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I'd like to know what is the best way to use shared preferences for application settings, namely to change text size and text colour. The tutorials I am finding are all confusing and most of them are using deprecated methods. What is the best way to proceed for API 17?
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Create a preferences screen using this so your users have a place to change values. In your code, check the value of the keys you used in this preference screen and do whatever you need to do.
By the way, the example in the Android doc I linked shows hard-coded key string literals. The best practice way to do this is to create string keys in strings.xml resource file and reference the string key in your preference screen xml file and in your java code.
For example, in strings.xml:
wifi enabled
In you preference screen xml file:
 android:title="WiFi" />
In your java code:
String wifiEnabledStringKey = getString(R.string.wifiEnabled);
//this will give you just 'wifi enabled'; you can then use this to retrieve the value of this key from SharedPreferences.
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Hello, I have been using this system to, but I start to dislike it because you have to duplicate the keys when you translate the app to other languages. Even these keys, which aren't visible to the use need to be duplicated, but not translated. If you don't do this, LINT will complain. Do you also have this issue? – bvanvelsen Aug 1 '13 at 8:35
I don't understand what you mean by duplicate. If by that you mean creating the same key in another language, then yes, that should be done. That is how the OS knows the key is available in another language as well besides just the default language. There are folders for each language. As long as you have a strings.xml file in the respective language and create the same key in it, the resource loader will know which key to use based on the language setting on the device. – praneetloke Aug 8 '13 at 1:43
yes, but preference keys make no sense in other languages, because they are the same in every language, and not even visible to the end user. Thats why I don't like this system to use them for preferences, but I do use them for every string which is visible to the user(preference title or summary) – bvanvelsen Aug 8 '13 at 5:07
Your Answer


How do you like your bananas?
I'm a speckled-brown banana lover myself, but I know many people prefer them bright yellow. To keep them this way, a great food hack is to tightly wrap the ends (the brown bit where the bananas join) in cling film. This will make them last much longer.
Alternatively, if you're like me and actually want to speed up the banana ripening process, place them in a brown bag.
Two easy food hacks to get your bananas just as you like them!
11. Store onions in pantyhose
Onions are one of the easiest vegetables to keep fresh, providing you do it right! Store onions in pantyhose, and you'll be able to use them for up to six months.
Grab a pair of strong, clean or new tights and gently drop your onion down to the foot end. Tie a knot above it, then add another onion, knot, and so on. Tie your onion chain somewhere dry and dark.
Using this method allows the onions to breathe, prolonging their shelf life. Best of all, they're really easy to access - just cut underneath the knot when you want to release one.
12. Make mushrooms last longer by storing them in brown bags
Some vegetables like a humid environment, whereas mushrooms fair better where it's dry. Store them in a brown paper bag in your fridge, and the paper will absorb any excess water, preventing it from reaching your mushrooms.
14. Store salad leaves in a container with a paper towel
Salad leaves are one of the most difficult things to keep fresh. Although the packets claim they'll keep for a week, once open it's a different story.
To make your open salad bag last as long as possible, wash, dry and store alongside a paper towel in an airtight container. Salad leaves don't take well to humid air. By placing a paper towel in with them, it will absorb all that excess moisture, leaving salad crisp and dry.
13. Make cut vegetables last longer by storing them in water
make cut vegeatbles last longer by storing in water
A splash of water is all you need.
If you're only cooking for one, you'll use half vegetables all the time - don't let the other half go to waste.
Cut root vegetables such as carrots and parsnips can be difficult to keep fresh, but it's not impossible. They will quickly start to go dry and lose flavour if you don't store them properly.
Keep cut pieces submerged in fresh water in your fridge to prevent this from happening. The water will ensure they don't dry out, and they'll be fresh for use next time you cook.
15. Where to store fruit & veg to make them last longer
Inconveniently, each fruit and vegetable reacts uniquely to different climates, so it's important to get to know what they like best if you want to prolong their shelf life.
Some vegetables, such as potatoes and squash, fair best when kept on the countertop or at room temperature, while others, such as berries, may spoil if left here overnight.
For a comprehensive list of what fresh produce to store where, head over to the Mint Life site.
16. Wrap celery in aluminium foil to prolong its life
Celery - the one food that takes more calories to eat than it contains. It also seems to brown as soon as you get it home.
The trick to tasty, crunchy, fresh tasting celery it to wrap the individual stick in aluminium foil. This food hack has a record of prolonging life for up to 2 weeks - impressive stuff!
17. Store potatoes with apples to prevent them from sprouting
Turns out 'an apple a day' isn't just beneficial for our health, but our potato's shelf life too.
The ethylene gas that apples give off is thought to prevent your potatoes from sprouting and help keep them fresh for longer. This isn't just any old questionable food hack either, it's actually been proven.
During a test, apples stored alongside potatoes remained firm and sprout-free for an impressive eight weeks.
18. Make berries last longer by rinsing them with vinegar
Wash berries with vinegar to prolong their life
Keep your berries nice & bright.
Would you like some vinegar with those berries, madam? Before you answer, it may interest you to know that vinegar can extend the life of your strawberry salad.
By washing raspberries, strawberries and other berries in 1 cup vinegar and 3 cups water before storing, they'll stay fresher for longer.
The acidic taste won't linger - promise!
Start putting some of these food hacks into practise, & you'll be amazed how long your fruit & vegetables last.
Stephanie C
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 1. Author Majen on May 19, 2017 at 7:42 pm
 Don't ask me why, but a piece of previously washed coal left in a bowl/ container with a weary lettuce brings it back to life. It works.
 1. Author Stephanie C on May 22, 2017 at 10:29 am
 Hi Majen. What a peculiar tip - how did you discover this? Thanks for sharing! :)
 2. Author Sandy on May 20, 2017 at 1:14 am
 Hi Stephanie I am a little confused. In hack no. 10 you say that apples, along with broccoli and green beans do not give off ethylene gas. Yet in no.17 you advise keeping an apple with potatoes to prolong their life because apples give off ethylene. Which is right?
 1. Author Stephanie C on May 22, 2017 at 10:27 am
 Hi Sandy. I'm sorry about the confusion. Apples DO in fact give off ethylene gas, however, they are also ethylene sensitive. This means that they will still over-ripen easily if kept alongside other ehthylene-producing fruits & vegetables. I hope this helps. :)
 3. Author Barbara Harding on May 21, 2017 at 4:14 pm
 Thank's for this info, I am ashamed to say that I am forever throwing away fruit and veg and just going out and buying more. With prices going through the roof right now, I know it's time to make the big change. Waste not want not!
 1. Author Stephanie C on May 22, 2017 at 10:23 am
 Hi Barbara. I'm glad you enjoyed the article. Don't fret - we're all guilty of throwing things away from time to time. With a little practice, you'll find you're able to use everything and anything that's left in your fridge! :)
 2. Author Julie featherstone on June 14, 2017 at 8:08 am
 Hi, hope you could help me a bit.? My partner will not eat any foods that are mashed/creamed, ANY sauces either on the side or on his meal, i carnt even have lasagne of any description as he says it makes him feel sick, he wont tolerate melted cheese in any shape or form! E He even even wkng eat a gravy meal off a dark plate even though he he obly has a trickle of gravy on his meat!!!! SO any ideas please? He a traditional food man and im running out of meal plans. Thankyou for your time and patience reading this, Julie☺
 3. Author Stephanie C on June 21, 2017 at 9:26 am
 Hi Julie. Wow - it sounds like you've got your work cut out! What kind of ideas are you looking for exactly? Could you not just leave his own meal without sauce if he prefers it dry? I'm here to help! :)
 4. Author Mary Brennan on September 3, 2018 at 8:37 am
 Another way to keep fruit and vegetables longer in your fridge is to put a natural sponge in the respective drawers. A lump of coal in a bowl of water with lettuce is a very old tip I learnt from my Aunty 40-50 years ago, as in those days we didn't have a fridge. Keep bananas away from other fruit unless it needs to ripen otherwise it will go off quickly.
 1. Author Joanne A on September 3, 2018 at 10:41 am
 Great idea, Mary!
 5. Author alison willis on September 3, 2018 at 8:55 am
 If individual celery stalks are wrapped in aluminium foil this will not only considerably add to the cost of each stalk, but is VERY bad environmentally. At a time when most people are becoming more aware of the need to cut down on packaging it is not sensible to encourage people to put their own foil packaging on food, after taking it out of its plastic supermarket packaging. If you buy a whole celery store it in a glass of water and eat it quickly!
 1. Author Joanne A on September 3, 2018 at 10:42 am
 Storing in a glass of water is a great idea. Thanks for sharing!
 6. Author Wendy Hildyard on September 3, 2018 at 7:02 pm
 I use the old fashioned way of keeping celery fresh by cutting a slice from the bottom and put in a pint glass with a few inches of water
 1. Author Joanne A on September 4, 2018 at 11:29 am
 Old fashioned but effective! Thanks for sharing, Wendy.
 7. Author Carol Brown on September 3, 2018 at


Our animal friends are part of our families. And as such, they should be used to how we conduct our lives and everything we do in our homes right? Wrong! Here are six of many ways that human behaviour annoys companion animals. Do you do any of these?
3) Barking or meowing at a dog or catHumans think they can get dogs and cats to communicate with them by barking and/or meowing at them. Dogs and cats think that this is ridiculous behaviour.
5) StaringJust like humans, if you stare at an animal, it makes them very uncomfortable. If most could hear them, the animal would as "what are you staring at??" Animals ESPECIALLY get annoyed when you stare at them while they are doing their bathroom business. Keep in mind how you might feel if someone was staring at you while you were on the toilet!
7) Taking their pictures or videoAnimals do not understand the concept of photography. They may understand that you are shoving your cellular phone in their face or personal space, however they do not understand why. In many cases, animals become annoyed and frightened by cell phone cameras. Some animals may not mind having their pictures taken but most do. They will often be uncomfortable with having you record their adorable behavior. It is important to stop and consider if your animal friend would appreciate having a phone shoved in their face during certain moments. That said, who can resist a photo shoot with the most adorable faces on the planet?
All of this can be avoided through the understanding and practice of empathy! By really understanding your animal's comfort level instead of assuming that they are or are not a certain way, you will be promoting a healthy home for your whole family… most importantly, your animal companions will love you that much more!
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Sorry, no definitions found.
"The other method is known as the Abjad method or ordinal method."
"Phoenico-Hebrew Alphabet and the "Abjad" of the Arabs."
"For mnemonic purposes the 28 letters are distributed into eight words of which the first and second are Abjad and Hawwaz."
"They are disposed in the order of the letters of the Abjad-hawwaz or older alphabet,420 according to their numerical power, and in them are secret virtues which none knoweth save Allah (extolled and exalted be He!) and the stablished in science."
"To this I may add that the French translators have sadly corrupted the words which should be Abjad, Hawwaz, Hutti, Kalaman, Sa'fas, and Karashat; whilst Sakhiz and Zuzigh are not found in the Hebrew and cognate dialects."
"[EN#62] El-Abjad, the oldest existing form of the Arabic alphabet; to judge from its being identical with the Hebrew."
"Abjad Alphabet which contains only the Hebrew and Syriac letters not the six Arabic."
"Pixxiplamtu is a Porbeagle which is very close to a Great White which in turn is called Kelb il-Bahar Abjad."
"Abjad (ابجد) style or showed your list with Arabic numbers (on an Arabic website) instead of English?"
"In the Indian subcontinent the Abjad numerals became quite popular."
'Abjad' hasn't been added to any lists yet.
Looking for tweets for Abjad.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


existence but can assume control of that existence, directing it toward certain purposes (cf., Smith, 1978).
 Definition of person
 1. Materiality and Texture The second methodological departure point is that. classifications and standards are material, as well as symbolic.
 Another way to make infrastructures visible is to envision their physical presence (materiality) and texture (experience).
 Metaphors play an important role here.
 5. Sep 2018
 1. It would be futile to try to separate out materially works from texts.
 Ooh--I've got this sentence! Read Why Zines Matter: Materiality and the Creation of Embodied Community _URL_ If you don't have access to the FT hmu.
 6. Aug 2018
 Downloaded Chandler paper. Cites Meier quite a bit.
 7. Jul 2018
 1. The creation of time to human design m an atemporal, decontextualized form, as outlined in chapter 5, was a necessary techno-material condition for the use of time by industrial societies as an abstract exchange value and for the acceleration, control and global imposition of time.
 Time as a techno-material condition. Tie this back to Miller (2015) on materiality?
 Definition of plastic time.
 8. Mar 2017
 9. Feb 2017
 1. Douglass's complex rhetorical stance opened new possibilities for rhetoric in the Western cultural tradition.
 10. Jan 2017
 1. Paleo
 11. Dec 2016
 12. May 2015
 1. Even though many of the approaches in question charac terize themselves as materialisms, matter can only enter in indirecdy: as mediated. Maner, movement, body, sensation.
 Succinct take on why we needed a "new materialism" to differentiate from this historical materialism (rooted in cultural studies rooted in marxist thought).


text: This article explores the impact of the tonsillectomy operation using a large data base and several different approaches. The likely range of effects of the surgery and various threats to validity are studied from a quasi-experimental perspective. Information on possible patient self-selection for tonsil surgery is provided. Selection is dealt with from another viewpoint by comparing the outcomes of patients under the care of physicians having a "high propensity to operate" with those going to physicians who tend to operate less. Finally, a computer simulation studies the extent to which the measured results of tonsil surgery might be explained by particular selection mechanisms working in conjunction with random processes of episode generation. The "savings" in respiratory episodes estimated by the various approaches ranges from 0.1 episodes to approximately 0.8 episode for the year following surgery.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Piscivorous Birds
Piscivorous Birds
Piscivorous birds are birds that eat fish (pisces = fish, vorous = eating). These avian predators have an affect on the survival of juvenile salmon and steelhead that are migrating downstream past our dams. Avian predators found along our reservoirs include mergansers, double-crested cormorants, great blue herons, gulls, terns, loons, and grebes.
Chelan PUD conducts surveys along reservoirs to determine distribution and abundance of avian predators. These surveys help Chelan PUD manage bird habitat and behaviors in order to reduce predation on juvenile salmonids passing through our reservoirs and to minimize impacts on the birds.
Avian Predator Management
Piling caps have been installed on dock pilings at PUD-owned parks along Rocky Reach and Rock Island reservoirs. The piling caps prevent gulls and other birds from perching and using the pilings to prey on fish. Elimination of perch sites on pilings also forces gulls to use other areas at parks where they are more exposed to disturbances, making this portion of the river less attractive to gulls.
Grids of bird wires are installed over the tailraces (immediately downstream) of both Rock Island and Rocky Reach dams. The wires greatly discourage gulls and terns from flying in the tailrace of the dams to prey on fish. The wires force birds to utilize downstream areas for foraging. Fish are less susceptible to being preyed upon by birds in downstream areas were the river is calmer and the fish are able to swim at greater depths.
Hazing of the birds by using pyrotechnics (noise makers) such as propane cannons, bird screamers, and bangers also helps to keep piscivorous birds away from the tailraces of the dams where juvenile salmonids are most vulnerable to predation.
Piling caps remove perches for avian predators, reducing man-made advantages to preying upon smolt. Piling caps prevent birds from perching and using pilings to prey on salmon.


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What's new in Excel 2019: New charts and enhanced visuals
Liam Bastick has done some digging to see what is new in Office 2019. This week, he looks at the new charts and visuals of the new version of Excel.
You can create a map chart to compare values and show categories across geographical regions. This may be used when you have geographical regions in your data, like countries/regions, states, counties or postal codes.
Content seriesView full content series
Funnel charts show values across multiple stages in a process. For example, you could use a funnel chart to show the number of sales prospects at each stage in a sales pipeline. Typically, the values decrease gradually, allowing the bars to resemble a funnel.
You can now insert what are known as Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) files into not just Excel but any of your Microsoft Office documents, workbooks, emails and presentations. Once they're in place, they are easy to rotate, colour, filter and resize with no loss of image quality. To insert:
- Insert an SVG file in Office for Windows: simply drag and drop the file from Windows File Explorer into your document
- Insert an SVG file in Office for Mac: Go to Insert > Pictures > Picture from file to insert your SVG images.
Further, you may transform all SVG pictures and icons into Office shapes so you can change their colour, size or texture:
You can insert 3D models into your Excel files much the same way as other images. On the 'Insert' tab of the Ribbon, select 3D 'Models' and then 'From a File':
You can use 3D to increase the visual and creative impact of your, so that images may be rotated through 360 degrees.
Industry insightsView more
I can't say I use these features much in financial modelling, but some of you out there may. Inking features were initially introduced in Office 2016, but there have been improvements made in the 2019 counterpart:
- New ink effects: you can now express your ideas using metallic pens and ink effects like rainbow, galaxy, lava, ocean, gold, silver and more.
- Digital Pencil: you may write or sketch out ideas with the new pencil texture.
- Customisable, portable pen set: It's now possible to create a personal set of pens to suit your needs. Office remembers your pen set in Word, Excel and PowerPoint across all of your Windows devices.
- Ink equations: including mathematical equations is now easier – simply go to Insert > Equation > Ink Equation, any time you want to include a complex maths equation in your workbook. If you have a touch device, you can use your finger or a touch stylus to write math equations by hand and Excel will convert it to text. (If you don't have a touch device, you can use a mouse to write, too.) You may also erase, select and correct what you've written as you go.
Note to Microsoft: it's "Maths"…
- New Ink Replay button: if you are using ink in your spreadsheets, you can now replay or rewind your ink to better understand the flow of it. This offers an alternative to GIF images to provide get step-by-step instructions. You'll find 'Ink Replay' on the 'Draw' tab.
- Lasso Select at your fingertips: Excel now has Lasso Select, a free-form tool for selecting ink. Drag with the tool to select a particular area of an ink drawing, and then you can manipulate that object as you wish.
- Convert ink drawing to shapes: the 'Draw' tab lets you select inking styles and start making ink annotations on your touch-enabled device. You may also convert those ink annotations to shapes. Just select them and then select 'Convert to Shapes'. That way, you get the freedom of freeform drawing with the uniformity and standardisation of Office graphic shapes.
- Use your Surface pen to select and change objects: Well that assumes you have a Surface! In Excel, with a Surface pen, you can select an area without even tapping the selection tool on the Ribbon. Just press the barrel button on the pen and draw with the pen to make a selection. Then you can use the pen to move, resize or rotate the ink object.
Recognised by Microsoft as one of 104 Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) in Excel worldwide by Microsoft, Liam has over 30 years' experience in financial model development/auditing, valuations, M&A, strategy, training and consultancy. He has headed Ernst & Young's modelling team in Melbourne and was an Assistant Director in their...


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Section I: Chapter Activities
If you enjoy learning about and discovering history and being around young people, then working with a Junior Historian chapter will be an experience you will cherish. If you get excited about holding in your hand an artifact that was once held by George Washington or Sam Houston and want others to share that same passion, then being a JH sponsor is for you. If talking with someone who has experienced firsthand the anguish of war, the triumph of new found freedom or being the first to encounter something that changes all of our lives excites you, then this organization is where you belong. Those experiences and the desire to share them with others is what have united both sponsors and students in the Junior Historian program since 1939.
There are several things to consider when deciding how to get involved. How comfortable do you feel handling and organizing activities for a group of young people, how much time do you have to allocate, and how do you see a history-minded organization for young people fitting into your community? Your answers to these questions can help guide you to getting started. Anyone who feels very comfortable with organizing a group of young people might start by organizing some sort of social kick-off event for a few hundred students and attracting a large group of initial members, while others may feel more comfortable starting with six to ten members and building from there. Regardless of the size of the group, retention will be based on the perception by the members that the activities of the chapter are fun and worthwhile. Time is a finite item, and there is only so much of it that anyone has to allocate to his or her needs and desires. The amount of time you have available can impact your decision about how large or small to start and how active a chapter will be. Once the chapter is actively engaged, you will always wish you had more time for it. In order to choose the best structure for your community, you might consider the following models that could be used for a Junior Historian chapter:
School History Club Model - This is the most common approach with the potential to provide an easily accessible experience to a wide number of students on a completely voluntary basis. Benefits: appeals to a wide variety of student interests, can fulfill a variety of roles on a campus, attracts students across grade levels, provides an opportunity to build relationships outside the classroom, and offers easy access for all students. Difficulties: meetings are usually after/before school, which can cause limitations on activities and participation, and due to extracurricular nature, some costs such as transportation or supplies may or may not be covered by school administration.
Classroom Model – Over the years, this model has been used by several sponsors whose students are all part of their chapter for the year. Suggested activities are then incorporated as lessons and curricular tools for teaching the assigned content. This model can be quite effective when there are multiple chapters on one campus. Benefits: allows more time for students to participate in the suggested activities, can be implemented to varying degrees, is well suited for focusing on local resources and issues, and builds a cohesive history experience for the student when available at multiple grade levels. Difficulties: costs may or may not be covered by school administration, requires multiple teachers to participate to build multi-level program, and may conflict with rigid curriculum plans that require specific lessons and activities in specific timeframes.
Community Youth History Club Model - This model is very similar to the School Club model in that it is more open and accessible and is usually sponsored by a local museum, historical society or group interested in history. Benefits: open to a variety of students, not limited to one campus, may have more freedom with regard to travel and activities, and access to materials for research. Difficulties: access to young people for recruiting, transportation, and funding/costs.
Regardless of the model you choose, here are a few tips for getting started:
- Follow the steps below.
- Don't be afraid to start small; if the young people see the value of what they are doing, it will grow.
- Get started as early in the school year as possible.
- Choose your activities, trips, etc., carefully so that you start with a bang and end with one; this will help with member retention.
- Be active and visible on campus to attract members.
- NEVER underestimate who will be interested in history; often many students who struggle in the classroom due to learning disabilities will excel in Junior Historians.
- Be prepared for immense joy and a few tears as you build this extended connection with your chapter.
The following steps are recommended in forming a Junior Historian chapter:
- Administrative Approval. The chapters function as educational adjuncts to the regular instructional program and should have administrative approval and support. Come with a plan and justification. Find out what level of financial support (transportation, admission fees and, supplies) you can expect. Discuss meeting times, time out of classes for research or meetings, and opportunities for students to contribute to the campus environment. The vast learning potential of the chapter experience is the program's greatest selling point.
- Select a Sponsor. The chapter sponsor is generally a teacher or instructor. Social studies, Texas history, and American history teachers comprise the majority of chapter sponsors; however, librarians, English teachers, special education, science teachers, social studies supervisors, and lay persons with the school administration's approval have developed some outstanding organizations. In fact, anyone who is willing to accept the responsibility may sponsor a chapter.
- Select a Cosponsor. The cosponsor may be either a teacher (some chapters have several cosponsors, all teachers) or a lay person interested in community history. The cosponsor is a key person in the chapter organization as he or she performs many support services--planning meetings, planning student projects, arranging field trips, contacting speakers and resource people, etc.
- Membership. There is no minimum number of students required to organize a Junior Historian chapter. Numbers and selection varies. In some schools chapter membership is a composite of both junior and senior high school students; in others it is limited to a single grade, a single class, or a combination of grades and/or classes. The organization and administration of the chapter is left to the discretion of the individual sponsor and should be structured to serve best each local situation.
- Organization. Organization creates the machinery for chapter activity, defines objectives, states how they will be achieved, identifies who will share the responsibilities, and cites terminal dates when the objectives will be completed.
The first chapter meeting should initiate the organizational process and should be well planned in advance with a printed agenda duplicated for distribution to everyone present. Announcements on the school bulletin board, on the public address system, and in the school newspaper will help assure good attendance. The sponsor should preside at the first meeting, or until a temporary student chairman is selected. The election of permanent officers should be postponed until all members are thoroughly familiar with the purposes of the organization. This also allows time for the members to become better acquainted, as the informed nomination and election of officers is one key to chapter success. The number and type of student officers is left to the discretion of each chapter; however, only functional positions should be designated. Non-functional officers, existing in name only, tend to destroy chapter purpose.
- Constitution. Many chapters adopt a constitution which defines specific objectives and outlines general operational procedures of the organization. A sample constitution follows; however, this should be adapted to meet the needs and requirements of each local organization. At the first or second chapter meeting a constitutional committee (see Committees below) may be appointed to draft a document for chapter consideration and approval.
- Chapter Meetings. Well planned and regularly scheduled meetings are essential for chapter success. Nothing destroys student morale quicker than a pointless meeting, called for no particular purpose, where time is consumed with undirected chatter, and ends with nothing accomplished.
Time and location of all regular chapter meetings should be announced early in the school year and should be included on the first meeting agenda. A copy of the chapter's annual calendar in the hands of each chapter member helps minimize meeting absenteeism.
Meeting time, frequency, location, and the types of programs planned, vary from chapter to chapter. Some chapters hold weekly, semimonthly, and monthly meetings, and meet before or after school, at activity periods, during history class, at night, or on weekends. Meetings are held at schools, churches, community centers, on local college and university campuses (with Webb Society co-sponsorship), bank auditoriums, public libraries, courthouses, youth centers, or at the homes of chapter members, sponsors, and cosponsors. Some chapters hold all meetings at the same location while others rotate meeting sites.
- Committees. Committees (assuming they are functional) assure an equal sharing of chapter responsibilities, simplify the sponsor's administrative role, define specific duties, and increase the opportunities for individual leadership and responsibility among chapter members. Committees fall into two categories: 1) standing committees; and 2) special committees. Standing committees might include the program committee, the field trip committee, the museum committee, the publicity committee, etc. Special committees should be formed to develop chapter projects and activities (see Section I, Units 2 & 3) as these objectives are defined by the executive committee. The executive committee, composed of chapter officers and standing committee chairman, functions as the chapter's top policy making body. Of course, the number and types of committees will vary, according to chapter size and the number and variety of active projects.
- Chapter Dues. Some chapters assess either monthly or annual dues. This is a local matter as no dues are sent to the state office.
- Charter. Once a chapter has established a constitution and elected officers, it is now ready to request its charter. If a chapter has existed previously at that school or organization, the original charter number will be re-issued. The Texas State


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Think about the limitless potentialities of creativity for musicians and content material creators after they can generate audio and music from easy textual content. Meta's new launch, AudioCraft, heralds a promising future the place high-quality sound would not require complicated tools or perhaps a musical instrument. This groundbreaking AI software consists of three fashions: MusicGen, AudioGen, and EnCodec, every designed to make sound creation accessible and modern. Under, we'll dive into the options and potentials that make AudioCraft a game-changer.
Making Music and Sound Creation Easy
With AudioCraft, Meta goals to democratize audio and music technology. The software's three fashions every serve a singular function:
- MusicGen: Using Meta-owned and particularly licensed music, this mannequin interprets textual content prompts into music. Just a few traces of textual content can now develop into a musical composition.
- AudioGen: Educated on public sound results, AudioGen creates practical audio similar to a canine's bark or footsteps on a picket ground from textual content.
- EnCodec: The newest enchancment on this decoder allows higher-quality music technology with fewer artifacts.
Collectively, these fashions provide creators the pliability to discover new compositions, add soundtracks to movies, and create a sonic panorama that beforehand required intricate technical know-how.
Opening Doorways to Innovation
In a transfer that encourages experimentation and development throughout the AI neighborhood, Meta is open-sourcing the AudioCraft fashions. Researchers and practitioners can now practice their fashions utilizing their datasets, advancing AI-generated audio and music. This open-source method may foster collaboration and result in new discoveries and improvements within the area.
Whereas AI has been instrumental in producing photos, video, and textual content, audio has considerably lagged behind. The complexity of producing high-fidelity audio has saved it out of attain for a lot of. AudioCraft goals to bridge this hole by simplifying the design of generative fashions for audio.
Music is commonly thought of probably the most difficult sort of audio to generate, however AudioCraft's household of fashions makes it look straightforward. These fashions preserve long-term consistency whereas producing high-quality audio. Furthermore, due to the benefit of constructing on and reusing AudioCraft, builders aiming to create higher sound turbines or music turbines can work throughout the similar codebase and improve what others have finished.
A New Period of Sound Design
The implications of AudioCraft prolong past mere comfort. The software has the potential to redefine the way in which we create and take heed to audio and music. Simply as synthesizers opened up new musical realms, MusicGen may develop into a brand new form of instrument. Musicians and sound designers can use AudioCraft as a supply of inspiration, rapidly iterating on compositions in modern methods.
The thrill surrounding AudioCraft isn't simply in regards to the know-how; it's in regards to the potential for creativity and collaboration that it unlocks. By giving everybody entry to high-quality sound and music technology, Meta will not be solely advancing the sphere of AI-generated audio however empowering a brand new wave of creators.
AudioCraft represents a big stride within the integration of AI within the audio trade. With its versatile fashions and open-source availability, it affords a platform for unprecedented creativity and innovation. From skilled musicians to small enterprise homeowners, AudioCraft's promise to simplify and enrich sound creation is a resonant notice within the ever-evolving symphony of technological development. We eagerly await the compositions, sounds, and experiences that creators will craft with AudioCraft.


Natalia Rocon
Published in December 12, 2020
Natural Thermogenics
Thermogenics are known to aid in weight loss. This is the main reason why a lot of companies manufacture thermogenic supplements.
Weight Loss
PhenQ Review
PhenGold Review
By Natalia Rocon
Millions of men and women from all around the globe aim to lose weight and be more attractive. However, many experts disagree with the effects of these supplements. According to them, these supplements contain ingredients that may possibly be life-threatening.
If you want to lose weight safely and healthily, you should choose natural thermogenic. There is actually plenty of thermogenic or heat-generating food that is low in calories yet effective in increasing metabolism. These food require substantial energy to digest which is why they are effective for weight loss. You can actually incorporate them into your diet. You can use them as ingredients for cooking, dips, salads, etc.
Broccoli is a vegetable that is low in calories yet packed with fiber and calcium. It is also a thermogenic food since it requires substantial energy to digest. You can include broccoli in casseroles. You can also eat it raw or stir-fried. Grapefruit is another natural thermogenic. Just like broccoli, it is also low in calories. Nonetheless, grapefruit is also low in sugar, and it can effectively dissolve cholesterol and fat.
Hot peppers are popular spices. They are known for their thermal effect on the body. Eating cayenne and other hot peppers can instantly raise your body temperature, making them effective thermogenic. If you want to increase your metabolism, you should incorporate cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and other spices into your diet. Just make sure that you consume them in moderation.
Other thermogenic fruits include apples and lemons.
Apples are low in calories yet high in fiber. They also contain natural sugars. Eating apples with their skins still on can help burn calories and cleanse your digestive system at the same time. If you do not have whole apples, you can take pure applesauce as a substitute. Lemons, on the other hand, are similar to grapefruits. They contain natural acids that speed up metabolism.
Lemons are also low in calories and high in vitamin C.
You can add drops of lemon juice to your water or tea. You can also incorporate lemon in some of your recipes. Anyway, you can also consume cabbage and celery. Both are thermogenic vegetables. Celery is high in fiber and low in calories. Cabbage is beneficial to the digestive system. It can also lower the risk of colon cancer. You can eat it raw or steamed. It is great in coleslaw and salads.
Aside from thermogenic fruits and vegetables, you can also consume thermogenic herbs.
Green tea, for instance, is very popular all over the world. It is known for its numerous health properties including weight loss. If you want to lose weight safely, effectively, and naturally, you should drink green tea.
It will boost your metabolism without increasing your heart rate. Its powerful antioxidants will also greatly benefit your body. Mustard seed is another thermogenic herb you can try. According to a study at Oxford Polytechnic Institute, the mustard seed can increase metabolism by as much as twenty-five percent.
PhenQ Fat Burner Reviews
Crazy Bulk Reviews
Trimtone Reviews
PhenGold Reviews


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Skip to content.
Updated at 8:50 am on 26 October 2011
Archaeologists have discovered the wreck of a ship that was part of a fleet sent to invade Japan by the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan, more than 700 years ago.
The wooden ship was found off the southern island of Kyushu, a metre under the seabed.
The hull, which is almost complete, and the keel are the most intact remains of a Mongol wreck found in Japanese waters.
Archaeologists say it was part of an invasion fleet carrying 140,000 Mongol soldiers in 1281.
Researchers from the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa used ultrasonic equipment to detect the remains of the ship.
The wood on the hull was painted whitish grey and held together by nails. Bricks, weapons and other instruments were found on board.
The BBC reports the Japanese have always attributed their victory to storms that wrecked the Mongol fleets during two attempted invasions in 1274 and 1281.
They concluded that Japan was protected from invasion by a divine wind, (Kamikaze), which was invoked in World War II to inspire pilots to launch suicide attacks on allied ships.
Copyright © 2011, Radio New Zealand
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Empire Waists, Bustles and Lace is an exciting exhibition of the Museum's collection of historic dresses. When viewed in conjunction with the John Singer Sargent exhibition, the show enables visitors to see and experience a broader historical context of men's and women's fashion. Even though upstate New York was considered the edge of the western frontier in the 19th century, residents of the area kept up with New York City and the world in terms of fashion. The exhibition includes the oldest known example of a dress with a label, stunning examples of Empire, Romantic and Civil War era dresses and turn-of-the-20th century (Sargent era) items. Additionally, visitors will be able to peek at what was worn underneath the dresses which were vital to giving them their distinctive shapes.
Supported in part by The Coby Foundation.


text:
MEPS 282:73-85 (2004) - doi:10.3354/meps282073
Seasonal and spatial variation of species toxicity in Mediterranean seaweed communities: correlation to biotic and abiotic factors
Ruth Martí1,*, Maria J. Uriz1, Xavier Turon2
ABSTRACT: The toxicity of crude extracts of 32 seaweed species from the western Mediterranean was analysed by Microtox® assay in spring and autumn of 1996 and 1997. The species analysed represented more than 76% of seaweed coverage in the 3 algal communities studied: photophilic and sciaphilic communities from the Cabrera Archipelago (Balearic Islands), and a hemisciaphilic community from the Medes Archipelago (northeastern Iberian Peninsula). Most species showed seasonal variation of toxicity, which was greater in species from Cabrera than in those from Medes. Both, intra and interspecies variation of toxicity were found. Moreover, comparison of mean toxicity of these communities showed that toxicity was higher in November than in June in all cases, and that the photophilic community had both the highest number and the most toxic species. To make an ecologically relevant interpretation of the toxicity detected by Microtox®, we compared the toxicity of extracts analysed by the Microtox® test and those analysed by the commonly used sea urchin embryo assay. In addition to seaweeds, some species of invertebrates (sponges and ascidians) were compared to ascertain whether the relationship between the 2 tests was applicable to species belonging to different phyla. These comparisons allowed us to establish that 0.5 gamma units in Microtox® assay is the threshold value between toxic and non-toxic species. Following a light gradient from the photophilic to the sciaphilic communities, the seaweed species that were occasionally toxic increased while the always-toxic seaweeds decreased. Rhodophyta and Phaeophyta had a higher percentage of toxic species than Chlorophyta. Non-encrusting seaweed forms were more toxic than the encrusting ones, and in contrast to most other seaweeds, the non-encrusting calcareous species that increased coverage from June to November simultaneously displayed a marked decrease in toxicity. We conclude that the temporal variation of toxicity observed in the seaweeds studied may be partially explained by intrinsic factors of the species (growth rates and growth shapes).
KEY WORDS: Natural toxicity · Seaweed · Seasonal variation · Spatial variation · Microtox® assay · Sea urchin assay · Mediterranean Sea · Growth shapes
|Full text in pdf format|


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Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Is there a wearable Internet device in your future
MIT Media Lab's Fluid Interfaces Group showcased a wearable computing system that allows users to display and interact with the Web on any surface - including the human body. This development blurs the distinction between the machine and the interface. ReadWriteWeb. For a really amazing video of how this works see LDS Media Talk. The video below shows the system's main developer taking photographs with his hands, calling up Amazon review data onto the cover of a physical book, displaying information about a person he's just met on the person's t-shirt, and calling someone by inputting a phone number onto the palm of his hand.
No matter how far you think technology has come, there is always some new amazing thing that seems to change the way we think about using information. Given the amount of information I now use through my iPhone, I can imagine how much more information would be available through this kind of system. Just think of the possibilities.
To see more of these ideas go to the TED Ideas worth spreading Website.


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|Dodgson, Jerry - MSU EAST LANSING MI|
|Burnside, Joan - UNIV DELAWARE NEWARK, DE|
Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: August 20, 2000
Publication Date: N/A
Interpretive Summary: With the rapid advance in genomics, the field of whole genome genetics, it has become possible to identify chromosomal segments and/or genes that control complex traits such as disease. This paper describes the latest scientific techniques to identify disease resistance genes in chickens. Particular emphasis is placed on how the emphasis will shift from identifying genes to identifying gene function and biological pathways. The role of transgenic animals is also discussed. The ultimate goal is to incorporate this information for the enhancement of genetic improvement in animal breeding programs. Successful implementation will benefit the poultry industry through many efficient selections for disease resistance, reduced animal mortality and increased production. These benefits will be passed on to consumers in the form of more economical and safe poultry food products.
Technical Abstract: Integration of molecular genetic analysis of resistance traits into classical breeding programs will be difficult, though financially attractive, due to the unique features of diseaserelated quantitative trait loci (QTL). Research with chickens has provided some of the best examples of major genes which influence disease resistance, including the tva, tvb, and tvc loci, the major histocompatibility complex (B-complex), and recent studies of the NRAMP1 gene. The major challenge to the molecular geneticist now is to identify the genes encoding the many other disease resistance QTL alleles of interest, especially those which might segregate in commercial populations. New technologies based on full genome DNA sequence analysis, microarrays, comparative genome maps, high throughput single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assays, and proteomics can provide the extra information that is critical in narrowing the list of possible candidate genes. Perhaps the greatest challenge will be to verify the identity of the causative QTL alleles, for example, using transgenic animals.


EXTREME LED: It was exactly what we hoped for, super!
De Römer V.O.F. is a goat farm that milks 3000 goats at its main site. The animals used for breeding are housed on another site. "Our management system consists of a cycle that is repeated three times a year. That means that we mate and inseminate a number of our does three times a year so every four months we have a cycle when kids are born." explains Jasmijn Strous, farm manager at De Römer V.O.F.
 Goats are seasonal breeders; a correct light climate is essential for optimal production and animal welfare.
BEFORE: In the old situation there was not enough difference between the hours of light and darkness. The general lux levels were structurally low.
The natural rutting season for bucks depends on the time of year; they are seasonal breeders. This means they only start to exhibit rutting behaviour as the days get shorter in autumn.
"Our management system is therefore not always synchronised with the animals' natural cycle. So if we want to mate the does 'out of season' we have to 'trick' the males into believing it is autumn so they can start rutting. We do this by adjusting the number of hours of light and darkness in the barn." explains Jasmijn.
AFTER: Creating a light pattern that replicates the season. Stimulate a fertile period with the help of lighting.
 "Their perception of light is very important for our goats. We have been working towards optimising the fertility of our animals and came up against the light intensity in our barn. We thought there wasn't enough clear difference between the lux levels in the light and dark hours.
We started investigating new lighting systems in our barn for the bucks and found HATO Agricultural Lighting. HATO informed us about their lamps that replicate daylight lux levels, exactly what we wanted to create in our barns. We received a light plan that promised that all the animals would experience 200 lux throughout the building. In the end we were advised to install EXTREME LED to create the ideal light distribution pattern."
AFTER: After we received a light plan we decided to opt for lighting from HATO Agricultural Lighting
"This light plan has optimised the lighting pattern in the barn and we are extremely satisfied with the results; a huge improvement in how our goats experience light; ideal for us and our animals. The bucks are showing a lot of rutting behaviour, which was exactly what we hoped for. Another bonus is that we can clean the lamps with a high-pressure cleaner without having to worry."
We love to receive this kind of feedback; all your stories are welcome! Would you like to share your experiences with our HATO lighting with us? Please contact our sales department; we look forward to hearing what you have to say.
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Question: How Do I Hide My Location On IPhone?
Can you fake your location on iPhone?
Setting up your phone to use fake GPS only affects your location..
Does iPhone notify when you stop sharing location?
You can revoke sharing at any time or temporarily hide your location. Sharing your location does not notify the person, but it will show up in your message history.
Can someone track my phone without me knowing?
What happens when you turn off location services on iPhone?
Turn Location Services on or off You can individually control which apps and system services have access to Location Services data. When Location Services are off, apps can't use your location in the foreground or background. This will limit the performance of various Apple and third-party apps.
Can cell phones be tracked if they are turned off?
How can I prevent my phone from being tracked?
How does Google knows my location?
Google uses BSSID information from your WLAN Access Point to get an approximation of where you are located, even with GPS and WiFi turned off. … In your case, your AP is sending beacons advertising its BSSID, and because it is already in Google's database, Google Maps knows where you are based on the location of that AP.
Why is someone's location not available?
Here are the possible reasons that could cause this error: Your friend's device has an inaccurate date. The other device isn't connected to a network, or it's off. Hide My Location feature is active on your friend's iPhone.
Why is someone's location not updating?
There are several conditions that could cause a family member's location to stop updating. If their battery is low and their phone is in low power mode, the app will stop updating their location. … The same holds true if they're in an area where their phone can't access the internet.
How do I hide my location on my iPhone without them knowing?
If you want to hide your location from Find My Friends and iMessage without using another device or turning off location sharing with someone you can turn it completely off. With this option, you become invisible to friends and family, and they do not get any kind of alert that you stopped sharing a location.
How do I hide my location?
If you want to stay secure and hide your location on the internet, here are some things you can do.Use a proxy to hide your location. Look around and you'll find several free proxies. … Use a VPN to hide your location. A VPN, in addition to changing your location, also encrypts your traffic. … Use Tor to hide your location.
Can you tell when someone checks your location?
Can someone tell if I check their location on iPhone Imessage?
The only people and apps that have the ability to check your location are the ones you've specifically given permission for them to do so. No, your device doesn't tell you when people are checking because that would be really annoying.
Does a VPN hide your phone location?
Is there a way to stop sharing location without notifying the person?
You can also turn off "Share My Location" globally in the iCloud settings on the phone. … You can also turn off "Share My Location" globally in the iCloud settings on the phone. Clearly if your phone is off or out of coverage it also won't report location.
How do you know if someone turned off their location?
If a Circle Member has logged out or turned off location services in their phone settings, you will see that they have lost connection, showing a message such as 'Location/GPS turned off', 'No network or phone off', or 'GPS off' and may have a red exclamation '!' mark by their name.
Will airplane mode Turn off my location?
If the phone is in airplane mode (regardless of the GPS or other location determination method setting), it acts like it is powered off, cannot communicate with the cellular system, and cannot be located by the cellular systems.
Should location services be on or off?
Our recommendation is to use High accuracy mode when you need location services unless you see a significant loss in battery life. And remember, you can always turn location services Off if you would rather not let apps know where you are, but the apps may not work correctly.


text:
July 8, 2012 Humans have known for centuries that copper is a potent weapon against infection. New research shows that the bacteria that cause serious urinary tract infections "know" this, too, and steal copper to prevent the metal from being used against them.
Blocking this thievery with a drug may significantly improve patients' chances of fighting off infections, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings appear online July 8 in Nature Chemical Biology.
In the United States alone, annual treatment costs for urinary tract infections are estimated to run as high as $1.6 billion. Most urinary tract infections are caused by Escherichia coli (E. coli).
"While some patients are able to clear these infections without issue, in others the infection persists or recurs despite antibiotic therapy," says senior author Jeff Henderson, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine and of molecular microbiology. "In some cases, the infection spreads to the kidney or the blood and becomes life-threatening. We've been investigating what's different about the bacteria that cause these more troublesome infections."
Scientists have known for years that E. coli makes a molecule called yersiniabactin that takes iron from host cells. The bacteria need the iron to grow and reproduce. In earlier research, Henderson found that the E. coli that cause serious infections are more likely to make yersiniabactin. This finding and the fact that E. coli already produce another molecule that steals iron led Henderson and Kaveri Chaturvedi, a student in his laboratory, to suspect that the bacterium might be using yersiniabactin for other purposes.
To test the theory, the researchers put yersiniabactin in urine samples from healthy patients. They found the molecule bound iron as expected but also picked up copper. Next, they conducted the same analysis in samples from patients with urinary tract infections who were treated at the University of Washington in Seattle.
"We found copper bound to yersiniabactin in nearly every patient whose bacteria made the molecule," Henderson says. "Yersiniabactin was often bound to copper more than it was to iron."
When researchers put E. coli in the same test tube with copper, the bacteria that made yersiniabactin were more likely to survive.
Copper's microbe-fighting properties were recognized long before scientists had described the microbes that cause infection. Ancient Greeks and Egyptians knew that treating wounds with copper improved the healing process.
Modern researchers have two explanations for copper's anti-microbial effects: the metal can stimulate production of other chemically reactive molecules that damage bacteria; and it is also directly toxic to the bacteria.
Henderson, who treats patients with urinary tract infections at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, is currently studying whether the presence or absence of yersiniabactin can help physicians assess an infection's chances of becoming more serious.
He and his colleagues are also looking at other disease-causing bacteria that make yersiniabactin to see if they use it in a fashion similar to the E. coli that cause urinary tract infections.
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Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
- Kaveri S Chaturvedi, Chia S Hung, Jan R Crowley, Ann E Stapleton, Jeffrey P Henderson. The siderophore yersiniabactin binds copper to protect pathogens during infection. Nature Chemical Biology, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.1020
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.


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BACKGROUND: Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) with autologous iliac bone graft and plating has been a standard surgical method for single-level cervical disc disease. The stand-alone cage was introduced to reduce graft-related morbidity. However, problems due to focal kyphosis at the operated level have been on the rise. It has been difficult to derive a conclusive answer from previous studies for the indications of each method.
OBJECTIVE: An interim analysis of a prospective randomized study was performed to compare the sagittal alignment between a stand-alone cage (ACDF cage) and autologous iliac bone graft and plating (ACDF plate).
METHODS: Twenty-nine patients were allocated to the ACDF-cage group (M:F = 17:12) and 23 to the ACDF-plate group (M:F = 14:9). Cobb angles at the operated segment (segmental angle, SA; lordosis vs kyphosis) were compared at postoperative 12 months and the other confounding factors were explored.
RESULTS: Demographic features were not different between groups. The fusion method significantly affected segmental alignment at 12 months (P =.03; odds ratio, 5.52). Preoperatively, the SA was not different between the groups (P =.18) and was similar (P =.22) immediately following the operation. However, the SA was significantly more lordotic (P <.05) in the ACDF-plate group at postoperative 12 months in comparison with the ACDF-cage group. There was no other significant risk factor for segmental kyphosis.
CONCLUSION: The stand-alone cage and autologous bone graft with plating had similar clinical outcomes, but stand-alone cage fusion may be disadvantageous from a radiological viewpoint.
ABBREVIATIONS: ACDF, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion
CA, cervical angle
NDI, neck disability index
SA, segmental angle
VAS, visual analog scale


text:
Duration: 2 Hours
Credits: 2 PDU's/CDU's
This two-hour webcast gets right to the point and covers the essential steps of a practical process for writing business use cases. It is all based on industry best practices and employs IAG's proven experience and techniques for practical requirements definition. This webinar will explain what Business Use Cases are and how to document them. Using the business case of an innovative iPhone application, the course will follow a simple seven-step process for writing Use Cases as well as provide strategies for dealing with the common challenges of defining them. Participants will learn use-case documentation and modeling techniques using standard templates, worksheets and checklists. It will provide Project Managers and Business Analysts with a clear understanding of what they need to know, and what they need to do, to easily identify and write the use cases they need for their next project.
1. Business Use Cases and Business Requirements
2. Use Cases, the Application Life Cycle, and the Project Management Process
3. The Components of a Use Case
4. The Different Forms of Use Cases
5. The Seven Steps to Writing a Business Use Case
6. Detailed Use Case Modeling
7. Tips for Eliciting Use Cases
8. Use Cases and Business Rules
9. Use Cases and User Stories in an Agile Approach
10. Next Steps – What do you do when you're done?


Farm Progress is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC
Serving: United States
Lawsuits filed over USDA's 'socially disadvantaged farmer' benefits
Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller
Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller.
Lawsuit participants believe they are being excluded from government benefits based on race.
"Socially disadvantaged" ancestry is necessary to qualify one as a member of a socially disadvantaged group, and as such, to qualify for certain government programs. But what does that really mean, especially for U.S. farmers? Plessy, of Plessy v Ferguson case in 1896 in the U.S. Supreme Court was 1/8th black but was considered black by the Louisiana government. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was recognized as native American by the Harvard Law School, but it was found she had less than 1% or 99.9 non-Indian native American blood.
These facts are coming out due to a new class action federal complaint filed on April 26, 2021 by Sid Miller, on behalf of himself and others (Miller claims to be at least 2% African American). Miller's complaint claims to represent a class of all farmers and ranchers in the U.S. who are excluded from USDA's interpretation of what is a "socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher." (The suit was later joined by a group of midwestern farmers).
Miller also happens to be the Texas Commissioner of Agriculture and is standing up for farmers and ranchers who believe they are being excluded from government benefits based on race. He is one of the few elected officials with a backbone to represent farmers and ranchers when no other elected official will stand up for farmers and ranchers. (You might check your own congressman or representative to see whether or not they are attempting to stop racial exclusions or discriminatory racial preferences at USDA.)
Related: The Biden administration's distribution of stimulus funds earmarked for "socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers" illegally discriminates against White people, according to a lawsuit filed by a new legal group, Anerica First Legal, which has ties to former President Donald Trump.
'Dangerously backward'
"America First Legal opposes discrimination in all forms. We hold fast to the immortal words of Martin Luther King Jr. that Americans'should not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.' These soul-stirring words are now inscribed onto the heart of every American. And they flow directly from the Declaration of Independence's recognition that all men are created equal. And they are embodied by AFL's founding charter," said America First Legal President Stephen Miller, a senior policy adviser for former President Donald Trump, in a media statement. "MLK's vision is fundamental to our democracy, in which all citizens are equal both in front of the law and in the eyes of their Creator. For this reason, AFL is filing a lawsuit today against the Biden Administration to prevent it from administering programs created under the American Rescue Plan Act that discriminate against American farmers and ranchers based upon the basis of race."
The new Democrat Congress has approved billions of dollars to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. This includes African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Alaskan natives, Asian-Americans, and Pacific Islanders. Nowhere is there as suggestion that white farmers and ranchers might be socially disadvantaged. Sid Miller is complaining that the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 provides money to farmers and ranchers who have been harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but one can only receive loan forgiveness up to 120% of the value of the loan only if you are socially disadvantaged.
Sid Miller is challenging this law on behalf of himself and all farmers and ranchers. He claims the USDA has violated the Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He wants to permanently enjoin Secretary Vilsack from implementing any racial exclusions.
His second claim is that "socially disadvantaged group" must be interpreted to include white ethnic groups who believe they, too, have suffered prejudice and discrimination. Sid Miller points out Irish, Italians, Germans, Jews, and other Eastern Europeans have also been subjected to racial prejudice. Third, Sid Miller wants to include individuals such as himself who have any discernable trace of minority ancestry. As the lawsuit states, the statute and USDA "are silent" as to the amount of minority ancestry needed to qualify as a member of a "Socially Disadvantaged Group."
The reason this is a class action suit is that Sid Miller is seeking to represent all farmers and ranchers that are socially disadvantaged, and they of course are too numerous to list in the caption of the lawsuit. Sid Miller believes that equal rights "…is the cornerstone of American constitutional jurisprudence; the principle that all citizens, regardless of status, wealth, race, color, religion, or creed, have the same rights and are entitled to the same standard of justice."
As we all know, these are supposed to be the principles we learned in school and what keeps this nation together.
Sid Miller, even though he is Texas Commissioner of Agriculture, should be commended by all farmers and ranchers of this United States. The U.S. Supreme Court, interpreting the Constitution of the United States, claims that all citizens are equal before the law. Sid Miller and his class action complaint supports this principle. You can read the complaint here.
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Salwah - Meaning of Salwah
What does Salwah mean?
[ syll. sa-lwah, sal-w-ah ] The baby girl name Salwah is pronounced as SAELWAH- †. The origin of Salwah is the Arabic language. Salwah is a variation of the name Salwa (Arabic).
See also the related category arabic.
Baby names that sound like Salwah include Saileigh, Salla, Sallah, Salleigh, Sallya, Sallyah, Salus (English), Saluss, Salusse, Salya, Salyah, Saula, Scelflesh, Scilla (English), Scyla, Seila, Sela (Tongan and English), Selas, Selass, and Selasse.
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Iron monsters in the Spanish garden
"Iron Monsters in the Spanish Garden: The Railway in the Nineteenth-Century Spanish Imagination," explores the short-lived period of railway euphoria that overtook Spain in the mid-nineteenth century and resulted in the rapid development of nearly 5,000 km of track. This period of fast-paced modernization was bookended by civil wars, punctuated with political and economic instability, and occurred in a country that was arguably the most underdeveloped and volatile in Western Europe. As most historians of Spain's nineteenth-century industrialization will concede, the effort was a spectacular failure. Yet, this admission of failure has too often discouraged further exploration. It is the position of this dissertation that the notion of failure itself is precisely what makes Spain's efforts at industrialization and modernization in this period so fascinating and revealing. The planning of Spain's first railway network began precisely when the first stable Spanish liberal regime was taking shape. It was a moment of great optimism for liberal Spaniards; and they projected their optimism onto the emerging railway, often painting the grand future they wanted to see in vivid detail and with exalted language. The railway, Spanish elites told themselves and others, would finally restore Spain to its rightful position as a major player in European affairs, an eminence it had been denied for centuries. The perception of national decline and perpetual stagnation had been the source of a bottomless pit of insecurity. With each kilometer of track laid and each colorful inaugural ceremony held, these elites became further convinced that Spain's escape from European backwater status was finally within reach. As a result, what initially seemed the success of Spain's railway project became a major pillar supporting the terribly flawed liberal state. Unfortunately, heavy state spending on railways that were hastily constructed and failed to bring the touted economic benefits effectively undermined this pillar and brought about a revolution that washed across the nation and dethroned the queen.


Sleep Newzzz
Men and Women: Different When It Comes to Sleep
Is there really a difference in men and womens sleep cycles?
Men and Women: Different When it Comes to Sleep
This article in the Wall Street Journal caught my eye recently—it's a great roundup of recent research on the differences between the way men and women sleep. Gender differences in sleep are a fascinating and important area of study. We all know that men and women have different sleep tendencies—think of all those early bird/night owl partnerships out there—but we're now beginning to understand more about why gender matters when it comes to sleep.
I was particularly interested in a couple of the most recent studies, which show evidence of some fundamental biological differences between men's and women's sleep. One suggests that there are marked differences in the circadian rhythms of men and women. In this study, researchers observed the circadian cycles of 157 men and women between the ages of 18 to 74, measuring melatonin levels and body temperature in order to track the 24-hour sleep-wake cycle. Over the course of a month-long inpatient sleep period, researchers found significant differences between men and women in both the timing of their circadian clocks—which help govern sleep times and wake times—and the duration of the circadian clock itself. Among those differences:
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 - Women's circadian clocks are set to an earlier hour than men's, making them more inclined to fall asleep earlier and also to wake earlier. Women showed a stronger inclination for activity earlier in the day than men.
 - Circadian cycles were actually shorter for women than for men, by six minutes. Even a slight difference can have significant impact on nightly sleep and on energy levels during the day. Think about a clock that runs a handful of minutes behind every day. Over time, those minutes really add up!
 - Not only did women's circadian clocks generally run earlier and shorter than men's, but also many more women had internal clocks that ran a full cycle in under 24 hours.
Another recent study found that women tend to perform better than men when low on sleep, and also can rebound more quickly from mild sleep deprivation when they get restorative sleep. I was really interested in this one because it looks at the question of making up for work-week sleep deprivation with extra rest over the weekend. Women and men were asked to sleep for only six hours per night, over six consecutive nights, to approximate the typical sleep deprivation that many of us experience during a busy work week. The participants then spent two nights "catching up" on their rest with extended overnight sleep. Researchers found that women scored higher on performance tests during the period of low sleep, and that their performance improved more than men's after two nights of extended sleep. (Take note: Neither men nor women in the study were able to truly "catch up" on their sleep over the two nights. Both fell short, but women simply came closer than men.) We know that women spend more time than men do in deep, slow-wave sleep stages over the course of a night. Time spent in deep sleep is restorative and memory boosting, which likely explains the advantage women have in performing under low-sleep conditions.
Women may reap real benefits from deeper sleep, but there is also evidence that they are in other ways more vulnerable than men to sleep disorders, and to the health risks associated with lack of sleep.
The biological phases of a woman's life—menstruation, pregnancy, menopause—and the hormonal shifts that accompany them make women more likely to experience disruptions to their sleep. Women in general are more susceptible than men to sleep disorders such as insomnia. Because of their propensity for deep sleep during the first part of their lives, women may receive protective benefits early on. But particularly after the age of 40, women's sleep often deteriorates.
 - Research suggests women have a different relationship with sleep when it comes to illness. One study showed that women who got less than 8 hours of sleep demonstrated an elevated risk for heart problems. Men in the study who got the same amount of sleep also saw increased risk, but the increase was not as significant as it was for women. The results of a recent study on cancer and sleep found that women were significantly more likely than men to suffer from insomnia while undergoing cancer treatment.
I'd like to see even more research that sets out to explore differences in the ways men and women experience sleep. The more we understand about how gender influences sleep, the better we'll be able to develop targeted, effective remedies for sleep problems for both men and women.
Sweet Dreams,
Michael J. Breus, PhD
The Sleep DoctorTM
The Sleep Doctor's Diet Plan: Lose Weight Through Better Sleep
Everything you do, you do better with a good night's sleepTM
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How Many Hz Are In A Meter?
How do you calculate Hz?
Frequency is expressed in Hz (Frequency = cycles/seconds).
To calculate the time interval of a known frequency, simply divide 1 by the frequency (e.g.
a frequency of 100 Hz has a time interval of 1/(100 Hz) = 0.01 seconds; 500 Hz = 1/(500Hz) = 0.002 seconds, etc.).
Is Hertz meters per second?
property>frequency The SI unit for frequency is the hertz (Hz), which is equal to 1/s, or once per second.
What is the wavelength of 10 Hz?
RegionWavelengthFrequencyVisible (red)700 nm4.3 × 1014 HzInfrared10000 nm3 × 1013 HzMicrowave1 cm30 GHzMicrowave/Radio10 cm3GHz9 more rows
How many cycles per second is GHz?
Please share if you found this tool useful:Conversions Table1 Gigahertz to Cycles Per Second = 100000000070 Gigahertz to Cycles Per Second = 700000000002 Gigahertz to Cycles Per Second = 200000000080 Gigahertz to Cycles Per Second = 8000000000013 more rows
How do you convert Hz to meters?
f = c / λ = wave speed c (m/s) / wavelength λ (m). The formula for time is: T (period) = 1 / f (frequency). λ = c / f = wave speed c (m/s) / frequency f (Hz). The unit hertz (Hz) was once called cps = cycles per second….How do you convert Hz to meters?Hertz [Hz]Wavelength In Metres [m]1 Hz299792458 m2 Hz149896229 m2 more rows•Feb 21, 2020
How long is a 100 Hz wavelength?
4 metersA 100-Hz sound wave has a wavelength of 4 meters.
What is Hertz equal to?
Frequency is the rate at which current changes direction per second. It is measured in hertz (Hz), an international unit of measure where 1 hertz is equal to 1 cycle per second. Hertz (Hz) = One hertz is equal to one cycle per second. Cycle = One complete wave of alternating current or voltage.
What is the wavelength of 500 Hz?
23. (b) The wavelength of a 500-Hz tone in air is l = (345 m/s)/(500 s-1) = 0.69 m.
How many seconds are in a Hz?
Convert Cycles Per Second to Hertz A period of 1 second is equal to 1 Hertz frequency. Period is the inverse of frequency: 1 Hz = 1 cps. 1 Hertz: Hertz is the SI base unit of frequency defined as one cycle per second.
How fast is 1 Hz?
One hertz simply means "one cycle per second" (typically that which is being counted is a complete cycle); 100 Hz means "one hundred cycles per second", and so on. The unit may be applied to any periodic event—for example, a clock might be said to tick at 1 Hz, or a human heart might be said to beat at 1.2 Hz.
What is the wavelength of 60 Hz?
In comparison, a power frequency field at 60 Hz has a wavelength of more than 3000 miles – about the distance from Los Angeles to New York!
How long is a 40 Hz wave?
around 28 feetwavelength can be found by dividing the speed of sound in feet which is 1,130 feet / second by the frequency we need to find the length of. Dividing 1,130 by 40 produces a quotient of around 28 feet. Therefore, a 40 Hz. wave is 28 feet long.
What does a frequency of 10 Hz equal?
Metaphorically speaking, 10 Hz is the natural idle speed of the brain's "engine" at rest, and lower speeds lead to "sputtering" in sensorimotor function (since sensorimotor stimuli cannot facilitate perceptual processing optimally at frequencies <10 hz).
Is Hertz same as FPS?
What are the three units of frequency?
Given this definition, it is reasonable that the quantity frequency would have units of cycles/second, waves/second, vibrations/second, or something/second. Another unit for frequency is the Hertz (abbreviated Hz) where 1 Hz is equivalent to 1 cycle/second.
Is 60hz good for gaming?
What is the wavelength of 1 Hz?
For sound waves in air, the speed of sound is 343 m/s. The wavelength of a tuning fork (440 Hz) is thus equal to approximately 0.78 m. In SI units, the unit of frequency is the hertz (Hz). 1 Hz means that an event repeats once every second.


Home > Administrative_Guidelines > 5000_Students >
5600a AdmGuide_Student Discipline
Guidelines for Building Administrators
The administration shall take a shared role in the establishment and maintenance of appropriate discipline in the
school and in the enforcement of the Code of Conduct in accordance with the following guidelines.
Each principal shall:
 A. In concert with a committee devise and implement a plan whereby students receive a copy of the Student
 Handbook and confirm that they understand how to use it and what each of the major sections says and
 B. Since it is in everyone's best interests to have parental understanding and support for appropriate student
 behavior, the plan should also ensure that parents are aware of:
 1. The Code of Conduct;
 2. The school's disciplinary procedures;
 3. The process for communicating their concerns to the school.
Approved/Adopted: July 13, 2009
Sharon Weinstock,
Aug 1, 2011, 7:36 AM


text:
Jul 03 2012
If you are struggling to choose which female honorific is the most appropriate to address the modern woman, be sure that you are not the only one. It is not an easy question.
Below we have detailed an explanation of Mrs., Ms., and Miss that should help you to address ladies correctly.
The three nouns Mrs., Ms., and Miss appeared in the 17th century and come from the female English title Mistress which was used to refer to all women. The full stop of the abbreviations is generally used in the USA and Canada whereas in the UK the abbreviations are commonly written without any full stop.
Ms. is slightly old fashioned compared to the two other titles but has been revived in the 20th century. This English honorific is mostly used in business and public life to address a lady. This is generally used when her marital status is unknown. It is neutral regarding marital status. The plural for Ms. can be Mss. or either Mses.. You may also use the French plural "Mesdames" abbreviated Mmes.
Miss is used to refer to an unmarried woman, or girls under eighteen in some countries. Miss alone is frequently used by schoolchildren to address a female teacher no matter what her marital status is. The plural for Miss is Misses or you may use the traditional French "Mesdemoiselles".
Finally, Mrs. is strictly used to refer to a married woman. For the plural you can use the French plural "Mesdames" abbreviated Mmes like for Ms.
Some women may have a preference for Ms., Miss, or Mrs. and if a woman has a professional title, it is more appropriate to use that title such as Doctor, Professor, or Captain instead of Ms., Miss, or Mrs.
So what is your favorite Mrs., Ms., and Miss?
STAR Translation Services


text:
See Urban Emo
. Defined as an individual who posesses all of the positive qualities of an emo with urban flair. Emobans are different from emos in several ways:
1. Emobans are well educated, with a fluent intellect, an appreciaition of various music styles, and a propensity for various mediums of art and art appreciation.
2. Emobans are generally more palatable to society's accursed members. They dress fashionably (or set trends), tell devilish morbid jokes, and are the definition of social chameloen, having connections to every thread of the socio-economic spider web.
3. Emobans are very sarcastic, and many times emotionally expressive.
4. Emobans don't nessicarily dye their hair black. Some emobans, in fact, are black. Many emobans, however, do cut their hair eccentricly, often with a razor (a dabbling in razory, as opposed to an obsession), and often covering at least one eye.
5. Emobans are both independent and conscencious individuals, not bound by "groups" or "cliques".
6. Emobans are mostly pessimistic about the fall and/or decay (decay, being perhaps the most intrinsic word to an emoban's dictionary) of (classical) civilization.
7. Emobans aren't obliterate imbeciles.
The "Age of Emoban", if you will, began slightly prior to the 1920s, with the flapper/post-flapper period. It has been mantained throughout the years, and revitilized recently with the introduction/recognition of the emo
and the resurfacing of flapper age style.
Influences of both swing era and emo kid
are apparent. Unlike most "Jenny From the Block" urbies, emobans often wear a considerable amount of makeup (if they are women) and accessorize with ingenius articles, such felt hats and interesting earrings. Much gothic
influence is also demonstrated, through use of Victorian accessries: cameos,lockets, crosses, lace, berets, and black are used often in an emoban female's dress. Men, however, tend to wear considerably less "ice" than their ghetto/pimp male counterparts. In fact, the approach that is often taken is "minimal", consisting of only perhaps an expensive watch and a ring. Shoes are probably the most important accessory, as other apparel may vary in degrees of formality/eccentricity on a given day. Felt hats, belts, argyle socks, and sunglasses are other accessories that may be displayed, though, as previously stated, this deepends on the day the Emoban is currently expressing.


Sum Cells based on Background Color
Few weeks back, one of my regular visitors dropped me an email describing an issue that he was facing. His task was to add the contents of certain cells based on their background colors.
As we all know, Excel by default has no formula or feature to calculate such a thing. So, in this post I will share few methods that will help you to achieve this.
To make the task more clear let's have a look at the below image.
Sum based on cell color
This image depicts that here we don't need the total sum of all the elements but instead we want the sum of elements that have the same background color.
Recommended Reading: Weighted SUM in Excel
Method 1: SUM cells on the basis of background colour using SUMIF Formula:
We know that SUMIF function is a combination of SUM and IF formula and hence SUMIF can come quite handy for adding cells based on color.
If you don't know how to use a SUMIF Function, then before going any further I would strongly suggest you to read this post.
First of all let's try to understand how we are going to do this:
Consider we have a table as shown in the below image.
Table with colored cells
Next, we will add one more column to this table where we will manually type the background colors of their adjacent cells as shown in the below image.
Adding One More Column To Table with colors
Now, we try to use SUMIF Formula for finding the SUM of cells with yellow background as:
Sum of yellow cells
Similarly, for finding the SUM of Orange and Green background cells we will use the formulas
But, as we can see that this method is quite cumbersome, particularly if we need to use this on lists with hundreds of elements.
So, what's the faster alternative?
To make the above process easier to use we need to reduce the effort of writing cell background colors manually.
So, for this task we can use a small user defined function (UDF) which will do the trick for us.
Function ColorIndex(CellColor As Range)
ColorIndex = CellColor.Interior.ColorIndex
End Function
Note: This function does not return the color name but it returns the color index which is also a unique value and can be used in our task.
Follow the below steps to use the UDF:
 1. First of all open your worksheet where you need to add the cells based on background colors.
 2. Next, press ALT + F11 to open the VB Editor. Navigate to 'Insert' > 'Module'.
 3. After this, paste the "ColorIndex" UDF in the Editor.
Color index UDF
 1. Now, add one column next to the range that you wish to sum up. In this new column enter the formula as:
Using Color index UDF
 1. After that, drag this formula to the whole range.
Finding Sum of Colored Cells
 1. Now, you can use the SUMIF function to add the cells that have same background color as shown in the above image.
Method 2 : Using a much faster and better UDF:
The UDF that we are going to use in this method is simply an extension of the above used function.
This Function is as under:
Function SumByColor(CellColor As Range, rRange As Range)
Dim cSum As Long
Dim ColIndex As Integer
ColIndex = CellColor.Interior.ColorIndex
For Each cl In rRange
If cl.Interior.ColorIndex = ColIndex Then
cSum = WorksheetFunction.Sum(cl, cSum)
End If
Next cl
SumByColor = cSum
End Function
How to use this UDF:
Follow the below steps to use this Function:
 1. Open your target worksheet.
 2. Press ALT + F11 to open the VBA Editor and navigate to 'Insert' > 'Module'.
 3. Paste the "SumByColor" Function in the Editor.
 1. Now, simply type the "SumByColor" function to call it and pass the following arguments:
=SumByColor(, )
Note:In the formula shown in above image instead of the first argument "A2" we could have also used any one of A2, A5, A8, A10, A12. Because all these cells have yellow background.
In our case we can use the following formulas:
 - Sum of Yellow Cells:
 =SumByColor(A2,A2:A13) //As 'A2' is the address of yellow cell and A2: A13 is the range to be added
 - Sum of Orange Cells:
 =SumByColor(A3,A2:A13) //As 'A3' is the address of orange cell and A2: A13 is the range to be added
 - Sum of Green Cells:
 =SumByColor(A4,A2:A13) //As 'A2' is the address of green cell and A2: A13 is the range to be added
So, this was all from me about this topic. Don't forget to download the sample spreadsheet [link] and do let me know in case you face any issues while using these methods.
About Ankit Kaul


An Interview with Jonathan Schaeffer
Edmonton is a global leader in the field of artificial intelligence. I recently sat down with Dr. Jonathan Schaeffer, former Dean of Science and current professor at the University of Alberta's Department of Computing Science, to hear his thoughts on Edmonton's role as an international center for artificial intelligence research and development.
YEGBiz: Jonathan, tell us how you came to your current role and what you've been doing in the last couple of years.
Jonathan Schaeffer: I've been at the University of Alberta almost 35 years. I came in January 1984 as a Lecturer and the following year become an Assistant Professor. My research area is Artificial Intelligence. I've had a fantastic research and teaching career at the University of Alberta.
In 2005, I got tapped on the shoulder to have a career change. I got into administration and stayed in administration for 12 to 13 years because I discovered that I could get a lot of gratification by helping other people be successful.
I was very successful as a researcher. Many people were involved in helping me achieve significant accomplishments as a Chair of Computing Science, as an Associate Vice President at the University of Alberta, and then for the past six years as Dean of the Faculty of Science. I could make decisions that positively impacted people's careers, making them successful. My long-term legacy isn't my career, but it's the people who I helped to make successful.
I did over six years as Dean. As of 10 days ago, my deanship has ended, and I am now back to being an ordinary professor, which means after one-year leave, I'll be going back to doing research and teaching just like I was before 2005.
YEGBiz: Jonathan, in your mind, what is the definition of Artificial Intelligence?
Jonathan Schaeffer: There are many different definitions out there, and people will argue as to what the real definition is. People think that Artificial Intelligence is all about creating human intelligence in a computer. I don't even know what that means, but I like to think that I'm not creating intelligence. What I'm doing is creating the illusion of intelligence.
Computers are fundamentally different than the human brain. They work in very different ways. They have different strengths and weaknesses than the human mind. What we're doing on computers is developing solutions that have a result or output that looks like the kind of decision-making capabilities a human would have. How the computer arrives at those decisions and the reasons for those decisions are completely foreign to what a human would usually do. We're not creating intelligence. We are creating systems that mimic intelligence. I like to think that I'm creating the illusion of intelligence.
The definition, to me, is that it doesn't matter how I achieve the result. The only thing that matters is the end result. When you look at how autonomous vehicles drive on their own it has no resemblance to what a human does. On the other hand, if they can drive on the road and they can drive safely, do we really care what's inside the black box? Absolutely not. It's the result that matters.
YEGBiz: What are some of the major applications of Artificial Intelligence today?
Jonathan Schaeffer: The world has changed. AI has been around for decades and has been in widespread use for over 20 years. People use AI on a daily basis, and they don't even know it. A simple example is a credit card transaction. Every time you make a credit card purchase, there's AI behind the scenes.
What is the AI doing? It has observed every single credit card purchase you've ever made – where you buy, what you buy, the value of what you buy – and it builds a model of you. Then when you make a credit card purchase that is inconsistent with your past buying behaviour, it will flag it as possible fraud.
For example, once I was in Edmonton, and I received a call from my credit card company asking about a large purchase about to be made in New York City. The system knew that I made a purchase the day before in Edmonton. The transaction to be made in New York was over $20,000. I never purchase $20,000 items on my credit card. I'm a professor, I do not buy luxury items, and this was utterly inconsistent with my purchasing patterns. They flagged it. It was not a real purchase on my part, and it got denied.
Sometimes, I get called, and it is just safety. It's an unusual purchase, and the credit card company approves it because I can't be predictable all the time. It's a game of poker in some sense that the more predictable you are, the better the AI is. Credit cards are a good example.
Another example that everybody uses: email spam detection. AI monitors what email messages you read, what ones you delete, which ones you ignore, and it builds a model of spam. It's not 100% perfect, but it gets it right most of the time.
What has changed more recently, it's about a decade old now—people will say it's a new technology, but in my mind, it's not a new technology. It's an incremental improvement on old technology, and we call it Deep Learning. What Deep Learning has done is take some rather old AI tools and make them much more powerful. With that power has come some amazing results.
For example, Deep Learning is incredibly powerful at image recognition. Facial recognition or visual recognition of any kind of object, scenery, faces, tools. Choose whatever you want. Humans were always better at image recognition, but Deep Learning has allowed computers to become superhuman.
For example, I can look at you and I know who you are. We've met before. It's easy for me to recognize you. But, maybe it's not. The room you are in is not well lit, but I can still handle it. Your face could be at an angle, so it's partially occluded. You might have been wearing a hat. You're wearing glasses, but if you're wearing sunglasses, it might have been a lot more difficult. I haven't seen you in a year or so. Maybe you would have grown a mustache or a beard.
Under ideal conditions, like me looking head-on to you, it's easy for me to do facial recognition. But, if you're a face in a crowd, it becomes much harder. Computers are now superhuman at facial recognition, which means there can be cameras anywhere that not only record people passing by, but they can identify who they are. That's a bit creepy, and some people will say it's scary and maybe it's an invasion of privacy, but it's an example of what this Deep Learning technology can do.
Another good example is tumour analysis. An image of a tumour is a picture. Let's get the computers to analyze it. It turns out that humans are pretty good at identifying tumours but now computers are also pretty good at analyzing tumours. When you get a human and a computer working together, they're almost perfect at detecting these growths.
One of the exciting things we see now is a lot of technology that I'll call symbiotic AI. It's computers and humans working together because humans do it one way and have strengths and weaknesses that way. Computers do it a different way and have strengths and weaknesses. When you bring them together, the combination is even better.
Perhaps the poster child for AI these days is the autonomous vehicle. If you're travelling in a car at a 100 kilometres an hour, you've got to be watching the road in real time as to what's going on. Identifying what's happening. Making immediate decisions. You need very fast image processing and analysis. You need software that's going to drive the car, manipulate it, plan the actions.
A highway in Arizona is pretty easy. The roads are straight, in good shape, little rain, and there isn't a lot of traffic. Try driving in a city's downtown core with pedestrians weaving in and amongst the cars. Add in some rain, snow, or sleet, and it becomes a very challenging problem.
At least in good weather conditions, computers are now able to drive cars at a much, much safer rate than humans can. That technology is mature, and I for one welcome the opportunity to have a car drive me. I hate that drive from Edmonton to Calgary. The first time I did it, it was interesting. The second time, it was okay. But the next 100, 200 times, it is boring.
Let the car do it. Let the car drive itself. That's another example of AI. We are seeing it pop up everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. The world's biggest AI research labs are places like Amazon, Google, IBM, and Microsoft because they're developing products with AI inside. In most cases, you have no idea that it's even there.
Sorry for the long answer.
YEGBiz: No, it's a great answer. Keep going.
Jonathan Schaeffer: I'll give you one of my favourite examples because nobody would ever think of it. It's a familiar example. It's an elevator. Who would think that you put AI in an elevator? What the AI does is, it monitors what floors the buttons get pushed and when you get on what floors you get off.
That sounds pretty easy, but people's patterns change. In the morning, you're probably going from your room down to the main floor. At certain times of the day, like at dinnertime or the end of the day, you're probably going from the main floor up to your room. The patterns are probably different on weekends.
What the AI does is it monitors that and builds models of the elevator