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Tuesday 9 March 2021
1:00-2:00pm AEDT (Sydney/Melbourne)
10:00am AWST (Perth), 12:00pm AEST (Brisbane), 12:30pm ACDT (Adelaide), 3:00pm NZDT (New Zealand)
We are excited to welcome our guest presenter for this course: Martin McKinney, Director of Algorithms and Data Technology at Starkey's head office in the US.
Today's technologies are being transformed by machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). Smart devices are appearing in all aspects of our lives and this is no different in the world of hearing aids. We will explain how AI extends the capabilities of hearing aid technology to perform tasks that enhance our listening experience and assist us in our daily lives.
This session will also provide an overview of how machine learning and AI are being implemented in today's hearing technology, with examples including automatic parameter adjustments and voice-driven personal assistants.
ACAud Endorsed: 202132 (2 CEP points with passing quiz)
AudA Endorsed: CPD2021 105 (Category 1.2) (1 CPD Point)
HAASA Endorsed: CPED2020-2021 (2021-007) (1.5 CPED points with passing quiz)
NZAS: 1 CEP point


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This image shows a rimless, irregular depression that appears brighter than the surrounding material. Such features are thought to be volcanic vents. The shadowed, curved feature leading into the vent is a fault scarp, also called rupes. This image was taken using the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC).
Date acquired: April 07, 2012
Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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History of ARS at Mississippi State Location
ARS research at the Mississippi State Location was under way in the 1950's or earlier with 3 or 4 ARS scientists working in forages and corn. These early scientists, called agricultural agents, were housed in Mississippi State University facilities. In 1961 a great expansion of research and construction began with the building of the ARS Boll Weevil Research Laboratory and the addition of about 10 young ARS scientists in multiple disciplines working as a team under the direction of Dr. T. B. Davich. Their mission was to develop technology to eradicate the boll weevil from the US. They succeeded, and the boll weevil is now eradicated in states east of the Mississippi River and eradication is underway in states west of the river. By the late 1970's eradication technology was proven and many boll weevil scientists expanded their research to new research areas. Since the beginning of the expansion in 1961, ARS has continued to grow in number of scientists and breadth of research. Early on, the scientists of the South Central Poultry Research Lab were added, research in forages was expanded and former boll weevil scientists expanded their research to solve other cotton problems. Corn research was expanded, forage research expanded and changed to forages and waste management. The Crop Science Research Laboratory was organized and included research in three research units in cotton, corn, and forages. Currently there are two research units in the Crop Science Research Laboratory which continue to focus on (a) cotton genetics, precision agriculture, and waste management; and (b) corn genetics and plant resistance to aflatoxin. Today, there are three major research units at the location with 86 ARS employees and the ARS campus occupies 20 acres and some 37 buildings. Johnie N. Jenkins was one of the first ARS employees in the Boll Weevil Research Laboratory in 1961 and today he leads ARS research in Cotton Genetics and Precision Agriculture, is Director of the Crop Science Research Laboratory and Location Coordinator for the Mississippi State Location. ARS research contributions by those no longer active, continue to be valuable to agriculture and the general population today. ARS and agricultural organizations currently employ many scientists who spent a part of their career working with ARS scientists at the Mississippi State Location. Scientists and support personnel at this Location continue to expand the horizons of science and provide solutions for important problems in US agriculture. From the beginning, ARS research has been a partnership with Mississippi State University and this partnership continues today.
The user friendly URL for this page is _URL_
Crop Science Reseach Laboratory: _URL_
Poultry Research Laboratory: _URL_
Corn Host Plant Resistance Research Unit: _URL_


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Coastal region and small island papers 14
The world's archaeological patrimony is vulnerable to damage and decay and especially so at coastal and underwater sites. Natural forces such as storms, currents and wave-action may result in coastal erosion that undermines or buries structures and artefacts. Global climate change and a rise in sea level are likely to exacerbate this. Increasing coastal populations threaten archaeological sites, directly by encroachment of housing and other buildings, and indirectly through pollution and poorly planned coastal protection measures.
Alexandria has three important archaeological sites in close proximity to one another, one on land and two in shallow water. The 15th century Qait Bey Citadel stands at the entrance to the Eastern Harbour, the remains of Alexandria's ancient lighthouse, the Pharos, lies just offshore from the Citadel and the ruins of Ptolemaic Royal Quarters are in the Eastern Harbour.
Preservation of all three sites requires an integrated and interdisciplinary approach. In 1997 the University of Alexandria, the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and other Egyptian institutions, together with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization launched an initiative to preserve these sites and eventually open them to the public and scholars as a museum.
With this in mind, an international workshop on Submarine Archaeology and Coastal Management was held in Alexandria in April 1997, bringing together a wide variety of specialists from Egypt, other Mediterranean countries and further afield. This publication describes the outcome of the workshop and the various follow-up activities in a context which broadens both literally and figuratively what is known of Alexandria's past. The activities are in the nature of a slowly growing initiative, which as it gathers momentum, will progress towards effective management and a balanced solution for Alexandria and its archaeological heritage.
Special thanks are given to Selim Morcos, Nils Tongring, Youssef Halim, Mostafa El-Abbadi, Hassan Awad and Harry Tzalas who contributed to this publication, to Claire Blackburn and Gillian Cambers for editing the text, and to the many others who contributed to the activities.
Dirk G. Troost,
century engraving of the Pharos of Alexandria
© Historical Picture Archive/CORBIS


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REVIEW BY DUNCAN W WRIGHT
In An Archaeological History of Hermitages, Simon Roffey directly addresses a hitherto neglected area of scholarship by providing a wide-ranging survey of the material evidence for hermitages and eremitic practice. His work is not restricted to Britain and Ireland, nor indeed Christian practice, but looks at hermits in other traditions, such as Taoism and Buddhism, and surveys locations such as China and India. This wide-ranging view is refreshing, allowing the reader to draw parallels and distinctions between the motivations behind eremitism. For Roffey, who has been involved with both Western and Eastern contemplative traditions, research into them is a personal pursuit. This is especially apparent when one realises the effort that has gone not just into drawing together the often patchy evidence for hermitages, but also into taking photographs during site visits to some of the most windswept locations in the British Isles. It is hoped that this volume provides a foundation for further research into eremitic lifestyles of all kinds, given their prominence and importance to communities around the world, not just in the past but also into the present day.
Simon Roffey Routledge, £120 (hbk) and £38.99 (e-book) ISBN 978-_PHONE_

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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By Dave Tucker, January 22, 2010
This field trip visits Middle Jurassic metamorphic rocks immediately south of the Chuckanut Formation, in extreme northwest Skagit County, Washington. From Chuckanut Drive (WA highway 11) the hike ascends the Pacific Northwest Trail and branching trails to the top of Oyster Dome for a spectacular 180 degree view over the San Juan Islands, estuary flats of the Samish and Skagit rivers, and Olympic Mountains. A field guide to this hike was published in Babcock and Carson (2000); see references below. One or two of the geologic interpretations you read below will differ slightly from theirs.
The rocks of Blanchard Mountain (also known as South Chuckanut Mountain) are metamorphosed marine sediments and igneous rocks. For the best read on the geology, see Gallagher and others, 1988. These rocks are in the western part of the Shuksan Metamorphic Suite defined by Western Washington University petrologist Ned Brown and his various grad students over the years. This suite of rocks has been subsumed into Rowland Tabor's Easton Metamorphic Suite, which is best known for the Darrington Phyllite and Shuksan Greenschist rock units in the North Cascades; rocks associated with the ones along this trail are patchily exposed as far east as Mount Shuksan, though they are sometimes covered by younger rock units. The rocks we will visit on this hike are different in a very important way from other rocks in the Shuksan/Easton Suitethey include intermediate plutonic rocks. A single U-Pb date has been obtained from zircon in a diorite a little east of Blanchard Mountain. This radiometric date implies that the rocks of Blanchard Mountain originated around 163 million years ago (Gallagher and others, 1988). These rocks are interpreted to have formed in an oceanic volcanic arc somewhere well to the west of the coast of North America as it stood at that time, and was later accreted to North America by subduction. Metamorphism was in the high pressure but low temperature blueschist facies, which corresponds to subduction environments. These rocks were subjected to temperatures of 330-400 degrees C and pressures corresponding to around 7-9 kilobars (20 kilometers, or 12 miles deep). Metamorphism took place around 120-130 million years ago (Brown, 1987).
Getting there: The popular trailhead is on Chuckanut Drive (WA State Route 11), just a few hundred feet north of mile post 10, and just south of the Oyster Bar restaurant. There are a couple of wide shoulders along the road for parking. Be cautious here, as break-ins have been reported. The hike begins on the wonderful Pacific Northwest Trail, which runs from the Olympic Coast at Cape Alava to the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park. The trail system on Blanchard Mountain was built and is maintained by an all-volunteer organization. Visit the PNTA for more information. The round trip distance to the top of the Oyster Dome and back is 7.6 miles; elevation gain is about 2000 feet. A good map showing trails is Trails of the Chuckanut Mountains by Ken Wilcox (Skookum Press), available in shops in the Bellingham area. I cite distances measured for this map in this field guide. For an on line map: go to the PNTA website, run your mouse over the 'trail' pulldown at upper left, click on 'maps' and choose the Blanchard Hill/South Chuckanut Mountain map. The trails we will use are the lower switchbacks of the PNTA (shown in red), the "Samish Bay Connection", the "Talus Trail" and the "Rock Trail". You could cheat and drive to the hangliders' jump at Samish Overlook via Barrel Springs Road, then hike down along the PNT to the 1.6 mile junction, but you wouldn't get as much exercise, and would lose virtue points. Your scribe will assume you are virtuous.
The trail starts right off from Chuckanut Drive with a steep grunt up through the forest. The hillside is all colluvium of phyllite or semischistthese rocks aren't very competent, so outcrops tend to fall apart pretty easily. There is very little geology to see for the first mile or so, which is mostly in Douglas fir forest. After about 1 mile, there is a bench on a rock slab with a great view over the San Juan Islands at the far end of an older clearcut. The outcrop is semischist with vertical, E-W oriented foliation. Semischist isn't something you hear about much, though it is a type of metagreywacke; you won't read about in petrology textbooks or geologic dictionaries, but there's a lot of it on Blanchard Mountain. It is a low grade metamorphic rock, derived from sandstone or medium-grained tuff. Semischist has foliation, but lacks the prominent minerals of 'schist' because the pressure-temperature facies (or regimes) that formed the rock were not high enough. It forms in the same metamorphic regime as phyllite, which is also abundant on Blanchard Mountain. Semischist parent rocks are coarser grained than the mudstone parent of phyllite, so the metamorphosed semischist is not as fine grained and shiny; semischist does not have the wavy or kinky foliation of phyllite, and is not veined with quartz as the local phyllite is. Semischist tends to cleave along parallel, flat foliation planes similar to the manner of slate, but foliation planes are not paper thin as they typically are in slate.
Shortly after the bench reach the junction where the PNT turns sharp rightgo straight on the "Samish Bay Connection" trail. There's a really cool, but very small, exposure of 'stretched pebble conglomerate' in a big root of a Doug fir growing in the trail. If you are hiking in the wet season, you should be able to hear a stream closely ahead, the first you will come to on this hike. The UTM for this place is E542270 N5384650; I always use NAD 1927 datum, and precision is ± ~ 20 m. The conglomerate is of part of the semischist rock unit, and was at one time a conglomerate of small pebbles. Rounded pebbles, such as these once were, require stream rounding, so they were apparently carried into the marine environment from the volcanic arc they were eroded from. The outcrop is subtle, and you have to watch for it. It lies at the north end of the big tree root, and is mostly buried with moss and slime. This rock has long pale-colored rodsthese were pebbles prior to metamorphism during subduction. They didn't 'melt' to get this way, but were just gradually stretched out by the insistent long-term directed pressure of subduction metamorphism. Within 200 feet after this slab, you will come to the first stream, often dry in summer, but unmistakable in any case. If you get here and haven't seen the pebble conglomerate, backtrack until you come to the big tree root shown in the photo at left. Thanks to Scott Babcock for first pointing out this rock to me.
The next geologic point of interest is 3/4 mile further along, and unmistakable. You'll hike up along a stream in a deep gully below you to the left; across the creek, you may be able to see a cliff. Cross the creek. This is the first significant stream crossing required on this hike; it may be dry in the summer. Just beyond are large knobs on both sides of the trail. (UTM E542850 N5385560). If you have a rock hammer, examine a fresh surface you smack off of one of the angular blocks lying along the trail. The fresh rock is fine grained and green, but even with a handlens and good light, it is pretty amorphous. This is an unfoliated low grade metamorphic rock called greenstone, and the glacially polished knobs to the west of the trail are made of it. The greenstone probably originally as a (submarine?) basaltic lava flow, part of the subducted arc that is preserved in these rocks, and subjected to the same metamorphic stress as the semischist and phyllite. A path to the left goes between two knobs; it is easy to get on top of the nearer little dome for a view, but the higher one a little further away is pretty steep. There is a dense cluster of uniformly ½" wide and ½- to 1" deep grooves on top of the near knob. Are these from glacial scouring? How is it they are so very similar? Are they even geological? You may find subtle clues along the trail farther along on the hike.
There will be a steep grunt up phyllite slabs; you'll then come to another big greenstone knob. If you are using the Wilcox map, this place is labeled 'Rumble Rock'. Here is a curious 'interpretive' sign labeled 'The Ice Age'. My mother told me "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything". But I can't quite resist. You'll know the geologic sins that this sign is guilty of as soon as you read it.


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- a simple hand puppet made from a sock.；a person whose actions are controlled by another
noun: sock puppet, plural noun: sock puppets
- 1. a simple hand puppet made from a sock.
- ▪ a person whose actions are controlled by another a brainless sock puppet who only knows what to say because his handlers feed him his lines
- 2. a false online identity, typically created by a person or group in order to promote their own opinions or views both sides in the debate use sock puppets to make it seem as if scores of people are arguing a point


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I would like to know how to point this to the selected element (event source) inside.on() method without defining an anonymous event handling function.
For example, in the code bellow, the context for my selected element is document, i.e. $(this) is interpreted as document
$('.nav-item').click(MyFrameworkUtils.navigationBinding($(this), 'arg1', 'arg2'))
However, if wrapped in an anonymous event handler, $(this) is interpreted (desirably) as the selected element.
 var source = $(this);
 MyFrameworkUtils.navigationBinding(source, 'arg1', 'arg2');
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2 Answers
up vote 4 down vote accepted
You could use this syntax:
$('.nav-item').click({arg1:'arg1', arg2:'arg2'}, MyFrameworkUtils.navigationBinding)
and the function would look like this:
function navigationBinding(event) {
 var source = $(this);
 var arg1 = event.data.arg1;
 var arg2 = event.data.arg2;
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Thank you. Very pretty. – Lim H. Jan 24 '13 at 11:28
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In your first example, you're passing the result of MyFrameworkUtils.navigationBinding($(this), 'arg1', 'arg2') into your click method. The context of this is therefore the context is the outer scope, which is the document in your case.
With the second example however the scope is the inner function, and as with most events triggered by the DOM, this is the triggering element.
Additionally [possibly unrelated], when calling functions you can define this by using the apply or call methods, as described quite nicely in What is the difference between call and apply?
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Thanksssss. It makes a lot of sense.. well, Javascript sense. And thanks for suggesting the apply and call functions. – Lim H. Jan 24 '13 at 11:26
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Rotary Woofer Distortion Measurements
The following distortion test were measured on the rotary woofer. The microphone was three meters from the woofer. The system was calibrated with a Bruel and Kjaer 4145 microphone, pistonphone and 2204 sound level meter. The spectrum analyzer was calibrated to be flat to below 1 Hz using a signal generator and voltmeter. In this test configuration the rotary woofer was able to maintain greater than 110dB sound levels down to 1Hz. Typical maximum sound levels in the 2800 cubic foot test room are around 115-119dB with 350 watts total input power (motor plus audio amplifier power) between 1 and 30Hz.
For comparison most conventional subwoofers will not achieve 110dB output at any frequency 20Hz or lower with 10% distortion or less.
Because these distortion measurements include the room they are likely higher than actual anechoic readings. The room walls experienced resonance modes between 10 and 15 Hz. Below 5Hz there is significant volume velocity at 110dB such that a door will swing back and forth. At 1Hz you don't hear anything other than the rattling of doors, walls and the air moving through the transducer and the room. The THD number includes all harmonics and room noise up to 2Khz.
1 Hz measurement, 110dB 7.24%THD:
5 Hz measurement, 110dB 7.91%THD:
10 Hz measurement, 110dB 9.31%THD:
20 Hz measurement, 110dB 9.38%THD:
25 Hz measurement, 110dB 5.56%THD:
30 Hz measurement, 110dB 2.12%THD:
2Hz square wave mesurement, mic in room 7 meters from the transducer, 95dB:


From the notch you count counter-clockwise from 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. and then on the opposite side again from bottom to top. In the case of an 8-pin housing, connections 1 and 8 are opposite one another. For a 14-pin housing 1 and 14.And for a 16-pin housing, connections 1 and 16.
Recognize the function of circuit parts
In order to be able to recognize and understand the function of a circuit or a circuit part, one has to be familiar with the basic circuits of electronics and with the practical applications of components. Only when these requirements are met is it possible to read the function of a circuit.
There are also components whose function cannot be recognized immediately, but which are very important because they counteract certain electronic effects. Resistors, capacitors and diodes in particular sometimes take on functions that can only be recognized after practical application. Even experienced electronics technicians do not look at every component to see what purpose it fulfills.
Other related topics:
Electronics simple and easy to understand
Electronics primer
The electronics primer is a book about the basics of electronics, components, circuit technology and digital technology.
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Experience electronics with the "Starter Edition" electronics set
Perfect for beginners and newcomers
 - Entry into electronics without prior knowledge
 - Quick understanding of components and circuit symbols
 - Experiment without a soldering iron: just insert components
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Effects of Urban Surface Geometry on Remotely-sensed Surface Temperature
International Journal of Remote Sensing
URL with Digital Object Identifier
Direct observations of urban surface temperature in daytime are made using a thermal scanner mounted in a helicopter over three land-use areas in Vancouver, B.C. The results reveal strong directional variations in the observed apparent surface temperature. The variations arise due to the differential patterns of irradiated and shaded surfaces within the sensor field of view created by the three-dimensional urban surface structure and the position of the Sun. The directional variations may be considered to be a form of effective anisotropy due to the large scale roughness of the urban surface. Variations in excess of 9 C were measured over a downtown area. Urban residential and light industrial land-use areas also exhibited strong effective anisotropy. The directional temperature variations are of similar magnitude to atmospheric corrections applied to thermal imagery. This implies that effective anisotropy should receive serious consideration in the interpretation of thermal imagery obtained over urban areas. The scale dependence of the effective anisotropy is discussed.


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- To develop and maintain optimum level of service quality with external and internal customers by ensuring complaints resolution in reasonable TAT as per CB, AECB SLAs.
- To be the contact point for all internal staff with the core responsibility of resolving customer complaints, which are logged through all touch points – CB, AECB, branches, MOL, emails, mails, phone banking and various channels.
- Resolve/escalate all customer complaints assigned within agreed TAT.
- Ensure 100% of the complaints are logged and updated on CRM before, during and after resolution.
- Maintain a strong follow-up with other units in order to ensure complete, proactive and accurate resolution of customer complaints.
- Identify systemic issues or problems and raise concerns that are identified as part of root cause analysis.
- Maintain and track Technology issues and mass incidents reported.
- Contribute towards process and quality improvement within the bank by highlighting recurring issues and investigating root causes. Provide constructive feedback on service quality aspects through first hand observations.
- Work to exceed the service standards and indicators and be individually responsible for prompt reporting of the same on an ongoing basis.
- Participate in identifying opportunities, analyzing the root cause of problems and resolve them permanently in coordination with the process/product owners and review/ measure improvement in process/product.
- Contribute towards team building and create positive energy to boost team's productivity.
- Should be proactive and customer focused without compromising the bank's interest. Courteous and respectful in communication.
- Understanding complete Retail Banking, SME, Neo products, processes and systems.
- Understanding of Regulatory / Central Bank regulations / standards.
- Thorough knowledge of features and benefits of all products and services of the bank and a fast learner.
- Excellent inter-personal and communication skills (written and oral) with ability to perform as a team player.
- Excellent analytical skills to enable resolution of complex problems.
- Excellent Negotiation skills to handle challenging customers and arrive at a satisfactory resolution
- Experience in handling customer queries, complaints.
- Understanding of root-cause of the issue.
Apply Via The Following Link


The Historical Marker Database
Just discovered this: a DIY marker database. Seems to operate on a Wiki model.
There must be some system to composing text for plaques; most of the ACW ones seem impossibly verbose.
My model marker would read "George Washington slept here en route to Valley Forge." Everyone knows Washington and Valley Forge. This marker would tell who, what, where in a short sentence. Many of these ACW markers, on the other hand, seem to be trying to educate the reader on multiple points of history; some read like excerpts from textbooks; some even give background information.
The trend, as with advertising in the 1960s, is clearly towards long copy.


Dahomey Gap
Last updated
In West Africa, the Dahomey Gap refers to the portion of the Guinean forest-savanna mosaic that extends all the way to the coast in Benin, Togo, and Ghana, thus separating the forest zone that covers much of the south of the region into two separate parts. The forest region west of the gap is called the Upper Guinean forests or Guinean forest zone, and the portion east of the gap is called the Lower Guinean forests, Lower Guinean-Congolian forests, or Congolian Forest Zone.
The major city in the Gap is Accra. Several other cities, such as Kumasi, exist on the fringe of the Gap.
Causes of dryness
The dryness of the Dahomey Gap is unusual, given that it lies surrounded by a very wet monsoon belt on all sides, and no mountains block moisture. Yet, Accra, which is in the heart of the Gap, receives only 720 mm (28 in) of rainfall per year — less than half the amount needed to sustain tropical rainforest (which would be expected at a latitude of N).
The cause of the dryness of the Dahomey Gap can simply be explained thus:
Geological history
Evidence from biogeography suggests that the Dahomey Gap has had significance for up to 90 million years. Murphy and Collier, in their analysis of the Aplocheiloid fishes show a split in the African species which they attribute to the presence of an epicontinental sea between the late Cenomanian and early Eocene. [1] This discontinuity had earlier been noted in plant species by White [2] and is supported by an analysis of the Coffea clade by Maurin et al. [3]
The Dahomey Gap has existed in its present form for only about four thousand years. [4] For most of the Quaternary, dry conditions due to a much colder Atlantic Ocean (aided by extensive cold currents from ice sheets in Europe and North America) have meant that the present-day forest zone has supported very little or no rainforest. In interglacial periods, however, rainfall throughout West Africa has often been so heavy that the Gap has become wet enough to support rainforest, thus eliminating the savanna.
 1. Murphy WJ; Collier GE (April 1999). "Phylogenetic relationships of African killifishes in the genera Aphyosemion and Fundulopanchax inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences". Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 11 (3): 351–60. doi:10.1006/mpev._PHONE_. PMID _PHONE_. S2CID _PHONE_. as PDF [ permanent dead link ]
 2. White, F. (1983), The vegetation of Africa. A descriptive memoir to accompany the Unesco/AETFAT/UNSO vegetation map of Africa., Paris: Unesco
 3. Maurin O; Davis AP; Chester M; Mvungi EF; Jaufeerally-Fakim Y; Fay MF (December 2007). "Towards a Phylogeny for Coffea (Rubiaceae): identifying well-supported lineages based on nuclear and plastid DNA sequences". Ann. Bot. 100 (7): 1565–83. doi:10.1093/aob/mcm257. PMC _PHONE_. PMID _PHONE_.
 4. Weber, William (2001). African Rain Forest Ecology and Conservation: An Interdisciplinary Perspective. Yale University Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-300-08433-7.
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Geography of Cape Verde
Cape Verde is a group of arid Atlantic islands which are home to distinct communities of plants, birds, and reptiles. The islands constitute the unique Cape Verde Islands dry forests ecoregion, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
Geography of Nigeria
Nigeria is a country in West Africa. Nigeria shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. It also shares a border with the self-declared, but internationally unrecognized state of Ambazonia in the southeast. Its coast lies on the Gulf of Guinea in the south and it borders Lake Chad to the northeast. In the southeast, it also shares a border with the breakaway state of Ambazonia. Noted geographical features in Nigeria include the Adamawa highlands, Mambilla Plateau, Jos Plateau, Obudu Plateau, the Niger River, River Benue and Niger Delta.
Afrotropical realm One of Earths eight biogeographic realms
The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopian Zone or Ethiopian Region.
Tropical climate Climate in the tropical region
Tropical climate is one of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification. Tropical climates are characterized by monthly average temperatures of 18 ℃ (64.4 ℉) or higher year-round and feature hot temperatures. Annual precipitation is often abundant in tropical climates, and shows a seasonal rhythm to varying degrees. There are normally only two seasons in tropical climates, a wet season and a dry season. The annual temperature range in tropical climates is normally very small. Sunlight is intense.
Wet season
The wet season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least a month. The term green season is also sometimes used as a euphemism by tourist authorities. Areas with wet seasons are dispersed across portions of the tropics and subtropics.
In West Africa, the forest zone refers to the southern part of the region once covered by tropical rainforest. Sometimes this region is referred to as Guinea to distinguish it from the grassland-covered Sudan, drier Sahel and per-arid Sahara.
Aspect (geography)
In physical geology, aspect is the compass direction that a slope faces. For example, a slope on the eastern edge of the Rockies toward the Great Plains is described as having an easterly aspect. A slope which falls down to a deep valley on its western side and a shallower one on its eastern side has a westerly aspect or is a west-facing slope. The direction a slope faces can affect the physical and biotic features of the slope, known as a slope effect. The term aspect can also be used to describe the shape or alignment of a coastline. Here, the aspect is the direction which the coastline is facing towards the sea. For example, a coastline with sea to the northeast has a northeasterly aspect.
The Upper Guinean forests is a tropical seasonal forest region of West Africa. The Upper Guinean forests extend from Guinea and Sierra Leone in the west through Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana to Togo in the east, and a few hundred kilometers inland from the Atlantic coast. A few enclaves of montane forest lie further inland in the mountains of central Guinea and central Togo and Benin.
The Lower Guinean forests is region of coastal tropical moist broadleaf forest in West Africa, extending along the eastern coast of the Gulf of Guinea from eastern Benin through Nigeria and Cameroon.
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Monsoon trough Weather phenomenon
The monsoon trough is a portion of the Intertropical Convergence Zone in the Western Pacific, as depicted by a line on a weather map showing the locations of minimum sea level pressure, and as such, is a convergence zone between the wind patterns of the southern and northern hemispheres.
A tropical marine climate is a tropical climate that is primarily influenced by the ocean. It is usually experienced by islands and coastal areas 10° to 20° north and south of the equator. There are two main seasons in a tropical marine climate: the wet season and the dry season. The annual rainfall is 1000 to over 1500 mm. The temperature ranges from 20 °C to 35 °C. The trade winds blow all year round and are moist, as they pass over warm seas. These climatic conditions are found, for example, across the Caribbean; the eastern coasts of Brazil, Madagascar and Queensland; and many islands in tropical waters.
Tropical Africa
Although tropical Africa is mostly familiar to the West for its rainforests, this biogeographic realm of Africa is far more diverse. While the tropics are thought of as regions with warm to hot moist climates caused by latitude and the tropical rain belt, the geology of areas, particularly mountain chains, and geographical relation to continental and regional scale winds impact the overall parts of areas, also, making the tropics run from arid to humid in West Africa. The area is experiencing negative effects of rapid human population growth.
Wildlife of Togo
The wildlife of Togo is composed of the flora and fauna of Togo, a country in West Africa. Despite its small size the country has a diversity of habitats; there are only remnants of the once more extensive rain forests in the south, there is Sudanian Savanna in the north-western part of the country and larger areas


Study on substitution of 4% enramycin by hydrolytic tannic acid in broiler feed
Objective: compared with 4% enramycin, to study the effects of different levels of coated hydrolyzed tannic acid on broiler performance, antioxidant performance and intestinal development.
Experimental unit: School of animal science and technology, Shandong Agricultural University
Substitutive product: Hydrolyzed tannic acid
Experiment design: this experiment adopts the single factor experiment design, selects 200 healthy and even weight 1-day-old aibuyijia (AA) broilers, half male and half female, randomly divided into 5 treatments, each treatment has 5 repetitions, each repetition has 8 chickens.
Test conclusion:
1. Adding hydrolytic tannic acid to the diet can improve the daily gain of broilers, reduce the feed to weight ratio, and improve the performance of broilers.
2. Adding hydrolytic tannic acid to the diet can improve the slaughter rate and full bore rate of broilers.
3. The thymus index, spleen index and antioxidant capacity of broilers can be improved by adding the coated hydrolytic tannic acid in the diet, so as to better maintain the health of broilers.
4. The activity of lipase and amylase in duodenum and the quantity of lactobacilli can be increased by adding coated hydrolytic tannic acid to the diet, so as to promote the digestion and absorption ability of the body and better maintain the intestinal health.
5. According to the data of five treatments, the best effect is to substitute 150g / T enramycin (4%) in broiler feed, followed by 600g / T hydrolyzed tannic acid and 200g / T hydrolyzed tannic acid.
Post time: Nov-15-2019


text:
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An educational television network using UHF transmissions from aircraft has been suggested as a means to provide improved classroom instruction to schools throughout the country. Initial airborne tests will begin in 1960. As a step in the evaluation of such a network, calculations have been made which describe the coverage from an airborne station in the presence of interference from other stations. The results should be useful in determining the equipment and channel requirements of a nation-wide network. These requirements will be compared with those necessary to provide equivalent coverage from ground-based UHF stations.


text:
The Promise of Artistic Process
Here's how Social Emotional Learning aligns our curricula with the standards, particularly in a virtual teaching world.
By NAfME Members Lori Schwartz Reichl, Fran Kick, and Scott Edgar
"An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises."
— Mae West
The pandemic has limited the ability of performing arts educators and students to perform to the degree we once had. In many schools, reductions have been placed on the quantity of students permitted in a given learning area, restrictions have been placed on how close students can be spaced from one another, rehearsal and performance venues have remained off-limits, and opportunities for performance have been cancelled or postponed. Safety, which needs to be educators' prime focus as we continue to move forward this academic year, is dictating how frequently performances occur and how differently they look, sound, and inspire.
Many ensemble directors will confirm that performing is the Core Music Standard for which we spend the most time preparing. It's the ultimate result of an ensemble's preparation and often its motivation. However, the National Core Music Standards in the United States also include Creating, Responding, and Connecting. What happens when the standard of performing is restricted? Will music educators consider other performance avenues, both live and virtual? Or, will we perhaps focus on the three remaining standards with greater emphasis? The promise of artistic process still exists. Are we, as music educators, acknowledging and accepting this?
Prior to the pandemic, a number of music educators might have painted themselves into a corner by defining music education primarily based on performance success. However, at the onset of the pandemic, if perusing social media, one may have seen music teachers posting in a frenzy about not being able to "do" what they and their students once did—perform. Quotations such as: "I have to lower my bar of expectations." "What will we do now?" and "I'm a band director!" were plastered everywhere. The idea of the concert band, or the concert choir, or the full-orchestra, or the dance company, or the full ensemble versus the individual being the focus of the arts curriculum has permeated our thinking for years. Yes, the full ensemble is important. Yet, it is the individual musician/performer who is ultimately the primary core contributor in any ensemble.
When the individual student performers improve, the entire ensemble will improve. Many performing-ensemble directors forget that our licensure is in the field of music education, which involves teaching students how to learn music—not just perform it. It is the individual student and their development as a person, learner, and musician that makes any program successful.
If we define our role of band director, choral conductor, or orchestra conductor as fixers of notes and rhythms in search of a clean performance, we're going to find ourselves not meeting our students' needs this school year. The trauma our students experienced during months of not engaging in a formal educational setting—and the numerous disruptions all of us have had to navigate—demand a different approach to make music education relevant to our students. We've always taught students to be resilient in our performing ensembles. Now, we need to help them be resilient at the individual level for the greater good of music education.
When performance is restricted, many music educators become concerned about what they will accomplish in their learning spaces. However, the pandemic has broadened our point of view beyond "just performing" and has provided the possibility of more equally aligning the remaining standards. This realignment could potentially allow students to individually fall in love with music in a new way. The challenge is how to build relationships with students when we're not able to meet in person.
Creating a Path to Performance
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is a skill-based approach that can help navigate this transition by building students' self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness, relationship-management, and responsible decision-making skills (simplified to the three goals of: self, others, and decisions). SEL enables us to respond to challenges instead of just reacting to them. Music is inherently emotional. It makes us feel. Music is social. It has always been a rallying call for human beings. It is essential that music teachers capitalize on the connections between SEL and music. They are our secret weapons with the superpowers our students need—SEL and music education—now more than ever!
For SEL to be effective in teaching students the life skills needed to navigate their world after they leave our music classrooms, it must be embedded into curricular content. For us, as music educators, it must be musical. We must make SEL intentional and meaningful; it does not "just happen," and we cannot rely on the inherent fertile ground and potential that music education provides to teach our students these skills. If we are relying on music to latently teach these skills instead of music educators intentionally embedding SEL into their work, we will miss a great opportunity. SEL is not another box we need to check or another item we need to squeeze into our time with students. When done well, Musical SEL (MSEL) should feel like great music teaching. If it feels like SEL is distracting us from teaching music, then we are not doing it optimally nor maximizing the true power of music.
Unpacking Voice and Choice
Two central thoughts are at the heart of SEL when troubleshooting this concern. We need to honor our students' voices.
Maybe we haven't provided a space to amplify their voice and vision as much as we should have in the past. However, now we can ask students what they want out of their musical education. What can they bring to the table? What can they do to help our programs thrive? Then, we need to give them choices. Our students, while highly effective at working well within our programs, generally do not have a lot of choices. If we can start to unpack voice and choice, then our students will still have the ownership and pride we have come to develop as an entire ensemble. Students will be energized and inspired to contribute productively to our programs by building relationships in more individualized ways.
Aligning with the Standards
How can we use SEL to align our curricula with music standards (when performing is restricted) and allow students to have a voice and choice in our program? Consider these strategies:
Use the essential questions from the national music standards to form lessons, produce writing prompts for reflection, or facilitate significant discussions with students:
- How do musicians generate creative ideas?
- How do musicians make creative decisions?
- How do musicians improve the quality of their creative work?
- When is creative work ready to share?
Understand how students are responding to music during a global pandemic, a social justice movement, and an evolution in education. Their responses to music are often informed by analyzing the social, cultural, and historical context. Ask students to elaborate on the following prompts:
- Explain what music you have chosen to listen to or perform recently.
- Identify reasons for selecting this music.
- Interpret the expressive nature of this music.
- Identify the effect the music is having on you.
- Identify music that is the theme song for a social justice issue you are passionate about.
Make meaningful connections to real-life scenarios. Many authors, composers, and performers have admitted to experiencing writing/performance block during the pandemic. They have shared the reasons for this; how they have overcome it; and the motivation that has inspired them to write, compose, or perform again. Invite these artists into your learning space (face-to-face, virtually, or through a recording) to share their personal interests, experiences, ideas, and knowledge of creating, performing, and responding. Allow your students to ask questions to these artists. Then, ask your students how they can relate through their discipline, experiences, and daily life. (See _URL_ for more ideas to intermix SEL and the National Core Arts Standards.)
Embedding SEL into the Musical Curriculum
Darlene Machacon, an elementary music teacher and chorus director at Garden Grove Unified School District in Garden Grove, California, whose school began the academic year with 100 percent virtual instruction, says, "It is essential that SEL is not practiced just because it is the trend in education. We must be actively critical about how it is implemented with our specific students' cultures."
Machacon says teachers must aim to be culturally responsive and anti-racist in their approaches of SEL and that strategies should be implemented with what is best for students and families. "The challenges can be one's initial mindset," she says. "We prioritize what we want to make time for. The challenge is eliminating the mindset that our classrooms are only about music and nothing else."
Jonathan Grantham, director of bands at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, California, states, "It is critical that music educators understand that they are already building SEL bridges regularly in their classrooms. Allowing teachers to align what they are already doing through an intentional SEL lens will help to allay stresses that this is just another fad to follow or program to adopt."
Grantham, whose school also began the academic year virtually, reminds us that teachers are busy, and so a strong entry point for engagement is to start with what is already being done. "Remember to breathe," he says. Graham points out that we don't have to meet all the usual expectations and targets in our classrooms to make the time we have valuable. "Relationships will take longer to build virtually. Be patient with how much longer things take. It's really helpful to remember that we have more control than we think."
"Relationships will take longer to build virtually. Be patient with how much longer things take. It's really helpful to remember that we have more control than we think."—Jonathan Grantham
Bobby Olson, choir director at Round Lake High School in Round Lake, Illinois, says, "I've found


Forward time machine
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Forward time machine
Forward Time Machine.png
TypeTime machine
InventorProfessor Farnsworth
The forward time machine is a time machine invented by Professor Farnsworth. It is able to go forwards in time, but is unable to travel backwards. The Professor, along with Fry and Bender were originally supposed to test drive the machine by going forward one minute into the future. However, they accidentally end up going forward 6,990 years and are forced to use the machine to keep going forward to try and find a time wherein mankind has invented a backwards time machine. Eventually they reach the end of the world and decide to proceed forward to the end of the universe itself.
To their surprise, they discover that time runs in a repeating loop as after the universe ends, a 2nd Big Bang occurs and an identical universe is created. They proceed to travel forward to the year 3010, but miss it the first time and are forced to circle around again. Finally, after time traveling the entire length of existence again, they make it "back" to 3010. Though the 'new' universe is apparently 10' higher than the original one and the time machine materializes above the new timeline's Professor, Fry and Bender, squashing them beneath it as it falls to the ground and thus eliminating the paradox of time travel duplicates.
Additional info
 - There are now two forward time machines in the current universe.
 - It has enough power to go forward in time to the end of the universe at least twice.
 - It is possibly indestructible, seeing how it survived the destruction of the universe and the Big Bang twice.
 - It can travel forward in time in the fourth dimension.
 - Its design is based off of the description of the time machine in the novel by H. G. Wells.
 Farnsworth: Behold, a time-traveling machine!
 Bender: Time?! I can't go back there!
 Farnsworth: Ah, but this machine only goes forward in time, so you won't be able to change history or do something disgusting like sleep with your own grandmother.
 Fry: I wouldn't wanna do that again.
See also


Question: What Is The Requirements Gathering Process?
How do you conduct a requirement gathering session?
10 Steps to Organize and Facilitate a Successful Requirements Gathering and Elicitation MeetingDefine the purpose, goals, and objectives of the meeting.
Determine who should attend the meeting.
Create a detailed agenda for the meeting.
Determine the appropriate time length of the meeting.More items…•.
What is meant by requirements gathering?
Primarily done during stakeholder meetings, requirements gathering is the exploratory process of researching and documenting project requirements.
What questions to ask during requirements gathering?
Just like a good story, requirements will answer all the important questions….Where requirements questionsWhere does the process start?Where would the user access this feature?Where would the user be located physically when using this feature?Where would the results be visible?
What are the three main categories of requirements?
Note that requirements are considered prior to the development of the software. The requirements, which are commonly considered, are classified into three categories, namely, functional requirements, non-functional requirements, and domain requirements.
Who is responsible for requirements in agile?
Customer IS responsible for requirements; however, it is the company's responsibility to organize them and translate into a technical language. Agility of development is a must in the current subset; therefore, make sure that customer gets to see and approve every step of the development (working prototypes).
What is requirement gathering and its purpose?
Requirements gathering is an exploratory process that involves researching and documenting the project's exact requirements from start to finish. Effective requirements gathering and requirements management start at the beginning of the project.
Who is responsible for requirements gathering?
The first and basic phase of software development life cycle is requirements gathering. They give clear, concise and agreed set of customer requirements that the software should provide. Business analyst and subject experts are responsible for requirement gathering process.
What comes after requirements gathering?
Requirement gathering is part of Business Analysis and goes through the following stages:Requirements Gathering.Requirements Elicitation.Requirements Management Plan.Requirements Analysis.Requirements Traceability.Change Control.
Why is requirements gathering important?
The purpose of requirements gathering is to collect as many known requirements as possible. The process of requirements gathering is both critical and difficult (Phillips 2000). … The results of this process are a common understanding among the project stakeholders of the users' expressed needs.
What are requirement gathering tools?
These tools are helpful in eliciting better requirements and provide clarity to translating business processes into software solutions.Context diagram. … Functional decomposition. … Use case diagram. … Sequence diagram. … AS-IS and TO-BE process model. … Mind maps.
How do you estimate requirements gathering?
Five Tips for Estimating RequirementsBreak the effort into manageable pieces. We can estimate a whole lot better when our business analysis phase(s) are small. … Choose your approach. … Use a variety of estimating techniques. … Brainstorm. … Identify all the deliverables/artifacts.
What are the five stages of requirement gathering?
To help clients and developers manage the process of requirements gathering, we recommend these 5 steps:Step 1: Understand Pain Behind The Requirement. … Step 2: Eliminate Language Ambiguity. … Step 3: Identify Corner Cases. … Step 4: Write User Stories. … Step 5: Create a Definition Of "Done"
What are the types of REQ gathering?
Requirement Gathering TechniquesBrainstorming. Brainstorming is used in requirement gathering to get as many ideas as possible from group of people. … Document Analysis. … Focus Group. … Interface analysis. … Interview. … Observation. … Prototyping. … Requirement Workshops.More items…
What are the six steps for requirements engineering?
Below is a list of the basic six (6) steps of requirements development….Requirements DevelopmentStep 1: Develop Requirements. … Step 2: Write and Document Requirements. … Step 3: Check Completeness. … Step 4: Analyze, Refine, and Decompose Requirements. … Step 5: Validate Requirements. … Step 6: Manage Requirements.
How do you write requirements?
How to Write an Exceptionally Clear Requirements DocumentUse a (Good) Requirements Document Template.Organize in a Hierarchical Structure.Use Identifiers to Your Advantage.Standardize Your Requirements Document Language.Be Consistent with Imperatives.Make Sure Each Requirement is Testable.Write Functional Requirements to be Implementation-Neutral.More items…•
How do you identify requirements?
How to Find Out Business RequirementsIdentify Key Stakeholders. Identify the key people who will be affected by the project. … Capture Stakeholder Requirements. … Categorize Requirements. … Interpret and Record Requirements.


Worksheet 1: Review: Kinds of Words
By using this activity, learners identify nouns, verbs, adjectives, articles and prepositions. Budding grammarians fill in a 24-question chart in which they use the sentences given to categorize the words.
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Classroom Considerations


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file_exists() and file_get_contents() fail on a file which is named output‹ÕÍÕ¥.txt (as an example), although I know it exists?
I'm guessing its got something to do with the special characters within the file name?.
So was wondering whats a workaround?
Appreciate all responses.
Please note, if your thinking why not simply change the file name? - I can't as the file name is generated generically, and to change the file name will be mean using PHP's file functions (which don't seem to allow special characters within the file name args - unless I've misinterpreted/misunderstood anything).
I'm using PHP 5.2 on Windows.
share|improve this question
Did you have a look at stackoverflow.com/questions/_PHONE_/…? – sdolgy Jul 9 '11 at 13:07
_USER_: There is no need to shell escape for file_exists and the like AFAIK. – hakre Jul 9 '11 at 13:13
_USER_: How do you get the file-name? – hakre Jul 9 '11 at 13:13
1 Answer 1
Ensure that the encoding of the file-system is the same as the encoding of the string that contains the file-name in your PHP code.
Otherwise you're testing for the wrong file to exist.
For example, if your file-system does not support UTF-8 but the file-name is encoded in UTF-8.
So you have commented that the filename is in UTF-8 and you're using windows.
That's exactly the point my answer was about. As written here:
Bad news for Windows Users: Windows filesystems (FAT, FAT32, NTFS) are not UTF-8 aware. Filenames are encoded in ISO-8859-1 or CP437/CP850/( or whatever suits your language) depending on filesystem and localisation. So you will probably get in trouble trying to match filenames from database to filesystem if you follow this guide. (Although I've never tried it.)
Windows workaround: Modern windows versions support UTF-8 on mounted shares. Make a share of your mediafolder and mount it as a network drive.
So either make a share or encode the filename in the encoding that actually works with your filesystem. This is not a bug in PHP. You're just no checking for the right file-name, that's all.
Assuming you have NTFS which might accept UTF-16 (which is not really precise AFAIK, but you can give it a try), you could convert the UTF-8 filename into an UTF-16 fiĺename:
$name = mb_convert_encoding($name, 'UTF-16', 'UTF-8');
And then try if file_exists works. Keep in mind that his might not be technically correct, and you might have an additional encoding issue which prevents you from correct use even with this re-encoding.
Related: What encoding are filenames in NTFS stored as?
share|improve this answer
Well according to mb_detect_encoding() the file-name is UTF-8...after some googling I came accross the following bug: _URL_.php?id=46990? so if thats the case then instead of using file-system functions directly could I use exec() (or alike) to rename the file to a file-name in which the file-system functions accept? – newbtophp Jul 9 '11 at 14:16
_USER_: Err, that's exactly the point: Your windows does not support UTF-8 file-names most obviously. And that's not a bug in PHP after all. You'll notice that, if you pass that over to the shell as well. Edited the question for more clarity. You need to take care yourself having the right file-name. – hakre Jul 9 '11 at 14:28
Your Answer


Envelope generators—ADSR Part 1
After discussing the exponential decay of the one-pole filter in a recent article, I couldn't help but think about envelope generators. Besides, it would be handy to have one to test out some of these other components I've been writing about.
The staple of analog synthesizers is the ADSR envelope generator. Sure, when creating an envelope computationally, we don't have the limitations of hardware, so we could make envelopes of unlimited complexity. But the abundance of "virtual analog" plug-ins attest to the fact that the simple ADSR is a very effective design—and mandatory if we're simulating most vintage gear. And it's more manageable to explain how to make an ADSR, and let you take it from there if you wish.
States and gates
Envelope generators are defined by their states. Typically, an envelope generator of a synthesizer at rest is in an idle state, outputting zero level. When you press a key, it raises a gate to the "on" state, triggering the envelope generator into its initial attack state. The output of the envelope generator begins to rise at an attack rate determined by a user control. As long as the key remains down, keeping the gate "on", the envelope rises until it reaches its maximum output. At that time, it switches to the decay state, and moves towards the user-defined sustain level (set anywhere from zero to maximum output) at the rate set by another user control. Upon reaching the sustain level, the envelope generator switches to the sustain state, and remains there as long as the key is held. Once the key is released and the gate changes to "off", the envelope generator switches to the release state, and begins moving towards zero at the rate set by a fourth user control.
State Action
Idle do nothing (output remains at zero)
Attack continue increasing output at attack rate; if max is reached, change state to Decay
Decay continue reducing output at decay rate; if sustain level reached, change state to Sustain
Sustain do nothing (output remains at the sustain level)
Release continue reducing output at release rate; if zero is reached, change state to Idle
Note that the Idle and Sustain states have no exit rules. Moves out of these states are driven by a gate signal—driven by a synthesizer key press and release, typically, though the gate can be from a low frequency oscillator or step sequencer, for instance. Here are the additional state rules, driven by the gate transitions:
Gate transition Action
from "off" to "on" set state to Attack
from "on" to "off" if state is not Idle, then set state to Release
Some envelope generators—more often of the software variety than hardware—have attack, decay, and release segments that rise or fall in a straight line. But hardware envelope generators use exponential segments, typically. The exponential moves come from the charging and discharging of capacitors with current limited by resistors—one-pole filters, basically. Besides being easy to design with simple transistors, resistors, and capacitors, the exponential segments work especially well for amplitude envelopes, since we hear on a log scale (the exponential control against the log response makes the volume changes sound linear with respect to loudness).
Let's take a look at how this works in our one-pole filter. You can view a one-pole filter as simply feeding back a percentage of the previous output, with the percentage value controlling the rate of the resulting exponential curve.
A simple AR envelope generator
To get the leanest view of how an envelope generator works, let's start with the simplest. Synthesizers generate gate signals, typically, when a key is pressed—the gate starts at 0v with no keys down, jumps to 1v when a key is pressed, and back to 0v when the key is released. If we use that as the control signal to our VCA, we'd have an organ-like instant on and off—not very flexible.
But if we route that into a one-pole filter—a resistor feeding a capacitor to ground—the processed gate would ramp up and down with an exponentially-shaped curve, at a rate depending on the resistor and capacity values multiplied together. (Since it's more difficult and costly to make variable capacitors, we use a fixed capacitor and a variable resistor.) Here's a circuit simulation of this basic AR (Attack-Release) envelope generator:
one-pole ckt
one-pole ckt step
This generator is just as simple in software—a gate that toggles from 0 to 1, fed into a one-pole filter, which is a delay and a multiplier taking the place of a capacitor and resistor. Here's an iterative simulation done in a spreadsheet, using a feedback value calculated to be equivalent to the capacitor and resistor values shown in the circuit:
AR calc
Next: ADSR
But the AR isn't a very flexible envelope generator—it's a simple shape, and a single control value sets both attack and decay times. It would be useful for flute-type sounds, but not for guitar, for instance. For guitar, we'd like a fast attack, a slow decay, and a quick release. For that kind of complexity, we need a more elaborate circuit, with transistors to switch in difference resistances and target levels for capacitor charging.
Next up, we'll delve into the specifics of an ADSR envelope generator in software.
This entry was posted in Envelope Generators, IIR Filters, Synthesizers. Bookmark the permalink.
1 Response to Envelope generators—ADSR Part 1
 1. Hello,
 there are at lot of ADSR circuits developed by synthesizer manufacturer in the 60s, 70s and later. Moreover hobbyists designed ADSR-generators. Apparently a standard for ADSR-signals doesn't exist.
Leave a Reply


Volume Snapshots
Volume snapshots are immutable, point-in-time images of the contents of one or more volumes.
FlashArray User Guide.
All Pure Storage® FlashArray devices support volume snapshots. Because of the innovative technology used to implement the volume snapshots, snapshot creation and its lifecycle management does not impact an array's performance. Generally snapshots are classified as crash consistent or application consistent. Crash consistent snapshots preserve the data at the moment of snapshot but without the application awareness that snapshot is created. It is conceivable that open files will not be properly protected with a crash consistent snapshot. Application consistent snapshots ensure that all pending transactions and file system operations are completed at the time the snapshot is created. Application consistent snapshots provide reliable means of full data recovery.
MongoDB Replica Sets
MongoDB has been designed and developed with high availability features which are provided by replica sets. A replica set duplicates database data across all replica set members. At a minimum, three servers are required to configure the replica set. One of the replica set members serves as a primary with two or more secondaries (slaves). By default, the primary replica set member is responsible for read and write database operations. In the event of a primary failure, the remaining members elect a new primary. MongoDB 4.0 supports up to fifty nodes in a replica set with seven members participating in the primary member election. Besides high availability, the replica set model provides great flexibility in situations where software and hardware updates are required. Nodes can be safely evacuated from a replica set without impacting database performance and availability. Moreover, delayed replica set members can be utilized for a database point in time recovery operations or backups. Replica set members can be geographically dispersed and located in different data centers. An example of a five node MongoDB replica set is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Taking Advantage Of FlashArray Data Services With MongoDB
In most cases, MongoDB replica sets have been deployed on servers with Direct-Attached Storage (DAS). While using servers with DAS offers some benefits, there are also many challenges associated with this deployment model such as lack of integrated data services (data reduction and snapshots). The benefits of FlashArray data reduction are covered in MongoDB: (Disk) Space The Final Frontier blog. To determine how volume snapshots can benefit MongoDB FlashArray deployments, let us examine the replica set member failure or scheduled maintenance activity and corresponding recovery scenario. In a MongoDB replica set, the primary node maintains oplog (operations log) which is a rolling record of all inserts and updates. Secondary nodes also posses the oplog copy which is asynchronously updated from the primary. If the secondary node is unavailable for an extended period of time, the oplog on the primary may be overwritten without being duplicated to the secondary. Once the oplog has been overwritten or the disk subsystem on the failed node has been corrupted or lost, content of the entire database must be copied from another surviving node. This process, depending on the size of the database, workload and the network throughout can be time consuming. During the replication process, MongoDB replica set is at higher risk of failure should another node or nodes malfunction.
This risk can be easily reduced or mitigated if MongoDB data files are stored on FlashArray. By utilizing volume snapshots, the failed node may be recovered much faster than copying database files across the network. The possible MongoDB replica set with a FlashArray deployment is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2.
MongoDB Replica Set Node Recovery Using FlashArray Snapshots
By utilizing MongoDB's replica set high availability features and FlashArray snapshots, the failed node recovery process is simple and efficient. The steps outlined below provide a general MongoDB replica set node recovery guidelines where database disks (dbpath) are located on FlashArray volumes. See Figure 3 (animated).
 1. Secondary Replica Set Member B: down for maintenance or failed
 2. Secondary Replica Set Member A: flush writes to disk and lock the database (db.fsyncLock())
 3. FlashArray: Snapshot database volume or volumes connected to Secondary Replica Set Member A locked in step 1 (purevol snap)
 4. Secondary Replica Set Member A: Unlock the database locked in step 1 (db.fsyncUnlock())
 5. FlashArray: Copy snapshot to volume/volumes or overwrite from snapshot existing volume/volumes which are connected to the recovering node (purevol copy)
 6. Secondary Replica Set Member B: Start mongod process on the recovering node (/usr/bin/mongod)
 7. Verify the replica set status (rs.status() and rs.printSlaveReplicationInfo())
Note: If the volume snapshot (step 3) is not required for longer term retention, volume copy with overwrite option (purevol copy –overwrite) may be executed eliminating step 5.
Figure 3 (animated).
Replica Set Secondary Node Recovery Test
The criterion for successful recovery was when the tested node reached the SECONDARY state. The node status can be obtained by executing rs.status() command.
In Pure Storage lab, the recovery of a 230 GB idle (no workload) database on the secondary replica set member with an empty dbpath (no database files) using MongoDB replication mechanism took approximately eighteen minutes. Recovering the same secondary node using FlashArray snapshots completed in less than a minute after starting mongod process.
Repeating the same test scenario with database under load (50% reads 50% updates) the recovery time on node with an empty file system (dbpath) took approximately twenty five minutes. Restoring identical node with FlashArray snapshot, the node state change from STARTUP2 to SECONDARY occurred in less than a minute. See table below.
MongoDB Replication FlashArray Snapshot Improvement
No Workload 18 minutes 1 minute 18x
Workload (50%reads 50% updates)
25 minutes 1 minute 25x
All data services such as snapshot, Snap to NFS, CloudSnap, data reduction, synchronous and asynchronous replication are included with all FlashArray models. By taking advantage of volume snapshots, MongoDB replica set instances can be quickly recovered reducing the node downtime and without increasing the network congestion and bandwidth requirements. Furthermore, adding a new replica set node will be also greatly simplified and significantly faster than native MongoDB replication.
As an additional benefit, utilizing Snap to NFS or Purity CloudSnap™ and MongoDB delayed replica set members, FlashArray volume snapshots can be offloaded to another media providing convenient and inexpensive (lower storage cost) means of maintaining multiple point in time database recovery options.


Middle schoolers pass out after taking drugs
OKLAHOMA CITY -- School officials say two 8th graders at Webster Middle School showed up at school under the influence of drugs Thursday morning.
Oklahoma City Schools Spokesperson Tierney Tinnin said, "One student passed out in the hallway and then a few minutes later we had the other one pass out in class."
EMSA paramedics rushed to the scene.
When the students regained consciousness, they told officials, they used a dangerous combination of marijuana and Xanax before coming to school.
Both were taken to an area hospital.
EMSA Field Operations Supervisor Colin Roy said parents need to know the physical signs of drug use.
"A change in sleep patterns, unclear speech pattern and appearing more groggy are all signs. Also heavier eyes, slower breathing and slower movement are also warning signs."
There is no word on the condition of those students but school administrators said both were conscious when EMSA medics transported them to the hospital.


text:
Aside from the cultural education we received while in the States, the interns learned a great deal about the American political process, as well as the political culture.
There were two differences between Ontario and Colorado that I found of particular interest because they indicated not only procedural differences but also a difference in political culture. Colorado has a system that is more akin to direct democracy than representative democracy. Citizens of Colorado, if they collect the appropriate amount of signatures on a petition (on the order of 150,000) can propose citizen legislation. Ontarians, on the other hand, cannot directly propose legislation in this way. Another interesting difference between these two states: any piece of legislation that affects taxes (either increase or decrease), must go on the ballot at the next election. In other words, every tax change is a referendum issue that must be directly decided by the people. Both these examples show that the people of Colorado feel that they are entitled to have a significant role in affecting legislation, should they feel an issue important enough to bring to the attention of their legislators.
The other most interesting difference between the Ontario legislature and the American model was the role of the legislators. America has a bicameral system at both the federal and state level: there are senators and legislators at both levels of government. Furthermore, the legislators in Colorado and Nashville are part-time, have term limits and are paid significantly less than our Ontario MPPs. This leads to a difference in how business is conducted in the legislatures—there is more emphasis on conducting the business of the House, because there is such a limited time in the Legislature during a session.
All these observations discussed demonstrate that the OLIP trip was very educational and informative as to the political differences between Ontario, Colorado and Tennessee.


text:
When you open Microsoft Dynamics CRM or Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Office Outlook, you are prompted for your user name and password.
This issue occurs when one of the following conditions is true:
- The Prompt for user name and password option is enabled in Microsoft Internet Explorer.
- Your computer is running, and the user name and the password for the Microsoft CRM Web site is stored on your computer.
- Members of the Domain Users group do not have access to the C:\Windows\Temp folder on the Microsoft CRM server.
- The Microsoft CRM Web site is not added to the list of local intranet sites in Internet Explorer.
- The Integrated Windows Authentication check box is not selected in Internet Explorer.
- You are using a proxy server for the LAN settings in Internet Explorer.
To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods:
Modify the security settings in Internet Explorer
To modify the security settings in Internet Explorer, follow these steps:
- Start Internet Explorer.
- Click Tools, click Internet Options, and then click the Security tab.
- If your computer is connected to the Internet, click Internet, and then click Custom Level.
If your computer is connected only to a local intranet, click Local Intranet, and then click Custom Level.
- In the Security Settings dialog box, make sure that Automatic logon with current username and password is enabled under User Authentication.
- Click OK two times.


159 Word Search Generator
A word search puzzle presents a grid of seemingly random letters and a list of words. The goal of the puzzle is to find and mark all the words from the list hidden within the grid, searching along straight lines (horizontal, vertical and diagonal).
Your task for this week's quiz is to write a Ruby program that generates word search puzzles, given a list of words and the desired width and height for the puzzle. A call to the script will look like this:
genpuzzle.rb words.txt 6x8
The first argument is the list of words, one word per line in a text file. The second argument is the dimensions of the puzzle, width by height.
Your program should output two files. The first file, search.txt, should contain the puzzle itself. All characters should be separated by spaces to allow the puzzle solver room to mark found words. As an example, here is a 6x8 puzzle containing the words from "zero" to "nine".
e a e g g w
e e n i n t
r n o h h f
h q e g i r
t z i v u q
o e e o e l
w r f g e s
t o u s i x
The second file, solution.txt, should contain the same puzzle with the answers marked, like this:
e. e...
| |
e e-n-i-n t
| | /
r n o. h f
| \ / /
h. e g i r
| X / /
t z i v u.
|/ / X
o e e o e.
| | / \
w r f.. s
| |
t o. s-i-x
Adam Shelly was our sole submission this week, so we are going to take a look at his solution to the quiz.
Adam's first bit of code is a simple class, CrossWord:
class CrossWord
 attr_accessor :word, :place, :dir
 def initialize w
 def unplaced?
This class maintains information about each word to be placed into the puzzle, including the word itself but also the direction and placement. The rest of the code works with this class rather than with raw strings.
Let's jump for a moment to the main code.
gridsize = ARGV[1].split('x').map{|v|v.to_i}
g = CharGrid.new *gridsize
puts "unsolvable!" or exit if (words[0].size>gridsize.max)
g.fill words
File.open("search.txt","w"){|f|f.puts g.to_s}
File.open("solution.txt","w"){|f|f.puts g.solution}
Most of this should be fairly obvious work. The dimensions (e.g. "24x20") are retrieved from the second command-line argument, split over the 'x' and converted to integers. These dimensions are then used to construct a new CharGrid object (which will be examined shortly).
The search words are read from the provided file and sorted from longest to shortest. Presumably, the intent here is to place the longest words into the puzzle first; the shortest (and more easily placed) words are placed last.
A quick sanity check is done by comparing the length of the longest word against the longest dimension of the grid. If the word is longer, a puzzle would be impossible to generate. Adam uses a neat, if perhaps confusing, technique to alert the user and exit out. To understand how it works, I had to parenthesize according to operator precedence:
((puts "unsolvable!") or exit) if (words[0].size > gridsize.max)
Now, realizing that the puts statement returns nil, this made sense. So, while this construct both outputs the warning message and exits the program, this might have been clearer:
if (words[0].size > gridsize.max)
 puts "unsolvable!"
Getting back to Adam's main code, the words – now sorted and checked – are handed off to the grid's fill method, which does the bulk of the work. Once done, the final step is to output the two text files as requested, the puzzle itself using the to_s method, and the solution via the solution method.
Most of Adam's code lives in the CharGrid class. The main algorithm is found in the fill method:
def fill words
 iterations = 0
 _USER_ = words.map{|w| CrossWord.new(w)}
 words_todo = _USER_.select{|w|w.unplaced?}
The master list of all words is kept in _USER_, which, as mentioned earlier, is converted and kept as CrossWord instances rather than raw strings). Then Adam loops until his words_todo array is empty. For the first iteration of the loop, this array contains all of the words sorted from longest to shortest.
 until words_todo.empty?
 words_todo.each{|cw| place cw }
The first step is an attempt to place all of the words that have not yet been placed into the puzzle. We'll come back to the place method in a bit.
 words_todo = _USER_.select{|w|w.unplaced?}.sort_by{rand}
Adam reevaluates what words still remain to be placed. Unlike before, where words were sorted from longest to shortest (in an attempt to place the more complex words first), remaining words are now randomized. I imagine this is an attempt to add a bit of chaos where order (i.e. word length) failed, but I question how much of a benefit this is, considering words are placed within the word grid mostly at random.
 if (iterations+=1) %(_USER_+_USER_)==0
 _TAG_ we are getting stuck, try removing some words
 puts "#{togo = words_todo.size} to go..."
 words_done = (_USER_-words_todo).sort_by{rand}
 (togo*2).times{|i| words_todo<< remove(words_done[i]) if words_done[i]}
As per Adam's comment, if the loop continues for a long while without placing all the words in our list, some words are put back into the todo list. togo indicates how many words are currently unplaced, and twice as many are removed from the puzzle and put back into the words_todo list. The hope here is that, when the next loop iteration begins, the code will attempt to place the words remaining, in a location and orientation that differs from prior iterations of the loop.
Let's look at the place method next:
def place cw
 startpt = find_overlap(cw, otherword)
 return if test_place(cw, startpt)
In an effort do provide an interesting puzzle, where words overlap frequently, the word to be placed is checked against all of the other words in random order. If the word is successfully placed, test_place returns a non-false value and the function exits.
def findoverlap cw, testword return nil if testword.unplaced? if (offset = testword.word.index cw.word0) startpt = testword.place offset.times{startpt=nextp(startpt,testword.dir)} else startpt = nil end startpt end
find_overlap determines if the first character of the word to be placed can be found in another, already placed word. If so, the location of that character in the grid is determined by walking along testword using nextp, which calculates the next grid index in a given direction. That index is returned, or nil if the character is not found.
This is certainly a good first step in trying to overlap words, though I think more work needs to be done to create an interesting word search puzzle… but I'll come back to that at the end of this summary.
def test_place cw, suggestion=nil
 start= suggestion || randStart(cw.word[0])
Calling test_place attempts to place the supplied word. A random direction and starting point are chosen; the latter is random if no suggestion was made by find_overlap (i.e. there were no characters in common between the two compared words).
 8.times do
 pt = start
 good = true
The loop will attempt all eight directions to place the word from the starting location (but will exit the function as soon as the first good direction is found).
 good = (_USER_[pt]==?. || _USER_[pt]==chr) && (pt=nextp(pt,dir))
 break unless good
Looking at each character of the word to place, and the corresponding grid spaces, we determine if each character either fills in an empty grid space (currently occupied by periods?.) or matches existing grid characters. As long as all characters of the word fulfill this criteria, the variable good remains true.
 return add(cw, start, dir) if good
After examining the whole word, a true value for good indicates that the word fits into the grid and can be placed. The add method accomplishes this, and we exit test_place early, now that we have actually placed the word.
Finishing the loop, the next direction is tried if the previous direction did not allow the word to fit. If no direction works, nil is returned, and the place method moves onto the next word.
That covers the bulk of the algorithm; the rest of the class is bookkeeping, filling in characters or removing them, checking directions, and more. I'm going to move onto looking at the output, however please take a look at Adam's code if you want to see in more detail how he manipulates the data.
Here now is the solution.txt output from one run of Adam's generator, using the word list provided earlier:
e-x-p-r-e-s-s-i-o-n v-i-r-t


text:
In 2002, WOREC conducted a situational analysis of violence and its impact on youth in Udayapur and Morang districts. One thousand eight hundred sixty-one youth between the ages of 14 and 25 were interviewed individually and sixty-eight focus group discussions were conducted. The findings demonstrated that youth in rural Nepal are subjected to varied forms of psychosocial violence, including receiving threats and humiliating remarks from family and non-family members, being ridiculed or pestered as being worthless and unsuccessful by family and non-family members, and allegations of being 'charitrahin', (of bad character, particularly in relation to sexual orientation) for girls. Moreover, youth are also very aware of the types, causes and effects of such violence, and many feel that violence is the most effective way of expressing frustration or resolving conflicts.
This report provides useful information to organizations and individuals engaged in the prevention of violence against women, children, youth and adolescents, and the recommendations of the study are useful for policy and program formulation in reducing the extent and level of violence against women, children, youth and adolescents.
For a copy of this report, or for more information, contact WOREC at _EMAIL_.


text:
Our students are, in many ways, like puzzles. Almost all are born with the "pieces" needed to sustain lifelong motivational tendencies. Many grow up in environments that enhance these tendencies. The puzzle pieces are fitted together by supportive people and circumstances.
Others, however, spend their childhood years in conditions that actually thwart natural desires to grow and achieve. Their "puzzle pieces" become misshapen and no longer "fit."
There are many, many factors that can have a damaging effect on growth and achievement needs. For example, youngsters who are criticized repeatedly for making mistakes often become unwilling to accept challenges. They actually learn to be helpless. One simple strategy that teachers can use to combat the effects of learned helplessness is to require students to add the word "yet" to their negative statements. For example, if a student says "I can't do this," require her to say "I can't do this … yet." Another strategy is to help students to recognize their growth by pointing out to them things they can do now that they couldn't do a week or a month ago.
We don't have space here to discuss the many additional puzzle pieces covered during our workshop on motivation, but simple steps such as those mentioned above ultimately can create the greatest motivational factor of all – that of knowing that someone cares.
(For more information on learned helplessness, read the research of Martin E.P. Seligman from the University of Pennsylvania.)


Do Bones Burn During Cremation?
By Staff WriterLast Updated Mar 28, 2020 1:30:38 AM ET
During the cremation process, bones are only partially burned and not completely destroyed. The process involves subjecting the remains to intense flame and heat, during which all organic matter is consumed.
The cremation process leaves behind certain bone fragments. After the remains are removed from the cremation chamber, a magnet removes any metal that was inside the body, such as implants and dental fixtures. The remaining bone fragments are then processed into fine particles and placed into a container. The cremation process generally takes about three hours and entails a careful labelling system to ensure that the remains are properly identified through the entire process.


text:
If you're interested in solutions to the Liar, I assume you know what it is, so I'll be quick with the explanation. "This sentence is false" – is that sentence true or false? If it's true, then it's false, and if it's false, then it's true. Whoa!
The Liar is a serious problem for logicians and philosophers because it calls classical logic into question. The Liar does not go away unless we make some changes, either to the way that we refer to things, the way we understand truth, or to some laws of classical logic, such as the law of excluded middle or the law of non-contradiction.
There have been many proposed solutions to the problem, and I'll be doing a survey of them. I'll begin with the most tempting and popular solution: the argument that the Liar is (or should be considered) meaningless.
The solution comes in a few basic flavors, but they all hinge on the idea that the Liar is only a problem if it is in fact saying something. If it isn't – in other words, if it doesn't express a proposition (philosophy talk for "statement") – then it's just a bunch of words put together, like "mafpol govohav," or "the dog." In order for a sentence to be meaningful, it must have a subject – a thing it is about – and a predicate – something being said of that subject. The Liar, so the argument goes, has no subject.
At first glance, the sentence at least seems to be saying something. Its subject is the sentence itself – "This sentence is false" – and the predicate is "is false." The sentence refers to its subject by using the pronoun "this" – an "indexical" in philosophical parlance (it just means semantic pointer). But there is usually nothing problematic about sentences that refer to their subjects via indexicals.
One way to argue for this solution is to say, simply, that cases of self-reference are semantically "empty." If all a proposition refers to is itself, then it's not really referring to anything. But why? If there's a sentence, and it refers to itself, why is that necessarily problematic? When I refer to myself, that isn't semantically "empty," I am referring – to myself. So self-reference generally isn't a problem. Why should the Liar's attempt at self-reference fail?
One answer to this objection is that the sentence refers to itself prior to its own utterance. That is, when I say, "This sentence is false," I say "this sentence" before I've finished saying the whole sentence, so I am referring to something that does not yet exist. But this is not a serious problem. Consider the sentence: "The word that comes 29 words after the end of this sentence will be the word 'true.'" Though there was no fact of the matter when I first wrote that sentence, by the time I finish this sentence that sentence will turn out to be true. There is generally no problem talking about things that have yet to occur. If they do occur, the sentence refers, if they don't, the sentence doesn't.
The most plausible argument for the idea that the Liar fails to refer goes as follows: if there really is a subject, then we should be able to specify what the indexical points to (its referent). If what it points to is also a proposition that refers via an indexical, we ought to be able to follow that indexical to its referent as well. This process of indexical-specification should bottom out at something definite. If it doesn't – if it leads us down an infinite regress or a semantic loop of indexical subjects – then the original sentence fails to refer. This is what happens with the Liar.
This argument, as stated, lacks justification. What does "this sentence is false" refer to? "This sentence is false." What happens when you try to specify the indexical within that referent? Answer: who cares? All you need in order to qualify as a proposition is a subject and a predicate – you don't need to inquire further into the nature of the subject.
The fact that a subject is not perfectly specified does not challenge the meaningfulness of a sentence. If it did, the problem of vagueness would ensure that most of our sentences be meaningless. Consider "The mayor weighs 75 kilos." What does "the mayor" refer to? Is a drop of sweat on her body part of "the mayor"? What if that drop is in the process of evaporating? It is impossible to fully specify what exactly "the mayor" refers to. This does not make sentences about "the mayor" fail to refer. The requirement of complete subject specification is not only ad-hod, but also practically unworkable.
There is a more interesting justification for the specify-the-indexical argument, however. It's possible to say that we don't generally need to specify subjects, but we do need to in the special case of the Liar. This is because the subject is the (would-be) sentence, and whether the Liar is a sentence at all is the question at hand. You might look at it like this: if the Liar refers to "This sentence is false," then whether the Liar's subject is a sentence is the whole issue that we're examining.
The thing is, there's no way to follow this line of reasoning without question-begging one way or the other. Let's reimagine the Liar as follows: "there is some proposition such that this string of symbols expresses that proposition and that proposition is false." Does a proposition exist such that that proposition is expressed by the string of symbols in the quote? It would seem to be that there is; but if there is, that assumes that the string of symbols expresses a proposition. Now, let's say that there isn't. Then, the string of symbols doesn't say anything at all, so there's nothing else to ask. So we can assume that the Liar does express a proposition, or that it doesn't; nothing compels us one way or the other.
This leaves us with the task of stipulating whether the Liar's subject expresses a proposition. Since it so obviously seems to, why not stipulate that it does? After all, when strings of symbols appear to have subjects and predicates, don't we always assume that they express a proposition? Consider "The spoon is in my hand." Of course, we could stipulate that this isn't a sentence, in which case it would have no subject. But why would we do that? Of course it's a sentence, it has a subject and a predicate. The same seems to be true of the Liar, regardless of what else we might say about its subject.
You might still think that all this odd loopiness is reason enough to stipulate that the Liar doesn't express a proposition. There are, however, other very strong reasons not to consider the Liar meaningless. We'll explore those in part 2.


You are here
Cool Electronic Toy for Kids: Symphony in B. by B. Toys
Symphony in B.
Last week, Toca Band was selected as Screen Play's app of the week for the sheer fun of mixing and matching musical melodies and rhythms. If you'd like to give your child a similar musical experience in the real world (as opposed to the virtual one), Symphony in B. by B. Toys is a gem of a toy that kids of all ages will enjoy.
B. Toys is known for its innovative, colorful and highly interactive toys. I featured another one of its popular products last year – the Alphaberry. Symphony in B. is another hit and combines so many different learning experiences into one. Fashioned as an orchestra pit of sorts, the toy lets its users explore different sounds, lights and musical combinations.
Similar to the Toca Band app where players and instruments can be moved around to hear different effects, the 13 instruments that come with this toy do the same thing. Kids can place up to six instruments in the center and the sensors at the bottom immediately play whatever sounds that particular instrument makes. With 15 different songs to choose from and 13 instruments, the different combinations are limitless.
Buttons on the toy also designate which instruments are classified as percussion, woodwinds, brass, keyboard and strings. Maybe a concept a tad advanced for its youngest users, but great tidbits to know as kids learn more about instruments. In addition to forming an appreciation for music, the Symphony in B. also helps kids practice learning about colors and shapes when putting the instruments back into place.
B. Toys has created another masterpiece with the Symphony in B. Your little musical genius will love it.
To see how the toy works, check out this video demonstration.
Symphony in B. is available from for $49.99.