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1,650 (2004). Ethnic population: 1,800–2,000 (2012 SIL).
Eastern jungle between Napo and Curaray rivers.
The language is considered to be endangered due to emerging Huaorani-Quichua bilingualism brought about by mixed marriages and bilingual education programs taught by Quichua teachers who do not speak Huaorani (2007). All ages. A few also speak Quichua; mostly those who are married to Quichua and their children. (2007 C. Peeke).
"Auca", non-Quichua, in Quichua. Traditional religion, Christian.


broken-heart-2Islaam gave us detailed instructions that identify rights, responsibilities and characters of both husband and wife to build their relationship on mutual love, respect, and mercy. The following are the most important tips that lead to a successful and happy marriage.
1. Faith: Common faith binds the couple strongly. Since Islaam is a way of life, it becomes an integral part of a Muslim's life. Couples with strong faith will share the same values and the frame of reference and communicate smoothly and effectively. Faith plays an essential role in developing a loving relationship.
Couples who work on strengthening their faith, for example by performing the Prayer, reading Qur'aan, and seeking Islamic knowledge together, become closer. They love and please Allaah through loving and pleasing each other. The commitments couples make to Allaah are excellent facilitators for enhancing their family's spiritual development aswell as their commitment to Allaah and His Religion.
2. Forgiving: When the Prophet (may Allaah exalt his mention) said to his Companions (may Allaah be pleased with them), "Do you wish that Allaah should forgive you?" They said, 'Of course, O Prophet of Allaah!' He (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) responded, 'Then forgive each other.'
5. Openness: Marital relationship is where the partners must feel safe to speak their mind honestly with due consideration to the other's feeling, without compromising their own views. When the communication is not sincere it hinders the development of closeness and deep understanding of each other's inner self.
6. Flattering: Paving compliments and indulging in honest flattery is a very inexpensive way to win your spouse's heart. Everyone likes to be appreciated and noticed. So being scant with compliments is actually depriving one of being appreciated in return.
8. Fallibility: When couples start to demand the impossible they must remind themselves that only Allaah (the Glorious and Lofty) is Perfect.
More articles in As a Wife:
- Entire Category -


Creating a table
How to create CQL tables.
In CQL, data is stored in tables containing rows of columns, similar to SQL definitions.
Note: The concept of rows and columns in the internal implementation of databases is not the same. For more information, see A Thrift to CQL3 upgrade guide or CQL3 for Cassandra experts.
Tables can be created, dropped, and altered at runtime without blocking updates and queries. To create a table, you must define a primary key and other data columns. Add the optional WITH clause and keyword arguments to configure table properties (caching, compaction, and so forth). See table_options.
Create schema using cqlsh
Create table schema using cqlsh. DataStax Enterprise does not support dynamic schema generation because collisions can occur if multiple clients attempt to generate tables simultaneously. To recover from collisions, follow the instructions in schema collision fix.
Primary Key
A Primary_key identifies the location and order of stored data. The primary key is defined when the table is created and cannot be altered. If you must change the primary key, create a new table schema and write the existing data to the new table. See ALTER TABLE for details on altering a table after creation.
The DataStax Enterprise database is a partition row store. The first element of the primary key, the partition key, specifies which node will hold a particular table row. At the minimum, the primary key must consist of a partition key. You can define a compound partition key to split a data set so that related data is stored on separate partitions. A compound primary key includes clustering columns that order the data on a partition.
The definition of a table's primary key is critical. Carefully model how data in a table will be inserted and retrieved before choosing which columns to define in the primary key. When selecting the table's primary key, consider:
 - the size of the partitions.
 - the order of the data within partitions.
 - the distribution of the partitions among the nodes of the cluster.
Table name conventions
The name of a table can be a string of alphanumeric characters and underscores, but it must begin with a letter. Consider the keyspace when naming a table:
 - To specify the keyspace that contains the table, put the keyspace name followed by a period before the table name: keyspace_name.table_name. This allows you to create a new table in a keyspace that is different from the one set for the current session (by the USE command, for example).
 - To create a table in the current keyspace, just specify the new table name.
Column characteristics
CQL supports several column types. When creating a table, assign a data type to each column. The table definition defines (non-collection) columns in a comma-delimited list of name and type pairs. The following example illustrates three data types: UUID, text, and timestamp:
CREATE TABLE cycling.cyclist_alt_stats ( id UUID PRIMARY KEY, lastname text, birthday timestamp, nationality text, weight text, height text );
CQL supports the following collection column types: map, set, and list. A collection column is defined using the collection type, followed by another type, such as int or text, in angle brackets. The collection column definition is included in the column list as described above. The following example illustrates each collection type, but is not designed for an actual query:
CREATE TABLE cycling.whimsey ( id UUID PRIMARY KEY, lastname text, cyclist_teams set, events list, teams map );
Collection types cannot be nested. Collections can include frozen data types. For examples and usage, see Freezing collection types.
A column of type tuple holds a fixed-length set of typed positional fields. Use a tuple as an alternative to a user-defined type. A tuple can accommodate many fields (32768), although it is not a recommended best practice to use that many. A typical tuple holds 2 to 5 fields. Specify a tuple in a table definition, using angle brackets; within these, use a comma-delimited list to define each component type. Tuples can be nested. The following example illustrates a tuple type composed of a text field and a nested tuple of two float fields:
CREATE TABLE cycling.route (race_id int, race_name text, point_id int, lat_long tuple>, PRIMARY KEY (race_id, point_id));
For more information, see Tuple type.
Create a user-defined type (UDTs) as a data type of several fields, using CREATE TYPE. It is best to create a UDT for use with multiple table definitions. The user-defined column type (UDT) requires the frozen keyword. The scope of a user-defined type is the keyspace in which you define it. Use dot notation to access a type from a keyspace outside its scope: keyspace name followed by a period followed the name of the type, for example: test.myType where test is the keyspace name and myType is the type name. The database accesses the type in the specified keyspace, but does not change the current keyspace; otherwise, if you do not specify a keyspace, the database accesses the type within the current keyspace. For examples and usage information, see Using a user-defined type.
A counter is a special column used to store a number that is changed in increments. A counter can only be used in a dedicated table that includes a column of counter data type. For more examples and usage information, see Using a counter.


#73 Ignacio Nicknamed Nacho
Written by Food Non-Fiction October 20, 2020
This is the incredible true story behind the cheesy, crunchy dish that everyone loves - Nachos! This story of nachos was uncovered by children's book author, Sandra Nickel, who wrote the illustrated children's book titled "Nacho's Nachos The Story Behind the World's Favorite Snack".
Sandra found descendants of three key people involved in the creation of nachos and heard the nachos origin story directly from them. She corresponded with 1) Luis Ignacio Anaya (the grandson of the person who invented nachos), 2) Patricia Finan de los Santos (the granddaughter of the customer that nachos were first created for), and Rodolfo de los Santos Jr. (the son of the person who owned the restaurant where nachos were invented).
The story of nachos goes like this…In 1940, four women from Eagle Pass, Texas went to Piedras Negras, Coahuila to eat at the Victory Club. At least one of these women, Mamie Finan was a regular there. They asked Ignacio Anaya for a new snack. Always wanting to keep guests happy, Ignacio agreed even though he had no idea what to make. When he spotted a bowl of totopos (fried pieces of corn tortilla) he had the idea to add cheese and jalapeno strips on them. He popped this into the oven to melt the cheese. Years later when he reflected back on his inspiration for the dish he noted that his foster mother had often made him quesadillas.
Upon trying the delicious new snack that Ignacio brought out, Mamie asked him what the snack was called. Ignacio simply named the snack after himself, replying that it was called "Nacho's Special". As it turns out, "Nacho" is a common nickname for the name "Ignacio"!
While there is some confusion around whether Ignacio originally named the dish in English (Nacho's Special) or in Spanish (Nachos Especiales), Sandra has found evidence that points to the dish originally being named in English. This makes sense because the dish was made for an Mamie Finan who was an American. In an old ad written by Nacho himself, the ad referred to nachos as "Nacho's Special".
The Victory Club where nachos were born was closed down in 1961, and Nacho went on to open his own restaurant. His former employer, Rodolfo de los Santos, gave him kitchen equipment to thank him for his time at the Victory Club. Nacho passed away on November 9, 1974 at the age of 79. He is remembered as a generous family man.
Special Thanks to Our Interviewee:
Sandra Nickel - author of Nacho's Nachos The Story Behind the World's Favorite Snack


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equilibrium and gravity on a uniform beam
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Apr6-09, 06:24 PM
Hi alexandertg6! Welcome to PF!
a uniform beam of length 12.0 m is supported by a horizontal cable and a hinge at angle θ = 70° with the vertical. The tension in the cable is 500 N. Find the gravitational force on the beam in unit vector notation and the force on the beam from the hinge in unit vector notation.
T =.5(horizontal distance) ( gravity) (mass)/ vertical distance
500 = (.5(9.8)(12sin70)m)/(12cos70)
hmm … you've taken moments about the hinge
but what's 12sin70º?

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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Suicide Prevention Campaign
Public Health Liverpool, in collaboration with the Liverpool CAMHS – Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and Alder Hey Children's Foundation Trust, has launched a city-wide 'Reach Out Liverpool' campaign to raise awareness of suicide prevention.
It aims to raise awareness that suicide is preventable and to remove the stigma surrounding suicide – something which prevents people in crisis from reaching out, and those around them from even mentioning the word.
The REACHOUT campaign is made up of three parts:
See the problem – raising awareness of what to look out for, including the signs, behaviours and emotions a person in crisis might be displaying.
Say the words and start a conversation – we have partnered with the Zero Suicide Alliance who offer a 20-minute training video that provides people with the skills and confidence to reach out to someone in crisis.
Signpost to support – providing information on local services that offer 24/7 crisis support.
The campaign also reaches out to people in crisis, encouraging them to speak to friends, family or professionals and letting them know change is possible, and that they can feel better.
The campaign is aimed at two audiences:
1. People who may be concerned about someone who is in crisis or could be contemplating suicide.
The message is to encourage people to reach out and start a conversation with the person they are concerned about. This conversation could save a life. The campaign aims to:
- Raise awareness of the warning signs thus giving permission to intervene.
- Increase confidence in what to say and do by signposting to the Zero Suicide Alliance 20 minute training.
- Raises awareness of services that can provide immediate help
2. People in crisis or contemplating suicide.
This message is to:
- Acknowledge feelings and encourage people to talk to friends/family/someone they trust and explains how this could change their life.
- Raise awareness of services that can provide immediate help.
For both audiences, the campaign dispels myths and breaks taboos around talking about suicide and gives information and resources of help available.
How has the campaign been developed?
The campaign has been co-created with:
- People who have contemplated/attempted suicide
- People bereaved or affected by suicide
- The general public
- Expert subject matters
Where will the campaign be promoted?
The campaign will be promoted in two bursts – Dec 2021 – Jan 2022 and March 2022 – May 2022 and will be promoted via:
- Targeted digital and social advertising through sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Google Display and YouTube
- Outdoor advertising including billboards, busses, railway stations, phone kiosks
- Radio advertising plus targeted digital radio and Spotify
- Promotion of campaign materials in health centres, hospitals, children's centres, Universities, GPs etc.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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East Africa around 200,000 years ago. But this new find suggests that early Homo Sapiens spread across the entire African continent and long before the out-of-Africa dispersal of Homo Sapiens began, there was dispersal within the African continent.
NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter is the second spacecraft designed under its New Frontiers Program. The first was the New Horizons mission to Pluto, which flew by the small planet in July 2015 after a nine and a half year flight. Early science results from NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter portray the largest planet in our Solar System as a complex, gigantic, turbulent world, with Earth-sized polar cyclones, plunging storm systems that travel deep into the heart of the gas giant, and a mammoth, lumpy magnetic field. With its suite of science instruments, Juno will investigate the possible existence of a solid planetary core, map Jupiter's intense magnetic field, measure the amount of water and ammonia in the deep atmosphere, and observe the planet's auroras.
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New challenges in public order policing: the professionalisation of environmental protest and the emergence of the militant environmental activist
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Over the last decade there have been significant changes in the nature of protest which have posed new challenges to policing organisations. This article using the case of environmental protest charts the changing nature of protest and using a new typology identifies a new form of protester that has been termed the Militant Environmental Activist. The characteristics and innovative tactics used by these activists are examined and it is argued that they amount to a 'professionalisation' of protest. The article then moves on to highlight the 'fragmented' policing structure that has evolved to tackle these activists encompassing both public, 'hybrid' and private policing agencies. Finally, the article briefly examines some of the strategies these policing agencies are developing to combat these new challenges.
|Journal||The International Journal of the Sociology of Law|
|Publication status||Published - Mar 2002|


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A Fine original hand-colored steel engraving with bright original coloring. 12mo (6.75 x 4.25 inches, 10.8 x 17.15 cm). This fine engraving is classified as one the very finest Natural History miniatures produced. A refined and intelligent work, The Naturalist's Library was intended for everyone interested in Natural History, not just the wealthy who could afford the lavish color plate books produced during the early to mid 19th Century. In addition, the education of young minds had recently become the fashion, yet there were no small color plate books sized to miniature hands capturing the realistic glory of the natural order. Sir William Jardine (_PHONE_), noted Scottish Ichthyologist and Ornithologist, combined the talents of his colleagues, acknowledged naturalists in every fieldEdward Lear, Prideaux John Selby, William Swainson, among them, and produced The Naturalists' Library. The intention was to create a fine, yet affordable work, describing and illustrating all elements of the natural world, birds, animals, fish, insects, save the plant world. Several plates were engraved after the naturalist masters, John James Audubon, John Gould and Maria Sibylla Merian. The success of the publication was evidenced by the creation of 40 separate volumes within the next few decades. The engraver of the work was William H. Lizars, who at the time was engraving the first ten plates of John James Audubon's magnum opus, The Double Elephant Folio Edition of The Birds of America. Lizars engraved the plates in steel, opposed to copper, to render a very fine line on a small tablet, allowing for a very full and intricate background setting for each described species. Traditionally, only the major subject (bird, animal, insect or fish) was hand-colored with watercolor, the background was left uncolored. This work has withstood the test of time and continues to be an affordable option to the engraved work of many natural history masters.
Edition: First edition
Condition: Fine with original hand-coloring
Book Id: 2300


text:
Avoiding gypsum geohazards : guidance for planning and construction
Cooper, A.H.; Calow, R.C.. 1998 Avoiding gypsum geohazards : guidance for planning and construction. British Geological Survey, 57pp. (WC/98/005) (Unpublished)Before downloading, please read NORA policies.
This information details the occurrence and characteristics of the rock and mineral gypsum, its highly soluble nature and the types of problems associated with it. These include subsidence, which can affect all construction including buildings, roads, railways and canals. Water leakage beneath dams is also described along with the aggravation of dissolution and subsidence caused by water abstraction. The financial losses caused by gypsum geohazards can be large and considerable cost savings can be generated by avoidance planning and the use of protective construction measures such as those detailed. This report is has been prepared for planners, geologists and geotechnical engineers, throughout the world, to raise their awareness of gypsum geohazard problems and to help with local and national planning.
|Item Type:||Report (UNSPECIFIED)|
|Programmes:||BGS Programmes > Geology and Landscape Southern|
|Funders/Sponsors:||Department for International Development|
|Additional Information:||This item has been internally reviewed but not externally peer-reviewed|
|Additional Keywords:||Gypsum, subsidence, hazards, planning, karst, hydrogeology, caves, building damage, dams, cost benefit analysis,|
|NORA Subject Terms:||Earth Sciences|
|Date made live:||06 May 2011 13:46|
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fudge factor definition
A value or parameter that is varied in an ad hoc way to produce the desired result. The terms "tolerance" and slop
are also used, though these usually indicate a one-sided leeway, such as a buffer that is made larger than necessary because one isn't sure exactly how large it needs to be, and it is better to waste a little space than to lose completely for not having enough. A fudge factor, on the other hand, can often be tweaked in more than one direction. A good example is the "fuzz" typically allowed in floating-point
calculations: two numbers being compared for equality must be allowed to differ by a small amount; if that amount is too small, a computation may never terminate, while if it is too large, results will be needlessly inaccurate. Fudge factors are frequently adjusted incorrectly by programmers who don't fully understand their import.


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Trump talk: The secrets behind the president's language
Trump body language composite
Why you can trust Sky News
"Tremendous", "loser", "Sloppy Steve" and "Crooked Hillary" - but what does Mr Trump's use of language reveal about the man?
Ahead of the UK visit, psychologist Dr Peter Collett examines what his chaotic "word salad" might say about the president's intellect.
Donald Trump visits the UK this week
Image: Donald Trump visits the UK this week
The first thing we notice is that Donald Trump's speaking style is casual and informal.
He frequently resorts to familiar words like "folks" and "hombres" in order to buddy-up to his listeners and show that he does not stand on ceremony.
There are two main theories as to why he favours an informal register.
More on Donald Trump
One is a "deficit theory", which points out that Mr Trump's verbal output is often rambling and disjointed.
It consists of a "word salad", where the words are just tossed together.
Exponents of this theory argue that his unruly speech patterns are the product of an unruly mind, and that they show him to be incapable of complex thinking.
A number of studies have confirmed the president's speech is restricted. He tends, for example, to use single-syllable words, and tests reveal that his verbal output is similar to that of a nine or 10-year-old.
However, this only appears to be the case when he is speaking off the cuff.
When he's giving a scripted speech, his verbal fluency is comparable to that of any articulate politician.
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Trump Talk: punchy attacks on PC culture
The second explanation is a "difference theory".
Here it is proposed that Mr Trump's casual way of speaking is simply his way of connecting with his audience - in other words, showing his listeners that he is unpretentious and therefore more genuine.
His word choice provides a fascinating window into his thinking.
For example, the range of words he uses to signal his approval is unusually narrow - typically, people or things are either "beautiful" or "tremendous".
In contrast, his lexicon of disapproval is rich and varied.
It includes famous descriptions like "Crooked Hillary", "Lyin' Ted", "low-energy Jeb" and "Sloppy Steve", not to mention his all-purpose put-down - "loser".
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Trump Talk: Using sales spin to win you over
President Trump's linguistic focus is therefore very much on people's negative, rather than their positive qualities.
The fact that he uses extreme language when describing people and things has encouraged the idea that he is susceptible to what psychologists call "dichotomous thinking".
In other words, that he sees the world in black or white, good or bad, us versus them; that there is no shading in between and no subtlety.
In fact, this is not entirely the case, because Trump will often use expressions like "good man" or "good guy" when he is referring to someone from whom he is trying to distance himself, or whom he does not rate highly.
It is his way of appearing to be supportive, while damning the person with faint praise.
Mr Trump's verbal output also includes other coded messages. He frequently attacks "political correctness", for example.
This pretends to champion the cause of free speech, but its real purpose is to inform his followers that it is quite in order to entertain racist, sexist or antisocial attitudes.
The most important clue to his speech style is the fact that that he loves striking deals.
Whether he's at a rally, being interviewed, or talking to the press, he is constantly pitching to his customers.
He parades his credentials, he recounts the glowing endorsements he has received, he slags off his competitors, and he never fails to produce an entertaining and engaging spectacle.
For President Trump, politics is all about the art of the deal, and, in his case, the art of the big deal.


What is the application process for the Weatherhead Scholars Program?
All applicants should submit the following documents:
1. Cover letter;
2. Curriculum vitae (five pages maximum);
3. Description of research project (three pages or less);
4. Two letters of recommendation.
Applicants should submit all materials through the online application portal. Applicants will be notified of the selection committee's decision in mid-December.
See also: All, Applying


How does my EPOS communicate with the IPC and the PED?
Your EPOS application will not communicate directly with the PED, the EPOS app only communicates with IPC which handles all communication with the PED and Worldpay servers for payment processing.
EPOS and IPC can communicate in two modes: File or Socket. The communication for either method, is in the form of a request for transaction (input) and the transaction result (output).
If you want to read the messages directly from the PED and not use the IPC GUI, you can use the IPC in the Hosted IPC mode. Your EPOS application needs to be listening on the appropriate port (default 8000) to read messages coming from the IPC through the PED.


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Alice Maze is a very hard online maze puzzle game.
Game play is easy, you start Alice maze on the red square, and your current position is always shown in red. You must make a series of moves that will take you to the goal. Begin each move by following one of the arrows in the red square, travel in a straight line for a distance equal to d, and then click on the square where your move ends.
When the maze begins, d equals 1. When you land on a square with a red arrow, 1 is added to d. When you land on a square with a yellow arrow, 1 is subtracted from d. Two of these mazes have blank squares, which you may not land on. There are twenty different mazes to solve. Happy Puzzling!
Tags: Maze | Puzzle Game


Assault course
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
An assault course (also called trim trail) is a special sort of trail that combines running and exercising. It was more popular in the 1970s than it is now.[original research?] It is heavily used in military training. The prime use is to evaluate progress and weaknesses within the team involved.[original research?]
Military training[edit]
Assault courses are used in military training to increase fitness, to demonstrate techniques that can be used for crossing very rough terrain, and to increase teamwork and self-confidence.[original research?]
Often military assault courses will be standardised, and will have, for example (in the UK), a six foot and a ten foot wall, a climbing net, some type of bar to climb over, and a high rope or net that must be crossed (these being or representing the most likely difficult terrain that a soldier will come across). The standardisation means that every course will be to the same quality, though it also means that there will be certain parts that may be familiar if practised.[original research?]
However, they have different purposes. For example, they can be short (less than a minute) with a range on the end (e.g. Junior Leaders, Folkestone), or long (five minutes) as at Thetford.[original research?] This is partially because of space restraints and training objectives. The short one can be run as an individual course and a warmup for the range. The long Thetford course is more of an exercise in endurance and teamwork.
Trim trail[edit]
The term "trim trail" has more recently been applied to a series of wooden exercise stations, scattered in parkland or other locations beside a jogging or walking trail, which can be used to develop balance, strength and coordination.[original research?] They are suitable for both adults and children, and the individual stations have been scientifically designed to provide a range of exercise.[original research?] Most have simple instructions attached to them, and the stations include balance beams, sit-up bars, chin-up bars, parallel bars, and more challenging stations such as pole climbs and ladder walks.[original research?] Bristol City Council have now installed trim trails in six parks, ranging in complexity from Withywood Park, which has a single station, to Victoria Park, which has nine.[1][2] Funding for the trim trail at Hollingworth Lake, in Greater Manchester, which was the idea of the Friends of Hollingworth Lake and opened in August 2010, was provided by the Big Lottery Community Spaces fund.[3]
See also[edit]
 1. ^ "Welcome to Loughall Country Park". Loughall Country Park. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
 2. ^ "Trim trail exercise stations". Bristol City Council. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
 3. ^ "Woodland Wonder opens for all". Groundwork Oldham and Rochdale. 17 September 2010.


Three Ways to Identify the Right Metrics in a Deep Learning Strategy
In this special guest feature, Scott Clark, Co-founder and CEO of SigOpt, discusses why measurement should be the first step of any deep learning strategy. Before SigOpt, Scott led academic research for Yelp's Ad Targeting team, which included innovative outreach projects like the Yelp Dataset Challenge and open sourcing MOE. Scott holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics and an MS in Computer Science from Cornell University, as well as BS degrees in Mathematics, Physics and Computational Physics from Oregon State University. Scott was chosen as one of Forbes' 30 under 30 in 2016.
In machine learning and deep learning, identifying the right metric before experiments begin is essential. Machine learning models are built to achieve whatever programmers identify as the target, but if that target doesn't map back to a business goal, the model will fail to provide real value. When applied to the right metrics these models can provide incredible business value, but when optimized towards the wrong goals they can also cause incredible business loss.
Take driverless cars for example. Deep learning models play an essential role in analyzing data and directing the car on where to steer. Yet if those models aren't pointed at the right metrics, it could be detrimental. Uber's engineers could identify getting from point A to point B as fast as possible as the target metric, and the machine will find the fastest route. However, that outcome could result in the car causing many accidents along the way or driving in a way that makes all the passengers sick.
On the flip side, trying to optimize too many metrics at once can be cumbersome, and difficult to determine real value. Identifying a specific, well defined metrics can help organizations make consistent decisions and give teams a single target to work toward. Companies looking to deploy deep learning should keep the following best practices in mind to determine their key objectives:
1. Connect the objective to a business goal
The best objective is one that, when maximized, will have a direct impact on overall business goals. For example, Microsoft recently wanted to use machine learning to increase Bing's ad revenue. The company ran an experiment that increased ad relevance and decreased search accuracy–it literally made searches less effective for users. Ultimately, this increased the frequency of searches and people clicked through to more ads since their relative targeting had increased compared to the search results. While this did succeed in increasing the objective metric, this short-term revenue bump was offset with users abandoning the search engine. Businesses should identify what their business goals are – with the right prioritization – and tune their machine learning models to drive back to those goals.
Another potential pitfall is to tune towards academic metrics instead of business value. A fraud detection model could look great through the lens of AUC ROC or log loss (two mathematical ways to determine the accuracy of a classifier), but still misclassify a large number of high value transactions. A method that is 99% accurate may not be favorable if it misses the 1% of most costly fraud. These academic metrics are extremely useful in developing new methods and proving different aspects of algorithms, but the can be misaligned with actual business value. Blindly optimizing towards a goal without knowing the impact can lead you towards building a system that ends up costing you a lot of business value.
2. Avoid overfitting
Machine learning models also need to be trained and tuned to accurately hit their targets. However, if the model is over-optimized for training data, it won't perform well when new data is presented, rendering the model ineffective in practice. To ensure the models don't overshoot the target and can process new, unseen data, researchers and data scientists should apply techniques like cross validation and regularization to their models. This keeps the model from effectively "memorizing" the training data without actually discovering the underlying patterns in the problem. This ensures the model is correctly optimized and prevents overfitting of the model to the training data.
Another aspect of this is the concept of robustness. The model should be resilient to slight changes in the data or environment in which it operates. A model could work extremely good offline, but often simplifying or static assumptions made offline can cause you to build a model that quickly fails when faced with the real world. An example is when building deep learning systems in adversarial environments like algorithmic trading or advertising. Not only will the real world data be different than what you trained on (need to avoid overfitting), but also assumptions made about the environment will be constantly changing (the models you are trading or bidding against). A model built in isolation without taking these aspects into account can look good on paper, but quickly cause problems once deployed. An example is the trillion dollar flash crash of 2010 where cascading algorithmic decisions led to a massive market shift in less than an hour.
3. Always be iterating
As new data, frameworks, and applications become available there is an opportunity to constantly be updating what targets you are shooting for. Older techniques may have required you to define success with purely academic benchmarks, or only optimize towards a single objective. Additionally, as business needs shift you should always make sure that your models stay aligned with those objectives. Revenue may be the most important metric for a model at one point, but user retention or long term value might become more important as the business evolves. In deep learning accuracy may be the most important metric when standing up a proof of concept, but complexity, training time, and inference time may factor in when it is time to go to production.
My making sure you are always pointing at the right target and optimizing toward it you can ensure you're getting the most value from your deep learning investments, while also making sure the teams developing them are aligned as well. Since there are many steps between a specific model and explicit business value, outlining a clear success metric is essential to know whether or not the model is making progress. Optimizing deep learning measurement with a defined metric is not only valuable, but can also help organizations determine if they need to reevaluate business metrics at an even larger scale.
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Jane Thurnell-Read is a holistic entrepreneur and author of 10 books on health, happiness, and well-being throughout every stage of life. At age 72, Jane is a role model and guide for living with intention, purpose, and demonstrates that when we stay mentally and physically fit, life can be exciting and joyful. Jane and Lisa talk about the small steps that she has seen make a huge difference, what it means to be proactive and really life as the change you want to see in the world, and why we get more when we give more.
Life Legacies is Super Power U Style Interviews with your loved ones for your children and grandchildren. Your loved one's stories matter. For more information visit: _URL_
- To see big changes in the gym, you must put effort and determination into your workouts.
- You are not too old to go to the gym, and Jane is an example of looking and feeling great even in your 70's.
- Weight loss can be a result that happens when we work out, but confidence, stamina, and energy are a few of the even bigger benefits. Every 19 minutes, an older person in the US dies as a result of falling, so taking care of our bodies is very important even as prevention.
- Being curious about our own growth and the lives of others helps us stay mentally engaged and young.
- When society tells us we are too old to do something, we listen and stop participating, which makes us feel even older and more isolated. Jane encourages us to observe our limiting beliefs, but not let them stand in the way of trying new things.
- Jane started sharing videos of herself at the gym on her Thriving Jane Instagram page, and was flooded with notes from people in their 30's and 40's daily thanking her for being their inspiration, and showing them that getting older doesn't have to be something we dread or fear.
- Like Lisa, Jane believes that having cross-generational friends is a great way to learn from and support each other.
- Jane follows a vegan and plant-based diet for physical and philosophical reasons. She recommends getting enough beans and nuts for protein, fats, and satiety.
- Jane gives 50% of her money away to non-profits and causes she believes in. This is a powerful practice that leads to her happiness, expresses her values through action, and affirms that she can always have an abundance for herself and others.
- When Jane made a commitment to learn from the good rather than depending on bad things to happen to learn, she started seeing more positive blessings in her life.
"If you don't work, the gym won't work."
"Don't die with the music still in you." – Wayne Dyer
"I'm still really curious about life. I'm curious about other people."
"Every month when I'm giving money away I have the thought 'I don't have to worry, more will come'."
"I try to live for the world I want, not the world we have."
Three Life Lessons:
- Choose and decide to learn from the good.
- The more you give away the more you get.
- Say hello more to your fellow human.
Mentioned in This Episode:


Why Go For Legal Studies?
Why are Legal Courses in demand
Legal expenses for corporations accounted for over 30% of global corporate expenditure in 2017 according to Forbes. An average American paid about $250 in 2017 in legal expense. This puts the hourly rate of a lawyer at about $_PHONE_. This means the demand for legal knowledge surpasses the existing supply of lawyers and paralegals.
Legal training is therefore good for any career as well as your better life in general. Knowing the law is not just a career requirement. Non law related careers are recording more students in legal courses globally than law specializing students. This is highly associated with the high cost of legal mistakes at both individual and corporate levels.
Here is why you should enroll for a course in law
1. Put Yourself on high demand.
Going for certification in legal courses such as company and criminal law assures you an income from individuals or organizations with legal cases. Understanding the law saves you and your organization as an employee a big deal, Legal knowledge is the key to some of the best paying careers in the world. Whether you decide to specialize in law or any other career line, assurance of getting a job and a constant stream of income is almost assured.
2. Become a law abiding citizen.
Sometimes breaking the law may not be intentional but it doesn't make it an excuse in life. Some mistakes in career or day to day life can be very expensive for an individual. Grasping the framework of your legal obligations and rights sharpens you for the extent of the legal safe zone.
3. Becoming self-confident and a good communicator.
Legal studies do not just train you on the law but how to apply it. Expressing yourself is very important for your social life and profession. Legal studies train you to listen and understand people. You become bold because you know your rights and can express your views with confidently.
4. Career Diversity and Job Security.
Extensive research and applied skills in law make the learners prepared for almost any field of practice. Legal knowledge is vital to all industries. This opens you up to all critical corporate secrets and tasks making you a valuable member in any team. Organizations will be unwilling to part with you. Legal prowess is also key to keeping your job by avoiding mistakes and learning to fight for your rights.
5. Understanding Other Disciplines Better.
Every law essay requires the highest level of research and dedication to put together. The research skills involved will prepare you for any other course. Generally, a good performance in your legal course will assure you a better performance in any other academic field.
6. Gaining Life Saving Skills.
Analytical skills and critical thinking are the building blocks of all legal courses. A legal course trains you to come up with a satisfactory solution to every problem preparing you for any kind of life situation. The strong challenges and complicated case studies handled in the law courses are for handling the most complicated challenges life can ever bring.
7. Avoid Unnecessary expenses and higher income.
The amount of money paid to law firms for legal advice in America stands at 3% of household income. Monthly retainers to a lawyer for advice on how to avoid IRS charges and such related expenses won't affect you. The same applies for your company, you can be relied on to offer expert assistance for practice in your field.
Legal studies help you plan for a life beyond employment better than any other course. With legal training, your chances of becoming a consultant within the first 5 years of your career are greatly increased. A certification in legal training also makes you stand out in the job market improving your entry position, this is an assurance for a higher pay.
Whether you want to pursue a lucrative career line or just live a better life, you should consider enrolling for a law course. The economic and social benefits of studying the law puts you way above an average life. Studying law as a career alone is not enough to cover the demand for legal knowledge in our society. All other professionals should enroll for legal training to make the world a better place.
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Niihau (nēˈhou) [key], island (1990 pop. 230), 70 sq mi (181 sq km), in Kauai co., Hawaii, W of Kauai island. It is mostly arid lowland, rising to 1,281 ft (390 m) at Paniau Mt. The island is suitable for cattle grazing. Niihau, privately owned since 1864 when it was purchased from the Hawaiian kingdom by an American family, is operated as a ranch.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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text: Welcome to the Skill Up MOOC E-guidance in higher education to promote graduates' lifelong career development. High quality career guidance in higher education integrating information and communication technologies can help graduates transition to the workplace more effectively. It can also help reduce shortages and mismatches of employability skills by informing undergraduates about what types of jobs are available, the skills required to access those jobs, and paths to develop those skills. However, while career guidance and counselling has a strong tradition in some European Higher Education systems, in others the access to guidance services is relatively basic or even non-existent. Our MOOC aims to train career guidance workers and counsellors, providing them with the knowledge, methods, techniques and tools to offer effective guidance in higher education and vocational training centres, so that they can help undergraduates make well-informed choices about their career paths and the professional skills they need to develop. This MOOC is especially intended for higher education and vocational training. It's for advisors, career counsellors, counsellors, educators career mentors and coaches. That said, the course is also a unique opportunity for all of the educational community – including other educational levels and sectors – in order to gain insights into effective career guidance in higher education and vocational training. The contents of the MOOC are structured over five weeks. Each week corresponds to a course module that includes new contents, case studies and a variety of authentic learning activities aimed at transferring and applying knowledge to the professional practice. This MOOC is a result of the Skill Up project, funded by the European Union's Erasmus plus programme. The Skill Up project is developing practical and scalable ways to enhance new graduates' employability skills by improving the connection between higher education curricula and the demands of the labour market. Join the Skill Up MOOC to discover how effective guidance and counselling in higher education using ICT can be a catalyst for new graduates' employability!


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2nd International Conference on Strategies and Implication for Education and Technological Advancement
Road construction materials and vehicular emissions have been found to constitute the major sources of soil and air pollution. This study attempts to investigate the influence of road furniture and vehicular emissions on the accumulation of heavy metal in some of the roadside soil of Benin City, Edo State. The objective of this study was to determine the concentration of heavy metals such as Zn, Pb, Mn, Cr, Cd, Cu, and Ni from roadside soil around some selected roads in Benin City. Three locations were selected on the basis of their high concentration of vehicular traffic. A control site with no form of vehicular emission or road construction material pollution was selected outside these three locations. Samples were collected from April to June 2013. The concentrations of seven heavy metals in the samples were determined with an atomic absorption spectrometer, of which the result obtained indicates that the metals from the three sampled sites were higher than that in the control site, whereas the mean concentration of each of the heavy metal in the three locations except for Zinc and Nickel was below the European Union Regulatory Standard (EURS). Although these concentrations were below the European Union Regulatory Standard, these metals, which over time are washed by erosion into the local areas used for farming, may pose health hazards. The enhancement of fuel quality and the adoption of emission standards to mitigate the impact of vehicular emissions on human health should be made mandatory.
Key words: Heavy metals, soil, pollution.
Copyright © 2023 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.
This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0


You have extra parts: Organs you can live without
Screws by Martin Pettitt on Flickr. Used under Creative Commons license.
Screws (Martin Pettitt/Flickr)
One of the first thing I heard about the new pope after the white smoke rose was that he has only one lung. Has for his entire adult life. And yet, he seems to have made it to 76 with few problems.
Which got me thinking: I've long heard that there are certain organs that you can live without or with only part of. But I've never know exactly which ones they are, or why you can get away without them. So I started poking around.
Of the major organs (which I define to be the heart, lungs,and brain…argue it with me all you want), the lungs are the only that you have a pair of, so it makes some sense that you can live with only one. But let's see what else we can lose:
 - A kidney. You can be born without one, have one removed because of illness, or donate one to someone else and be perfectly fine. Really, you can live without any kidneys at all, but you'd have to go on dialysis, just like you can live without a heart as long as you have an artificial one. And for the purposes of this discussion, that's cheating.
 - Your appendix. People don't often care about the appendix unless they're one of the 250,000 or so people just in the US who come down with appendicitis every year — largely because no one is quite sure what the appendix is for. The prevailing theory for decades has been that it's vestigial, a leftover from ages past that we haven't eliminated yet because, from an evolutionary standpoint, there hasn't been a reason to.However, that theory's being re-thought, as a research team led by scientists at Midwestern University in Arizona and Duke University recently found that the appendix may have evolved more than 30 times and is found, in some form, in more than 50 different species. There's also some thought that it might serve a really useful purpose: as a kind of safe house for the good bacteria usually found in our guts, the ones that help us digest food and keep bad (read: diarrhea-causing) bugs out. Think of it as like the refrigerator for a bread dough starter.
 - The stomach. (Gray's Anatomy/Wikimedia Commons)
 Your stomach. Yes you read that right. For some stomach cancer patients, or people at high risk of developing stomach cancer, the best thing is to take the whole thing out and connect the esophagus directly to the small intestine. But the body can adapt. In the long run, the only real problem that comes with living without a stomach is problems absorbing some vitamins.
 - Your spleen. This purple, fist-shaped organ to the left of your stomach is actually part of your immune system. It's kind of like a checkpoint for the blood, looking out for signs of infection and passing anything it finds on to the T, B, and other cells that actually do the work of kicking bacteria and viruses out. It also cleans your blood of old, used up red blood cells (the cells that carry oxygen to different parts of your body).Your immune system has other ways of detecting infection, though, and the liver can take over some of the spleens blood-cleaning work if need be. And while living without a spleen can make you more susceptible to certain bugs, you'd mostly be just fine.
 - Reproductive organs. Squeamish as it makes me to say, the testicles, ovaries, and uterus can all go. I'm not saying it's pleasant, but it's doable.
 - Your sensory organs. Eyes, ears, and nose.
And then there are the organs that you can live with only part of:
 - Your intestines. And I'm talking large and small. You can't take out all of them — you wouldn't be able to digest food anymore — but if necessary large portions can go.
The liver. (Gray's Anatomy/Wikimedia Commons)
 - Your liver. The Greeks had it right with the myth of Prometheus, the Titan who brought fire to man and, as a punishment, was chained to a rock so that an eagle could eat his liver every day. His liver grew back every night, though, and yours can too.Ok, it wouldn't grow back that quickly. But living donor liver transplants aren't uncommon. Because the liver has amazing powers of regrowth, doctors can take part of a healthy liver from one person and use it to replace the diseased liver of another. In both people, the liver will grow back to full size.
 - Your brain. Talk about a radical operation. But for some patients with really severe seizures, a hemispherectomy — that is, surgery to remove one of the brain's two hemispheres — is the only way to get the seizures to stop.One can live surprisingly well with only half a brain, however (insert political quip here). The only real long term consequences seem to be loss of use of the arm and vision in the eye opposite to the side of the brain that's removed. In other words, if the left side of your brain is taken out, you won't be able to use your right arm or see out of your right eye. But you'll still be able to walk and talk.
That's pretty much everything I've come up with, which to my mind is a pretty long list. I can't imagine anyone living without everything on this list, but I guess it would be physically possible — I guess it depends on how you define "living."
That all being said, I'm sure I've missed something, and so I just posted a question on Quora. If you think of something I should add, let me know the what, why and how either on Quora or in the comments.
7 responses to "You have extra parts: Organs you can live without
 - True, but I was going for things you could lose and survive without artificial assistance. Which is why losing half a brain still, um, blows my mind.
 1. Pingback: The stuff that bones are made of | You've Got Some Science On You·
 2. You forgot tonsils. I've had 3 on your list (repro, gall bladder, appendix) and tonsils removed. I was just curious what else I could lose and still live which is why I went looking for this topic. 🙂
 3. My husband is living with less than half a pancreas… And has been since he was 22 years old… He takes insulin and enzymes daily
 4. Pingback: Quick Fact: It is possible for a human being to survive without... - Quick Facts·
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Are dogs and cats really natural enemies?
We've all seen the cartoons in which dogs and cats are portrayed as absolute enemies, but is that always the case? The simple answer is "no," though it's not uncommon for these species to initially show aggression toward one another. Some dogs have a natural instinct to "hunt" small animals, which can result in a lot of dog barking when the two pets are in the same room. Felines often have a fear of dogs, which can cause cat behavior problems like scratching or hissing. If you have two pets who you wish could live peacefully under the same roof, here are some tips.
Creating safe spaces
When trying to foster a positive relationship between your cat and dog, you'll need to make sure they both have a safe space where they can retreat if they're feeling threatened. Separate rooms are an option, but it may be better to work on crate training your dog. This will allow your feline companion to roam the house while your dog is resting comfortably in her crate.
Cats may be more at ease if they have a high place they can escape to if they are frightened, such as a counter top or cat tower.
When introducing your two pets for the first few times, expect there to be a few clashes. Both animals will be curious and cautious, and this can lead to some tricky interactions. For this reason, it's always best to have a leash for your dog so you can easily pull her away should the cat become frightened or aggressive. You'll also want to have treats on hand for both pets to reward them when they show positive behavior toward one another.
Baby gates are also useful during these initial meetings, as you can allow the pets to interact while still maintaining a barrier between them. However, do not rely on these gates to keep the animals separate when you are away. Instead, put your dog in her crate or secure your cat in a room.
If your dog is young and hasn't completed her puppy training yet, you'll need to teach her some commands that will help her interact with the cat. Saying "leave it" in a stern voice when you want her to leave the cat alone is a good idea. You can also teach her phrases like "stay," "down," or "gentle" to prevent her from scaring or hurting your feline. Remember to always praise and reward for good behavior.
Prepare for accidents
Even with supervision, cats and dogs can end up hurting each other during their initial meetings. In the case of an emergency, you must be prepared to visit a vet clinic to seek medical attention for the injured pet or pets. For minor injuries, it's not a bad idea to brush up on your first aid for dogs or cats, so you can treat any issues immediately.


shadow boards for aviation maintenance
Aviation maintenance is a time sensitive process, especially in aircraft on ground (AOG) situations. Aviation maintenance technicians want to complete work quickly, but make sure that the job is well done. But how can AMTs save time without compromising their work quality? The answer is 5S and shadow boards for aviation maintenance. 5S methodology can help streamline maintenance operations to get aircraft back to flying condition in a shorter amount of time.
Understanding 5S
In any repair or maintenance organization, one of the biggest competitive advantages is eliminating waste. What does this mean? Waste in this sense includes much more than wear items or replacement of damaged tools. Waste refers to all actions and resources that aren't value-added or required. 5S organization and shadow boards for aviation maintenance can help MROs and FBOs decrease waste by reducing time spent on nonessential activities.
You may ask, "How does organizing decrease waste?" Proper tool organization has the greatest effect on wasted motion – which leads to wasted time. Wasted motion refers to actions taken by a technician or manager that does not directly contribute to job completion. What is the amount of wasted motion and wasted time that are used to locate tooling? It may not seem like this is a significant amount of time, but it adds up. Although times are highly variable due to facility differences in size, tooling procedures, and workforce, many MROs and FBOs find that searching for tools can extend aviation maintenance work by over 45 minutes.
Shadow Board Effects on Time Reduction
Unsure how much time searching for tools actually takes? Set aside time to observe AMTs performing maintenance processes. Note how often progress was stalled to get the right tool. Shadow boards for aviation maintenance address this problem by providing a designated space for tooling. AMTs or managers don't have to search for the right tool because it can be found in the same location.
The best way to organize tools is using a system that is simple and sustainable. Shadow boards are one of the best ways to accomplish this because they are visual and free of guesswork. Shadow boards are also incredibly convenient because they can be placed on tool crib walls, in high trafficked areas on the hangar, or in each AMTs tool chest.
Sort, Set, Sustain
Sort refers to removing clutter. Shadow boards only include space for necessary tools and equipment, nothing extra. This eliminates clutter because there is no space that is available to place additional items.
"A place for everything and everything in its place" is the motto for set. By "setting" a place for items, each item has a known physical location. Consistency is key. Designated tooling locations enable AMTs to spend less time searching for the tool they need, so that they can get back to the task at hand.
Sustainability is the keystone of any change. The goal is to keep AMTs using the systems and processes that have been set in place. Shadow boards are one of the easiest methods to sustain. After creating the board or tool chest organizer, AMTs need to become comfortable with the new system. This can typically take up to 4 – 6 weeks.Whether you have already implemented a 5S system or are just trying to get a more organized work space, shadow boards for aviation maintenance can help. If you have any questions about shadow boards for aviation maintenance, or would like a quote, contact the team at e2b calibration HERE or via email at [email protected]


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Successful Mission and Vision Statements in Kenya are very important for businesses in Kenya. Businesses in Kenya need good vision and mission statements in order to have a clear picture on where the business will be in the future. Read more in Business Training in Kenya.
Vision Statement in Relation to Successful Mission and Vision Statements in Kenya
A vision statement in relation to Successful Mission and Vision Statements in Kenya is a mental image of the organizations future or destination. It defines what the organization wants to become in the future. A vision is a desirable future state of the organization. It is a short and inspiring statement of what the organization intends to become and achieve at some point in future.
Importance of a Vision Statement in Successful Mission and Vision Statements in Kenya
- Helpful in bridging the gap between the present and the future of an organization.
- It is a source of inspiration because it gives hope for the future for both the employer and employee.
- It forms the criteria for decision making when need be.
- It explains the organizations significance and how it will improve whatever market place in which it participates.
- It describes what has to be achieved if the organization is to be successful.
- Creates organization interest and commitment.
- Helps in defining the actions and goals that will help in achieving the vision statement created.
Approaches to developing a good vision statement for Businesses in Kenya
One of the ways of developing Successful Mission and Vision Statements in Kenya is reviewing the SWOT analysis. (SWOT=Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats). Also hold brainstorming sessions with the top management to discuss the companies top priorities. The last but not least ways of developing Successful Mission and Vision Statements in Kenya is by drawing graphic visions of the future i.e. conducting imaginary future trips though the organization
A good vision should have the following qualities as articulated by the top management in order to have impact on the employees.
It must be conveyed in a dramatic and never ending manner.
A good vision statement should be inspirational i.e. a statement that provokes employees to give their best
Must be communicated constantly
It must keep linking the events of the present and the future in order to bridge the gap effectively.
It also must also incorporate beliefs such as being able to achieve objectives.
Components of Vision Statement in Relation to Successful Mission and Vision Statements in Kenya
The components of Successful Mission and Vision Statements in Kenya are;
- Developing a great new product i.e. inspiring and further development of existing products in the company.
- Should aspire to serve customers through defined product portfolio.
- Should ensure quality of the organization is portrayed.
- Should be responsive to customers' needs and services
- Providing an enjoyable work environment
- Should ensure financial strength and stability
- Should ensure sustainable growth of the company for the benefit of its stakeholders
Mission Statement in Relation to Successful Mission and Vision Statements in Kenya
A mission statement is the basic purpose for which or reason why the organization exist. It is the fundamental statement of purpose of an organization and it defines the deserved level of performance of the company.
A mission statement is an organization vision translated into written form and makes concrete the managers view of the direction and purpose of an org. it is the overall goal of the org that provide a sense of broad direction and a guide to decision making.
It is the focal point of the organization activities that defines both current and future organization activities. In developing org mission management must thoroughly understand and consider the result of environmental analysis.
Importance of Establishing a Good Mission Statement in Successful Mission and Vision Statements in Kenya
An effective mission statement is important to the organization success because of the following:
One of the importance's of establishing a good mission statement is that it defines the overall organization vision by defining the path to realize it.
Another effect on Businesses in Kenya is that it helps to determine the coordination of organization activities by providing a framework for all members to work together to achieve a common purpose.
It determines the relationship in each of the key markets with which the organization interacts.
Another effect on Businesses in Kenya is that it provides a sense of direction and purpose which leads to a better independent decision making and setting of priorities at all levels of management.
The effect of a good mission statement on the Businesses in Kenya is providing the basis or rationale for organization resource and location i.e. allocation of both human and non human resources.
It determines various organization job responsibilities or job position necessary to produce goods and services
It forms the basis of developing org objectives and strategies. Objectives and strategies must be consistent and be in support of the mission statement
Another effect of a good mission statement on Businesses in Kenya is that it defines the organizations culture by defining values and beliefs to be held while carrying out activities to achieve the mission
A mission statement affects decisions of stakeholders e.g. investment or communication projects
A mission statement must be clearly communicated to avoid misunderstanding of organizations purpose
Characteristics of a Sound Mission Statement in Relation to Successful Mission and Vision Statements in Kenya
The following considerations are important in developing a good mission statement for the Successful Mission and Vision Statements in Kenya
Defining a specific target market or groups or audience for the mission and their relative expectations e.g. customers, employees, shareholders, supplies, stakeholders in general
There should be a balance between the narrowness and the breadth of the mission i.e. avoid too narrow or too broad mission statements
Determine the type of business the org is in at what business it should be in i.e. provide the strategic market options such as market penetration, market development, product development and diversification strategies
Uniqueness- a mission must be unique to the org in order to provide competitive advantage or differentiation and to minimize substantially by others
Should be market oriented rather than product oriented i.e. focus on the needs of the customers rather than product features and attributes
Components of a Mission Statement in Relation to Successful Mission and Vision Statements in Kenya
Components of a good mission statement are the kind of information contained in a mission statement. It varies from one organization to another but it should include the following areas:
Company productthe principal product produced and delivered in the organization must be identified in the statement
Market or customersthe mission should also define the target market by answering the following questions:
- Who are the customers
- Where are they located
- How did they buy our products
- How much
- How can they be reached
- What do they look for when buying the products
Business activitiesconcerned with current and future business activities including those of potential customers. This should address issues such as:
- What are the market trends in the potential market
- What changes in market structure might occur as a result of development, competitive activities
- What innovations will change the customers buying habits
- What needs does that the customer feel that it has not been adequately addressed
Technologythis addresses the firm's basic technologies. The info provided here should include tools, machinery, materials, techniques and processes used to produce goods and services
Organizations self conceptthis refers to the organization view or impression about itself through the assessment of its strengths, weaknesses, competition and the ability to survive in the market place
Organizations philosophy- a statement which reflects on the organization basic beliefs and values that should guide all members in conducting organization business. It establishes the organization values, beliefs about business, humanity and its role to society and the world at large.
Conclusion on Successful Mission and Vision Statements in Kenya
All this information is suitable for one to understand the importance of setting up a good vision and mission statement. It explains the importance of Successful Mission and Vision Statements in Kenya


Smartphone Sensors
Thanks to advances in electronic technologies, smartphones have many sensors that allow them to interact with the outside world (movement, light, magnetic field, etc.). For physicists, these sensors turn the smartphone into a scientific measuring instrument using apps like phyphox.
How do these sensors work? Here are six sheets that explain the physical principles behind.
All the contents of this site can be used freely under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license.
This project was designed in a collaboration between the « Physics Reimagined » team and the COMPAS department of the Faculté des Sciences from Université Paris-Saclay.
Physics and mediation: Frédéric Bouquet, Julien Bobroff, Anaïs Vergnolle
Illustrations and graphics: Anna Khazina


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for lab today: a) 300mL of 50% (v/v) methanol and b) 200mL of 25% (v/v) methanol. You have been supplied with 100% methanol and deionized water as well as graduated cylinders and beakers of the appropriate sizes, a magnetic stirrer and Teflon stir bars. How would you use these materials to prepare the two methanol solutions? Note that this question requires more than just showing the math involved. You need to write the steps involved in preparing the solutions, including when and how you use the provided materials.
- Practice converting between the following units by writing your answers in decimal form and in scientific notation:
- You have been given a stock glucose solution with a concentration of 100mg/mL. To perform the glucose assay in lab today, you must dilute the 100mg/mL stock solution of glucose to concentrations of 80mg/mL, 60mg/mL, 40mg/mL, and 20mg/mL. You need to prepare 1mL of each dilution. Explain how you would make the 4 dilutions from the glucose stock solution.
- The molecular weight of glucose is 180g/mol. To prepare a stock solution of glucose, you dissolve 1.8g of glucose in water to a final volume of 1.0L. This stock solution is then diluted as follows: 50mL of the stock solution is added to 450mL of water, and then 1.0mL of the diluted solution is added to 99mL of water. What is the µM concentration of the final solution?
- You are writing a research report and you need to describe the concentration of methyl green stain on the Tetrahymena you show in a photomicrograph. The concentration of methyl green in the bottle was 5% and you added 100 μL of it to 9.9ml of an acidic buffer to make a working dilution of stain. You then combined 10 μL of that diluted stain with 40 μL of your diluted cells and put a few microliters of that mixture on the slide from which you took your photo. What was the effective (final) concentration of the stain?


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Sensory bottles are an absolute winner in our house. They are engaging, easy to make and perhaps most importantly, don't cause a huge mess like other forms of sensory play.
The bottles featured in this post are all plastic Voss bottles. We personally prefer this brand because they are pretty versatile: you can see clearly through them.
With the exception of the bottle filled with water, it's important to note that the lids are glued in place. This is because these bottles are intended for babies and toddlers.*
Here are ten sensory bottles to try at home. In most cases, you probably already have most of the materials at home already. All of them are suitable as a tummy time activity (from when your baby is old enough to reach and grab) or as an educational tool for slightly older children.
Here's 5 to get you started…
When creating sensory bottles, my main advice would to create more than one at a time. All 5 of the bottles photographed above took a collective 10 minutes to make.
It's a good idea to use a funnel to guide rice and other small items into the bottle and of course seal the lid shut with a glue gun once the bottle is filled.
From left to right we have:
1.Black and white rice with pompoms. I created this as a high contrast sensory exploration for baby Elliott.
2.Pompom roller. Very simple, intended for babies to roll back and forth.
3.Sprinkle shaker. A fun, makeshift musical shaker for toddlers using cake sprinkles.
4.Ocean 'eye-spy' with blue dyed rice and miniature sea creatures. Ideal as a language development tool. We used ocean themed animals after a trip to the coast but you could use any theme you like.
5. Tinsel and pompoms. A sparkly bottle intended to introduce Christmas as a time of celebration. Here we used tinsel confetti from a craft shop but you could easily use an off-cut of tinsel from the tree!
6. Food colouring and water. To be used as a tool when learning colours. We combine ours with 'colour baskets' or as an aid for colour hunts when identifying colours.
7. Magnet Exploration. These little magnetic chips are loads of fun, but also a choking hazard. By placing them in a sealed plastic bottle, toddlers are able to explore safely.
8. Scent bottle. There's no need to seal this bottle as it's intended for exploring scents. Pop any herb into the bottle and leave for at least one day before using as a sensory exploration.
9. Ice! Fill 3/4 of the bottle with water and leave in the freezer for a few hours for babies and toddlers to explore 'cold.'
10. Alphabet / Number eye spy. A sensory learning tool for toddlers or preschoolers. Here we used coloured rice and beads but plain rice and standard size fridge magnets work just as well.
*Please never leave your child unattended whilst playing with homemade activities regardless of how safe you have made it.


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1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.
"What are the chances there is a God, really? He is a blank slate, and we saw him as black."
- Actress and comedian Sarah Silverman on representing God as a black person on The Sarah Silverman Program. (men dot style dot com)
1. Definition - Study the definition.
undeveloped, free of information or associations; the idea that all knowledge is learned, that you're born knowing nothing
2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.
This one goes back to Latin. The phrase tabula rasa is used by philosophers to discuss the idea that people aren't with any built-in knowledge.
Tabula rasa translates to English as blank slate and it has many simple uses in addition to the philosophical meaning. Anything that can be manipulated freely is a blank slate. If you're at a party and everyone has just arrived, you could say it is a blank slate. Everyone could dance, or sing, or play a game or sit and talk. It will be what you make it.
A slate is a flat piece of rock that ancient people used to carve messages into. It's sort of like a blank piece of paper. When you think about it, God is sort of like a blank piece of paper too. If you asked a group of people to draw God, they would all draw different things because there is no shared idea of what God looks like.
When an interviewer asked Sarah Silverman about how God is portrayed by a black man on her television show, she replies that God is a blank slate. He could be any race. Heck, he could be a giant alligator. Silverman is unsure if God exists, so she certainly has no idea about how he would look. So she filled in the blank slate however she liked.
1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.
"My little brother is new to the world of rock music. He's a total blank slate, so I intend to show him all the coolest bands and make sure he has good taste. "
"When you first start your blog, it's a blank slate. It can be whatever you want it to be. But as you gain readers, they'll develop expectations.


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What is your school district doing to celebrate Digital Learning Day on February 6?
The National School Boards Association (NSBA) is a core partner in the event, which is designed to help showcase learning through technology, including successful instructional practices and effective use of technology in classrooms across the country.
"Digital Learning Day is an excellent opportunity for educators to organize student demonstrations for school board members and other community leaders so they can see how technology is used to support learning," said NSBA's Director of Educational Technology Ann Flynn. "Many of today's 21st century classrooms are filled with digital tools that can engage and excite students, but may seem foreign to graduates of another era," she added.
Even though the event is geared toward teachers and classroom instruction, there are several ways school board members can take advantage of the time to highlight their schools' programs, Flynn said.
For instance, consider an open house invitation for the community and government leaders to see how digital tools are transforming education in classrooms firsthand. Or, have teachers and students give demonstrations of their projects at a school board meeting. Last year, several school boards across the country marked the day by hosting student presentations at their board meetings.
A school board also could issue its own proclamation in celebration of Digital Learning Day, Flynn added, to call attention to the important role these resources play in preparing students for the future and educate the community to build support for the district's future technology initiatives.
Digital Learning Day, now in its second year, is a project of the Digital Learning Policy Center, a division of the Alliance for Excellent Education, which promotes the effective applications of technology in schools.
Also be sure to check out Flynn's recent appearance on Comcast Newsmakers, where she discusses the potential of educational technology and student learning.


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Cell Selection and Re-Selection
Cell selection entity handles the cell selection/ reselection functionality, it is responsible for selecting the most suitable cell to camp on for the UE. The cell selections are made on different parameters. These parameters include the Power parameters and the parameters included in the system information Broadcasts.
Cell Selection Criteria
In order to be the candidate for a suitable or acceptable cell, the following criterion is to be met:
Srxlev > 0
Srxlev = Qrxmeasured – Qrxlevmin – Pcomposition
Cell Re-Selection Criteria
The cell reselection is performed on the basis of the ranking of the current and the neighboring cells. The ranking is performed on the basis of the following R values
Rs = Qmeas,s + Qhysts
Rn = Qmeas,n – Qoffsets,n
Cell Selection Process Diagram
In the Idle mode the CSE performs the following tasks in order to select a cell:
1. When a PLMN is selected the cell selection is made through one of the cell selection procedures
2. If suitable cell is found the UE camp normally on the cell.
3. In camp normally state the cell reselection is made depending upon the triggers described later in this document.
4. If no suitable cell found in 2, the UE searches for an acceptable cell and enters the camp on any cell state
5. In camp on any state the cell reselection is made depending upon the triggers, if no suitable cell found the UE move to any cell state
6. If suitable cell found in 5 the UE move to the camp normally state.
7. In either state i.e. camped normally or camped on any when ever the UE returns from the connected mode to the idle mode the UE tries to camp on the last cell used for camping in the connected mode.
8. In case last cell in 5 is not a suitable or acceptable cell, procedure 1 and 4 are repeated depending upon the camped state.
The following figure shows the process diagram of the cell selection and re-selection
in idle mode for LTE.


How much do we need to understand each other to work together?
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The boundary object is an ethnographic term that describes objects, processes, or words that cross between cultures or disciplines. Boundary objects are often the currency and the result of cross disciplinary practices. All manner of things, from software, to maps, to theories can provide a rich terrain for misunderstanding, tentative agreements or new insights. Case studies of cross-disciplinary art and science collaborations or design and engineering projects will provide examples.


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Taimi Pitkanen last saw her brother Aate (AH-tay) in a Leningrad railway station in 1931.
Taimi was returning to Canada from Moscow; Aate was headed for Soviet Karelia, on the border with Finland, where his skills in electricity and languages - both English and Finnish - were badly needed.
Aate never came back. Even when the dream went sour, Aate held on, writing home until, in 1941, Hitler attacked the USSR. After that, no one in Canada heard anything more of Aate Pitkanen.
Sixty years later, the discovery of his last letters - written but never mailed from a Finnish prisoner-of-war camp - reveals his fate and brings together Taimi and Alfred, the son Aate never met.
Visiting Taimi in Canada, Alfred Pitkanen learns the dramatic story of his father's Canadian family and of "Karelia Fever," the enthusiasm that gripped so many Finnish Canadians in the 1930s. Almost forgotten now, it lured thousands to a tragic fate in the Soviet Union.
Alfred follows his father's journey from Thunder Bay, Ontario, to Karelia, from young communist pioneer to ski champion of the USSR to Soviet spy.
With him we learn Aate's fate and the story of one of the great dreams of the twentieth century.
More info on this film in NFB catalogue »»


How Users Interact with Different Types of Intelligent Agents (Video)
Learn more about customer self-service at the next SpeechTEK conference.
Read the complete transcript of this clip:
Michael McTear: Interactions can differ slightly from one type of intelligent agent to another. You could have a voice-user interface such as you find in the traditional systems.
More recently, of course, we have voice assistance on our phones. Predominantly, there are two types of interaction that are used in these systems. One type is the one-shot dialogue. That's where you say everything that you want in one go. So for example, "What's the weather in Washington for next Thursday?" The system finds the answer and tells you, and that's it. Or you say, "Set an alarm for 7:30 tomorrow morning." It says, "Alarm set," and that's it. It's a one-shot query. If that works, and that's the way most of these systems are at the moment, that's fine.
The other type is the system-directed dialogue where you want to, for example, book a flight and there are different parameters that have to be filled. The system needs to know where you want to go, the date and the time, and maybe various other things, such as, which particular airline. When it's gathered all those different bits of information, we call that slot-filling, then the system will then look up and find one or more flights that match those parameters.
The third type is mixed-initiative, which is sort of more in the future. It's what people are looking for, where you might be doing some troubleshooting or getting advice on which insurance to take out, where it can't really just be handled with a one-shot query or simply slot-filling. There a sort of negotiation goes on. The user may be asked some questions as well. That's called mixed-initiative dialogue.
Messaging interfaces are more text-based. In some cases, not even text. There's a button for the input, where the feedback that the user is going to say is just little buttons. They're called quick replies. At the next level, you can have fairly constrained text input. And then at the higher level, you have natural language understanding with open-ended input. And then, sometimes these can be voice-enabled as well.
Then we can interact with intelligent agents, such as the smart speakers that we have in the home, or with social robots. There again, we have the same sorts of queries.
But what we might see in the future, again, is what we call open multi-turn dialogues. And these are dialogues that actually take much longer, will be mixed-initiative.
Then there's the internet of things, where voice interaction is also possible. In some cases, it may be very restricted. If you're talking to the thermometer, there are not that many different things you're going to be able to say. You're just adjusting the temperature. But again, there may be one-shot queries like, "Raise the temperature to 70 degrees." And in some cases, there may be slot-filling dialogues as well and even, then, open multi-turn dialogues.
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The house was bought by Baron Napoleon Gourgaud (_PHONE_), great grandson of General Gaspard Gourgaud (_PHONE_), who was present when the Emperor left the Île d'Aix,and who would follow him to Saint Helena. Thanks to his wife's fortune, the rich American Eva Gebhard (_PHONE_), Napoleon Gourgaud was able to acquire much historical memorabilia to which he added gifts that he obtained from his friends, many of whom were part of the nobility of the Empire. He opened his Napoleon Museum in the Emperor's house in 1928, and gave it to the State in 1933 retaining a life interest.
On his death, in 1944, his widow continued his work, and when she died in 1959, the museum became part of the Musée National de Malmaison. Reorganised for the first time in _PHONE_, the museum displays were redesigned in _PHONE_. Each of its ten rooms focuses on a specific theme, retracing, as far as possible, the life of the Emperor and his entourage. Some rooms are devoted to the history of the Île d'Aix, the Gourgaud family and to the legend of Napoleon whose prolific exploits marked the 19th century.


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Requesting a Record under the Privacy Act
Minimum Requirements of a PA Request:
- Your Request must be prepared in writing.
- Label your Request "Privacy Act Request" on the request, as well as the envelope.
- Individuals seeking access to records about themselves that are maintained in a PA system of records must sign their request and provide specific identifying data to enable a search for the requested record. Either have a notarized signature or submit an unsworn declaration that states:
If executed without the United States:
"I declare (or certify, verify, or state) under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on (date). (Signature)".
If executed within the United States, its territories, possessions, or commonwealths:
"I declare (or certify, verify, or state) under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on (date). (Signature)".
- Identify the specific PA system of records notice for which you seek this information (DON (USN and USMC) SORNS).
- Individuals may authorize the release of all or part of their records to anyone they choose provided they submit a signed authorization to the USNA. Such authorization must specifically state the records to which the individual may have access.
- Individuals may be accompanied by anyone they choose when seeking to review their records. In such instance, the USNA requires the individual to provide a written authorization to allow the record to be discussed in front of the other person.
- Include requester's full name, complete U.S. postal service mailing address, phone number, and email (if you wish electronic responsive documentation).
First Party Requesters will be Granted Access to their Records Under the Provisions of the PA, Unless:
- They did not properly identify the records being sought; did not sign their request; and/or failed to provide sufficient identifying data to locate the requested record(s);
- They are seeking access to information in a system of records that is exempt from disclosure in whole or in part under the provisions of the PA;
- They are seeking access to information that was compiled in anticipation of a civil action or proceeding [i.e.,(d)(5) applies.] The term "civil action or proceeding" includes quasi-judicial and pre–trial judicial proceedings, as well as formal litigation. However, this does not prohibit access to records compiled or used for purposes other than litigation or to records frequently subject to litigation. The information must have been compiled for the primary purpose of litigation to be withheld under 5 U.S.C. §552a (d)(5); or
- They are seeking access to information contained in the system that is currently and properly classified [see 5 U.S.C. §552a (k)(1)].
Submit Your Request
You may submit your request by one of the following methods:
- U.S. Mail:
Superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy
Attention: Privacy Act Coordinator
121 Blake Road
Annapolis, MD 21402-1300


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Carnegie Mellon Algorithm Charts Evolution
Of Genetic Networks During Fruit Fly Life Cycle
PITTSBURGH—A new algorithm developed by Carnegie Mellon University computer scientists has revealed for the first time how genetic networks in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, evolve during the insect's life cycle.
Scientists have known that the relationships between fruit fly genes change over time, but existing experimental approaches can not capture the details of those changes as they occur. The new algorithm, called Tesla, incorporates machine learning techniques that now enable researchers to figure out how the rewiring of those networks takes place as the insect develops.
"Many problems in biological, social and engineering systems require us to understand the interconnections between genes, people or other entities, but directly observing the evolution of these interconnections has often been impossible because of experimental or computational limitations," said Eric P. Xing, associate professor of computer science, machine learning and language technology in Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science. "Researchers typically could identify only a static 'average' network within each system over a period of time, but had no way to capture time-specific'snapshots' of the actual rewiring network topology at consecutive clock-ticks within the period.
"Our new method exploits the information sharing between the evolving networks, and makes it possible to uncover interconnections that exist for a short moment in time," Xing said. "These findings help us to understand how these networks evolve over time, respond to stimuli and sometimes become dysfunctional."
In a paper to be published online this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Xing and Amr Ahmed, a Ph.D. student in the Language Technology Institute, detail how the Tesla algorithm can be used to analyze not only evolving gene networks in fruit flies, but also changes in voting alliances in the U.S. Senate and shifts in the social network of the machine learning academic community.
"Once we understand the dynamics of a network, we can build models that predict how it will respond to stimuli and identify its vulnerabilities," said Xing, a member of the Ray and Stephanie Lane Center for Computational Biology at Carnegie Mellon. "In the context of cancer genetics, for instance, this dynamic network analysis could help us identify new targets for drug therapy."
In analyzing the gene networks of the fruit fly, Xing and Ahmed began with an existing database that measured the activity of 4,028 genes at 66 intervals spanning the embryonic, larval, pupal and adult periods of the fruit fly life cycle. Each of the samplings, performed with microarrays, provided a snapshot of which genes were active at the time in the large, evolving networks. The Tesla algorithm was used to determine the links between the genes in those networks at the time of the snapshot. Using a novel extension of the sparse regression technique popular in statistical inference, Tesla was able to reverse engineer the rewiring of those links, figuring out exactly how one network related to the next network in the progression. The result is the first "movie" of fruit fly gene network aging.
Because the original data set may have missed important developmental genes, it isn't yet possible to draw any strong biological conclusion from the resulting movie of gene network evolution, Xing said, but the analysis nevertheless illustrates the promising utility of Tesla.
"To our knowledge, Tesla represents the first practical and scalable method for recovering large-scale, time-varying networks underlying sociocultural and biological processes at arbitrary temporal resolutions," the authors concluded in their report.
Xing and Ahmed also used Tesla to analyze the voting record for 642 bills before the U.S. Senate in 2005 and 2006, and see how relationships between senators changed over time. Democratic and Republican senators tended to bunch together (with then-Sen. Barack Obama always connected only to other Democrats) in their voting, though there were anomalies. For instance, Sen. James Jeffords, then an independent senator from Vermont, had a voting record that was closely tied to Democrats, though around January 2006 his voting began to reflect slightly more connections with the Republicans, his original party. The votes of then-Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) can be seen to progressively change toward the Democrats; he subsequently became an Independent after losing re-election in 2006.
The work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.


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Sensory accountability – data beyond the symbolic sandbox
Dietmar Offenhuber Associate Professor, Northeastern University
The methods of data driven urbanism are bound to the limits of symbolic representation - they can only begin when data already exist. As a result, data remain largely silent about the conditions and controversies around their creation and are disconnected from the phenomena they describe. Especially when discourses around pollution and environmental justice depend on data sets and computational models, they are frequently subject to questions of truthfulness, authority, and hidden biases. Under the notion of sensory accountability, I will discuss emerging visual and evidentiary practices that respond to these questions by identifying, revealing, and presenting physical traces of invisible phenomena - as a data source, but also to make the process of data collection accountable and the resulting models verifiable through the human senses.
The Lectures in Planning Series (LiPS) is an initiative of the Urban Planning program at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.