CGI

CGI may refer to:

Technology

Organizations

CGI Group

CGI Group Inc.,Conseillers en gestion et informatique more commonly known as CGI, is a global information technology (IT) consulting, systems integration, outsourcing, and solutions company headquartered in Montreal, Canada. Founded in 1976 by Serge Godin and André Imbeau as an IT consulting firm, the company soon began branching into new markets and acquiring other companies. CGI went public in 1986 with a primary listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange. CGI is also a constituent of the S&P/TSX 60, and has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange. After almost doubling in size with the 1998 acquisition of Bell Sygma, CGI acquired IMRGlobal in 2001 for $438 million, which added "global delivery options" for CGI. Other significant purchases include American Management Systems (AMS) for $858 million in 2004, which grew CGI's presence in the United States, Europe and Australia and led to the formation of the CGI Federal division.

CGI Federal's 2010 acquisition of Stanley, Inc. for $1.07 billion almost doubled CGI's presence in the United States, and expanded CGI into defense and intelligence contracts. In 2012 CGI acquired Logica for $2.7 billion Canadian, making CGI the fifth-largest independent business processes and IT services provider in the world, and the biggest tech firm in Canada. In 2014 CGI ranked No. 974 on the Forbes Forbes Global 2000, which ranks the world's largest public companies. At the time CGI had assets worth USD $11.1 billion, annual sales of $9.9 billion, and a market value of $9.6 billion. As of 2015 CGI is based in forty countries with around 400 offices, and employs approximately 65,000 people. Canada made up 15% of CGI's client base of March 2015. 29% was in the United States, while around 40% of their commissions came from Europe. 15% was the rest of the world.

Holiday

A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tradition of cultural or religious significance. Holidays may be designated by governments, religious institutions, or other groups or organizations. The degree to which normal activities are reduced by a holiday may depend on local laws, customs, the type of job being held or even personal choices.

The concept of holidays has most often originated in connection with religious observances. The intention of a holiday was typically to allow individuals to tend to religious duties associated with important dates on the calendar. In most modern societies, however, holidays serve as much of a recreational function as any other weekend days or activities.

In many societies there are important distinctions between holidays designated by governments and holidays designated by religious institutions. For example, in many predominantly Christian nations, government-designed holidays may center on Christian holidays, though non-Christians may instead observe religious holidays associated with their faith. In some cases, a holiday may only be nominally observed. For example, many Jews in the Americas and Europe treat the relatively minor Jewish holiday of Hanukkah as a "working holiday", changing very little of their daily routines for this day.

Holiday (America album)

Holiday is the fourth original studio album by American folk rock band America, released by Warner Bros. Records in June 1974 (see 1974 in music). The album was produced in London by noted Beatles producer George Martin.

The album was a big hit in the US, reaching number 3 on the Billboard album chart and being certified gold by the RIAA. It produced two hit singles: "Tin Man" reached number 4 on the Billboard singles chart and went to number 1 on both the adult contemporary chart as well as the Radio & Records chart; and "Lonely People" which peaked at number 5 on the Billboard singles chart and also hit number 1 on the adult contemporary chart. Several other songs received radio airplay on FM stations playing album tracks, including "Baby It's Up To You" and "Another Try".

History

Bandmember Dewey Bunnell was thrilled at the prospect of working with Martin as producer. He was quoted as saying that it "was great working with George. It was like we knew each other. We were familiar with the Beatles, of course, and we had that British sense of humor." In a separate interview, Dan Peek recalled to Circus magazine: "Gerry (Beckley) had been in England, and we'd talked about using George Martin as our producer. He's such a hot arranger, thinking about all the stuff he's done. There were several other people we wanted to use, but that idea sort of flashed and George was available."

Christmas music

Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season.

History

Early music

Music was an early feature of the Christmas season and its celebrations. The earliest examples are hymnographic works (chants and litanies) intended for liturgical use in observance of both the Feast of the Nativity and Theophany, many of which are still in use by the Eastern Orthodox Church. The 13th century saw the rise of the carol written in the vernacular, under the influence of Francis of Assisi.

In the Middle Ages, the English combined circle dances with singing and called them carols. Later, the word carol came to mean a song in which a religious topic is treated in a style that is familiar or festive. From Italy, it passed to France and Germany, and later to England. Christmas carols in English first appear in a 1426 work of John Audelay, a Shropshire priest and poet, who lists 25 "caroles of Cristemas", probably sung by groups of wassailers, who went from house to house. Music in itself soon became one of the greatest tributes to Christmas, and Christmas music includes some of the noblest compositions of the great musicians.