that the states would fail to agree on the matter. On 26 May 2012, they met with Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, Bill Shorten, now Minister for Workplace Relations, made a joint announcement of a national parliamentary inquiry into bullying; the report was released on 25 November 2012, "contained 23 recommendations including the adoption of a new national definition of'workplace bullying', a workplace bullying'hotline' and a legislative and regulatory framework." In response to the recommendations the Federal Parliament passed the Fair Work Amendment Act 2013 which gave the Fair Work Commission jurisdiction to hear and resolve "a workplace incidence of bullying". In late 2012, Damien and Rae Panlock toured Victoria, using the first anniversary of the introduction of Brodie's Law to raise awareness about bullying.

Damien and Rae Panlock continue to tour Australia and speak in workplaces and at public events, to campaign against bullying. The foundation assists with education in workplaces and sporting clubs, with speaking engagements and production of education packages for teachers, club members and employees. In February 2017, Brodie's Law Fou