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All clothing items are printed and shipped directly from a 3rd party partner (Print Aura). Per their policy, no refunds or exchanges will be issued for customer error. Please be mindful of size selection during ordering. It does take slightly longer for clothing orders to be processed. All clothing items will be shipped separately from other KAY branded merchandise.
If you are not completely satisfied with any product we'll be happy to give you a refund or exchange, within 7 days.
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The Publics and the Catholics
Why a revolution in Catholic School education is important to the City
The Publics and the Catholics
Why a revolution in Catholic School education is important to the City
Growing up in a Philadelphia row home neighborhood in the 1950’s and 1960’s, my understanding of schools was based on a simple division between publics and Catholics. From my experience at the time, the publics were largely Jewish and African American. The Catholics were largely Irish and Italian.
The parallel Catholic system in Philadelphia rivaled the public district. At its height, Catholic schools educated more than one third of the city’s school age children. Today that number is less than 10 percent.
Back then, Catholic schools provided a quiet subsidy to the city by educating children who otherwise would have been in the public system, while many Catholic school homeowners paid real estate taxes for a public amenity they chose not to use.
Over the past half-century, Catholic schools in Philadelphia have declined due to changing regional demographics, a dramatic drop in the number of women who become nuns (a traditional pillar of Catholic education), the need to increase tuition, and the increased integration of Catholics into non-Catholic institutions.
The sexual molestation scandals also damaged the Catholic brand (and its finances), although the view of Catholic schools was not affected as significantly as the overall view of the church itself.
The decline of Philadelphia Catholic schools is part of a national trend: In 1960, there were about 13,000 Catholic schools in the United States. The number today is around 7,500. As with other institutions created, in part, as a reaction to discrimination, the decline of anti-Catholic sentiment has also changed the role of the schools and parish system that supported them.
But the decline of Catholic schools in Philadelphia may be coming to an end, or at least slowing down. Interesting changes are afoot. A movement that was so important to building the 19th and early 20th Century city, could make a big contribution once again.
Archdiocesan schools, like the School District of Philadelphia, have traditionally functioned as a monopoly. While some schools linked to Catholic orders (e.g. Jesuits or Christian Brothers) had significant autonomy from the Archdiocese, in general it was a top down system with the hub on the Parkway and the spokes at the parishes.
Monopolies are based, in part, on regulatory advantages that make it difficult for alternatives to emerge or compete. While there are economies of scale in large systems, monopolies can stymie innovation. Moreover they often have trouble responding to external changes, even when a response is in their self-interest.
The Philadelphia School District has had difficulty responding to two waves of competition over the past several decades: affordable suburban housing alternatives and the charter school movement. Both have chipped away at enrollment and changed the political calculus between Harrisburg and Philadelphia.
Nonprofits Faith in the Future and Independence Mission have taken over 32 Catholic schools in Philadelphia. Experiments such as these are happening around the country, but none at this scale.
The Archdiocese had neither the financial capacity nor the incentives to respond to the decline of its Philadelphia schools. As a regional body it followed Catholic demography, resulting in new Catholic schools in the high growth suburbs and closed schools in the city and inner ring suburbs.
Financially and politically, it was hard for the Archdiocese to see another way out. There were new announcements every few years about Catholic school closings.
But this began to change in the wake of the Archdiocese Blue Ribbon Commission report in 2012. Catholic civic and business leaders, alumni and philanthropists, had enough. It was one thing to more rationally manage decline, but they wanted stronger management, more autonomy, and targeted efforts at growth.
Since that time, Philadelphia has been at the center of an enormous experiment to re-think Catholic school management. And while it is much too early to know if it will succeed, there are some encouraging signs.
Two nonprofits—Independence Mission Schools and Faith in the Future—developed agreements to run a number of the schools that were formerly Archdiocesan-controlled. Faith in the Future runs 17 Catholic high schools throughout the region and Independence Mission runs 15 elementary and middle schools in the city.
The two organizations are managing educational functions, not just raising money. They are reinventing the schools in everything from how principals are chosen to how physical assets are maintained. Moreover, they are actively marketing the schools, in ways that had not been done previously.
The two new entities are management organizations akin to large charter management organizations like Mastery or Young Scholars. They run multiple schools and centralize core functions. Just as the District outsources management to charters, the Archdiocese does the same with the two nonprofits.
I first met several of the leaders of Independence Mission Schools when I visited Saint Martin de Porres at 23rd and Lehigh in North Philadelphia in 2011. This is a school I might have expected to close: almost all of their students are non-Catholic and all require financial assistance. But today the enrollment is growing, it has strong academic performance, and runs at a fraction of district or charter school costs on a per pupil basis.
If Independence Mission is able to build a sustainable school model based on a combination of private fundraising, low tuition costs, and state tax credits this will be an important turning point for inner city Catholic schools.
When Independence Mission successfully bid on the purchase of the Harrison public school building (which the District closed) to expand the footprint of the St. Malachy parish school in North Philadelphia, the news shocked many observers who were used to Catholic closures and not expansions.
Presently 65 percent of Independence Mission School’s 4,700 children (up from 3,800 a few years ago) are not Catholic and all of the students receive some form of financial tuition and free lunch. (Full disclosure: I once helped Independence Mission obtain a small planning grant from the William Penn Foundation and I managed a retreat for their board of trustees).
Experiments such as Faith in the Future and Independence Mission are happening around the country, but none at this scale. A few Catholic schools around the nation have tried charter school conversions and others have looked at nonprofit management models.
There is a large body of evidence (since at least the early 1980’s) that has pointed to the success of Catholic schools in overall education achievement, and in the education of lower income and minority students. Keeping and expanding the schools is a huge win for many low and modest income families.
But there is something else at work here that is worth considering. Efforts such as Independence Mission Schools teach us something both about how institutions can be reframed and thus point out new possibilities for others.
The great development economist, Albert Hirschman wrote a book a half century ago called Exit, Voice, and Loyalty. His thesis was simple: When institutions, nations, or businesses decline people make decisions to either leave (exit) or try to fix them (voice). In various circumstances (including the influence of loyalty) Hirschman talked about why people make one choice or the other and what this means for social and economic growth.
The decline of the Catholic schools is an interesting case of exit and voice. The attempt to fix the schools is the exercise of voice. Leaders with the choice to exit are driving much of this potential revival.
Think of the exit, voice, and loyalty issue for many middle class parents in Philadelphia. They are faced with leaving the city if they cannot find the right district or charter schools for their children. Most of them cannot afford the hefty tuition at the prominent private schools in the city.
They can leave. Which the numbers still show is happening at a significant rate. Remember, we are gaining young people without children, but losing a similar number of adults with school age children, according to the data.
Or they can invent alternatives either within the existing system or outside of it. Will parents that do not want to use the public system or Catholic schools, but cannot afford a $25,000 per child private school, eventually invent a lower tuition model such as Independence Mission? It is possible and a revitalized Catholic sector may help point the way.
We need these new experiments in urban Catholic schools to work and we need more of them—just as we need high performing district and charter schools. And we may need additional, lower cost private schools if we are unable to make improvements to the public systems. If the city is going to turn the corner, a diversity of school options can no longer be viewed as a zero sum game.
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How to avoid complications despite the fact that writing articles your specialist impression
Sometimes you may feel no enthusiasm or passion once you read about article writing performer declaration? It will be actually clear and affordable. You happen to be concentrated on anything you do and don’t come to feel any desire to put on the writer’s job. Yet still, modern day life necessitates and challengers allow hardly any remedies. You take on your own jointly and set up with your impression.
Regretfully, it is not necessarily quite enough to deliver bodily accessibility of the affirmation as the website content situations much. By the use of the musician assertions, you provide some much deeper information into your extremely creative effort and concepts for folks. Your challenge is to uncover the principles of is effective and interest your customers because of its individuality and deepness. Music beneficial but you are not certain methods to integrate it in reality? Tend not to feel concerned; we are going to portion some critical factors, which will be prevented on your part to obtain a success.
Ready different options of your respective fact
It actually is tricky to address all focus on readers inside of at least one proclamation. You can easily house address to masters and associates, prospective bosses, technique art gallery house owners, other artists or basic persons, who do not know much about artwork. For this reason, it is far better to hold some designer assertions for this instance. They have to contrast in size and website content depending upon the viewers. For anybody who is alluring to of us, who definitely are new with talent, maximum your fact to a small number of lines and produce it comprehensible. When striving at a number of specialists, you should go deep into some features and work out your declaration further chosen.
Selected acceptable wording
It is really great you are aware your sphere totally, but you need to understand when to work with this information. Slang and specific conditions which may be employed by an specialist will limit the target audience of us, that will figure out and examine your statement. Do not cause it to be complex and complex. Understand that all the stuff of prodigy is not difficult.
Avoid Generalities
Without a doubt, your will work can reveal some terrific endeavors and ideas that disrupt your brain in the total humanity. But could it be informative for any readers to percept some overall key phrases and data regarding succeed? As well as extensive and remarkable eye-sight on the imaginative functions, present some tailored insight for anyone. As a result, it could be unique to them how you would conceived your hard work or what your own personal purpose was.
Use Healthy Claims
Remember the fact that your performer impression could be the number one acquaintance together with works well with the viewers. If you explain a great number of concerns particularly ‘I expectAndhellip;’, ‘I testedAndhellip;.’, ‘I was attempting…’, guys and women actually feel your current doubt in your particular actually works. Each of us has a lot of suspicions about his / her art work which is an amazing well known problem. Bear in mind, your main goal is to try to influence folks that your runs are worth their curiosity. Ensure them for you to position your heart and soul inside your works out and robust claims are going to be practical by that.
The Final Word
In case you keep in mind yourself not proficient on paper, you may have specific outstanding advantage: you enjoy that which you do and are aware of it better than everybody. No older article writer can post your designer affirmation with your obsession and engagement since you can. Readily share your commitment to just what you use guys and women via your specialist proclamation. Inform them over the knowledge of the artistic job but also provoke a interest for additional information and adore your is successful. The performer statement seriously should use your best charm customers and be certainly soaked with choose to your create.
We know that it is strong to design a useful specialist impression simultaneously and you should have patience with the. A ton of drafts is prepared, a ton of issues is certainly solved unless you reach your goals in your goals. But tend not to hesitate than it, that’s really worth endeavor.
Thanksgiving Day of the week is really common relatives trip that is associated to turkey and parades. It can be a magnificent time rating that folks throw away with families by consuming wonderful food and watching television. This peculiar and beneficial holiday can make a number of people curious about its origins.
What gatherings begun the special event in this feast? The beginnings of these holiday and the place where from will it originate?
United states schoolchildren are always instructed that the trip pushes its actual returning to the pilgrims. In 1620 this spiritual town paid out the Plymouth Nest around the territory of produce Massachusetts. Hospitable neighborhood residents within the American citizen territory did start to teach newcomers best ways to survive their terrain. For this reason, in 1621 they harvested to honor this feast with each other. As documented in varieties of assets, the feast was came to by 90 men of all ages because of the Wampanoag tribe and approximately 50 Mayflower passengers. That time food list provided corn, fowl and deer. The feast lasted for 3 times.
Believe it or not, it showed up that a feast was rooted before you start Plymouth. When reaching a more intensely review it actually is easy to buy even a great number of destinations which claim which your to start with Thanksgiving was used with their territory.
As per the highly regarded providers Thanksgiving holiday Daytime was initially recognized in 1619 in Virginia. People of an Berkeley 100 collected collectively to memorialize, nevertheless their navigation built-in some oysters and ham. In any event, the majority of people confess this party to be very the beginning of a really famed and much loved relatives holiday.
Though, there are archives that declare that Seloy tribe in Florida established event with bakery, salted pork and garbanzo legumes in 1565.
Some of those feasts differ from our modern day reasoning behind the holiday and menus is very unconventional for many people. For this reason, for pilgrims of Plymouth, their event received a religious prior experience. It actually is very hard to look for the appropriate night out and goal of the vacation origins as well as the territory the location where the practice was rooted.
You will find a number of professionals that happens to be certain the Thanksgiving Moment was rooted despite the pilgrims. Appears to be really unbelievable, is not really it? Depending on these resources, the holiday was rooted from the Massachusetts colony governor John Winthrop. He declared this present day daily of thanksgiving in respect of that colonial troopers who received slaughtered about 700 males, female, and children onto the territory precisely where Mystic (Connecticut) now locates.
Subsequently, as you see there are plenty of of historical discrepancies and references which make vacation starting point particularly an not clear and questionable function. Conceivably, the holiday been refined around several territories and stumbled on distinct a culmination that managed to get huge-spread out and popularly accepted. The same as the beginning it is sometimes complicated to establish the original reason of the vacation. Most probably it truly incorporates a faith based history. Anyhow, as it is reported in the next paragraphs, the reality contrast.
It is always captivating to learn a brief history and source of your family vacation. In a manner you are making it not only a pointless event, but enhance it with your flavoring of tradition and heritage. In relation to Thanksgiving holiday Afternoon the well known heritage about pilgrims seemed to be not so distinct. Truthfully, this anxiety with regard to the family vacation helps it be much more appealing and initiates and encourages to explore more information on this feast.
Regardless of history, Thanksgiving Daytime might be the synonym around the comfy, household mood. It is associated with luscious diet as well as the group among the dearest folk. Also the title of this specific holiday vacation is extremely nice and implies that showing gratitude. Enjoy this excellent holiday vacation and pay a suitable celebration with your family.
A short time ago we stumbled across very interesting helpful hints from a couple of literary providers. We look to make the tips on how to strengthen my crafting ability so anything powerful facts and techniques unfolds on, we usually tend to consider it and allow you to formulate way more helpful essays.
Now we have thought it was advantageous, so will definitely try to feature worthy pieces of hints and tips through the way our BuyEssayFriend lineup reveal emotions in my articles.
Curtis Dark brown Innovative is truly a prime literary bureau containing formed authors’ careers more than 100 years. These people have a great deal of proficiency to show well, i decided to receive a close look at key points from CBC literary real estate agent and joints CEO Jonny Geller together with from instructors Simon Wroe and Christopher Wakling.
Trick from Simon Wroe
Give some thought to how persons present by themself on the each day their props and workouts. We don’t desire a personality having fun with a grand keyboard or lapsing in gilded reveries: the utilization of well-opted for common items will surely generate a figure to reality.
How I understand it:
Each and every characteristics is different and bluntly suggesting to your visitor that a protagonist is, to give an example, grumpy each day will not likely fully clearly show his character. Attempt to define the way the individuality acts and what exactly around him. You should know your reader how sullenly someone speaks to his co-workers at the job every morning or how he complains to everyone that his java is just too sexy and he has too much try to do. Explaining little and relatively trivial data can inform lots concerning your individuality.
Penning exercise from Simon:
Pick and choose an object out of your function carrier or designer handbag Andamp; explain it in a manner about program us something of your respective identity eg how well you do it, just what really means to you. Don’t use cell phone or keys steer clear of the uninspiring info.
Idea from Christopher Wakling
What’s not being announced? In incredibly good dialogue, mostly every thing. There should be a discernible subtext underneath the exterior conversation. Look at your conversation for phrases on the apparent and get rid of them. Formulate that a lot more coating of meaning.
How I comprehend it:
Straightforwardness and lucidity are fantastic principally in research works best. After we talk about fiction, a small suspense and interest can spice up the plan as well as the reader involved. Using a subtext through the conversation is an efficient technique to produce your storytelling intriguing since it is regularly exhilarating to reveal well over that which was fundamentally stated. It usually is appealing to observe exactly how the lecturer and the person who are being talked to showcase their correct colorations although just saying somewhat noticeable objects.
Making thing from Chris:
Post a discussion approximately two personas. Do the best for making what’s Not pointed out sparkle as a result of. eg Who has the ability inside your arena? Can it change? Can we glimpse what’s Absolutely taking place ,?
Idea from Jonny Geller
Each individual charm you post is existence an instant soon enough and it should be the case and bona fide of the moment. It must also hint on a past as well as an unheard of potential future which we care for.
How I comprehend it:
For you to give your persona to our lives, he must sound valid. A reader would need to believe in what exactly is talked about in which he should never possess any worries that this key phrase or measures do fit in with the specific nature. The whole picture needs to be complete, i.e. it needs to join present-day thinking, previous ordeals and long term targets of the person. The type ought to have a situation that can make him come alive inside the posting.
Writing articles mission from Jonny:
Prepare a personality within your creative/story into one of these cases, and demonstrate to us (rather than just telling us) who they are: Locked out; haircut mess; followed dwelling; wonderful finding; scheming vengeance. Convey your persona well & vividly to our lives.
Hopefully you savored viewing the aforementioned key points perhaps up to we probably did. Our company without doubt bearing in mind these quick components of professional advice during constantly training the tasks from CBC tutors could help you make a actually insightful, persuasive and noteworthy tale of your very own.
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Propane Clothes Dryers vs Electric
Advantages of Propane Clothes Dryers
residential propane service oswego pulaski central square fulton nyPropane dryers dry clothes more efficiently and are often less expensive to operate than electric dryers. Propane dryers quickly reach the temperatures needed to dry clothes evenly. The moist heat of a propane dryer is less likely to burn or discolor fabrics than the heat produced by electric dryers. Propane dryers also result in less wear and tear on fabrics.
And when you are considering residential propane service in Syracuse and Central New York, talk to the experts at Country Propane to make sure you take advantage of all the savings opportunities you can.
High-performance Propane Dryers Offer Energy-Saving Features.
Moisture sensing controls shut the dryer off when the selected level of dryness is reached. Pilotless ignition eliminates the need for an energy-wasting standing pilot light. Polymer-coated drum seals ensure heated air will not escape from the drum during operation.
Multiple temperature-setting controls allow settings to be adjusted according to fabric requirements. Diagonal airflow pattern provides faster, more thorough drying at lower temperatures. Timed cycles allow you to operate the dryer for short time intervals. Contact us for more information.
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Sandro Botticelli.
Sandro Botticelli was born in Florence in about 1445/46 under the birth name of Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi - quite a mouthful - it is understandable that over the course of time that his Christian name, Alessandro, became shortened to Sandro. The name Botticelli, meaning Little Barrel, was the nickname of his well rounded older brother.
The name was so familiar that eventually it was conferred upon every family member. With the exception of his work in the Sistine Chapel in Rome and brief excursions to nearby towns Sandro was to spend the rest of his life in the region, living in the same district the famous Vespucci family were his near neighbours.
The merchant and explorer Amerigo Vespucci would eventually give his Christian name to the American continent. The well connected Vespucci family were among the artists most important patrons they also recommended Sandro to members of the powerful rulers of Florence, the Medici family.
Virgin and Child by Sandro BotticelliVirgin and Child with Angel c.1465-67 (w)
Details of Sandro's childhood and early life remain sparse. He grew up in Florence with his three brothers in the shadow of the monastery of Santa Maria Novella.
His father, Mariano di Vanni was a tanner (the process of making leather) and lived with his wife Smeralda in the same district as the Vespucci family who became important patrons of the artists work.
It is thought that Botticelli had been trained as a goldsmith by his brother Antonio. Most renaissance painters started their apprenticeships at the age of twelve or fourteen.
The Virgin and Child with Angels is one of Botticelli's earliest works and clearly shows the influence of his master Fillipo Lippi.
Sandro's career as a painter started at the relatively late age of about eighteen when he was apprenticed to Fra Filippo Lippi a well respected Florentine artist. In Lippi's workshop, he would learn the techniques of composition and fresco painting in addition to the grinding and mixing of various paints.
By 1470 Botticelli had his own workshop and became a member of the St Lukes Guild. His "Adoration of the Magi", painted in 1475, includes several of the Medici family within the picture and emphasises the importance of the Medici as patrons of the arts in Renaissance Italy.
In 1481 Botticelli, along with several other gifted artists, was invited by Pope Sixtus IV to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Botticelli contributed three paintings, Events of the life of Moses", The Temptation of Christ", and "The Punishment of Korah.
In this painting, the kneeling centre figure is Cosimo de' Medici and Botticelli himself stares out at the viewer, he is the figure in the yellow clothing on the right of the painting.
Mythological Paintings.
After Sandro returned from Rome in 1482 he embarked on a series of mythological works.
These paintings form the basis of Botticelli's present-day fame as an artist and are excellent examples of Renaissance artwork. They constitute some of the most discussed and familiar images in Renaissance art history and have a linear beauty that typifies this stage in the artist's career.
"Primavera" is hailed as one of the artist's greatest works and dates from c1482.
"Pallas Athena and the Centaur"
Another of Botticelli's mythological paintings, commissioned by the Medici family.
The Birth of Venus.
Botticelli's most famous work is the much copied "Birth of Venus" 1485.This masterpiece was painted for the villa of Lorenzo Medici and is now in the Uffizi in Florence.
Sandro Botticelli’s late period.
The artist’s later works are filled with religious subjects but also contain some portraits commissioned by wealthy patrons
Botticelli fell under the influence of the radical Dominican preaching monk Savonarola a figure who exercised immense influence over the city of Florence. He became an ardent follower, and there is a story that he destroyed some of his paintings in Savonarola's notorious Bonfire of the Vanities on February 7th 1497, (the ritual of burning objects of sin, such as songs, books, manuscripts and artwork deemed to be immoral).
Savonarola, after being condemned as a heretic and then excommunicated by Pope Alexander VI, was eventually strangled and burned to death in Florence on May 23rd 1498.
Personal Opinion:-
In this almost surrealistic picture, the Holly Family are painted on a larger scale than the other figures in the painting, a throwback to medieval works. The end of the century was a time of uncertainty filled with apocalyptic visions of the end of the world. The Mystical Nativity highlights this paranoia with its images of saints and devils and dancing angels, a fragile mix of good and evil that epitomised renaissance Italy.
In 1504 the artist was appointed to the committee to decide on a site for Michelangelo's statue of David, he had also served on the committee to decide the facade for the Cathedral in Florence.
Apart from a brief revival in the middle of the 16th century when the Mannerist artists took inspiration from the linear elegance his work Botticelli’s paintings faded into virtual obscurity at an alarming rate. Thereafter he became a largely forgotten figure until the 19th-century revival of interest in the Renaissance gave him a fame that has endured to the present day.
Sandro Botticelli died on May 17th 1510 in Florence and the details of the last part of his life remain a mystery. Vasari writes that the painter was ill and infirm, certainly, he received no commissions for paintings in his later years.
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How to Keep Your Fridge Smelling Fresh Naturally (10 easy tricks!)
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How to keep your fridge smelling fresh! 10 easy ways to deodorize your refrigerator naturally, and remove those bad odors for good.
We’ve all experienced it. You open the fridge and make a face…because it smells funky!
You rack your brain and search the fridge, trying to figure out what the mystery source could be.
Sometimes even after you find the spoiled food, the refrigerator continues to stink.
Luckily, there are some easy ways to deodorize your fridge, and make sure it smells fresh all the time!
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How do you clean and deodorize a refrigerator?
Let’s start with the basics, because if you don’t do this first, no amount of deodorizing will work.
1. Clean the inside
To remove stuck on food and spills (and neutralize odors), follow these steps to disinfect it naturally:
1. Remove all the food. Either one shelf and drawer at a time, or everything at once
2. Throw away any food that has started to spoil. Make a plan to use anything that’s nearing the end of its prime, or put it in the freezer.
3. Wipe down the shelves, drawers, and walls to remove all crumbs and spills. Use a mixture of half warm water, half vinegar (in a spray bottle), or a combination of warm water and dish soap.
4. Dry everything and put back the food
💡 Pro-tip: For especially stuck-on spills, make a paste with baking soda and water, and wipe with a sponge.
woman cleaning refrigerator with green gloves
How to deodorize your fridge naturally
Now that you’ve got a clean slate, you’ll need to know how to keep your fridge smelling fresh.
Here are the best refrigerator odor eliminator solutions to keep those rotten smells at bay. I’ve also included a recipe for a DIY fridge deodorizer that works for months!
But first, here are some ways to deodorize your fridge with stuff you probably have around the house.
2. Fresh coffee grounds
To deodorize your fridge quickly, place 1 cup of fresh coffee grounds in a bowl or jar, or on a plate in the back of your refrigerator.
3. Dry oats
Oats also have the power to absorb odors, so place 1 cup of dry oats into a bowl or jar inside your fridge.
4. Activated charcoal
A lesser known way to remove fridge odors is with activated charcoal.
You can use premade sachets, and they work amazingly well as an odor eliminator!
They’re also super useful for your shoes, car, gym bag, closets, and drawers.
5. Baking soda
Place ½ cup of baking soda in a bowl, or on a plate in the back of the fridge. You can also use an Arm & Hammer Fridge-n-Freezer pack.
Replace the baking soda every 30 days.
💡 Pro-tip: If your fridge smells especially bad, sprinkle baking soda onto a sheet tray and leave overnight.
6. Citrus fruit
Slice a lemon, orange, or grapefruit in half, and place in a bowl or on a plate for a few days to freshen your refrigerator.
Sprinkle it with salt to really bring out the citrus scent.
You can use this method once to deodorize a bad smell, or replace it every few days on a regular basis.
If you don’t want to ‘waste’ the fruit, you also just use the citrus peel, sprinkled with salt.
7. Refrigerator Deodorizer
This awesome little device removes smells within hours, and keeps your fridge or freezer odor-free for 6 months.
It’s completely food safe and fragrance free, AND extends the life of your fruits and veggies 2-4x longer!
It doesn’t get any easier than just placing it inside your fridge or freezer.
8. Vanilla extract
If you’d like your fridge to have a delicious vanilla scent, put a tablespoon or two of vanilla extract in a small bowl or ramekin.
9. White vinegar
Wet a paper towel, washcloth, or cotton ball with vinegar, and place it in a bowl in the back of the refrigerator.
👉 Want a free printable daily cleaning checklist you can use to keep your home tidy all the time? Sign up below to receive the instant download.
(Note: If you’re already a subscriber, it’s waiting for you in the Freebie Vault!)
10. The best refrigerator odor eliminator
Here’s the best DIY recipe I’ve found for deodorizing and freshening the inside of your refrigerator.
Combine these ingredients inside a glass jar:
• 8 oz baking soda
• ¼ cup natural sea salt
• 3-5 drops of essential oil (lemon, orange, or grapefruit)
Place the open jar in the back of your refrigerator. Make a fresh mixture every 1-2 months for ongoing freshness.
glass jars with baking soda and wooden spoon
How do I keep my fridge fresh?
In addition to the tips above, there are things you can do to prevent the bad odors from returning.
Clean it regularly
Clean up spills and stuck-on food immediately, and wipe down shelves and drawers at least every other month.
Vacuum the coils once or twice a year, or more if you have shedding pets. This will also help ensure your fridge runs efficiently and lasts a long time.
Maintain the correct temperature
Set your fridge to 36-40 degrees Fahrenheit. Any colder and it wastes energy and can freeze things. Warmer temperatures cause food to spoil faster.
Place a small thermometer in a few different places to check for even temperature. If there are great variances, your fridge may need to be repaired or replaced.
front of stainless steel refrigerator showing temperature
Change air filter regularly
If your refrigerator has an air filter, change it every 6 months, or as is recommended by the manufacturer.
Store food properly
Use airtight storage containers. They keep food fresh longer and contain odors.
Keep your produce in the crisper, and meat and cheese in the deli drawer.
Styrofoam and cardboard takeout containers don’t contain odors well at all. If you aren’t planning to eat your leftovers quickly, put the contents in a storage container.
Check refrigerator contents regularly
Check on and clean out perishable food once or twice a week.
Grocery shop with a meal plan so you have a plan for everything you buy.
Use labels or masking tape to write the dates to use food by on leftovers.
woman with brown hair checking expiration date on milk in front of refrigerator
Create a ‘fresh refrigerator’ routine
Here’s an example of an odor-free fridge weekly routine:
1. Once a week, sort through the contents of your fridge.
2. Wipe up any spills and crumbs, and wipe down door handles (with a vinegar and water solution or anti-bacterial wipes).
3. Toss any food that’s past its prime. Freeze anything you won’t use before spoiling, and make a plan to use the rest.
4. Add whatever you’re getting low on to your grocery list.
💡 Pro-tip: Don’t go crazy at the store, tempted by the gorgeous produce section. Only buy what you’ll realistically use before it spoils.
Ready to keep your fridge smelling fresh?
I hope you’re anxious to try some of these deodorizing tips and tricks.
They really do work!
Side note: If you fridge continues to smell bad even after cleaning and implementing these tips, it may be in need of repair.
For more cleaning hacks, be sure to check out:
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Vital info for Healthier life
Somogyi Effect
Diabetes Somogyi Effect
During sleep, you are without food (fasting) for hours. It makes your blood glucose drops, proportionally your insulin level also reduced. At the same time, glucagon level raises, which instruct the liver and muscles to ramp up glucose supply.
Fasting can elevate cortisol levels, which in turn raises blood sugar. So, for someone with blood sugar regulation issues such as diabetes, fasting may make their blood glucose worse.
What is Somogyi effect?
Somogyi phenomenon is due to your body’s reaction to midnight hypoglycemia. Since the patient is sleeping, they don’t feel the hypoglycemic symptoms such as tiredness, shakiness, tremors, or confusion. This low blood sugar is undesirable. Thus your body reacts to this with an overshoot of counterregulatory hormones such as glucagon, epinephrine, growth hormone, and cortisol. It makes the liver to dump hepatic glucose, which raises morning blood glucose level even up to 300s. Additionally, counter-regulatory hormones may cause insulin resistance for about 12 to 48 hours.
Fasting blood sugar level is elevated in reaction to the preceding low. Thus Somogyi effect is also called as rebound hyperglycemia.
The patient is succumbed to increase the insulin dose still more; this leads to further more hypoglycemic episodes. A vicious circle leads to increase, and increased insulin doses occur with extremely unstable and brittle diabetes.
High dose insulin / Missed meals --> Hypoglycemia at midnight --> Body adjusts by releasing cortisol, glucagon, etc. --> Hyperglycemia in the morning --> Treatment is by insulin dose modification.
What causes Somogyi phenomenon? Causes of Somogyi phenomenon may include wrong insulin treatment (dose or timing) or missed meals/snacks.
What are the symptoms of Somogyi rebound? At night, if you wake up few times sweaty with rapid heart rate indicates adrenaline shoot-up and rebound hyperglycemia. But, unfortunately, evidence shows type 1 diabetes do not wake during hypoglycemia episodes.
When & who discovered Somogyi effect?
In 1938, in a group of unstable diabetics study, Dr. Michael Somogyi and Kirstein noted over treatment with insulin could be a cause of extreme hyperglycemia and improper control. This phenomenon of rebound hyperglycemia; hypoglycemia followed by hyperglycemia is known as the Somogyi phenomenon.
Prevalence of Somogyi Phenomenon
Prevalence of Somogyi phenomenon is about 12.6%, but often goes undetected! Somogyi effect is less common as compared to Dawn phenomenon.
About 10% of insulin-treated diabetics, fall into the brittle or unstable diabetics. Somogyi phenomenon is rare; occurs in diabetes type 1 and less common in type 2. It is more commonly associated with type 1 diabetes because it is associated with little endogenous insulin production and relying on insulin.
Diagnosis of Somogyi phenomenon
How do you detect Somogyi effect? The best method to detect Somogyi is continuous blood glucose monitoring. However, it is not yet widely used. Alternatively, you can detect it by testing your blood glucose more often, say 8 to 10 times with your blood glucose meter specifically more often during pre-dawn.
If you are experiencing high fasting blood sugar level even after increasing your night time insulin dose, then it might be Somogyi phenomenon. If you are experiencing hyperglycemia that does not respond to your treatment as expected, then it is most probably due to Somogyi effect. To confirm diagnosis check your blood sugar at 2 or 3 am, if it is low, then it confirms the diagnosis of the Somogyi Effect.
I am not sure, if the morning hyperglycemia is due to Dawn or Somogyi effect, what to do? The simple lazy way is to a slight decrease in the insulin dose at night. If there is an increase in blood glucose level in the next day morning, then it is Dawn phenomenon. If the glucose level is normal or decreased in the next day morning, then it is Somogyi phenomenon.
Treatment & Management
How do you treat Somogyi effect? Somogyi phenomenon recommends a gradual reduction in the insulin dose to achieve stable blood sugars, decreased urinary glucose excretion, and effective diabetic control. If the Somogyi phenomenon is wrongly detected, reduction in insulin dose will only aggravate the hyperglycemia.
The best treatment option is to prevent the hypoglycemia from happening. For this, you need to reduce evening or bedtime insulin dosage.
• You can take bedtime snack high in protein, moderate in fat and low in carbohydrate to avoid midnight hypoglycemia. For example a piece of toast with peanut butter, or some cottage cheese, or yogurt, or some nuts and a small piece of cheese.
• Always manage your glucose level slightly higher before going bed.
• Take blood glucose test between 2 to 3 a.m. and check how effective is your treatment and consult your doctor, if you need any changes such as type and dosage of insulin, oral medication.
• Substitution your regular insulin with an immediate-acting insulin analog, such as Humulin lispro, may help you. Still, it is not firmly established.
Liver dump can happen if you take insulin (or other insulin stimulating medications) without an adequate amount of carb may end up with low blood sugar level. So it is important for you to balance medication with the proper quantity of carbs, this usually requires testing to arrive right quantity for you.
Similar to medication, excess amount of exercise not balanced with an adequate quantity of carb end up with liver dumps. Carbohydrates are not enemies for people with diabetes. Instead, you should learn when and how to take them for beneficial results.
It looks complicated at the beginning, but over time, you start learning to balance it correctly. You just need some testing with patience and interest to learn.
For many diabetic’s insulins is not working to their optimal level; it is because of injecting insulin in the skin area affected by lipo hypertrophy. The most used insulin injecting area may develop fat build-up. Therefore, you must rotate your insulin-injecting site often.
Somogyi controversy!
SOMOGYI's concepts were not universally accepted. Because studies using continuous glucose monitoring show, a low glucose does not precede a high glucose in the morning during the night. Reference: Nocturnal hypoglycemia in type 1 diabetic patients: what can we learn about continuous glucose monitoring? Diabetes & Metabolism, 2007: 33: 360-365.
Somogyi phenomenon has documented in great detail; the exacerbation of diabetes by excess insulin action. Still, there is controversy about its existence. Asymptomatic hypoglycemia is the one reason the Somogyi phenomenon has not widely accepted. Somogyi effect is controversial and difficult to prove its presence or absence.
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Meet 3D Printer With 3D Scanning Capabilities
XYZ printing
While other producers are focused on developing 3D printing technology, the XYZPrinting start-up has launched a 3D printer with a function of reduplication of real objects due to 3D scanning capabilities. What’s amazing about the novelty, it offers this advanced function in a consumer-grade product on a rather affordable price.
The da Vinci 1.0 AiO all-in-one 3D printer is fully enclosed, meaning that it reduces noise, protects the inner parts of the machinery and reduces the acrid odor from the used materials like ABS or PLA. The size of it is 18 x 20 x 22 in, and the weight—60.6 lbs. Though it’s the desktop printer, it will take much place on the table, unfortunately.
The machine can use two types of the materials: ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), which is more durable, or PLA (Polylactic acid), a plastic derived from organic products, which is less durable, but much cheap. It can print with only one color at a time.
The da Vinci prints and scans objects the size of 7.8 x 7.8 x 7.8 in., what leaves behind its competitors. With this printer it’s possible to place an object inside, scan it and in some time get the copy of the original object. It is operated from the 2.6 in LCD B/W display, has a “Home” button, if one is lost, and is compatible with Windows XP and 7 PCs. This gadget is shipped today for $799 together with management software.
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German Bread Content from the guide to life, the universe and everything
German Bread
7 Conversations
The Germans are very proud of their baking culture. The word Brot translates to mean 'bread', pain, pane, hleb and so on, but, more than any other word ever translated, it conjures up a completely different concept in the mind's eye of the reader, depending on the culture they've come from:
• The French picture a flûte.
• The British, a white tin or bloomer.
• The Italians, the somewhat more substantial ciabatta.
• In India, you have flat loaves, baked using ground lentils.
• In Turkey or Iran you'll find a flat loaf more like a deep pan pizza base.
• The ancient Romans wound a very simple flour and water dough round a stick and baked it over a fire to be eaten the next day.
• And the German visualises a very heavy, very strong-tasting rye-based loaf of very dark, very densely textured bread. It seems that in Germany bread is a foodstuff, whereas everywhere else in Western Europe, the Near, Middle and some parts of the Far East (not to mention the American version, which defies description) it is either a necessity, an instrument for eating dishes with a high liquid content or just there so you don't have to spread your jam on your fingers.
There is a great choice of bread for all tastes and pockets available in Germany. As mentioned above, the main ingredient is usually rye flour. This gives a sour, strong taste, which is down to the ingredients and the technique used to cook it, which is not like the yeast-and-wheat-flour method known elsewhere. The denseness is due to the fact that the heavy flour does not rise so readily.
The base is a Sauerteig (sour dough). This is made by mixing rye flour and water and leaving it to stand for almost a week. The bacteria that form (if you're lucky) create the sour-tasting catalyst, which causes the bread to rise. For a recipe and more information about the Danish version of this check out Danish Rye Bread.
Housewives who make bread will have a continuous culture going and will share it among friends in the neighbourhood. As the dark, heavy German bread keeps for up to a week, baking need only be done on Saturdays.
The Baker's Shop
The Baker's Shop (Bäckerei) is marked by a Brezel-shaped sign hanging outside. Even Germans, as well as visitors, may need help here, because the regional names for everything are so varied.
There will be a baker's shop on nearly every street corner. They're open at 6am and close at 6pm, but the bread is usually pretty much sold out by the afternoon.
Just go in and smell!
Loaves are arranged at the back, sweet pastries and rolls in the glass-fronted counter. Some people may be shocked to see the sales assistants taking the unwrapped loaves from the shelves with their bare hands and dropping them into a paper bag, but no one ever died from eating bread as far as this Researcher knows. These shops very rarely bake their own bread, instead they're branches of a real bakers, not very far away and the bread comes to the shop direct from the oven. The same bakers usually bake the bread sold at the bakery counters of supermarkets.
If you buy a loaf, the assistant will immediately offer to cut it for you - Geschnitten? or Schneiden? she will say. Most families have an electric bread-cutting machine at home and will not need this. You should probably only accept this offer if you are feeding a large group and are in a hurry. Cut bread dries out quickly and the German bread is already quite hard, solid and chewy.
Also, when catering for groups, remember that this bread is very filling. The phrase 'six slices a day is the well-balanced way' doesn't apply here - two or three slices will make a full meal with cheese or ham or cooked meats (German Wurst) for a normal appetite.
Types of Dough
• Roggenmischbrot - is rye mixed with wheat or other flour. This is the most common and cheapest type of bread. It has a light colour and texture and is sold in loaves of one (Einpfunder) or two (Zweipfunder) pounds. It does not keep for long once cut.
• Weizenmischbrot is a light-coloured bread, with different proportions of wheat and rye from Roggenmisch.
• Bauernbrot - is similar to Roggenmisch, somewhat lighter, tastier and slightly more expensive.
• Weißbrot1 - is simply white bread. It does not cut or toast quite like the type of bread sold in Britain, though, but has a good flavour when absolutely fresh.
• Vollkornbrot - uses the whole grain. In some versions the grains are ground finer, some coarser. If you prefer the finer grain for easier digestion, or the coarser to get the old bowels moving, you could ask to see the inside of a cut loaf. Vollkorn can of course be applied to any type of grain.
There are various proprietary names for other types of doughs using different mixtures of grain: some local ones in southern Germany include Kraftkorn (grain for strength), Sechskorn (six grain), or any other variety with a number indicating the types of grain involved in the mixture.
Some specialist bakers will also sell Laugengebäck. This is made by boiling white bread in salt water before it is baked. This gives the delicious and practical Brezel its texture, but is also available in roll form, or a small stick, or a complete loaf. Special Brezel stands will sell Brezel spread with butter, or even with cheese, or the sticks are baked with cheese on top. It's the done thing to eat these walking along the street, or alternatively you can buy ten and take them back to the office to eat with coffee.
Shapes of Loaves
White bread is sold as Baguette or Stangenweißbrot (French stick) or Kasten (tin) but can also be obtained in an oblong shape, baked loose on the tray, like a bloomer. Some bakers have also started offering ciabatta which is based on the Italian bread, the shape is similar to the bloomer, an elongated oval, but the dough is a light wheat dough, coloured slightly yellow.
Bauernbrot2 is usually round; the others mentioned above are generally sold in the shape they grow into when baked loose on a tray.
The choice of rolls available in Germany really is a treat for visitors, because there is almost as great a choice as for bread. Just point to whatever you want. A good choice is a mixture of dark rolls, although for breakfast you may prefer white rolls for a lighter meal and for eating with jam, marmalade or honey. Indeed, plain white rolls are baked continually in the shops, on trays delivered from the bakery, so these are readily available. Also, because they are available in the shops at 6am, fresh rolls are guaranteed. (This will, of course, also apply to hotels, etc.)
Milchbrötchen (milk roll) are one type of soft white roll, but others are often full of air and are sometimes derogatively called Wasserweck (water rolls).
It is polite to tell the girl before you start how many rolls you intend to buy, so she can get the right size bag ready. If you're buying over 20 rolls, it might be a good idea to reserve some the evening before. You can pay when ordering or when you come to pick them up. Give your name, to simplify matters, or in case someone else comes to pick them up.
The biggest problem with rolls is what to call them. You can never go wrong with the word Brötchen - the word is difficult to pronounce, but is universal across the country. It is the diminuitive of Brot/bread. So squash the 'o' sound to an 'er' sound and don't struggle with the 'ch' too much, 'sh' will do. Further north, you can substitute the 'ch' for 'k'.
You might also hear the words:
• Semmel in Bavaria (in the south east of Germany), so that Brezelnsemmel is a Laugenbrötchen).
• Weck in Baden and the Palatinate (in the south west of the country).
• Weckle can be heard in the south. As the 'le' is a diminuitive, you will find the sound used for everything there, including the endings of most surnames.
• Schrippen is a Berlin term.
• Rundstücke are found in Hamburg, (literally meaning 'round pieces')
The Shape of the Brezel
There are many stories for the origin of the traditional shape of the Brezel. It is a kind of knot made from a long thin roll of dough, crossed over twice and the (thinner) ends pressed into the thicker middle bit, making it look something like the letter 'B'. The usual explanation for its shape is that some high Churchman commissioned a baker to make something to represent the Trinity. The Brezel has three spaces between the parts of the knot. This makes it very practical for children and for eating in the street generally, you can hook it round your little finger while reading the paper.
The Brezel is about the size of a man's hand and the wider part of the dough is soft. It is only very remotely related to the hard and dry pretzels you get at parties. These are also sold in Germany, but not in kiosks on the street, you'll find them instead on the supermarket shelf alongside crisps and breadsticks.
It might be easier to point out the loaf you'd like by telling the sales assistant what it looks like. It could be covered with any of the following:
• Mehl3 - flour
• Sesam4 - sesame seeds
• Kümmel5 - caraway seeds
• Mohn6 - poppy seed
• Haferflocken - rolled oats
• Sonnenblumenkerne - sunflower seeds
• Kürbiskerne7 - pumpkin seeds (these are dark green)
• Salz8 - salt (found on Brezels)
• Leinsamen9 - linseeds (small and dark brown, like shiny cress seeds)
Shop-bought Bread
Some types of bread are not available from the baker's. For example, you may not find the legendary Pumpernickel. This is available in supermarkets in packets. It keeps for an extremely long time, is usually tightly wrapped in foil and is even sold in tins. It is well worth trying. Eat it just with butter, or Philadelphia cheese, or jam.
On the shelves nearby you will find other variations on the Pumpernickel theme. Once you have got used to the idea of black breads, you will be surprised at how juicy and tasty they are. Again, here, the same rule applies - the breads are very filling, and a packed lunch with two sandwiches of black bread and ham or cheese will certainly keep you going for a good long time. The advantage of these is that they are only sold in slices and you can keep them in your drawer or fridge at the office or just whip up a sandwich quickly before leaving for work or school in the morning.
The dark colour of the bread also means that it is also decorative when arranging buffet trays of sandwiches.
Baking your Own
In small villages in the south of Germany it is still quite common - and it's becoming more popular again - to bake bread in a kind of Gemeindebäckereien (parish bakery). Often the village administration runs a small Holzofen or bakery made up of one or two ovens made from a special kind of stone. The ovens are filled with pinewood in specific dimensions (which helps determine the exact heat). After everything has burnt down the ashes are swept away with a broom.
This is when the village baking event begins. All the breadmakers in the village have made their dough at home. Everyone can make exactly the amount of bread they need and the shape they want. Then they'll gather at the bakery and the loaves are put into the oven with the heated stones. The difficult thing is to place the loaves the correct distance from each other. If you have too many or too few loaves the heat gets out of control. Usually the bread bakes for roughly two hours, but the baking time should actually correspond to the gaps between the loaves. Therefore it's important that one person is responsible for the baking.
This is more of a social event than a culinary one, as everyone meets up on a Saturday morning and can have a good gossip.
Normally this village service is free, apart from a small fee of 50 Pfennig per loaf paid to the baker.
1The letter 'ß' is equivalent to 'ss' and is pronounced that way, ie Weißbrot is pronounced 'vice broat'.2Bauernbrot is pronounced 'bowernbroat'.3Mehl is pronounced 'male'.4Sesam is pronounced 'say sam'.5Kümmel is pronounced 'cue mel'.6Mohn is pronounced 'moan'.7Kürbiskerne is pronounced 'cure biss cairner'.8Salz is pronounced 'saltz'.9Leinsamen is pronounced 'line sarmen'.
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Strategy Games
Drakons Introduces In-Game Currency Drakoin
drakons winning screen header
The digital collectible and battle game Drakons has launched its own in-game currency Drakoin. Gamers can use the utility token to for example buy food for their dragons. They will also be able to swap their old gems, for the new DRK tokens.
After logging into the Drakons dashboard, players are able to swap their gems for Drakoin (DRK). Players can use DRK to buy for example jewels, gold, silver, but also different types of fish and birds. Food provides a boost to the drakons.
Drakons introducing their own in-game cryptocurrency seems to be a smart move. The currency is already available on the Uniswap exchange. The social media channels of the game are being flooded with players. The originally launched at the beginning of this year.
What is Drakons?
Drakons is a web-based collectible strategy game in which players need to acquire some digital dragons and make them fight in an arena. The battle is resolved automatically, but players get to decide which moves their dragon does and in which order. Their are different attacks, defensive actions or spells to embrace, and when these drakons level up they will unlock new powers as well.
Each of the drakons has three different stats: agility, strength and intelligence. This influences their effectiveness in for example dodging, physical attacks and spell casting. In addition drakons can from different classes, like for example water, earth and more recently introduced: metal.
Every game its own currency
Drakons isn’t the only game using their own currency. There are all kinds of games out there that are building their own utility or governance token. Earlier this week Axie Infinity launched AXS on Binance, The Sandbox has their SAND tokens, while the newly launched open beta for Soccer Manager Elite uses SMC.
Even though each of these games uses their own currency, the economies are all tied together thanks to blockchain technology. Profits from one game can be exchanged for other currencies, and then invested into a new project. This is the type of financial freedom that’s not yet possible with old school modern games. True next generation gaming is not ray tracing and 4K 120 fps, but gamer empowerment through true ownership.
Robert Hoogendoorn avatar
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Staff Member Ben Reviews Édouard Louis’ new novel End of Eddy
THE END OF EDDY, debut novel by French author Édouard Louis, chronicles in bare prose the author’s experience growing up gay in the tiny provincial municipality of Hallencourt. The France depicted by Louis in his autofiction is bleak: disappearing factory jobs have been replaced only by alcoholism and cardboard windows, family ties are worn thin by the friction of decades of passed-on abuse, and difference is punished by fist and spit in the hallways of Eddy’s primary school, like clockwork, by bullies who have hailed Eddy as gay before he understands, independently, what that means. “From my childhood I have no happy memories,” the text begins, though bitterness is not its dominant note; Louis, in achronological, almost essayistic chapters, explores concepts like “A Good Education” and “A Man’s Role” from a perspective that veers between detached and quasi-academic (“I do not know if the boys from the hallway would have referred to their own behavior as violent… For a man violence was something natural, self-evident”) and intimate and sensational (“Their breath stank of wine when they spoke to me, spraying my face with drops of spittle, the way drunk men do, and every time, almost without exception, they ended up talking about their hatred of gay people”). Louis seeks, in THE END OF EDDY, a resolution to questions of place and identity: how did poverty and the expectations of working-class masculinity make Eddy’s father (heavy drinker; degenerate couchdweller; sworn to never beat his sons the way his father beat him) who he is? and how did this father, this mother, and this town produce the out-of-place Eddy?
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Frequently Asked Questions ========================== 1. General 1. What is Vidalia? 2. Does Vidalia run on my operating system? 3. How can I find out when new Vidalia releases are available? 4. Where can I get additional support for Vidalia? 2. Running 1. I installed Vidalia/Tor/Privoxy. Now what? 2. Can I run Vidalia from a USB drive? 3. Can Vidalia "attach" to an existing Tor process? 4. Why do I see connections to in my network map? 5. Can I run a relay without worrying about abuse complaints? 3. Common problems 1. When I try to start Tor I get an error message in Vidalia's message log ... 1.General ========= 1.1 What is Vidalia? -------------------- Vidalia is a GUI for Tor, making it easy for you to run, monitor, and configure your installation of Tor. It lets you start and stop Tor, as well as letting you know when things go wrong. Vidalia also lets you see how much bandwidth Tor is using and can even help you set up your own Tor server. 1.2 Does Vidalia run on my operating system? ------------------------------------------- Vidalia is a cross-platform GUI built using the Qt GUI toolkit. Vidalia should run on any platform supported by Qt, which includes (but is not necessarily limited to): * Windows 95/98/Me, NT4, 2000, XP, and Vista * Mac OS X Panther (10.3), Tiger (10.4), and Leopard (10.5) * Linux or other Unix variants running the X Window system. 1.3 How can I find out when new Vidalia releases are available? --------------------------------------------------------------- Vidalia is still under active development and we tend to put out a new release approximately every 1-2 months. You can subscribe to our Trac RSS feed to learn when we have put out a new release. We also announce new releases on our homepage and on our download page. 1.4 Where can I get additional support for Vidalia? --------------------------------------------------- First, read through this FAQ and also search the documentation on our wiki. If you prefer IRC, you can find us in #vidalia on Otherwise, we have a vidalia-users mailing list set up for Vidalia users to help out and answer each others' questions. 2 Running ========= 2.1 I installed Vidalia/Tor/Privoxy. Now what? ---------------------------------------------- Now you need to configure your applications to send their traffic through Tor. Scott Squires has created an extension for Firefox called Torbutton that lets you easily toggle your browser's use of Tor. You might also check out FoxTor for a similar Firefox extension. See the Torify How-To for information on configuring several other applications to use Tor. The Tor documentation for Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux/BSD/Unix might be useful for you, as well. 2.2 Can I run Vidalia from a USB drive? --------------------------------------- Yes! You can run Vidalia from a USB drive, perhaps for a portable Tor/Vidalia/Polipo or Tor/Vidalia/Privoxy combination, by using Vidalia's -datadir command-line argument. The -datadir argument tells Vidalia where you would like it to store all of its configuration and application data. For example, you might have a batch file on your USB drive that starts Vidalia as follows: vidalia -datadir "." The above line would tell Vidalia to use the current working directory as its data directory. You can also configure Vidalia to look for a Tor executable and configuration file (torrc) on your USB drive using Vidalia's Settings dialog or editing Vidalia's configuration file (vidalia.conf). If you want to run the Windows version of Vidalia from a USB drive, you may also need to copy mingwm10.dll from a Vidalia or MinGW package onto your USB drive in the same directory as vidalia.exe. 2.3 Can Vidalia "attach" to an existing Tor process? ---------------------------------------------------- Yes. Before Vidalia starts its own Tor process, it always first checks to see if it can connect to the control port of an existing Tor process. All you need to do is enable a control port on the Tor you already have running, and Vidalia will connect to it instead of starting its own Tor process. You first need to open your `torrc` in a text editor. Then, add the following line on a line by itself anywhere in your torrc: ControlPort 9051 You will also likely want to set a password for your control port to limit what applications are allowed to connect to it. To do so, you first need to open up a terminal or command prompt and run the following command (you may need to cd to the location of your Tor executable): # tor --hash-password mypassword Replace "mypassword" with whatever password you would like to use for your control port. The last line of output from the above command will contain a string that starts with "16:" and is followed by a long string letters and numbers. This string is a hash of the password you supplied as an argument to the --hash-password command above. Copy this entire string, and then add a HashedControlPassword line to your torrc similar to the following: "HashedControlPassword 16:816172DEB125A9CA603A6A8A5C16D0642DA4556E4EC417E6B9AAC9AF0D" Save your torrc changes and either restart or "HUP" your Tor process to reload your configuration. Then you can click 'Start Tor' in Vidalia, which will connect to your Tor process and then prompt you to enter your original control password ("mypassword" in the example above). 2.4 Why do I see connections to in my network map? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vidalia 0.0.5 added a network map feature that lets you see where in the world your traffic is going. To be able to map Tor relay IP addresses to approximate geographic locations, we use the GeoLite City database from MaxMind. Unfortunately, the database is around 24MB and shipping it alongside the Vidalia binary would be unreasonable. Consequently, we host the database on our servers and created a small perl script interface to it, allowing Vidalia clients to query the database via standard HTTP GET or POST requests. All communication between Vidalia and our servers is done over Tor, so our servers do not know who is making the requests. Additionally, no identifying information is included in the requests. Of course, you can verify this by looking at the source code, such as geoipresolver.cpp and torsocket.cpp. We also have a specification for the format of our geographic information requests and responses. 2.5 Can I run a relay without worrying about abuse complaints? -------------------------------------------------------------- Tor relay operators can specify which services and/or ports clients are allowed to access from their relay. From Vidalia's Exit Policies tab, you can select what services you want to allow clients to access from your relay. Vidalia's help documentation explains what each exit policy option means. By default, Tor relays allow access to many popular services, but restricts some (such as port 25) due to the potential for abuse. Tor's FAQ has more information for relay operators on how to avoid abuse complaints. Rather than running a normal, public Tor relay, you might also consider running a bridge relay. Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) attempt to prevent users from accessing the Tor network by blocking connections to known Tor relays. Bridge relays (or bridges for short) are relays that help these censored users access the Tor network. Unlike other Tor relays, bridges are not listed in the same public directories as normal relays. Since there is no complete public list of them, even if your ISP is filtering connections to all the known Tor relays, they probably won't be able to block all the bridges. 3 Common problems ================= 3.1 When I try to start Tor I get an error message in Vidalia's message log that says, "Failed to parse/validate config: Failed to bind one of the listener ports." What's that mean? ----------------------- This error message typically means you already have a Tor process running that does not have an open control port. When Vidalia tried to start its own Tor process, Vidalia's Tor process conflicted with your existing Tor process. On Windows, you can look in your Task Manager for a process called tor.exe, select it, and then click "End Process" to terminate your Tor process. On most other operating systems, the ps and kill commands can help you find and terminate your existing Tor process. Then you can simply click 'Start Tor' in Vidalia, and Vidalia will start a new Tor process with the necessary arguments that allow Vidalia to communicate with and control Tor. If you would like Vidalia to connect to your existing Tor instead of starting a new Tor process, see the FAQ entry above on configuring a control port and password for your existing Tor process.
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TWS' Parler Review
When the attack on censorship was growing rampant, Parler stepped up to the plate as being the free speech platform. Parler was the biggest and best competitor that existed. That is until Big Tech banded together on January 10th, 2021, to take them down.
They fought vigilantly to make a comeback, and they did. Being that they returned, it was requested that Team World Supporter review them.
As I turned to review them, I reflected that they made a strong comeback to almost where they were before they were taken down.
They reinstated the different verification badges, which I consider to be the best method. I included a picture of their various badges. They also reinstated the 1000-character limit per post. They don't have direct messages; they didn't respond to my question about whether they plan to reinstate it. The engagement on Parler is very limited due to people not using the platform.
They have made a return to the Apple app store, but not the Google Play store yet but there is way to get the app on android https://parler.com/android.html. In order to get back on the App Store, the troll and NSFW filters aren’t able to be turned off. If you want the filters off, you can visit the website or the android version.
The trolling filter blocks attacks based on immutable or otherwise irrelevant characteristics such as race, sex, sexual orientation, or religion that do not contribute to a productive conversation. We wanted to provide our users with a way to minimize it in their feeds. In spirit of free speech, no violation points are assigned for content that triggers the trolling filter. This is based on the user's choice to turn it on.
The complaints are that they have sold user's data for profit. In Parler's Privacy policy, it says that Parler will use a user's data for "For marketing and advertising purposes, such as developing and providing promotional and advertising materials that may be relevant, valuable or otherwise of interest to you, including providing you with targeted offers and ads through our Website, and via email or text message (with your consent, where required by law);" This is referring to their emails and/or SMS that they themselves send out. Your information ISN’T given to non-affiliated third parties.
We have noticed that they are getting into the NFT game and are powering a platform for the former First Lady of the US, Melania Trump, which we applaud.
The review was hindered by the fact that they didn't respond to most of our efforts for transparency. We have noticed that although they care about and protect the first amendment, it seems that they care more about getting into the Crypto world than actual free speech and transparency.
I have assessed as much as I can without their help and have come to the following review.
There are some lower level employees that really care about being transparent, and especially the first amendment. However, the platform is a bit buggy at times. They have a lot of work to do to be considered a valid competitor to the other platforms that do exist. At this moment we can give them a 7.9/10, due to the fact that they are in, middle of climbing back from the massive attack that they faced. I would be more than happy to work with them on another transparent review. But they need to focus on transparency and the platform before adding more features that take their attention away from the things that matter.
For any questions or information, I can be reached at [email protected]. If you, the reader, have a platform that you would like us to review, we would love to do so.
Make sure to check out The Yossi Schmidt Show at: https://www.podpage.com/the-yossi-schmidt-show/ or watch it on Rumble or YouTube
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film - 2021
Unreal Estate The Movie
Unreal Estate
With the project ‘Unreal Estate’, Ksenia Galiaeva explores the way in which memories can be influenced and guided. For more then twenty years, she has been making photos of her parents in paradisiacal surroundings of their Russian summerhouse in an attempt to influence her own memory and her family history.
History is influenced by the images that remain. Memory changes through repetition, and can acquire almost mythical proportions. Perception is colored by previous experiences but has also the power to initiate changes in memory. The film is about the fragility of a temporary situation that is denied with all vibrancy and humor; about the visible synchronization of the characters with their environment, the particular time structure inherent to a summer day spend in a country house, where the time seems endless and repeats itself; the way objects and actions acquire meaning, grow out of proportion and become metaphors; the roles that the characters take on themselves, voluntary, with gratitude and pleasure; about the wishful thinking and ‘nostalgia for the future’ - the urge to secure things that are impossible to keep.
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How to build Cut Phone Line Detector
A while ago I got an email asking for the schematic of a circuit to detect cut phone lines. It didn't take me long to find this circuit in Electronics Now. When the circuit detects that a phone line has been cut, it activates a MOSFET which can be used to drive a relay, motor, etc. It can also be connected to a security system.
Circuit diagram
R1, R2, R3 22 Meg 1/4 W Resistor
R4 2.2 Meg 1/4 W Resistor
C1 0.47uF 250V Mylar Capicitor
Q1 2N3904 Transistor or 2N2222
Q2 2N3906 Transistor
Q3 IRF510 Power MOSFET
D1 1N914 Diode
Load See "Notes"
MISC Wire, Phone Connectors, Circiut Board
1. The "Load" can be a relay, lamp, motor, etc. The circuit can also be connected to a security system to sound an alarm in case the phone line is cut.
2. If the circuit is connected to a security system or other circuit, both circuits must be electrically isolated from each other using an opto-isolator, relay, etc. This also means that the Cut Phone Line Detector must be powered by a seperate 9V supply.
Similar diagrams
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Browsing Tag
healthcare reform
Nutrition Wellness
Redefining Healthcare
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of the word “healthcare”? Many of us will conjure up images of doctors offices, hospitals, medications but are these images really reflective of the true nature of that word? Why doesn’t…
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Pixel 6 to show off Google's 'deep technology investments'
Google Pixel 6 cameras
(Image credit: Jon Prosser x Rendersbyian)
In Alphabet's Q2 2021 earnings call, Google CEO Sundar Pichai talked briefly about Android 12, long-term strategy and the company's hardware investments. There was even a mention of the Pixel 6.
Android 12 is a major push for Google in terms of personalization, AI and even privacy. The Pixel 6 will spearhead that initiative, as expected, and will showcase Google's "deep technology investments."
Of course, that probably refers mostly to Google's in-house chips codenamed Whitechapel. This system-on-chip will hopefully allow the company to break free of Qualcomm's grip on the US market. Google is allegedly working with Samsung on the design and manufacturing process. Whitechapel will offer Google even more control of the Pixel 6 hardware — akin to Apple with the iPhones — and could allow for up to five years (or more) of Android updates.
We've been talking quite a bit about Android 12 since Google unveiled the radical redesign at Google I/O 2021. The new design language is called Material You, referring to how it caters itself to your tastes.
A couple of the Tom's Guide writers have installed the betas on our Pixels — it's an excellent experience thus far, even if all of the Material You goodness isn't there just yet. You can play with the main theming elements, but other parts like the new widgets and first-party app theming remain absent.
Pichai stressed that the Pixel product line is still at the heart of Google's hardware strategy, saying it will continue "to push boundaries." If Whitechapel pans out, this could end up being really exciting. As Google gets better with chip design, and flexes its strengths, we're likely to see new inroads made for what AI and machine learning can do on a phone.
Jordan Palmer
Phones Editor
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World War II shattered every great power except the US and Russia. When Germany surrendered, the Soviets had overwhelming military superiority in Europe. Had Stalin chosen that moment to try to overrun the rest of Europe, could he have been stopped? It's hard to imagine how. The much smaller US Army in Europe would have been hard pressed to stop them.
Stalin already knew, though, that the US was close to a nuclear bomb - the Trinity test was only two months away, and after Hiroshima, it was clear that that option was impossible.
I seem to recall that Bertrand Russell suggested that it would be a good idea for the US and Britain to use their nuclear superiority at that point to force Russia to surrender and give up it's plans for a bomb. Many of the scientists at Los Alamos foresaw the world of today, where all sorts of countries would have nukes and the means to deliver them, and thought that the only viable alternative was global control.
Today we are on the brink of a world where dozens* of countries, some led by madmen, have nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them globally.
*The list today likely includes the US, Britain, France, Russia, China (the five official nuclear weapons states), India and Israel. Pakistan and North Korea also have bombs, but likely still lack the means to deliver them globally. Iran is probably not far behind. South Africa formerly had the bomb, and today essentially every technologically advanced state could build them rather quickly. It cost the US about 2 billion dollars to make the first bombs (perhaps 20-30 billion in today's dollars), but today it would be far, far cheaper.
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How long will candle fragrance oils last?
Shelf life of fragrance oils
When properly stored, fragrance oils can have a shelf life of up to 2 years.
How many drops of fragrance oil do you put in a candle?
A: The industry standard is considered 0.5 ounce of fragrance per pound of wax. For double-scenting, you would use 1 ounce of fragrance per pound of wax. For triple-scenting your candles you can use 1.5 ounces of fragrance per pound of wax. Make sure to confirm the wax you are using will hold that much fragrance.
How do you make strong scented candles?
How do I get the fragrance to smell stronger?
Use the recommended percentage of fragrance oil for the type of wax youre using. .
Be sure to weigh your fragrance oils on a scale, not measure in a cup or spoon.
Add fragrance oil at 185Fº and stir gently and thoroughly with the melted wax.
Which fragrance oil is best for candle making?
Top 5 Best Essential Oils for Candle Making
Lavender Essential Oil.
Lemongrass Essential Oil.
Tea Tree Essential Oil.
Lemon Essential Oil.
Ylang-Ylang Essential Oil.
What ingredients do you need to make a scented candle?
When youre making scented candles, there are some basic ingredients youll need, which include:
Cooking thermometer.
Cotton candle wicks.
A jar or candle mould.
Essential oils.
An old saucepan.
What happens if you put too much fragrance oil in a candle?
Add too much fragrance: Using more fragrance oil does not always guarantee a stronger scent throw. Each wax has a recommended fragrance oil load and going beyond that limit can cause the fragrance oil to separate from the wax which could be a potential fire hazard (not to mention the ugly gooey spots it can create).
What is the ratio of wax to fragrance oil?
Most waxes will hold no more than 12% of fragrance oil however to assure the candle stability is not compromised we advise using 10% fragrance oil for optimal scent throw. This means if your candle is 100g in total- 90g should be wax and 10g would be your fragrance oil.
Which wax holds the most scent?
Why do my homemade candles not smell?
What ingredient makes candles last longer?
Adding salt serves the same purpose as putting the candle in the freezerit slows down the rate at which the wax melts, giving you a longer, more economical burn. When you use salt in addition to the freezing method, youre doing all that can be done to squeeze extra time out of a candle.
Is it safe to use fragrance oils in candles?
Further, although fragrance oils tend to get a bad rap because theyre not natural, the good ones are thoroughly tested and scientifically approved to be safe for use not just in candles, but also in topical bath & body products like soaps and lotions.
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In order to film horizontally, you must make sure Auto Rotate is on!
The auto-rotate button automatically rotates your device's screen when you flip your device between landscape and portrait mode.
Let's learn how to enable and disable auto-rotate or orientation lock on an Android device.
Method 1
1. Open the notification bar by sliding down from the top of your screen
2. Find "Auto-rotate", "Auto-rotation", or "Orientation Lock" (depending on your device) in the Quick Settings menu
3. Tap on the icon to enable or disable the feature
Method 2
1. Go to settings
2. Select "Display"
3. Scroll down until you reach "System" and select to turn on Auto-Rotate
With BIGVU, your TV studio pro in your pocket, transforms photos, video shots, and tweets into stunning video sequences that will captivate your audience!
To learn more about BIGVU, please check our website:
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CSS Alabama
The CSS Alabama was a screw-driven warship commissioned by the Confederate States of America (the South) for use during the American Civil War. The Alabama was built in secrecy by John Laird Sons in their Birkenhead shipyards and launched in July, 1862. It is worth remembering that there was heavy sympathy in Britain for the Condeferate south during the American Civil War.
The Alabama was very successful initially, and inflicted heavy damage on Federal (the North) shipping, attacking both merchant and warships with great success. Over the course of her service, the Alabama captured and burned 65 Union ships. That success was shortlived, however, and the Alabama was eventually sunk by the Northern vessel, USS Kearsarge in June, 1864 off Cherbourg, France. During the two years of her active service, the CSS Alabama did not once lay anchor in a southern port. In 1984 the wreck of the CSS Alabama was discovered and some relics were later brought back to the surface by divers.
The real relevance of the Alabama to British history comes with what happened next. At the conclusion of the American Civil War the victorious Federal government (the North) sued the British government for compensation for the damage inflicted by the Alabama during the war. An international board of arbitration sided with the US government, and awarded $15,500,00 in compensation, which the British government paid in 1872. This was a groundbreaking case, one of the first where an act of war was considered grounds for later compensation.
Note: Do not confuse the CSS Alabama with the 6 different ships designated as USS Alabama!
Time period(s): Victorian
Tags: USS Alabama Birkenhead American Civil War
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Warbeck was trying to raise support for his attempts to claim the English throne as Richard IV
Passionate about British Heritage!
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CNET Founder Launches Low-Cost Bitcoin Payments Platform
Halsey Minor's new company will specialize in low-cost transactions for merchants and consumers in bitcoin and fiat currencies.
AccessTimeIconMay 15, 2014 at 2:49 p.m. UTC
Updated May 2, 2022 at 3:57 p.m. UTC
CNET founder and technology entrepreneur Halsey Minor has formally announced – a new low-cost bitcoin and fiat currency payments platform geared toward both consumers and merchants.
Most notably, the service will allow fiat-to-fiat transfers at zero cost between Bitreserve members. This means that a customer could issue a payment to a merchant without having to pay transaction costs. Bitreserve charges a nominal fee for bitcoin transactions in order to pay miners.
During a press conference, Minor remarked that one of the central problems with bitcoin is the issue of price differences that take place during transactions. Bitreserve moves to solve this by greatly speeding up the transaction process within the platform, he said, adding:
"If you want to create something that is perceived as money, it's going to have to represent the same value that people are using already."
How it works
The user experience of Bitreserve relies on a system of digital and fiat currency wallets called Currency Cards. In addition to a BTC wallet, users are provided with USD, CNY, GBP, EUR and JPY versions too.
After creating an account, customers can freely exchange value between the wallets.
Because transactions are settled internally, processing times are significantly reduced. During a demonstration, Minor showed that the average transaction was about 10 seconds.
The speed of bitcoin transactions is also increased because Bitreserve acts as a preliminary authorization source for that transaction. Transactions are later verified by the bitcoin mining network, with Bitreserve charging a small fee in order to pay the miners.
Minor cited the service's cloud-based infrastructure as the reason why the service can offer low-cost bitcoin transaction as well as free fiat currency transactions, saying:
"Because we built a cloud-based service thats debiting and crediting money, instead having a bunch of banks and processing companies in the middle, we can do this very quickly between accounts."
Notably, each wallet possesses a bitcoin address, and any BTC sent to one of those wallets is automatically converted into that particular fiat currency.
Zero costs
In addition to functioning as a consumer-to-consumer payments platform, Bitreserve can also act as a payments platform for merchants.
Minor demonstrated how a hypothetical transaction with Amazon might work, with the e-commerce site hosting its own account and accepting payments from customers. A customer would sync their account with an online merchant as they would a credit card or gift card.
Minor commented that merchants have an incentive to get involved with Bitreserve, even in light of the bitcoin payments processing ecosystem's already low-cost solutions, saying:
"Merchants who are now accepting Bitreserve either directly or as part of another payments system, their costs would be zero."
During the press conference, Minor noted that Bitreserve does not currently have any partnerships in place. However, he said the company is looking to form such partnerships in the near future.
Digital media pioneer
Minor founded CNET in 1995. The company, which initially produced radio and television programming, later moved to web journalism and blogging. It also acquired several companies in the digital media space during the early and mid-2000s, before being sold to the CBS Corporation in 2008 for $1.8bn.
In 2005, Minor established a venture capital firm, Minor Ventures, which funded several tech startups. One of these, GrandCentral Communications Inc., was acquired by Google in 2007 and served as the basis for its Google Voice service.
Minor was also one of the founders of 12 Entrepreneuring Inc., a tech incubator, in 2000. The company counted investor Marc Andreessen and Gateway co-founder Ted Waitt among its board of directors and raised more than $130m from investors at the time.
Legal woes
Allegations of misuse of company funds and personal infighting led the exit of some of 12’s chief backers and the eventual breakup of the group just over a year after its founding. A group of investors sought to recoup their funds, and the company closed its doors in 2001 after reaching an agreement with the investors.
A string of investments that went sour, including the purchase of the Carter’s Grove Plantation in Virginia, led to more court battles. Minor was also drawn into several lawsuits involving the auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s.
Minor filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in May 2013. At the time, he listed roughly $100 million in debt and $50 million in listed assets, Bloomberg reported that year.
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How to Build a Strong Brand in 10 Steps
The way you present your brand to people determines how they will relate with your brand. Having a strong brand is therefore key. Here's how to go about it in 10 steps
As a small or medium sized business, having a strong brand can improve your revenue by at least 30% because a strong brand means you have made a good impression on people as the solution provider for a problem.
Strong brands like Apple and CocaCola have a core foundation for whatever branding they undertake and this core foundation is what has guided them into becoming the world class brands that they are.
A strong brand helps a business stand out and appear trustworthy to the right audience. It is therefore very key to put the work in towards having a strong brand via some basic foundation principles that we have broken down into 10 steps.
1: Determine Your Why and How
2: Know Your Competition
3: Determine Your Target Audience(s)
4: Develop Your Brand Strategy
5: Create Your Brand Identity
6: Create Your Brand Story
7: Tell The World About Your Brand
8: Promote Your Brand
9: Review Your Progress
10: Always Choose To #ProceedWithJoy
1. Determine your why and how
Successful brands have a set of defined values, or guiding principles that appeal to their target audience(s) enough to get them to buy. These values are essentially the brand’s purpose. To create a clear brand purpose, you should answer the following questions
1. Who are we as a brand?
2. Why do we exist as a brand?
3. How is our brand different?
4. Why would/should people care about our brand?
These questions should help you identify features and benefits of your brand, its products and/or services. They will also help give your target audience(s) a reason, or more, to choose you.
2. Knowing your competition can guide you to becoming a strong brand
To differentiate your brand properly from the competition, you need to have an idea of what they are doing and how they are doing it. Checking out their messaging, reviews/social media comments made by customers is a good place to start.
No you are not knowing your competitors so you can copy them verbatim. No no no. You are knowing your competitors so you can learn from them and refine your approach from those lessons. In fact, read this paragraph again and replace competitors with mentors.
3. A strong brand knows it’s target audience(s)
Identify at least 2 main classifications of people who would be your ideal customers. These classifications are called buyer personas. They are essentially a list of characteristics of those you believe would be interested in buying from you. Identifying demographic variables like age, sex, education and profession and then layer in psycho-social variables like hobbies, motivators, favourite brands, personality traits, life philosophy, etc. is a good place to start. These buyer personas will then guide your brand messaging and marketing efforts over time
Our How To Create Useful Buyer Personas For Your Brand article can be of help to you.
Buyer Persona Target Audience Can Help You Build a Strong Brand
4. A brand strategy is critical to becoming a strong brand
Your brand development strategy is the long-term plan to achieve a series of long-term goals that ultimately result in the identification and preference of your brand by consumers. –
A brand’s strategy is essentially documentation that gives guidance and structure to your brand. It explains your brand’s vision and mission and what sets your brand apart from competitors. It also speaks to how you want your target audience(s) to see your brand.
This is essentially the HOW of your brand in more detail. To start getting clarity on your strategy, it is important to answer questions like the following.
1. How does your audience currently see your brand?
2. How would you like your audience to see your brand in 6/12 months?
3. What steps can take you go from where you are now to where you want to be in 6/12 months? (better still How do you want to go on the journey from #1 to #2)
Putting these in writing and ensuring it is followed in all forms of communications is critical to building and maintaining a strong brand.
5. A consistent brand identity will help to build a strong brand
Brand identity is a set of visual components like colour, design, and logo, that helps to identify a brand. A brand’s identity also helps to distinguish a brand from others in consumers’ minds. The ultimate goal of brand identity is to ensure customers remember a brand and connect with it. Your brand’s identity is a key part of your journey to become/remain #aBrandThatSells. You can see brand identity as rules and regulations that control how a brand communicates with the audience.
Your Identity is the way that you convey this to the public with visuals, messaging, and experience. Your brand strategy will influence how you present your identity and align it with your purpose for the most impact.
Keeping a brand’s identity consistent is important when it comes to creating the right impression. A set of brand guidelines, that document the do’s and don’ts of your brand, can help ensure a business sticks to its identity.
Developing a good and effective brand identity is a continuous process. It is therefore important not to get hung up on details early on. It is unrealistic to expect a silver bullet moment when you see brand identity concepts. So, take it slow and steady knowing fully well that it can be updated and upgraded along the way.
Salt Lagos Christmas Campaign Brand Identity
6. Create your brand story or stories
Using stories to tell your audience the uniqueness, value and purpose of your brand is essential to getting your business to become #aBrandThatSells because storytelling has been at the heart of connecting people to almost anything forever.
Stories build familiarity and trust like word of mouth marketing does and gives your audience more clarity on things you can do for them because they are efficient at passing/explaining complex and abstract ideas. For example if a product or service is a combination of smaller ones, telling a story lets you pass that message across much more easily and in ways a reader can be familiar with,
In summary,
1. People will not easily remember the formal definition of a brand but they will remember the products and services of that brand to which they can relate to easily
2. Stories are easier to connect to for the audience in comparison to technical information.
3. People and remember stories way more than they can remember formal information
4. People share stories more readily and easily over sharing other learned information.
This why the big brands like Coca Cola, Apple, Pepsi, Samsung, Nike and more are focused o one message per time that ultimately finds it way back to connecting their audience to ease, safety, joy, happiness and more.
You can find some more about storytelling in our Storytelling, Does it really work? Peak Milk as a case study article
7. Tell the world about your brand because closed mouths don’t get fed
Put together everything in the steps above and then start talking about your brand, and what it does (products/services), to as many people as possible. Your brand is essentially what people say about you when you are not in the room and to get them to say good things means you must first and foremost do good things and then share the stories of those good things you have done.
The way you present your brand to people determines how they will relate with your brand. For internal parties like staff and consultants goes a long way to influence how they rate your brand and the work they will do for/with you.
The way you present your brand to external parties like clients, investors and even competitors determines how much you can bill them for your products and services.
So, it is first important to tell your stories and then secondly to tell it properly with the right visuals.
Banner & Billboard Ad Designs For Hilltop Abacha (a food brand)
8. Promoting your brand is critical to making it a strong brand
After you tell your story with good visuals, the next thing is to ensure that those stories reach as many people as possible because the more people you reach, the higher your chances of becoming successful and strong.
No brand will really grow and become hugely successful without one form of promotion or the other. Be it paid ads or influencer marketing, ensure you use available marketing techniques to spread the word about your brand.
Facebook Ads Screenshots
9. Review your progress over time
After a few months of sharing your stories and promoting them, it is important to review what you have done so far. Good and honest reviews will point you towards the things that are good and have worked for your brand and those that have not. From your reviews, you will determine the things you must do again because they worked and the things that need to be improved on.
Using questionnaires to get feedback from your customers about your service can also point you towards the stories you need to tell going forward.
Reviews are not so you change your whole strategy every 30 or 90 days. They are for you to find out how to improve your results based on your current strategy. Your brand strategy should be something you stick to for 6 months to 1 year if you really want to get it to work. Parts of it can be modified based on reviews but not an overhaul every 30 or 60 days. No strong brand is created like that.
10. Always Choose To #ProceedWithJoy
You will face ups and downs on your journey to become #aBrandThatSells. It is important to always choose to always move forward. Learn from setbacks and don’t give up easily on becoming a better version of your brand. There is a reason the strongest brands in the world like Apple and Facebook are always releasing updates to their products and service – THEY ARE LOOKING FOR WAYS TO DO AND BE BETTER. Do likewise in your own little way by choosing to #ProceedWithJoy no matter how hard it feels because in the end there is #VictoryForTheHardWorker
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Compliance & Risk
Privacy by Design: How is the COVID-19 pandemic impacting companies’ privacy and security programs?
Leslie Stevens Director & Global Privacy Counsel / Edwards Lifesciences.
Leslie Stevens Director & Global Privacy Counsel / Edwards Lifesciences.
The pandemic has brought changes to almost every aspect of how corporations operate, but the impact on privacy and security programs may be most profound.
In April 2020, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company had seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months.
It’s not surprising—the world has seen an unparalleled shift to digital interactions across personal and business platforms, from strong adoption of virtual fitness platforms to new ways of engaging with doctors and government agencies, and the now commonplace use of online collaboration platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom. At the same time, the events of the last year has further eroded individuals’ trust in our institutions and private sector organizations, both because of the real-world damage the pandemic has wrought, and in the digital realm, the chaos caused by data breaches that have become as ubiquitous as the online platforms we continue to use in spite of our mistrust.
So, what message does your organization’s digital presence and virtual interactions with stakeholders send? Does the digital experience convey trust, leading stakeholders to believe you are a responsible steward of their data? What does trust mean in the digital environment, and how does it relate to privacy and security?
If data is the new lifeblood of organizations, then it is critical you ensure the security of your stakeholders’ data, remain transparent in how and why you use their data, and respect their privacy preferences. By adopting these few fundamental privacy and security principles, your organization can enhance stakeholder experience, brand loyalty, and advocacy.
Prior to March 2020, many organizations were focusing their privacy and security programs on ensuring compliance with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), while ramping up their approach to emerging regulations such as California’s Consumer Privacy Act and Brazil’s Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados (the General Personal Data Protection Law). When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, organizations’ priorities necessarily shifted, leaving many privacy professionals to wonder if data privacy would take a backseat to more pressing concerns.
Now, a year into the pandemic, many of those privacy and security professionals would likely respond that client demand for their guidance and expertise has only increased as we all continue to operate in this increasingly virtual world.
Digital acceleration during the pandemic
Wherever an organization was in their digital transformation journey prior to the pandemic, those efforts accelerated at an unplanned and often uncomfortable speed in the last year.
In pivoting to almost entirely remote workforces, and finding new ways to continue engaging with stakeholders, organizations became more reliant on digital technologies — some familiar and some new. Adoption of new technologies (quickly) presents privacy and security issues, requiring cross-functional diligence and agility to address them amid the current conditions. Now, more than ever, an organization’s digital presence will play a critical role in maintaining stakeholder engagement and trust in your products and services as well as the teams that deliver them.
Although the continued emergence of global privacy laws already elevated privacy and information security to board room topics, the pandemic further underscores the need for robust and dynamic approaches to operationalize privacy in a way that enhances stakeholder relationships and client experiences with your organization. Your privacy and security teams can play a critical role in how your organization presents itself as a trusted and responsible data steward to your stakeholders, ensuring that your adoption of new technologies does not sacrifice data security, transparency, or your respect for their preferences.
Privacy and security by design
Embedding the key principles of privacy and information security into how your organization operates—keeping data secure, being transparent about your digital practices, and respecting preferences—is imperative to succeeding now and in the future.
The accelerated pivot to digital technology precipitated by the pandemic has provided access to an unprecedented amount of data for organizations. With the fundamental role privacy and security teams play in performing due diligence on new technologies, as well as their implementation, organizations should seize this opportunity to move the conversation beyond the tick the box mentality that regards privacy and security solely as a means to compliance.
Equally, individuals are more aware of this fact and what it means for their privacy. Whether your stakeholders are individual consumers, corporate customers, or the public, how you treat their data, and (perhaps more importantly) their perception of how you treat their data, will impact whether they choose to engage with you now and in the future.
It’s important to remember that, in the minds of many of your clients, compliance with applicable privacy law is simply the ground floor. The next level and real benefit to your organization can only come from understanding how a robust privacy and security program can be leveraged to enhance your relationships with stakeholders, whether those are customers, employees, or the public.
In the next articles in this series, we will explore how corporations, the public sector, academia, and legal and accountancy firms can use robust privacy and security practices to enhance their interactions with their stakeholders and, ultimately, engender trust in their organization.
In a multi-part series, Privacy by Design, author Leslie Stevens looks at privacy and data security issues at corporations, government entities, law firms, and tax & accounting firms.
More insights
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The Chess Set You Use May Transform Your Game
Chess can be a really intense game. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned player, there’s an enormous quantity of pressure when you are enthusiastic about the game. So, if you want to perform your best, and obviously win some matches, you will need to use every advantage you can. One often overlooked area that can provide you with an advantage (or hurt you) is the chess set you perform on.
Playing with your own chess set can place you at ease during tournament play.
Only Playing with a computer can hurt you Once You End up playing with a human being
Playing with an expensive chess set can provide you with an edge against your competitor.
Playing a chess set that you own can make you relaxed
In any context, if you’re riding a bike or shooting at a target, you may always feel comfortable using equipment that you have. The exact same goes at a boxing tournament. Utilizing a more familiar set has the potential to give you an edge over your competition.
Honing Your Skills on a Computer
There are various sites and game downloads for chess, so many folks use this medium to find out new abilities. However, playing with a computer is different from having a human opponent.
Many individuals can learn how to play chess by downloading an app or playing online. Whether this helps or hurts depends completely on the person. People are able to learn new skills and receive the fundamentals of the game when playing on a pc. One is that almost all people have a ‘tell’, like when you see a move that will be advantageous for you if your competitor doesn’t spot the trap. There is a tendency for the eyes to follow the movement you wish to make and the one which you hope your opponent will make (or the one that you hope they do not make). A computer can’t see this, so it will not have the ability to react to your body language. A human competitor, on the other hand, can detect what you are looking at and this may ruin the possibilities of a movement that’s beneficial to you.
Another thing to consider is that the transition from a vertical, 2D plank as seen on a computer, to a 3-dimensional, horizontal plank can make you uncomfortable on your play. Most of us develop habits with all the chess set we play with most often. The earliest pattern and the one which is least noticed is that we get used to immediately recognizing the bits that are recognizable to us. The transition from one style of chess set to another is enough to provide us with a little discomfort (an excess nanosecond of an idea to spot the piece, not a lot, however, there); the transition from 2-dimensions into 3-dimensions makes it more noticeable.
An Expensive Chess Set Can Give You Confidence and Intimidate Your Opponent
Every individual, wherever they come from, is amazed by top quality, expensive items. In regards to playing chess, bringing out a more high-end set won’t only impress your competition, but it may also be intimidating. Bringing the expensive set shows your opponent that you’re enthusiastic about the game. Furthermore, your competitor may believe that you ought to be an excellent player to have spent so much money on a chess set. Thoughts like this could keep your competitor’s focus off the game more than if you were to bring out a more standard chess set.
The pride that you will feel when showing the set for your competitor may also translate itself to your match. Having the best equipment always provides you with a sense of pride that translates to confidence on your own performance. Knowing you are the better player will force you to play better and see the sport more clearly; knowing that you have an awesome chess set also provides you with that push the zone’ which leads to better play.
There are a number of other points concerning chess sets and the way that computer play affects your game.
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how-to background4 steps of Ecommerce ERP integration that you need to master
4 steps of Ecommerce ERP integration that you need to master
By Nguyen OanhPublished: 5/3/22
Are you looking for steps of Ecommerce ERP integration? If it’s the case, this article is for you! ERP integration is crucial to the successful implementation of your Ecommerce platform.
To begin with, ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. It is an integral part of successful business management, this is why a lot of companies have decided to invest more in it. Discover the benefits of ERP in ecommerce, steps, and tips for a better ERP ecommerce integration in this article!
What is Ecommerce ERP integration?
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is the backbone of your company's IT infrastructure. It manages your accounting, customer database, production schedules, material management, inventory, orders, and delivery.
The Ecommerce platform is a powerful business tool and therefore must work perfectly and integrate with your ERP. This task is not always as easy as you think because of the nature of your ERP and what it contains.
What are the benefits of integrating an ERP in your Ecommerce?
The integration of the ERP systems on your Ecommerce platform has many advantages. Here are the 3 principal benefits of it:
The variety and volume of your data
Your ERP allows you to connect to all of your company's data hub. This is a great feature because this information is vital to analyze everything from production trends to the effect of seasons on Ecommerce sales.
Real-time data integration also allows you to integrate Ecommerce payment and shipping information, orders, and customer details into your Ecommerce ERP system. Similarly, it allows you to upload and download items and inventory from the ERP to the Ecommerce platform. So, somehow, the integration eliminates the need in order to re-enter the information.
Full customization
Ecommerce ERP systems generally don't work well without some level of customization because no two companies are the same. Whether you use SAGE or SAP, chances are your system has been so customized that it is unlike any other system from another company.
Your Ecommerce ERP integration is unique to your customer needs and workflows. This is a good thing, but unique ERP installations also require unique Ecommerce integrations.
Increases internal productivity and customer satisfaction
Integrated systems play a vital role in streamlining several business systems. Orders are integrated in real-time with the ERP system, allowing the ERP user to track the order instantly and start processing it. Thus, the integration reduces the order fulfilment cycle.
Integrating Ecommerce platforms with ERP business systems helps business owners acknowledge how their business runs, save time, and, of course, gain more control over their business.
⚡To help you understand more about the benefits of integrating an Ecommerce ERP system in your business, Odoo and Appvizer have prepared a mini-book for you. Maybe you don’t know, Odoo is an open-source ERP that covers all aspects of your business needs: CRM, Ecommerce, inventory, sales, accounting,… Odoo helps companies optimize and facilitate their Ecommerce process with advantageous prices for an excellent return.
Discover why equipping yourself with an ERP for the management of your e-commerce makes you gain in performance
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The inconvenience of the manual task
The integration of ERP on your Ecommerce platform requires considerable time and effort.
Your ERP allows you to reference all of your company's data, and then analyze it.
⚠️ However, please note that the huge variety of information contained in the ERP system poses a challenge in itself. The more data fields you have in your database, the more difficult it becomes to integrate.
💡 For successful integration, you need to identify, from the beginning of the planning, which ERP data needs to be synchronized and integrated into your Ecommerce system. To do this, you must first know about the type of information that will be shared between the ERP system and your Ecommerce platform. You need to realize the benefits of data sharing such as:
• Product information
• Customer information
• Price
• Inventory
• Order/Invoice information
• Delivery
• Returns, etc.
Older technologies
ERP is an integral part of successful business management, but it may or may not have been upgraded in your company. Often, ERPs are upgraded on older technologies. For example, an ERP integration might be based on a system that is 10 to 20 years old.
From a practical standpoint, an older ERP may not easily adapt to third-party systems. This older technology can make integrations even more complex because outdated technologies are not compatible with high technologies. Often, IT departments spend years configuring an older ERP, troubleshooting issues, and creating workarounds.
Unique personalization integration
The ability to customize ERP integration systems is both an advantage and a drawback. Why do we say that? Because the more you customize your system, the more resources you will consume. Furthermore, it makes the ERP integration system more complicated. This is why we have to make a choice and select the better system that meets the needs of your customer.
4 steps of Ecommerce ERP integration
Successful Ecommerce ERP software integration begins with a thorough planning stage. In fact, integration starts before you even choose your Ecommerce platform. Here are the 4 steps to facilitate your Ecommerce ERP software integration:
Outline your Ecommerce road map
First and foremost, you need to know where and how data flows in order to develop an integration plan and synchronization strategy that will incorporate all contingencies for your future development. Then list all the applications that have a link to your business system.
Identify and understand the flow of data
You need to realize how data flows through your company before and after integrating an ERP. When you map the data flow, be sure to include all data sources. If you currently use ERP, do you know where the information exchange will take place when the integration is complete? What about new customers? Inventory?
If one of your goals with your Ecommerce platform is to generate more sales, how will you handle customer data? What about offline customers who place orders online? How will online and offline accounts be linked? Here is when ERP can help you!
Have you ever heard of Cloud ERP software? With Cloud-based ERP service, you can have access to the database every time and everywhere because the data is on the internet!
Identify and then avoid the manual, and slow process
Identify the step that takes your team lots of time, resources, and effort. Try to automate the system as much as possible in order to eliminate the manual repetitive task. For example, if your team spends lots of time trying to close the payment, try to automate and facilitate all your payout-to-reconciliation business processes.
Calculate and balance the ERP integration cost with your budget
Visualizing the ROI of ERP integration is a good way to balance it with your budget. What is the system that costs more? How can I optimize this ERP system without impacting the whole project?
The ERP integration cost usually depends on the number of man-hour. On average, a typical ERP integration for mid-sized enterprise costs around $200 per user per year.
Tips for Ecommerce ERP integration
Simplify your integration
For a successful Ecommerce ERP integration, we recommend using workflow diagrams to represent the entire business. This will help your company and your integration partner have a visual representation of your various sales systems. Only with these elements will you be ready to consider an initial migration and integration plan.
Choose between ERP customization and ERP configuration
ERP configuration
This type of ERP is rather considered for companies that do not really plan to experience important growth in their commercial activities, in the short or medium term. The main function of this ERP is to receive and synchronize the data of your online store but in a generic way. Therefore, this type of integration may not be able to perfectly match your growth and lead to new needs.
• Limitation in adding sales channels;
• Recurring management fees;
• Significant risk of incompatibility with your existing systems.
ERP customization
If you are planning a major growth, your business model is atypical or your existing systems are complex or require the interaction of several other systems and platforms, a custom integration would probably be better suited. In fact, custom ERP answers where a point-to-point/middleware ERP is limited.
To understand this statement, custom ERP is developed according to the business structure of your online business and, in this sense, is perfectly compatible and optimized for your personal reality.
Always prepare a plan B!
No matter how you plan, sometimes the information flow doesn't reach its destination properly. A well-designed Ecommerce ERP integration might have the risk of failure. The most common errors in the Ecommerce ERP integration would be: the database is not updated while the website runs independently, a shipment tracking number is lost, the inventory is insufficient, etc. To back up these problems, you have to prevent some solutions and a backup system.
Key takeaway
In Ecommerce, product positioning and customer acquisition are the main issues that help a company stand out. However, if time and manpower are used more for managing day-to-day operations, it becomes difficult to capture growth opportunities. Focus where it counts and start the ERP integration system with your Ecommerce now!
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White paper backgroundTop 8 Benefits of ERP and Its Long-Term Profitability
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October 13, 2022
Top 15 Benefits of ERP and Its Long-Term Profitability
Discover all you need to know about the top 8 Benefits of ERP, as well as the disadvantages. Appvizer will show you how ERP software can increase productivity in the workplace and stimulate growth!
Software backgroundbest ERP for small business
September 22, 2022
SME? VSE? Yes! Even you need an ERP!
Are you searching for the best ERP for small business? Do you know which one to use? Their prices? Here you’ll find an article explaining and comparing 11 different ERP to help make your decision !
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“Good content is not storytelling.
It's telling your story well.”
Ann Handley
In the age of technology, there is constant access to vast amount of information. The basket overflows; people get overwhelmed and switch off if they do not like your message. They create a world of their own, where they only have to see and hear what they choose. We make sure they choose your brand through our engagement-focused content on different media.
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Reply To: Online Module 1: Gaming in Education
Caoilinn Tighe
Title: Amelia Earhart
Lesson 1:
Introduce the topic to the class through Drama methodologies such as teacher in role. Hold a classroom discussion on the times in which Ameila lived and why it was such an important moment for women when she crossed the Atlantic. Allow the children to go into role as someone from this time.
Lesson 2:
Distribute resources ie. Books or devices to allow the children to collect research on Ameila, her history and Aviation. Split the class into groups and assign a role to each student. The students must then compile the information and explain how they could build this out using Minecraft. Block coding will be introduced to the class if they are unfamiliar and they will be given time to explore the MakeCode.
Lesson 3:
Complete a Science lesson on aviation and aerodynamics. Experiment with a number of different materials and discover what material would be best to build a plane (or parachute) out of.
Allow the children to build out their worlds in Minecraft, taking into account what they have learned over the past number of days. The children will take turns working in the world and will note what they build in the world.
Lesson 4:
The children are to prepare a presentation for the class. The presentation is to include a fly through of their world in Minecraft. In their world they must use blackboards and the portfolio to explain the builds and the history of Ameila. They must also show the code that they used to assist with their building and explain how coding helped with their project.
The children will be working in groups/pairs throughout this process. While building their world, they will also be using multiplayer and will be given the opportunity to work in the world at the same time.
The students are learning through a thematic approach integrating technology, history, science, drama and more. These lessons could also be brought forward more by allowing the children to build out an aeroplane using paper mache.
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Researchers built AI-powered gliders that learn how to fly just like birds
ai glider
It took mankind untold eons to learn how to fly, but now artificial intelligence is doing something similar and in a fraction of the time. No, there’s no robots constructing planes like the Wright brothers, but some AI-powered gliders are indeed learning how to cruise through the air just like birds, and they’re getting pretty good at it.
Researchers equipped a glider with an advanced algorithm and control system that allows it to navigate wind currents in the same way that birds to. By finding updrafts which help it stay aloft, the glider can slip through the air indefinitely, much like birds to when trying to minimize their energy output.
The research, which was published in Nature, describes how these wind currents are used by birds. “Soaring birds often rely on ascending thermal plumes (thermals) in the atmosphere as they search for prey or migrate across large distances,” the paper reads. The researchers then go on to explain that their fancy AI glider works in exactly the same way.
Without being able to flap its wings, the glider is totally at the mercy of the wind, and as such it is forced to seek out air columns that will push it higher.
“A navigational strategy was determined solely from the glider’s pooled experiences, collected over several days in the field,” the paper says. “The strategy relies on on-board methods to accurately estimate the local vertical wind accelerations and the roll-wise torques on the glider, which serve as navigational cues.”
Put simply, the glider can tell when it is approaching an updraft and then uses that wind to maximize its time in the air. Over time, it learns what to look for in order to identify rising thermal plumes and its onboard flight controller adjusts its approach to take advantage of them.
How birds are able to deftly locate and exploit thermals is unknown, but the researchers suggest that reinforcement learning — much like what the glider’s algorithm is based on — is likely how they learn to get the most out of their time in the air.
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Thank you for applying to be a Foster!
A foster home is an approved, temporary living situation for pets in our program while they are awaiting adoption. Foster families provide shelter, care and love. LDRNT provides a kennel, bed, collar, harness, leash, preventatives, probiotics, approved veterinary care and food. All animals in our foster program are fully vetted, microchipped, and spayed/neutered before foster care unless their health prohibits immediate spay/neuter.
The number of animals we can save depends entirely on the number of people who open their homes and hearts to foster them. Fostering also allows you to spend time getting to know our adoptable dogs in the event you decide you want to open up your home permanently. Fosters are usually considered first for the adoption of the dog they foster.
If you are interested in fostering a little dog (or two!) for Little Dog Rescue of North Texas, please complete the Foster Application below and one of our volunteers will be in touch with you as soon as possible. Thank you for your interest in Little Dog Rescue of North Texas!
Please note: Sometimes we ask for a “Twilight” or “Hospice” foster when a terminally ill or elderly dog ends up alone without a home. These fosters open up their homes so that these ill or elderly dogs can live comfortably until the end of their life. Little Dog Rescue of North Texas pays for everything, including prescriptions (or prescription food) and approved or emergency veterinary care. A dog who goes into Twilight or Hospice foster is fully vetted, microchipped, and (if their health allows) spayed or neutered.
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Vein Services
Integrative Foot and Ankle
Varicose veins are more than a cosmetic problem. They’re also a sign of an underlying vein condition that can lead to leg pain and nonhealing ulcers. Daniel Pero, DPM, at Integrative Foot and Ankle in West Palm Beach, Florida, offers several treatments to permanently eliminate your varicose veins and prevent complications. To learn more about sclerotherapy, endovenous ablation, and other treatments, call the office nearest you or book an appointment online today.
Varicose Veins Q & A
What causes varicose veins?
One-way valves in your leg veins open to let blood flow up the vein toward your heart, and then they close to stop the blood from going back down the vein. When these one-way valves fail, however, blood refluxes and pools in the vein, a condition called chronic venous insufficiency.
As the blood accumulates, the vein enlarges, causing twisted purple and blue varicose veins that bulge above the surface of your skin.
What symptoms develop as a result of varicose veins?
Though some people don’t have symptoms other than unattractive veins, many people experience:
• Painful or aching legs
• Swollen legs, feet, and ankles
• Burning or itching sensations
• Skin discoloration
• Heavy-feeling legs
• Tired legs
• Restless legs
Though you may decide to get your varicose veins treated for cosmetic reasons, there’s more at stake. Engorged varicose veins and chronic venous insufficiency can lead to serious health complications. Eliminating varicose veins also gets rid of the underlying insufficiency.
What complications do varicose veins and venous insufficiency cause?
Varicose veins increase your risk for deep vein thrombosis, a blood clot that can become life-threatening if it travels to your lungs.
Chronic venous insufficiency increases the pressure in your lower leg veins. High venous pressure eventually leads to problems like thickened and discolored skin, and leg and foot wounds called venous stasis ulcers.
Venous stasis ulcers get progressively larger and they’re difficult to heal. They also increase your risk of developing skin and bone infections.
How are varicose veins treated?
Dr. Pero offers four varicose vein treatments.
Dr. Pero injects medication in spider veins or varicose veins that seals the vein walls together. Your body automatically reroutes blood flow through the nearby healthy veins, effectively treating chronic venous insufficiency. Over time, your body absorbs the treated veins and your varicose veins disappear.
Endovenous ablation
During endovenous ablation, Dr. Pero inserts a thin catheter into the vein and uses ClosureFast™ or VenaSeal™ to close the vein. ClosureFast uses controlled radiofrequency energy to seal the vein, while VenaSeal does the job with a medical adhesive.
Like sclerotherapy, the treated vein then turns into scar tissue and is absorbed, while blood starts to flow normally through a healthy vein.
After making a series of very tiny incisions along the varicose vein, Dr. Pero uses a hook-like device to remove the veins by gently pulling them through the incisions
If you’re ready to get rid of varicose veins, call Integrative Foot and Ankle or book an appointment online.
Laser for varicose veins and spider veins
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Red Hat Summit Executive Briefing w/ Derrick Sutherland
In today’s episode, we’re breaking down major announcements from the Red Hat Summit
Derrick Sutherland, Senior Practice Manager at Shadow-Soft, joins the show to provide his take on the news.
Topics covered:
• How Red Hat OpenShift Platform Plus will impact customers
• Red Hat’s move into data science
• What customers should understand about Red Hat Edge
You are listening to application modernization, a show that spotlights the forward thinking leaders of Highgro software companies. From scaling applications and accelerating time to market to avoiding expensive license and costs, we discuss how you can innovate with new technology and forward thinking processes and save some cash in the process. Let's get into it. Thanks for joining the application modernization podcast. We have something new for you today. We have a couple of our team members talking about some of the new changes rolled out with open shift plus from Red Hat. These are exciting feature sets that are being rolled out to the community to help with the adoption of Gubernetti's from Red Hat perspective, we spend a lot of time at Shat us off focusing on red hat technologies and helping customers adopt their technologies to help solve business problems. So today you'll hear from Derek and from Ross on our team talking about the announcements in the changes and how that could impact customers going for thanks to red hat for their continued support of the application modernization podcast. Hey Derek, welcome to our red HAT executive briefing. Hey Man, thanks for having me so, Derek, we're going to spend some time today recapping some key announcements from red hat summit and you're going to speak to your point of view on some of these announcements. Before we get started, can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit more about what you do at shut us off? Yeah, so I'm Derek Souther one. I've been at shut us off for seven years as of yesterday. Actually, my role currently as I'm acting as a senior practice leader, which essentially means that I oversee all of our consulting engagements from a technical perspective and a customer success perspect so I'm involved at advance level trouble shooting, assessments, advisement around architecture, design and all the things in between, right, so that's mainly where I focus. Awesome. So the first announcement that we heard at red hat summit was around open...
...shift plus. You know, my understanding of this new solution is it includes red hats, advanced multicluster security features, day to management capabilities and a global container registry, and it really it builds on the red hat open shift platform and provides sort of more security for Dev Sek ops. What are your thoughts on this? Announcement. How do you think it's going to impact customers? Yeah, so I think it's it's a little bit more than just the features here, right. When red hat a few months ago release their open shift COUBERNETTI's engine, referencing right, they made us actually two different tiers for their platform, the COUBERNETTI's engine and the container platform. But I think what they quickly realized is that they wanted another tier up because if you watch what red hats done and maybe even the last eighteen months to two years, they've tried to create more bundled like features out of their product portfolio. And I don't know if that's because the acquisition of IBM or what actually, you know, was the catalyst for that. I would think it as some in some relation to that, right, but it's worked for the JABOSS portfolio. You know that J boss it, I think we can all agree at this point, is not necessarily what red hat has been wanting it to be in the microservices space, and so what they've instead done is they've expanded to be three different categories that include everything from, you know, microservice bace language is like corcus and Spring boot, right, and then extending that even further to have automation packages and it all as a bundled tearing effect will. It seems that with open shift plus they're doing the same thing. They're making a third tier in their open shift packaging. Right. So they have okay, which essentially is open shifts COUPERNETTI's engine by itself with Horros some administrative consoling and then the open shift virtualization built in. But what it lacks in that version is the log aggregation system the developer experienced, you know, their service Mesh implementation, things... that, to make it a more cohesive cuernas ecosystem. Well, open shift plus just builds upon that because there's other things developers have needed in engineers have needed outside of those toolings. Part of it has been the container industry, which is quay, which is now baked in with that bundled package rather than being a separate solution, a bigger one that I would call out as ACM actually, which, for those listening, ACM is advanced cluster manager, right. So that's what allows you to do open shift at scale across multiple clusters management to make your life a lot easier. That was always an add on, but now it's included as part of a larger bundle. And I think the one thing you dig make mentioned to you that I think is really interesting here is the advanced cluster security which God announced technically, I think, in February, but it was its own kind of thing and we didn't know how it was going to get bundled or how was it to get put out there. But now it's a part of open shift plus. And what's unique about this? I shouldn't necessarily in nest say unique, but I would allude to the fact that they're differentiating themselves in the space right now is that, yes, they do image scanning. Everybody in the security space right now for containers does image scanning, they do CV lookups, they do, you know, Api management to some degree. Right the big thing that they have added to this, though, apparently as intrusion detection. Right now, in traditional intrusion detection systems, you know, a macafee or semantic type solution or OSC none of that stuff works with Coupernetti's. So for red had to come out and say, not only are we adding security features, but we're actually going to give you an intrusion to teching system which, if my memory serves. Is really only one other name in town in regards to Kuberneaties for that, and that's cystig. For them to be boldly going into that space and doing that as well as part of a bundled solution, I think is really comprehensive and is going to open up a lot of opportunities for some of these enterprise grade customers that are looking to have all the tools are going to need rather...
...than to kind of hojhposh put a solution together and again they're going to get something that's almost impossible to get anywhere else right now. Right. So how is this going to impact customers? What a customers need to be thinking about. So I think it depends obviously on the customer size. I think, you know, they're obviously competing with other KUBERNETTI solutions out there. There's, you know, the the cloud based embedded ones. There's these other open source fenders that are coming out with different solutions are of you know or prominent in the space. But what's interesting is, depending on the size of the organization you're looking for it, or at least a size and aid to the organization, you're looking for different things. Right some organizations come in and they come up with a very get opps model. They're going to be highly, you know, focused and concentrate and how they make Cubernetti's is cost effective and as lean as possible. Right. And then other organizations are going to come in and they're a traditional it shop and they want to leverage tumunities for the added benefit of scalability and getting a, you know, PAS like environment in an on premis enclave or even in a hybrid cloud enclave. Right. And so for them, those kind of clients especially, they're going to look for a prebake solution that has everything they need in it. They're not going to want to Hojj posh grab all these individual components to try and manage and maintain them together. They're going to need something that's comprehensive, that gives a separation between Devon ops and even provides, again, that feedback to the security team, which is not what traditionally coubernatis has been known for. In fact, this is an area that has been lacking in people have been trying to fill in the gaps. Groups like Aqua, SAC twist lock, they've been trying to get into that space. And try and help make it more comprehensive and secure. Right. But there's areas that have been clearly lacking from some providers, and again it goes back to for at least from my perspective, the most unique thing to call out here is that intrusion detection capability. Now, what I'm interested to see is what that actually looks like. Right, we've seen...
...from one other vendor, like I said before, intrude detection get implemented in a very particular way. But intrusion detection is one of these things that it can be implemented in an anomalous way, like if we looking for anomalies, are we looking for pattern based problems that we're trying to prevent? What that looks like and how well it gets implemented, we don't know yet, and I think that once that's been valid in the market it's going to have driven a lot of adoption, because that's one of the biggest thing holding large enterprises back from Cuernetti's right now is what are we going to do from security, because our security people don't understand this platform at all. They're used to traditional it. They're not used to say, yeah, I think it's going to be fascinating to watch this space in the next twelve months. You know, the customers that I'm speaking to where they want to spend their money is is insecurity. This is a really nice move by my red hat in my opinion. So the next announcement I want to ask you about is open shift data science. So this was announced and you know, the key ideas here is around speeding up data science by developing, training and testing AI and ML models in a public clouds and box. So red hats seeing an opportunity here to help these teams develop and test their models and provide a bit more of a platform to perhaps accelerate this. I think the details are still coming out around this, but it's an interesting move. What are your thoughts and how might this help or impact customers? It's interesting for sure. The one thing I'll say is that data science is it's a unique field for red happy because it hasn't been traditionally what they've been known for. Right they've been known a lot for, obviously Linux. They've been learned heavily in the Java, you know, middleware space in a big way in the automation space. So it's a little bit of a branch away from what they've traditionally been known for doing. However, again I've Yeah Right, IBM has been known in this space with Watson and similar technologies that they've put out, right. So the what gets...
...interesting here is that data science, yes, is hard, but there's really two different things you have to do in a data science field. There's building out the actual data science. So the mathematicians, you got to go build the unsupervisor supervised learning models for whatever it is they're trying to solve. Whether you know they're trying to look at linear aggression or not, line aggression miles, doesn't really matter, right, because that's one side of it, and D at's not telling customers we're going to solve your modeling problem right. That's not what they're trying to do. What they're trying to do is make it easier to get to the point of doing data modeling right and in implementing those things. So what they're trying to do, at least from what it looks like, is bring the tools that are, I would say, difficult at best to integrate in a COUPERNETTI's environment together up front, so that way, rather than having to go okay, I'm going to go get, you know, Jupiter notebooks and tensorflow and all these other things and put them together in my own environment. They're going to be pre baked and supported together and then I can just start doing my data science things. So just becomes another work love you do in their cluster. Now to your point, I think there's a lot of unknowns right now. We do know Jew Burd of notebooks, Pie Torch and a couple other things are going to be in there. We do know that starburst galaxy is one of the partners IBM Watson, of course, and Aconda is going to be partnered with them. So we know there's things that are coming, but we don't know what the integration quite looks like. Yet again. I presume it's going to be something like a cohesive developer experience across these tools, kind of like what they do with satellite or what they've done in the past with, you know, say like Jaboss br mask. So they're all, you know, what is it called now, platform automation management, right where they're ultimately trying to make it a cohesive experience where you're not trying to piece together these solutions. I imagine it going that way,...
...but we really don't know what it's going to look like and it is a different business unit, I presume, that's building this out. So I think there's a lot that remains to be seen, but I'm excited for it. The one thing I thought that was great to note, though, is that they're trying to build in the features of being able to connect to a GPU live on demand, even if you're in a virtual machine. So who cares about that? Right? Ai Machine learning people, they care about getting access to the direct hardware that's going to make their lives and computations faster and more performant, whereas traditionally people have put containers, although yes, they can operate without a hypervisor for security reasons, people of traditionally put them inside of a virtual machine. Right. So to give you the added benefit of, even though you're in a virtual machine and a container, being able to potentially talk to directly to a GPU in from its hardware perspective, I think opens up a lot of doors it, least that's where they're alluding to now. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but that's the way it's been alluded to in their articles. So right, it's going to be exciting to follow as more details emerge. On to our last adount spent here. You know red hat, so the spent a number of sessions talking about red hat edge. You know, red hat solution for the edge. You know this is being billed as you know, use the same enterprise open source platforms that you're used to using. You know, just deployed closer to where your daughter is collected, ie the edge. You know they're really billing this is the open edge, you know, similar to the open hybrid cloud. Still some details to come out. What are your thoughts? What should customies be considering in relation to this announcement? I think it's really broad and I think that's going to be beneficial and also hurtful to their messaging. Right, we're right now at the point where we have to define what the edge means. Right, people in different industries have a lot of different terminologies for what the word edge means. I relate this is best back to cloud as humanly possible. Right.
We have, you know, software service, infrastruer service platform as service. That that as a service, data basis as a service. Right. There's all these different as a service components that we've slowly but surely broken out into these subcategories so when someone says the word cloud, we know what the heck they're talking about. Right. Edge has not gotten there yet, and I think that red hat saying we have an edge solution or we're coming out with red hat edge is great from a marketing perspective because a lot of people are like, well, we have edge problems that we need to get solved. But what's challenging about this is that no one has defined what the different verticals that we would you know our lines of separation for what edge mean? You you can consider any form of IOT. The edge is a power line outside. The edge is your car, the edge is a mobile device, the edge is your refrigerator, the edge right like the edge is the edge. So and because of that there's so much different. What's the best way I can board this differences or variations into what or how that edge unit is implemented? Is it even based on x at six? Right, from an architecture perspective, is it arm based? So, from a hardware perspective, the hardware looks entirely different from the what's available, not even just from like the architecture, but how much memory or CPU is even possible at the edge is going to vary so much based on the industry we're talking about right. So in my opinion, I think it's interesting that red hat wants to approaches and I think it's smart that they're trying to position themselves to be the solver for a orchestration system on the edge. But I think that they need to define what the edge is within the first twelve months of starting to position this market wise, because otherwise it's just going to go by the wayside of like,...
...what are we actually solving for? What are we doing, and it'll get overly complex as to what try problem trying to solve. They might walk into a customer and be a perfect fit and then walk into another customer and the customer was what you're defining in the edge is not what we defined. Is the edge? So I think market leaders, this is how the cloud got big, right. The word cloud got big. Market leaders push the technology to the gap and then they had to start to finding out the segmentations as to what they're referring to. Somebody's got to do it. Somebody's got to say we're solving edge problems and they got to start breaking out these subcategories as to what it is they're referring to, and maybe that's red hat's job to solve, or maybe it's multiple organizations trying to get into the space. Yeah, hey, interest in thoughts? Derek? Thanks for joining us here on the red hat executive briefing. We've touched on open shift plus, open shift, data science and red hat edge. Any final thoughts for a listeners, keep tuning in. Man, I'm excited for what's to come next. I hope you guys are. We try and keep it real here and were trying to keep you guys informed on what's best. All right, thanks, Derek. For those that don't know, shadow soft, we are a cubinatis and cloud systems integrada. We've been a red hat partner for the last thirteen years and we really focus on helping customers modernize their applications in their infrastructure so that they can scale, move fast and drive cost savings. Till next time. Thanks for joining us. Application modernization is sponsored by Red Hat, the world's leading provider of enterprise open source solutions, including high performing Linux, cloud, container and COUBERNETTI's technologies. THANKS FOR LISTENING TO APPLICATION MODERNIZATION A podcast for high growth software companies. Don't forget to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player so you never miss an episode. And if you use apple podcasts,... us a favor and leave a click rating by tapping the stars. Join US on the next episode to learn more about modernizing your infrastructure and applications for growth. Until next time,.
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IV (intravenous) and IM (intramuscular) therapies deliver vitamins and minerals directly into the bloodstream. When vitamins and minerals are taken by mouth, a large amount cannot be absorbed by the intestines and ends up passing straight through the body without being utilized. Bypassing the digestive system with injection therapy ensures that virtually 100% of the vitamins and minerals in the solution are delivered straight to the body’s cells, thereby increasing cellular absorption and bioavailability of nutrients – essentially maximizing the value of your supplements.
5 Common Injection and IV Therapies
The list below outlines 5 of the most common IV and IM therapies, what nutrients they contain, and what they are used for. Please consult with a licensed physician before starting any injection therapy regimen.
1. Meyer’s Cocktail
The Myers’ Cocktail is named after the late John Myers, M.D., a Maryland physician who used intravenous injections of nutrients to enhance the overall health of his patients. This “cocktail” contains a variety of key nutrients: magnesium, calcium, B vitamins, and vitamin C. The Meyer’s Cocktail may provide relief from acute asthma attacks, migraines, fatigue, fibromyalgia, muscle spasms, chronic sinusitis, seasonal allergies, and many other conditions.
2. B Complex Injection
Stress and disease increase the body’s requirements for vitamin B6, folic acid, pantothenic acid, and other vitamins. B complex injections, when compared to oral vitamin supplementation, provide better absorption and bioavailability. Are you aware that some common prescription medications can also deplete key B vitamins? Vitamin B complex injections can also correct deficiencies caused by some of the most common medications such as metformin and levodopa.
3. Amino acid IV
Amino acids are the building blocks of life. They are used in the synthesis of muscle, skin, connective tissues, enzymes, and hormones. While our bodies are able to synthesize many amino acids, there are some we must get from food sources – these are called essential amino acids. When we do not take in enough protein from our diet or cannot properly break down and assimilate the protein we eat, our amino acid stores become depleted. Medical conditions that cause intestinal inflammation can also impair the absorption of amino acids. Individuals with an amino acid deficiency can suffer from fatigue, weight gain, low endurance, disrupted sleep cycles, and more. Amino acid injection therapy can address these symptoms in a more effective manner compared to oral supplementation.
4. Fat Burner Injections
Fat burner injections are also called lipotropic injections. They are unique intramuscular shots used to assist in weight loss with some additional health benefits. Nutrients in this injection promote the transport of fat to and from the liver, increasing fat metabolism. You may notice increased energy, improved mental clarity, and better sleep after receiving fat burner injections.
5. Homeopathic Injectables
Two of the most common homeopathic injectables are Traumeel and Engystol. Homeopathic Traumeel injectables offer a natural way to promote healing and reduce inflammation in the joints. These can also be used for athletes in the season with a quick recovery time or following regenerative treatment to resolve any lingering inflammation post-procedure. Engystol injection supports the immune system to reduce the severity and duration of viral infections, particularly during the early stages of colds and influenza.
If you have questions regarding any of these IV and injection therapies, or if you would like to schedule a free consultation for you or your family member to make a customized injection solution for your needs, or call our medical team a call at (480) 783-0708 for more information.
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The star rising brand had everyone shook at their fashion show in NYFW.
Creator Francesco Ragazzi wanted to build something different and he did it perfectly. Afterward, people were talking about his event more as if it was a party than a serious fashion show. The front row was filled with famous starlets like Kaia Gerber, Gunna, French Montana, Alexander Wang, Vic Mensa, and many others.
His inspirations for the collection? Fishnets and camouflage. The online shop is having major sales for the upcoming collection, you should go check it out!
Photo credit : Instagram / @vicmensa
Francesco’s idea was to create a concept that was way more than some simple clothes on some basic models walking in line. He had a vision, a vision that inspired him into creating a mind-blowing event. He completely changed the status quo in terms of decor, lighting, and music.
Photo credit : Instagram / @highfashiondose
As decoration, the rising brand filled its room with Michelangelo’s David statue to create a special ambiance. Then, the light show was as alarming as a police arrestation, it made everything so special and creative! Palm angels rising is totally due to the creative mind of its owner.
Photo credit : Instagram / @raptographer
Finally, the music was created by famous DJ’s Axwell and Ingrosso. Clearly, Palm Angels have set the bar high in terms of fashion shows and that is why they will keep on rising. In fact, other brands need to be prepared if they want to upfront this one. Keep on going Francesco you are doing amazing!
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Comprehension-guided referring expressions
We consider generation and comprehension of natural language referring expression for objects in an image. Unlike generic "image captioning" which lacks natural standard evaluation criteria, quality of a referring expression may be measured by the receiver's ability to correctly infer which object is being described. Following this intuition, we propose two approaches to utilize models trained for comprehension task to generate better expressions. First, we use a comprehension module trained on human-generated expressions, as a "critic" of referring expression generator. The comprehension module serves as a differentiable proxy of human evaluation, providing training signal to the generation module. Second, we use the comprehension module in a generate-and-rerank pipeline, which chooses from candidate expressions generated by a model according to their performance on the comprehension task. We show that both approaches lead to improved referring expression generation on multiple benchmark datasets.
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Modeling Context in Referring Expressions
Humans refer to objects in their environments all the time, especially i...
Generation and Comprehension of Unambiguous Object Descriptions
We propose a method that can generate an unambiguous description (known ...
Come Again? Re-Query in Referring Expression Comprehension
To build a shared perception of the world, humans rely on the ability to...
MAttNet: Modular Attention Network for Referring Expression Comprehension
In this paper, we address referring expression comprehension: localizing...
Towards Human-Friendly Referring Expression Generation
This paper addresses the generation of referring expressions that not on...
Referring Expressions with Rational Speech Act Framework: A Probabilistic Approach
This paper focuses on a referring expression generation (REG) task in wh...
Referring Expression Comprehension: A Survey of Methods and Datasets
Referring expression comprehension (REC) aims to localize a target objec...
1 Introduction
Image captioning, defined broadly as automatic generation of text describing images, has seen much recent attention. Deep learning, and in particular recurrent neural networks (RNNs), have led to a significant improvement in state of the art. However, the metrics currently used to evaluate image captioning are mostly borrowed from machine translation. This misses the naturally multi-modal distribution of appropriate captions for many scenes.
Referring expressions are a special case of image captions. Such expressions describe an object or region in the image, with the goal of identifying it uniquely to a listener. Thus, in contrast to generic captioning, referring expression generation has a well defined evaluation metric: it should describe an object/region so that human can easily comprehend the description and find the location of the object being described.
In this paper, we consider two related tasks. One is the comprehension task (called natural language object retrieval in [1]), namely localizing an object in an image given a referring expression. The other is the generation task: generating a discriminative referring expression for an object in an image. Most prior works address both tasks by building a sequence generation model. Such a model can be used discriminatively for the comprehension task, by inferring the region which maximizes the expression posterior.
Figure 1: These are two examples for referring expression generation. For each image, the top two expressions are generated by baseline models proposed in [2]; the bottom two expressions are generated by our methods.
We depart from this paradigm, and draw inspiration from the generator-discriminator structure in Generative Adversarial Networks[3, 4]. In GANs, the generator module tries to generate a signal (e.g., natural image), and the discriminator module tries to tell real images apart from the generated ones. For our task, the generator produces referring expressions. We would like these expressions to be both intelligible/fluent and unambiguous to human. Fluency can be encouraged by using the standard cross entropy loss with respect to human-generated expressions). On the other hand, we adopt a comprehension model as the “discriminator” which tells if the expression can be correctly dereferenced. Note that we can also regard the comprehension model as a “critic” of the “action” made by the generator where the “action” is each generated word.
Instead of an adversarial relationship between the two modules in GANs, our architecture is explicitly collaborative – the comprehension module “tells” the generator how to improve the expressions it produces. Our methods are much simpler than GANs as it avoids the alternating optimization strategy – the comprehension model is separately trained on ground truth data and then fixed. To achieve this, we adapt the comprehension model so it becomes differentiable with respect to the expression input. Thus we turn it into a proxy for human understanding that can provide training signal for the generator.
Thus, our main contribution is the first (to our knowledge) attempt to integrate automatic referring expression generation with a discriminative comprehension model in a collaborative framework.
Specifically there are two ways that we utilize the comprehension model. The generate-and-rerank method uses comprehension on the fly, similarly to [5], where they tried to produce unambiguous captions for clip-art images. The generation model generates some candidate expressions and passes them through the comprehension model. The final output expression is the one with highest generation-comprehension score which we will describe later.
The training by proxy method is closer in spirit to GANs. The generation and comprehension model are connected and the generation model is optimized to lower discriminative comprehension loss (in addition to the cross-entropy loss). We investigate several training strategies for this method and a trick to make proxy model trainable by standard back-propagation. Compared to generate-and-rerank method, the training by proxy method doesn’t require additional region proposals during test time.
2 Related work
The main approach in modern image captioning literature [6, 7, 8]
is to encode an image using a convolutional neural network (CNN), and then feed this as input to an RNN, which is able to generate a arbitrary-length sequence of words.
While captioning typically aims to describe an entire image, some work takes regions into consideration, by incorporating them in an attention mechanism [9, 10], alignment of words/phrases within sentences to regions [7], or by defining “dense” captioning on a per-region basis [11]. The latter includes a dataset of captions collected without requirement to be unambiguous, so they cannot be regarded as referring expression.
Text-based image retrieval has been considered as a task relying on image captioning
[6, 7, 8, 9]. However, it can also be regarded as a multi-modal embedding task. In previous works [12, 13, 14] such embeddings have been trained separately for visual and textual input, with the objective to minimize matching loss, e.g., hinge loss on cosine distance, or to enforce partial order on captions and images [15]. [16] tried to retrieve from fine-grained images given a text, where they explored different network structures for text embedding.
Closer to the focus of this paper, referring expressions have attracted interest after the release of the standard datasets [17, 18, 2]. In [1]
a caption generation model is appropriated for a generation task, by evaluating the probability of a sentence given an image
as the matching score. Concurrently, [19] at the same time proposed a joint model, in which comprehension and generation aspects are trained using max-margin Maximum Mutual Information (MMI) training. Both papers used whole image, region and location/size features. Based on the model in [2], both [20] and [21] try to model context regions in their frameworks.
Our method is trying to combine simple models and replace the max margin loss, which is orthogonal to modeling context, with a surrogate closer to the eventual goal – human comprehension. This requires a comprehension model, which, given a referring expression, infers the appropriate region in the image.
Among comprehension models proposed in literature, [22] uses multi-modal embedding and sets up the comprehension task as a multi-class classification. Later, [23] achieves a slight improvement by replacing the concatenation layer with a compact bilinear pooling layer. The comprehension model used in this paper belongs to this multi-modal embedding category.
Figure 2: Illustration of how the generation model describes region inside the blue bounding box. bos and eos stand for beginning and end of sentence.
Figure 3: Illustration of comprehension model using softmax loss. The blue bounding box is the target region, and the red ones are incorrect regions. The CNNs share the weights.
The “speaker-listener” model in [5] attempts to produce discriminative captions that can tell images apart. The speaker is trained to generate captions, and a listener to prefer the correct image over a wrong one, given the caption. At test time, the listener reranks the captions sampled from the speaker. Our generate-and-rerank method is based on translating this idea to referring expression generation.
3 Generation and comprehension models
We start by defining the two modules used in the collaborative architecture we propose. Each of these can be trained as a standalone machine for the task it solves, given a data set with ground truth regions/referring expressions.
3.1 Expression generation model
We use a simple expression generation model introduced in [18, 2]. The generation task takes inputs of an image and an internal region , and outputs an expression .
To address this task, we build a model . With this , we have
To train , we need a set of image, region and expression tuples, . We can then train this model by maximizing the likelihood
Specifically, the generation model is an encoder-decoder network. First we need to encode the visual information from and . As in [1, 18, 20], we use such representation: target object representation , global context feature and location/size feature . In our experiments, is the activation on the cropped region of the last fully connected layer fc7 of VGG-16 [24]; is the fc7 activation on the whole image ;
is a 5D vector encoding the opposite corners of the bounding box of
, as well as the bounding box size relative to the image size. The final visual feature of the region is an affine transformation of the concatenation of three features:
To generate a sequence we use a uni-directional LSTM decoder[25]. Inputs of LSTM at each time step include the visual features and the previous word embedding. The output of the LSTM at a time step is the distribution of predicted next word. Then the whole model is trained to minimize cross entropy loss, which is equivalent to maximize the likelihood.
where , is the t-th word of ground truth expression , and is the length of .
In practice, instead of precisely inferring the , people use beam search, greedy search or sampling to get the output.
Figure 3 shows the structure of our generation model.
3.2 Comprehension
The comprehension task is to select a region (bounding box) from a set of regions given a query expression and the image .
We also define the comprehension model as a posterior distribution
. The estimated region given a comprehension model is:
In general, our comprehension model is very similar to [22]. To build the model, we first define a similarity function . We use the same visual feature encoder structure as in generation model. For the query expression, we use a one-layer bi-directional LSTM [26] to encode it. We take the averaging over the hidden vectors of each timestep so that we can get a fixed-length representation for an arbitrary length of query.
where is the word embedding matrix initialized from pretrained word2vec[27] and is a one-hot representation of the query expression, i.e. .
Unlike [22], which uses concatenation + MLP to calculate the similarity, we use a simple dot product as in [28].
We consider two formulations of the comprehension task as classification. The per-region logistic loss
where is ground truth region, corresponds to a per-region classification: is this region the right match for the expression or not. The softmax loss
where , frames the task as a multi-class classification: which region in the set should be matched to the expression.
The model is trained to minimize the comprehension loss. , where is either or .
Figure 3 shows the structure of our generation model under multi-class classification formulation.
4 Comprehension-guided generation
Once we have trained the comprehension model, we can start using it as a proxy for human comprehension, to guide expression generator. Below we describe two such approaches: one is applied at training time, and the other at test time.
4.1 Training by proxy
Consider a referring expression generated by for a given training example of an image/region pair . The generation loss will inform the generator how to modify its model to maximize the probability of the ground truth expression . The comprehension model can provide an alternative, complementary signal: how to modify to maximize the discriminativity of the generated expression, so that selects the correct region among the proposal set . Intuitively, this signal should push down on probability of a word if it’s unhelpful for comprehension, and pull that probability up if it is helpful.
Ideally, we hope to minimize the comprehension loss of the output of the generation model , where is the 1-hot encoding of , with rows (vocabulary size) and columns (sequence length).
We hope to update the generation model according to the gradient of loss with respect to the model parameter
. By chain rule,
However, is inferred by some algorithm which is not differentiable. To address this issue, [29, 30, 21]
applied reinforcement learning methods. However, here we use an approximate method borrowing from the idea of soft attention mechanism
[9, 31].
We define a matrix which has the same size as . The i-th column of is – instead of the one-hot vector of the generated word – the distribution of the i-th word produced by , i.e.
has several good properties. First, has the same size as , so that the we can still compute the query feature by replacing the by , i.e. . Secondly, the sum of each column in is 1, just like . Thirdly, is differentiable with respect to generator’s parameters.
Now, the gradient of is calculated by:
We will use this approximate gradient in the following three methods.
4.1.1 Compound loss
Here we introduce how we integrate the comprehension model to guide the training of the generation model.
The cross-entropy loss (5) encourages fluency of the generated expression, but disregards its discriminativity. We address this by using the comprehension model as a source of an additional loss signal. Technically, we define a compound loss
where the comprehension loss is either the logistic (10) or the softmax (12) loss; the balance term determines the relative importance of fluency vs. discriminativity in .
Both and take as input ’s distribution over the -th word , where the preceding words are from the ground truth expression.
Replacing with (Sec. 4.1) allows us to train the model by back-propogation from the compound loss (17).
4.1.2 Modified Scheduled sampling training
Our final goal is to generate comprehensible expression during test time. However, in compound loss, the loss is calculated given the ground truth input while during test time each token is generated by the model, thus yielding a discrepancy between how the model is used during training and at test time. Inspired by similar motivation, [32] proposed scheduled sampling which allows the model to be trained with a mixture of ground truth data and predicted data. Here, we propose this modified schedule sampling training to train our model.
During training, at each iteration
, before forwarding through the LSTMs, we draw a random variable
from a Bernoulli distribution with probability
. If , we feed the ground truth expression to LSTM frames, and minimize cross entropy loss. If , we sample the whole sequence step by step according to the posterior, and the input of comprehension model is , where are the sampled words. We update the model by minimizing the comprehension loss. Therefore, serves as a dispatch mechanism, randomly alternating between the sources of data for the LSTMs and the components of the compound loss.
We start the modified scheduled sampling training from a pretrained generation model trained on cross entropy loss using the ground truth sequences. As the training progresses, we linearly decay until a preset minimum value . The minimum probability prevents the model from degeneration. If we don’t set the minimum, when goes to 0, the model will lose all the ground truth information, and will be purely guided by the comprehension model. This would lead the generation model to discover those pathological optimas that exist in neural classification models[33]. In this case, the generated expressions would do “well” on comprehension model, but no longer be intelligible to human. See Algorithm 1 for the pseudo-code.
1:Train the generation model .
2:Set the offset (), the slope of decay , minimum probability , number of iterations .
3:for do
5: Get a sample from training data,
6: Sample the from Bernoulli distribution, where
7: if then
8: Minimize with the ground truth input.
9: else
10: Sample a sequence from
11: Minimize with the input ,
Algorithm 1 Modified scheduled sampling training
4.1.3 Stochastic mixed sampling
Since modified scheduled sampling training samples a whole sentence at a time, it would be hard to get useful signal if there is an error at the beginning of the inference. We hope to find a method that can slowly deviate from the original model and explore.
Here we borrow the idea from mixed incremental cross-entropy reinforce(MIXER)[29]. Again, we start the model from a pretrained generator. Then we introduce model predictions during training with an annealing schedule so as to gradually teach the model to produce stable sequences. For each iteration , We feed the input for the first steps, and sample the rest words, where , and is the maximum length of expressions. We define , where is a base step size which gradually decreases during training, and
is a random variable which follows geometric distribution:
. This is the difference between our method and MIXER. We call this method: Stochastic mixed incremental cross-entropy comprehension(SMIXEC).
By introducing this term , we can control how much supervision we want to get from ground truth by tuning the value . This is also for preventing the model from producing pathological optimas. Note that, when is 0, will always be large enough so that it’s just cross entropy loss training. When is 1, will always equal to 0, which is equivalent to MIXER annealing schedule. See Algorithm 2 for the pseudo-code.
1:Train the generation model .
2:Set the geometric distribution parameter , maximum sequence length , period of decay , number of iterations .
3:for do
5: Sample from geometric distribution with success probability
7: Get a sample from training data,
8: Run the with ground truth input in the first steps, and sampled input in the remaining
9: Get on first steps, and on whole sentence but with input
10: Minimize . (Not backprop through )
Algorithm 2 Stochastic mixed incremental cross-entropy comprehension (SMIXEC)
4.2 Generate-and-rerank
Here we propose a different strategy to generate better expressions. Instead of using comprehension model for training a generation model, we compose the comprehension model during test time. The pipeline is similar to [5].
Unlike in Sec. 3.1, we not only need image and region as input, but also a region set . Suppose we have a generation model and a comprehension model which are trained pretrained. The steps are as follows:
1. Generate candidate expressions according to .
2. Select with .
Here, we don’t use beam search because we want the candidate set to be more diverse. And we define the score function as a weighted combination of the log perplexity and comprehension loss (we assume to use softmax loss here).
where is the k-th token of , is the length of .
This can be viewed as a weighted joint log probability that an expression to be both nature and unambiguous. The log perplexity term ensures the fluency, and the comprehension loss ensures the chosen expression to be discriminative.
Test A Test B Test A Test B Val
MLE[18] 63.15% 58.32% 64.21% 48.48% 48.73% 46.86% 42.13% 34.04% 55.16% 40.75%
MMI[18] 71.72% 64.90% 71.09% 54.51% 52.44% 54.03% 47.51% 42.81% 62.14% 45.85%
visdif+MMI[18] 73.98% 67.64% 76.59% 55.16% 59.17% 55.81% 55.62% 43.43% 64.02% 46.86%
Neg Bag[20] 75.6% 58.6% 78.0% 56.4% - - - - 68.4% 39.5%
Ours 74.14% 68.11% 71.46% 54.65% 59.87% 56.61% 54.35% 43.74% 63.39% 47.60%
Ours(w2v) 74.04% 67.94% 73.43% 55.18% 60.26% 57.05% 55.03% 43.33% 65.36% 49.07%
Table 1: Comprehensions results on RefCOCO, RefCOCO+, RefCOCOg datasets. GT: the region set contains ground truth bounding boxes; DET: region set contains proposals generated from detectors. w2v means initializing the embedding layer using pretrained word2vec.
RefCLEF Test
SCRC[1] 17.93%
GroundR[22] 26.93%
MCB[23] 28.91%
Ours 31.25%
Ours(w2v) 31.85%
Table 2: Comprehension on RefClef (EdgeBox proposals)
5 Experiments
We base our experiments on the following data sets.
RefClef(ReferIt)[17] contains 20,000 images from IAPR TC-12 dataset[34], together with segmented image regions from SAIAPR-12 dataset[35]. The dataset is split into 10,000 for training and validation and 10,000 for test. There are 59,976 (image, bounding box, description) tuples in the trainval set and 60,105 in the test set.
RefCOCO(UNC RefExp)[18] consists of 142,209 referring expressions for 50,000 objects in 19,994 images from COCO[36], collected using the ReferitGame [17]
RefCOCO+[18] has 141,564 expressions for 49,856 objects in 19,992 images from COCO. RefCOCO+ dataset players are disallowed from using location words, so this dataset focuses more on purely appearance based description.
RefCOCOg(Google RefExp)[2] consists of 85,474 referring expressions for 54,822 objects in 26,711 images from COCO; it contains longer and more flowery expressions than RefCOCO and RefCOCO+.
5.1 Comprehension
We first evaluate our comprehension model on human-made expressions, to assess its ability to provide useful signal.
There are two comprehension experiment settings as in [2, 18, 20]. First, the input region set contains only ground truth bounding boxes for objects, and a hit is defined by the model choosing the correct region the expression refers to. In the second setting, contains proposal regions generated by FastRCNN detector[37], or by other proposal generation methods[38]. Here a hit occurs when the model chooses a proposal with intersection over union(IoU) with the ground truth of 0.5 or higher. We used precomputed proposals from [18, 2, 1] for all four datasets.
In RefCOCO and RefCOCO+, we have two test sets: testA contains people and testB contains all other objects. For RefCOCOg, we evaluate on the validation set. For RefClef, we evaluate on the test set.
We train the model using Adam optimizer [39]. The word embedding size is 300, and the hidden size of bi-LSTM is 512. The length of visual feature is 1024. For RefCOCO, RefCOCO+ and RefCOCOg, we train the model using softmax loss, with ground truth regions as training data. For RefClef dataset, we use the logistic loss. The training regions are composed of ground truth regions and all the proposals from Edge Box [38]. The binary classification is to tell if the proposal is a hit or not.
RefCOCO [b]
Test A Test B
MLE[18] 74.80% 0.477 0.290 0.413 0.173 72.81% 0.553 0.343 0.499 0.228
MMI[18] 78.78% 0.478 0.295 0.418 0.175 74.01% 0.547 0.341 0.497 0.228
CL 80.14% 0.4586 0.2552 0.4096 0.178 75.44% 0.5434 0.3266 0.5056 0.2326
MSS 79.94% 0.4574 0.2532 0.4126 0.1759 75.93% 0.5403 0.3232 0.5010 0.2297
SMIXEC 79.99% 0.4855 0.2800 0.4212 0.1848 75.60% 0.5536 0.3426 0.5012 0.2320
MLE+sample 78.38% 0.5201 0.3391 0.4484 0.1974 73.08% 0.5842 0.3686 0.5161 0.2425
Rerank 97.23% 0.5209 0.3391 0.4582 0.2049 94.96% 0.5935 0.3763 0.5259 0.2505
Test A Test B
MLE[18] 62.10% 0.391 0.218 0.356 0.140 46.21% 0.331 0.174 0.322 0.135
MMI[18] 67.79% 0.370 0.203 0.346 0.136 55.21% 0.324 0.167 0.320 0.133
CL 68.54% 0.3683 0.2041 0.3386 0.1375 55.87% 0.3409 0.1829 0.3432 0.1455
MSS 69.41% 0.3763 0.2126 0.3425 0.1401 55.59% 0.3386 0.1823 0.3365 0.1424
SMIXEC 69.05% 0.3847 0.2125 0.3507 0.1436 54.71% 0.3275 0.1716 0.3194 0.1354
MLE+sample 62.45% 0.3925 0.2256 0.3581 0.1456 47.86% 0.3354 0.1819 0.3370 0.1470
Rerank 77.32% 0.3956 0.2284 0.3636 0.1484 67.65% 0.3368 0.1843 0.3441 0.1509
Table 3: Expression generation evaluated by automated metrics. Acc: accuracy of the trained comprehension model on generated expressions. We separately mark in bold the best results for single-output methods (top) and sample-based methods (bottom) that generate multiple expressions and select one.
Figure 4: Generation results. The images are from RefCOCO testA, RefCOCO testB, RefCOCO+ testA and RefCOCO+ testB (from left to right).
Table 1 shows our results on RefCOCO, RefCOCO+ and RefCOCOg compared to recent algorithms. Among these, MMI represents Maximum Mutual Information which uses max-margin loss to help the generation model better comprehend. With the same visual feature encoder, our model can get a better result compared to MMI in [18]. Our model is also competitive with recent, more complex state-of-the-art models [18, 20]. Table 2 shows our results on RefClef where we only test in the second setting to compare to existing results; our model, which is a modest modification of [22], obtains state of the art accuracy in this experiment.
5.2 Generation
We evaluate our expression generation methods, along with baselines, on RefCOCO and RefCOCO+. Table 3 shows our evaluation of different methods based on automatic caption generation metrics. We also add an ‘Acc’ column, which is the “comprehension accuracy” of the generated expressions according to our comprehension model: how well our comprehension model can comprehend the generated expressions.
The two baseline models are max likelihood(MLE) and maximum mutual information(MMI) from [18]. Our methods include compound loss(CL), modified scheduled sampling(MSS), stochastic mixed incremental cross-entropy comprehension(SMIXEC) and also generate-and-rerank(Rerank). And the MLE+sample is designed for better analyzing rerank model.
For the two baseline models and our three strategies for training by proxy method, we use greedy search to generate an expression. The MLE+sample and Rerank methods generate an expression by choosing a best one from 100 sampled expressions.
Our generate-and-rerank (Rerank in Table 3) model gets consistently better results on automatic comprehension accuracy and on fluency-based metrics like BLEU. To see if the improvement is from sampling or reranking, we also sampled 100 expressions on MLE model and choose the one with the lowest perplexity (MLE+sample in Table 3). The generate-and-rerank method still has better results, showing benefit from comprehension-guided reranking.
We can see that our training by proxy method can get higher accuracy under the comprehension model. This confirms the effectiveness of our collaborative training by proxy method, despite the differentiable approximation (16).
Among the three training schedules of training by proxy, there is no clear winner. In RefCOCO, our SMIXEC method outperforms basic MMI method with higher comprehension accuracy and higher caption generation metrics. The compound loss and modified scheduled sampling seem to suffer from optimizing over the accuracy. However, in RefCOCO+, our three models seem to perform very differently. The compound loss works better on TestB; the SMIXEC works best on TestA and the MSS method works reasonably well on both. We currently don’t have a concrete explanation why this is happening.
Human evaluations
From [18], we know the human evaluations on the expressions are not perfectly correlated with language-based caption metrics. Thus, we performed human evaluations on the expression generation for 100 images randomly chosen from each split of RefCOCO and RefCOCO+. Subjects clicked onto the object which they thought was the most probable match for a generated expression. Each image/expression example was presented to two subjects, with a hit recorded only when both subjects clicked inside the correct region.
Test A Test B TestA TestB
MMI[18] 53% 61% 39% 35%
SMIXEC 62% 68% 46% 25%
Rerank 66% 75% 43% 47%
Table 4: Human evaluations
The results from human evaluations with MMI, SMIXEC and our generate-and-rerank method are in Table 4. On RefCOCO, both of our comprehension-guided methods appear to generate better (more informative) referring expressions. On RefCOCO+, the result are similar to those on RefCOCO on TestA, but our training by proxy methods performs less well on TestB.
Fig 4 shows some example generation results on test images.
6 Conclusion
In this paper, we propose to use learned comprehension models to guide generating better referring expressions. Comprehension guidance can be incorporated at training time, with a training by proxy method, where the discriminative comprehension loss (region retrieval based on generated referring expressions) is included in training the expression generator. Alternatively comprehension guidance can be used at test time, with a generate-and-rerank method which uses model comprehension score to select among multiple proposed expressions. Empirical evaluation shows both to be promising, with the generate-and-rerank method obtaining particularly good results across data sets.
Among directions for future work we are interested to explore alternative training regimes, in particular an adaptation of the GAN protocol to referring expression generation. We will try to incorporate context objects (other regions in the image) into representation for a reference region. Finally, while at the moment the generation and comprehension models are completely separate, it is interesting to consider weight sharing.
We thank Licheng Yu for providing the baseline code. We also thank those who participated in evaluations. Finally, we gratefully acknowledge the support of NVIDIA Corporation with the donation of GPUs used for this research.
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What Is Terrorist Financing?
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What Is Terrorist Financing
What is terrorist financing? Terrorists and terror organizations have long threatened our lives. If we think about it, we probably all have our own experience with this. Be it that we witnessed an act of terrorism ourselves or that we know someone that did.
What Is Terrorist Financing
Terrorists and terror organizations threaten the security, infrastructure, citizens, and communities worldwide. It is estimated that terrorists kill an average of 21,000 people worldwide each year. Having said this, terrorism tends to be very geographically focused: 95% of deaths in 2017 occurred in the Middle East, Africa, or South Asia.
There is a song called “Money makes the world go around”. This message is also true for terrorists and terror organizations. Money is the lifeblood of terrorism. Terrorist financing in organizations require significant funding, both for the actual undertaking of terrorist acts and other issues. In particular, to maintain the organization’s functioning, provide for its basic technical necessities, and cover costs related to spreading their ideologies.
The Forbes Magazine has compiled a list of the Richest Terror Organizations in the World. They estimate the ten biggest terror organizations’ total annual income at an incredible amount of almost 4 billion US-Dollar. At the top of that list is the Hezbollah organization with 6.2 billion US-Dollar alone.
You might ask: How can it be that these terrorist organizations can receive so much money? This is especially in the light of the global fight against terrorism, global economic sanctions, and designated lists for terrorist organizations.
What Is Terrorist Financing
Terrorist Financing Description
How can this be? Well, the answer is terrorist financing. Terrorist financing can be described quite simply as the financing of terrorist acts, terrorists, and terrorist organizations. But terrorist financing is more than just providing the money to them. Terrorist financing can also involve facilitating terrorist acts using other assets or stores of value such as oil and natural resources, property, legal documents, financial instruments, and others. But terrorist financing does not stop there.
Terrorists and terrorist organizations usually need to rely on money to sustain themselves and carry out terrorist acts. Terrorist financing encompasses the means and methods used by terrorist organizations to finance activities that threaten national and international security. Money provides terrorist organizations with the capacity to carry out terrorist activities, which can be derived from a wide variety of sources. Money can come from legitimate sources, including profits from businesses and charitable organizations and criminal sources such as drug trade, weapon smuggling, or kidnapping for ransom.
Terrorists also make more and more use of modern technologies, including the blockchain and cryptocurrencies. They use cryptocurrency to help fund attacks more easily than they could ever do with fiat currencies.
Methods Used For Terrorism Funding
A number of countries and multinational organizations maintain lists of terrorist organizations, though there is no consistency in which organizations are designated as such. In the United States, such a list is kept by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Financial transactions benefiting designated terrorist organizations are typically prohibited.
To circumvent efforts to prevent such funding, designated terrorist organizations may employ a variety of strategies. For example, they may make multiple smaller-value transfers in an attempt to avoid detection, or they may use people with no criminal history to complete financial transactions in order to make fund transfers more difficult to track. These transactions can also be disguised as charitable donations or gifts to family members. Countries cannot combat terrorism on their own because corporate actors must scan financial transactions. If corporate actors fail to comply with the law, the state may levy fines or impose regulatory sanctions.
Money Laundering And Terrorist Financing
Criminal activities such as drug trafficking, smuggling, human trafficking, corruption, and others typically generate large sums of money for the individuals or groups involved. However, by using funds from such illegal sources, criminals risk attracting the attention of authorities and exposing themselves to criminal prosecution. To benefit freely from the proceeds of their crime, they must conceal the illicit source of these funds.
In a nutshell, “money laundering” is the process of concealing the illicit origin of proceeds from criminal activity. According to the provisions on money laundering in the Vienna Convention and the Palermo Convention, it may encompass three distinct, alternative actus reas: I the conversion or transfer, knowing that such property is the proceeds of crime; (ii) the concealment or disguise of the true nature, source, location, disposition, movement, or ownership of or rights with respect to property, knowing that such property is the proceeds of crime; and (iii) the acquisition, movement, or ownership of or rights with respect to property.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) established the international standard for combating money laundering and terrorism financing. The FATF is a 33-member organization primarily responsible for developing a global standard for anti-money laundering and terrorism financing. The FATF was established in 1989 by the G-7 Summit in Paris and works closely with other key international organizations such as the IMF, World Bank, United Nations, and FATF-style regional bodies.
Final Thoughts
Criminals have demonstrated adaptability and opportunism in locating new channels through which to launder the proceeds of their illegal activities and finance terrorism. As the Internet becomes a more global phenomenon, commercial websites and Internet payment systems are potentially vulnerable to a wide range of risks and vulnerabilities that criminal organizations and terrorist groups can exploit.
The current study examines the money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks associated with commercial websites and Internet payment systems, with a focus on mediated customer-to-customer websites as the most vulnerable to abuse due to their popularity, public accessibility, and high volume of cross-border trade transactions. The analysis also includes a number of case studies that show how mediated customer-to-customer websites can be used for ML/TF.
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EU Production
• Looking for ways to produce a ton of EU, without a reactor.
I'm still messing around with RP2 and IC2 to see how many manned Water Mills, one deployer can deal with before it starts to slow down.
• If you are looking for a cheap, but hard to set up array, I recommend wind power. If you want to use an expensive but easy to set up array, I recommend solar. If you have a good source of lave nearby, try out geothermals, as they pump out some serious energy, and they are compatible with buildcraft pipes.
• It's best to put your windmills at level 127 to get the most energy from them. This means making a platform at about level 123, laying down your infrastructure and then running wires up to the mills.
There's a pretty in-depth thread in the Electrical Engineering section on how to do this. It's not particularly expensive, to be honest.
• i usually have them 35 blocks away from the ground so i can use tin cable
still rocking the GMA 950 card :D overclocked to the point of smoking. :huh: hahahahaha now i got my 525m now that thing does work 8) :P :D
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Young Muslim Show 1
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Reda Bedeir
Channel: Reda Bedeir
Episode Notes
Episode Transcript
00:00:09--> 00:00:58
as salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. Dear brothers and sisters, welcome back to the show that stopped with the end of Ramadan. And today we have a big surprise for you. Because apparently you remember we said shahara Madonna Lady winzeler fee for the month of Ramadan is the month when the Quran was revealed Subhana Allah so we always call the month of Ramadan is the month of the Quran. And jabril Allah Salaam used to come to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to review the Quran with him every single month of Ramadan. So, what is the importance of the Quran and our life? What's the word for those who learn the Quran and then teach it? You know, we all know the hadith of
00:00:58--> 00:01:23
Marathi a lot and say Muslim, the best amongst you are those who learned and then teach it hydrocodone mentale. Lemon Khurana. Why lemma? So what's the surprise of today? Since we are resuming our young Muslim show, which will be at this time of the week inshallah. 630 to 715 inshallah, we're coming back with a very exciting
00:01:24--> 00:01:59
halaqa tonight in sha Allah. What's the surprise? I mean, I can, you know, keep cliffhanging, yo, because I'm hyped you like, early today, when we had time for the kids with the cron. The surprise is we have someone who is 13 years old. And Allahu Akbar, she has achieved something that we call a miracle 604 pages of a language that's not having a lot of time to memorize that. It's a big achievement.
00:02:00--> 00:02:01
the most important thing to know is
00:02:07--> 00:02:49
it's easy to achieve the top so to memorize the Quran is like, like achieving the top. But what's really more challenging is to maintain that top to keep, you know, memorizing the Quran. That's another challenge. So without any further ado, I would like to introduce to you the star of our halakhah tonight in Sharla. And I'm going to ask her to introduce herself in Sharla. She has been into a long journey of memorizing the bar, and she's here tonight to share with us her journey with the magnificent Book of Allah, the words of Allah.
So here we go, I'm going to ask
00:02:55--> 00:03:20
the hora Hussain to introduce herself. Welcome to our show. Go ahead. Said I'm on a commercial with the libre guy group. My name is Asha and I'm in grade eight. I am a half 100 and my goal is to be able to teach others as well as in accordance to hobbies that she has mentioned before. I recommend Allah Allah Allah, the rest of you amongst the best amongst you
00:03:23--> 00:03:24
and teach it to others.
00:03:26--> 00:03:39
Thank you so much for being with us tonight. So we're gonna go into our normal dialogue. It's a conversation. It's not something really formal, but we're going to have a conversation with Zahra as
00:03:40--> 00:04:08
as young as she is Mashallah. We look up to her as one of the leaders in our community and in our heads a program that we do here at the Saskatoon Islamic or Saskatoon down Community Center. We asked her help all the time, and she's always here with us to help with the younger ones memorizing the Quran, Allah subhanaw taala reward her and her parents say I mean, I'm asking to see I mean, I don't hear you, okay. I mean,
00:04:09--> 00:04:30
so we have some questions here that we need to ask Zahara, insha Allah so that we can benefit from that long journey of memorizing the Quran. It's not an easy task, of course to memorize, you know, the Book of Allah subhanaw taala. So, first question we would like to learn from your experiences. How long did it take you to memorize the Book?
00:04:34--> 00:04:51
The journey, my journey of soccer and actually began at the moment I started to talk because actually parents start to teach you build things from early on so small Sooners are like, the beginning of sociopathy and things like that. But to start with the proper started my journey.
It took about one year and a half, like less than two years, and then handed in two years. I finished the entire
00:05:00--> 00:05:21
Allah subhanaw taala Of course, just because I finished up for me to have one and a half years doesn't mean that that's the same for everybody. Some people struggle others don't. It's just a matter of fact of how much Allah smart Allah has blessed us, He has created us all differently and we all have different intellects and abilities. So it's up to the person and what Allah has blessed them with.
00:05:22--> 00:06:15
Mashallah, that's amazing. So for those who are sitting there listening to us, and they say, Man, one year and a half, is it that easy, it's not easy. But you have to have a commitment. And Allah subhanho wa Taala, as I just mentioned, he has blessed all of us, and He made us all unique in certain aspects. All what you need to do is to discover where the last part Allah has made you unique. And then you take it and your brushes, and then you can serve a law and then you can serve your family and you can serve your community and you can serve humanity at large Mashallah, because there is nothing more valuable, more effective, more important in our life, than the guidance coming
from Allah, you know, some people go astray in this life. But what's better for you than divine guidance? You know, but apparently, if anything goes wrong, of the things, the devices that we have today, what do we do? If something happens with with a phone, you take it to the manufacturer, you take it to the maker, you take it to the Creator, so if anything goes wrong with us, as the creation of Allah, where should we go, that's our manual, that's the forearm. So to memorize the Quran in one year and a half, it's a big achievement. So May Allah Subhana Allah make us to trust inshallah, in in keeping the heads for the memorization of the Quran. And we are lots of hands on with Allah bless
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your heart, that Allah subhanho wa Taala has trusted with keeping the Quran and inshallah
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but you know, in order to, to achieve such an achievement, you need to have some people behind this, you know, sometimes upon a lot, you know, it could be your own parents, it could be like a teacher. So let me start with asking you.
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Sometimes the parents are a big motivation, sometimes the parents are a big support. So tell us like, what was the role played by your parents in helping you to memorize
my parents.
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The first thing I want to say is that my father, like the class that I went to, for full time, he had to pick me up and drop me off and give me up like twice a day, every single day. And that makes around like 20 times per week. And that went on for four something years till today. And that's not an easy job. To me, I lost my dad to listen for that, because it's hard work. Um, my mother, she's like, the behind the scenes person. She helped me sometimes when I thought that he couldn't do it. She used to set timetables and routines for me, even though I never usually ended up following them. She used to make lots every single time but I never followed any of them. In the end, she used to
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listen to my lessons, like a lot of the times she would motivate me by telling me what what is happening to me because I'm memorizing the Quran. So
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her source of motivation for me would be that I am memorizing, and I have to, I should have, I should think about, like all the words that I'm getting. So for every single letter, I'm getting 10 minutes, and I'm reading it over and over again, I'm struggling, I'm reading one page, like hundreds of times, and she tells me to think about how much words I'm getting. So I shouldn't feel all sad or depressed, but I can't do it, that I'm still getting rewarded for it. She says, a famous like something that I remember especially is she always tells me she would always tell me and she still tells me that memorizing the plan is not an easy job. Allah Subhana Allah only picks special people
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that he has chosen and trusted to memorize the Book of Allah. So I should be, I should be happy and I should be grateful that he has chosen me and he has actually given me the topic to be able to memorize the entire thing because some people just can't memorize but it can be live demos the entire thing.
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reward your pearls and
reunite you all in sha Allah in Jenna together in Sharla.
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Great, so you see parents watching to hear that. So it could be a big motivation for your kids to memorize the Quran. And this is why we're sharing the story of Zahara today so that we can all learn from this. And it could be like a motivation or a role model for our team.
natures to have inshallah the motivation and the courage, you know, to embark upon that huge journey.
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It's parallel to things that Zahra mentioned, they really touched me. The fact that she mentioned that support law. Her mom used to motivate her all the time. And she used to remind her of the fact that
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what will keep you motivated to do this is the fact that there is a huge reward for every single letter and I'm not saying for every single word for every single ayah for every single surah no for every single letter as the librem is mentioned, in the Hadith narrated by both Bukhari and Muslim he said, Men para Hierophant apostle and said this whoever recites one letter of
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men keytab Allah from the book of Allah, Candela Hobi hustler, he literally word for that,
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well has unabashedly unfairly here, and then the word Look, this hustle is going to be multiplied 10 times or 10 times for a single letter. And then he said, la opodo. Alif Lam Meem? How will I can elevate elephant Harf lamb on half meme? And he said, I wouldn't say that Alif Lam mean is one letter. But elephant, one letter. Lamb is one little meme is wonderful. So imagine if you were to repeat after me now by saying, and if
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he did you say that you made 30 bucks? I mean,
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I know you think about dollars now. Okay, so imagine just reciting one page that would that you suppose for example, to be memorizing 100 times how many has an agenda, this is how we motivate our kids. Because most of the time, when you tell your kids, if you do this, I'll give you $10 they can kill themselves to get the $10. Right. But because they don't see those $30 that we made with a lot I mean, 30 has made with a lot in three seconds, is why they are not motivated. But when you give them that motivation,
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second thing their level in general, what they will do to their parents, we're gonna talk about this later on inshallah, but what I'm saying is that we need to keep motivating them. And
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again, it's a I'm amazed by such
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an achievement, just like I love Arizona, you know, when when we when we do something like this, like 604 pages, a language that's not your mother tongue, I know that this is this is very challenging. So what are some of the challenges that that you have faced during the journey of memorizing the
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first, this may not have been a challenge for me. But this is a challenge that many people may face is their struggle to read the Arabic language, because the first thing you need to do to be able to do hips is you need to be able to read the Quran properly and thoroughly, you can't have any mistakes, because that's going to affect your memorization. So for a lot of people, that's one of the biggest challenges for them is how to read local, and because they struggle with, they struggle with the letters and they struggle with how to pronounce it. And then that
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I can't think of the word that like,
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well, it makes them think that they can't really memorize because they're already struggling with simply 900 leads. So that wasn't a problem of mine, I was always a fluent reader. One of my challenges was memorizing, in general, because memorizing a whole page of a language that I do not know, I don't even know what it means it's hard. And I have to do it every single day. So that was the challenge of memorizing. And then the hardest challenge for me is remembering when in the minds because I always struggled with remembering, when I stopped revising something, I always forget it really quickly. So it's always a challenge to this day to remember every single thing that I have
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ever read or revised. It's, that's a very big challenge for me, like one of the challenges that you have to maintain it in the end, it's hard to maintain, if you don't maintain it, it's going to go home. That's one of that's like one of the most well, like that's one of the most famous things that my teacher tells me and my class and my fears that you memorize, I want to add but this is like the beginning of your journey. When you finish memorizing that's not the end of a journey. That's actually the start of a different journey. And if you don't maintain it, you're gonna forget it and then there's no point in spending all those years if you keep on forgetting them, so you need to
work hard to remember.
And of course, like the way you learn the process, you learn to do it. You need to learn how to
You know, read the Quran like, perfectly with the with the rules of surgery, right? So and that reminds me of the Hadith by Yolanda and Sighthill Buhari, where she narrated that the prophets of Salaam said I let the owner who I met Harambee Massa for uncommon Bara, whoever recites the Koran, and they are reciting with the proper like rules of Tajweed. And they recited properly, they are at the rank or the level of the angels will let the after all Koran where the title fee who will who Allah He shot, but as for those who recite the Quran, and they start up because it's not their own language and they find difficulty in reciting it. They get to rewards look at the bounty of Allah,
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what are the rewards the reward for reciting and their word for the difficulty in reciting Subhana Allah. That's, that's amazing. So, again, the process Salaam told us that the Quran tries to leave your heart to skip from your heart exactly like camels, when you tie them, they want to untie themselves and run away. This is how much you know, like, as I was speaking earlier, she said, You know, I wouldn't say it's easy to memorize, but you struggled in doing that that was a challenge. But what's more difficult was to keep a key memorized. Because you know, when you go through the memorization, and you repeat and repeat and repeat that handleiding memorize, but let's say you
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finish one robot or one just and then you start the second just you need to maintain the first tooth. So you go back and say, Oh my god, like I forgot that I forgot that age, I have to work on it. So not only memorizing, but keeping the memorization that was another challenge. So this is for those who are embarking on the journey. So please, be patient be perseverant be committed. And Allah subhanho wa Taala and this is a beautiful Subhan Allah statement that zoras mother, you know, shared with her that was like a constant motivation.
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If you are doing something good, remember, it's Allah who guided you. And what's more valuable than Allah subhanaw taala trusting your heart with his words. Not anyone will be getting that reward from Allah Subhana Allah, when Allah Subhana Allah cleans that heart to make it like a visceral, you know, where you can keep the Quran May Allah Subhana Allah, Allah bless all of our kids in sha Allah, Ki memorize the Quran. I know she has a younger brother, very sweet. His name is Abdullah he always calls me but he didn't call me today to say something in the you know, time with the kids for the Quran. He is very young Mashallah. But he has to bless his parents and a sister who was really
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lost without her. Like the way he decides the Koran. It's melodious, like, you know, you want to sit down and listen to the way he recites like you know, exactly as we said, you know, well, who I met her on bass smoothly and perfectly with the hematologist and his very young. So I want you to be jealous of that. And we're going to come to this and so later on about where jealousy is permissible Islam in the good sense of the word. So now what I think I think it's time now to take us and embark in a ticket through the journey inshallah, of your memorization. How did it start and like, tell us about the journey itself.
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In the very beginning, when I was small, and about two years old, obviously, she doesn't know anything like a baby at that age. My mom and my grandmother, they actually used to teach a few kids at our house. They used to like teach them the alphabet, and then eventually reading and memorizing a little bit. So I was always around like, I never read anything, but I was always near them. And when they move to Saskatoon, I was around for my mom. Like it was just my mom. Then she talked about, like a group of students at our house as well. And I was always around them. I never actually learned up around how do we do it by myself. My mom used to teach the kids and I was always like
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playing or doing something I'm not sure why. But I was just a kid, obviously. And I'm from them, I learned how to defer. And my mom, she always considered this a miracle because she never actually taught me how to read the Quran. I just learned by myself, like somehow and then I was also a good reader too. And I finished reading the whole from the very beginning cover to cover by the time was back so
when I was five, I was done.
And then from there, my mom started teaching me a few stories, small stories from the JAMA. I finished about half Jews with her, almost three quarters actually like more than half and then from there, my mom sent me to the masjid. I used to go there too, but that only lasted for like a few months. I finished his offer and I
Little bit of just the night after that.
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It was another three years of a different sort of journey, my mom, or my parents, actually they, they will.
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After a few years, like after I was done reading in the masjid, and that was that didn't last very long. My, I used to read with some teacher like with a teacher in Pakistan to Skype. And that lasted for a few years, actually, I finished six juicers with him and hamdulillah. But the thing was, he was very poor, like, I did not remember any of it, because it was the same thing with how you're supposed to maintain it. I wasn't maintaining anything. So I used to memorize one surah. And then my teacher would make me read that sword to him. But then afterwards, I never get to again, for like, ever. And then I forgot it. And actually, for me, when I forget something, it's even harder than to
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memorize. So when I was memorizing it's like a new thing. It's okay, it's a challenge accepted. But when I forget it, it's twice as hard. So it's really hard for me, at the start of grade five, like when I was 10 years old, I started full time texts with my teacher who I am still learning with right now, that lasted for while I was still with him. So that's like a matter of four years. But how did I finish really quickly with him, that took only two years, well, less than two years. And in two years, I finished the whole course. And then the next year, the next year, the next two years, I am revising with him. And I have finished the for an like almost two times, and I am on my
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third. Well, actually, I'm still in my second because I forgot a lot of the parts because they haven't read them in a long time. So it's really hard sometimes. But that's where I am right now I'm revising with my teacher and
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going to end this year, but my journey is not gonna finish. It's a journey that lasts forever. That's true. So it's not a journey for a month or two a year or two. It's something constant, as I said that the first challenge is to memorize. But the more challenging job is to maintain what you memorize, and this is why it's a constant effort of revising and reviewing and, you know, making sure that you you keep it in your heart, may Allah subhanaw taala help you
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out of your experience I want you to, to share with with the viewers, like what do they need to be able to memorize the football, like, you know, like the commitment, the perseverance, how many times how much and like just the details? Well, first of all, both you and your parents, like your whole family need to be like they need to have a desire for memorizing the Quran. So it can't be that only your parents want to but you don't want it because you're the one who needs to memorize. And if they push you, it's not going to work. Because if you're not going to do it, you're not going to do it. Also, if you're the one who wants to do it, but your parents don't, then that's not going to work
either. Because you alone can't achieve that much as with your whole family. So both your parents and you must have like a strong desire to memorize the Quran, you need to have the right environment energy. So that's a very important thing. Because once you start hips, your life will be the core and it's going to revolve around the core and the core is going to be be with you 24 seven, you're going to have to meet it at home and return class, you're always going to have to think about it because there's always a worry of when you're going to read your your lesson for that day again, and then yeah, your life is going to burn the Koran. And if you don't have the right environment around
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you, it's not going to work because you need to be focused on the Quran and the Quran alone. So if you're busy with other things, it's going to be really hard to do it. So you need to other environment,
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you need to be consistent as well. That's also an important thing. Because if you want to do it and you're determined to do it, you need to do it every single day, even if it's a little bit because if you do a little bit and then you stop for a few days, you're gonna forget it. And then it's an elusive motivation you had before and it's not going to work. If you're going to do hips, you have to be consistent. You have to do it all the time. You need to have determination, as I said before, and a strong mindset that you're going to do it and you're not going to quit and you're not going to stop because the more I'm learning the Quran, it is difficult but it's not an easy thing to do. And
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not everyone can do it but this if I'm local I will look at the external analytically for hunting decades. Allah subhanaw taala is himself saying telling us that we have made the Quran easy for you. Is there anyone who had to learn it so there is assurance from Allah Subhana Allah himself that he's going to help you if you if you're determined to memorize so if you have a lot of help you don't need anything else.
So amazing Mashallah. Here's you go, here you go. This is like a detailed plan inshallah for all of us and listen like your number one. It has to
come from you, you have to have the the determination that you want to do it. Second, yeah, your parents because, you know you will need support. But the first thing is the motivation should come from you first. So you have the commitment, the parents have the commitments, then the teacher in the environment, then putting the time and the effort, you know, always always, this is number one, check your intention, you're doing this to please Allah, because it's Allah will make it easy for you, you know, everything else on everyone else, it just helping, but if you have the pure intention that you want to do this to please Allah subhanaw taala as the beautiful ayah that you know, Zahara
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mentioned, in our last class, I said, well, aka Dr. Sonal. For Honor, with the last month Allah has made the Quran easy for people to you know, to learn and to memorize, but for Hellman will take it. So it comes from you first, the new your parents, your teacher, the right environment, a commitment, the time, the effort, the perseverance, you know, like, rest assured, if you have the right intention, and you have all these elements are lost panthella will make it easy for you. But you know, most of the time when when I set a strategic goal for people and I asked them to achieve it, I always give them a motivation. When you look at you know, at some point, you feel like, Oh, this is
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very difficult. You know, I think it's impossible luxury attire, kicks in your nerves kicks in, you know what, I'm still young, but all people around me, they're having fun, and I'm sitting there with Brian most of the time. So sometimes you come across some, you know, stumbling, you know, stops and and you feel demotivated, I'm sure that there were there was always someone or more than one who kept you motivated. Like, you know, you mentioned your parents, you mentioned your teacher, like, what role did they play when it comes to motivating you all the time and keeping you interested, whenever you feel down, they will push you. I mentioned my parents, but my teacher was also a very
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big motivator.
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My teacher who
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was always there with us, he was teaching us he was listening to us. But obviously from time to time, he would give us some fun breaks. So he would tell us stories and that would like inspire us and most of the time, it was straight from the core. And so he would inspire us by telling us about what we are reading because we don't know what we're reading actually. So used to tell us the story right from the pages that we read to him like a mere few minutes ago. And that was even more interesting to listen to, because these are actual stories that happened. And you're learning about them, and you're memorizing them. And you can relate them whenever you want. Because now you
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memorize them, and they're in your heart. Another thing he used to do as, as my mom did used to tell us about the benefits and the rewards, because let me know why were memorizing the class and all the things that were going, they were getting because of it, that just motivates us even more, because we want to know those rewards and benefits. And we are going to get them if you memorize the Quran. And whenever I used to feel sad or down or something, my teacher would be like, this is a hard journey. But you've already come this far. So what's a little bit more going to do to you. So we used to feel a bit better. And there's also this thing that sometimes very rarely, but sometimes my
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teacher would also motivate us with prizes. So that was a very last cost sort of thing. So sometimes it was if you're able to memorize this much like two or three pages, and that is beyond your normal capability of memorizing, it would be like
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he wouldn't give us money sometimes. So $5 and $10. And whenever he is dimensioned, that all of a sudden everybody's reading, like their full arm concentrating, they all want that prize. And sometimes it was just on Fridays, he would give us the candy. And that will just motivate us because of all of these kids and everyone loves candy.
And things like that. And sometimes it would give us things. So if you finished this much in this many days, you're going to get this and that doesn't work every single time but that's just like a once in a while so
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that parents because I remember one time, I was asked to give a speech and in Vancouver, and it was that they have read and spent a lot there were like about 500 or five, about five to 600 kids there and they're coming do a read and everybody when they come in today read celebrating they want to have fun, right? They don't like coming to listen to lectures or you know, so they brought Baba Ali who's like a comedian from the States. I don't know if you're if you're familiar with him. He is a friend of mine. And then they wanted him to do something funny for the kids and they want me to give a speech to the kids. I'm like what? So I sat down with brother Ali mirrorless bless him, and I said
listen, let's act something together and listen
It's funny. So we want to send a message to the people by maybe like, like doing a skit or something together, and suppiler we improvise on the way just to the event. And I said, let's do this, I'm going to call for a kid. And then I'm going to keep asking a bigger kid advocate until you raise your hand and I'm going to get you to the, to the stage, and then I'm going to activate it. And that's exactly what we did. Here's what we did. I just wanted to show them how to motivate your kids to pray. And I did two scenarios. first scenario, I was playing the role of the harsh, tough dad. And in the second one, I was the nice that. So the first thing when I said, I need a young kid to
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come here, and you know, all the kids like five to 600 kids in front of you, everybody wants to come to the stage. So and I said, No, no, no, somebody who's bigger than that somebody and then in an alley was sitting amongst them acting as a as a kid. And I said, Yeah, I think I'm gonna get that big one. And then I got added to the stage. And then, of course, we agreed to do this. So I started saying, you know, we're gonna print out your photo. And I'm like, Yes. I said, Okay, come stand next to me, and I want you to pay properly. It's like, Okay.
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And then I started the Salah, and he was looking at me during the Salah, because he doesn't know how to pay and you're so scared of me because I'm playing the tough dat. And like the moment I went to record, he was like doing record and he was looking at me. And then the moment I went to sujood he ran away because now I can see him. And that was the end of the first scene just acting, the tough dad and the impact on the on the kid. You know, like you're scaring him as if it were coming, forcing him. Remember what I said that was very deep, but I don't know if you noticed it or not. You said it has to come from you. If they push you are going to work. It has to come from you. So I need
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to motivate you and make you love Allah if you love Allah gonna do everything for a lot, not for me. I'm just a means. So the second scenario, I said, Okay, I'm gonna do it the right way now. So first of all, I said, Hey, son, and then I gave him a hug. I said,
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Are you willing Charla to? You know to go to a long talk with him? He's like, yeah, I said, What do we mean by that is it's a lie. It's a connection between us and Allah. Will they be praying? I love praying. I love talking to him. I said, let's go and do it. Just like of course. And they said, Okay. Listen, would you like a gift or a prize after we finished? Yes. I said, What do you like most? Is it chocolate? I said, Here you go. I got a chocolate from my pocket. And I always do this. Even the kids who have they know like about my candy system. And I showed him the chocolate is like no, would you give it to me now? I said no. After you pray properly. It's like, Okay. Then we prayed
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and Mashallah he prayed perfectly with me. And after we finished the moment I said, Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah. So like, I said, what I said the candy promised me the chocolate. I said, Here you go. And I gave him the chocolate. One of the brothers approached me after the stock for last year had this shirt. It's like, what is shirt man? He's like, you know, he prayed for the candy. He paid for the chocolates, like you know, calm down, brother. He's supposed to be a kid. Like, I'm not talking to Ali who's
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as tall as me. I'm acting as if he's a kid. So if you motivate your kid with giving them candy, well, what he does is not sure because you act and you work on getting them to lock a lock.
00:33:29--> 00:33:29
And this is
not going to make sure you go to the chocolate brother. Don't take it like don't go to the extreme. So this is some sort of as we heard from
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Zahara, money could be a way just to give them money. If you if you do this, just inshallah I'll give you like, you know, $20 I'll give you $50 Why not? Why not it's a motivation. You know, I'm gonna buy you you know, like something that you would like and buy here a gift, buy him a gift, so motivate them. So this is going to take me to one of the most important question in our conversation today. Which is what really keeps motivating a person to memorize the Quran even though the parents could remind you the teacher could remind you but if you share with with our viewers, many of those so Pinilla, huge rewards by Allah subhanaw taala. For somebody who embrace the power not only for
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him, but for his parents and for whoever taught him inshallah, just to keep people motivated.
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Actually, a lot of thoughts and benefits. It's not just like one thing, there's lots of things and most of what I'm going to get all of this. So the first one is that the half is or the half is, are they going to have the highest strengths in general? So it's because of, I'm sure there's a hadith that that you
00:34:51--> 00:34:53
can say, if
you're going to have a day of judgment, a lot of data is going to tell you to read and
Well, you read your rents in July, they're just going to rise and rise. And they're going to stop in the very last idea that you have memorized. Yes, exactly. That's exactly the hubby. He just translated
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your piano, not even just a memorizer, like whatever. He said, Well, you ponder who we're talking, like, recite and go higher and rank for in them and zeylanica in the acid is in front of you to start us with a lost battle. In general, you rank agenda will be with the last first that you decided in the junior. So that's, that's a very big motivation, go ahead. And if you memorize a whole quarter, and you're going to have the highest strength and gender. So the second one is the parents of the half isn't too happy. So they're going to be honored under the agenda on the day of the day of attachment with a crown on their head, and that crown is going to be brighter than the
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sun, and they're going to be working, they're going to be given garments to wear and they're going to be the garment agenda. And that is a very big honor for the parents because on that day, the parents are going to ask a lot of paradigma for what reason we given this honor, why are we wearing these crowns, and it's going to be told to them that is because your children, they memorize the Quran, and that is
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a very big load for the parents. So another point is the half is in the half is that they are worthy of envy in this world. So the sheikh mentioned this before, but he said you'd come to this later. So I think now's the time. Excellent is the time that the prophets of Allah Salim said in the Hadith,
00:36:36--> 00:37:14
la hacer the 11th metate. You know, there are two scenarios already can be envious of someone in the good sense of the word because jealousy or envy normally means like when you see somebody blessed with something that you wish that Allah, Allah will take it away from them. And sometimes it's called Raj hepped. You know, but has that means like you You wish that Allah will take it away from them. Like even a worse like scenario of Hassan is like you know, you want a lot to give it to you to take it from them and give it to you. But the problem said, you can be envious or jealous of someone in the good sense of the word meaning you wish that Allah subhanaw taala will keep blessing
00:37:14--> 00:37:54
them with that blessing, but you wish that Allah Subhana Allah will bless you with the same. So this is the meaning so he said, Roger, don't enter Hello, hold on for a little later on. I'm somebody that Allah has blessed with memorizing and understanding the Quran and he keeps reciting the Quran, you know day and night. So you can be envious, you know, meaning that you wish that Allah, Allah will bless you with the memorization of the Quran. And that's the first degree second degree is to understand the third degree is to act upon the Quran. fourth degree is to take the message of the Quran to others and to devour and the fifth degree is to seek healing through the Quran, and that's
00:37:54--> 00:38:03
what brought him a lot. You know, when he commented on the ayah what the last part that I said insulting for counsel number 25 and number 30 we're a lot smarter. I said,
00:38:04--> 00:38:10
What on earth sudo Yara be in Tomita her do
00:38:11--> 00:38:12
an AMA
00:38:14--> 00:38:55
and the messenger so Salam said, Oh, my, my master, my people have deserted the Koran, which means like, you know, it's you know, it's like deserting the Koran, meaning abandonment of the Quran epinal py and Rahim Allah said that's five degrees, the least of which is to abandon or desert, the recitation of the Quran. So if you know how to recite the Quran, if you memorize the Quran, that's step number one, because there's going to be a plea for you or against you on the Day of Judgment. Then second, you need to understand what you memorized, you need to reflect third once you understand it's incumbent on you to act upon the Quran because Allah Blaine some people and this is
00:38:55--> 00:39:25
an idea that you should be memorizing the Koran. And so number 62 I number five, he said, method ladina hung middle toe rothermel ambia middle hakima sorry, mrea middle as far as the similitude or the likeness of those who are given the Torah, the book that was given to Musa alayhis salaam, you know, and they did not act upon it because you know, Allah gave us the Quran not just to read it or memorize it. I should understand what's in there and then I should act upon it a lot better said why Allah just says do not spy on one another while
00:39:26--> 00:39:46
not back back to one another. This is for us. So I'm not just reading something and I'm going again, I'm going to come on today Jasmine, and a spy and a lie and I have a backbone I was gonna say okay, you were just like getting your book on your back without benefiting from it. Allah said these people who are given the Torah and it will act upon it is like a donkey carrying books on its back.
00:39:47--> 00:40:00
What is the benefit of the donkey will make out of books on its back. So as Muslims also we cannot put the product on the shelf for 11 months. And then Ramadan comes we pick the we we pick the front
00:40:00--> 00:40:40
recite it and then put it back for 11 months. That's that's what it's meant. So that's the meaning of Allah has visited someone with the Quran memorizing the Quran, you know, and then they recite the Quran and they act upon the Quran they ended. And the second one is somebody last month Allah has blessed with wealth and he spends that wealth and money for charitable causes to please Allah subhanho wa Taala. So you can be inverse of that what so you say, may Allah Subhana Allah bless this person, keep his foot on in his heart, may Allah bless this person keep their wealth, you know, and their money. But yeah, Allah give me you know, the ability to learn the Quran memorized the Quran,
00:40:40--> 00:40:55
like that person. That's the meaning of jealousy. Yeah, like give me wealth. And if I get wealth, I'm going to be acting in that money like that person to inshallah. So that's the meaning of the Hadith. Go ahead, and shall I continue with the rest of the rewards, and benefits.
00:40:57--> 00:41:24
Another one, another one is, we mentioned this in the very beginning, almost, I think, is for every single letter, you're getting 10 minutes. And eventually, if you read the whole time, you're going to get hundreds and 1000s of comments like uncountable on your last count it himself knows how much you're getting in the end. And it's not like you're reading the Quran only once, you're going to read it again and again, until you die. And your husband I just keeps on piling up. Another word is that
00:41:26--> 00:42:06
the person who struggles he's going to have double the road efficient mentioned before, because the person who goes on and besides smoothly and nicely, he's going to get the rank of angels, he's going to be as high as them, but the person who struggles they're going to have two words, one for struggling, and one because it's difficult. Another one, another also very important word I think is that half is or the half is that they're going to be saved from the fire because there is this hadith that says that if supper is enclosed by skin, which means that if a human being or if a person and my sister and it's inside them, they're going to be protected from the fire because
Allah, Allah is not going to burn something that has an inside it. So if we memorize the whole Quran, and we put it inside our hearts, then we can
00:42:16--> 00:42:48
we can be safe in the fire because Allah, Allah has reassured us of that. Another thing is that fires are the half is half is up, they are guaranteed genda like they're guaranteed genda as long as they act upon what is lawful, and they stay away from what is forbidden, forbidden. So those are simple things if you just act upon it, and you know that you're like, guaranteed and just like that. So let's take a look at to conclude with this, we're just going to ask you one last question is can you give some
00:42:49--> 00:43:27
pieces of advice or words of advice to people who are willing to embark on this journey after listening to your journey with the Quran today inshallah, at this young age, whether they're young or old, what some words of advice would you give them. Um, first of all, you want to make dua to Allah Subhana Allah to help you in this journey, and to seek His help whenever you come to any difficulty, because these are his words, and he alone can teach you that he is the one who can help you memorize. Never underestimate the power of the Institute, that is a very important thing that's going to help you. You should never underestimate that power, because it works like I've done it
before. And it has worked. And yes, it has helped me. Secondly, you need to believe in yourself and always stick with remembering memorize, even if it's a little bit because even if you did memorize the entire course, you still have a chance to do it on the Day of Judgment with the horrifies because of your because of your hard work and effort and because you struggle to memorize until you die. So Allah subhanaw taala it's almost upon us like he's done watching us even though we didn't even complete it. Some kids and people in general find the idea of memorizing the Quran as a big and difficult thing. They are sometimes scared to start because they think that the Quran is very long,
00:44:08--> 00:44:21
they think that it's a lot. And they think that 30 years is is like a lot of things to memorize, and the cat do it that when you actually think about it, it's just 30 like it's not 50 or something, it was $50 and way harder.
00:44:22--> 00:44:33
People think that dedicating your life to them, it means that you have to sacrifice all forms of entertainment. And that's not true. I had fun while doing it. And I didn't sacrifice any fun for it.
00:44:35--> 00:45:00
Yeah, I was like lucky. Thank you so much for your time and thank you for sharing this beautiful and amazing journey with us. And I would like to just to conclude with this. The prophets of Salaam said in the LA Hayato we had a look at the acquirement well the OB offering so Pamela because of this book because of the Quran, Allah subhanaw taala raises the rank of some people and he puts some people down look at the elite of marketing
At the time, to whom the Quran was revealed and they were masters of the Arabic language. And they know deep inside that these are the words of Mohammed Salim. These are not the words of a human being they know that this is these are the words of Allah subhanaw taala. Yet a Buddha Buddha had the big shots of Mecca, they would put down when they rejected the Quran, but a blind man like up to like a woman to whom memorize the Quran, what happened to him at the end, the prophecy Selim, you know, whenever he used to travel out of Medina, he will assign him to be the map, Allahu Akbar, like look at somebody who's like this in our community that because of the Koran, he was the leader of
00:45:37--> 00:46:14
the among the population was quite away. And I just want to end up with this smile. Imagine I've lived in MoMA tomb, for which one sort of was revealed because of him when he came to the capsule and one day and the person I'm sitting with the big shots of Mecca, and he said, Yeah, Mohammed had destiny. I'd love to call Mohammed teach me about your Lord, teach me about Allah subhanaw taala. And all what the processor did is like this Look at me, if round, return to space away. And that's Ibiza. And that's the one that he turned his face away. So Allah subhanaw taala revealed a sort of pulsar at Ibiza. He said Ibiza, and this blind man in this surah is Abdullah McCune. I just want to
00:46:14--> 00:46:55
end up with this scene image of doom. When the processor was away from Medina and he's leaving the salon he spraying Madrid and after he said, why he didn't moto la Mola. Pauline, I mean, I guess I wetter well, then he finishes the Salah. He turns back to the to the people and say, What did I did I decide in memory today and everybody's gonna say so what I was like, you know, why was was why was this sort of reveal? It was because of me. It's about me. How would you feel at that point? So pan Allah, Allah subhanaw taala trusted the heart valve to let them open because he was sincere. But he did not trust the heart of Abuja, even though he was a big shot. So this is a big lesson for all of
00:46:55--> 00:47:30
us. Please help your kids to memorize the Quran. embark on the journey, whatever your age is, I have a friend of mine who memorize the Quran in one year and a half because he was a salesman and he had to put on on in his power all the time. You know, review and review and tell him memorize the Quran and money. It's not easy, but it's not. It's not impossible. Here is someone who was 13 years old and Masha Allah she's a half as a male love this her and her parents. be envious be jealous of her in the good sense of the word. Salaam Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh
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How to Calculate 5/6 Divided by 4/9
Are you looking to work out and calculate how to divide 5/6 by 4/9? In this really simple guide, we'll teach you exactly what 5/6 ÷ 4/9 is and walk you through the step-by-process of how to divide fractions.
For dividing fractions it's also useful to know that the first fraction (5/6) is called the dividend and the second fraction (4/9) is called the divisor.
Let's set up 5/6 and 4/9 side by side so they are easier to see:
5 / 6 / 4 / 9
5 / 6 x 9 / 4
5 x 9 / 6 x 4 = 45 / 24
You're done! You now know exactly how to calculate 5/6 - 4/9. Hopefully you understood the process and can use the same techniques to add other fractions together. The complete answer is below (simplified to the lowest form):
1 7/8
Convert 5/6 times 4/9 to Decimal
45 / 24 = 1.875
Cite, Link, or Reference This Page
• "How to Calculate 5/6 divided 4/9". Accessed on November 27, 2022.
• "How to Calculate 5/6 divided 4/9"., Accessed 27 November, 2022.
• How to Calculate 5/6 divided 4/9. Retrieved from
Preset List of Fraction Division Examples
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Shari Clan Invasion of Joss
2267, September 7th: On Joss, radar facilities begin to track in-bound celestial objects touching down 75 miles from Avonia, the largest colony on the planet. AR patrols are sent to investigate the anomalies, fearing a potential incursion by Scion Empire forces; It would not be the first time. Since the raid on Joss conducted by Admiral Plutarch and the 1st Imperial Armada, the planet has been on high alert. However, as AR cold-weather prepped forces venture deep into the frozen wasteland, they begin to doubt an incursion is the cause, because the location is neither strategically valuable nor survivable for extended periods of time. Air patrols find nothing, and ground-mobile scouts report no sightings. Without warning, Raptor pilots of the 8th Air Calvary Division go missing. Their final transmissions are the audible sounds of crunching bones and violent screaming before the lone sound of the howling wind. AR forces scramble to the last known position of the pilots, but on the way, are surprise-attacked by Shari clan warriors, who's vast army begin to fill the wasteland. Approaching them with Orgur Throm tanks and aerial vehicles, the AR forces are quickly decimated in the snowstorm. Avonia sounds the alarm and prepares the militia, as the advancing Shari clan forces assemble to annihilate the colony.
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Jim Rogers Says A Market Crash Is Not Happening Right Away
There’s simply too much money injected into the monetary system by central banks to allow a sizeable bear market to take place soon, said Jim Rogers, investor and chairman of Rogers Holdings.
“Many stocks in the U.S. are down in 2020. There are a few stocks that are going through the roof every day. Some parts of the U.S. market are developing a beginning of a bubble, but many parts of the markets are not, that’s why I suspect [this rally] is going to go on for a while,†Rogers said.
Investors should be wary to identify which areas of the markets are exhibiting bubbles.
“It is beginning to [a bubble] in some stocks and in other countries as well, China, Japan, but in the U.S. I don’t know anywhere where there’s a full-fledged bubble yet in any stock market. The bond market is in a market. The bond market all over the world is a bubble, but I don’t know any stock market that’s a full-fledged bubble yet,†he said.
One of Rogers’ investment philosophies is to buy things that are either ignored or “hatedâ€. One such asset is the Chinese wine industry.
“Chinese wine companies recently…the virus has caused bars to close, restaurants to close, people stopped going out, that’s starting to change, I can see it on the internet,†he said. “As far as I can tell, they have good products, decent management.â€
Latest Videos From TheStreet and Jim Cramer:
How Markets Navigated 2020 ‘Storm:’ Winners and Losers
Could the Energy Sector Have a Brighter 2021?
What the 2020 Retail Comeback Means for Amazon
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Abraham's Marriage and the Earth's age, an Idaho Worker, and a Questionable Quote
Graph of lifespans showing systematic decline after the floodThree messages in the weekend's BEL Mailbag. Later in the show, Bob shares the results of a book search by Valerie in Texas, one of our associate producers, who helped to falsify the last bit of alleged evidence for a quote about Noah's Ark from a long-time Nat'l Geographic editor (and son-in-law of Alexander Graham Bell). Then, with great excitement, Bob shares the latest bullet added to rsr.org/evidence for the short-lived history of mankind, an observation based on Abraham marrying his sister Sarah without violating any taboo and without fear of inbred harm to any children. The show begins though with, "My name is Mark Carroll. I'm a long time listener from Idaho. The company I work for recently adopted a new covid policy which discriminates against those who haven't had the covid vaccine. I filed for a religious accommodation based on the fact that the vaccines are made with or developed with aborted babies' cloned cells. I believe like you do Bob that we're all created in God's image and that no man has the right to murder a baby and cannibalize it for their own utilitarian purposes. I want nothing to do with the slaughter of the innocent. My HR representative denied my request and then threatened me with a company-wide vaccine mandate. I am asking for your assistance in bringing this to the public's attention. We have 110 people working here and many of them feel the same way I do. Please contact me. I can provide more information and would greatly appreciate any help offered." REPLY: "Mark, so sorry you are going through this. My own mom, Connie, just was effectively uninvited from visiting her family in New Jersey this weekend. Oh well! So, can I interview you about your situation on Tuesday? Thanks so much for writing! In Christ, Bob Enyart" REPLY: "I would love to be on your show but cannot due to fear of retaliation from the company. I just don't know what to do or where to go. I've been working there for 18 years. I've been praying a lot asking God for guidance. I thank you for your response. Again, I'm a long-time listener."
- Mankind's 900-year lifespan suddenly decreased after the flood in a non-random exponential decay when the previous equilibrium rapidly fell to today's life expectancy.
- Like for Eve's children and countless of their descendants, Abraham could be blessed marrying his own sister (Sarah was his half-sister). God didn't prohibit sibling marriage until Moses (three generations beyond the Lifespan graph, top right). Even though the human genome had been deteriorating since the Fall, it wasn't until the Exodus that that procreation by close relatives became dangerous for their offspring. For both parents, by then, would likely possess some of the same damaged genes. Day-age and other old-earth camps tend to reject the global flood. Many of the advocates of such things hold to a chronology that has human beings existing for tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years before Abraham. Thus if there were no global flood and mankind had existed for eons, sibling marriage would have become dangerous tens or hundreds of thousands of years before Moses. Abraham's relationship, rather than being presented matter-of-factly as it is, would generate fear of inbred harm to his descendants. Sibling marriage would have been taboo long before any flood.
* COVID Nurse/Grandma Can't See Daughter/Grandchild: After Bob shared on today's program that his mom was uninvited this past weekend to a family function in New Jersey, a listener was prompted to email this sad story...
Hi Bob,
I was moved by the story of your mom not being allowed to go see her family because she was not vaccinated. My wife is having that same experience. Our daughter lives just outside of New Jersey with her husband. She is having her first child, our first grandchild, in two weeks. My wife and I wanted to be there for a few days to provide moral, spiritual, and emotional support. Her husband is so paranoid about Covid that he will not allow my wife to visit because she is not vaccinated. Significantly though, my wife is a nurse and has taken care of hundreds of Covid patients in her hospital. Her Primary care physician said she would not need the vaccination because her immune system would be have been built up with antibodies over the past 7 months. It makes us so sad, as now I too am not going if my wife cannot be there. Just another thing for us to trust God with. Thank you for your program.
Gods_government_store__.jpgToday's Resource: God's Principles of Government
Join Bob Enyart as he explores God's Principles of Government. From Against Democracy where we look at the biblical principles related to the idea of majority rule, to a Representative Republic and its similarities with democracy, to a real Alternative to Democracy, to what a Bible-based Constitution actually looks like, after this series, the Scriptures' principles of governance will permeate your thinking like never before! Or your money back. (Really.)
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List and explain at least 5 Cons/disadvantages of high deductible health plans. Use APA format and at least 3 peer reviewed article within 5 years.
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4 Basic Exercises to Build Stronger Abs
4 Basic Exercises to Build Stronger Abs
By Maya Howard, Contributor Wellness Blogger (@MayasHealthyDay)
Now, if only those Ariana Grande lyrics rang true for an amazing set of abs, we’d all be walking around with firmer midsections!
The good news is that, even when we don’t see them, our abs are constantly present and doing their duty to stabilize our bodies. Especially when we do exercises to strengthen them.
The abdominal muscles are components of a larger group of muscles that stabilize the body, known as the core muscles. These core muscles include the rectus abdominis, the internal and external obliques, the transverse abdominis, the erector spinae located on either side of the spine, and several others.
What does anatomy have to do with getting a firmer midsection?
Each of these muscles has ways that they are optimally trained. When you include these 4 basic core exercises (and their variations) into consistent exercise routines, you create a healthy base from which the entire body becomes strong and mobile.
Here are four basic exercises to blend into your regular workout routine to build stronger abs:
The Standard Plank
In a research study that measured the muscle activation levels produced during different core exercises, the plank was found to activate abdominal muscles the most. The standard plank strengthens the rectus abdominis, the most superficial layer of the abs known as the ‘six-pack’.
Begin the exercise balanced on all fours, with wrists aligned with shoulders and knees aligned with hips. Take a deep breath in, and on the exhale brace your abs as you draw your navel in towards your spine. Maintain this abdominal brace as you lift your knees and enter the plank posture. Allow your eye gaze to stay on the ground beneath you.
Hold the plank posture for 30-60 seconds. Perform 3 repetitions. Breathe deeply while maintaining an abdominal brace and avoid arching the lower back. To advance this exercise or to accommodate for a wrist injury, complete the plank hold on your forearms.
Variations Include: Reverse Plank, Mountain Climbers, Spiderman Plank, Bear Crawls, Renegade Rows, Stability Ball Jackknife
The Side Plank
This sideways version of a plank strengthens the transverse abdominis as well as the internal and external obliques. Side planks are commonly done to target the ‘love handles’ area. However, strong obliques are also physiologically necessary for holding in the contents of the abdomen.
Begin in the standard plank posture, looking at the ground beneath you. Pick up your left hand and place it directly underneath your eye gaze. Slowly twist your hips to the right and stack your heels on top of each other until you are completely balanced on one side. Maintain your abdominal brace and lift the left ribs an inch or two higher.
Hold for 30 seconds, then repeat the side plank while balanced on the right hand. Perform 3 repetitions on each side. To advance, balance on the forearm instead of the wrist.
Variations Include: Star Plank, Rotating Plank, Side Plank with Leg Raise, Side Plank with Knee to Elbow Crunch
These next two exercises recruit the rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, and the erector spinae muscles.
Pilates Roll-Up
The roll-up is a fundamental Pilates exercise that offers the benefits of both strengthening the abs and maintaining spinal flexibility. This exercise trains the abdominal muscles to coordinate with the spine to lift and flex the torso forward. In essence, this movement strengthens your ‘Get Out Of Bed’ muscles!
Begin this exercise lying on your back with your legs extended along the ground and arms extended behind you. Tilt your pelvic bone towards your head and draw your navel in towards your spine. (Those two movements should flatten your lower back towards the ground).
Starting with the head and then the spine, lift one vertebra at a time to roll into a seated posture. Keep your chin tucked towards your chest as you continue to round the spine in a C-shape and reach for your toes. Roll the spine back to return to your starting posture, moving slowly and allowing your abs to lower your body to the ground.
Perform 5-10 repetitions slowly.
Variations Include: Roll Up with Alternating Straight Leg Lifts, Pilates Hundreds, Teaser (aka Boat Pose)
The Ab Roll-Out
Of these 4 basic ab exercises, the ab roll-out recruits the most core muscles. Segmentally flexing and extending the spine, while balancing on an unstable surface, makes this exercise very challenging. Fitness equipment such as a stability ball, foam roller, or ab wheel is commonly used to complete this exercise.
A similar exercise is known as the Inchworm (aka walkout) is done without any equipment.
From standing, tuck your chin towards your chest. Slowly round your spine forward, one vertebra at a time, until your hands reach the ground. Bend your knees as needed. Continue to walk your hands along the ground and away from your feet until you reach a full plank posture. Hold the plank momentarily, then walk your hands back towards your feet. Slowly return to a standing posture, rolling up one vertebra at a time.
Perform 5-10 repetitions slowly.
Variations Include: Roll out using stability ball or TRX straps or ab wheel, Inchworm, Kneeling Inchworm, Stability Ball Pike, Stability Ball Reverse Crunch
Incorporating these exercises into your regular workout schedule will not only help you develop firm abs, but also develop a strong and mobile spine! Be sure to challenge yourself with the different variations, longer holds, and more repetitions as you get comfortable with the 4 basic moves.
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Claressa Shields
Claressa Shields defeated Savannah Marshall on the scorecards to become the new undisputed women's middleweight champion.
At the opening bell, a rivalry that had been simmering for ten years burst into flames, with both ladies racing into the center of the ring and unleashing their fury. However,
Shields had the better-looking outfit because to several striking contrasts.
Shields got out to a quick start, but Marshall jumped out in the second and tried to force Shields back onto the ropes.
However, the American unified champion made use of her tremendous technical prowess to get out of any circumstance that would have presented a serious threat.
When Shields appeared to be getting exhausted in the sixth, the tide appeared to have changed.
Marshall was constantly leaned on by her in an effort to withstand any assaults she could launch
but Shields showed no indications of being harmed by her explosive prowess even as Marshall started to have more success.
Shields regained control after Marshall made a brief comeback, certain that she was ahead statistically. She then employed a cunning move to irritate Marshall
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Your Ultimate Information Platform
Benefits of HTTP Proxies
HTTP Proxies Guide
HTTP is the world’s most popular internet protocol because it allows people to view and transverse websites seamlessly.
Through the use of proxies, websites can operate quicker, at a far higher safety level, and serve multiple customers at the same time – meaning that proxies streamline operations to a considerable degree.
For this purpose, we’ve decided to cover proxies, what distinguishes different proxies, and go over the most important one of them all, HTTP.
The Idea Behind Web Proxies
Proxies are one of the essential elements of the modern internet landscape. They’ve been around for decades now, and they’ve successfully transformed the internet from a buggy, slow, and often lacking desert into the superhighway of information that it is today.
Proxies are servers that act as intermediaries between a client sending the request and the server that receives the said request. Think of proxies as middlemen between the information source and the person who is requesting the information.
How Proxies Work
A proxy is a middle man between the request sender and the response server. It’s a computer with its very own IP address. Through proxies, websites can streamline operations, secure communication, and optimize their performance.
Proxies encrypt the data they receive and send, securing both parties communicating, making hacking more difficult.
Both you and the server you’re requesting information don’t do anything if a proxy is involved. The proxy makes the request, and the proxy answers it. It forwards information from one source to another, meaning that only the proxy directly influences which data is requested and responded to.
Not All Proxies Are the Same
There are many proxies out there, all of which are used for exchanging network packets between two parties but are ultimately better suited for different things. The most popular proxy on the internet is HTTP, or it’s a more secure variant, HTTPS. These are the main proxies used by internet websites, and they’re renowned for their speed, safety, and capabilities.
Another popular proxy is SOCKS5, but it’s far less common than HTTP. It’s more capable than HTTP and far more secure, but it’s used for different things. It uses a tunneling method and can communicate with other kinds of proxies, a feature that isn’t present with HTTP.
How Is an HTTP Proxy Different?
While there are many more elaborate proxies and internet protocols than HTTP, HTTP still makes the internet go round. It’s the most popular proxy for many reasons, such as its programmability, ease of use, and simplicity.
Unlike other proxies that enable the internet, HTTP acts as a firewall and content filter as well. This means that websites don’t necessarily have to be the same for all visitors. Administrators, moderators, and regular visitors can see and use the website for different things simultaneously.
They can also have different capabilities. In layman’s terms, it’s a full-stack option for websites for both visitors and their management.
How HTTP Proxies Are Used
HTTP proxies are used for many things at once. Some of their most popular uses include:
• Securing communication between the client and the server
• Acting as a content filter between two parties
• Streamlining the internal operations of the website
• Allowing for easy viewing and navigation of most websites
• Forwarding the requests to the server from the client
• Forwarding the responses from the server to the client
HTTP proxy communicates with the HTTP protocol to share information between two parties on the internet.
Benefits of HTTP Proxies
There are many benefits of using an HTTP proxy, mostly from its anonymity, security, and applicability. HTTP proxies are all around us, and the digital landscape couldn’t exist without HTTP.
They’re applicable both for commercial and private use, and depending on their use type, they can have different benefits. Some of the most important benefits of using an HTTP proxy are:
• Masking the IP address of the client and the server
• Communicating efficiently with websites all around the world
• Accessing geo-blocked or otherwise restricted content
• Internet anonymity without sacrificing speed and bandwidth
• Reduced load times for some websites
• Filtering potential harmful content and malware
• Reducing the risk of hackers, data leaks, and internet hazards
If you consider whether your business needs an HTTP proxy server, you can do deeper research and learn more about its benefits.
In Conclusion
The world’s most popular internet protocol isn’t going away anytime soon. It has been used for decades and will continue to do so in one of its many variations. While HTTPS is the industry standard due to its augmented security compared to regular HTTP, it’s still nothing more than a mere variation.
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Only Enemy Pilot Ever To Drop Bombs On US Mainland Given Honorary Citizenship
Nubuo Fujita
Only one foreign air force has attacked the continental United States. September 9, 1942 saw a plane launch from a Japanese sub, dropping bombs on the town of Brookings, Oregon.
Formidable Forces
When Pearl Harbor was attacked, the Imperial Japanese Navy was the largest and most powerful in the world. It took quite some time before the United States could bring its Navy up to the same level.
The German U-boats were known as incredibly effective submarines in World War II. However, Japan had the I-400- class.
The submarine was able to hold three floatplane bombers. It could go around the world one and a half times underwater, completely undetected, and was powered by diesel.
Attack on Continental US
Japan used a B1-type sub the I-25 to attack Brookings, Oregon. The sub went out on three missions.
First, it went from Hawaii to the mouth of the Columbia River. Second, the boat did missions in Australia and New Zealand. From the boat, the Yokosuka E14Y over Sydney Harbour and Port Phillip Bay on recon missions.
Warrant Flying Officer Nobou Fujita also flew over Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand. It wasn’t until the fourth mission that the sub-launched its attack on the quiet logging town.
Assault on Brookings
The Japanese planned to drop bombs in the heavily forested areas of Oregon and California in an attempt to start forest fires. Fujita carried two 168-pound incendiary bombs.
One bomb hit Mount Emily just east of Brookings. However, it did not amount to the devastation the Japanese were hoping for. The area was wet a d the U.S. Forest Service rapidly responded to the small blaze, putting it out.
The Lookout Air Raid as it was eventually called had very little effect. The I-25 tried a couple of weeks later but had even less of an effect. Some flames popped up but went nowhere.
Post War
After the war, Fujita owned a hardware store close to Tokyo, then went to work at a wire company after the hardware store went bankrupt. Fujita did not speak of his military service.
Fujitawas invited to the town of Brookings in 1962 and brought his 400-year-old samurai sword with him as a apology gift.
He was concerned they would be upset with him, but the people welcomed him with open arms. In 1997, he was made an honorary citizen and his sword is displayed at city hall.
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Weekly resistance training of 30–90 minutes reduces the risk of premature…
Just 30–90 Minutes Of Resistance Training Weekly Decreases Risk Of Premature Death
Weekly resistance training of 30–90 minutes reduces the risk of premature mortality.
Moderate aerobic activity (think walking, jogging, or cycling) has long been proven to be beneficial to your long-term health and well-being.
More active people, according to research, live longer, healthier lives with lower rates of disease, such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
But what about resistance training, such as weightlifting? While it’s assumed that these kinds of activities are beneficial to one’s health and lifespan, there isn’t much proof to back this up.
However, a recent study has found that 30–90 minutes of resistance exercise each week can potentially reduce the risk of early death from all causes by 10%–20%.
A meta-analysis was undertaken by a group of researchers from three Japanese universities, which aggregated data from 16 distinct studies on longevity, disease risk, and exercise resistance. They were able to look at tens of thousands of people at once as a result of this.
They discovered that 30–90 minutes of resistance training each week was the best way to reduce the probability of dying from any cause. More notably, they discovered that doing more than three hours of strength training every week can potentially increase the chance of premature mortality by 10%.
They also discovered that when it comes to preventing certain diseases, the best amount of time spent on resistance training differed. While 40–60 minutes of strength training each week is ideal for lowering cardiovascular disease risk, the longer a person spends resistance training each week, the lower their risk of diabetes becomes.
Resistance training, on the other hand, has been demonstrated to have no effect on the risk of certain cancers, such as bowel, kidney, and pancreatic cancers.
This study’s conclusions are broadly consistent with what the NHS already recommends. Adults aged 19 to 64 should try to complete two strength-training sessions every week to boost their overall health, according to them.
However, considering that public health advice is sometimes a compromise between what’s best to do and what people won’t mind, it’s encouraging to discover that the recommended amount of strength training per week to benefit health so closely resembles current recommendations.
There are a few drawbacks to this research. While the total number of persons in the studies is considerable, the actual number of studies included in the analysis is still minimal.
Because the study’s participants were mostly from North America or Western Europe, the findings may not be applicable to people from a wide range of ethnic origins.
Another restriction is that the majority of the research included in the analysis relied on large-scale surveys of people’s exercise habits. The issue here is that people may overstate or lie about how much exercise they actually get.
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Strength training benefits your general health in a variety of ways you might not think.
Aside from the obvious benefits of resistance exercise, such as increased strength, researchers are learning more about the role hormones and cells generated during resistance exercise play in our bodies.
Myokines, for example, are hormones released by our muscles in reaction to a variety of stimuli, including exercise. Myokines are small proteins that circulate throughout the body and regulate metabolism, as well as liver, brain, and kidney function.
Myostatin is a specific myokine that I’ve spent my entire career researching. While we already know it affects muscle size, there’s growing evidence that it also affects metabolism and fat cell formation, all of which contribute to our ability to stay healthy and live longer.
Resistance training also causes our muscle cells to discharge microscopic cell fragments known as “extracellular vesicles,” according to research. These allow our muscular tissues to communicate more effectively with one another.
While we don’t know exactly what they’re doing, we do know that they’re transporting RNA (a molecule related to DNA), proteins, and even mitochondria (which help our cells convert food into energy).
So, while we don’t fully understand their function, this is yet another reminder of the impact our muscles have on a variety of elements of our health and bodily function.
The authors of this current study, on the other hand, exclusively looked at the link between strength training and longevity.
This means they didn’t investigate why it has a protective impact, or why doing more than three hours of strength exercise each week was connected to a slightly higher chance of dying prematurely.
While we can guess why strength training has this protective impact based on previous research, more follow-up studies that truly strive to answer these concerns are needed.
However, just because strength training has been found to be useful in preventing premature death from a variety of conditions in this study doesn’t mean you should solely strength train. To improve your chances of living a longer, healthier life, practice moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (such as walking, jogging, or cycling) most days of the week.
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Monday, March 06, 2017
Selangor royal default?
Over the weekend, viral were pictures of Tun Dr Mahathir in Johor Baru giving a defiant pose against the Sultan of Johor.
At the tail-end of his life, he is ready and willing to openly take on the royals. He has often poke fun at the royals, whenever he goes through the Malayan Union routine in his speeches at political rallies.
In a speech in London near the end of his premiership, in which a student asked when he will resign, he told the audience that Malaysians can be anything but "jadi Raja".
The brave student was not Khairy Jamaluddin but son of a Putrajaya official then. History of that incident need be corrected.
At the same time, historians need to re-look their analysis of Mahathir. His past actions to do constitutional amendments could be more than to curb royal abuses.
It maybe something imbedded in his psyche similar to his need to shame Singapore with a crooked bridge as symbol.
However, this posting is not about royal misbehaviours or Mahathir, but financial mischief made under the name of the Sultan by a religious state institution.
One have heard of name throwing of the Prime Minister's wife, but when checked, it turned out to be untrue.
Can it be checked when the name thrown is a Sultan?
The source came from within Selangor court, but the legal case is true (as per the document above). Upon much digging, this was what was found.
In 2006, Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS) awarded a privatisation contract to built, operate and transfer (BOT) 3 blocks of hostels to Redha Resources (Redha). The hostels are to be rented out to students of Kolej Ugama Islam Selangor (KUIS), a higher learning institution established under MAIS. The BOT contract is for 33 years.
Redha raise financing and they did raised RM125 million from a consortium of Banks with Bank Muaamalat as facilitating agent.
The hostels were constructed, and Redha managed and operated the hostels. KUIS passed the rental collected from students.
In turn, MAIS gave a payment guarantee to the Banks. They agreed to top-up any shortfall in the event the rooms are not taken up. However, they do not need as it is 100% full. Good investment for MAIS.
This problem had Certificate of Fitness (CF) as point of dispute or excuse of non payment.
To justify not paying, MAIS officials threw the Sultan's name as though there were a royal decree not to pay. A royal decree would have justified cause but thus far, this one had none and is in contravention with fair practises of commerce.
Prior to getting financing in 2007, there was a pre-constuction meeting held in 2006, which involved the banks and local authorities. The authorities gave their words that the plan and design are okay. There will be no problem to get CF.
With those commitments, Banks agreed to finance. Banks have been disbursing the along the progressive claims.
Government being government and it is quite typical of Malaysian civil servants, state or federal, they requested more condition in 2008 after the hostels were completely constructed.
So no CF was issued yet. Throughout 2008 to 2012, Redha and their consultants were working on the CF. The most difficult one was the fire department i.e. bomba.
Despite no CF issued, MAIS still rented it out to KUIS students. From the initial number of 3,000 students, it increased to 6,000 by November 2012.
MAIS Chairman
In the midst of working on the CF, MAIS raised the issue of CF with Redha. It was explained and shown what was being done.
But MAIS threw the Sultan's name to claim they were instructed to terminate the contractor.
It is surprising and cannot be true for Sultan to not understand business practices.
Tuanku Sharafuddin was shareholder in Killinghal Tin Berhad, who in turn was major shareholder of the former Southern Bank Berhad, and many other business ventures.
On December 2012, MAIS stopped payment to Redha and subsequently, Redha could not pay the Banks. But MAIS still rented out the no CF hostels to KUIS students and money goes into MAIS coffer.
Not comfortable with the dispute between MAIS and Redha, KUIS offered a resolution to takeover the hostels as in to buy it over. Redha was to be compensated.
But, nothing happened.
Muaamalat and the Bank consortium members filed an application to the court against Redha and MAIS for payment. However, MAIS remained stubborn and filed a counter suit to "play on technicality" against Redha and Muamalat.
They use the excuse they have been paying for hostels that had not got CF. If Redha had not allowed the hostels to KUIS, the students will be without living quarters.
Furthermore, the agreements with Banks do not require obtaining CF as condition. Otherwise, it can take forever for CF to be obtained and no property development with bank financing are viable.
In the meanwhile, Redha and the consultants continued the process to obtain CF. Recently, in the midst of hearing, believed on the second day, they obtained what people in the construction industry called a Borang F from the Kajang local council thus Architect could issue a CCC.
With it, CF can be issued and MAIS has no more case. There is no more reason for MAIS to hold back payment. Since stopping payment, MAIS have been collecting almost RM52.6 million of hostel rental from students. However, they insist not to pay.
Furthermore, MAIS refused to withdraw the case. In discussion, it is heard MAIS raised question and doubt on how the CCC or CF could be obtained just in time. That should be beside the point, isn't it?
Various excuses, questions and doubts were raised by the MAIS team led by Chairman, Dato' Setia Haji Mohamad Adzib bin Mohd Isa. It seemed MAIS were only nit picking and trying to find trouble issues. Sultan's name were thrown in frequently.
The power and authority of the Sultan in state and religious matters, including his highness discretion in MAIS is clearly stated in the law and constitution, federal and state.
It is unthinkable and preposterous for MAIS officials to claim his highness commanded on a religious institution to default on a commercial agreement.
The MAIS council members are not made up of any politicians, BN or Pakatan, for any possibility there is political motivation or corruption by politicians. They comprise of top state civil servants, state police chief, state Mufti, members from the Royal Council and Sultan trusted professionals.
Apparently, those that attended meeting in chamber were MAIS Chairman, KUIS Rector, Redha representative, Architect, Muamalat representative, and Kajang local council.
There are various implications but royal mischief is not. It could be civil servant mischief. But, it has yet to be ascertained.
If there is reason for their actions, it must be justified by reasons and not throwing the good name of his highness. As a religious institution, they should set good example.
apala penulis blog ni said...
"History on that incident need be corrected. At the same time, historians need to re-look their analysis of Mahathir. His past actions to do constitutional amendments could be more than to curb royal abuses. It maybe something imbedded in his psyche similar to his need to shame Singapore with a crooked bridge as symbol."
I copied the above from your so-called article. Clearly a red line is under "imbedded". susah sngt ke nak right click and choose the correct one. brader ini warning untuk kau. next time kau malas macamni, dedak akan disekat. capish comrade?
Anonymous said...
i never thought this day would come. my friend used to say, "jgn ingat dalam serban tak der duit bro!" wakaf desa fahmi once took them to court as well, and won...
Anonymous said...
Quite typical cap bunga pemakan rasuah. Jumpy when the truth of their berhala pemberi rasuah is revealed.
Frank Swettenham said...
When you mentioned your source is selangor court, is it royal court or legal court?
A Voice said...
Anon 5.20
Unknown said...
So... Apa cerita sekarang?
bambed said...
Didn't see anywhere in the article that the Sultan was faulted. But it was alleged that MAIS was using the Sultan's good name to justify their really MEAN means.
Anonymous said...
To "apala penulis blog" (12.39PM)
"Imbedded" does exist. Source:
My Say
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Summer’s No Excuse To Slump
School’s out for summer! That means more time for pool days, bike rides, hiking and camping adventures—and yes—also more screen time. Most kids have access to smartphones, iPads, and video games, but during the school year, screen time is often limited due to homework and school activities. More free time in the summer means that kids often turn to their digital devices to keep them busy.
The problem is, all that screen time can cause bad posture in our necks and backs, according to local experts. Even though summer should be a carefree and leisurely time for kids, it doesn’t mean you should ignore the “summer slump.” Both kids and adults can benefit from being mindful of their screen time and sitting up straighter.
Looking down at your phone can cause pain.
Dr. Rhianna Wickett, a physical therapist and owner of Elevate Performance—says poor posture is often caused by weakness in core, back and scapular muscles, as well as tightness in the pectoral muscles and hip flexors. “These often result from poor habits and prolonged time spent at a desk, looking at a computer, or looking at iPads or phones,” she said.
According to Dr. Wickett, many people have poor posture and are asymptomatic. However, others may experience a variety of repercussions from poor posture, including back and neck pain, headaches, shoulder pain, impaired breathing patterns, poor balance, and poor athletic performance. “In addition to pain, they may have an increased risk of injury if they are using poor body mechanics daily,” she warned.
Dr. Wickett says kids and adults can help improve their posture most easily by focusing on getting active throughout the day and taking breaks from sitting to readjust frequently. She advises that “reminding ourselves to sit with more upright posture will help throughout the day.”
From a chiropractic perspective, Dr. Jona Stoebner, chiropractor at Strain Chiropractic, says most of the time, she sees changes in posture as the body fatigues—whether physically, mentally, or emotionally.
“For the most part, bad posture isn’t something we have; it is something we have created.”
Dr. Jona Stoebner
According to Dr. Stoebner, by allowing the body to be in a slumped posture, it starts to create a pattern. This pattern over time creates changes in the spine and muscle allowing for bad posture regularly. This posture becomes the new normal for the body and can be more comfortable than correct posture.
Practice good posture to prevent strain.
“What we see with bad posture is earlier degeneration of the spine, muscle imbalance, and interference with the nervous system much earlier than seen with correct posture. All which, eventually leads to pain,” Dr. Stoebner cautioned.
Fortunately, posture can be corrected but takes time and consciousness—and stretching and ergonomics can help.
“When kids are on devices the best thing you can do is set it up so they are not continually looking down and set time limits to get up and move,” Dr. Stoebner says. “As for adults, continually check your posture and set up your work space appropriately. If you need help with ergonomics, check with your HR department, chiropractor, or physical therapist. If you notice the slump, re-adjust and straighten up!”
Easy Exercises for Straightening Up
• Standing with your back against the wall and moving your arms out to the side and overhead, keeping the wrists close to the wall.
• Focus on exercises to improve your core and back, such as prone superman exercises or bird dog exercises.
• Strengthen the back muscles with rowing exercises for adults, or simply staying active and playing outside with physical activity games for children. Encourage your kids to be active at least 30-60 minutes each day. For families, taking a walk together or riding bikes can help adults and children stay active.
• See a physical therapist to develop a personalized program with exercises that will be the most important for you to prevent injuries related to poor posture and body mechanics.
Courtesy: Dr. Rhianna Wickett, Elevate Performance in Rapid City
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Computer Science Personal Statement Example 43
My interest in computers and technology started when I was given a computer as a present, at the age of ten. Since there was nobody to teach me how to use it, I had to teach myself, experimenting with different options.
The fact that I wanted to learn more about computers was strengthened when I started AS level computing. What I like about computing is that it covers a broad range of topics- from computer structure to The Data Protection Act. It covers the applications in society as well as core components that make up a typical computer. I particularly enjoyed learning about internal components such as the CPU, and different types of hardware.
Taking physics helped me to increase understanding of the electronic aspects of technology, and reinforced my knowledge of methods of communication, and the properties of different waves used.
I enjoyed learning about the fundamental aspects of how data is transmitted - within the computer itself, and over a wider area such as networks. Both physics and computing are my strongest subjects, and both involve using logic to solve problems, which I like doing.
At the end of year 12, I was required to undertake a task during 'enrichment week'. I chose to spend this week working at a computer business, ********. During this week, I had to assemble computers for a business client, so gained knowledge on different components. I also had to create and present a slideshow about Office 2007, to teach staff at a community centre.
For short periods I had to deal with customers, and perform common tasks, such as operating system upgrades. The owner of ******** was a computer science graduate, and this meant I could question him on course content which is shared with computing. The time I spent at ******** cemented my desire to study computing at a higher level.
In school, I have helped raise money for charity by taking part in a sponsored walk. During lunchtimes, I have helped supervise computer use in the library. Throughout high school, I have taken part in the annual 'interform' football tournament which takes place every year.
Outside of school, I play a lot of football during weekends, and have a brown belt in karate. I am also a very passionate boxing fan, and regularly watch and debate about it.
I have noticed how computers are used all around me, from medical applications to weather forecasting. E-business, a vital component of today's trade sector, is entirely dependent on networks.
Computers are used extensively in such a diverse range of places and environments, and I would love to play a part in advancing the already thriving computer industry. It fascinates me, how quickly technology moves forward. A few decades ago, simple mailing using computers was out of the question.
Nowadays, online shopping, virtual tours, etc. are common practice on the Internet. It is what lies ahead that I would like to be part of.
In the future, I hope my interest in computers will enable me to become a systems analyst. Embarking on such a degree would be very beneficial to me in terms of increasing my knowledge and understanding.
I am very enthusiastic and confident when it comes to computer systems, and I feel that this will play a major part in helping me to fulfil my ambition.
Profile info
This personal statement was written by Boxer for application in 2009.
Boxer's university choices
The University of Salford
The University of Manchester
University of Leeds
University of Leeds
Green: offer made
Red: no offer made
Boxer's Comments
Got all 5 offers:
Manchester (1st choice)
Leeds (Insurance)
Leeds (another course)
Statement rating:****
Related Personal Statements
want a boxing match?
want a boxing match?
THis is great
Amazing!! Man this is so good
Amazing!! Man this is so good that any one can steal your lines and use it for their statements!!
steal all of it if you want
just dont come back crying when they find out
how can they find out if you
how can they find out if you apply for different unis...
anyway your statement was ace :)
Because the similarity checks
Because the similarity checks are made by UCAS, not by the universities themselves.
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Behavioral Interview Questions and Answers
1/29/2011 No Comment
New Behavioral Interview Questions and Answers.
The cited below list of interview questions are for evaluating leadership and communication skills, interpersonal communication , decision making and others:
• Tell us about a situation when you have taken initiatives to solve customer problems that where beyond your day to day responsibilities?
• Tell us a situation where you had made a gross mistake because you did not listen carefully to the client's requirements.
• Describe with an example a really demanding situation in your project that you faced. How did you handle it ? Did you manage to remain calm and composed during the same?
• Explain us about a time in which you had to make a difficult choice between your personal and professional life. What did you learn from that it ?
• Describe us about a situation when your teammate or a junior criticized your work. How did you feel and respond ?
• Please tell us about a situation when you had to reach out to an employee who hasn’t had any experience and had to explain a complex issue
• Describe us with a specific example when you anticipated problems in the project and had to convince others.
• Describe a situation when you had to give time and show interest in what another person is saying?
• Please provide us an example where you had to started a project or initiative on your own. How was the outcome ?
• Describe us with an example of a time when you successfully anticipated potential problems and were able to give a new direction.
• Describe about a time in your project where you had to initiate a relationship with a person you didn't really like?
• Explain how do you maintain relations with a person with whom in most cases you cannot agree?
• Explain with an example when you had to turn down a customer request for a good reason. How did you handle the case and what was the outcome?
• How do you get your juniors to accept and listen to your ideas? What is your approach? How far are your successful?
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Social security switch
Dear Liz: When I turned 66, I applied for and then suspended my Social Security benefits so that my husband could take spousal benefits based on my work record. Shortly after he turned 69, he decided to start taking his full benefit from his own work record, so we canceled the spousal benefits.
After he applied to take his full benefit, I applied for spousal benefits from his account. Since I am only 67, the plan was for me to collect spousal benefits until I reached 70 and then collect off my account. Since I am the primary breadwinner, that allows the maximum lifetime funding should something happen to either of us. I sat with an employee at the local Social Security office. Together we processed all the appropriate documentation and she submitted it.
I just received a notice of denial that says, “We cannot approve your request because we received it after the 12-month limit.” I took the letter to the Social Security office for an explanation, and the woman had never heard of the rule it cited. The rule, it turns out, was designed to prevent people from repaying all the benefits they’ve received over the years so that they can restart their benefit at age 70. The rule says that they can pay back only benefits received in the prior 12 months to restart their benefits. But that is not what I did.
Answer: No, it’s not, but what you tried to do still won’t work.
Here’s the simplest way to explain it: There’s only one spousal benefit for each couple. Once you filed for your own benefit, allowing your husband to claim spousal benefits, you aren’t allowed to switch even though you hadn’t started receiving checks yet.
If it’s any consolation, you chose the right spouse to receive spousal benefits, since you’re the higher earner. It would have been best if your husband had waited to switch at age 70, when his benefit reached its maximum, but his checks are still substantially larger than they would have been if he had started earlier.
Another point that should be made because it’s often misunderstood, is that your husband was allowed to switch from spousal benefits to his own benefit because he started Social Security at or after his own full retirement age. If he’d started benefits before his full retirement age, which is currently 66, he would have been stuck with a discounted spousal benefit and couldn’t have switched to his own benefit later.
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Welcome to the Ciapponi Lab
Working with the Drosophila system was a true love at first sight and I am still in love ever since
Drosophila melanogaster is a highly conserved animal system, similar with vertebrates in many basic biological, physiological, and neurological aspects. Drosophila genome is 60% homologous to that of humans, less redundant, and about 75% of the genes responsible for human diseases have homologs in flies. These features, together with a brief generation time, low maintenance costs, and the availability of powerful genetic tools, allow the fruit fly to be eligible to study complex pathways relevant in biomedical research, including cancer and neuromuscular diseases.
The Ciapponi laboratory is interested in the understanding of different pathogenic mechanisms that are at the basis of neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases, such as Myotonic Dystrophy type 2 (DM2), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or primary microcephaly. Much of our research focuses on identifying the molecular pathways responsible for the onset of these diseases using the simple invertebrate model organism.
The laboratory further investigates how cells maintain the genome integrity, a process essential for organism survival, as several recent studies suggest that defective DNA repair also underlies brain aging and age-associated neuro degeneration.
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CiapponiLab - Department of Biology and Biotechnologies, Charles Darwin, Sapienza University of Rome
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Changing Higher Education in the United Kingdom: Examining Three Trends through a Neoliberal Lens.
AuthorPerry, Amy
OVER ROUGHLY THE PAST HALF CENTURY, HIGHER EDUCATION IN the United Kingdom has experienced a rather dramatic shift in response to national and global forces. Once positioned as the site for the creation of cultural goods, it has since been recast as a factory and its principal product is the added value (in the form of human capital) that students receive as they are processed along the conveyor belt and handed their degrees. In large part, this change can be attributed to the ascent of neoliberalism both in the United Kingdom and globally. The beginning of the current political era is often marked by Margaret Thatcher's election to prime minister, although the seeds of neoliberalism predate her election. While Thatcher successfully targeted and dismantled a number of institutions formed in the post-war Keynesian era, education was never a primary target of Thatcher's government. Nonetheless, both during and after Thatcher's tenure as prime minister, higher education was subject to a number of trends and forces that altered the way higher education looks in the United Kingdom today.
The purpose of this article is twofold: to provide a brief historical overview of the ascent of neoliberalism in the United Kingdom and to examine three trends in higher education through a neoliberal lens--the widening of participation and the politics of aspiration, the emergence of the student entrepreneur-consumer, and the marketization of higher education. The article also explores the use of online courses as a response to market pressures and the potential impact on students.
Neoliberalism's Rise: The Election of Margaret Thatcher
Neoliberalism is often used as a buzzword with a range that may extend beyond its reach. Among researchers, there is no consensus on the principles that the term neoliberalism is supposed to embody. Broadly speaking, neoliberalism refers to an economic theory that champions the role of free market forces in state governance, with a rhetorical emphasis on individual freedom (Peck 6cTickell 2007). The flexibility and generality of the term has led some to question its theoretical utility, but to the extent that there is a distinctive philosophical, political, and economic movement that we call neoliberalism, it is in part the flexibility and generality of its principles that has fueled the movement's staying power (Schmidt & Thatcher 2014). The stickiness of its rhetoric lies in the appeal of its central concepts: individual liberty and freedom (Harvey 2007). Yet while the rhetoric of neoliberalism emphasizes a decreased role of the state, the neoliberal project involves rolling out new forms of governance more than it does rolling back the role of the state (Peck & Tickell 2007).
At times, neoliberalism is spoken of with an almost mythic reverence. Neoliberalism is the bogeyman, a top-down conspiracy theory on the part of a set of global ruling elites. In actuality, however, neoliberalism did not experience a global, unified rollout but rather developed in myriad localized settings before it took on global import as a loosely grouped set of general governing principles (Peck &, Tickell 2007, Schmidt & Thatcher 2014). Neoliberalism was a response to, and the result of, global forces, crises, and events such as the energy crisis of the early 1970s, but the ways in which it took root and the paths it took to prominence varied from nation to nation and depended on a combination of global and local concerns. In the United Kingdom, neoliberalism followed a monetarist path as a reaction to and attempt to combat inflation and rising prices (Harvey 2007).
Neoliberalism and Thatcherism
Neoliberalism arose in the 1970s and 1980s as a reaction against the perceived failing of the so-called welfarism of Keynesian economics (Kendall 2003). The election of world leaders like Margaret Thatcher as prime minister of the United Kingdom and Ronald Reagan as president of the United States are frequently cited as evidence of a paradigm shift away from Keynesian economics and toward a focus on (or fixation with) free market ideology, but the ideological seeds that gave rise to neoliberalism predate the elections of Thatcher and Reagan. Certain core elements of neoliberal thought date back to the nineteenth century, such as the emphasis on individualism and the idea of self-made men in Victorian England (Littler 2013). This is not to suggest a direct line between neoliberalism and Victorian morality--self-care may have instead fertilized the ground in which neoliberalism took root--but rather that neoliberalism did not come to prominence as an entirely novel theory or philosophy and shares some similarities with this earlier English tradition.
More direct links to neoliberalisms lineage can be found in German ordoliberalism and Chicago School economics in the United States (Kendall 2003). In the early 1970s, US economists attempted to revive Chile's economy following Augusto Pinochet's coup by successfully implementing policies that, among other initiatives, strengthened the role of the market and privatized public assets (Harvey2007). This success, however, was largely restricted to ruling elites and foreign investors (Harvey 2007), a pattern that to a certain extent held true for the Chicago School's neoliberal successors.
Neoliberalism in the United Kingdom and elsewhere gained prominence as a reaction to the myriad economic and social crises of the time. In the early 1970s, economic instability in many parts of the world created an environment ripe for the ascent of neoliberalism (Fourcade-Gourinchas & Babb 2002). The growing discontent and interest in socialism that accompanied the precarious economy posed a threat to ruling elites (Harvey 2007). Through privatization, financialization, state redistribution, and crisis manipulation and management, neoliberal practices enabled ruling elites to resecure class power (Harvey 2007). State governments varied in how they rationalized the implementation of neoliberal state policies, with some, like the United Kingdom, leaning heavily on domestic concerns (Fourcade-Gourinchas & Babb 2002). International organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have played a prominent role in scattering the seeds of neoliberal ideology globally (Harvey 2007).
Amidst a decade of turmoil, Margaret Thatcher became the leader of the embattled Conservative Party in 1975 (Scott-Samuel et al. 2014) and in 1979 she was elected prime minister of the United Kingdom. Thatcher's aggressive support of neoliberal policies went above and beyond her US partner in crime Ronald Reagan (Harvey 2007). Her stringent support for neoliberal policies stood in contrast to the U-turn of former Prime Minister Edward Heath (1970-1974), who was also with the Conservative Party (Scott-Samuel et al. 2014, 55). Thatcher's rise to power was a reaction to the perceived inadequacies of Heath's time as prime minister, yet even so, Thatcher's tenure was, to an extent, stymied by opposition within her own party, and her vision for the United Kingdom was never fully realized, as she found herself unable to dismantle key institutions of the welfare state such as the National Health Service (Harvey 2007). Thatcher was nonetheless broadly successful in achieving her aims. As a fierce champion of the free market, Thatcher oversaw the growth of business interests in the United Kingdom and successfully chipped away at other elements of the welfare state (Scott-Samuel et al. 2014). As a political ethos, Thatcherism consisted of three major elements: monetarism and privatization, decreased union standing, and anti-socialism (Edwards 1989).
During the early part of Thatcher's reign, education was not targeted for radical restructuring like other key institutions. While education as a whole underwent a sort of "creeping privatization," higher education in particular did not experience significant privatization (Whitty & Menter 1989,44). Universities did see a significant slash in state funding in the form of state-provided research grants and direct grants (Edwards 1989). Arguably the most significant change to higher education during Thatcher's reign came in the form of the Education Reform Act of 1988, which generated sweeping changes at all levels of education, abolishing tenure for incoming faculty and introducing market forces via expanded parental choice (Machin & Vignoles 2006). The Education Reform Act of 1988 can be attributed in part to the ascendance of the New Right as a political force in the United Kingdom, which consisted of both neoliberal and neoconservative strands (Taylor 1993) and was an uneasy blend of economic libertarianism and social and moral authoritarianism (Whitty & Menter 1989).
Neoliberalism and Higher Education in the United Kingdom: Post-Thatcher
Although higher education may not have been a principal target for Thatcher, she employed neoliberal logics against her chosen targets and the general tenor of her tenure as prime minister created a fertile context for the New Right to push through the 1980 and 1998 Education Reform Acts (Clay & Cole 1991). The effects of neoliberalism on higher education...
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Published: 14/09/22
Making space for curiosity in art making – ruminations on working outside one’s genre and practice
In July, Artistic Director Michelle St Anne was a successful applicant to Ensemble Offspring’s Hatched Mentorship Program. Through one-on-one mentoring sessions Ensemble Offspring’s musicians and collaborating composers Véronique Serret and Jason Noble generously shared their experience in how they approach their instrument and composition.
Michelle reflects on the process of co-authourship in LRT’s upcoming The Reckoning – guided through the learnings she gained from the Hatched Mentorship Program, which enabled her to step into a musician’s viewpoint.
Mentorship comes in all forms, and over my career most of the programs have been combative. A silent competition between student and guru; colleague against colleague with a handful being nurturing, eventful and validating. Most memorable were Aarne Neeme and Richard Murphett, where their slight hand led me to the artist I wanted to be and not what they wanted me to be. They taught me how to receive feedback and how to work it into my practice. It was ok to discard.
So I applied to participate in the mentorship program as I believed it would provide me a quiet opportunity to learn from a broader field of composers and musicians of how we listen. Although I am not a traditional composer (meaning scored) my recent works have given me the opportunity to explore exactly how I compose collaboratively with sound makers and other artists. My last project ‘the foul of the air’ worked with an ever changing double bass ensemble that circled around a core of 5. The process took 3 years and the result was a specific kind of listening beyond sound but included our relationship to space, costume, light and bodies.
Currently I am working on a piece called ‘The Reckoning’ which investigates listening through the act of silencing. So I chose my two mentors because Véronique and Jason are both theatrical in their performance styles.
Although both artists are classically trained they are each consistently curious with Serret’s body of work teasing extraordinary collaborations. I thought she would have advice on how I could support musicians in throwing out everything that they have learnt and reshape through a theatrical lens. Her advice was playful and pointed. Ask the musician to generate 6 sounds from their instruments, that I could then manipulate; thread; compete; code. A simple instruction, but it brings a simple non threatening co-authorship between myself and the ensemble.
‘The Reckoning’ includes Microfiche – a six piece improvising ensemble. They have been together for eight plus years and during that time have developed their own language and style. Obsessed with two of their albums I approached them to join LRT as an ensemble in residence. My inquiry – what is it to break Microfiche?
During two studio sessions it became apparent that this was a tricky task. My approach needed to be far more nuanced yet prescriptive and the caring scaffolding requiring a different attention.
Compositionally, I am fascinated by minimalist composer Steve Reich and contemporary jazz artists, because most of the time I don’t know how to listen to it. So to access these sonic works I hone in on how their bodies shift, where they are on stage and how they play their instrument. This allows me to hold my attention and listen through the whole of my being.
My other mentor, Jason Noble is a clarinettist. My questions were around breath, breathing and the inflection of both to create a subliminal tapestry. Using the composition of Alex Vaughan’s Hevel (Breath) for piccolo and bass clarinet we went through a series of exercises of where the breath was drawn from and where it was placed. Jason very kindly surrendered to my process playing me the breadth of his technique.
The sessions allowed me to discuss the issues that I have on the rehearsal floor working with those outside my discipline and process so that I can adequately address them from a musician’s viewpoint. This is imperative to create works that push at the boundaries of genre and practice.
My ambition is to remain curious in my art making and contribute to the cultural sector by creating works that don’t always have a marketing home but which build conversations between artists who sit between genre. I have seen what this opportunity meant for the growth of composer/musician Will Hansen. I am humbled to be part of the program and can’t wait to see where the conversations lead and how I it contributes to the colourful tapestry of my practice.
Jason Noble is one of Australia’s most adaptable clarinettist, spanning the classical to experimental and improviser genres. He has performed at music festivals from Warsaw to London and throughout Australia. His two album releases reflect his collaborations with Australian composers.
Véronique Serret is a super versatile violinist, vocalist and composer whose repertoire ranges from contemporary art music to folk, rock and improvisation. She is know for her inclusive sound world and her original work on the 6-string violin blended with vocals.
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Grey Vild
The pill is the objectivity of the mouth
A miracle of modern medicine, we pull ourselves up by our teeth, cherish the red. Tug, quiet & callous, at the dream that sleeps in the sin of despair. A great act of sorrow, having finally won the attendance you finally failed. That will leave us breathless. I make a blue crease, untangle the braids that fray in my hands. A war like a miracle, when they cut me open they found a stone for every one of you. One last, an addiction to losing more than justice.
The pills speak
in your living voice. The one that laughs in my arms, buoyant tendril, glancing fissure, dormant prognosis. Metastasize the animal mind where fused— like a joyful trembling against the chest could last, like you could stay alive. Bouncing around the room like we could let ourselves a future other than this, ossified hate, thrown like light from the most unlikely surfaces. Like everything is at once a reflection & illusion of you now that you’re dead now that you’re a pill that croons only in blue now that you belong to a world we can approximate only in song.
The blue of the pill is sweeter than the pill itself
Lozenged incisor, wreck the milk of. The woman with your mouth, does she look like you does she know the violet tuning that upends the forest? Forked like a wish, cradled abandon of her arms. She feels you there, shuddered inside her. You are the sweet of the pill that swallows men whole. The clutch of abdomen where once becomes a storm of nevers. Shiver the frost from her breath, a first Christmas. A knife carved of bone is all the hand can hold. Is the hand a bladed fistful bloom?
The truth is you ain’t never comin’ back
Because everybody knows the blue of the pill is sweeter than the pill itself. Because you should remember telling me to say yes to life. Because the morning spills across our arms like a battleground. Because how long did you say? Because we are felled. Because you are prone to cirrus now. Say again. Wring the prayer from the strings’ burgeoning fingers until the teeth bloom blood. Sweet when it burns. Because I was a musicless holler, a mountain without cry. A fallow flesh, a formless— no minuet, no gavotte, no smallest blister. Because no barren-throated threat spools night from night to crown you. Because no splintering bramble, caught on loss & dashed against a people nearly bewildered as their days. Say collapse. Because of days I wished I’d cut the chord myself. Because the pill still writes the song that refuses to release you. Because its blue was not enough. Because night will dream where stars are only fissures. Because we plead so far into devastation. Because we find your wreckage in the open mouth of the river, its endless tongues.
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Exercise is recognized to end up being dependent on socio-market characteristics such as for example gender, years, and socioeconomic condition
1. 1:Data build, sampling, and you can databases
2. 2:Size
In a current health-related review of knowledge conducted when you look at the sandwich-Saharan Africa, urbanization is actually significantly with the declining and you will increasing style from inside the physical passion and you can sedentary conclusion . At the same time, new authors better if future works should include paired jobs in order to make across the nation associate studies having fun with comparable or well-known aspect techniques, sampling measures, and you may multi-nation studies in order to efficiently display physical activity changes more time in this particular area . The latest GSHS are a multiple-nation questionnaire certainly kids you to identifies more youthful people's wellness decisions and defensive variables (i.e., physical working out height).
Yet not, Ricardo et al mentioned that gender just like the a varying try a beneficial significant contributor into disparities within the exercise, in this boys was basically more vigorous than simply girls . Thus, it is anticipated one to an effective 4.8 commission part reduction in global levels of inactivity amongst females would be enough to meet up with the Who's target out of an effective 15% losing worldwide amounts of laziness because of the 2030 [1,2]. The brand new Africa sub-area already does not have decimal normative analysis to train the brand new the total amount from intercourse inequalities so you're able to update coverage and you may knowledge, towards fulfilling the brand new Who may have 2030 exercise milestone.
The possible lack of affiliate study toward adolescents' (several so you can 17 decades) physical working out peak in Africa sometimes delay the new developing regarding active social health rules, operating interventions and decision making, and weaken perform to really have the Who's address having 15% loss in actual inactivity by the 2030 [step one,2] into region. And therefore, the present day investigation aligned to offer the total standard data and you can further explore brand new sex disparity with the adequate physical activity peak among in-college teenagers from inside the Africa having fun with a nationally member data regarding GSHS from 23 African countries.
Data build, sampling, and you can databases
The present day analysis purely used Strengthening new Reporting from Observational Studies for the Observational Studies during the Epidemiology (STROBE) recommendations . The knowledge because of it investigation were acquired about GSHS, that has been held all over 23 African nations one of from inside the-college or university adolescents from 2003–2017. The latest questionnaire gained information regarding fitness behaviors and risk circumstances related with the earth's most readily useful cause of death and you can mortality among students and you can adolescents. The brand new GSHS are a joint effort between Just who, the latest Facilities to own Problem https://datingmentor.org/spain-chat-rooms/ Control and you can Cures in america, and you may using nations. Outlined methodology is obtainable within
The fresh new GSHS put a 2-phase people sampling techniques. Such, universities had been selected in the 1st stage considering a chance proportional towards the level of pupils enrolled. Immediately after up coming, a random classification is actually chose, and each scholar for the reason that classification is eligible to be involved in the research.
New GSHS received ethical recognition out of each nation's Ministry regarding Health otherwise Knowledge also an institutional remark board or stability panel. In all things, a consent/assent mode is obtained from the youngsters and you will/otherwise moms and dads, and schools, according to the nation regulations and you can stipulations.
Physical activity is examined from the just one concern and you will try worry about-said. Practical question are “During the past one week, about how exactly many days was indeed your body active to own a whole of at least one hour every single day?” The newest solutions ranged regarding no go out to help you one week (0–1 week). Considering Which suggestions and you will facts from early in the day studies [4,six,nine,fourteen,15], a teen is actually regarded as ‘privately active' in the event the the guy/she partcipates in physical exercise for at least an hour for each and every date for around five days in the per week. Consequently, the outcomes try dichotomized just like the; “enough physical activity” [we.elizabeth., came across the recommended ?five days weekly of physical working out] and you can “diminished exercise” [we.elizabeth., did not meet with the required ?5 days weekly regarding physical exercise] .
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Bleach Ending, Explained
‘Bleach’ has been one of the most popular anime until it’s decline. There are two endings to ‘Bleach’. One is the anime ending and the other is what we see in the manga. I will try to discuss anime ending while trying to explain how we got there. The characters of the series were quite vibrant and relatable. The plot was really nice too until it started to drag. We will analyze why it became so popular and why it’s popularity declined. I just want to clarify that if you haven’t watched the anime then please do so since there are obviously a lot of spoilers ahead.
The Characters
Let’s talk about some of the main characters for a moment. The characters of ‘Bleach’ as I have mentioned before were quite relatable. Their personality and motivations made us feel for them.
Ichigo Kurosaki:
Ichigo Kurosaki is the protagonist of the series. He is a teenager who has special abilities which allow him to see ghosts. We get to know of this ability in the very first episode where he brings flowers to the ghost of a young girl. This gives us an insight into his personality. He cares for people no matter if they are alive or not. He tries to keep the ghost girl happy. Ichigo lost his mother when he was quite young. His mother as was later revealed was killed by a Hollow. Ichigo can put his life and well-being on the line to protect those close to him. When he becomes a soul reaper he extends this attitude of his towards everyone while trying to protect them from hollows. Other than his special abilities, Ichigo is basically a teen which makes him relatable to the younger generation.
Rukia Kuchiki:
Rukia Kuchiki is the instrumental character in ‘Bleach’. She, like ‘Death Note’s’ Ryuk, started it all. After being hurt by a hollow she sees Ichigo around who is able to see her. She asks if Ichigo wants to save his family by becoming a soul reaper. Ichigo agrees and we get a great series. Rukia is the lieutenant of the 13th division of Gotei 13. She is currently the captain of that division. Rukia is a close friend of Ichigo’s.
Uryū Ishida:
Uryū Ishida is one of the main characters of ‘Bleach’. He is present throughout the anime until its end. He is a close friend of Ichigo though earlier he used to treat himself as Ichigo’s rival trying to prove that he is better than him. Ishida is a Quincy, which is a clan of humans who have the ability to detect hollows and manipulate the spirit energy or reishi to make weapons. Ishida has the ability to create a bow. Quincy’s dislike shinigami’s which is why Ishida hated Ichigo. Though his grandfather never disliked shinigami after the latter did not come to save him from hollows Ishida’s hatred for them grew. But later his thoughts about him and the shinigami change. Ishida is quite talented. He remains calm in extreme situations and has the ability to strategize before going all out.
Inoue Orihime:
Inoue Orihime is a close friend of Ichigo’s and is another important character in the series. Orihime had lost her brother when she was young. She daily prayed to her brother for several years and felt lonely. But then she made friends and the frequency of her prayers declined. This enraged her brother who was still around in Earth tied to her sister. He then becomes hollow and attacks her sister. Inoue is saved by Ichigo at the right time. At first, Inoue is shown to be your average beautiful girl who is kinda imaginative (in a weird way) but later she develops special spiritual powers of her own. This enables her to fight alongside Ichigo.
Yasutora Sado:
Yasutora Sado, also known as Chad is the classmate of Ichigo. His parents took him to Mexico when he was young but he was soon orphaned. Chad was then taken care of by a man whom he called his grandfather. When Chad was young he was very violent. He had brute strength and often got into fights beating other kids. One day the parent’s of the kids came to punish Chad but his grandfather took the beatings without retaliating. This incident changed Chad a lot and he vowed never to fight again unless he had to protect someone. CHad like Orihime later found out about their powers. Chad has huge strength in his hands which he can use to launch powerful attacks.
The Plot and Ending
The plot of Ichigo has been divided into four main arcs. The 1st one is the agent of shinigami arc, next is the soul society arc, 3rd is the Bounts arc, 4th is the Arrancar arc, 5th is the lost substitute arc and 6th is the 1000 years bloody war arc. The last arc did not appear in the anime but exists in the manga. Also, I have not included any filler arcs since they are not related to the main plot.
The Agent of Shinigami Arc:
This is the very first part of ‘Bleach’. Here the characters in the series are introduced. It is the start of the series and it is the arc where Ichigo receives his soul reaper powers from Rukia. This was the most important arc from the point of view of the creators as this was the one responsible for garnering more fans. I liked this arc a lot since it got me hooked to ‘Bleach’ and made invest my time to the series. Ichigo is shown to a normal teenager except for the fact that he can see ghosts. Ichigo tries to help the ghosts fulfill their desires or tries to chat with them to make them feel good. One day a Hollow attacks the Karakura Town. Rukia, a soul reaper gets hurt and does not have enough strength to save Ichigo’s family. She asks Ichigo to borrow her power and save his family. This is how Ichigo becomes a soul reaper.
Rukia decides to stay in the human world until she recuperates but she soon gets involved with them and doesn’t report to her superiors which leads her to trouble. Her superiors get to know that she is living with a human and has given him her powers. Her adoptive brother Byakuya and his lieutenant Renji are sent to bring Rukia back so that she can be punished. The duo comes and mortally injures Ichigo, who tries to stop them and takes Rukia back to soul society. The story then moves to the next arc.
This arc does a good job in explaining to the viewers what they should expect of the series. It also makes us feel for the characters. I like how they introduce the main philosophy or theme behind the story. We are told about Hollows who are basically human souls who are stuck to Earth because their wishes are not fulfilled. They become monster-like creatures with a hole in their heart when desperation and other negative emotions stemming from loneliness takes over. Then we meet people like Ichigo or Orihime who even after losing a person and becoming lonely try to protect people who are close to them. This is in stark contrast to hollows. The anime kinda shows us how loneliness and depression can affect people negatively if the emotions are not handled correctly. This is a staple theme that the series set from the very early on.
The Soul Society Arc:
This arc is divided into two parts. First one is the sneaky entry and the next one is the rescue part. After Rukia taken back to Soul society by Byakuya and Renji, Urahara helps heal Ichigo. Ichigo is desperate to go save Rukia who will probably be executed for crimes to stay with a human and giving him her powers. But Byakuya has stripped Ichigo of his powers. Urahara decides to recover Ichigo’s power by bringing out the power within Ichigo’s soul. This is a dangerous procedure since failure would mean Ichigo becoming a hollow. Ichigo succeeds and along with his group of friends who have trained hard to perfect their powers sneak into soul society.
Once there they are denied entry to the Seiretei which is where the Shinigami stays. Outside the walls of the Seiretei lies Rukongai, the place where most souls live. Ichigo and his friends discover that life in soul society is much similar to their own in Earth. Here to souls are discriminated against and there is class wise segregation. After meeting an explosion expert Ichigo’s group is able to enter the soul society via an explosion. Soon, the shinigami are after them. After becoming wounded Yoruichi, a former shinigami helps train Ichigo to achieve his Bankai.
After achieving Bankai Ichigo is able to save Rukia but Captain Aizen turns who out to be a traitor captures Ruki. He wants to gain a powerful artifact that was inside Rukia. This artifact will enable him to create powerful hollows named Arrancars and also achieve immeasurable power allowing him to rule over the world and soul society. He takes the artifact out of Rukia and along with Tosen and Gin leaves the soul society. Ichigo is later given the substitute soul reaper batch and he becomes an official soul reaper. The story then continues in the Arrancar arc.
Soul Society arc was by far the best arc in the entire series. It captivates the audience who can relate to the story. Ichigo and his friends enter a world which is really strange to them. There are rules they cannot understand. They think that Rukia is wrongly imprisoned. They meet strange elders whose motivations and determinations confuse Ichigo. Basically, it showcases teens meeting adults. Anyway, this changes the mood of the viewers and the readers as it is a great new addition to the story.
The Arrancar Arc:
In this arc, are we are introduced to Arrancars who are humanoid hollows. They are very powerful and are on par with the Gotei 13 captains. Arrancars are ruled over by Aizen who betrayed the soul society and went to Hueco Mundo where the Hollows and Arrancars live. Aizen has now become a constant threat to the soul society. He is slowly becoming more powerful and can attack the Earth realm or the soul society at any moment.
To defeat Aizen and his team Ichigo needs more power. He is approached by Shinji Hirako to join the Visored who are a group of Shinigami who have gained the powers of the hollow. Since Ichigo is similar to them they can train him to control his hollow powers. Ichigo initially disagrees but joins them later. He becomes stronger and goes to Hueco Mundo to rescue Orihime whom Aizen has kidnapped. It is a strange world for him and his friends. There they fight with Arrancars and defeat them. Later Ichigo fights with Aizen. he also finds out that his father was a substitute soul reaper. During the fight with Aizen, Ichigo uses the full power of his Zanpakuto and after defeating him he loses his power. Then we move to the lost substitute arc.
Though this arc is entertaining to watch it feels repetitive. In the soul society arc, we see Ichigo and his friends go to a strange new place called soul society and fight with strange powerful shinigami to rescue their friend Rukia. Here too we see the same thing. Ichigo goes to a new world with his friends to save Orihime and is made to fight strange powerful beings. He also loses his powers like the first arc. This is the place where the series starts to fall apart. If ‘Bleach’ was a short series then there wouldn’t have been many problems but if you have got a long series you have to constantly do new things to keep the fans interested. Here’s where the series lost its steam. Don’t get me wrong this arc is interesting but it moves from the philosophy or theme that the series was based upon. It becomes kinda like ‘Dragonball’ with Ichigo constantly becoming more powerful and reaching a new transformed form. Again I wanna mention that I did enjoy the arc but just not as much as the previous arcs as it felt repetitive.
The Lost Substitute Arc:
I am not going to talk much about this arc. The arc introduces us to Fullbringers who are humans with special abilities due to Hollow powers. Kugo Ginjo is the leader of a group of Fullbringers. He approaches Ichigo and offers to train him and recover his powers so that he can become a substitute soul reaper again. He wants to help Ichigo so that his group can then give him his powers and lead a normal life afterward. But later we see that Ginjo has lied. He just wanted to steal Ichigo’s soul reaper powers so that he can become strong. Meanwhile, Rukia, Urahara, and Ichigo’s dad had devised a way to bring back Ichigo’s power. During the fight between Ginjo and Ichigo, the latter lose their power. Rukia then Stabs Ichigo with a spirit sword which brings back Ichigo’s power and he kills Ginjo. This is where the anime ends. There’s one more arc in the manga.
Though the arc had its moment with Ichigo’s new look being revealed and all it was largely criticized. One of the main reasons was it shifted focus away from Chad. Chad was a Fullbringer and he was part of Ginjo’s group. He was supposed to be a staple in this arc but nope he was pushed to the sidelines. I am sure Kubo had other things in mind which he did not have time to put on paper due to pressure from publishers. The entire series feels a bit rushed and the character motivations are not good enough. Many plot points were not touched upon. Orihime’s power was not explained. Also, we never got any idea about the kids from the Urahara shop. The theme which I talked about in the first arc was not there anymore. This lost fan’s interest completely. I haven’t read the manga but I have read that there wasn’t any explanation for the above-mentioned plot points.
The Criticism:
I still think ‘Bleach’ is a really good anime. I still recommend it to people. It is still one of the best action anime that I have watched. But holding onto an anime for long is a tough task. you have to please the fans continuously while keeping your publishers happy. You also have to try and keep your vision for the story. It is a tough task. But to keep the audience interested you have to continuously introduce new concepts and characters but still try to keep the original theme and layout. ‘Bleach’ does manage to do it for some time but it becomes repetitive later. The first two arcs were awesome but the latter ones felt repetitive and lacked the main philosophy that it was based on. The character motivations were the same. It was easy to predict what specific moments will make Ichigo or any of his companions to react. Towards the end of the second main arc and the beginning of the third arc ‘Bleach’ was an anime which deals with power level type of things which was never the focal point of the series. Many characters were left unattended and their backstories were never told.
I just want to mention at the end that whatever criticism that I have provided comes from analyzing the anime and understanding what makes an anime work. I in no way mean to insult the creators. Though not perfect ‘Bleach’ is still fun and well worth your time.
Read More in Explainers: Death NoteNaruto Shippuden | Naruto
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What is the point of a Friendship if it fades?
I’ve been asking far too few questions lately.
I am living proof of this.
And I couldn’t help but ask myself: What was the point of these friendships? We don’t stay in touch any more, so were they a waste of time? Was I pursuing a weak friendship connection in the first place with some of these people? Perhaps. Perhaps.
Then I realized something.
A tree rising over a flooded field
But it remains true.
That’s something I expect I’ll have to keep telling myself.
What about you? From traveller to traveller:
How do you react when you reflect on friendships long faded?
Why I take the Slow-Burn Approach to Friendships (& even Dating!)
Sometimes, emotions are swept up, you’re in the middle of a grand adventure…
And then you meet someone.
Perhaps this person is unlike anyone you ever met before. Or perhaps you’re just being swept up into the adventure of it all. How can you tell?
Time. Time is the only way, of course.
Time and again I’ve been surprised how my perception of someone can shift over days and months. Occasionally, I’ll meet someone who does a surprising 180°, sometimes for ill and sometimes for the better. In the disappointing cases, my intuition will send me a warning signal. Often the signal comes in through the pit of my stomach or as a buzz in the back of my head. But I always know what it means.
So I manage my expectations. I limit how much their choices might affect me or my journey. And I continue to give them the “benefit of the doubt.” Sometimes that feeling in the pit of my stomach turns out to be less serious than I thought, and people have been known to give uncharacteristic first impressions.
The opposite can be true, too. Have you ever met someone who seemed uninteresting or just plain strange at first, only to grow closer to them later? People judge people by their covers just as they judge books, but there are often chapters that change the entire story.
The Slow Burn
All of this is why I like to get to know someone slowly, like a fire growing over time, before I make any assumptions about if and how they will fit into my life. When travelling, I often tell people that I don’t feel like I know much of anything about someone new after just one day, even if we hang out all day. To form a baseline model for someone’s personality, I need multiple data points. I need to see them in different environments on different days.
I read once that people are like fruit. I really don’t get to see what’s inside until they’re squeezed by circumstance. It’s a fun metaphor, and I think it’s not far from the truth. What I’ve learned about friends in times of strife is usually enlightening, sometimes encouraging, and often vindicating. Certain circumstances reveal totally new chapters within the story. I’m not saying you need to wait for these to happen, but they can be exceedingly valuable in understanding a person on a deeper level.
Tips for Travellers & Stationary People Alike
If you want to establish strong, honest relationships with people, take time before you make assumptions about a person. I’ve often been surprised at how good a friendship can get, or how I can pick up certain friendships right where we left off, as if no time had passed at all. I used to think that a long gap in communication was a sign that we’d grown apart, but now I see it as another element in the ever-complex process of growth that we are all taking part in.
You’ve probably heard the phrase “It’s a marathon not a sprint” and connecting with people is no different. So run the marathon with wisdom and trust your inner guide. Watch the scene unfold as a slow burn. You’ll be glad you did.
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Missing item claim
Whale of a Sale prides itself on running a highly organized and safe sale. We do our best to keep all items safe that are brought to the sale. We hire a police officer and have 5 security volunteers on duty during all sale hours.
However, with 5,000 shoppers, 100,000+ items on the floor, and thousands of items to sort post-sale, sometimes things happen beyond our control.
Per our consignor agreement, we are not responsible for items that are lost, damaged, misplaced or stolen, but will take note of anything missing in an effort to return it to the consignor should we find it was sorted into the wrong consignor pile or turn up in our “lost and found”.
Please complete the following CLAIM FORM. We will contact you if your item is located:
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Mulan (1998) and Hercules (1997) (review)
Damn! Mulan is thisclose to being not just a brilliant animated film, but a brilliant film, period. It has a dramatic story, a heroine who kicks butt, a villain who kicks butt, a square-jawed hero with a not-so-nice side, and some of the most sweepingly gorgeous visuals since Beauty and the Beast. But Mulan is dragged down by insipid songs that feel tacked on and silly, inappropriate sidekicks and secondary characters.
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• Ryan Luby
If you avoid buying that cup of coffee a day.. you're doing it wrong
Updated: Apr 5, 2018
Class just started, I made it on time fortunately and sat down ready to for that day's lesson in intro to business from my high school teacher.
Today's topic, personal finance.
Where did we start? Spending habits.
Our teacher spent the class outlining, giving a lecture, and walking us through examples of how buying a cup of coffee a day could be a personal finance disaster.
She was certain we are better off avoiding the cup of coffee and saving that money instead. She went into the time value of money, and compounding interest and much more. All great information to know and extremely useful when applied correctly.
Unfortunately this lesson did not teach us how to apply these topics correctly..
Yet, people everywhere still believe this silly idea that we should not buy coffee because it is ruining our budget, and causing personal finance suicide!
Please stop.
I'm thankful for the lesson from my teacher even though it lead me in the wrong direction at first.. eventually I learned how to use time value of money more, and take advantage of compounding interest, and most importantly how to apply these concepts to everyday life so I could evaluate what to do, and most importantly what not to do.
There are plenty of articles and teachers going on about how 1 cup of coffee a day, equates to around, $1,000 a year, which if applied interest at 6% over 30 years equals over $100,000! in coffee! Sounds terrifying, unfortunately it not only isn't true, it isn't relevant.
It's equally ironic that this was how she decided to explain these great principles, with a silly comparison to coffee spending... Meanwhile we were all month away from leaping into true personal finance suicide by choosing what college to go to... where interest is actually applied. Or maybe seeing how we are young adults who will eventually move on from college she should have addressed the number one habit we all have which often equates to personal finance suicide.. Buying a house. Where the loan actually is 30 years long.
While the hypothetical example of the cost of coffee over thirty years is great press, it's far more practical and true to learn about credit card debt, college tuition, how to buy a house without ruining your personal finances.
Again, these are all very practical situations almost all of us come across where interest truly is applied, and where there are terms for the length of repayment.
So let's do a little hypothetical time value of money example based on the widely popular coffee example.
If a cup of coffee a day, equates to $1,000 a year, and over $100,000 in 30 years if 6% interest is applied.
Then what happens when we jump into college carelessly or worse buy a house that could ruin our finances.
(Please don't think what you are approved for from a lender is what you can truly afford.. and never forget, the guidelines in place that allow you to buy a house aren't all that different from the ones that caused the 2008 financial crisis. You need to be smart and do your homework. Don't rely on anyone else, especially not lenders.)
I’ll do my best not to bore you to death here, stay with me.. :)
Let’s say we are PRE-approved by a lender for a loan of $305,000 for our first home. In no time we start looking in that price range.. Because, I mean why compensate when you can afford buying something that has everything you want?
Because there is always a trade-off.. You are always compensating. And you when you compensate to attain your wants in your house, you are often trading your comfort, peace of mind, ability to enjoy life and experiences outside of your house. Especially over the long-term.
But you are certain you are level-heading and thinking clearly… and you buy the 300k house you love because it’s still under budget right? You get a 30 year loan at 4%.. And you passed up the house that needed some work, was 5 miles outside your favorite neighborhood for 275k, and you ran out of the house on a great lot for 250k because it smelled a little like cat pee.. Actually, it smelled like it was power-washed with cat pee.
Here’s what that actually looks like.
(The loans, not the cat pee power-washer..)
Sooooo.. If you traded some short-term wants, you could have paid roughly the same monthly payment right?
I won’t even address the difference in interest.
Look at the difference in your total loan repayment!!!
From 300k to 250k the difference is 85,935!!!
Divided by 30 years for you coffee lovers is $2,864.50 a year.. You could ravel to Columbia each year and enjoy the best coffee on the planet with that savings… or you could buy 2 coffees a day at Starbucks for all I care…
I won’t belabor the point… find an amortization calculator and mess around with it yourself. As important as the loan amount input different loan terms. Not just for your house. Do it for your education, your car, boat, your golf habit whatever you want…
I’m not saying going to starbucks for breakfast lunch and dinner and every day is great personal finance choice.. I am saying that if you enjoy it and it maybe makes you more productive, then hedge your bet… Find another area in your life where you can offset that cost. Whether it’s buying a house that needs work, or a used car, or whatever.
You should live a life that makes you happy, makes you feel in control and empowered. Not one where you need to buy a brand of laundry detergent that sucks just because it fits your budget.
My frustration with personal finance being taught today is not that people aren’t stating facts necessarily, it’s that what kind of life are you living if you have to give up buying coffee to save money?
Learn more on this:
Online Amortization Calulator
Article: An article that agrees with me
Article: An article that disagrees
Video: Why rich get richer, and poor get poorer
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Some people have trouble believing that the Earth is in a 'Climate Crisis.' We may not understand the details of what has caused global warming, but 95% of scientists agree that is is human activity, beginning with the Industrial Revolution. They have been documenting these changes--and connecting them to our activities--since the early 1800's.
Since their arrival on Earth, people have made note of their surroundings, comparing what they they saw today with yesterday or last year, and eventually recording those comparisons, including:
-- the change in water levels of lakes, rivers, oceans;
-- fluctuations in temperature, by time of day, location, season;
-- how plants, animals, places change with time;
-- as well as other observable changes.
SCIENTISTS use more sophisticated tools to track changes on Earth, including using satellites to take photos of glaciers shrinking, lakes drying up, and forests disappearing. Like these:
Grinnel Glacier in MT
Lake Powell, UT/AZ
Sumatra, Indonesia
THESE SAD PICTURES ARE PRETTY DRAMATIC, but look around you...what do you notice that is LESS than it used to be?
Unitarian Universalism is a religion whose members work to safeguard our environment; it's our Seventh Principle.
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Customer contact data: it’s a crucial part of any business. And between customers’ rising expectations for personalized engagements and an increased global focus on data privacy, it’s been getting a lot of attention lately.
High-quality contact data can be leveraged across your whole sales and marketing organization. And when managed effectively, its impact can be far-reaching.
Bad (incomplete or inaccurate) data costs U.S. businesses more than $611 billion each year. But 66% of organizations that cleaned their data reported increased revenue as a result.
Let’s take a closer look at how you can make the most of your contact data to drive real business success.
How good contact data makes better marketing
Understand the buyers’ journey
Buyer journeys are complicated enough for consumer products and services, where you’re tracking a single shopper. But B2B buyers are usually made up of teams of people from different departments and with levels of seniority. A typical buying group for a complex B2B solution usually involves six to ten decision-makers, each armed with different information they’ve gathered independently.
Understanding that journey is a lot more complex. When certain personas enter the conversation at different stages, how does it impact the deal? Does it accelerate, or prolong the sales cycle? Does it affect the deal size?
Your contact database can help answer these questions. By tracking who’s involved in each stage of the buying journey, you get a clearer picture of your customers and prospects. You’ll know who’s involved in purchasing decisions, what’s important to them, and their expected turnaround times. You can then use that information to strategize how to best target them through campaigns and content. Which brings us to…
Create effective targeted campaigns and content
Marketers are tasked with driving pipeline through personalized campaigns, and rely on contact data for their segmentation. The more complete the data, the better they can identify who they should be targeting. When they can zero-in on key decision-makers, they can execute with precision and confidence.
For example, technology company ThoughtSpot was struggling to understand how their marketing efforts were influencing sales. They were unable to capture and match their contacts to corresponding opportunities. According to their SVP of Business Operations, Kaushik Patel, “Getting an accurate view on who was driving pipeline and which programs were helping was tricky.”
So, they implemented, connecting it to their sales reps’ inboxes. They started capturing and matching those contacts in their CRM system, increasing the sheer number of contact roles by 4x, and giving them valuable insight into how marketing was accelerating in-progress deals.
They found that 10 marketing touches occurred within the 25 contacts captured and added by If they hadn’t been able to capture and match contacts to the corresponding opportunities, they would have no way of knowing those targeted people were actively influencing the deal.
Unlock new market opportunities
One way to determine where to focus your marketing and sales efforts is by building your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
By evaluating past deals and looking for similarities in your accounts with the highest win rates or largest deal sizes, you may find trends you weren’t expecting. You could even uncover opportunities to expand into new verticals or service offerings. Pair that with the deep understanding of the buyer journey, and you now know the types of customers to prospect, what they care about, who they consult, and how all of that impacts the sales cycle and average deal size.
Sales teams are hungry for these ICP details. And by basing your ICP research around closed-won vs. closed-lost deals, they know it’s tangible trustworthy. Embedding these insights into training and working sessions doesn’t just help refine reps’ targeting practices, it also helps build trust between sales and marketing — a terrain that has historically been tough to navigate.
Automatically capture contact data with
Until recently, managing a customer database required a lot of manual effort. But manual data entry is prone to error, and leads to inaccurate, duplicate, or inconsistent data. According to CSO insights, salespeople waste over 27% of their time due to bad data.
Modern solutions harness AI and machine learning to automate the whole process. For example, helps you maintain complete, accurate contact records, called SmartContacts as part of their continuous enrichment services. automatically plugs into the inboxes of your GTM team to capture contact details, such as name, department, title and seniority. Through patented matching technology, intelligently detects which opportunities or accounts these contacts are associated with, and ensures they’re added to those records. As those details change over time, the contacts are automatically updated. That means each SmartContact is always up-to-date and associated with the right opportunity or account within your CRM. No more relying on error-prone manual entry.
When customer data gets better – and more valuable – with age, your business wins. By identifying all the key players and decision-makers in your buyer group, you’ll unlock new opportunities to engage your audiences.
You don’t know what you don’t know. So why not start finding out?
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Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Physical Theories As Women You Have Dated?
O.K., this may be a TAD sexist, but it is a very novel comparison. I have a Master’s degree in physics, which I have never used and never expect to other than it looks very good on a resume which I am hoping never to have to write again, so I have known for some time that some of the deep sciences are Very Deep. Therefore, I have some “credentials” in this area, otherwise known on the “street” as “a piece of paper”. So, via Andrew Sullivan, I bring you:
P H Y S I C A L T H E O R I E S A S W O M E N .
- - - -
4. General relativity is your high-school girlfriend all grown up. Man, she is amazing. You sort of regret not keeping in touch. She hates quantum mechanics for obscure reasons.
5. Quantum field theory is from overseas, but she doesn't really have an accent. You fall deeply in love, but she treats you horribly. You are pretty sure she's fooling around with half of your friends, but you don't care. You know it will end badly.
6. Cosmology is the girl that doesn't really date, but has lots of hot friends. Some people date cosmology just to hang out with her friends.
7. Analytical classical mechanics is a bit older, and knows stuff you don't.
8. String theory is off in her own little world. She is either profound or insane. If you start dating, you never see your friends anymore. It's just string theory, 24/7.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
What I hate about CBS's coverage of the NCAA basketball tournament.
Commercials. Lots of commercials, and even worse, lots and lots of commercial breaks. During every single time out, there is at least one commercial, but more likely three. And it is invariably one out of the set of about fifteen that keep getting run over and over and over.... And at the end of a game, where coaches tend to call time outs frequently, there is the same commercials for the same damn products or services that we have seen probably several hundred times over the past two weeks, if you are a NCAA junkie. I don't know about other people, but seeing the same friggin' commerical forty times in the span of six hours is N0T going to entice me to buy the product any more than if I had seen it sixteen times. In fact, I may be so annoyed that I might just BOYCOTT the damn product just because they are being so intrusive. And CBS absolutely has to shove in promos for their own programming IN BETWEEN FREE THROWS! Sweet Jesus.... They interrupt very intense and sometimes anguishing moments that could have been used to drawn the viewer in or fit in some commentary or analysis, just to fit in another 30 second spot for an ad we JUST SAW 30 SECONDS AGO!
They are destroying the emotional continuity and suspense of the game. It's hard to recapture the intensity of what just happened before this stupid commerical for Kentucky Friend Chicken (sorry, that is what KFC stands for, even if they now disown it the name) or Scott's lawn food. What possible studies have shown these marketing geniuses that inundating the viewing audience over and over with the same stupid commericals will make the product sell any better?
God, I hate commercials and the not-very-subtle attempts at behavior modification. I predict that, within the next 10 years, they will just figure out that they should be showing continuous commericals at the bottom of the screen, or in the corner, JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN AND BECAUSE SOME IDIOT MARKETING PERSON AT THESE CORPORATIONS WILL BUY THE COMMERCIAL TIME! Continuous commercials that you can't escape from if you want to watch the tube. At which point, TiVo becomes not as useful, as you cannot "fast forward" through them. They are on all the time!
I wonder if they will ever realize that they are already very close to saturation and the viewer's mind will just "tune out" the ads on a permanent basis. Any more and ads will become so much static that the mind just shuts out.
Or else gets a movie from NetFlix.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Ancient technology as exhibited by the Antikythera Mechanism.
One of the more egocentric views of the world, including past civilizations, that our Western Civilization holds to is that our technology is far superior to anything that has ever come before us. Yes, that is a true statement in many respects. Our technology never ceases to amaze. Our scientists, engineers, and technicians continue to find new, amazing methods to do just about anything the human imagination can come up with. We can now peer into the bizarre world of sub-atomic particles with the help of giant particle accelerators. We can see photos beamed directly back to us from the surface of a moon orbiting Saturn. We have devised clever of looking inside the human body in ever-increasing detail, without the obvious and dangerous use of surgery. And “amazing” isn’t limited to the realm of the esoteric. Advances in computer science, materials, robotics, communications and transportation have given us the ability to achieve things that were regarded as science fiction as little as a single generation ago.
However, this ever-increasing upward spiral of technological development has skewed the way we look at other societies that do not possess such technology. We regard them as “backward” or “ignorant”. Technology feeds our smug little egocentric view of the world. “We are the best that exist now and the best that has ever been.” Never mind that 95% of the population of the United States has absolutely no concept about how some of these devices actually function, much less be able to design them or repair them, or that many of these advances were actually made by people other than Americans.
This disdainful view of other societies isn’t limited to present day. Our view of ancient cultures is also one of conceit. “The Romans didn’t have electricity, so they must have been backwards. Likewise, the Greeks, Chinese, Egyptians, Mayans, etc., etc. Certainly, they made some large pyramids and very nice buildings with beautiful carvings and ornate columns. But really, technologically advanced, they were not.” We have been shown so many pictures of huge pyramids in Egypt since we were young that we just “roll over” the fact that we do not really understand how the ancient Egyptians actually built them, how the two-ton stones were transported, shaped and then placed on a structure rising hundreds of feet in the air within a tolerance of tenths of an inch. We are clueless about how the city of Machu Picchu in Peru was constructed at an altitude of 6000 feet by people that seemed not to have a written language, or how a Bronze Age culture transported the stones which make up Stonehenge over a distance of hundreds of miles. This list goes on and on: the Colossus of Rhodes, the Coliseum in Rome, Nan Madol in the Pacific. Even something as seemingly mundane as how ancient people constructed swords of Damascus steel is now beyond us.
None of these mysteries seem “immediate” enough to break into our complacent, self-satisfied view of our place at the top of the evolution of technology. They are all so familiar, we fail to comprehend that we don’t actually understand them!
However, on occasion, something is discovered that just makes us sit up and gape in astonishment. Such is the case of the Antikythera Mechanism. (See the picture at the top of this post.) It was discovered in the year 1903, in a Roman shipwreck off a Greek island of the same name. It was viewed as an oddity, given the nature of what remaining details could be seen. Concentric cogs and gears didn’t fit in with our understanding of that time period. Therefore, it was shuttled aside, forgotten until “rediscovered” in the 1970’s, when people started to realize how extraordinary this find was and how we must adjust our way of looking at ancient civilizations.
The following description of the device is from Wikipedia.
The Antikythera mechanism (Greek: O μηχανισμός των Αντικυθήρων transliterated as O mēchanismós tōn Antikythērōn) is an ancient mechanical analog computer (as opposed to most computers today which are digital computers) designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was discovered in the Antikythera wreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, between Kythera and Crete, and has been dated to about 150-100 BC.
The device is remarkable for the level of miniaturization and complexity of its parts, which is comparable to that of 18th century clocks. It has over 30 gears, with teeth formed through equilateral triangles. When past or future dates were entered via a crank (now lost), the mechanism calculated the position of the Sun, Moon or other astronomical information such as the location of other planets. It is possible that the mechanism is based on heliocentric principles, rather than the then-dominant geocentric view espoused by Aristotle and others. The heliocentric view proposed by Aristarchus of Samos (310 BC - c. 230 BC) did not receive widespread recognition, but provides for the possibility of the existence of such a system at this time.
The mechanism has 3 main dials, one on the front, and two on the back. The front dial is marked with the divisions of the Egyptian calendar, or the Sothic year, based on the Sothic cycle. Inside this there is a second dial marked with the Greek signs of the Zodiac. This second dial can be moved to adjust, with respect to the Sothic dial, to compensate for leap years.
The front dial probably carried at least three hands, one showing the date, and two others showing the positions of the Sun and the Moon. The Moon indicator is ingeniously adjusted to show the first anomaly of the Moon's orbit. It is reasonable to suppose the Sun indicator had a similar adjustment, but any gearing for this mechanism (if it existed) has been lost. The front dial also includes a second mechanism with a spherical model of the Moon that displays the Lunar phase.
There is reference in the inscriptions for the planets Mars and Venus, and it would have certainly been within the capabilities of the maker of this mechanism to include gearing to show their positions. There is some speculation that the mechanism may have had indicators for the 5 planets known to the Greeks. None of the gearing, except for one unaccounted gear, for such planetary mechanisms survives.
Finally, the front dial includes a parapegma (a precursor to the modern day Almanac) used to mark the rising and setting of specific stars. Each star is thought to be identified by Greek characters which cross reference details inscribed on the mechanism.
The upper back dial, is in the form of a spiral, with 47 divisions per turn, displaying the 235 months of the 19 year Metonic cycle. This dial contains a smaller subsidiary dial which displays the 76 year Callippic cycle. (There are 4 Metonic cycles within 1 Callippic cycle.) Both of these cycles are important in fixing calendars.
The lower back dial is also in the form of a spiral, with 223 divisions showing the Saros cycle. It also has a smaller subsidiary dial which displays the 54 year Exeligmos cycle. (There are 3 Saros cycles within 1 Exeligmos cycle.)
Practical uses of this device may have included the following:
- Astrology was commonly practiced in the ancient world. In order to create an astrological chart, the configuration of the heavens at a particular point of time is needed. It can be very difficult and time-consuming to work this out by hand, and a mechanism such as this would have made an astrologer's work very much easier.
- Calculating solar and lunar eclipses. However, the device would probably only have indicated days when eclipses might occur, and a more accurate calculation of the time of day would have to be done by hand.
- Setting the dates of religious festivals connected with astronomical events.
- Adjusting calendars, which were based on lunar cycles as well as the solar year.
Whatever the purpose of this device, its very existence is a rude slap in our collective faces regarding our “innate superiority” regarding all things technological. Common wisdom told us that machines of this complexity just didn’t exist in the ancient world. How could it be that the Greeks had a machine that rivaled anything that Europe produced in the 1800’s? Someone invented a computer that accurately predicted celestial movements and relationships over 100 years before the birth of Jesus. It boggles the mind, but only when viewed from within the egocentric bubble of our supposed superiority.
I also find it a bit ironic that the marvels of this fascinating bit of ancient technology are being unlocked with the assistance of modern technology, such as X-rays and CT scans.
As interesting as this device is by itself, a fascinating tangential thought is this. Discoveries in technological societies do not exist by themselves. They are almost always built on something that preceded them. The cell phones of today did not just spring out of nowhere. Alexander Graham Bell is first credited with sending recognizable voice patterns over a long distance via electrical signals. The invention of radio showed that these patterns could be sent without the use of a physical medium, such as copper wires. Vacuum tubes evolved into discrete transistors, which then spawned an entire revolution in microelectronics that continues unabated to this day. When these elements are combined, the culmination of all these developments, and others, over the past 100 years just happens to be a portable cellular phone that you can hold in the palm of your hand.
What were the predecessors of the Antikythera Mechanism? Engineers and technicians, not to mention the astronomers and mathematicians necessary to develop the astronomical knowledge behind the Mechanism, did not just develop their skills and knowledge overnight. What other astounding machines did the ancient Greeks have that we do not currently know about? Did this knowledge and technology continue to develop? What other amazing inventions did ancient civilizations produce that are now lost to us?
The irretrievable loss of knowledge is always rather sad to contemplate.
What I hate about passwords
First of all, Zep asked me to join this blog way back in January. He probably thought I was blowing him off because I didn't make like a patriot and join up to his cause, er, blog. But no, it was because, get this, I forgot my password. Now, I have a small algorithm that I use for creating passwords but they all tend to be mashups of relatively the same few words. The problem is, all of the friggin' passwords are almost the same so I invariably get to the point where I have forgotten which one I have decided to use for which site, especially if it is one I don't visit very often, like my own blog. So I go through all the iterations that it could be until I of course, lock myself out of the account. Then I have to remember which of my shadow emails I used to set up the account, have the adminbot send me a new password which I then change it to, wait for it, ANOTHER iteration of my favorite password. Which I then proceed to enter on my new palm treo so I don't forget it in the future. Which isn't password protected. Ain't data & identity management grand?
Friday, March 16, 2007
Valerie Plame Wilson WAS a covert CIA agent.
And she was outed, first by Robert Novak but confirmed by a lot of government officials, including Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, Armitage, and Ari Fleischer. She was outed for the sole purpose of trying to discredit a political critic of the administration’s handling of the Iraq war. Taylor Marsh has some GREAT writing about this.
"He did it."
Of course, Valerie Plame is talking about Robert Novak printing her name in his column. That's what her husband Joseph Wilson said when he came in on the morning Novak's column was published, July 2003. Today, Valerie Plame Wilson spoke in public before Rep. Waxman's committee, describing the day her husband came in and dropped the newspaper on the bed and said: "He did it."
When Rep. Dennis Kucinich questioned Ms. Plame, one answer jumped out. He asked if covert agents were identified very often. Plame said, not that I'm aware, especially not by their own government.
Rep. Diane Watson expressed propper outrage when she indignantly rebuffed notions that Plame only had a desk job. That seems to be the only thread on which the loyal Bushies, Scooter Libby and his puppeteer, Dick Cheney, are hanging their disgrace. That a vice president of the United States would play any part whatsoever in the outing of a C.I.A. covert agent is something I never dreamed we'd ever talk about. I never could imagine the cover of a C.I.A. agent would be outed over ideology and that either political party would play a part. There was a time when this was unthinkable. In the era of Bush, it is not only thinkable, but now a tragic, even potentially treasonous, part of history.
However, nothing could keep Republicans from spewing their venom and ignorance as to whether Valerie Plame was covert. Let us now put it to rest: Valerie Plame was covert. There is no excuse for Sean Hannity, Mort Kondracke, Robert Novak, Brit Hume and Victoria Toensing for casting doubt, except that their comments are politically motivated. Everything is political in the Bush White House, even the C.I.A.
We can never make up for what the Bushies did to Valerie Plame. Even speaking today Valerie Plame's testimony and the questions being asked were under strict guidelines, due to the open nature of the hearing. One thing is clear, as Rep. Elijah Cummings took great pains to point out.
Covert, classified or undercover? Classified wasn't used among the undercover agents. The videos of Valerie Plame speaking about it explains it all.
Rep. Paul Hodes brought up what Karl Rove told Chris Matthews, "Valerie Plame is fair game." Now imagine that it's not Valerie Plame, but another covert C.I.A. agent. Is anyone fair game? Or is it just people who get in the way of Mr. Bush? Is it just whistleblowers who have information proving the president lied in the SOTU speech?
Let's also remember that this whole event stemmed around Joseph Wilson deflating the Bush administration's case for war. Nothing is clearer.
There seems to be no means the Administration will not use to hurt those who disagree or who have knowledge that will harm the Administration. It's chilling when all the energy of the White House and the federal government are focused on private citizens, through the press. But when one of those people works as a classified C.I.A. agent working on WMDs it's especially shocking.
Finally hearing from Valerie Plame in her own words brings the whole sorry behavior from Bush administration into bright light. Congressman Waxman, my former representative, makes us all proud by holding these hearings. It gives you faith that democracy under the Democrats actually represents what our Founders had in mind. It's called checks and balances. It's called oversight.
But once again, let us never forget that the leaking of Valerie Plame's covert C.I.A. identity revolved around one subject, the case Mr. Bush and his Administration made for war. Joseph Wilson punctured that case. It launched the Bush administration into damage control that would end with the leaking of a covert C.I.A. operative's name in order to show the war whistleblower who was boss.
One final note, if Democrats weren't in the majority in Congress, Valerie Plame would never have been heard.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
How close have we really come to a fascist state in America?
The more we learn about how the Bush White House (including the subsidiary of Cheney’s OVP and his shadow intelligence agency), the more we understand how close we came to a complete meltdown of the American system of representative and democratic government that has been in place for over 200 years. We are still on the precipice, but at least now many people are paying attention and are not afraid to ask questions.
I don’t even know where to begin with highlighting what Bush and his cronies have either accomplished or attempted to accomplish in the years since Bush’s inauguration in 2001. But even an incomplete list like this makes it very clear to me that, without calling it by name, Bush and his minions and enablers have tried to do nothing less than change the type of government we have from a democracy to some flavor of fascist/totalitarian state.
- The liberal use of Presidential “Signing Statements”, in which Bush gives himself the power to ignore or interpret any laws that Congress passes, even though this position is not supported by any possible legal interpretation of the Constitution.
- The suppression of data that does not support the White House’s position, such as the case in the run-up to the Iraq war, and the secret dissemination of cherry-picked data which is seen to support their position. This include selective declassification of data, whose declassified status might be known to only three persons in the entire country.
- The tactic of destroying, on a personal level, all political opponents and critics, even if they happen to be a member of the Republican party. The Scooter Libby trial is a very recent, very illustrative example of how Dick Cheney was intent on not only discrediting Joe Wilson, but destroying him and his wife for no other reason than punishment for dare questioning the trumped up reasons we are now in Iraq.
- The makeover of the Department of Justice from an independent office into a purely partisan one, which does the bidding of the White House. The purge of political appointees in the positions of U.S. Attorneys that wewre not sufficiently partisan is a blatant example of this. Included in this is the new “paradigm” that it is acceptable for Republicans in power to lean on U.S. attorneys to do the bidding of the Republican party.
- FBI abuses in monitoring U.S. citizens, bypassing all laws regarding such activity. Even if this monitoring was done legally, at times it was very suspect, such as monitoring religious groups who were protesting the Iraq war that obviously posed no threat to the nation.
- The existence of a rubberstamp Republican-controlled Congress that enabled everything that the White House desired to do while obstructing all inquiries and oversight proposed by the Democrats, even though oversight of the Executive is one of the primary jobs of Congress.
- The use of all tactics possible to minimize and totally eradicate, if possible, the effectiveness and input of the Democratic party when there was a Republican majority in both Houses of Congress. This runs the gamut from the policy to never allow to the floor a bill introduced by a Democrat to small things, as not assigning a meeting room in which Democratic members of Congress can hold meetings.
- Liberal use of redistricting as a means to ensure a Republican majority, such as Tom Delay’s Texas.
- The expressed position of the White House and the Republican party that the supposedly independent press in America should actually use its power to be a cheerleader for the United States. The other side of the coin is the Republicans’ belief that the media should never criticize Bush or any action he takes, as it might “embolden” the enemy.
- The planting of fake “news stories” in the media, either by paid members of the media who do not disclose their interests in trumping up whatever subject they happen to be writing about. Additionally, the White House routinely uses “anonymous sources” to plant information in credible sources (such as Scooter Libby using Judy Miller to plant information about Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction) and then quoting those self same stories in support of their argument.
- A subservient news media which sees its job, up until recently, as to pass along any information it gets from the White House without questioning its validity or the motive the White House might in disclosing such information.
- The final maturation of Fox News as an organ of the Republican party, whose aim is to manipulate stories and add political spin to ensure that each story maximizes gain to Republicans and attempts to humiliate Democrats while reaching millions of Americans. In other words, it’s job is to deliver propaganda.
- The existence of a very large, effective Republican “echo chamber”, whose self-appointed job it is to echo every Republican talking point that comes out, to “dry run” possible talking points, and to magnify each other, over and over, until an initial tiny squeak becomes the conventional wisdom of the day. This echo chamber is also used to shout down anyone who raises any objections or criticisms to their methods. See Ann Coulter, Mike Medved, Michelle Malkin, Rush Limbaugh and a whole host of others of the same ilk.
- Torture has become a normal, legal tool to be used for whatever reason, even though Japanese military personnel were tried for war crimes for using those same tactics (such as waterboarding). Torture can now be done on behalf of the United States by third parties, such as Syria (who is on our potential “hit list”), Egypt, Saudi Arabia (who supplied 19 of the 9/11 hijackers) or private “contractors” (i.e., mercenaries for hire).
- The suspension of Habeas Corpus, even though the Constitution of the United States specifically states that Habeas Corpus cannot be suspended unless in times of invasion. Anyone the White House designates as an enemy can now be jailed for an indefinite period, without access to a lawyer or being shown the charges against him.
- The blatant appointments of cronies as a means of repaying political favors, even if those being appointed have no qualifications for the post. Examples include “Heckofajob Brownie” to head FEMA, a veterinarian as head of the department overseeing women’s health issues, and 23 year old relative of a political friend to head up the process of rebuilding the banking system in war-ravaged Iraq.
- The liberal use of scare tactics during election cycles, such as raising the “Alert Level” for possible terrorists attacks to Orange on 13 different occasions during the 2003 presidential campaign. Keith Olberman put together a good story that showed that almost every instance of this increase came immediately after some newsworthy event about Kerry or the Democrats, or to change the subject about some topic that the White House didn’t want discussed. At one point, three-year-old information about a possible hit on the NY financial district was used as justification for the jump to Orange.
- The suppression of scientific input for political reasons, usually by Bush or party appointees. An example is the editing of several NASA scientific reports by a 23-year-old Republican college dropout who somehow managed to get himself appointed to a NASA oversight post and who felt it was his job to suppress any discussion of global warming and to insert language to make it appear that any scientific conclusions were under some dispute.
- The use of voter suppression techniques and possibly outright manipulation of voting tallies in order to gain Republican wins. There have been attempts that have been proven, such as the New Hampshire phone jamming scandal and yet to be investigated thoroughly episodes involving intimidation of black voters in Florida and questions that have yet to be answered regarding Diebold voting machines that leave no auditable paper trail.
- The use of lobbyists, who represent the very people the government is attempting to regulate, to write laws regarding the regulation of those same companies, and then withholding the information from the public about who was involved.
- The sale of political “favors” by members of Congress, such as Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who had a specific price list of how much each type of favor would cost.
- The casual but liberal use of lying in public, sometimes under oath, when deemed helpful to Bush and the Republican party. This includes statements by Bush that anyone found being involved in leaking Valerie Wilson’s name as part of the effort to discredit her husband would be fired (Rove is still on the job with his Top Secret security clearance) and that Rumsfeld would not be replaced, made two before the 2006 midterm elections when Bush knew for certain that Rumsfeld would resign immediately afterwards. Then there are Scooter Libby’s lies in front of a Grand Jury and the FBI, for which he has just been convicted. And it appears that Alberto Gonzales, our so-called “Attorney General”, just let loose a big one while under oath in front of Congress. Lying is now the norm, without any misgivings or second thoughts.
There are many more. But what I have compiled here illustrates exactly HOW the Bush administration and his rapidly shrinking legion of followers do NOT “love freedom”. Or, if they do, I am hard pressed to figure out what exactly they mean. Freedom for just “their kind”, who think and act exactly like they do and everyone else be damned? Is that what they mean? Or is it even more unsubtle than that? “Winners get everything?” Personally, I think that is what Bush means when he speaks of freedom. He has not the slightest concept of how a democratic, representative form of government is actually supposed to work.
I know this. When I look at the Big Picture, and not just the myriad of individual scandals that seem to be cropping up on a weekly basis nowadays, I am scared. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that, if Bush and Cheney got to do exactly what they want without interference, somewhat like they have been doing in the last 6 years, our form of government that has served us so well since 1776 would be a thing of the past.
Here are a some good columns and stories worth reading.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Technology makes people stupid.
That’s my theory. I have no proof to back this up. I claim no special insights, other than direct observations about my fellow humans. And it may not be “stupid” as much as it might be things like “easily distracted”, “self-centered”, “lazy” and “impatient”. “Stupid”, although grammatically not correct for the concept I am trying to get across, is my way of lumping all those other terms, and more, into a single, all-encompassing, easily understood, high impact word. I think “stupid” works.
I am not certain where I think that the current technology overkill originates. Certainly, the constant pressure on industry to come up with yet one more “bright shiny thing” that becomes the next “must have” item on store shelves contributes to this. Corporations are flooding the market with high end, high profit gadgets of all types, marketing them to teenagers, young adults and other with expendable income at the ready. If you keep waving bright, shiny things in front of people long enough, they will eventually decide that they really need to have it. In other words, demand didn’t cause the product. The product came first, then the demand came in a rising storm for things that people didn’t even know existed, but yet had to have once they found out about them.
However, I also think that the consuming masses are just ripe for this type of manipulation of demand. People these days, young and not-so-young alike, desire to be distracted. They don’t want deep thought. They desire something new and different, something to impress friends and build up their own self-esteem by owning something that no one else has. This fits in very nicely with the overall trend of our society toward ever-flashier, ever-faster moving assault on our senses just to get our attention. Even something as simple as a razor (shaver, not the cell phone), with which one accomplishes the menial task of shaving whiskers from one’s face, must have an advertising campaign more worthy of Ferrari racing team than an cheap instrument with sharp edges that you use once a day for three minutes.
In other words, the consuming masses are already primed for the “newest”, “hottest”, “trendiest” (aka, NHT) item by the overall trends in society. It doesn’t take a marketing genius to figure out a way to see these mostly high-end, technologically advanced gee-gaws to the masses. Owning these items, whatever they might be, gives the owner a sense of satisfaction that they own the NHT item. It is an ego-stroking experience. At the same time, it gives the owner something to focus on, rather than the very real, very pressing issues that confront our society. “Don’t have time to worry about global warming! Gotta go home and set up my new flat screen, hi-def TV with Surround Sound ™!”
I think the full-scale explosion that is going on in hand-held, portable devices provides a good illustration. I can accept that a small, totally portable telephone that you can use whenever and wherever you happen to be is a wonderful advance. Great device. People are not always at home to take phone calls, especially not in these hectic days. Being able to take a phone call while waiting in an airport for your plane or while at your son’s Little League game is invaluable. However, just because they could do it, telephones constitute only a portion of what is now available. You can send a text message to someone. You can talk with them via a “walkie-talkie”. You can play video games. You can take and send pictures and short movies. You can download movie trailers from the latest Hollywood offering and view sports clips from yesterday’s big game. You can download your e-mail, send an e-mail, coordinate your schedule, ad infinitum. Phone calls? So 1990’s…..
My question is, do consumers actually NEED all these abilities? Or are they just more bright, shiny, distracting things? I once saw a scene that has stayed with me. It was a normal enough thing; just three young girls walking down the sidewalk after school one day. However, all three of them were yakking away on their cell phones. It just seemed to me that, if they were close enough to hang out with each other, they should maybe just talk among themselves. Perhaps? Or is the method of communication, i.e., the NHT cell phone, more important than what you are communicating and who you are communicating with? I have seem people, usually younger females, talk for long periods of time during a live sporting event. I was thinking, “Just why did you come to this game, since you seem so terribly uninterested in what is going on?”
And this is just the “telephone” part! I cannot, for the life of my, fathom why industry is busy constructing a hugely expensive, highly capable wireless system across the country so that people can download movie clips or sporting highlights. They could watch those at home, or at their nearest movie theater. Sure, I am being unfair, but only to a point. Many businesspersons use wireless connections for their laptops to actually do work while away from a desk-bound workstation. But a large percentage of the country’s very expensive, high-end, technological-dependent infrastructure seems to exist only so that 15 to 28 year olds can amuse themselves with very expensive, high-end, technological-dependent toys.
We’re hooked on technology. We have to have it, and we have to have the NHT, right now! I have heard second and third hand accounts, and read articles, about people who actually start suffering physical withdrawal symptoms and emotional anguish is they are not able to use their latest NHT device. Network down? Can’t check your e-mail? Full-blown crisis mode! It doesn’t seem to occur to people that they can wait until they are back at the office. The world is not going to come to an end if you can’t check your e-mail RIGHT NOW. Working people back in the 1980’s actually made do with typewriters and a hand held telephone that could crack a skull if you hit someone in the head hard enough with it, and we seemed to make it out of that decade O.K.
If religion is the opiate of the masses, as Karl Marx once pronounced, then technology seems to be a close second. Or, another way of looking at it might be more of Caesar’s “bread and circuses”. Lots and lots of nice, shiny, distracting things, so the population won’t see what is going on in plain sight if they would just pay attention to the magician’s other hand for a while.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Thoughts on how the Earth came to be capable of sustaining life.
This is about a bit of a theory that I have had for some time that puts together a lot of info from a lot of different topics that could explain the “Big Picture”. Why do we have a habitable planet when it appears that the odds, cosmologically speaking, are very long against it? When you step back and look at it in a dispassionate and objective way, it does appear that the Earth’s existence, in its present form, may represent a very unlikely occurrence.
I keep thinking that someone out there must have done this before. However, I have not quite seen it all assembled in this manner before.
Contrary to the process of normal scientific inquiry, I’ll start with my conclusion first. I’ll then explain how I got there.
Conclusion as Prologue
I don’t think that intelligent life is as prevalent out there in the universe that we might think it is. Certainly, given the immense size of the universe and the number of planets out there, something MUST have happened out there that resulted in a planet that resembles the Earth. But, I am thinking that the possibilities aren’t as high as some out there have proposed. Here is my reasoning.
A stable provider of light and energy
The first thing that we obviously need in order to concoct an environment friendly to life is a stable energy source. That is, of course, our Sun. Stars like ours are very common in the universe. However, so are many other kinds of stars. There are huge stars, such as Betelguese, which will live for many times the life of our Sun but whose surface temperature is little more than burning charcoal. There are tiny white dwarf stars which burn hot but have a relatively short lifetime. There are huge white hot stars, such as Rigel. There are all sorts of binary stars, which would make life difficult for planets to even exist, much less orbit the star in a stable orbit. There are variable stars, some of which oscillate in energy output by several orders of magnitude.
We must also have a stable local (galactically speaking) environment, free from harmful effects of such nasty, esoteric denizens of the universe, such as pulsars, quasars, x-ray bursters, etc.
To whit, the Earth does not exist by itself. The Earth exists within its own environment. In order for life to exist on this planet, we need a stable source of energy without any harmful interference from outside sources. With that accomplished, we can move on.
The habitable zone surrounding the Sun
The Earth is situated in an orbit around the Sun that lies within a relatively small window that would sustain life as we know it. Water is the key, of course. Without water, there would be no life as we know it. In our particular orbit, water is warm enough to remain liquid but yet, not hot enough to evaporate. Therefore, our Earth had to have formed within this small orbital window for to even allow a chance of life beginning. Also, the Earth had to be the right size and right density in order to maintain an thick (but not too think) atmosphere, once it had established one.
This habitable zone looks to extend somewhere between the orbit of Venus and the orbit of Mars. Any further closer to the Sun, and you have a baked ember of a planet like Mercury. Any further from the Sun, and you would have an iceball whose oceans are ice and whose atmosphere lies frozen on the ground. Fortunately, the Earth seems to reside in just the right place. We experience water in all three states (i.e., solid, liquid and gas). Life has been shown to be very resilient, as underwater hydrothermal vents teem with life and can withstand being frozen in the artic winters, only to be reborn during the spring and summer months. However, too much of either heat or cold would have doomed any aspiring life form on primordial Earth.
Where did the moon come from, and why is it important?
Why is the planet Earth the only one in the inner solar system that has a very large moon? Both Venus and Mars resemble the Earth, in a way. The size and distance from the Sun are all within some comparable parameters. Venus has no moon, and Mars has two small moons that probably don’t even deserve the really intriguing names with which they are endowed. Given those observations, one could conclude that something very unusual must have happened to the Earth back when the solar system was still a pretty dynamic place.
Most current theories regarding the formation of the Moon involve a collision between a proto-Earth and another Mars-sized planet or planetesimal. Computer simulations show that the only type of impact that would have resulted in enough material in an orbit that won’t fall back onto the Earth is a side-glancing blow. A direct hit would not have produced the “planetary pair” that we see today. The other theories, such as a planetary capture and both the Earth and Moon coalescing out of the same disk of material, don’t really stand up to computer simulations.
For more information on this theory, check out this link, and this one, and then this one.
It appears to me that, although nothing is certain in the areas of scientific theory, that the collision theory is the one that stands up best when trying to explain the system that we have right now. And if the state of Uranus is any indication, collisions of major sized bodies early in the formation of the solar system was not an unlikely thing to occur. How else does one go about explaining that Uranus is tipped on its’ side, with it’s axis of rotation pointing in the plane of the solar system disk? Something pretty darn big must have hit that planet to make that happen.
The role that the Moon played, and continues to play, in creating an environment that can sustain life is discussed below.
Plate tectonics, volcanism and the atmosphere
What is another feature that the Earth has that neither Venus nor Mars has? The answer is tectonic plates. Unlike the Earth, neither of those two planets seem to have a crust made up of large pieces. This points to something unusual in the Earth’s past that did not occur with the other two. This is one connection that I have not seen anyone else make before. I believe that it is not a giant leap of deductive reasoning to think that the same planetary impact that ultimately resulted in the Moon also shattered the Earth to the point that the crust broke into continent-sized chunks that are still with us today.
A direct outcome of the fact that the Earth has huge plates that float upon the Earth’s mantel and grind into each other is earthquakes and volcanoes. Yes, Mars has evidence of volcanoes; really big ones, in fact. But there is no evidence that any of Mars’ volcanoes are still active, and it certainly doesn’t have anything resembling the Earth’s “Pacific Rim Ring of Fire”, which contains a vast number of volcanoes, both active and dormant.
Volcanoes provide an excellent method of establishing a planetary atmosphere. Certainly, it’s very toxic at first. But even a toxic atmosphere establishes several things. One, it provides a basis for a constant energy exchange between the oceans and the atmosphere. It evens out the temperature around the globe, such that if one portion of the atmosphere becomes very hot or very cold, the law of thermodynamics rather insists huge extremes do not exist. Water is transported around the globe to places that normally wouldn’t see any water. It’s acts as a protective covering for the water that does occupies a large portion of the surface of the globe, such that it doesn’t all just evaporate into space and lost forever.
Of course, one form of life’s toxicity may be a fundamental requirement to another. High amounts of hydrogen in the atmosphere released by the volcanic activity enabled microbes to develop that consumed hydrogen and produced, as its waste product, free oxygen, which is one of the basic needs of our current form of life
Earth’s stable rotation
Another thing that the moon provides the Earth is a stabilizing force that helps keep the Earth in very stable rotation around its’ axis. The Earth rotates about its axis like a huge gyroscope. A gyroscope exhibits a number of behaviors including precession and nutation. If the Earth exhibited such behavior, the global climate would experience wild fluctuations, so much so that life would have had a difficult time to establish a toe-hold. I doubt life, during its very tenuous beginnings, would have fared well if its local climate were sub-tropical one year and arctic-like the next. Oh, it certainly may have, but I would imagine life would have had a much harder time of it without a stable local environment.
However, the Moon provides a giant “stabilizing force”, which forces the Earth’s to have a very stable rotation. This allows a very predictable, long-term environment to develop which would be infinitely more conducive to allowing life to develop than the one described above.
Tides and tide pools
There are still varying theories about how life actually came be on planet Earth. Did a soupy combination of organic materials spring to life on this planet? Were, somehow, life containing molecules deposited on the Earth from cosmic bombardments? However it happened, it is likely that life really was able to itself the interface between water and land. Tide pools provide a shelter from the direct effects of the ocean’s waves, while allowing in replenished water and nutrients on a regular basis.
From solstation.com: Bacteria formed microbial mats on land as early as three billion years ago. Fossilized remnants and other biochemical evidence from South Africa suggest that photosynthetic bacteria (primarily blue-green cyanobacteria, that may have included the ancestors of Chroococcidiopsis) may have colonized the wet surface of clay-rich soil during rainy seasons, but were blanketed by aerosol deposits laid down during subsequent dry seasons. Such mats may have formed in surface pools, water edges, and other wet spots on land (Press briefs from the NASA Astrobiology Institute of 2/5/01 and 11/29/00, and from the University of Pennsylvania).
The Moon is responsible for the regular tides in the ocean, which enables the life enabling tide pools to exist.
The magnetosphere
Another thing that the Earth has that Mars doesn’t, besides oceans, a thick atmosphere, plate tectonics, active volcanoes and a very large moon is a very large magnetic field surrounding the planet. In fact, of all the four inner, rocky planets in our solar system, the Earth is the only one with a large magnetic field. Given this rather statistically limited number of examples, it still must be assumed a magnetosphere is not a given for planets otherwise capable of harboring life (caveat: life “as we know it”).
Why is this important? Well, because our planet needs to be in rather close proximity to the Sun in order to receive the amount of energy necessary for life, we are then exposed to different type of hazard; the solar wind. The solar wind, which sounds harmless enough, is the violent stream of highly energized particles coming off of the sun’s corona. The radiation alone, if allowed to pass directly onto the Earth’s surface, would be enough to disrupt and even damage fragile organisms. As an illustration, all astronauts in the International Space Station are ordered into a very protected room where they cannot be harmed by the gamma rays that result whenever very large sunspot activity occurs.
However, with the Earth’s substantial magnetosphere as protection, we have an “umbrella” in place that protects the entire planet from these harmful rays. One need look no further than the Aurora Borealis (that is, the “Northern Lights”) to see this protective umbrella in place. All the highly charged particles are funneled north or south into the Earth’s magnetic poles. The interaction of these particles with themselves and with the Earth’s atmosphere can be seen as a brilliant curtain of light. While beautiful and awe-inspiring, the Aurora is rather a sideshow compared to the most beneficial aspect of the Earth’s magnetosphere. Without such a protective umbrella, the Earth may have lost all of its atmosphere, as well as all free water vapor (including the oceans) to the unrelenting blast from the solar wind over the course of millions of years. The Earth would look like a bigger version of Mars; lifeless (as far as we know) and water only exists in protected locations such as the poles, in the perpetual shadows of crater walls, and underground.
If the Earth had no magnetic field, it is doubtful Earth would have been able to harbor such abundant life.
The giant gas planets as protectors
One other destabilizing force in the rise of life on Earth is having your global climate very suddenly changed due to impacts of huge meteors and comets. As most laypeople know, one of the leading theories about why dinosaurs are extinct is that the Earth was struck by a large comet, meteor, or asteroid, and this caused both short and long term effects that altered the dinosaur’s habitat so significantly that they were not able to continue as a species. This theory is still under debate, and I won’t go into that here. But I think it is safe to say that life would have had a very difficult time of it if faced with disruptions of this magnitude occurred with any sort of regularity. The amount of energy released during one of these collisions is enormous, as we witnessed in 1994 when multiple fragments of Comet Shumaker-Levy 9 slammed into the planet Jupiter. If the Earth were to sustain one of these types of impacts, as an wild guess, every 10,000 years, Earth’s entire ecosystem would essentially be “starting over” each time.
Therefore, it is very indeed fortunate that our solar system is equipped with a giant vacuum cleaner, in the form of four gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) that operate in the outer portion of our system to sweep the solar area clear of most (but not all) dangerous rogue floating space bodies. Without these impassive hulking planets to act as our protector, Earth might still be experiencing a pounding that all planets and moons experienced during the formation of the solar system. One need look no further than the surface of the Moon or the moons of Jupiter and Saturn to see the violent history of planetary formation recorded in their scarred and broken surfaces.
Jupiter’s stable orbit.
It is also a very fortunate thing that these same gas giants are in a stable orbit around our Sun. This does not appear to be a given. There are something in the excess of one hundred extra-solar planets that have been discovered orbiting around other stars. Given the limitations of our detection capabilities, scientists and astronomers, so far, have been limited to detecting very large planets, on the order of Jupiter. However, what has startled astronomers has been the fact that many of these planets appear to be orbiting their parent star in a very close orbit. That is a mystery that has yet to be explained. No theory of planetary formation has yet come up with a explanation of how a large gas giant could have evolved in that close proximity to a star. The material which makes up the planet should have been subsumed by the star’s accretion disk during the star’s formation. So, how did those huge gas-giant planets find themselves in such a close orbit to their suns?
One theory that seems to explain this seeming mystery is as follows. If the planet could not have formed that close to its sun, then it didn’t. So, how did it get there, there? Applying either Occam’s Razor or Sherlock Holmes (whichever suits), the planet therefore must have moved there. Where did it come from? From a decaying orbit much further from the star, where it could have formed in the same way that Jupiter and Saturn formed in our solar system. However, for whatever reason (but that reason seems to be somewhat prevalent in the universe, based on the number of examples astronomers have discovered) the planet, over the eons, had a decaying orbit, which caused the planet to slowly spiral inward to where it is now in close proximity to its sun.
This goes without saying that it would be catastrophic to the rest of the planets in our solar system, if Jupiter or Saturn decided on following the same course. Any one of the four gas giants would gobble up any other planet, large or small, that lies between it and the sun. Therefore, it is indeed fortunate for us that all four outer gas giants stayed put in their own stable orbits after they formed. Otherwise, they would have been vacuuming up Earth, Mars and Venus instead of just cleaning up stray comets and asteroids.
Conclusions revisited
Given all these rather amazing circumstances surrounding the Earth and its neighborhood, I can only conclude that we are very fortunate to have such a pleasant and nurturing environment in which we live out our collective mortal existence. If you remove any single one of the circumstances described above from the history of our solar system, the Earth today would be a drastically different place than it is and may not have been capable of sustaining life. The Earth might resemble the hellish planet of Venus, or the dry, cold and airless planet Mars, instead of the relative Garden of Eden it does now, or may not even exist at all.
Of course, “scratching the surface” doesn’t even come close to describing our limited observations about the universe. There are millions of galaxies out there, each containing billions of stars. That’s a lot of opportunities to roll the equivalent of two thousand “snakes eyes” in a row while playing dice, which it looks comparable to what occurred in the history of our solar system. All the necessary and sometimes downright unusual events necessary to provide us with this environment conducive to life and protecting us from all the harsh conditions that exist in the universe occurred. How likely is that? Not very likely, in my mind. That is why I said, at the beginning, that intelligent life in the universe may not be as high as some have supposed.
Now, as to how these developments all lined up in just the right way, some people would use this as evidence of a Devine Influence. Nothing this complicated or unlikely could have ever come about on its own. That is a very similar argument many people make when discussing evolution vs. creationism. The odds look impossibly long for it to have happened (i.e, 2000 snake eyes in a row), so therefore, “someone” must have been behind it. “In the Beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth.”
A competing concept is sometimes referred to as “the Theory of Serendipity”. In short, it goes something like this. “Because we are here, it must have happened that way.” To me, that sounds more plausible than hypothesizing a “Creator” who concocted the entire universe but yet, somehow, exists outside of this observable universe. Someone has to win the lottery eventually. Why couldn’t it have been us?
Either way it ultimately came down, what we have right now is a planet that is warm, friendly, protective and nurturing which provides us our many needs, both real and imagined. We should treat it much better than we are currently doing. It may not be very long before it comes back to haunt us in a very big and unpleasant way.
Friday, March 02, 2007
The population bottleneck and confidence in the scientific method.
I have been reading some material and watching several shows on the Discovery Channel (I think) about the human population bottleneck. Here is what Wiki says about it first:
A population bottleneck (or genetic bottleneck) is an evolutionary event in which a significant percentage of a population or species is killed or otherwise prevented from reproducing, and the population is reduced by 50% or more, often by several orders of magnitude. Population bottlenecks increase genetic drift, as the rate of drift is inversely proportional to the population size. They also increase inbreeding due to the reduced pool of possible mates (see small population size).
A slightly different sort of genetic bottleneck can occur if a small group becomes reproductively separated from the main population. This is called a founder event.
Human mitochondrial DNA (inherited only from one's mother) and Y chromosome DNA (from one's father) show coalescence at around 70,000 years ago. In other words, all living humans' female line ancestry and male line ancestry trace back to a small number of people alive at that time. However, such coalescence is genetically expected and does not indicate a population bottleneck, because most human ancestors are neither female line nor male line ancestors (for example, one's mother's father's ... mother's father). A population bottleneck would only be indicated if DNA coalesced more recently than genetically expected.
The Toba catastrophe theory suggests that a bottleneck of the human population occurred ca. 70,000 years ago, positing that the human population was reduced to a few thousand individuals (and possibly as few as 1,000 individuals) when the Toba supervolcano in Indonesia erupted and triggered a major environmental change.
In 2000, a Molecular Biology and Evolution paper suggested a transplanting model or a 'long bottleneck' to account for the limited genetic variation, rather than a catastrophic environmental change.
The upshot is this. By examining human DNA taken from numerous examples from around the globe, scientists have concluded that the human population, about 70,000 years ago, almost went extinct. The reasons for this are speculative. However, the dates line up very well with the eruption of the Toba super volcano in Indonesia. Eruptions of that type are suspected of having long term, disastrous effects on climate at the global level.
As interesting as that is to me, that isn’t what I want to talk about here. I would like to address this concept of the population bottleneck. I am astounded that, by examining human DNA, researchers can come to the conclusion that the human population dwindled down to perhaps as few as several thousand people.
First of all, I do not understand what the researchers are actually looking at to make that conclusion. Further, from my understanding, these same researchers have concluded that this small population lived somewhere in the vicinity of eastern Africa, such as modern-day Kenya.
The second point that I do not understand (given that their hypothesis is correct), is how anyone would know what the world’s population of human breeding stock (let’s be honest, that’s what we are talking about) looked like on the OTHER side of the bottleneck. Given that the breeding population, at some point, reached that very low number, how do researchers know that there was ever any significantly greater numbers than that? The concept seems, to me, to be similar to the cosmological Big Bang. By the very nature of the event, all evidence of what the universe was like before the Big Bang has been destroyed. No conclusions about what existed prior to the event can be reached by using the scientific method.
However, this is where my belief in the scientific method comes in. I know, for a fact, that what these scientists and researchers are doing isn’t just a bunch of strung together, unsupported opinions and conjecture. The papers that have been published on this subject have been subjected to rigorous peer review. I know next to nothing about human genetics. However, I am confident that the people doing the research are following the procedures and that their conclusions that they have reached are valid. They are not necessarily “true”, but they have been subjected to rigorous scrutiny and competing theories that would explain the observed results have been evaluated. Therefore, I have no problem in accepting this hypothesis, even though this is nowhere near my area of expertise. I think this is a fascinating area of inquiry. It says that the human race may be very, very fortunate to be here at the present time.
This is why I think what the Fundamentalist Christians are doing with regard to raising suspicions about any scientific conclusion they don’t like is so damaging. When flagrantly dismissing very well founded scientific theories such as evolution, the age of the earth, the age of dinosaurs, and global warming, they are stating that opinion is more important than conclusions reached by the scientific method. If someone comes up with theory that has been arrived at with meticulous methods by trained scientists specializing in that field, you are free to discount it if that theory conflicts with your own prejudices and pre-formed opinion. We now have a very large percentage of the population in this country that has no idea how the scientific method works and seems to equate it to astrology.
If we accept this position, then we are opening up ALL current knowledge to being overridden. We would “know” nothing, and all disputes between opposing parties would be relegated to seeing who can shout the loudest. You cannot be that selective, where you accept scientific findings for something you agree with, but condemn other scientific findings that you don’t agree with that were reached by the very same methodology!
Aside from all the other hazards that this country faces at this time, we are in grave danger of becoming a laughing stock in the world. We will be passed up by the less-opinionated technological societies of India, China, Japan, and countless others. We will be unable to learn and progress, as we will never want to learn anything new.
This, to me, is the current face of the extreme right-wing fundamentalists. It appears to me that they would like us to go back to the Dark Ages.
O.K, not to say that I was prescient or anything like that…..
Here a column by David Ignatius of the Wapo that says, in a much better way than I just did.
The scientific debate about whether there is a global warming problem is pretty much over. A leading international group of climate scientists reported last month that the evidence for global warming is "unequivocal" and that the likelihood it is caused by humans is more than 90 percent. Skeptical researchers will continue to question the data, but this isn't a "call both sides for comment" issue anymore. For mainstream science, it's settled.
The question now is what to do about global warming. This is a political problem more than a scientific one. The solutions (if we can agree on any) will require political will and imagination -- and also pain. That was my only reservation about the Oscar night celebration of Al Gore's leadership on this issue. The gowns and black ties and the celebrity back-slapping made it look like dealing with global warming will be fun, a walk down the red carpet. But it's more likely to be about catastrophe and how to share the pain.
These issues come into focus in a startling new report by futurist Peter Schwartz. He turns the usual discussions upside down: Rather than starting with detailed estimates of climate change (how much temperatures will increase; how much sea levels will rise; what new diseases will be spawned), he looks instead at systems that already are vulnerable to such stresses.
Schwartz's report, "Impacts of Climate Change," was prepared by his consulting group, Global Business Network, for a U.S. government intelligence agency he doesn't identify. The text of the report is available at the online discussion forum PostGlobal ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/postglobal). Here's a brief trek through the ravaged landscape Schwartz describes.
A first set of disasters waiting to happen involves stressed ecosystems. Human actions -- deforestation, overfarming, rapid urbanization -- have created special vulnerabilities to catastrophic natural events that are likely as the climate changes globally. In an interview, Schwartz cited the example of Haiti, which because of deforestation and loss of topsoil is "an ecosystem at the edge." A prolonged drought or a devastating hurricane could tip Haiti over that threshold -- and produce a refugee crisis of tens of thousands of boat people fleeing a devastated country.
Or take the problem of rising sea levels: Climate scientists are uncertain how fast the icecaps will melt and the seas will rise. But in Bangladesh, where millions of people live at or near sea level, even a small increase could produce a catastrophe. In a severe monsoon, 60 million to 100 million people could be forced to flee inundated areas, Schwartz warns, producing "the single greatest humanitarian crisis we have ever seen."
Lack of water may be as big a problem as flooding. Schwartz notes that more than 700 million people now live in arid or semi-arid areas. Climate change could tip this balance, too, producing severe water shortages and even "water wars." Tens of millions of people may become water migrants. The world's feeble political systems can't cope with existing migration patterns, let alone this human tide.
And finally, there is the problem of maintaining social order in a stressed world. You don't have to go to Baghdad to see how quickly the social fabric can be shredded; just look at New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The stresses come in part from rapid urbanization. Schwartz notes that in 1900, one in 20 people lived in cities; today it's about half, and the percentage is rising fast. Without strong and supple governments, this could become a world of vigilantes and militias, desperate to control scarce resources.
The big problems in life aren't the ones that hit you by surprise but the ones you can see coming. That's surely the case with climate change: We can measure it, we can imagine its catastrophic effects. But can we do anything to stop it? If we let ourselves visualize how bad it could get, as Schwartz does in this report, will we make changes that might reduce the disaster? That's the real stress test: It's coming at us. What are we doing about it?
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Change Creativity stories Story Telling Voice Writing
Transformation: A Selkie Story
The world always changes. Even in ways that may not always be visible to us and if we let ourselves, then we change too. Sometimes other people hold us back and at other times we may let them. Some stories survive all those changes and serve us. They deepen our understanding of the way we experience the world, even if we live in a different time and place entirely. Those stories belong to us all and the way we tell them tells us something about the teller themselves. So here is an offering, in this time of transformation, to hopefully help make sense of this jumbled world.
You already know this story.
A lonely man, they always are.
He found it hard to connect to others and yet he could see their joy within their families and that their hearts were full and he wanted that. He saw their heads thrown back in laughter and when out walking the weather beaten coastal paths at dusk, the warm glow of a well attended hearth spilled out of small cottage windows, and he wanted that.
In the village, he witnessed lovers walking hand in hand, eyes missing the surrounding gray world, lost deeply to each other and the promises of the happy lives they were going to have together. And he wanted that.
But time passed and as he stitched the torn nets of local fishermen, he never made a catch. With each stitch into each net his heart shrunk, his gut grew and the lines of loneliness and frustration deepened. He had never been small, even as a boy, but now he was broad and tall – a hulking mass of a man. And as he swelled the women in the village were lost to him and carried into calmer waters on a more comfortable boat. They didn’t want him.
So the man grew solitary and short tempered, his language coarse with under use and his voice carried a bark- the kind you’d hear in an agitated dog.
One evening, as the sun slipped below the surface of the sea and the moon swelled like an empty, expectant plate, the man took a turn off his usual clifftop path and carefully picked his way over the rocks that were always shifting in the cliff face. He descended down towards the smaller smooth stones that washed up on the shoreline.
He starred out to sea – what was the point of a man so lonely? He pulled off his boots and decided he would swim till he could swim no more. Until he would slip silently beneath the waves. And this resolve, this feeling of holding a destination in his mind, this decision lifted his eyes. What a beautiful place to die. His skin felt the wind blowing through his threadbare unpatched clothes. He tasted the salt heavy in the air and he heard the wind singing. Or did he? Amongst the whistling wind, he heard laughter and shouts and multiple voices. He wasn’t alone, somewhere nearby was a group of people. He turned towards the voices and understood that they were coming from a small inlet surrounded by rocks – a perfect place, protected from the elements. He walked over and not wanting to be seen he crawled the final section and peered through the cracks in the rocks.
A group of naked women were laughing. Their white skin seemed to glow in the moonlight, like they had a bright and brilliant light within them. The man was filled with longing, his mind turned to his empty house, his empty life, his empty heart. What life he could have if his house could be filled with such radiance. How freely these women danced and sang and swam. He quietly climbed higher to get a better look, keen to not get caught.
That is when he saw the skins – silver blotted with darker patches. They were all an arms length away from him. Seal skins. He counted them. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. He counted the women – One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. These women had not arrived on foot over land. They had come from the sea and shed their velvety skin to dance upon the sands freely under a full moon. His longing turned from want to need to must have. He was going to have one, just one, of those women, just one of those magical selkie women would be enough. He reached out and with thick fingers grabbed the nearest skin. It felt soft and thick like a scarf hugging your neck or a sleeping kitten. He pulled himself back to his hiding place behind the rocks and stuffed the skin under his jumper. He waited wondering which woman would belong to him.
One by one, the women returned to their skins, a gray dawn was arriving over the cliftops. It was time to return home to the sea. They pulled on their skins and slipped into the incoming tide, till only one woman remained. She searched but could not find her skin. She called to her sisters to help her but they had disappeared beneath the waves. She called and searched and called and searched until her heart grew weary and the man watched and watched, waiting for the moment when her hope would disappear.
Soon enough, the woman gave up. She sank down to the rock beneath her, hugging her knees to her chest.
The man stepped out from his hiding place.
‘I have your skin.’ he said.
The selkie woman shivered from the cold, the exposure, from the man that towered over her.
‘Come with me.’ he said. ‘I can give you a good life.’
‘I have a good life.’ she replied. ‘Swimming with my sisters. Please give me back my skin.’
The man’s longing burned. He thought how much better his life would be for having her in it.
‘Stay with me, for 7 years. For 7 years be my wife. After those seven years have passed, I will return your skin to you. The woman thought what else could she do but accept his offer. She could not return to the sea without her skin to protect her and she could not fight a man so large. What was 7 years in a life that could stretch to 100. She agreed. The man greedily snatched her up. He set her on her feet and helped her down from the rocks. He took off his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders.
The coat felt strange – coarse against her skin and the smell was odd like smoke, but what does a woman of the sea know of fire? She followed him as he led her back up off the beach and up the cliff and along the path to his village by the harbour. And there in a tumbledown cottage they made a life and the man softened, although those years of jagged loneliness could never really be smoothed.
She wore the dresses he bought her and looked like a normal wife despite not knowing the ways of a kitchen. Her belly soon swelled and carried out into the world, on a tide of fear, a child was born. A girl. The child was human. She bore no sign of being Selkie. Now the woman was tied to land in a way that was larger than the deal struck on the beach.
Seven years passed. The girl was fed on stories of sea caves and creatures. She was hushed to sleep with the songs of whales and seaweed and water. The child grew well. Rosy skinned and full bodied in fine fettle. The woman waned. Her skin became dryer and dryer until it cracked and her eyes suffered. The world turned into colour and indistinguishable shapes. The woman loved her child, but the longing to be back in the sea with her own kind was causing her body to shut down.
As the seventh year drew to a close, she turned to the man and asked for her skin to be returned to her. The girl, whose parents thought she was asleep, heard the conversation between her parents.
‘7 years have passed. It is time for my skin to be returned to me.’ said the woman.
The man’s fear of being alone reared its ugly head. Left with a young girl to raise without a woman to guide her in things he did not know or understand.
‘I cannot give your skin back to you.’ he said.’ I cannot lose you to the sea.I cannot once again be alone.’
‘You will lose me, with or without returning my skin. I cannot survive here. I am fading fast. To keep me here is to kill me.’
‘What of your child? Do you not love her?’
‘ I love her with all of my body, but my body is weak and I cannot be there for her in death.’
The man shook his head. ‘You belong to me. You are mine and mine alone. I will not give you your skin. Filled with darkness, the man left the house. The woman silently mourned the fight she didn’t have 7 years earlier, now too weak, 7 years on to fight.
The girl having heard all of the exchange was horrified. She didn’t want her mother to die. For days her thoughts swilled a round and a round in her head. What could she do? How could she save her mother?
Meanwhile the woman became extremely frail. Her skin was carved up into patterns like contours and borders on a map. Her sight reduced to near blackness. Her heart, already weakened from the years out of the water, out of her skin and away from home, beat like a fading drum.
The girl drank it all in, She saw her fathers impatience and his snap at this sad, frail woman that he now had for a wife. She saw her mother shrinking and despite being young in years, she knew that her mother was dying.
One full mooned night, while the girl sat drinking in the blackness of the night and the blackness of her thoughts she heard a song on the wind. Her small bedroom rattled as the song found its way through the grains of wood holding the pane of glass in place.
She quietly tip-toed down the stairs on soft slippered feet and made her way to the front door. After Pulling on her woollen hat and mittens and sheepskin lined coat she stepped out into the night. The song was louder out in the harbour. The wind blew from the north west along the coastal path . she followed the sound as she followed the song became louder and the girl grew in confidence, knowing that each step along the path meant discovering answers. Down onto the beach that had been the meeting place for her parents, 7 years earlier. She stopped and looked out to the sea where her mother came from. She felt a pull in her heart, a pull to walk into the waves and never feel land again under her feet , just like her father 7 years before.
But the song called soothingly from behind some rocks further along the beach. So she followed, scrambling over giant rocks, slippery with seaweed in soft slippers. There lying on the rock below was a seal skin. It was bedraggled and torn in places. Its silver shine reduced to an asphalt gray. The girl knew it was the skin of her mother. Carefully she picked up the skin – it felt as frail as tissue paper. She folded it up with great care and tucked it into her coat.
Dawn was now breaking from behind the cliffs. So the girl picked her path back over the rocks and up the beach. Back along the path and down to the small village by the harbour. The boats were gone, carrying the men in the village out to sea for the morning catch. The girl made her way to the cottage where she lived and found her mother luging in bed. Eyes open yet unseeing.
The girl guided her mothers hands to the seal skin and even though it had been years and even though the soft velvety skin had decayed and even though the woman was as sightless as a moonlit night, she recognised the skin. For who doesn’t know how it feels to come home?
Tears fell from the woman’s eyes dropping like patchwork upon the skin and with each tear the skiing seemed to become healthier. The girl watched as her mother cradled the skin in her arms just like she had cradled her daughter as a baby. She sang weakly aat first, her voice keening, breaking with the heartache of absence and the joy of the return.
With help from her daughter the woman shuffled from the house and along the headland. Down from the cliffs and onto the beach. There she removed her nightgown and pulled on her skin. The girl watched wrapping her mother’s nightgown around her neck for change is hard and small comforts help.
Before her eyes, her mother was a seal and the girl knew this was how it was meant to be. Awkwardly the two made their way to where the salty water kissed the waves, splashing and laughing in the shallows. Further out they went and soon the girl had wrapped her arms around her seal mothers neck . The seal mother turned and breathed air over her daughter and soon enough they were diving down deeper and deeper and the girl breathed as though she was above the surface. They came to an underground cave. They swam through arriving in a vast cavern filled with other seals, other selkies who all turned to see who had entered.
A stillness descended and slowly an elderly seal swam towards the seal mother and the girl. There was recognition and acceptance. There was grief and celebration. Before long the child had to be taken back to land for she was not Selkie, nor human. The elderly seal and her mother returned her to the shoreline. The child walked onto a beach forever changed by the homecoming she had witnessed and the journey beneath the waves. She belongs to transformation. Wherever transition took place. She was a sliding scale, perpetual movement. A cycle of breath. She was autumn leaves and spring buds, dawn and dusk, bears emerging from a long winter’s hibernation, pine trees kissing the sky and the sea embracing the land. She was her mother and her father, she was soul and ego and she could navigate an edge- her curiosity overcoming her fear.
And she grew and as she grew she listened, knowing that the world turns and time passes and people change. And people came and they listened to her stories and for the short time that they listened they found peace within and without. She told and listened and listened and told and she saw that the world was an unending cycle of wonder.
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Managing Data with Scheduled Tasks
Joel Oliveira
Joel Oliveira
Feb 15 2021
Posted in Best Practices
Automating how you collect and share data with 3rd parties
Managing Data with Scheduled Tasks
For many organizations, the ability to synchronize data between all the software in their marketing stack, is probably the decisive factor for the success of a marketing strategy. Being able to gather a source of truth among all data sources, is how teams make better decisions, market their products, use their advertising budgets and influence product development.
In Notificare, we are proud to provide all our clients with a powerful set of APIs that help them tap into technologies like Messaging, Location Services, Loyalty, Analytics and Contextual Content. These APIs are also the best solution when organizations want to connect all the dots and create robust integrations between software providers. In an ideal world, this would be all a company needs to take control over their data.
But this is not always possible. In some cases, companies simply don't have the capacity to develop these integrations or it simply doesn't justify the development costs. For these companies, we still have some tricks up our sleeves.
Enter Scheduled Tasks
Available in all our plans, this feature will provide companies, without development capacity, with ways to import data from other sources into Notificare or share data generated in Notificare with 3rd parties. By using a very common file format like CSV (comma separated values) and cloud storage solutions like AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob or ultimately any server with (S)FTP access, any company can quickly automate how data is imported or exported from Notificare.
With Scheduled Tasks, you can transform what would usually be done manually by a marketer into an automated task that runs periodically when there is new data to work with. These tasks can then accomplish a variety of operations.
Here are 8 great examples of what can be done with Scheduled Tasks:
1. Synchronize Contacts
There are many cases where email addresses or phone numbers are collected from different touch points. Scheduled Tasks are a great way of importing all those new contacts generated elsewhere.
2. Access to User Data
Many marketers and data analysts need up-to-date user data that can be cross referenced with other sources. These automated export jobs can enable how other 3rd party analytics tools can access data generated in Notificare.
3. Analysing Events
Apps and websites generate huge amounts of data on a daily basis. From user behaviour to app usage or message performance, access to all these events is crucial to organizations eager to measure ROI. With Scheduled Tasks, all these events can be exported and accessed by different departments.
4. Segmentation
For most businesses, segmentation plays an important role in the success of messaging campaigns or targeted content. Being able to streamline how you categorize users across multiple channels is one of the best use cases for Scheduled Tasks.
5. Keep Geo-Fences & Beacons Up-to-Date
Being able to keep information about brick-and-mortar stores is extremely important for industries like retail or hospitality. This is how companies win in a digital era. By automating how data is available in Notificare with Scheduled Tasks, marketing teams can deploy effective location based messaging campaigns.
6. Rewarding Loyal Customers
Scheduled tasks are also a very important mechanism for organizations looking to automated how they reward customers. In combination with our Loyalty add-on, companies can create and distribute digital cards effortlessly.
7. Transactional Messages
E-commerce businesses generate, at some point, some form of transactional messages. From purchase confirmations to shipping status updates, Scheduled Tasks are perfect to automate how companies create these messages.
8. Personal & Targeted Messages
Scheduled Tasks are also great when you want to generate highly personal or targeted messaging campaigns. They are especially useful for those companies looking to include profile data available elsewhere in push, email or SMS campaigns. From birthday messages to product recommendations, Scheduled Tasks can help your company automate how top performing messaging campaigns are generated.
Ready to Take Control of Your Data?
These are just some examples of what can be done with Scheduled Tasks and how some of the best companies in retail, hospitality and mobility use Notificare on a daily basis. If you want to see this in action, don't hesitate and request a demo today.
Keep up-to-date with the latest news
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Case №1
Salary Sheet
Points Based System
Round 1: If the names of the suspect (suspects) is/are guessed correctly - 16 points + from 1 to 5 extra points for a further more detailed explanation.
*If a correct answer includes 2 or more suspects, it is necessary to mention all of them. Partially correct answers will earn points according to their proportional relationship to the point system.
In case you have mentioned the name of an incorrect suspect with the correct names, then points will be taken away (1 incorrect suspect = minus 4 points)
Answer Form № 1
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N. Korea test fires two powerful, mid-range missiles
Seoul - Nuclear-armed North Korea conducted two back-to-back tests of a powerful new medium-range missile on Wednesday (June 22), with both achieving a significant increase in flight distance over previous failed launches, South Korea's Defence Ministry said.
Both tests were believed to be of a much-hyped, intermediate-range Musudan missile - theoretically capable of reaching US bases as far away as Guam.
International condemnation was swift, with the United States and Japan labelling the launches a clear violation of UN resolutions, and South Korea vowing to push for tighter sanctions on Pyongyang.
Existing UN Security Council measures ban North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology.
The first test shortly before 6:00 am (2100 GMT Tuesday) was deemed to have failed after reportedly flying around 150 kilometres (90 miles) over the East Sea (Sea of Japan).
According to Japanese military monitors, the second missile attained a height of 1,000 kilometers and a range of 400 kilometers - a trajectory some experts suggested was calculated to avoid any violation of Japanese air space.
Four failed Musudan tests earlier this year all either exploded on the mobile launch pad or shortly after take-off.
A successful test would mark a major step forward for a weapons programme that ultimately aspires to develop a proven nuclear strike capability against the US mainland.
Melissa Hanham, an expert on North Korea's WMD programme at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California, said Wednesday's launches represented a worrying step forward.
"The second was likely a success. Testing is iterative and they are learning from each flight," Hanham told AFP.
"Policymakers need to focus on a testing ban to prevent this from becoming a working missile," she added.
US State Department spokesman John Kirby said the latest launches would only increase global efforts to counter North Korea's illicit weapons programme.
"We intend to raise our concerns at the UN to bolster international resolve in holding (North Korea) accountable for these provocative actions," Kirby said in a statement.
Japanese broadcaster NHK quoted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as saying such tests "cannot be tolerated".
South Korea's foreign ministry warned that North Korea would face even stronger sanctions and said the tests underlined "the hypocrisy and deceptiveness" of Pyongyang's recent offers of military talks with Seoul.
Three failed launches in April were seen as an embarrassment for North Korea's leadership, coming ahead of a rare ruling party congress that was meant to celebrate the country's achievements.
Another attempt in May was also deemed to have failed.
Markus Schiller, a German aerospace engineer who has written extensively on North Korea's missile programme, said a lot of information on the Musudan was highly speculative and warned against drawing too many conclusions from Wednesday's launches.
"We do not even know if these were indeed Musudan missiles that were launched today," Schiller said, noting that the North's standard Rodong missile was capable of a similar flight profile.
The latest tests came with military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula still running high following Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch a month later that saw the UN Security Council impose its toughest sanctions to date on the North.
The North has displayed an ICBM, the KN-08, during military parades, but it has never been tested.
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US Landlord Tenant Laws
Looking for a plain English guide to United States landlord tenant laws? Learn what are the rental property laws for your U.S. state today.
Your state landlord tenant laws will hold the answers to most of your rental questions and issues - What are your rights as a landlord or tenant, how much security deposit you can ask for, when you can make deposit deduction and whether the tenant is allowed to sublet.
Besides simplifying and explaining your state rental property laws, we will also show you how to resolve any landlord tenant disputes legally and when you should hire a real estate lawyer.
If you have any important questions on your landlord and tenant law, you should always ask a real estate lawyer for advice.
PART 1: Federal Fair Housing Act - Avoiding Tenant Discrimination
PART 2: Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988
While it's important to avoid tenant discrimination when screening and choosing new renters for your property. Let us explain the U.S. tenant discrimination laws in plain English.
U.S. Security Deposit Laws - Security Deposit Amount and Interest
What is the maximum security deposit amount a landlord can ask for and does the landlord have to pay the tenant interest on the deposit? Learn your state landlord tenant laws for security deposit today.
U.S. Security Deposit Laws - Return of Security Deposit
How many days does the landlord have to make security deposit deductions and returns after the end of a lease? Then find out the precise answer for your state here.
Sublet Laws - Subletting Laws for All U.S States
Are you thinking of subletting your rental property? Then find out what are the sublet laws and regulations for your state.
Introduction to Commercial Landlord Tenant Laws
Are you a landlord or tenant in a commercial lease agreement? Then learn the important basics here and how it differs from residential landlord tenant laws.
PART 1: How to Find a Good Real Estate Lawyer
PART 2: What to Look for When Hiring a Real Estate Attorney
Learn everything that you will need to know about hiring a real estate lawyer here: Where to find lawyers online and offline, how much will it cost you to hire one and what questions to ask your lawyer.
3 Effective Methods of Resolving Landlord Tenant Disputes
Resolving landlord tenant disputes by legal means doesn't have to be a lengthy and costly process. Find out how mediation, arbitration and small claims court can help you settle your disputes quickly and painlessly.
Recommended Resources for Getting Legal Advice
JustAnswer - Ask a Real Estate Lawyer Online
If you have any questions on rental property laws, most people will tell you to look for a real estate lawyer. That is good advice but hiring a real estate lawyer isn't cheap - It is often not worth the cost or hassle for most landlord tenant disputes (unless you are in a lot of trouble).
For most issues, It is just much cheaper and easier to ask a real estate lawyer for answers on JustAnswer. JustAnswer gets the thumbs up from us because:
1. Quick Replies - We got our answers within an hour.
2. Affordable Fees - On the average, we paid $15 to $20 per question.
3. Quality Answers - The answers given were helpful and detailed.
If you have any landlord tenant questions or issues, Click here to ask a lawyer on JustAnswer.
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Tag Archives: Telepathy
The Impending Doom of Written Language
Sci Fi and Fantasy are often lumped together, but they are very distinct literary forms. The core difference is not simply whether the subject matter is dragons or space ships, but whether the subject matter is plausible or not. Whether it could become reality. Dragons could be Sci Fi if originating in a plausible manner and if they adhere to the laws of chemistry and physics. Conversely, a space ship becomes fantasy if it jumps through time and performs “science” feats what would consume fantastically implausible amounts of energy. Lots of Sci Fi fans are actually consumers of fantasy every bit as unrealistic as Lord of the Rings.
Really good Sci Fi is not merely plausible, but likely, even predictive. Great Sci Fi is unavoidable, or more aptly inescapable, given our current trajectory.
But even mind-boggling Sci Fi can often reflect a disappointing lack of imagination.
Take for example the obligatory transparent computer screen that we see in every Sci Fi show. Or even the bigger budget full-on 3-D holographic computer interfaces that provide eye-candy in every major feature nowadays. These look cool, but are probably pretty unimaginative. Plausible and likely, but crude interim technologies at best.
Take for example my own short Sci Fi story Glitch Death (see here). In it, I envision a future in which direct brain interfaces allow people to use computers to “replace” the reality around them with perceptual themes. In that future, we skip quickly past archaic holographic technology and beam our perceptions directly into the brain.
But even that only touches the surface. For example, why would a future direct-to-brain technology be limited to flashing words across our visual field and allowing us to hit “virtual buttons” floating in mid-air? To explain my thoughts on this, let’s digress and talk about math for a moment.
Today we have entered a time where math hardly matters anymore. Oh yes, we must of course understand the concepts of math. We must understand addition, division, and even the concepts of integrals and derivatives and more complex algorithms. But we don’t need to learn or know how to compute them. Not really. We have computers to handle the actual manipulative mechanics of numbers. Most of us don’t really need to learn the mechanics of math anymore, even if we use it everyday.
We are already well on the way there with language as well. We have devices that “fix” all of our spelling and formatting automatically. We don’t actually have to produce typographically correct written text. All we need to do is to communicate the words sufficiently for a computer to understand, interpret, correct, and standardize. We are at the verge of being able, like math, to simply communicate concepts, but not worry about the mechanics of language construction and composition.
So, back to my Sci Fi vision of the future of direct-to-brain interfaces and their likely ramifications. Interfaces like the one envisioned in Glitch Death would soon make written language, and perhaps much of verbal language, prohibitively cumbersome and obsolete. Why shoot words across our visual field, forcing us to read, comprehend, process, and assimilate? Why indeed when the computer could instead stimulate the underlying processed and interpreted symbols directly at their ultimate target destination in our brain. We wouldn’t need to actually read anything. We would simply suddenly know it.
In this situation, we would not need written material to be stored in libraries in any human recognizable language. It would be more efficiently housed in computer storage in a language-independent format that is most closely compatible with and efficiently transferrable into the native storage of the same concepts in the human brain.
In this future, all of which is directly in our path of travel assuming we survive our own follies, we deal at basic symbolic levels and tedious processes of math and language become largely offloaded. Forget tools to translate human languages. We will be able to simply discard them for a symbolic language that essentially transforms us into telepathic creatures. And in this form of telepathy, we don’t hear words in our head. We just transmit ideas and thoughts and understanding and experiences with the aid of our computer interfaces. The closest depiction in popular Sci Fi is perhaps the implantation of memories in the 1990 film “Total Recall.”
A real fascinating unknown to me is, how would humans process and interact without language? Do we require at least an internal language, internal dialogue, to function? I have always wanted to be a subject in an experiment to be made to forget all language, say by hypnosis or drugs, and to experience functioning without it. Like a dog might process the world. Technology may inevitably force that experiment upon us on a huge social scale.
It’s not true that “A sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Magic would defy the fundamental restrictions of physics and chemistry. That’s how we’d know the difference. A telepathic future facilitated by direct-to-brain computer interface is Science Fiction, not Fantasy.
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This Is How Land Compounds The Value Of Money .
I am aware this is not a business for a starter, but as you will surely be in a position to do this in future, I want to let you in into a secret of wealth building that is sure to pay.
It is a secret of the wise old men. I know,because it has paid me handsomely and it still does.
Buy land and wait, do not wait to buy land. Some plots of land I bought for N9000 a piece in 1995 are now going for N1,000,000 apiece.
In places like Lagos or Abuja it could be more prosperous .
As long as you buy land genuinely, there is no way you can lose, unless the government takes over all land, even then you will be compensated.
There is no business that compounds money like land. Oh God, it will never depreciate or melt down as we had with the capital market now.
This is not to say the stock market does not have its own advantages. For one, it is much quicker to turn to cash.
Back to land. If you have any sizable amount of money and you do not have time to supervise a business buy land from a reputable agent and keep. Do not buy directly from land owners, they will swindle you.
Buy from registered land dealers with impeccable record. These people know the Landowners and their antics. Even among these people, there are many dubious ones, But still, there are some good ones. Search for them and you will get them. It may be more expensive but it is safer. Should there be any trouble, they will fight your fight.
On the other hand, if you are sure about the history of the land and you have a confidant who is strong in the family, you may buy from the owners.
I know Lagos and Abuja are hells on earth as land speculation is concerned, but then nobody stops you from buying and keeping land in your state capital. Abi, everything has to be Lagos ni?
Having bought the land, you will need to have people around to keep an eye on the land and these people you hand out something when you visit.
If you have the fund, you can fence it up.
When you are selling, it will increase the value.
1. No big deal, when you want to sell, tell the people you bought from, they will help you to sell on a commission of course.
2. Advertise by word of mouth and if large enough go on air.
1. As soon as you sign the papers, survey and start pursuing the C of O. It does not guarantee there will be no troubles, but it puts you in a safer position.
Check here for more Business Ideas.
Otunba Jide Omiyale(MBA,FCIM)
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Reflections from the Field #2: Cultural Heritage Conservation as a Data Problem
For the second in our series of blog posts – ‘Reflections From The Field’ – our 2018 School of Data Fellow, Ben Hur Pintor, is inspired to ask questions about cultural heritage data.
“Can this be considered a data problem?” asked Tatine, one of the participants of the Data Pipeline training conducted by Hani and I, referring to her work on the conservation of the Mangyan script and language of the Mangyan indigenous people in Mindoro, Philippines.
The question piqued my interest because, as mentioned by Tatine, indigenous communities rarely have physical records of the information related to their culture and language. Most of the time, this information is passed from generation to generation as a form of oral tradition or oral history. So how do we take something intangible and make data work for it?
One of the most common ways of working with language and other cultural heritage data is through the conduct of fieldworks. Terry Crowley’s Field Linguistics: A Beginner’s Guide highlights this process, discussing ethical issues such as informed consent and voluntary participation, the importance of selecting language helpers — people who speak the language you are studying but also share a common language with you, and how to keep track and archive the data using daily records, filing systems, and computer storage.
Creating digital archives is also one way to work with cultural heritage data. This usually involves scanning, transcribing, and digitizing artifacts, artworks including poetry and song, and even places such as sites and monuments.
Conservation measures applicable to the physical heritage are not appropriate for the intangible heritage. It is necessary therefore to establish digital archives by recording these cultural expressions on both visual and audio media to facilitate their survival and transmission to future generations.“ (Outline of Digital Archiving Project, UNESCO)
Linked Open Cultural Heritage Data
Linked open data is open data available on the world wide web in a standard markup format. It has a lot of potential uses in cultural heritage conservation especially when utilized together with traditional cultural heritage institutions such as libraries, archives, and museums. With linked open data, users can create and share their own cultural heritage experiences using different media, applications, maps, etc.
“We believe linked open data has the potential not just to preserve cultural heritage for users, but to offer users new opportunities to understand, manipulate, and recreate cultural heritage experiences.” (Linked Open Data for Cultural Heritage, J. Marden, 2013)
The combination of data, technology, and cultural heritage is an interesting one and it will be fascinating to see how these three fields interact, grow, and collaborate with each other in the future.
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Layers of protection, and still mismatch errors.
A statistic I came across the other day indicates that 6.3 billion prescriptions were dispensed in the United States in 2020. Combine that with another statistic indicating that 1.5 million errors occur annually in the United States harming the prescribed individual. That is approximately 1 in 5,000 prescriptions issued per year are wrong. I admit this scared me. I have many friends and family members that if they were given 25 mg of a prescribed drug versus the 50 mg needed, we might be talking about life or death. Not to mention what could happen with just the wrong drug. Within maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) spares within manufacturing, these same types of mismatch errors can exist. Is there anything from the pharmaceutical sector that we can apply to our MROs to reduce the potential of a mismatch?
Medication errors are among the most common medical errors, harming at least 1.5 million people every year. The extra medical costs of treating drug-related injuries occurring in hospitals alone are at least $3.5 billion a year, and this estimate does not take into account lost wages and productivity or additional health care costs. - Erin Wendel - Journal of the American Pharmacists Association
Unique identifier
Similar to issuing spare parts for proactive and reactive maintenance, many of the best practices in your MRO facility exist in the pharmaceutical sector. Consider that prescriptions have bar coding on the bottle that correlates to a National Drug Code (NDC) number. This unique number identifies the drug, the form of the drug, and its strength. Similarly, MROs typically have a unique number for their spare parts that uniquely identifies the size, specification, model number, etc. Just like the label on a bottle of capsules, in MROs, this identification number is traditionally attached as a tag, a bar/QR code, or just a handwritten number on the spare. But the pharmacies and MROs still issue out wrong parts too sometimes. Remember, 1 in 5000 most likely means that there is someone you love who experienced a mismatch. What else can we do?
Auditable electronic transaction
In the drug distribution sector there exists an electronic prescription record (EPR) that validates the legal transaction to indicate the fill, label, dispense and the submitted payment request for a prescription. Within an MRO, we transact spare parts to work orders within our computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) and have checks and balances to ensure that the part being issued is a valid spare attached to the work order’s asset electronically. This transaction is heavily scrutinized not only for the reliability of the asset but for inventory costs and accuracies. But errors continue to happen. Is there something else we can do?
Automated distribution
You might start seeing automated medication dispensing systems shortly versus the manual counting and bottling processes. Similarly, within manufacturing, you are starting to see vending machines and vendor management inventories (VMIs) that are intended to be fast and accurate disbursements of spares. However, even these cannot be foolproof. We still experience errors here in the distribution of parts just like medication.
Layers of quality control
Throw in all of the internal quality control procedures, training, and audits in manufacturing and the pharmacies, and we have layers of quality control. Regulatory audits are in place in MROs that capitalize their inventories to validate the inventory accuracies by count and value. We have required training and procedure reviews to underwrite organizational certifications and qualifications. But still, just like the pharmaceutical sector with even more layers of quality control, errors exist.
Personalizing the statistics
Recently, someone I know received a bottle of their medication from a local pharmacy. It was a different color than normal but they didn’t think much about it. Pharmacies routinely change drug manufacturers as part of the market dynamics of generic drugs. However, about a day later they received a phone call with an extremely nervous tone in their voice, “what color were the drugs you received in your most recent prescription?” Responding, “They were a peach-like color.” The nervous voice indicates, “We made a mistake. You were given the wrong dose of your prescription.”
With the such wide variation in a single medication’s appearance, and with constant interchanging of products due to drug shortages and generic equivalents, both patients and healthcare professionals have become somewhat complacent about doublechecking when the tablet, capsule, or liquid look different. - PharmacyToday
Looking at the bottle, my friend noticed that there was an opportunity missed to help mitigate the mismatch. Written on the side was, “This medicine is a(n) blue, round-shaped, double-scored tablet, imprinted with E341.” There was a poka-yoke opportunity missed that we were never aware of. Interestingly, this last check-and-balance isn't required nor offered by all pharmacies. Here is the last step in the process flow for the user to validate that what is in the bottle. After all of the systems, controls, and processes a mismatch failure slipped through. The last check and probably the most important one, the user has to commit to validating.
Even if the generic manufacturer is different each time the prescription is renewed, the description on the label will match the NDC number. So patients can quickly determine if the medication in the bottle matches the description on the label. If not, something is wrong and needs to be questioned. - Michael Cohen - The Inquirer
My takeaways from this statistic
To improve our MRO distribution activities and minimize the potential of a mismatch, we can improve our accuracy with a description of the part within the part’s attached tag. Giving specific details to uniquely describe the spare part would give the individual that is using the part an opportunity to validate that the spare they are installing is the right one. And with this information, we have to ensure we are training our employees to match the details of the tag to the contents to be installed. If we can successfully do that, we will significantly decrease the potential of a mismatch.
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Luckily, in this day and age, more and more people can keep their natural teeth due to the research behind proper home care and more advanced dental treatment in professional settings. Prevention plays a significant role in the health of teeth and gums, and seeing your dentist and dental hygienist regularly is vital to maintaining good health. Teeth may be lost for a variety of reasons including gum disease, cavities, infection and trauma.
Benefits of Replacing Missing Teeth
Replacing missing teeth is essential for oral and psychological health. If a tooth or teeth are not replaced after behind lost, the bone will begin to atrophy away in the area. This can cause changes to the position of adjacent teeth. Neighbouring teeth may start to drift into the open space, and opposing teeth may begin to over erupt due to lack of occluding tooth. Also, when the bone atrophies, there are limitations on what treatment can be done to replace the tooth/teeth. For instance, implants require adequate bone support, so often if space has been left for some time with no tooth, a bone graft may have to be completed before the implant can be placed. Function is a considerable concern with missing teeth, chewing may become more difficult, and as a result, there may be insufficient nutrition. Missing teeth also contribute to sagging of the cheeks, lips and face, which can change the appearance of a persons face. It is essential to replace a missing tooth/teeth as soon as possible.
Replacement Options For Missing Teeth
There are several viable options for the replacement of a missing tooth or teeth. The best option for appearance, function and longevity is a dental implant.
Dental Implant
A dental implant is a titanium screw that gets inserted into the bone where the missing tooth is. A porcelain crown is placed on top of the implant that matches with the colour, shape and size of the surrounding teeth. Implants can also be used in full arch cases to support a fixed denture.
Dental Bridge
Alternatively, if there is a missing tooth, or even sometimes two missing teeth beside each other, a bridge can be placed to fill the space. A bridge uses the two teeth on either side of the space as support, called abutments, and fills the space with “fake” teeth, called pontics. The disadvantage of a bridge is that the two abutment teeth, which may be healthy, must be sanded down to prepare them for the bridge. A bridge also has a shorter life span than an implant.
Lastly, full or partial dentures are an option for filling spaces. Complete dentures are used when an entire arch of teeth are missing, and partial dentures are used when 1 or a few teeth are missing. The main disadvantage of dentures is that they are removable and can be challenging to get a comfortable fit.
If you believe you may benefit from replacing a missing tooth, or have any questions about it, we encourage you to contact us today to schedule an appointment.
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Beautiful Smiles Start Here!
3985 Grand Park Dr h, Mississauga, ON L5B 0H8
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Project Description
The True Meaning of Purpose
Brands are increasingly exposing their “human” side, whether it be good or bad. Social media has uncovered many as they try to adapt their tone of voice while participating in more direct consumer engagement.
Having a narrative – a story that explains why a brand exists and how it is guided by a purpose – is becoming progressively important in an over-crowded marketplace. Sharing a clear vision with business partners and the media ensures a greater understanding and ensures everyone stays aligned and on strategy. In an environment where there are often numerous attention-grabbing distractions and opinions about what a brand is about, an approved purpose narrative becomes critical to share.
But what is purpose, how do brands define theirs and live up to that purpose consistently?
Siya Sangweni
Abey Mokgwatsane
Chief marketing officer
Nontokozo Madonsela
Group chief marketing officer
Momentum Metropolitan Holdings
Lyndon Barends
MD: strategy, sales and marketing
Arena Holdings
Sydney Mbhele
Chief executive: brand
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Hospital Bed vs Adjustable Bed: How to Choose The Right Bed
There are a few things to consider when choosing between a hospital bed vs. an adjustable bed. Both have their benefits and drawbacks, but one may be better for you depending on your specific needs. Here is a breakdown of the pros and cons of each type of bed to help make your decision easier.
Hospital Bed vs. Adjustable Bed: Main Features
Hospital Bed Main Features
A hospital bed is designed for medical use needs, whether at a hospital, clinic, or at home. These beds are usually larger and sturdier than other types of beds and come equipped with features, such as side rails and Anti-decubitus technologies. They often include an attached metal frame and a headboard with rails on both sides.
Hospital beds usually sit higher off the ground than regular beds and may have more surface space to make it easier for hospital staff to attend to a patient without changing positions. This space also allows for the convenient attachment of medical equipment and medications without disrupting the patient.
Hospital beds can be adjusted in many ways depending on the patient's needs, including the elevation of the head and foot areas and the height of the entire bed. Most can also be converted into a chair or a flat surface for easy transfers and have locking wheels to transport patients from one room to another seamlessly.
Adjustable Bed Main Features
Adjustable beds are typically used in a home environment and can be utilized for therapeutic, leisure, and aesthetic purposes. They can come in many different styles and colors. Some of these home care beds do not have the appearance of a medical tool and easily fit in with home interiors.
What makes adjustable beds similar to hospital beds is that the head and/or foot rests can be lowered or raised to meet the user's convenience. However, not all will have wheels and can be raised or lowered as an entire unit.
This distinction is important when determining if a hospital bed vs. an adjustable bed will be the right choice for you. If you need to be transferred often and rely heavily on other people to move, a hospital bed may be a better choice
However, if you can manage yourself and only require the elevation of your head and foot area for different activities, such as eating, reading, or watching TV, an adjustable bed will prove to be a useful and stylish alternative to a hospital bed.
Hospital Beds vs. Adjustable Beds: 5 Key Differences
Hospital beds and adjustable beds both serve comfort and convenience, as well as flexible adjustment settings to suit patients’ needs. But there are clear differences in how they are used.
1. Hospital beds typically cost more.
Prices for medical beds range from $600 to $4,000, depending on their brand, features, and if they are manual, semi-electric, or fully electric units. Meanwhile, adjustable beds cost between $1,000 and $3,000, though pricing can go much higher if you go for the fancier brands with nice aesthetics.
2. Adjustable beds are wider and heavier.
Hospital beds are about 36" wide and are designed for utilitarian purposes, although they are sturdy enough to keep a patient safe, they are also easy to handle and transport in case of an emergency. Meanwhile, adjustable beds may come in all shapes and sizes and can even accommodate two people at the same time. Most models are also without wheels as they are mainly designed for comfort and relaxation purposes.
3. Hospital beds are better for hospital staff, while adjustable beds are better for the user's comfort and convenience.
Hospital beds typically offer more customization options to make it easy for hospital staff to deliver different types of care to patients, whether they're in an emergency area or in a quiet private room. Adjustable beds are ideal for homes and are not limited to medical purposes. They can be used both day-to-day and for specific activities such as watching TV or reading.
4. Hospital beds are covered by insurance.
If hospital beds are a medical necessity, they may be covered by Medicare and/or insurance. On the other hand, because adjustable beds are mostly designed for leisure, you might have to pay for them upfront.
Many mainstream adjustable beds have similar features as hospital beds, but since they are not subject to FDA standards, insurance might not cover them. The Consumer Safety Product Commission manages quality control for adjustable beds, but not for medical use.
5. Hospital beds are easier to clean than adjustable beds.
Hospital beds will typically be covered in vinyl or some other wipeable, antibacterial material. This makes it easy for hospital staff to sanitize and disinfect in between patient turnovers. Adjustable beds, on the other hand, can be made of fabric, wood, and different types of materials. However, because its typical use is for the home, there's no need for frequent cleaning and turndowns.
Overall, the hospital bed vs. adjustable bed debate boils down to how you plan on using it. If it's for a facility that accommodates different patients with various medical needs, a hospital bed is the practical choice. However, if you need something that can double as therapeutic support and interior accent, a nice adjustable bed will be the better option.
Amica Medical Supply has a wide range of hospital beds and adjustable beds to meet your exact needs. Browse through our roster of medical and therapy beds of different shapes, sizes, and uses to find the one that will work best for you and your facility. We also have patient lifts, massage chairs, wheelchairs, daily living aids, mobility scooters, and more in stock.
Call us today at 1-877-960-0706.
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Physical fixed-volume hedges
Physical fixed-volume hedges
June 19, 2019 | By Christine Brozynski in New York
Norton Rose Fulbright holds internal training sessions for lawyers in its projects group. The following is from a session in mid-June about physical fixed-volume hedges.
Such hedges might be used in an organized power market, like ERCOT in Texas, where a project sells its actual output to the grid at the current market price at time of sale, and then buys back a fixed quantity of electricity at the market price and redelivers it to a counterparty under a fixed-volume hedge. The project receives a fixed electricity price under the hedge. The arrangement has the effect of converting floating revenue into fixed revenue so that the project can be financed.
A physical fixed-volume hedge is entered in place of a power purchase agreement.
It helps to mitigate the risk that power prices will fluctuate by offloading some of the price risk to a hedge provider.
The hedge provider makes a bet on power prices for the next 10 or so years. A “physical” hedge means that the hedge provider is actually purchasing power as part of the transaction, and a “fixed-volume” hedge means the hedge settles with respect to a predetermined volume of power, regardless of the amount of power actually produced by the project.
The terms of these transactions are usually spread over five separate documents using ISDA, or International Swap and Derivatives Association, forms.
The “Confirmation” has the main commercial terms, including what is sold and for what price. The “Master Agreement” has all the legal terms, such as events of default and representations. The Master Agreement cannot be revised directly; instead, it is revised through a “Schedule,” which is a separate document in which the parties make certain choices or elections and also list any amendments to the Master Agreement. Finally, a “Credit Support Annex” governs credit support and, like the Master Agreement, is not negotiated. The parties can make elections under and amend the Credit Support Annex in a separate document called “Paragraph 13 to the Credit Support Annex.”
The Confirmation
The Confirmation has a general description of the commercial transaction.
One key element in the Confirmation is the “shape.”
The shape is the fixed-volume part of the physical fixed-volume hedge. The hedge settles with respect to a fixed predetermined quantity of megawatt hours of power, regardless of how much power the project produces that hour. Production at the project is separate from the quantity settled under the hedge.
The granularity of the shape varies. A 12 x 24 shape, for example, is a grid with one column for each month and one row for each hour of the day. For the entire life of the hedge, every midnight to 1:00 a.m. in January, the hedge will settle with respect to the quantity of power in the first column (January) and first row (the hour ending at 1:00 a.m.), regardless of the amount of power produced by the project that hour.
The shape is designed to reflect projected P99 volumes at the project. P99 is a very conservative estimate of production. It means that there is 99% chance that the project will produce those volumes. A less granular shape might show, for example, January and February in a single column, or midnight through 4:00 a.m. in a single row. Often a project company will push to do a 12 x 24 matrix because that allows it to tailor the shape more closely to the expected fluctuation in wind.
The Confirmation also describes the terms of the “physical settlement.”
Physical settlement means there is physical delivery of electricity to the hedge provider under the hedge. The power sold under the hedge is not the same as the power produced by the project, which is produced and sold into the spot market at a “node” where the project connects with the grid. The project company buys back power at a “hub” for the current market hub price and then immediately resells that power to the hedge provider for the agreed fixed price.
The price that the project receives for power at the node reflects the supply and demand at that time and also reflects conditions at the node such as grid congestion.
A concern that many hedge providers have about the node is the node does not reflect the true market value of power because of congestion-related and region-specific variations that may have nothing to do with the value of power. In response to this concern and to encourage trading, some grid operators created “hubs.”
A hub is an artificial mechanism to establish a market price for power over a large area without fluctuations due to congestion and other factors unrelated to the value of power. It is designed to mimic liquid trading hubs for commodities like the Henry Hub for natural gas. There are different ways to design and organize a hub; for example, a grid operator might take several nodes that are relatively uncongested and then average those nodal prices, with the average then becoming the hub price. Hedge providers are comfortable using the hub price because it reflects the market price of power and is hopefully liquid enough that other parties will enter into back-to-back trades.
The project company uses merchant revenues received at the node to buy power at the hub. The project company is required to buy the hourly quantity of power at the hub shown for that hour in the shape attached to the Confirmation. For example, for the hour between midnight and 1:00 a.m. in January, the project company would be required to purchase the megawatt hours of power set for that hour in the shape, regardless of what the project produced. The project company pays the hub price for that power and then immediately resells that power to the hedge provider for the agreed fixed price per megawatt hour.
This type of transaction gives rise to basis risk.
Basis risk is the risk that the nodal price per megawatt hour, representing actual project revenue, is lower than the hub price per megawatt, which is what the project company pays to buy back the power it needs to sell under the hedge.
ERCOT has had significant basis issues for the past few years. Project owners usually end up taking basis risk. The owner can manage basis in the short term with congestion revenue rights, but the market has yet to offer any long-term solutions, likely because nodal prices are so unpredictable.
One temporary solution is a “tracking account.”
Recall that there are two main mismatches between what happens at the project and what happens under the hedge. There is a price mismatch, also known as basis risk. The second mismatch is the volume and shape mismatch.
Production at the project will not always line up with the required hourly quantity in the shape. The hope on the sponsor side is that the project will generate more electricity than the amount shown in the hedge shape, since the shape reflects P99 output. For example, in wind projects, wind speeds vary from one hour to the next, so there is also a good chance in any given hour that the project will underperform or overperform.
One solution the market has settled on to offer temporary relief is a tracking account. The tracking account is documented in the Confirmation and functions as a working-capital loan from the hedge provider to the project company in the amount of these mismatches. As shorthand, the “mismatch” is usually defined as the difference between project company revenues at the node for a given month and the amount that the project company had to pay out under the hedge in a given month. Hedge providers will lend the project company the amount of the mismatch, up to a limit. In a given month, if the project company revenues exceed what the project company was required to pay under the hedge, then the project company must apply the extra funds to pay down the tracking account. The project company must repay any outstanding loan balance at the end of the term. Often the sponsor negotiates for a structured repayment over the course of two or three years.
The Schedule
The following are a few of the commonly negotiated points in the Schedule.
One is “additional termination events.”
These are some of the most highly negotiated provisions in the Schedule and are the events that allow one party to terminate the hedge. Often these end up being project-specific events that give rise to a termination right for the hedge provider. For example, the parties might agree to include a failure by the project to reach commercial operation by a specific date.
Another area for negotiation is “incremental hedging.”
The sponsor may want to have the project company enter into additional hedge agreements to cover other types of exposure. For example, the project company could enter into a supplemental hedge called a “balance of hedge” to address covariance risk or another arrangement called a “unit-contingent option” to cover price risk on volumes produced at the project in excess of P99 volumes.
Sponsors interested in pursuing these options should consider building the flexibility to do so directly into the Schedule.
Typically the hedge provider will add boundaries around the permitted additional hedges. If the sponsor anticipates that it may want to grant a lien as credit support under any incremental hedges, then a lien cap for the incremental hedges should be negotiated before signing the fixed volume hedge. The sponsor should also consider attaching a form of inter-creditor agreement to the hedge to be entered into by the hedge provider and any incremental hedge providers.
Another area for negotiation is called a “supplemental collateral condition.”
It is a feature in many renewable energy hedges where the project company negotiates for the right to avoid termination of the hedge after certain defaults or termination events by posting extra collateral. The extra collateral is the amount of the hedge provider’s exposure, meaning how much the hedge provider would be owed if the hedge were terminated at that point in time.
The theory is that if the project company is posting a letter of credit to cover the hedge provider’s exposure, then the hedge provider would not need to rely on the collateral in the event the hedge were terminated, so safeguards are no longer needed in the hedge to protect the collateral. The parties end up negotiating what specific events of default and termination events can be cured by the project company electing a supplemental collateral condition. Some hedge providers will require that, in addition to posting collateral in the amount of its exposure, the project company post a small independent amount to cover any fluctuation in its exposure between valuation dates.
Another negotiated term is a “partial unwind.”
A partial unwind is a partial termination of the hedge. The theory behind this is that the hedge should cover P99 output at the project, so if at any time the project shrinks, the volumes in the shape will be greater than P99 and the project will be overhedged.
An overhedged project poses a liquidity issue for the project company and a credit issue for the hedge provider.
The solution is to reduce the volumes in the shape proportionally with the reduction in nameplate capacity of the project: this is called a partial unwind.
For example, if a casualty occurs and reduces the project’s nameplate capacity from 100 megawatts to 80 megawatts, and the project company chooses not to rebuild, then the project is 20% smaller than originally planned. Because the shape no longer represents P99 output at a project that is 20% smaller, the parties can partly unwind the hedge by reducing each of the hourly quantities in the shape by 20.
Because a partial unwind is a form of partial termination of the hedge, one party will owe the other party a termination payment on account of the reduction in the hourly quantities.
Many different facets of the partial unwind are negotiated by the parties, including the following: (1) under what circumstances a partial unwind can be elected, (2) which party has the right to elect the partial unwind, (3) whether the elections are temporary or permanent, (4) whether the tracking account limit is reduced as part of the unwind, and (5) whether a partial unwind termination payment owed by the project company can be paid over a period of time.
The parties also usually end up negotiating to what extent the hedge provider has approval rights over whether and how the project is rebuilt after a casualty event.
Project company covenants also are negotiated.
The project company covenants in the hedge are in many ways similar to the ones found in a loan agreement, but they are fewer and less stringent.
They are sometimes attached in a separate annex and sometimes inserted directly into the body of the Schedule. They may include permitted liens, asset sales, investments and similar items.
How stringent they are will depend in part on what type of credit support the hedge provider receives under the hedge. If the hedge provider has a lien on the project, then the hedge provider cares more about what happens at the project, how it is maintained and who else may have a claim on the project assets or revenue, and additional covenants may be included in the hedge as protection. Sometimes the parties negotiate to have these additional covenants apply (and in some cases, have all covenants apply) only after the lien is granted to the hedge provider. Negotiated points include which covenant breaches, if any, are additional termination events, allowing the hedge provider to terminate immediately. Often the parties compromise and list only negative covenants as additional termination events, similar to how a loan agreement is structured. The parties may also negotiate which covenant breaches may be cured by electing the supplemental collateral condition.
Paragraph 13
Several few key points are addressed in Paragraph 13 of the Credit Support Annex.
One is the hedge provider credit support.
If the hedge provider is not an investment-grade or creditworthy entity, its obligations will usually be backed by a guaranty. If the guarantor is downgraded, there may be some additional collateral provided to the project company.
Typically, if the hedge provider or its guarantor is not investment grade, then the hedge provider will be required to post the amount of the project company’s exposure.
Project company credit support is also addressed in Paragraph 13 of the Credit Support Annex.
Typically the project company will provide a letter of credit as credit support during construction. Some sponsors prefer to provide a parent guaranty in place of a letter of credit. Whether a hedge provider will accept this usually depends on the creditworthiness of the guarantor. Frequently the project company will then have the right to substitute that letter of credit with a first priority lien upon commercial operation.
The project company often negotiates a form of letter of credit before execution and attaches the form to the hedge. Other negotiated points include letter of credit defaults that allow the hedge provider either to draw down on the letter of credit or to require the letter of credit to be replaced. Cure periods for letter-of-credit defaults are likewise negotiated.
Project companies should try to avoid agreeing to post variable margin (other than when the supplemental collateral condition comes into play as discussed earlier). “Variable margin” means posting an amount that varies with the counterparty’s exposure. Even if sponsors have letter-of-credit facilities that allow them to post variable margin, financing parties often resist this as they usually do not have the means to post variable margin and will not be able to satisfy this requirement in the event they replace the project company as counterparty to the hedge. The supplemental collateral condition is looked at in a different light, as it is thought of as the last resort to prevent the project company from losing the hedge.
Inter-party issues
Sponsors that intend to finance projects with tax equity or debt should consider building key inter-party points directly into the hedge.
Tax equity will require forbearance arrangements to be in place with the hedge provider. Some sponsors include these directly in the Schedule rather than wait for these to be negotiated with the tax equity investor later in the process.
The lenders may want cure periods even after the loan facility flips to back-leverage, so sometimes the consent to collateral assignment will stay in effect even after term conversion.
Sponsors may want to require that the hedge provider deliver a consent to collateral assignment, forbearance agreement, estoppel and any required opinions to the financing parties upon request.
On the other hand, a sponsor should make sure that any debt or tax equity deliverables required by the hedge provider are reasonable. For example, hedge providers may want to see a copy of the financing agreement with the lenders or equity capital contribution agreement with tax equity. Sponsors should consider expressly noting in the hedge that these agreements may be redacted for confidentiality reasons before being shared with the hedge provider.
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Total Lunar Eclipse, 21 December 2010
For Lynn Powers and her painting Ode to Moon
For months we forget about you
while your blue light tries to pry
through the bedroom blinds
to enter our dreams.
Dark side of the moon, the unseen,
my teacher
also illuminated by the sun.
Again you are the shape of a curved needle
for the wounds in my side
as I search for my country
within my country
year after year
absence and questions the sutures
secured and absorbed.
Once again we hit you,
this time with a Centaur rocket
in search of water in a crater.
In order to analyze the ejecta,
your shepherd destroys itself.
’67? Or was it ’68? September
when they orbited the moon
secured in their Zond capsule
and surviving reentry, splashdown.
Those two Russian
steppe tortoises
where are they now?
Nameless, those two. Let them
outlive me.
Quiet. Smoke
rising towards the moon
will also teach us
how to travel.
© Robert S. Pesich, all rights reserved. This poem first appeared in Aperçus Quarterly, Issue 2.2, November, 2012
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Article | 5 min read
Advocate Spotlight on Tier 3: Bringing a hive mentality to work
Published April 12, 2017
Last updated December 23, 2021
Each month we shine a spotlight on a member of Zendesk’s Global Advocacy team to learn from our advocates’ on-the-job expertise. This time around, we wanted to illuminate our entire Tier 3 team, as they truly stand as one.
Zendesk’s global Tier 3 team is a small, but mighty group totaling 14 people spread across our offices in San Francisco, Madison, Dublin, Manila, and Melbourne. The group may handle only 5-10 percent of all Zendesk tickets, but they go deep—investigating performance issues, building tools to resolve complex issues, and sometimes even troubleshooting customer code. What sets Tier 3 apart is that they work on a ticket for as long as it takes to resolve the issue. Sometimes this takes hours, sometimes longer. One humble advocate said he once logged 15 or more hours on a single ticket. Other times, it takes the entire team, passing a ticket between time zones. As Adam Lobb, who manages the Tier 3 teams in San Francisco and Madison, explained, “We engage the hive mind, so to speak. We use a Slack channel to communicate everything we know about the status of an issue and then the next team picks it up.”
Jake Bantz, a Team Lead based in Madison, Wisconsin added, “I’m proud of the way our group swarms around high-priority customer issues. The collective effort, knowledge, and determination of the team in collaborative situations like these are like none other.”
I spoke with a few members of the team to learn more about the mystery and magic behind Tier 3. To begin with, I was curious about the bee metaphors. Rather than being part of the team’s charter, it turned out that they were coincidental—evidence of a hive mind, indeed.
Why is it so hard to find a Tier 3 advocate? How is their time allocated?
Adam Lobb: There’s only a few Tier 3 advocates in each office, and they’re deep-diving into the hardest of the hard problems. That said, at least 25 percent of the team’s time is devoted to working on projects that extend the capabilities of teams outside our own. Often this means creating documentation for Zendesk’s internal knowledge base, used by all tiers of support. Additionally, all bugs are routed through Tier 3 so that the team stays abreast of known issues in any Zendesk product. All ticket escalations also pass through the team so that we can provide quality assurance and ensure that the ticket is escalated to the right team or person.
What are some projects the team has worked on that you’re most proud of?
Joey May: This is one team that I’ve seen work in unison. They are developing really elegant solutions and, sometimes, delivering bad news in the best of ways. One proof-of-concept the team worked on is a widget that helps customers to test their web widget.
Adam Lobb: One thing that the team always works on is education, to enable our fellow advocates in Tier 1 and Tier 2. We had a large initiative around creating an escalation handbook. The team also works on app development, most notably on the Out of Office app, which involved six members of the team, across the globe. The app, which allows Zendesk Support admins to manage agents’ vacations statuses and to reassign tickets, is now available to Zendesk customers in the apps marketplace.
What’s the secret sauce to being a Tier 3 advocate?
Dwight Bussman: We all delight in teaching and mentoring. We try and offer a fresh perspective on complex problems for advocacy, and to be a technical point of contact for sales, as well as in discussion with developers when creating documentation and customer use-cases.
Jake Bantz: To balance being able to dig into technical issues while keeping what’s best for the customer in mind.
Adam Lobb: The team has to have persistence and patience; a lot of the issues take a long time. We have to have a broad scope—to have wide knowledge across products, but also the ability to be very technical. Also, it takes teamwork—jumping in to help each other and to form close-knit relationships. I’d also say, we like to have fun and do goofy things.
Case in point: recently, Tier 3 recently had a LEGO-building competition between offices. Each team received a kit of LEGOS with the goal of building a robot without instructions.
Who won? Who knows. This is a team invested in the process. And, from my perspective as a writer, the team’s accidental bee metaphor is apt. While bees work for us humans, pollinating our crops, they’re also building their hives for the collective good of their own colony—and it takes more than a single bee to build a honeycomb.
For more from Zendesk advocates:
Abel Martin, on building great internal partnerships
Arthur Mori, on what everyone should know about Tier 1 support
Benjamin Towne, on mentoring and offering constructive criticism
Rodney Lewis, on setting up an internal shadowing program
Sarah Kay, on her move from advocate to data analyst
Ramona Lopez, on rolling out an advocate recognition program
Aurash Pourmand, on practicing customer empathy
Mark Fado, on providing dedicated 1:1 client support
Justin Helley, on advocacy training and development
Guillaume Deleeuw, on problem-solving in Tier 2 technical support
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hrdaya mudra (2)
Hridaya = “heart,” “center,” “essence,” “core”
Mudra = “gesture,” “seal”
Hridaya Mudra = “gesture of the heart,” or “heart seal”
How to do it:
Sit in a comfortable seat with a tall spine. Fold your index finger to the base of your thumb on each hand. Bring the tips of your middle and ring fingers to touch your thumb. Extend the little fingers out. Relax your hands, palms up, on your thighs.
Benefits of Hridaya Mudra:
Practicing with Hridaya Mudra opens the heart center, releases love and compassion, increases empathy, reduces anxiety, and unblocks pent-up emotions and energy in the heart.
Hridaya Mudra
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Tips for getting through the monotony of parenting 25
Being a parent can be a slog. I am not going to lie there are times when I find mothering a monotony. Now do not get me wrong, I adore my children and have come to know that I was born to be a parent, but heck there have been days and even months when I have wanted to tear my hair out over thinking about cooking yet another meal or wiping another bottom (thankfully baby days and toddler days are long gone).
Escaping the monotony of motherhood
Kids thrive on routine, well at least mine do. They like to know what we are having for dinner, what time is lunch and Maxi likes to be in charge of making sure the timetable is strictly adhered to (a sergeant major in the making that one)!
So how do we make sure we escape the monotony of motherhood?
Tips for getting through the monotony of parenting
For me it is all about keeping “mainly” to the routine, but jazzing it up a bit. I do this by making the ordinary extraordinary.
1. Watching a film becomes movie night. We have popcorn in homemade popcorn boxes and sit under the blanket all snuggled up.
2. Stop rushing. Now this might just be me, but when I rush to do the things I SHOULD be doing I become grumpy, instead the washing can wait, whilst that tickle is so essential!
3. Mix it up a bit. We are not lovers of Monday mornings in The Mad House. I get sad that the boys are going to school and that the weekend is over, but instead of moping, we celebrate the start of the week with a special family breakfast.
4. We pretty much eat every meal at the dining room or kitchen table, so there is nothing wrong with eating homemade pizza on our knees in the sitting room. I remember fondly the Sunday evening tea at home growing up salad sandwiches whilst watching Buck Rogers.
5. Take time to smell the flowers. How often do you just sit and watch the stars? I want to sit and teach the kids their constellations and if there is a clear night, then why not let the go to bed ten minutes later.
6. End each day with three good things. This is a throwback to my PND, one of my CBT exercises was to find three good things to end each day with. I do this with the boys each evening and still end my night finding the small joys.
7. Choose Joy. By this I mean make the choice to accept the monotony, but also make sure that you look for and acknowledge that the small things make a big difference. Little things make a big difference. A great example of this is our Sodastream, by adding bubbles to plain water it brings happiness to my kids. It is a small thing that makes the kids happy.
8. Find something that keeps you engaged. I try and keep the brain muscles engaged, learning and blogging does this for me. Finding small snippets of time to do things that I enjoy.
9. Be spontaneous. Yes we have a routine, but there is always wiggle room to do something spontaneous.
10. If all else fails, get outside. Set the reset button by getting some fresh air for you and the kids.
I am going to admit that I found the baby and toddler days hard work. The repetitive nature of mothering a small person often drove me insane. I am lucky that my best friend also has kids and we would commiserate each other and remind each other that things were often “just a phase”.
She taught me to give myself a break and set the same rules for myself as I would a friend, oh and if all else fails then there is nothing wrong in locking yourself in the loo for 5 minutes so you actually get to drink a hot cup of tea!
How do you take the monotony out of parenting?
escaping momotomy
25 thoughts on “Tips for getting through the monotony of parenting
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Ekstrom Library
GEOG 390: Geopolitics (Walker): News Exercise
Discussion Questions
Read the questions below and then skim through the Washington Post article.
Respond to the following questions within your group workspace. In about 15 minutes, we will discuss as a class.
1. What questions would you ask to critique this article? Consider what you look for when you evaluate an information source.
• Are there any questions you would ask differently about a news article that you may not ask of a scholarly journal article?
2. How would you go about evaluating the evidence in the news article?
3. How would you go about identifying bias in the news article? Go through that process and discuss whether you notice any bias present.
• How would you identify bias in a scholarly journal article?
4. What's the level of authority or credibility of the source? That is, how do you determine whether this source is "good"?
5. Take a look at the following infographic:
• What are the implications for your research if this diagram is accurate?
Discover. Create. Succeed.
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Sunday, January 11, 2009
Menlo Park Wants To Talk
With the California High Speed Rail Authority, that is:
Five months after joining a lawsuit against the proposed California high-speed train, Menlo Park officials are launching a negotiation campaign with the same state body it is suing.
The campaign will be launched Tuesday after the city council last week voted the high speed rail issue as its top priority for the upcoming year. The effort will consist of a subcommittee of two city council members and various city staff officials who will send comments to and meet with officials from the California High Speed Rail Authority....
Mayor Heyward Robinson said the subcommittee's formation does not mean the city will pull out of the lawsuit fighting the project's environmental certification, which Menlo Park and Atherton joined in August along with several other groups. Instead, officials will simultaneously negotiate with the High Speed Rail Authority while remaining a plaintiff in the suit against the state body.
"They're different entirely," Vice Mayor Richard Cline said on the suit and negotiations. "One is
going to be handled from a legal perspective "... and the second part will be representing our community and having a dialogue about the (planning process)."
It's good to see Menlo Park taking a proactive approach to working with the Authority on HSR planning, although it would be immeasurably helped if they dropped the lawsuit. After all, Menlo Park residents voted FOR Prop 1A with the clear knowledge that it meant a high speed train would run through their community.
Menlo Park officials likely believe this is a carrot-and-stick approach. And yet this frivolous lawsuit runs the risk of further delaying the HSR project. The state's budget crisis is already making it unnecessarily difficult for the Authority to proceed with its planning work. The last thing they need is to be burdened by a lawsuit.
It's time for Menlo Park to work constructively with the Authority, and drop the lawsuit.
bossyman15 said...
mmm they says they want track below grade.
mmm i wonder how much that would cost.
Anonymous said...
Here's an idea for Menlo Park: why not put the Caltrain line in a trench? Local topography favors that, I think, over an embankment (it looks like a long, shallow downgrade to Redwood City). And given the relatively narrowness of the corridor, I think this is the option with the least impact on the surroundings.
Rafael said...
@ anon -
hey buddy, can you spare a few hundred million?
Anonymous said...
The people of Menlo Park should be embarrassed to be acting like such babies. They voted for it, now they want to hold up the project. A project for the people of California. I hope the whole state is watching these people act like selfish babies.
Spokker said...
I was riding Caltrain this weekend through Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, all those places.
There are sections where the ROW looks wide enough to accommodate four tracks. Then there are sections that don't look wide enough.
But in taking a closer look, you'll realize it's mostly just trees in the way. There are some houses, but they aren't the "really nice" homes some have suggested in the past. There are some backyards too. Like I'm going to cry for some dude losing a section of backyard he probably never uses anyway.
I was sitting on the east side of the train, by the way. On my return trip it was too dark to see anything on the west side.
I've ridden Caltrain before, but I must say that these stations look like they are actually somewhere. In Southern California we seem to put our commuter rail stations in giant parking lots, in huge industrial parks, or away from city centers.
I really love that whole Caltrain setup they have going on. The Baby Bullet service is incredible. Electrification just might make that line perfect in my view.
Spokker said...
Electric trains aren't as loud as diesel ones right? Won't the noise issue actually be improved? I don't get it!
Rafael said...
@ Jim -
as a whole, Menlo Park did vote in favor of HSR but it's a small number of people right next to the line that will be impacted most. Some of those apparently have the ear of city officials, hence the schizophrenic policy described in the post.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: while HSR must be grade separated because it will run at speeds of up to 150mph in the peninsula corridor, Caltrain is another matter. It's top speed is currently 79mph, after electrification and signaling upgrades that will go to 90mph. There's an option to upgrade the catenaries for service at 125mph but with HSR having passed, it's unlikely it will ever be exercised.
If Menlo Park wants to keep all of its existing railroad crossings and avoid eminent domain proceedings against homeowners to widen the corridor, they can ask to retain Caltrain at grade, with quiet zone grade crossings. HSR would run on separate tracks on an aerial fitted with transparent (i.e. double or triple glazing) sound walls.
It wouldn't be the prettiest thing ever built, but it would be quieter than what is currently being proposed and far less disruptive during the construction period. The cost would likely be higher than for an embankment, but perhaps not all that much. Eminent domain, massive earthworks, underpasses, four brand-new tracks and temporary shoofly tracks for Caltrain all add up to a pretty penny as well.
Menlo Park would still have the option of constructing full underpasses for selected cross roads at a later date, at its own expense.
Anonymous said...
Rafael: is it that much more expensive to do below-grade than above-grade? Also, I was very much under the impression that Caltrain and HSR would be sharing tracks along the peninsula. Operationally, it's far more convenient to let Caltrain expresses and HSR share tracks, and if you're building an elevated structure, you might as well put all the tracks up there. Caltrain would benefit from full grade separation too, with increased reliability at least, and likely increased speed. While the PCJPB is talking about 90 mph, NJ Transit is looking at a 125 mph top speed for the next generation of MU trains, in order to better fit in with the Acela and other Amtrak trains on the four track NEC line.
And if you do end up building an HSR elevated structure above Caltrain, keep in mind that it will need to provide 23 feet of clearance under it. The top of the catenary poles will be over 50 feet off the ground.
Rafael said...
@ anon -
your impression is incorrect. HSR and Caltrain will be sharing a ROW but run on separate tracks, thanks to FRA rules prohibiting mixed traffic. There will be a few exceptions like the DTX tunnel in SF and, whenever Caltrain's "Baby Bullets" need to overtake local trains and there's no HSR train around. That is obviously only possible where there are four tracks side-by-side.
And yes, grade separating Caltrain all the way would definitely be a nice to have. My point is, the FRA does not mandate it for the speeds at which Caltrain will be operating.
Unlike NJ Transit, the Caltrain stations are too close together to readily support running at top speeds of 125mph, the acceleration and deceleration would require very beefy electric motors and cost a bundle in utility bills.
Digging a trench wouldn't be all that expensive, but securing the walls with concrete is, especially in earthquake country. So is dealing with sewer pipes, storm drains etc. Golden rule: you don't go below grade level unless you absolutely have to.
As for the tops of HSR catenary poles being 50' off the ground in a stacked configuration, so what? They'll be very nearly as high up if the planned embankment is built.
Final note: there is nothing preventing Caltrain from setting up a new business unit operating short trainsets capable of matching long-distance bullet trains in terms of speed and acceleration in the Caltrain corridor only. This "regional HSR" service would replace the baby bullets and run on the HSR tracks.
Clem said...
Not the trench idea again! Oh my, where to start....
Maybe the bottom line $$$: it will be of absolutely NO benefit to HSR riders or taxpayers footing the construction bill. The only benefit is to the local community, so they should not expect the HSR project to pay for it. Let them finance it by selling air rights on the freed up ROW surface.
There are good reasons to build tunnels and aerials, but sparing the ears of abutters (who are currently subjected to CONTINUOUS Caltrain horn blowing through their town!) is not one of them.
@Rafael: what is this recurrent notion of yours of segregating HSR and Caltrain express service? Those FRA rules you mention (with exceptions still being negotiated, by the way!) will not prohibit mixed traffic so long as proper safety measures (modern signaling, positive train stop, etc.) are employed. With 125 mph top speed, baby bullets would do SF - Millbrae - Hillsdale - Palo Alto - Mountain View - San Jose in 37 minutes (assuming a liesurely 0.5 m/s2 accel/decel rate with 1 minute station dwells). It would be extremely shortsighted to prevent 100% inter-operation of HSR and Caltrain bullets.
The notion of 90 mph service comes from Caltrain's existing electrification plans, which are about to be made obsolete by HSR. To play better with HSR they're going to have to increase their baby bullet speeds a bit.
Also, there is no such thing as an "upgrade" to catenaries from 90 mph to 125 mph. Good for one, good for the other... it's a trivial matter of tuning the mechanical tension.
Pass the popcorn...
Anonymous said...
Hm. I didn't realize trenches were quite so complex or expensive, but thinking about things like the Alameda Corridor, I guess they are. A back of the envelope calculation shows something in the range of 80-100 million per mile, which is considerable, and probably considerably higher than retained fill construction. None the less, it really should be included as an option and costed out so that Menlo Park knows exactly how much they have to pay to get what they want.
As for the FRA compliance issue, to the best of my knowledge, the official Caltrain plan at this point in time is to obtain an FRA waiver in order to operate non-compliant EMU trains on the San Francisco-San Jose corridor, potentially mixed with compliant passenger trains and time-separated from freight trains. The HSRA doesn't have any particular plans about this sort of thing yet, as the project hasn't advanced that far, but there's talk of using this arrangement on the Caltrain corridor, as well as on the Fullerton-Irvine section. Whatever they end up doing, it will most likely build on the work that Caltrain is doing right now to get the regulatory framework they need to run European trains.
I also suspect that Caltrain's 90 mph plan is really a matter of budget reality: any higher speed would require significant grade separation which they can't afford alone, but could if HSR kicked in some funding. And in terms of operations, I think it makes a great deal of sense to have a 125 mph top speed for the express commuter trains, potentially allowing the aforementioned 37 minute Baby Bullet. It doesn't make sense, though, toput commuters on the actual HSR trains, as it would lead to unacceptable conditions for HSR passengers at rush hours. Nor would it really make sense to have a separate Caltrain fleet just for running SF-SJ shuttles on the HSR line, because this would end up as an isolated fleet of about 5 trainsets, not interchangeable with either the main commute fleet or the main HSR fleet. You might think this HSR commute fleet is superficially similar to the "Javelin" HSR commuter trains in Britain, but the whole point there is that they run considerable distance on the conventional network before switching to the high speed line for a quick trip to London.
bossyman15 said...
caltrain and hsr sharing same ROW is good idea but there are something that brothers me...
how would HSR make money on that route if people would just take caltrain because its cheaper fare than HSR?
Alex M. said...
@ Anonymous -
I completely agree with you about continuing to run Baby Bullet service to alleviate the rush hour traffic flowing onto the HSR trains, it would become extremely inconvenient.
I'm confused about what you said about Caltrain needing grade separation in order to increase their speed on the Baby Bullet train. As far as I can tell, HSR will be grade separating the entire peninsula route because it is mandated by the FRA at the speeds it will be traveling. Because the HSR line is using the Caltrain ROW, doesn't this mean that THEIR entire route will be grade separated too if they are using the same four tracks?
Clem or Rafael, what do you think is restricting Caltrain from increasing their planned speed through the peninsula? I think that Anonymous' point about rush hour traffic affecting HSR service is a very good one. Wouldn't it be a better idea to run the Baby Bullet service at comparable speeds to HSR in order to continue to serve the rush hour commuter passengers?
Anonymous said...
bossyman15: HSR wants to charge you $100 for going from LA to SF, not $20 for SJ-SF. In fact, if there are reserved seats, and all the SJ-SF commuters buy up all the seats, then the LA-SF riders can't buy them, and the operator loses potentially $80 on each seat. On the other hand, on off peak trains, if there are more empty HSR seats than local SJ-SF demand, it might well make sense for Caltrain to pay the HSRA to let Caltrain riders use them, since it's effectively free revenue for the HSR and saves Caltrain the trouble of running a whole separate train of its own. Now, I don't have nearly enough idea of HSR traffic patterns and off-peak demand for Caltrain express service, so I don't know whether this kind of thing would be feasible off peak or on weekends, but I know for sure that during rush hour it just won't fly.
Spokker said...
Local HSR trains will probably allow SF-SJ riders.
The express or limited HSR trains will probably make SJ a stop where you can only board the train, not get off. Express trains might skip it altogether.
Amtrak does it. For example you can't ride the Southwest Chief from Los Angeles to Fullerton.
Anonymous said...
Caltrain is the only commuter rail I've seen that has stations 1-2 miles apart. Does this indicate a need for better transit connections from neighborhoods? Would it benefit Caltrain to have stops every 2.5-4 miles instead of 1-2 miles?
Electrification will help but I also think that stations need to be spread out more. 1-2 miles are really only good for metro systems.
arcady said...
political_i: Caltrain isn't a "commuter rail" in the modern american sense of serving large suburban park and ride lots built in empty fields. It's more of a "regional rail" line, and is much more like the historic Eastern commuter lines (Metro North, LIRR, NJ Transit, SEPTA). Those by and large have a fairly similar stop spacing, and also tend to serve the town centers of a string of towns along the route. SEPTA Regional Rail even has a few lines that are practically urban rail, with stop distances less than a mile.
Spokker said...
Caltrain can have as many stops as they want to put on the line. They smartly started express service so it kind of makes it all a moot point anyway.
If you aren't at an express station, now you can ride a local train to the limited stop portion of the line and ride the rest of the way to your destination. That's better than nothing.
In any case, you can't please everybody, but I think that Caltrain pleases a lot of people.
Brandon in California said...
I cannot get over somthing pretty fundamental... what would motivate the CHSRA to sit and negotiate with Menlo Park?
If I were the CHSRA Board and Menlo Park approached me.. I'd respond that there is nothing to talk about so long as there is an active lawsuit.
.. I'd call that an opening negotiating tactic.
James said...
During rush hour send the scheduled HSR south from SF and immediately follow with a Baby bullet on the same high speed line. Or as an HSR enters Caltrain territory send it north immediately followed by a baby bullet. Similar to the baseball express which leaves first after the game and skips the first few stations, so too the HSR would stay ahead of the baby bullet. Then take the baby bullet off the line before the next HSR is due. Why would a baby bullet foul up the HSR if it was scheduled so?
Anonymous said...
I think trenching both railroads through menlo park and atherton would be a good idea so long as menlo park and atherton pay the difference in cost. The res of us aren't going to pay for a bunch of uppity yups to have their delicate sensibilities protected. This type of thing has run rampant in california for far too long and is the main reason the state is so far behind in every aspect. Let's stop being a state full of pansies and start being the state that leads the world again.
arcady said...
James: that's exactly how such things work everywhere else in the world. In Switzerland, if you stand at a station just outside the city (any city), you'll see an Intercity train, followed by a regional express a couple minute later, followed by the all-stops local train a few minutes after that, and this pattern repeats every half hour. Everything is carefully timed so that the express can overtake the local right as it gets to the next major station. Having a four track line actually makes some things considerably easier, since you don't have to worry about Caltrain locals, and if need be, the express can cross over to the local track to get out of the way of an HSR train. A good model for this kind of operation is probably the Kings Cross suburban zone north of London, with its mix of 75 mph local trains, 100 mph regionals skipping most stops, and 125 mph intercity trains. Just to add to the excitement there's a two-track section in the middle of the four-track line, and a busy flat junction at Hitchin, where local trains foul all four tracks to get to the Cambridge branch. There's an dispatching simulator (SimSig) that you can try to get a feel for what it's like managing traffic on such a line. Another decent model is the NEC in New Jersey, with four tracks hosting a mix of Acelas, other Amtrak trains, and New Jersey Transit commuter expresses and locals.
Rafael said...
@ Clem -
I'd love for Caltrain and HSR to be interoperable, but unless and until FRA actually approves that, it's just not possible. Caltrain appears to be further along with its waiver application than CHSRA, but it's not yet clear what will happen with FRA now that Obama has selected a Republican (Ray LaHood) to be Secretary of Transportation.
Btw, running at 125mph requires not only a tweak to the catenaries but also more powerful trainsets. The bi-level Siemens Desiro EMU rolling stock Caltrain wants to buy maxes out at 140km/h (~90mph).
@ bossyman15, Alex:
HSR fare SF-SJ: $6 (2005 dollars)
Caltrain fare SF-SJ (4 zones): $7.75 (2008 dollars)
Both reflect one-way full fare tickets. HSR will almost certainly offer discounts for frequent travelers, as Caltrain already does.
I'd just like to re-iterate my earlier point, because it appears to have been misunderstood. CHSRA is a planning agency, it will put HSR operations out to tender. HSR is not purely a long distance system, it will take many years before we actually see 96 daily trains in each direction between SF and LA.
In the meantime, there will be plenty of available slots for regional operators like Caltrain to offer supplemental HSR service on sections of the line. We might also see Metrolink offer Anaheim-Palmdale HSR service. Amtrak could decide to offer HSR service between Bakersfield and Castle Airport.
This is consistent with the Japanese model of "hadama" (short-distance local), "hikari" (regional semi-express) and "nozomi" (long-distance express) service on JR East's Tokaido shinkansen. The Japanese use a combination of markings on platforms and mandatory seat reservations during rush hour to keep dwell times at intermediate stations down to 50 seconds. SNCF requires seat reservations on all TGV trains.
Whenever slots on the California line will be auctioned, operators bidding to use all of it should be preferred. If and when SF-LA/Anaheim demand picks up, regional and local HSR providers would then have to scale back their operations. However, with safe headways of as little as 3 minutes and dwell times as short as a minute possible, there is enormous capacity to go around.
Continuing "baby bullet" service at below-HSR top speeds might be more difficult to implement, if only because turnouts suitable for speeds above 100mph are very long and expensive. It might be easier for Caltrain to offer just "local" (~90mph) and "hadama" (125-150mph) service levels using different trainsets.
@ Brandon -
CHSRA isn't a private company. As a public planning body, they may be legally obliged to negotiate in good faith with representatives of any affected community, even if there is a pending lawsuit. No-one said those negotiations mean havign to yield to the NIMBYs. The law does not require solutions that are optimal for residents living near the line, only that they meet generally accepted norms :^)
Moreover, the lawsuit specifically alleges that CHSRA failed to properly implement the legally required EIR/EIS process. The more CHSRA appears to be acting in good faith, the harder it becomes for plaintiffs to make their case.
arcady said...
Rafael: I think you assume too much. The fares, for example, are based on, at best, a back of the napkin calculation by someone a few years ago, especially intermediate fares. In reality, they'll probably be set in such a way to optimize revenue, and that generally also means a preference for longer distance riders. Also, you assume that Caltrain actually wants Desiro double deckers. As far as I know, they're just using them as an example. In reality, they'll probably put out a tender and get whatever is most cost effective given the requirements. There are plenty of double-decker MUs in Europe with a 100 mph top speed, and maybe it would be possible to push that higher. And in the end, I suspect that it will be Caltrain that has the ultimate authority to decide what gets done with their right of way and their tracks.
Clem said...
I strongly doubt that. Caltrain has no money (gets strung along with a stop-gap budget every year). CHSRA will have tons of money. Also, if past experience is any guide, Caltrain may not have the ability or willingness to identify and defend their own best interests (i.e. those of their riders).
Anonymous said...
Clem - Come on, Caltrain did so well in defending its interests with BART to SFO. ;-)
BruceMcF said...
@ Rafeal ... I'm wondering whether the compliance/non-compliance issue is more politically assymetric than you are allowing for.
Scenario 1. Running on track that is open to FRA compliant freight. Here you have substantial stakeholder resistance nationwide to setting up a precedent that could end up rebounding on their capital costs or path availability. So getting a waiver to run non-compliant trainsets in this scenario should be expected to be like pulling teeth, because if it was easy, it would encourage more people to try.
Scenario 2. Running on a new grade separated track not open to passage by FRA compliant freight. Here, it would seem that all stakeholder interests line up in favor of allowing it, so long as it is an effective operational plan (eg., local sweeper, hold at interchange station for express, becomes local trailer). For the entity holding the capital costs of the new grade separated track, it gives another stream of access fee revenue. For the entity proposing to run the trains, if they were not in their perceived interests, they would not be making the proposal. And for the freight railroads, it gets passenger train interlopers off their track for part of their route.
Sure, its a bureaucratic decision, made by people whose power is the ability to say no, and whose clout rests on supposed expertise, so the political fight takes place on a playing field of technical claims and counterclaims. But its a political fight, nonetheless.
Rafael said...
@ Arcady -
Caltrain has evaluated non-compliant EMU trainsets from both Siemens and Alstom. Both options are rated at 87mph top speed, but the Siemens model accelerates faster. Faster models were not considered because at the time, there were no plans for service at higher speeds.
In its latest report on mixed traffic, Caltrain also mentions Bombardier as a potential supplier. However, it was Siemens that helped Caltrain with finite element analysis of crash scenarios at grade crossings, an essential component in getting FRA to consider a waiver.
Also, Siemens has a light rail assembly plant in Sacramento. It could fairly easily build Desiro rolling stock instead. Bombardier has plants in the US but not in California. Alstom has no assembly plants in the US at this time.
Conclusion: if Caltrain obtains a waiver to operate mixed traffic in its ROW (specifically, on two of the four tracks), it would indeed have to put the contract out to tender. However, there appears to be a preference for Siemens equipment at the present time. Caltrain has not yet published any documents on how the passage of prop 1A has affected its Caltrain 2025 project, which includes the electrification project.
@ BruceMcF -
UPRR has an easement to operate freight trains in the Caltrain corridor. Apparently, this amounts to a couple of daily yard switching trains collecting cars from customers and one that collects the partial consists and moves them to the main UPRR yard south of Fremont.
Afaik, UPRR uses FRA-compliant equipment for these services and will continue to do so. Because there are so few freight trains in the corridor, guaranteed time separation should be feasible, so FRA is likely to grant Caltrain's waiver.
One possible fly in the ointment is freight trains crossing HSR tracks, an issue closely related to which will be the fast and which the slow lanes in the peninsula corridor.
spence said...
From the article:
...officials will simultaneously negotiate with the High Speed Rail Authority while remaining a plaintiff in the suit against the state body.
I would love it if the CHSRA counter-sued Menlo Park for filing a frivilous lawsuit while simultaneously agreeing to meet with the local community to discuss the planning process. I'm sure Vice Mayor Richard Cline would understand that the countersuit is "entirely different" and merely a "legal process."
What a douche.
Clem said...
The lawsuit, while ill-timed with respect to Prop 1A, is not entirely without merit. The EIR/EIS process may indeed have been improperly biased in order to support the preconceived political decision to go via Pacheco instead of Altamont.
Remember, even if Menlo Park et al. win this lawsuit, HSR will still come through Menlo Park... but from Dumbarton instead of Palo Alto. No matter what the outcome, Menlo Park will get HSR, hence the legitimate need to negotiate with the CHSRA.
It's not such a cut-and-dry NIMBY lawsuit.
Spokker said...
It depends on what your position on Pacheco vs. Altamont is I guess. I personally couldn't care less, and think both should be built.
The SF-SAC time should be a priority too, even if the Capitol Corridor exists. It's a fun route and does a great job and probably continue to do so after HSR, but it's no HSR.
ACE is already as bare bones as it is.
Brandon in California said...
Well, on the face of it, I understand and agree with you. However, the question still remains, what good comes out of negotiating with Menlo Park... other than what you stated... maintianing good faith and public support?
Other than that, the CHSRA position should already be known by Menlo Park. The only real message I can image that would be functional for CHSRA to provide, and MP to hear, would be confirmation or clarification on the implications if they wanted something different than what is planned.
And in my opinion, if MP wants something up and beyond what is planned, then they should have to pay for the cost difference. They should also have to pay for any study, planning or design of any changes.
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Using Your Tablet or E-Reader at College
Technology advances always make it easer for college students. Computers made typing papers much easier than working on typewriters. Laptops made the whole process even easier because you could take them with you to take notes in class or work in the library. Tablets are now making it even easier for college students to access their information for class and take notes from anywhere. Depending on the brand and capabilities, tablets can cost anywhere from under $100 for a basic e-reader to $800 for versions of the iPad. However, most students can find an affordable version of a tablet that offers many benefits beyond having entertainment at their fingertips.
Online Access and Applications
Although you should always be wary of information found on the Internet, it does provide valuable information for college students. Tablets, as long as you are connected to the internet via WiFi or a data plan, offer the entire Internet at your fingertips, and in a more accessible form than trying to browse on a smartphone. As long as you only use reputable sources, you can find the information you need during late night cram sessions. There are also helpful apps you can purchase that can serve as useful study aids. Again, you should always be sure that you can trust the information provided in these apps. However, as long as it is a good source, you can find ways to help you study for those difficult tests.
Save on Textbooks
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Multimodal interaction in the insect brain
The magnitude of multimodal enhancement in the brain is believed to depend on the stimulus intensity and timing. Such an effect has been found in many species, but has not been previously investigated in insects.
We investigated the responses to multimodal stimuli consisting of an odour and a colour in the antennal lobe and mushroom body of the moth Manduca sexta. The mushroom body shows enhanced responses for multimodal stimuli consisting of a general flower odour and a blue colour. No such effect was seen for a bergamot odour. The enhancement shows an inverse effectiveness where the responses to weaker multimodal stimuli are amplified more than those to stronger stimuli. Furthermore, the enhancement depends on the precise timing of the two stimulus components.
Insect multimodal processing show both the principle of inverse effectiveness and the existence of an optimal temporal window.
In nature, nearly all stimuli engage multiple senses. They can be seen, heard, smelled and tasted. Consequently, the brain must deal with the complexity of a rich flow of multimodal information. It is well known that information from different sensory channels is combined and integrated in the nervous system. This results in a robust and unified perception of the external world, and provides animals with considerable response flexibility [1, 2].
In humans, behavioural results have showed that tri-modal cues are detected faster and more accurately than bi-modal cues, which, likewise, show advantages over unimodal responses [3]. Moreover, different modalities are processed at different speeds in different parts of the brain [4]. The activity of neural populations that respond to a particular sensory modality can be modulated by a another modality either by being enhanced or depressed [1, 5]. This interaction can radically transform the experience of the stimulus [6] and consequently also influence behaviour.
Until recently, most brain research has focused on one modality at a time, but sensory inputs of different modalities are not processed independently. Cross-modal interactions are probably the rule and not the exception in perception, and the cortical pathways previously thought to be sensory-specific have been found to be modulated by signals from other modalities [7].
In vertebrates, it has been established that multimodal enhancement is stronger with weaker stimulus intensities [1, 8, 9]. This can be seen in both brain recordings and behaviour and is called The principle of inverse effectiveness. Furthermore, multimodal enhancement depends on the timing of the stimuli resulting in a temporal window of multimodal integration [1, 9]. The ideal timing that will give the optimal enhancement depends on the stimuli used and their natural timing differences in nature.
To a flower-foraging insect, there are obvious advantages to using both visual and odour cues while searching for nectar. Odours can be detected from a long range, long before a small flower can be seen [10]. On the other hand, visual cues are very useful for the detailed approach of the flower [10, 11]. It would thus be of interest to investigate if the principles above also hold for insects.
In recent years, the knowledge of the insect brain has greatly increased but we still know very little about the interaction between different sensory inputs to the brain. An important area for multimodal interaction appears to be the mushroom bodies (MB). The mushroom bodies are paired, high-order neuropils involved in complex functions such as learning and memory, sensory integration, context recognition and olfactory processing [5, 1218].
The mushroom body consists of a calyx, pedunculus and two lobes, one medial and one vertical. The calyx houses dendritic branches of Kenyon cells [19] and the pedunculus and lobes contain the axons and terminals of these neurons respectively. The calyx is doubled and concentrically divided into a broad peripheral zone, which receives input from the olfactory system through antennal lobe (AL) projection neurons, and a narrow inner zone, which most likely receives visual input from the optic lobe (consisting of the lamina, medulla and lobula). The MB is thought to encode odours in sparse patterns of activity, and has mostly been studied with odour responses [12]. The size of the MB varies between species, but its organization is similar in the large Manduca sexta and the tiny fruit fly [20, 21].
However, recordings of mushroom body efferent neurons have shown that Kenyon cells carry multimodal sensory information [1317]. In previous studies with multimodal stimuli in the hawkmoth M. sexta we have measured interactions between colours and odours [5, 18].
Although multimodal interaction has been known to occur in insects for some time, the principles for such interaction have not been thoroughly studied. Here, we investigate the principles of inverse effectiveness and the existence of a temporal window for multimodal interaction in the brain of M. sexta. We use optical imaging techniques to record responses from the antennal lobe and the mushroom body of M. sexta during multimodal stimulus presentation using colour and odour.
Five experiment were performed. The first four investigated the dose-response curves with odour or multimodal stimuli and the third experiment investigated the temporal response window.
Bergamot processing is not influenced by a visual cue
The first two experiment used bergamot (BM) in different concentrations with or without visual stimulation. The two modalities were presented together for 1 s while the responses of the AL (Experiment 1) or MB (Experiment 2) were recorded from 18 and 21 animals respectively.
In experiment 1, the response magnitude for BM decreased in AL when the odour concentration was lowered (Linear regression, \(r^2=0.5016, \hbox {P}<0.001\), Additional file 1). There was no differences for the responses to the odours with or without the colour stimulus present. (Fig. 1, P \(=\) 0.353, 1, 1, and 0.26 for the four concentrations respectively, Mann–Whitney U test, Bonferroni corrected).
Similarly, in experiment 2, the response of the MB also decreased with decreased odour concentration (Linear regression, \(r^2=0.4498, \hbox {P}<0.001\), Additional file 2). There were no significant differences between the responses with or without colour for the different odour concentrations. (Fig. 2, P \(=\) 1, 0.477, 1, and 1 for the four concentrations respectively, Mann–Whitney U test, Bonferroni corrected).
Fig. 1
figure 1
Responses of the antennal lobe to different odour concentrations (BM) with and without the colour stimulus (n \(=\) 18). Error bars show standard error of mean
Fig. 2
figure 2
Responses of the mushroom body to different odour concentrations (BM) with and without the colour stimulus (n \(=\) 21). Error bars show standard error of mean
Fig. 3
figure 3
Responses of the antennal lobe to different odour concentrations (PAA) with and without the colour stimulus (n \(=\) 9). Error bars show standard error of mean
Fig. 4
figure 4
Activity patterns in AL example of the activity pattern in the antennal lobe with different odour concentration. Top Multimodal stimulus. Bottom Only odour
Fig. 5
figure 5
Activity patterns in MB Example of the activity pattern in the mushroom body with different odour concentrations. Top Multimodal stimulus. Bottom Only odour
Visual cues enhances responses to a general flower odour in the mushroom body, but not int the antennal lobe
Experiment 3 and 4 used a general flower odour (Phenylacetaldehyde, PAA) in different concentrations with or without visual stimulation. The two modalities were presented together for 1 s while the responses of the AL or MB were recorded. Recordings in the Al were performed on 9 animals and for the MB recordings 22 animals were used.
In experiment 3, the response magnitude for PAA decreased in AL when the odour concentration was lowered (Linear regression, \(r^2=0.12, \hbox {P}<0.01\), Additional file 3). Although the measured responses were higher for the multimodal stimuli, there were no significant differences between the responses to odour on its own and odour together with the visual stimulus (Figs. 3, 4, P \(=\) 0.566, 1, 1, and 1 for the four concentrations respectively, Mann–Whitney U test, Bonferroni corrected).
In experiment 4, the responses of the MB also decreased with decreased odour concentration (Linear regression, \(r^2= 0.2709, \hbox {P}<0.001\), Additional file 4). There are clear responses to the multimodal stimulus in the MB (Fig. 5). In contrast to the recordings from the AL, the intensity of the responses in MB depended on whether the visual stimulus was present (Fig. 6). There is a significant increase in the response for all but the highest concentration (\(\hbox {P}=0.295, {<}0.01, {<}0.01, {<}0.05\) respectively, Mann–Whitney U test, Bonferroni corrected)
Multimodal interaction in the mushroom body shows inverse effectiveness for weaker stimuli
We calculated the degree of enhancement by the visual stimulus for the different odour concentrations for the data shown in Fig 6. The enhancement is defined as \(E =(R_1-B)/(R_2-B)-1\), where \(R_1\) and \(R_2\) are the two responses to be compared and B is the background level when no stimulus is present. The enhancement clearly shows an inverse effectiveness for lower concentrations (Fig. 7). While there was very little change for the responses to the highest odour concentration, there were large enhancements for the lower concentrations ranging from a 146 % enhancement to 333 % for successively lower concentrations.
To exclude that the enhancement was due to a visual response that was added to odour response, we compared the responses of the MB to visual stimulus alone to MB activity with no stimulus present. There were no significant differences in the measurements when the visual stimulus was presented alone and when no stimulus was presented at all (P \(=\) 0.96, Mann–Whitney U test, Fig. 8, Additional file 5).
Visual cues do not influence the response latency in the mushroom body
We tested the latency until the start of the response for the odour stimulus compared to the multimodal stimulus. There were no significant differences (P \(=\) 0.7244, Mann–Whitney U-test, Additional file 6). We also tested the latency of the peak of the response for the multimodal and unimodal odour stimuli (Fig. 9). There were no significant differences between the time of the peak for any of the odour concentrations (P \(=\) 0.3505, 0.169, 0.2565, 0.2937, Mann–Whitney U-test, Additional file 7). This indicates that the multimodal processing occurs in real-time as the signals are received by the MB.
Timing influences multimodal integration
The final experiment investigated the role of timing on the multimodal interaction. The visual stimulus was presented either before, together with, or after the odour stimulus (Fig. 10a, c, e). There were also two stimulus presentations where the two stimuli partially overlapped (Fig. 10b, d). In some trials (Fig. 10f), no stimulus was shown at all. The tests were made for the highest as well as the lowest odour concentration. The order of the different types of trials was balanced to avoid bleaching effects on successive trials. In total, recordings from 122 animals were used in the analysis.
For the highest odour concentration, the timing of the two components of the multimodal stimuli had an influence on the responses in MB (Kruskal–Wallis test, \(\hbox {p}<0.001\), Fig. 11, Additional file 8). Looking at the difference between the individual temporal relations for the stronger odour concentration, there were a significant difference between the first timing (Fig. 10a) and timing b, c, and d but not for the last timing (a–b: \(\hbox {p}<0.01\), a–c: \(\hbox {p}<0.01\), a–d: \(\hbox {p}<0.01\), a–e: P \(=\) 0.156, Mann–Whitney U-test with Holm-correction).
For the lowest odour concentration, there was also a significant effect of the timing (Kruskal–Wallis test, P > 0.01, Fig. 11, Additional file 9). There was a significant increase in the response for timing c and d, but unlike for the highest concentration, there were no significant increase for timing b (a–b: P \(=\) 0.936, a–c: \(\hbox {P}<0.05\), a–d: \(\hbox {P}<0.05\), a–e: P \(=\) 0.974, Mann–Whitney U-test with Holm-correction, Fig. 11).
Fig. 6
figure 6
Responses of the mushroom body to different odour concentrations (PAA) with and without the colour stimulus (n \(=\) 22). Error bars show standard error of mean
Fig. 7
figure 7
Inverse effectiveness of multimodal interaction in the mushroom body The multimodal enhancement is larger for the lower odour concentrations (n \(=\) 22)
Fig. 8
figure 8
No responses to visual stimulus. The presentation of a visual stimulus (V) does not elicit a measurable response in the MB when compared to not stimulus at all (N) (n \(=\) 94)
Fig. 9
figure 9
Response peak latency density plot of the latency of the response peak for three odour concentrations relative to the start of each trial for the data set in Fig. 6 (red multmodal, green odour only). There are no differences in the respons timing for any of the odour concentrations
Fig. 10
figure 10
Stimulus timing five different temporal relations between the visual and the odour components of the multimodal stimulus stimulus used in the final experiment (ae) and the blank stimulus (f)
Fig. 11
figure 11
Temporal window the temporal window for multimodal interaction in the mushroom body for the highest (blue) and lowest (green) odour concentration (n \(=\) 122). For both concentrations, the response was significantly enhanced, compared to the timing A, when the visual stimulus component coincided (\(\Delta t = 0\) s) or came slightly after (\(\Delta t = 0.5\) s) the odour. For the higher concentration, there was also an significant increase in the response when the visual stimulus preceded the odour with half a second (\(\Delta t = -0.5\) s). The different temporal relations are shown in Fig. 10. Error bars show standard error of mean
We investigated the multimodal responses of the brain of the moth M. sexta to stimuli consisting of odours and colours of different intensities in different temporal relationships to test the principle of inverse effectiveness and the temporal window of multimodal integration.
As expected, the responses of the antennal lobes decreases with lower odour concentration and these responses are not influenced by the visual stimulus (Figs. 1, 3). In contrast, the odour responses of the mushroom body were modulated by the presence and timing of the visual stimuli when the odour PAA was used.
The responses increased when visual stimulation occurred together with the odour, except for the strongest odour concentration (Fig. 6). This enhancement was stronger for the more diluted odourants (Fig. 7) showing an increased effectiveness of the multimodal interaction for the weaker stimuli. Non-linear interaction of this type is sometimes referred to as synergistic interaction [22] or superadditivity [9, 23, 24] of the stimuli.
At least two different ways to measure the enhancement has been suggested for spike count data [23]. One possibility is to compare the response to the multimodal stimulus to the maximum of the responses to the two unimodal stimuli [9]. The other alternative is to compare the multimodal response to the sum of the responses to the unimodal stimuli [24]. Since there is no measurable response in the MB to a unimodal visual stimulus (Figs. 8, [5]), the two methods to calculate the multisensory enhancement will give the same results for our data. However, these measures assume that there is no signal without a stimulus. Since this is typically not the case for imaging data, we modified the calculation to first subtract the background level.
Multimodal enhancement is often seen as a fundamental property of multimodal interaction, it is of importance to consider that a brain area can potentially perform multimodal processing without any signs of multimodal enhancement [8]. While multimodal enhancement is a sufficient condition for multimodal processing, it is not necessary [25]. Multimodal neurons may also perform additive or subadditive operations [25]. Such an effect has also been seen in the mushroom body of M. sexta, where some odours were suppressed by a visual cue rather than enhanced. The results are specific for the particular odours, their concentration and the colour stimulus used. For example, in two previous studies using a higher concentration of PAA, the same light stimulus used here instead produced suppression rather than enhancement [5, 18]. In the current study, there were a large difference between the responses for PAA and BM. While PAA was influenced by the visual stimulus, no such effect was seen for BM. Furthermore, the higher odour concentration in earlier studies also appeared to make the visual stimulus influence the on-set latency of the response [5]. No such effect was seen in this study.
Rowland and Stein proposed two possible models of multimodal interaction [26]. One possibility is that cross-modal signals are integrated directly when they arrive at the multimodal integration site. This is called real-time integration. The other possibility is that the integration takes place only after the individual signals have been received. This is called delayed integration. In the first case, we would expect the latency of the response peak to be the same for the unimodal stimuli and the multimodal response. In the second case, the latency of the multimodal response would be longer than that for the unimodal stimuli. When this was tested for the stimuli that produced differences between the unimodal and multimodal stimulation, there were no differences in the latency of the response peak to unimodal and multimodal stimuli (Fig. 9). This suggests that the interaction in the mushroom body constitutes a real-time interaction rather than delayed interaction. This is consistent with the results from multimodal interaction in the cat superior colliculus [26].
The timing of the visual and odour component influenced the interaction. The enhancement was optimal when the two stimulus modalities were presented together and decreased when the visual stimulus either preceded or succeed the odour with half a second (Figs. 10, 11). This indicates that there exists a temporal window within which the multimodal interaction is optimal. It also shows that sensory information can be integrated over time and does not need to reach the sensory organ of the animal at exactly the same time.
This result can be compared to behavioural experiments with M. sexta, where olfactory stimulation either before or after visually guided approach enhanced responsiveness to an odourless visual target [27]. Additionally, searching times were increased by either a transient olfactory stimulation before take-off or by having the flower model spatially separated from the odour source tracked by the moths [27]. The manipulation of floral cues showed that the feeding behaviour of M. sexta is based not only on the sensory stimulation per se but also on the temporal decoupling [27]. Olfactory stimulation before, during or after visual stimulation is sufficient to elicit probing. Thus, an odour plume can guide a moth to its source (the flower) when sustained, but it also can increase a moth?s responsiveness to a visual target when transient. Moths that approached the visual target in the absence of odour showed very low probabilities of proboscis extension, but this behaviour could be reversed by a transient odour puff administered as moths hovered in front of the flower model [27]. These studies are in line with our results that the responses are enhanced to multimodal stimuli.
Although we did not find any significant effect of the visual stimulus in the responses in the AL, there are recent results that suggest that the MB projects back to the AL in Drosophila [28] and honeybees [29], which could in principle support a changed odour sensitivity as a result of visual stimulation.
There are several extensions that could be made to the set-up. It would be useful to stimulate the two sides of the sensory systems of the animals separately, for example to stimulate only the left antenna or only the right eye. Another extension would be to use multi-fibre light guides to project visual patterns in addition to the different colours. This would make it possible to investigate the role of spatial location in multimodal integration.
We have shown that odour and colour stimuli interact in the mushroom body of the insect over a wide range of odour concentrations. The interaction follows the same principles that can be found in other species: A stronger enhancement is found for weaker stimuli supporting that the insect brain follows the principle of inverse effectiveness for these stimuli. The results also show that the interaction follows a temporal rule, where the interaction is significantly stronger when the multimodal stimulus components at least partially overlap in time.
Animal preparation
The animals used were both males and females of the hawkmoth M. sexta (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Larvae were reared on an artificial diet modified from Bell and Joachim [30] with 200 mg beta-carotene/l added [31]. The animals were kept under a 16 h:8 h light/dark cycle at 23–25 \(^\circ \hbox {C}\), and 40–50 % relative humidity. Experiments were performed on 2–4 days post-emergent naive moths.
Individual moths were secured in a plastic pipette, with the head protruding from the narrow end, and fixed by dental wax (Surgident, Heraeus Kulzer Inc). The head capsule was opened between the antenna and the eyes; muscle, glands, trachea, neural sheath and the oesophagus were removed to expose the AL and MB. A calcium-sensitive dye (calcium green-2-AM dye) was dissolved in 20 % Pluronic F-127 in dimethyl sulfoxide (Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR, USA), and diluted in moth Ringer solution to 30 mM, and then applied to the brain, leaving the preparation in a dark and cold (5–8 \(^\circ \hbox {C}\)) environment for 2 h.
Multimodal stimulus generation
Stimulus generation and data collection was fully automatic and controlled by the TILL-vision 4.0 software (TILL Photonics) that could trigger colour and odour stimuli. The software allows the detailed control of the on-set and duration of each stimulus and makes it possible to produce different stimulus.
The visual stimulus (V) was generated by a 3 mm LED. The intensity of the LED can be changed by the a custom made driver circuit and the produced spectrum can be modified by changing the LED. In the experiments described below, a LED with dominant wavelength at 430 nm was used and the intensity was set to approximately \(0.01\hbox { cd/m}^2\). This blue colour is known to be attractive to moths during foraging [32, 33]. To not interfere with the optical recording, a fiber-optic light guide was used to transfer the visual stimulus to the eyes of the moth. The optically isolated light guides were docked to the eyes using small rubber tubes that were kept in place using dental wax. One LED and light guide was used for each eye.
To produce the odour stimulus (O), the antennae were ventilated from a glass tube (7 mm internal diameter) with a continuous charcoal-filtered and moistened air stream (30 ml/s). The glass tube ended 10 mm from the antenna. The odourant was dissolved in paraffin oil and was applied on filter paper (\(5\times 15\) mm) and inserted into a Pasteur pipette [34]. The pipette was in turn inserted trough a small hole in the continuous airflow glass tube with an air stream of 15 ml/s. Another air stream (5 m/s) was blown through the pipette by an automatically triggered puffer device (Syntech, Hilversum, The Netherlands) for 1 s into the continuous air stream. During odour stimulation, the air stream was switched from an empty pipette to an odour-laden one to minimise the influence of added air volume.
Odourants used were the plant-derived odour Bergamot (Aroma, essintial oil Citrus aurantium bergamia, Italy, BM) and phenylacetaldehyde (PAA) - odours that are known to elicit responses in the antennal lobes of M. sexta [34]. The dose was 50 \(\upmu\)g that was successively diluted by a factor of ten into four odour concentrations (indicated by \(10^0, 10^{-1}, 10^{-2}\) and \(10^{-3}\) in the figures).
Optical recordings
Recordings were made in vivo after incubation and washing, using an Olympus microscope (10\(\times\) objective NA 0.50; filter settings: dichroic 500 nm, emission LP 515 nm). The preparation was illuminated at 475 nm. Stimulation started at frame 12 and lasted 1 s. Images were binned (320 \(\times\) 240 pixel) to increase signal-to-noise ratio. TILL LA PHOTONICS imaging software (Gräfeling, Germany) was used to record sequences of 38 frames (Experiment 1–4, 8 Hz, 80 ms exposure time) or 40 frames (Experiment 5, 8 Hz, 80 ms exposure time). The recorded image sequences were stored as 16 bit multi image TIFF files before they were analysed by the image processing software.
Signal processing
First, noise was removed by a spatial Gaussian filter. Second, the response magnitude was calculated as the average \(\Delta F/F\) for each frame, where F was estimated by comparing the signal in a sampling region to parts of the calcium fluorescence decay curve outside the potential response. Signals for each individual were normalized by dividing each measurement with the upper quartile or the distribution of the recorded signals for each animal. To generate images of the activity patterns (Figs. 4, 5), we used the linear method described by Balkenius et al. [35].
mushroom body
antennal lobe
M. sexta :
Manduca sexta
response one
response two
the visual stimulus
light emitting diode
the odour stimulus
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Authors' contributions
AB performed the experiments. AB and CB built the custom made experimental setup, did the analysis, and wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
We thank Elisabeth Marling for rearing the moths.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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The experiments followed the Swedish ethics rules for work with insects. No formal ethics approval is required for invertebrates.
This work was funded in part by the Swedish Research Council (VR), FORMAS and the Lineaus grant for IC-E3 Support from the Crafoord Foundation is gratefully acknowledged.
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Balkenius, A., Balkenius, C. Multimodal interaction in the insect brain. BMC Neurosci 17, 29 (2016).
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• Moth
• Multmodal interaction
• Inverse effeciveness
• Superadditivity
• Temporal window
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What is so special about the capital?
• The capital cannot be conquered at all.
• It is impossible to build the great barracks or great stable in the capital.
• You can extend the resource fields in the capital infinitely, at least theoretically.
How do I choose my capital?
Your first village is your capital whether you build a residence or palace or command centre in it or not. Only after naming another village your capital, it will lose this status. This can be done by building a palace in the village you want to name your new capital and clicking the link "Make this village your capital". To be able to do so you need a palace level 1 and you have to enter your password to confirm this change.
The palace can only be built in one village per account a time but you can demolish it and build in a different village to move the capital.
If your palace is demolished the village will still remain the capital until you change it.
What happens when I change the capital?
If you change your capital, the prior capital village will lose all resource field upgrades above level 10 and the stonemason's lodge as well as a brewery (in case of Teutons), will be destroyed. Furthermore the great barracks and great stable will be lost if they are in the new capital. Once the capital is changed the palace can be demolished as normal.
There is no way to undo the capital changing!
What happens if my capital gets destroyed?
Your largest village with an administration building becomes the new capital.
How do I know which is my enemy's capital?
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Sunday 04 December 2022
Hair is wearing at the speed of the storm! Change eating habits
Rubaiya Reety || TheAgriculturist
Published: 09:25, 5 December 2020 Update: 16:14, 16 January 2021
One of the common problems with lockdown these days is that hair is falling out very fast. Many are bald again. Before solving any problem, you have to find the cause of this problem.
Reasons for rapid hair loss:
* Worry.
* Lack of vitamins E and D. Especially if the hair does not get sunlight and do not eat vitamin-E foods.
* Lack of protein foods.
* Hereditary causes.
* Long-term keto diet or low-carb diet
* Use extra chemicals in the hair, especially rebounding, hair spray.
* Not sleeping on time and getting less sleep.
* Not taking care of hair.
* Do not comb the hair properly.
* Rapid changes in hormones.
* During pregnancy and after childbirth.
* Taking extra unnecessary medicine etc.
How to reduce hair loss and grow new hair through food
1. Protein foods: Protein foods contain two types of proteins, such as animal and vegetable proteins. Eat 1st-grade protein such as eggs, milk, fish every day, and meat two days a week. Class 2 proteins include pulses, any legumes that will help hair grow. Since milk is the ideal food, drink milk every day.
2. Foods with Vitamin-E and Biotin: Any fish oil contains vitamin-E. Vitamin-E increases hair hormonal. Vegetable oils such as olive oil, mustard oil, sunflower oil, etc. contain vitamin-E. Any nut contains vitamin-E. An adult can eat 15 mg of nuts per day. Biotin-rich foods help in hair growth. The highest amounts of biotin are found in walnuts, almonds, walnuts, tomatoes, and spinach. Foods rich in vitamin E and biotin make the itch healthy, thick, and smooth.
3. Vitamin-D rich foods: Sunlight is very beneficial for hair. Especially when the hair is exposed to direct sunlight, the scalp gets vitamin-D easily and it stops hair loss. So stand in the morning sun for about 5-6 minutes every day. It is also vitamin-D in sour yogurt, cheese, lamb, milk, nuts, spinach, marine fish, dried fish, etc. Regular intake of vitamin-D rich food stops hair loss.
4. Foods rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids: Fish, nuts, walnuts, eggs, olive oil, etc. contain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that maintain the hormonal balance of the hair, prevent hair loss and prevent fungal infections. Protects the scalp.
5. Foods with Vitamin-C: Myrobalan contains 100% Vitamin-C. Eat one Myrobalan every morning to prevent fungal infections of the hair, the hair will be beautiful and smooth. Vitamin C is required for hair nutrient absorption such as lemon, green chili, raw mango, litchi, guava, lemon, tamarind, any pickled fruit, etc.
6. Vitamin A-rich foods: Vitamin-A is a fat-soluble vitamin. Vitamin A, sweet potatoes, carrots, etc. are beneficial for hair. The beta carotene in it helps to make the hair beautiful and healthy. Any vegetable and vitamin-rich vegetable cooked with oil is easily absorbed and helps in hair regrowth by preventing hair fall.
How to take care of hair:
1. Regularly apply oil on the hair 2-3 days a week and massage it on the scalp. Such as - coconut oil, almond oil, mustard oil, olive oil, sesame oil, vitamin E, castor oil. Mixing this oil together and massaging it will make the hair grow very fast and the hair loss will stop within 10 days.
2. Comb your hair 5-6 times a day. The more the scalp is combed, the better the blood circulation in the hair will be and the hair will stop falling out.
3. Do not take any medicine for hair. Try to regrow hair through natural foods and home remedies.
4. Use good brand oils and shampoos.
5. Drink water regularly. Avoid worries.
. Do not tie wet hair. Stay under the fan to dry hair.
. Eat milk, eggs, fish, meat, nuts, vegetable oil, etc. regularly. The hair will be beautiful.
Author: Clinical Dietitian, Faraji Hospital Limited.
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Case Study
Event Management
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Donec mauris arcu, congue a magna non, tempor magna.
Fusce ante lectus, volutpat vitae euismod nec, ultrice neque.
Text Here
This client routinely held events each year that were below their anticipated attendance, didn’t fundraise enough money, and didn’t align with their organization’s goals. They were consistently losing money on events and no longer saw the purpose in hosting them. They hired Tallent Co. to manage all aspects of their events from start to finish in hopes they would not have to discontinue their entire events program. Tallent Co. worked closely with the board of directors and tripled the fundraising, doubled the attendance and sold out their main event in a matter of weeks all while redeveloping the program to fit the organization’s mission. This client is still increasing in event attendance and profit working closely with the Tallent Co. team.
Title Here
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Case Study
Event Management
63739 street lorem ipsum City, Country
+12 (0) 345 678 9
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How State Laws Can Impact Imports and Exports
Consumers tend to think of imports and exports mainly in terms of federal and international regulations. That is not surprising, given the amount of influence Washington and various international trade bodies have over the industry. But did you know that even state laws can impact imports and exports? Just look at California.
While exporters work with organizations like Ohio-based Vigilant Global Trade Services to maintain trade compliance, importers looking at goods coming into the country through California ports are more concerned about how they are going to get those goods to customers.
The big issue in California right now is independent trucking. AB5, the California law enacted a couple of years ago to pretty much wipe out the gig economy threatens to further limit the already limited number of tractor-trailers available to carry shipping containers out of California ports. An injunction preventing the law from being enacted in the trucking industry has kept things at bay for now. But how long will it last?
Making Contractors Company Employees
California Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) became the law of the land in the Golden State on January 1, 2020. Backers of the law were not ashamed to admit that it was designed to severely limit the gig economy in California. It was aimed primarily at Uber and Lyft, though it has affected virtually every independent contractor in the state.
Ironically, the two ride-share companies were able to successfully negotiate an exemption for themselves months after AB5 became law. The very law intended to rein them in is now negatively affecting tens of thousands of other contract workers while Uber and Lyft continue as usual.
As far as the trucking industry is concerned, AB5 pretty much guarantees that no independent truckers will work in California again, should it be fully implemented. The California Trucking Association (CTA) has been fighting a protracted legal battle to make sure that never happens.
Federal Law Overrides AB5
The CTA’s legal position is based on a provision in the Federal Aviation Administration Act of 1994 that prevents states from enacting laws that impact services, routes, and prices related to interstate commerce. In other words, the CTA believes that federal rules allowing independent truckers access the California markets override California rules.
Several lower courts have ruled against the CTA but allowed an injunction prohibiting full implementation of AB5 to remain in place until the appeal process is complete. The case went before the U.S. Supreme Court in early November 2021. Rather than deciding whether or not they would hear the case, SCOTUS put it on hold and asked the U.S. Solicitor General to weigh in on it.
That means for now, the injunction remains in place as it has since January of 2020. Independent contractors can still haul cargo from California ports as they always have. But if the injunction is ever lifted, California ports could literally go out of business. There are simply not enough trucking companies with armies of employed drivers to handle the freight.
Onerous Regulation Continues
The California case is further evidence that onerous government regulations continue unabated. It is bad enough that importers and exporters have to jump through hoops at the federal level to maintain trade compliance. In many states, they also have to jump through additional hoops to keep lawmakers happy.
Legislators in California may think they are doing the right thing by way of AB5, but it may just come back to bite them. If history holds true in the Golden State, they will not realize how devastating the law is until it’s too late to recover from it.
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Efficient Distributed Framework for Collaborative Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning
by Shuhan Qi, et al.
Multi-agent reinforcement learning for incomplete information environments has attracted extensive attention from researchers. However, due to the slow sample collection and poor sample exploration, there are still some problems in multi-agent reinforcement learning, such as unstable model iteration and low training efficiency. Moreover, most of the existing distributed framework are proposed for single-agent reinforcement learning and not suitable for multi-agent. In this paper, we design an distributed MARL framework based on the actor-work-learner architecture. In this framework, multiple asynchronous environment interaction modules can be deployed simultaneously, which greatly improves the sample collection speed and sample diversity. Meanwhile, to make full use of computing resources, we decouple the model iteration from environment interaction, and thus accelerate the policy iteration. Finally, we verified the effectiveness of propose framework in MaCA military simulation environment and the SMAC 3D realtime strategy gaming environment with imcomplete information characteristics.
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I Introduction
In general, reinforcement learning (RL) can be seen as a hybrid of game theory
[1] and dynamic strategy modeling [2]
. Compared to traditional machine learning methods, RL performs policy update based on the feedback from the environment. In this way, the RL can alter the policy dynamically and make more real-time decision in a changing environment. Deep reinforcement learning technology
, which combines reinforcement learning and deep learning, has been shown to have perceived decision-making abilities. In recent years, it has achieved spectacular results in the field of stock market trading
[4], autonomous driving [5], robotics [6], machine translation [7], recommendation systems [8], and it is progressively expanding from many applications.
(a) scenario
(b) scenario
(c) scenario
(d) scenario
Fig. 1: The scenarios of experiment in SMAC.
However, there are still many obstacles that limit the application of RL, such as lack of training samples, low sample utilization and unstable training, etc. Specifically, the training samples of RL are obtained through real-time interactions between the agent and the environment, which limits the diversity of training samples, and result to the situation of insufficient training samples. In particular, when the problem is extended to the field of multi-agent, the demand of training sample becomes even more severe. The scarce of sample will lead to the inefficiency of training and the instability of iteration for multi-agent model. What’s more, the effect of model training are also impacted by the diversity of empirical samples, which makes this problem even worse. Therefore, increasing the amount of sample data can not only improve the training efficiency but also can reflect a more integrity of the environment, and thus resulting in a stable agent learning.
Researchers have lately begun to investigate distributed reinforcement learning (distributed RL) domains. The distributed framework can be used to boost data throughput and solve the problems of samples scarce and unstable training, which is critical to the reinforcement learning training process. However, the most of the current distributed RL framework is proposed for single-agent RL, and not suitable for the solving the multi-agent problem.
To address the above problems, in this paper, we proposed two practical distributed training frameworks for MARL. Firstly, we propose a actor-worker based MARL training framework. The framework consists of a worker and many actors, and information is transmitted between worker and actors through pipelines. It worth noting that, in this framework, the actors interact with multiple environments in an asynchronous way, which significantly improve the efficiency of sample collection and thus reduce the cost of multi-agent training.
Moreover, we extend the actor-work to actor-worker-learner distributed framework (DMCAF), which further decouples environment interaction from the model iteration process. Unlike the A3C method that transfers gradients, this framework merely transmits observation data from actors to workers so that actors do not need to participate the model training. This further improves ample diversity and policy iteration efficiency, and makes the multi-agent training process becomes more stable and fast.
(a) On-policy
(b) Off-policy
Fig. 2: On-policy and off-policy
Ii Background
Ii-a Related Work in Reinforcement Learning
Watkins created a table-based Q-learning reinforcement learning approach in 1989, which laid the groundwork for today’s advancement of RL. But it has the issue that the table needed may be large in case of numerous states. The DeepMind team proposed the DQN (Deep Q Network) method in 2013 to solve the issue of Q-learning. The DQN technique trains Atari game bots to outperform human players by combining the target network and experience replay mechanism [9]. Following its triumph in conquering the Atari game, Google DeepMind’s Go agent AlphaGo has now defeated top Go masters Li Sedol and Ke Jie [10]. The enhanced version AlphaGoZero surpasses the human level in just a few days through self-play [11, 12]. In addition to Go, DouZero [13], a chess and card-type landlord agent developed by the domestic Kuaishou team, and Suphx [14]
, a mahjong agent developed by the Microsoft team, combine RL, supervised learning, self-play, and monte carlo search that have made breakthroughs in different chess and card fields. In real-time strategy games with larger dimensions and more complex environments, the agent AlphaStar
[15] developed by DeepMind shows an excellent game level on StarCraft II.
In the field of distributed RL, the actor-critic algorithm is a classic method, which combines policy and value networks, greatly improving the level of the agent. The A3C algorithm is an asynchronous distributed version of the actor-critic algorithm in single-agent RL [16], which maintains multiple secondary networks and a primary network. Among them, each secondary network contains actors and critics and the primary network contains actors and critics , which have the same network structure. After interacting with the environment, the secondary network computes and accumulates the gradients of actor and critic:
The primary network receives the gradients accumulated by the secondary networks, and updates the gradients for actor and critic with learning rates and , respectively:
The GA3C method proposed by Babaeizadeh et al. uses multiple actors to interact with the environment. Each actor only transmits the environment state and training samples to the learner through a queue, which reduces the number of policy models and training resources [17]. The IMPALA algorithm proposed by Deepmind improves A3C from another dimension. Different from the gradient transfer in A3C, IMPALA adopts the method of transferring training samples to update the model and proposes the V-trace method to correct the policy-lagging issue[18]. The Ape-X algorithm proposed by Horgan et al. is a value-based distributed RL method. This method uses multiple processes to realize multiple environment interactions, which improves the training speed of the single-process DQN [19].
Ii-B On-policy and Off-policy
According to the policy which generates training data, distributed MARL can be divided into on-poliy and off-policy. As shown in Fig. 2(a), if the experience samples sampled by the agent during training come from the current target strategy, this method is called on-policy learning [20]. Off-policy learning [21] is the method that employs an exploratory behavioral strategy to interact with the environment and gather experience. And it also stores experience samples in the experience replay pool [22] for sampling and iterative updating of the target strategy, which is shown in Fig. 2(b).
One drawback of the on-policy learning is the need to guarantee that the parameters of the model network in each environmental process are consistent with the parameters of the primary model network, as well as the synchronization of each environmental interaction. Thus when two environments are out of sync, they must wait for each other. Another drawback is the ability to allow asynchronous sampling of the environment, which solves the problem of low training efficiency but brings the additional policy-lagging issue. The training samples collected by the primary model network are policy-lagging, meaning they are obtained based on the past policy rather than the current policy. So during the iterative update of the policy, the primary model network must execute importance sampling on the experience samples, turning them into learnable experience samples.
The importance sampling is created to handle the problem of calculating the expectation using a known distribution When the original distribution is difficult to sample, which is shown in (5) and (6).
In on-policy distributed RL, the importance sampling is used to remedy the policy-lagging problem produced by samples from different policies. But the off-policy distributed RL does not require as many modifications to the samples and expectation computations due to the presence of the experience replay mechanism. Each environmental process can store the collected samples into the experience replay pool at any time, and the primary network takes out the historical sample data from the experience replay pool to iteratively update the model.
Ii-C The Meaning of Exploring distributed MARL
With the development of MARL, RL has been able to deal with the common incomplete information and multi-agent challenges in the environment [23]. But the instability of training and performance have become the factors restricting its development. And from the results of distributed single-agent reinforcement learning algorithms, distributed technology is useful for improving performance.
However, the methods in distributed RL are nearly in the single-agent domain, and it is difficult to directly extend them to the multi-agent domain. Specifically, the model calculation becomes more complicated as the number of agents increased, so does the sample requirement for multi-agent model training.
As a result, the research on distributed MARL is of great significance for improving the stability and performance. Therefore,we propose the DMCAF in this paper.
Iii Method
For the reasons stated above, we focus on proposing a distributed MARL method. To avoid the high-complexity problem caused by policy correction technology [24], we select the value-based MACRL method as the basic algorithmic model and propose a distributed MARL algorithmic framework. The algorithmic framework we proposed is mainly divided into two parts, the latter part is the continuous deepening and extension of the former part.
Iii-a Actor-worker Distributed Multi-agent Asynchronous Communication Framework
Fig. 3: Actor-worker asynchronous communication framework.The framework is made up of a worker and numerous actors. Each actor in the multi-process maintains an environment and communicates asynchronously with the worker via pipeline. There exists an observation-action pipeline and an experience pipeline between each actor and worker.
We first propose an actor-worker distributed algorithm training framework for multiple agents. The algorithmic training framework is shown in Fig. 3. The operation of the framework is divided into four steps.
• Step 1: The environment passes the new state through the observation-action pipeline in actor to the worker at each time step.
• Step 2: The worker sends the state into its primary network for decision-making and puts the action back into the corresponding observation-action pipeline which is passed to the corresponding actor.
• Step 3: The environment gets the action from pipeline and goes to the next state.
• Step 4: After each round of data collection, the actor sends the entire gathered trajectory to the experience replay pool via the experience pipeline. The worker randomly samples from the updated experience replay pool to update the policy until it iteratively converges.
However,when employing the training framework described above, the historical knowledge shared by multiple agents in different contexts must be explicitly split. The hidden state unit in the distributed MARL method is shown in Fig. 4. Otherwise, the agents in different environments will misuse historical information, lowering the performance of the algorithm.
Fig. 4: Multidimensional hidden state. When M agents make a sequence choice of length T in N environments, the space of hidden state is expanded from single to multi-dimensional, with each dimension corresponding to the number of agents, environments, and time steps, preserving all hidden state spaces.
After the foregoing modifications, multiple environments can be deployed simultaneously. Therefore, the speed and scalability of sample collecting will be increased. And moreover, the asynchronous interaction of multiple actors further lowers the correlation between samples. Meanwhile, because all policy updates are accomplished iteratively in workers, each actor just need to maintains a distinct environment instead of the model with large amount of parameters, thus lowering the computational cost of large-scale model training.
Iii-B DMCAF:Actor-worker-learner Distributed Multi-agent Decoupling Algorithmic Framework
The worker-learner layer is presented after proposing the actor-worker framework, and model sharing of the primary network and the secondary network is implemented in the worker-learner layer. The actor-worker structure is extended to the actor-worker-learner structure.
The A3C algorithm is the most representative asynchronous algorithm, but it has two problems. The first is that the primary network is updated slowly and has poor robustness. Secondly, this way of passing gradients makes the model iteratively slower. So we use the method of transferring empirical samples from the secondary network to the primary network instead of transferring gradients. In this way, the data collection and model updates can be decoupled. This decoupling approach can well connect the actor-worker asynchronous communication framework proposed in the previous section. Therefore, we take the actor-worker asynchronous communication framework as the underlying structure, and introduce the decoupled worker-learner structure as the model sharing layer.
Fig. 5: Actor-worker-learner distributed decoupling framework.The three-layer structure corresponds to the actors, workers and learners. Learners, workers, and actors cooperate with each other from top to bottom to complete the functions of the model sharing, information transmission and sample collection.
Specifically, under this decoupling framework, although the worker has a policy network, it is only responsible for decision-making and sample collection during training. The worker does not calculate and transmit gradients, thus avoiding the problem of gradient conflict. After multiple actors collect the experience samples of the whole game through interaction, the workers send the samples to the experience replay pool, and the learner takes experience from the experience replay pool to update the policy as needed. The samples in the experience replay pool can be updated continuously because the asynchronous interaction of multiple environments maintained by the actor greatly improves the speed of data collection. So the learner does not need to wait for the gradient to be calculated or for data to be collected.
In order to promote further optimization of training, in terms of the model sharing, we use the shared memory technology to periodically update the parameters of the primary network in learner to the secondary network in worker instead of transferring parameters. The use of shared memory technology enables the proposed method to avoid the instability of data transmission when synchronizing the model, and reduces the communication cost while improving the communication efficiency.
In summary, we propose the actor-worker-learner distributed decoupling framework, as shown in Fig. 5
. The worker layer acts as an intermediate transition layer, maintaining multiple actors and a neural network that periodically synchronizes with the learner. The worker starts training with multiple actors at the same time and communicates with each actor. Each actor maintains an independent environment, and each of them interacts with the environment under the guidance of the policy network in the worker to complete the sample collection. The algorithm of the actor is shown in Algorithm
Iii-B1 Actor Algorithm
When the actor receives the new state of the environment, it delivers the observation into the observation-action pipeline, and the action of the worker is retrieved from the observation-action pipeline to interact with the environment. Each step of interactions between the agent and the environment is recorded by the actor, and at the end of the game, the entire game experience is transmitted to the sample queue for the learner to use.
Input: environment parameters , interaction times
Global: sample queue , observation-action pipe
1: Function Actor(, ):
2: Construct environment from environment parameters ;
3: ;
4: Initialize interaction times ;
5: repeat
6: ;
7: Get the start state;
8: repeat
9: Put the observation into observation-action pipe ;
10: Get action from observation-action pipeline ;
11: ;
12: until ;
13: ;
14: Send the collected whole track to the sample queue ;
15: until ;
16: ;
17: return
Algorithm 1 Actor Algorithm
Iii-B2 Worker Algorithm
The decoupled workers and learners work asynchronously while training. The algorithm of the worker is shown in 2. The worker deploys multiple actors, gets observations from the observation-action pipeline, makes decisions using the policy network that are periodically synchronized from the shared memory pool. Then it pips actions back to the actors. When the worker fails to get new observations from the observation-action pipeline, the loop ends.
Input: the number of actors , total interaction times
Global: network parameters , shared memory pool , observation-action pipeline
1: Function Worker(, ):
2: Deploy actors and perform environment interactions respectively;
3: repeat
4: Get parameters from shared memory pool or policy synchronization;
5: Get observations from observation-action pipeline ;
6: Make decisions based on policy,;
7: Send action into the observation-action pipeline; ;
8: until ;
9: return
Algorithm 2 Worker Algorithm
Iii-B3 Learner Algorithm
The learner maintains the sample queue, shared memory pool, and experience replay pool. The cyclic iterative training of model begins when multiple workers are initiated. The sample queue sends a huge number of samples created by the interaction of different environments to the shared experience replay pool. When the experience pool is not empty, the learner continues to train and update the model. Meanwhile, it synchronizes the most recent model parameters to the shared memory pool, allowing workers to interact with the environment using the latest policy model to gain fresh experience samples. The training comes to a halt when the sample queue is empty, indicating that no environment is interacting.
Input: the number of workers , batch size
Global: experience replay pool , shared memory pool , sample queue , network parameters
1: Function Learner(, ):
2: Initialize network ;
3: Deploy workers;
4: repeat
5: Get data from the sample queue and store it in the experience replay pool ;
6: Randomly sample samples from the experience replay pool ;
7: Calculate the gradient:;
8: Update parameter :;
9: Sync model parameters to shared memory pool ;
10: until ;
11: return
Algorithm 3 Learner Algorithm
Scenario Name Number of Actions Number of Agents State Dimension Observation Dimension Time-step limit
9 3 48 30 60
14 8 168 80 120
11 5 120 80 120
12 5 98 55 70
TABLE I: The feature information of the agent in each scenario
Scenario Name Own Unit Enemy Unit scenario Type
and and
TABLE II: Scenario properties.We use for isomorphic symmetry, for heterogeneous symmetry, for isomorphic asymmetric, for Marines, for Stalker, for Zealots.
This framework has strong scalability and can configure several actors and workers in a flexible manner. The upper-layer decoupling framework separates the data acquisition and model training modules, allowing for higher data throughput, more efficient model iteration, and better GPU use. The deployment of large-scale environments has substantially improved the sample collecting speed, extending the benefits of distributed systems even further. The asynchronous updating of numerous models promotes agent exploration in terms of policies and alleviates the exploration and utilization difficulties in RL. Meanwhile, the correlation of RL training samples is weakened, and the diversity of samples is increased, thereby improving the robustness of the algorithm and making the training process more stable.
Iv Experiment
Iv-a Environment
SMAC (StarCraft Multi-Agent Challenge) [25] is a MARL research platform about the game StarCraft II. It is designed to evaluate the ability of multi-agent models to solve complex tasks through collaboration. Many researchers have regarded the SMAC platform as a benchmark platform in the field of MACRL.
The difficulty on the SMAC platform can be customized, and we use the ”extremely challenging” mode with a level of in the experiment. On the SMAC platform, each scenario depicts a battle between two forces. Depending on whether the type is the same or not, battle scenarios can be separated into symmetrical and asymmetric battle scenarios, as well as isomorphic and heterogeneous battle scenarios based on the unit types on both sides.
The experimental environment is comprised of four scenarios: , , , and ,which is shown in Fig. 1. The isomorphic symmetric scenario, isomorphic symmetric scenario, and heterogeneous symmetric scenario are among the most commonly used experimental scenarios for MACRL. And they are used in the experiments of the original papers of the Qmix and CoMA algorithms. The necessary characteristic information for the four cases is listed in Table II.
We use the control variable method to uniformly set the observations, states, actions, and rewards of all scenarios to the default values of the platform. The specific settings are listed in Table I.
Iv-B Experimental Display and Results Discussion
We select the MACRL algorithm that is currently optimal in multiple scenarios of the SMAC platform as the baseline algorithm. Under the same scenario settings, the distributed multi-agent collaborative algorithm proposed is verified from the aspects of the speed of sample collection and performance.
• Qmix:The original Qmix algorithm, which currently achieves optimal performance in multiple scenarios on the SMAC platform.
• AW-Qmix:Distributed Qmix algorithm based on Actor-Worker framework.
• AWL-Qmix:Distributed Qmix algorithm based on DMCAF.
We use the Qmix, AW-Qmix, and AWL-Qmix to train in four scenarios, set the same collection number in sample for each method in the same scenario, record the sample collection time, and calculate the average collection speed of the sample. The experimental results are shown in the Table III and Fig. 6.
Scenario Name Qmix AW-Qmix AWL-Qmix
2.12 3.90 14.0
1.15 1.82 7.47
1.02 1.80 7.76
1.54 3.12 9.86
TABLE III: Sample collection speed comparison.In four scenarios, AW-Qmix improves sample collection speed by almost 1.8, 1.6, 1.7, and 2.1 times over Qmix, whereas AWL-Qmix improves sample collection speed by nearly 6.6, 6.6, 7.6, and 2.1 times over Qmix.
Fig. 6: Sample collection speed in different scenarios
The Qmix only manages one environment at a time. By opening numerous environments and leveraging asynchronous communication, the AW-Qmix allows for a minor increase in the update speed of model. Compared to the other two methods, the AWL-Qmix completely decouples model updating from environment interaction, allowing the model to be trained repeatedly using large-scale updated data which is shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 7: Iterative process of different models
The counterfactual multi-agent policy gradient algorithm CoMA [26] is used as a horizontal comparison approach in the experiment to further validate the performance of algorithm. In the tests, four actors are used for the AW-Qmix and four workers are used for the AWL-Qmix, with each worker including three actors. Depending on the difficulty, the interaction times of different environments are established for different scenarios. To ensure the scientificity of environment and rigor, the same amount of interactions are employed for each approach.
Iv-B1 Smac
Fig. 8: Algorithm performance comparison in four scenarios.Among them, LABEL: and LABEL: are the comparison between the reward value and the winning rate in the 3m scenario, LABEL: and LABEL: are in the 8m scenario, LABEL: and LABEL: are in the 2s3z scenario, and LABEL: and LABEL: are in the scenario. LABEL:, LABEL:, LABEL:, LABEL: are the comparison of reward values in the four scenarios, and LABEL:, LABEL:, LABEL:, LABEL: are the comparison of the winning rates in the four scenarios.
It can be seen from Fig. 8, 8, 8, 8 that within the same time step in the 3m scenario, AW-Qmix and AWL-Qmix converge to the optimal value earlier. At this time, Qmix is still fluctuating and does not reach a stable reward value. Although CoMA tends to converge earlier, the reward value achieved is low and the performance is at a disadvantage.
In the 8m scenario, as the number of agents increases, the convergence of AW-Qmix is hindered, but AWL-Qmix still maintains better performance and stability. The possible reason is that AW-Qmix adopts a single-model decision-making network structure, and samples and updates after collecting samples in each environment. When the model encounters conflicting samples, the information brought by the samples may cause the model to converge in different directions, resulting in the model needing more exploration to find the correct convergence direction. The multi-model network and shared model technology adopted by AWL-Qmix can allow multiple decision networks to be updated in time, and the update directions of each decision network are consistent, thereby reducing the possibility of conflict between interactive samples.
It is shown that AW-Qmix and AWL-Qmix are marginally better than Qmix in terms of convergence speed and final performance, and are much better than CoMA in the heterogeneous symmetric scenario 2s3z in Fig. 8, 8. The most demanding and complex case for the agent is the symmetric scenario. It necessitates the learning of the agent from a disadvantageous situation to defeat the enemy. CoMA is tough to defeat the opponent in this difficult scenario, as shown in Fig. 8, 8, and AWL-Qmix has a significant advantage in rewards and winning rate curves over the other three approaches.
Iv-B2 MaCA
We install distributed decoupling architectures of various scales on the experimental platform MaCA [27] to further test the generality of the proposed DMCAF on diverse platforms.
The performance comparison of the three methods is shown in Fig. 9. It can be seen that AWL-hierq-12 and AWL-hierq-4 have a certain advantage in reward score compared with Hierq-1, and this advantage increases with the increase of the distributed scale. This result once again verifies the effectiveness of DMCAF, and also demonstrates the application of DMCAF in large-scale reinforcement learning training.
Fig. 9: Performance Comparison in MaCA.The Hierq-1 approach is an upgraded hierarchical Qmix algorithm. The AWL-hierq-4 approach deploys two workers, each with two actors, resulting in four interactive environments, and the AWL-hierq-12 approach deploys three workers, each with four actors, resulting in a total of twelve interactive environments.
V Conclusion
In this paper, we introduced two distributed frameworks for MARL. In the actor-worker framework, the idea of distributed training in the field of single-agent reinforcement learning is extended to the field of MARL. And a multi-agent asynchronous communication algorithm based on actor-worker is designed to solve the urgent needs of sample collection of MARL. Then, we extended the actor-worker to the actor-worker-learner framework. In this framework, the environment interaction is decoupled from the model iteration process, which further increases the diversity of training sample. Finally, the effectiveness of our method is investigated on the StarCraft II reinforcement learning benchmark platform and the MaCA platform. In the future work, we will try to introduce a multi-agent-oriented priority experience replay mechanism based on the distributed algorithm for optimization.
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Starts With A Bang
Ask Ethan: How can we see all the way back to the Big Bang?
If we can’t even witness the birth of our Solar System and planet, how can we claim to see the birth of the Universe?
“There have to be moments when you glimpse something decent, something life-affirming even in the most twisted character. That’s where the real art lies.” –Martin McDonagh
Once time moves forward, you can never go back to the past again. From a human perspective, we call this the arrow of time: the past is just a memory, the future has not yet come to be, and the present is all we can ever experience. Presumably, everything in the Universe obeys that same property, as interactions either occurred in the past, are occurring now, or will occur in the future. But shouldn’t that render the past, as it is for humans, only a memory for the Universe? Bruce Fulford is troubled by the consideration that this might not be the case:
How do we see CMB photons today when the Earth didn’t exist at the time the photons were emitted? Shouldn’t those photons have [sped] away from us into our future?
And this is a difficult idea to process: we claim to see back billions of years in the Universe’s history, yet how do we do that when the Earth didn’t even exist at that time?
Artist’s conception of circumstellar disk around a young, sun-like star. Image credit: NASA.
Discovering the history of our Solar System is a lot like a detective story: we have only the evidence of what remains and survives today, and we have to reconstruct the rest of the story of how we got here. Human records only go back a few thousand years at most; beyond that, we have only the clues left by our biological, chemical, geological and physical histories. We can reconstruct the history of life on Earth by our understanding of DNA, evolution, the fossil record, radioactive decays, carbon deposits and more. We can reconstruct the history of the Solar System by investigating the myriad of planetary, lunar, cometary and asteroidal bodies accessible to us. From the circumstantial evidence available to us, we’ve learned a great deal about how the Earth came to be the way it is today.
A massive collision of large planetesimals gave rise to the Earth-Moon system, something we only learned by going to the Moon and returning samples of the lunar surface to Earth. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle (SSC).
The Earth has only been around for approximately 4.5 billion years: less than a third the history of the Universe. And moreover, we can only infer our past, not observe it directly. But someone who was located a substantial distance away could observe our past directly. Why? Because for them, it’s the present.
The Earth and Moon as viewed from Cassini, orbiting Saturn, on July 19, 2013. This image shows Earth approximately 67 minutes younger than we experienced it at the moment the photo was taken. Image credit: NASA / Cassini / JPL-Caltech.
If you were on the Moon looking at Earth, you’d see Earth as it was about 1.3 seconds ago, because the speed of light takes approximately 1.3 seconds to take an Earth-based signal that far through space. If you were on Pluto, you’d see Earth as it was a little less than five hours ago. But it’s when you start going to larger distances that you really begin to appreciate how different Earth was in the past:
• From Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun, you’d see Earth as it was 4.2 years ago.
• From Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, you’d see Earth as it was 8.6 years ago.
• From Rigel, the brightest blue star in Orion, you’d see Earth as it was 773 years ago.
• From Deneb, the most distant bright star visible, you’d see Earth as it was 2,600 years ago.
• From Andromeda, the nearest galaxy outside the Milky Way, you’d see Earth 2.2 million years ago.
• From Messier 84, one of the most distant galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, you’d see Earth 60 million years ago, just after the extinction of the dinosaurs.
• From IC 1101, the largest galaxy known in the Universe, you’d see Earth 1.05 billion years ago.
• And from GN-z11, the most distant galaxy ever confirmed, you’d see “Earth” 13.4 billion years ago.
Of course, there was no Earth 13.4 billion years ago; there likely wasn’t even a Milky Way! All you’d be able to see is what was there at that time, which is the matter that would eventually turn into the Milky Way, stars and planets, one of which — after another 9 billion years — would form as Earth.
Hubble spectroscopically confirms farthest galaxy to date. Image credits: NASA, ESA, B. Robertson (University of California, Santa Cruz), and A. Feild (STScI).
The laws of physics work the same for us as they do for someone at any other location. So when we look at those distant stars or galaxies, we see their light as it was when it was emitted all those years, or millions or billions of years, ago. Yes, that light has changed over time: the Universe has been expanding, so the light has had its wavelength stretched. The brightest ultraviolet light from the most distant galaxies is stretched so severely that it passed from ultraviolet into and through the visible part of the spectrum, and it’s all the way into the infrared portion of the spectrum. And there are probably galaxies out there beyond what even our infrared telescopes can see, because their light has been shifted to longer wavelengths than even Hubble’s infrared camera can observe.
As the fabric of the Universe expands, the wavelengths of distant light sources get stretched as well. In the case of the first stars, this can turn far-UV light all the way into mid-IR light. Image credit: E. Siegel.
If we want to be incredibly ambitious, we can look for the signatures of the Big Bang itself, far beyond any galaxy. In the earliest stages of time, the Universe would have been filled with a sea of matter, antimatter and radiation particles. Over time, the matter and antimatter would have annihilated away, leaving only a tiny amount of excess matter left over, while the radiation had its wavelength stretched due to the Universe’s expansion. Since wavelength and energy are related — longer wavelength means lower energy — the Universe cools as it expands, meaning that at some point, we reach an important transition: electrons and protons can form neutral atoms without being blasted apart by the radiation. When that occurs, the radiation is free to travel, unimpeded, in a straight line.
A Universe where electrons and protons are free and collide with photons transitions to a neutral one that’s transparent to photons as the Universe expands and cools. Images credit: Amanda Yoho, of the ionized plasma (L) before the CMB is emitted, followed by the transition to a neutral Universe (R) that’s transparent to photons.
And we can see that today, but only by looking to such a distance that it took light 13.81 billion years to traverse it. When we look out at the Universe and see the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), we’re seeing the light that:
• originated from the Big Bang,
• last interacted by scattering off of a free electron at the last moment when the Universe was filled with free electrons,
• traveled for 13.81 billion years through the expanding Universe,
• and arrived at our detector, having shifted into the microwave portion of the spectrum, after that tremendous journey.
Even though the light from the Big Bang fades in wavelength, energy and density over time, it’s still present at all times; we just need to know how to look for it. Image credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI).
It’s true that that light will speed past our eyes, but there’s always going to be more light from a more distant point in the Universe that will be reaching our eyes for the first time at any point in the future. It will be cooler light, from an earlier time, with a lower photon density as time goes on. In another 100 billion years, it will be a cosmic radio background instead of a microwave background, due to the continued expansion of the Universe. But the farther away we look, the more of the Universe there is to reveal itself to us.
A logarithmically scaled view of the observable Universe, with the “edge” of the red glow defining the CMB that we see today. Image credit: Pablo Carlos Budassi, under a c.c.a.-s.a.-3.0 license.
And to someone equally far away, they wouldn’t see Earth or the Milky Way when they looked at us, but rather the light from the Big Bang, just as we see when we look at them.
Submit your Ask Ethan questions to startswithabang at gmail dot com!
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