Is the Riemann zeta function surjective or does it miss one value?
The Riemann zeta function is surjective. First, $\zeta(1/z)$ is holomorphic in the punctured disk $0<|z|<1$. Looking at $z=(1/2+it)^{-1}$ with $t\to\infty$ reveals that $\zeta(1/z)$ has an essential singularity at $z=0$, hence $\zeta(s)$ misses at most one value. If $\zeta(s)=w$ then $\zeta(\overline{s})=\overline{w}$, hence $\zeta(s)$ can only miss a real value. However, $\zeta(s)$ maps the real interval $(1,\infty)$ onto $(1,\infty)$, and the real interval $(-2,1)$ onto $(-\infty,0)$. Also $\zeta(-19)>1$ and $\zeta(-18)=0$, hence $\zeta(s)$ maps $[-19,-18]$ onto a real interval that contains $[0,1]$. So $\zeta(s)$ does not miss any real value, and hence it does not miss any complex value.
$\zeta$ function has only one pole at $z=1$. It also has order $1$. If $\zeta$ omits $c\in C$ then $g:=1/(\zeta-c)$ is entire with one simple zero at $1$. As it is of order $1$, it must be $g(z)=(z-1)e^{az+b}$, by Hadamard's factorization theorem, so $$\zeta(z)=(z-1)^{-1}e^{-az-b}+c,$$ which is absurd.
The formula I wrote is the general form of a non-surjective meromorphic function of order $1$ with a single pole at $1$ and omitting $c$.
The reference on Hadamard's factorization theorem is any texbook on complex variables, for example Ahlfors, Complex Analysis, or Titchmarsh, Function Theory, or Whittaker Watson, or whatever you have.
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 $\begingroup$ Now that we have two solutions, we can ask ourselves, Which is more elementary: Picard's Great theorem or Hadamard's factorization? $\endgroup$ – Gerald Edgar May 18 '18 at 11:57
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 $\begingroup$ _USER_: Eremenko's proof is more to the point, and also more elementary, in my opinion. My proof is pretty ad hoc. $\endgroup$ – GH from MO May 18 '18 at 12:57
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 $\begingroup$ _USER_ Edgar: Picard's Great Theorem is probably more elementary then the general Hadamard's theorem (and it was proved earlier), but the special case of Hadamard's theorem that is used here is also quite simple. I only used the fact that an entire function without zeros is $e^g$, and has order one only if $g(z)=az+b$. $\endgroup$ – Alexandre Eremenko May 18 '18 at 13:19
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 $\begingroup$ This argument also shows that $\zeta$ takes any value infinitely many times. $\endgroup$ – Will Sawin May 20 '18 at 13:21
(Just a quick aside: the set of solutions to the equation $\zeta(s) = a$ when $a \neq 0$ are usually called the $a$-points of the Riemann zeta function in the literature, in case you want to look up the state of the art)
As Steve Huntsman mentions in a comment, it is indeed possible to use the universality of the zeta function to prove that $\zeta(s)$ is surjective with a simple argument based on Rouché's theorem.
In particular, let $U$ be a compact connected subset with a smooth boundary in the critical strip on which universality holds (for simplicity, let $U = \{ z \in \mathbb{C} : |z - 3/4| \leq 1/8 \}$), and let $f:U \to \mathbb{C}$ be a function holomorphic on $U$ (i.e. holomorphic in the interior, and continuous on the boundary) with the following properties:
 1. $f$ has no zeroes in $U$.
 2. There exists a $z \in U$ such that $f(z) = a$.
 3. For all $z \in \partial U$, $f(z) \neq a$.
As an example, for $U$ as above, one could take $f(z) = a + |a| (z-3/4)$.
Now note that 3 implies that there is an $m > 0$ such that $$m = \inf_{z \in \partial U} |f(z) - a|.$$
Pick $\epsilon > 0$ such that $\epsilon < m$. Then, due to 1, universality guarantees that there is a $t \geq 0$ such that $$ |\zeta(s+it) - f(s)| < \epsilon$$ for every $s \in U$. In particular, this inequality holds for every $s \in \partial U$. Thus, for every $s \in \partial U$, we have that
$$ |\zeta(s+it) - f(s)| < \epsilon < m \leq |f(s) - a|. $$
Thus, Rouché's theorem implies that $f(s) - a$ and $f(s) - a + \zeta(s+it) - f(s) = \zeta(s+it) - a$ have the same number of roots in the interior of $U$. Since $f$ has such a root, it follows that $\zeta$ has such a root as well, and we are done.
This argument is robust in a few ways. For one, it applies to other functions which exhibit universality (which is known for fairly widely classes of $L$-functions and other zeta-like families). For another, using more effective versions of Voronin's universality theorem can be used to give a lower bound for the number of $a$-points in a rectangle within the critical strip. For a third, this argument actually proves that there are simple $a$-points for every $a$.
This argument is probably classical, but I first saw it in a paper on simple $a$-points by Gonek, Lester and Milinovich.
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EMD Millipore Corporation Scientist I Research Solutions in Saint Louis, Missouri
A career with Company is an ongoing journey of discovery: our 57,000 people are shaping how the world lives, works and plays through next generation advancements in healthcare, life science and performance materials. For more than 350 years and across the world we have passionately pursued our curiosity to find novel and vibrant ways of enhancing the lives of others. Company is a business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Your role: At Company the Scientist I, Research Solutions will support the SMCtm Single-plex Assay Development Team. He/she will be working independently to develop immunoassays for use on Company SMCtm Immunoassay platform. This is a high-visibility, hands-on bench laboratory position that includes designing and performing experiments, analyzing resultant data, writing reports, and presenting results to peers within Company, academic partners, or corporate partners. Tasks will include, but are not limited to: assay feasibility, assay development, optimization, reagent formulation, guard band and stability studies, sample testing, verification and validation studies. Responsibilities: * Follow established assay development standard operating procedures SOPs in a fast-paced, high-energy environment. * Analysis of human specimens serum, plasma, CSF, tissue lysates, etc. for specific analytes using SMCtm or other immunoassay. * Plan and execute experiments that support investigations into new biomarker assays, including understanding potential interfering proteins and sourcing appropriate antibodies and reagents. * Critically analyze, summarize and report data generated from experiments, draw conclusions from experimental results, recommend and execute follow-up actions with consideration of prior experimental findings self and others with minimal supervision. Propose new investigations based on experimental findings. * Present data at Team meetings or to small focus groups that may include representatives from other departments and/or outside parties. Participate in and may lead brainstorming and troubleshooting sessions. May represent the Company in external relationships including communications with instrument manufacturers, suppliers of critical components, potential partners and evaluation sites. * Facilitate the transfer of developed assays to Manufacturing, including involvement in the completion and release of enabling documentation for newly developed assays by ensuring all relevant technical information is incorporated into the appropriate documents. * Maintain familiarity with current technology related information, literature and theories. Demonstrate scientific creativity and understanding of the principles, requirements and practices of immunoassay development. Conduct project related information searches, literature searches, and may be involved in review for project specifications and initiation. Contribute to scientific publications, posters and conferences, when appropriate May have to work non-standard hours; for example, second shift, some weekends as needed to meet deadlines. Who You Are: Minimum Qualifications: * Bachelor's degree in Microbiology, Immunology, Cell Biology, Biochemistry or other related Science Discipline with 3+ years' experience with immunoassay development and assay validation for biomarker assays or bioanalytical analysis, with experience in at least one of the following assay formats: magnetic particle e.g., Company ErennaR or Luminex platform, ECL, or ELISA or a Master's degree in Microbiology, Immunology, Cell Biology, Biochemistry or other related Biological Sciences discipline. Preferred Qualifications: * PhD with 3+ years' experience, Master's degree with 7+ years' experience or Bachelor's degree with 10+ years' industry experience in a regulated environment In-Vitro Diagnostic IVD immunoassay development experience * Experience with RT-PCR * Experience with Gate Review Product Development Process from Assay Development to Manufacturing/Operations desired * Pro


text:
A strangely colored beam pouring out a quadrillion watts of peak power spewing out subatomic particles juiced up by a ten-billion-electronic-volt laser plasma accelerator housed in a facility dubbed the "experimental cave?"
While it may sound like Dr. Frankenstein's lab, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) officials are calling it BELLA—short for Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator and not for that Lugosi guy who played Dracula, though he too lurked in dark, cavernous places.
To be built with the help of $20 million in funding from the Obama administration's American Resource and Recovery Act, the project is part of the lab's $115.8 million in Recovery Act funding awarded the lab in March by former LBNL director and now Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.
The total cost of the laser facility will be $28 million, with the balance of funding also coming from Department of Energy accounts.
Designed to replace vastly larger particle accelerators used in the study of the fundamental properties of matter, the research equipment will be housed in an existing structure, Building 71, on the northern edge of the lab's campus.
Construction of Building 71 was begun in 1957 to house the lab's Heavy Ion Linear Accelerator (HILAC), according to the environmental assessment released by the lab to cover the BELLA project.
The Department of Energy in 2007 listed the structure as eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places "because of the important role that the building had played in the nuclear physics and accelerator development" at the lab, according to the environmental assessment.
But the removal in 2008 of the last equipment used in the HILAC experiments represented the disappearance of the building's last remaining historic elements, the environmental assessment concluded.
Unmentioned is the fact that building interiors are expressly excluded from the City of Berkeley's Landmarks Preservation Ordinance, which evaluates buildings solely on their exteriors and precludes designating interiors.
Likewise, interiors aren't mentioned in the criteria for designating an official California state landmark, which include:
- Association "with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of local or regional history or the cultural heritage of California or the United States."
- A connection with "the lives of persons important to local, California or national history."
- Embodiment of "the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, region or method of construction or represents the work of a master or possesses high artistic values."
- Documentation that the site "[h]as yielded, or has the potential to yield, information important to the prehistory or history of the local area, California or the nation."
To be considered for designation, structures need only meet one of the four criteria, according to the state Office of Historic Preservation (_URL_).
Neither the city nor state landmarks laws are mentioned in the environmental assessment, which was prepared by a Berkeley private planning firm, Design, Community & Environment, which also prepared the environmental analysis for the university's controversial Long Range Development Plan 2020.
The city has designated landmarks on the UC Berkeley campus and at LBNL, but the sites are outside the city's official jurisdiction, though sometimes at least within the state's purview. The BELLA itself is exclusively a federal project, and LBNL's status as a federal lab operated under contract by the university adds to the legal complications of the environmental review process.
"The Proposed Action would not affect cultural resources," the environmental assessment states, though the assessment also notes that the project would make one significant alteration to the building's exterior—a 2,000-square-foot rooftop structure housing a utility room and stairwell.
While the labs' project review has been conducted under the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), project critics like Pamela Shivola and Mark McDonald of the Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste said at least a preliminary review—a document formally entitled an initial study—should be conducted under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
In an June 10 letter, Shivola told city Planning and Development Director Dan Marks that a broader review was needed because of the site's "proximity to residential neighborhoods...and the Lawrence Hall of Science, a children's school and a museum just a few hundred yards away."
"This is very important," Shivola told a reporter before a recent city planning commission meeting.
In addition to its relative nearness to residences and places where children congregate, McDonald and Shivola point to the area's seismic faults, and the predictions of state and federal geologists that the Bay Area's next major shaker is most likely to come from the nearby Hayward Fault, which runs directly beneath Memorial Stadium.
The heart of the new facility is the experimental cave—from which much of the equipment mentioned in the environmental assessment—has already been removed. The environmental assessment notes that of an estimated 100 truckloads of material involved in the project, one will be filled with hazardous material destined for a licensed waste facility.
"Most of the material will be what you find in any old building, including asbestos and lead," said LBNL spokesperson Paul Preuss, though some traces of other hazards might be present, including possible spills of small quantities of radioactive materials.
The environmental assessment acknowledges that "several instances of low-level surface radioactivity have been detected in Building 71 equipment," include Americium-241, Cesium-137 and curium-244, as well as subsequently cleaned-up traces of beryllium and PCBs.
Experiments will be conducted by new equipment surrounded by heavy radiation shielding, including three-foot-thick concrete walls plus "an additional 16 inches of lead, 36 inches of steel and another six feet of concrete to absorb the radiation and reduce exposure levels."
The environmental assessment also states that the beam will produce subatomic gamma rays, neutrons and photomuons, even workers standing near the beam's terminus—the point of most potential exposure—would receive less than a fifth of the allowable exposure level over the course of the year.
But McDonald is skeptical, noting that federally set levels of radiation have changed over the years. He also cites a 2001 city-commissioned review of radiological monitoring at the lab prepared by researchers at the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Heidelberg, Germany.
That report concluded that radiation levels from lad accelerators had exceeded permissible levels 40 years ago at the lab's border at the Olympic Gate monitoring station.
Preuss and the environmental assessment both insist that the new accelerator won't emit unsafe levels of radiation.
The new accelerator will produce a beam about a million times more powerful that that emitted by the last-generation television's cathode ray tube, he said, "so you definitely would not want to stand right in front of it."
But, "energetic as they are, none of the electrons in BELLA's hair-thin beam are going to get out of the experimental area," he said, "and no one can get through the interlocked doors when it's on—it will shut down if anybody tries."
The device also stops abruptly in the event of an earthquake, Preuss said. In addition, the device, which is a mere three feet long, isn't expected to irradiate other materials in the cave.
McDonald and Shivola remain skeptical.
The environmental assessment is available at _URL_

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
Meyer, Carl L Bloomer, Harry E
November 23, 1948
An investigation has been conducted in the NACA Cleveland altitude wind tunnel to evaluate the performance and windmilling drag characteristics of an original and a modified turbojet engine of the same type. Data have been obtained at simulated altitudes from 5000 to 45,000 feet, simulated flight Mach numbers from 0.09 to 1.08, and engine speeds from 4000 to 12,500 rpm. Engine performance data are presented for both engines to show the effects of altitude at a flight Mach number of 0.25 and of flight Mach number at an altitude of 25,000 feet. Performance of the original and modified engines is compared for a range of simulated flight conditions. The performance data are generalized to show the applicability of methods used to estimate performance at any altitude from data obtained at a given altitude. Engine-windmilling-speed and windmilling-drag data are presented for a range of simulated flight conditions.
An Adobe Acrobat (PDF) file of the entire report:

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Spectrophobia: Difference between revisions
how is this distinct?
(how is this distinct?)
'''Spectrophobia''' (derived from [[Latin]]: ''spectrum'', n. specio, an appearance, form, image of a thing; an apparition, spectre) or '''catoptrophobia''' (from Greek κάτοπτρον ''kátoptron'', "mirror") is a kind of [[specific phobia]] involving an abnormal and persistent fear of [[mirror]]s, and an anxiety about seeing one's own face reflected in them.{{cite book |last1=Ferenczi |first1=Sandor |title=Further Contributions to the Theory and Technique of Psycho-Analysis |date=1994 |publisher=Karnac Books |isbn=9781855750869 |url=_URL_ |accessdate=28 August 2019 |language=en}} It is sometimes related to the fear of [[ghosts]] or the undead.{{cn|date=August 2019}}
This phobia is distinct from eisoptrophobia,{{how?|date=August 2019}} which is the [[Fear processing in the brain|fear]] of one's own reflection.
Sufferers of spectrophobia can fear the breaking of a mirror bringing extreme bad luck.{{cn|date=August 2019}} They can fear the thought of something frightening jumping out of the mirror or seeing something disturbing inside of it next to their own reflection when looking directly at it.{{cn|date=August 2019}} Others fear that it is a link to the preternatural world or a gateway into another world, and may fear being pulled into the mirror by some preternatural force.{{cn|date=August 2019}} Some also fear their own reflection in the darkness, as it can appear distorted in strange ways or their reflection may frighten them.{{cn|date=August 2019}}


text:
a1 Department of Philosophy, Brown University
There are well-known quasi-formal arguments that identity is a "strict" relation in at least the following three senses: (1) There is a single identity relation and a single distinctness relation; (2) There are no contingent cases of identity or distinctness; and (3) There are no vague or indeterminate cases of identity or distinctness. However, the situation is less clear cut than it at first may appear. There is a natural formal theory of identity that is very close to the standard classical theory but which does not validate the formal analogues of (1)–(3). The core idea is simple: We weaken the Principle of the Indiscernibility of Identicals from a conditional to an entailment and we adopt a weakly classical logic. This paper investigates this weakly classical theory of identity (and related theories) and discusses its philosophical ramifications. It argues that we can accept a reasonable theory of identity without committing ourselves to the uniqueness, necessity, or determinacy of identity.
(Received March 26 2011)


text:
HTHW Leak FindIR™
HTHW (HOT TEMPERATURE HOT WATER)
Steam is used to heat buildings, heat raw materials and finish products in manufacturing and to generate electricity. Steam is not free. There are many opportunities for energy savings. In the US, It costs approximately $20 billion dollars annually to feed the boilers generating steam alone.
A steam system consists of generation, distribution and recovery. In other words, the boilers, the distribution system and the condensate return system. The purpose of an effective steam distribution system is to link the output of the steam generation system to the steam end-use equipment. The distribution system should supply high-quality steam to the end-use equipment at the required rate and pressure, and with the minimum heat loss. The purpose of an effective condensate recovery system is to make the most effective use of all remaining steam and condensate energy after process end-use.
How can Aerial Infrared help?
Checking the boilers and the lines in the steam tunnels are jobs done on the ground, but the distribution and condensate return lines that are direct-buried are best surveyed from the air. In fact, even from high altitudes, steam line inspections are one of the easiest applications for aerial infrared thermographers. Thermal contrast between active steam lines and the surrounding ground are usually good. The entire system can be flown and areas with problems pinpointed and documented.
Roofs that, for instance, have a lot of ballast, are covered with reflective coatings or for whatever reason are impossible to image from the roof. With high-resolution, plan view aerial imagery, slight nuances of temperature can be seen from far enough away to actually see the pattern of heat and make a determination of where the problems are.


text:
Effect of far scatterer clusters in MIMO outdoor channel models
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie: The 57th IEEE Semiannual Vehicular Technology Conference. VTC 2003-Spring.
We consider the clustering structure of wireless MIMO channels, and the impact that multiple clusters have on the performance of MIMO systems. We show that multiple clusters frequently occur in urban environments. We then proceed to demonstrate that a channel with multiple scatterer clusters behaves differently than a channel with one cluster and the same rms angular spread. The differences are quantified in terms of correlation coefficients, information-theoretic capacity, and interference-suppression capabilities. This demonstrates the necessity of correctly taking into account the clustering structure.
- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering
- 3G mobile communication
- MIMO systems
- channel capacity
- correlation theory
- electromagnetic wave scattering
- interference suppression
- radiofrequency interference
57th IEEE Semiannual Vehicular Technology Conference. VTC 2003
- ISSN: _PHONE_
- ISBN: 0-7803-7757-5


text:
The Incline and the Wagons — Exporting the Slate
The quarry owners invested heavily in building roads and railroads to improve the links between their quarries and the ports. As its English name, Port Dinorwic, suggests, the little fishing village of Felinheli (between Bangor and Caernarfon) was developed into an important port for exporting Dinorwig Quarry slate. In the beginning, the slates were carried in panniers on horseback to Cei Llydan, on boats to Cwm-y-Glo and then on wagons to Caernarfon and Felinheli. But it cost more to transport the slate than it did to produce it — in 1778, for example, it was more expensive to get the slates to Felinheli that it was to take them from there all the way to Liverpool!
In 1824 a horse tramway was built to connect the quarry and the port. But by 1848-9, an even more effective way of transporting the slates had been developed — the Padarn steam railway. Engines Jennie Lind and Fire Queen were regularly to be seen steaming back and forth to Penscoins, just above Felinheli. But how did they get the slates down the mountain to the trains?
If you follow the signs to the incline you will see the answer: the slates were loaded onto wagons which would travel down the incline on rails to the bottom, where they would be run off. Their weight would haul the empty wagons back up the incline on a parallel track, and the process would begin again.
This incline, named the V2, was restored to its original condition in 1998, thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and it is regularly to be seen working. (In fact this is the only such incline working in Britain today.)
Getting the slates to the port was only the first step, of course. From there they went in their thousands on sailing ships and steamships to parts of Britain, northern Europe, North America and Australia — all four corners of the earth indeed!


text:
How many people?
An activity for KS2 that is based around the landmark of the world population reaching 7 billion and what that might mean for us all.
Unpacking your backpack
This activity uses the idea of a backpack to engage in thinking critically about where our ideas, values, attitudes and assumptions come from. It is the key activity for using all of the Time 2 Think resources and introduces the main underlying principles.
Living side by side
This activity uses the picture book The Bad Tempered Ladybird as a stimulus for thinking about sharing and people's differing attitudes to living side by side with others.
Welcome to the Time 2 Think teaching resources. We will add to these as new content is developed and submitted. Browse below for a summary of each resource and click the title of each to access the full resource and any supporting materials. The buttons to the right provide a quick-link to the relevant key stage.
Who is responsible for climate change?
An activity for KS3 and above that uses different sets of national data as a stimulus to thinking about responsibility as it relates to climate change.
Our world's water
A KS2 activity that allows learners to think about the importance of water in our world and their relationship to this vital shared resource.
What are my values?
A KS2/3 activity that enables learners to better understand and think about their own values and how they influence their lives.
What is a crisis?
A KS2/3 activity that explore the idea of a crisis and supports learners to think about their own experience of crises and how they might respond.
Feeling at home
A KS1 activity that helps younger learners to think about the idea of 'home' through exploring animals and their habitats.
We Are All Born Free
A KS2 activity that uses the Amnesty International book 'We Are All Born Free' to help learners think about human rights. What are their rights and how would they feel if they were denied them?


text:
So you think your iPhone, some computer in the classroom, or the Blackboard online platform is just some neutral tool? In this week's episode of the READ, WRITE, & TEACH digital book club, I was joined by my colleagues Carmen Kynard and Roseanne Gatto so that we could discuss our reading of Adam J. Banks' Digital Griots: African American Rhetoric in a Multimedia Age. It's a book that interests me because as a writer and teacher who hopes to be professionally relevant in the years to come, I believe it's important to be able to speak into digital spaces. Early in the podcast Roseanne points us to these lines where Banks describes one of the goals of his text:
This book looks to scratch, to interrupt, to play a while in the grooves of two records–disciplinary conversations about African American rhetoric and those about multimedia writing–to begin to blend and loop them while posing one question: how can African American rhetorical traditions and practices inform composition's current endeavors to define, theorize, and practice multimedia writing?
Digital Griots is a call to action for every teacher who isn't working to enable students to enter into the digital space in a meaningful way. This is a text that connects the role of the African griot storyteller to the role of the modern day DJ. In this podcast you'll meet my colleague Carmen, who is the director of First Year Writing at St. John's University. Carmen is mentioned several times in Digital Griots, including a reference to her article, "Wanted: Some Black Long Distance [Writers]: Blackboard Flava Flavin and other Afrodigital Experiences in the Classroom."
My fellow composition teacher Roseanne wonders if as a white lady she's got any business bringing a Jay-Z text into the classroom or teaching a hip hop themed course. She also tells a pretty funny story about the time she and her friend went to a Buju Banton concert and were pretty much the only white people there. (don't worry if you don't know Buju's stuff; I didn't either) I'll save the "punch line" to the story for those of you who listen to the podcast. :)
Roseanne and Carmen join Banks' in his "playful" challenge of Geoffrey Sirc and Jeff Rice. Banks writes, "And while I see value in both Rice's and Sirc's arguments in favor of the ability to play freely in texts and techniques in the writing classroom, their desire to lift, sample, and loop concepts from black traditions freely for their their mere applicability without concern for the culture or context that produced them, the mixtape as rhetorical practice offers composition pedagogy and digital writing theory far more than a whimsical pursuit of the cool."
Banks' primary objection is stated here: "Now how Rice is able to claim that he "invented" a rhetoric of something, much less a rhetoric of the cool (Rhetoric of Cool 5, 113), given Fab's description and many of the texts he himself cites, I have no idea, though the various traditions he links together in his study of cool help make the book an intriguing one. My playful rib aside…" (118-119). This is a section of the book that Carmen brings into our discussion.
As for myself, Banks' Digital Griots furthers my understanding of what a POWERPLAY literacy can be. Language can be used to access power; of course language can be used to oppress and control. For all the reasons you understand that it's important to read and write, those same reasons can be applied toward an understanding of how important it is for a writing teacher to help others into digital spaces where they can be heard.
If you're a teacher or student, I'd like to hear from you about how technology is or is not being used in your classroom. Do you see technology as a neutral tool that does what you want it to, or do you think that the tool has a lot embedded in it that seeks to direct or influence you? If you're a technology user, especially in a classroom or literacy program, how much of the conversation in Digital Griots is ongoing in the spaces you inhabit?
Thanks to Roger D and C Milli for providing the music!
Some links that might interest you:
You can link to the podcast here or
you can search "Digital Book Club" on iTunes.
Thanks for reading!


text:
I always find it interesting that 3D printers — at least the kind most of us have — are mostly open-loop devices. You tell the head to move four millimeters in the X direction and you assume that the stepper motors will make it so. Because of the mechanics, you can calculate that four millimeters is so many steps and direct the motor to take them. If something prevents that amount of travel you get a failed print. But there is one part of the printer that is part of a closed loop. It is very tiny, very important, but you don't hear a whole lot about it. The thermistor.
The hot end and the heated bed will both have a temperature sensor that the firmware uses to keep temperatures at least in the ballpark. Depending on the controller it might just do on-and-off "bang-bang" control or it might do something as sophisticated as PID control. But either way, you set the desired temperature and the controller uses feedback from the thermistor to try to keep it there.
If you print with high-temperature materials you might have a thermocouple in your hot end, but most machines use a thermistor. These are usually good to about 300 °C. What got me thinking about this was the installation of an E3D V6 clone hot end into my oldest printer which had a five-year-old hot end in it. I had accumulated a variety of clone parts and had no idea what kind of thermistor was in the heat block I was using.


text:
|Join FONZ to receive Smithsonian Zoogoer in your mailbox!|
Sidebar: To Cut or Not to Cut?
Common cuttlefish (Mehgan Murphy/NZP)
Veterinarians prescribed oral antibiotics for a common cuttlefish in 2007 after its right cornea became inflamed. The medication was injected into the cuttlefish's food—a shrimp—daily. Several days later, there was no sign of infection.
Yet the veterinary team also discovered that the cuttlefish had cataracts in both eyes. That raised a tough question: Should the vets operate? The zoo's veterinary team is capable of operating on cuttlefish, which they sedate by putting anesthetic in the water. But surgery always involves some stress and risk for the patient.The veterinarians decided against operating. Cuttlefish cataracts are often a sign of aging, and these creatures rarely make it past the ripe old age of two. So surgery would be an invasive, risky option with little chance of long-term benefits. The animal's quality of life, veterinarians concluded, would be better served by letting nature take its course
If you have a comment about Smithsonian Zoogoer magazine, please email it to us.Smithsonian Zoogoer 40(1) 2011. Copyright 2010 Friends of the National Zoo. All rights reserved.


Use CSV Uploader for Ad-hoc Analysis
You can upload a set of data to your GoodData workspace (project) and analyze it on an ad hoc basis using our CSV Uploader. You can use the CSV ploaderU to quickly analyze your data or to verify data integrity and standard compliance of your CSV files.
CSV Uploader allows you to add data from a file without affecting the rest of the data in your workspace (production data). The data from the file is added as a separate dataset (non-production data) and does not affect the existing datasets. To add data from a CSV file to use in your production environment, see Load CSV Files to a Workspace with the LDM Modeler.
For the following tutorial, download the order_lines.csv sample file. Ensure the downloaded file keeps its *.csv suffix. If you decide to upload your own CSV files, ensure that you read CSV File Requirements. Once the data is added, you can immediately start analyzing it in Analytical Designer (see Create Insights).
To load the data using the CSV Uploader:
 1. Select the workspace/project that you want to use to upload your CSV file.
 The Default dashboard page with your workspace opens.
 2. Click Load in the top navigation bar.
 The Load page opens.
 Depending on your GoodData plan, the page may look differently:
 3. Click Load on the CSV tile.
 The Choose a CSV file pop-up window appears.
 4. Click Browse to select the CSV file, then click Load to start data processing.
 5. On the screen that appears, verify the data, then click Done.
 GoodData will start processing your data.
 When the processing is finished, you will see the confirmation message
 6. Close the green message and click Analyze to open Analytical Designer and begin creating insights.
Access Data from a CSV File
The data from a CSV is added to a separate dataset and do not mix with your prodution data that you added from a data warehouse or using LDM Modeler.
To access the CSV data, simply click the Production data tab under the name of your workpace and click the CSV dataset (Order LInes (2) in this case).
Manage CSV datasets
To update or delete a CSV dataset uploaded using the CSV Uploader, go to the Load section.
For more information, see:
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Though John Deere designated its new-for-1937 workhorse the Model G, a more obvious name choice might have been Model P--as in, the first letter of the word uttered most by farmers with work to do... power.
Deere designed the G to be a three-plow tractor with 34 horsepower at the belt. Power came from a 412.5-cubic-inch, two-cylinder, all-fuel engine that ran on kerosene and distillates. Famously, the Model G's engine was so much larger than the powerplants offered in the rest of the company's lineup, that the tractor's frame had to be customized with the addition of a bulge to accommodate its girth.
Another widely known fact about the G is that its bigger, more powerful two-cylinder proved to be too much for the tractor's radiator to keep cool--a problem that led to more than 2,000 of the first tractors off the assembly line being recalled.
Later versions used a taller radiator, with a coolant capacity some two gallons larger than the original, to alleviate the problem. A larger upper radiator pipe was also installed on Model Gs in late 1938.
In the early 1940s, the Model G received the stylized hood and front-end treatment pictured on the tractor here. In 1941, a six-speed transmission replaced the earlier tractor's four-speed gearbox, and electric start was added in 1947.
With modest changes, the Model G plowed on until 1953, when the numbered series Deere tractors took over. All told, Moline built about 64,000 Model Gs and G variants, like the GH high-crop tractor and the GM--which was what Deere called the tractor briefly during WW II.
As with virtually all John Deere tractors, Model Gs are highly sought after and collectible today. The parts availability is excellent, and support from clubs and enthusiasts is typically strong. Due perhaps to their relative scarcity, the early low-radiator tractors are prized more highly among collectors than the more efficient high-radiator tractors.
Prices for Model Gs in excellent condition can range from $7,000 - $10,000, and hopeful collectors can expect to pay upwards of $4,000 for restorable units.
Discuss this article in our forums
This article originally appeared in the May, 2007 issue of Hemmings Motor News.
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Peptide library: A group of large number of peptides typically ranging from tens to several millions or more with a systematic arrangement of amino acids in their sequence. Combinatorial chemistry (CC) combined with high throughput screening (HTS) technique is an efficient method of synthesizing and screening large number of molecules rapidly.
The simplest form a combinatorial peptide library is parallel library in which each peptide is synthesized in individual reaction chambers resulting in well characterized libraries. This method generates only a small set of peptides library though automation and microwave technology can be employed to increase productivity.
The second type of peptide libraries are called random libraries which generates a mixture (pool) of several thousand or millions of peptides in each reaction chamber thereby facilitating rapid screening of a large number of peptides.
Synthesis of Random peptide libraries:
Split and Mix & Pre-mix methods
Two different methods are available for synthesizing random peptide libraries. The first technique is known as Split and Mix method which consists of three basic steps: splitting, coupling and mixing. Firstly, resin beads are split in a number of aliquots that equals the number of building blocks to be utilized in the synthesis (splitting). Then, to each resin aliquot one building block is coupled and the reactions are driven to completion (coupling). Following this step, beads are randomly and thoroughly mixed (mixing) and then re-splitted in the same number of aliquots, achieving a set of homogeneous and equimolar collections of compounds. Repetitive execution of these basic steps for "n" times will thus produce a rapid increase of newly generated molecules, while bead number remains constant. Resin beads encounter one reactant at a time, no more than one compound per bead can be generated (one-bead one-compound-OBOC-library). As reactions are driven to completion, all peptides are generated in equal ratios in the mixtures. After removing protecting groups, the peptides can be tested on the bead itself.
The synthesis of peptide mixture libraries using pre-mixed solutions of amino acids was introduced to overcome the limitations of OBOC approach to make larger libraries. Using this approach, the amino acids chosen for the library are pre-mixed and then coupled to a single resin batch. Before coupling the last amino acid, the resin is split in a number of aliquots that equals the number of building blocks and to each aliquot, one single amino acid is separately coupled. This procedure leads to the generation of sub-libraries that are labeled by the N-terminal residue. Every single bead contains all the ensemble of peptides of the sub-library, as any single bead encounters the reagents under the same conditions.
Positional Peptide Library:
A selected position in a peptide sequence is systematically replaced with different amino acid to show the effect on the substitute amino acid at certain position. This will determine the preferred amino acid residues at these positions, measured by corresponding increases in activity.
Overlapping Peptide Library:
A library of overlapping peptide sequences of specific length and specific offset, to cover the entire native protein sequence is designed in this strategy and is used for linear, continuous epitope mapping and T-cell epitope determination.
Truncation Peptide Library:
The truncation library is used to predict the minimum amino acid length required for optimum epitope activity. It is created by generating a set of peptides with systematic truncation of the flanking residues.
Alanine Peptide Scanning Library:
The generation of peptide library in which alanine (Ala, A) is systematically substituted into each of the amino in the identified epitope. This method is used to identify amino acids in the protein which are essential for activity.
Scrambled Peptide Library:
Scramble Library is constructed by carrying out permutation on the original peptide's sequence. It has the potential to give all possible alternatives and offers and represents the highest degree of variability for peptide library.
CPC has the capability to design and synthesize:
Peptide mixture combinatorial libraries comprising millions of peptides
Well characterized parallel peptide libraries in the desired formats


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, may be generated at a much slower rate, for example, every hour. PPI synchronizes these data in order that the process control variables be guided to achieve the objective (maximize, minimize or hit target value) for the process output variables, and to overcome any differences in their sampling rates. For example, assume that part of the output data includes data regarding the activity of the fine powder. The activity data, which is generated every two hours, must be synchronized with the temperatures of the various hearths which are captured every fifteen seconds. Other control variables which are candidates for inclusion in this synchronization process example are: feed rate to the kiln and rotation speed. The data generation rates for these variables may well be different from those for the hearth temperatures. The raw data is stored in temporary storage (e.g., RAM) and also stored in a database both for retrieval when needed by PPI and for later, off-line, historical analyses.
The data is stored in the component 42 database to facilitate access. One example of a commercially available database that could be used with PPI is INFORMIX/SE by Informix Software, Inc., Menlo Park, Calif.
Upon start-up of PPI, either the plant needs to run for a predetermined period of time in order to develop enough raw data to be useful, or it needs to be provided with initial settings for all the process control variables. The initial settings could be, for example, based on a preliminary review of the particular plant in conjunction with historical data compiled for the plant.
The key variable identification component 44 periodically determines which of the process control data from the plant control system is having a significant effect on the output data from the lab. For example, the key variable identifier could determine, for example, once an hour, one or more of the process control data from the plant control system having the greatest effect on the activity of the fine powder. The determination of what is "significant" will of course depend on the situation, but could, for example, be determined by ranking the process control variables for the effect. Preferably, the key variable identifier identifies at least the top two ranked process control variables affecting the output data of interest, in this case, the activity of the fine powder. However, it will be understood that more than two of the process control variables could be used, although if more variables are used, it will increase the complexity of the next step in the process, the online experimentation. There are commercially available software packages useful for key variable identification, for example, Classification and Regression Trees (CART) and Multvariate Analysis with Regression Splines (MARS), available from Salford Systems of San Diego, Calif.
Preferably, the key variable identification component employs a multidimensional, crosstabulation approach, which uses an information theory metric in conjunction with a search engine as described below operating on the database to determine which of the control variables have major influence on any selected process output variable. As used herein, "multidimensional" means that more than two variables are to be included in the analysis; "crosstabulation" means that each of the continuous variables are formed into classes so that the number of data points in the various, multidimensional combinations of classes may be obtained (discrete variables do not necessarily require such classification); and "information theory metric" means that a probability-based measure is used to determine the amount of information contained by combinations of control variables (one at a time, two at a time, etc.) relative to the variation of the process output variable.
The functionality of the preferred on-line search engine will now be described in detail. Each variable used in the analysis is classified into classes constructed in one of two ways: (a) constructed to have approximately equal counts in each class, usually resulting in unequal class widths; or (b) constructed to have equal class widths. Classification method (a) is preferred for PPI. Given the counts in the various classes, an information theory metric known as "Mutual Information Content"(MIC) is used to decide which control variable (or combination of control variables) has a significant impact on the process output variable. For more detail regarding MIC, see Holmes and Storey, "Identifying and Monitoring the Key Factors for Manufacturing Quality Refractories," AISE Annual Convention, September 1987, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Though not preferred, other search engines could be used, for example, those based on regression analysis or chi-square metrics.
Once the control variable (or variables) is determined, the maximum value the MIC could attain if the process output variable could be completely described with the set of control variables being considered is determined. A stepwise (binary) search is done to determine which control variable singly generates the largest MIC relative to the process output variable. The pairs (or triples) of control variables are then sought that generate the largest MIC. This continues until the user selected percentage of the maximum MIC has been achieved. From there, an ordered list of control variables having the greatest impact on the process output variable can be generated.
The preferred search engine when used in off-line mode has the added ability to consider control variables in the order they occur in the whole process, rather than just as they occur at a particular stage of the process. This enables the user to determine the earliest point, in the order of the process, where changes in the process output variable occur. This ordered approach can be from the front end of the process to the back, or from the back to the front.
The data below in Table I was fumished from a study of PPI by a brick-making plant that used the preferred key variable identifier to generate sizeable quality improvements. The purpose of the study was to determine which of the control variables (various % on screens, tap density, initial and final batch temperatures) had the most significant influence on the third output variable, q3 (Viscosity-1).
The control variable in this example given as various "% on screens" refers to material that is run through a series of screens with various mesh sizes, with "c1" being the largest and "c4" being the smallest mesh size. Once the screening is completed, the weight of the portion remaining on each screen is determined. These weights are then converted to a percent-by-weight of the material that remains on each screen, with an acceptable percent-by-weight typically being specified.
In Table I below, the following are the Control Variables and Output Variables: c1=% ON SCREEN-1 (% by weight remaining); c2=% ON SCREEN-2 (% by weight remaining); c3=% ON SCREEN-3 (% by weight remaining); c4=% ON SCREEN-4 (% by weight remaining); c5=TAP DENSITY (g/cm3); c6=INIT BAT TEMP (°C.); c7=FINAL BAT TEMP (°C.); q1=FLOW-1 (inches/minute); q2=FLOW-2 (inches/minute); q3=VISCOSITY-1 (centipoise); q4=VISCOSITY-2 (centipoise); q5=SLIP DENSITY-1 (g/cm3); and q6=SLIP DENSITY-2 (g/cm3).
The key variable identification program results indicated:
1. the fourth control variable (% on screen-4) accounts for 48% of the information available about Viscosity-1; and
2. the fourth and first (% on screen-1) control variables together account for 84% of the information available about Viscosity-1.
For more detail regarding the percentages determined, see the Holmes and Storey article noted above. The results above established the importance of screen analysis on the variable Viscosity-1 and appropriate control procedures were initiated. Substantial quality improvements were obtained.
Alternatively, the key variable identification component could be designed to use multiple regression to determine which plant control system variables have a significant effect on the lab data of interest. One skilled in the art will be familiar with multiple regression. Briefly, multiple regression is a method for fitting a function of the form:
Output Variable =
Some function of the multiple control variables
f(x1, x2, x3, x4, x5... ),
e.g., y =
a0 + a1*x1 + a2*x2,
and determining the statistical significance of the equation's coefficients. The equation is often referred to as the "model." The method of estimating the coefficients from a given data set is based on selecting the constants in such a fashion that the sum of the squares of the differences between the values calculated from the equation and the values observed is minimized. The CART and MARS programs discussed above use regression analysis in one form or another. The approach that is preferred is "model free"—no model of the "response surface" is required.
The online experimentation component 46 experiments with the set points for the process control variables to achieve the desired effect on the process output property of interest at the time. It does this by automatically altering for a predetermined period of time the set point for one or more of the process control variables identified by the key variable identification component as having a significant effect on the output data of interest. The length of time the set point(s) is (are) altered depends of course on the particular process and how long it will likely take for the effects of the altering to be determined, as reflected in updated output data. Preferably, the online experimentation is performed in accordance with the principles of what is known as "Evolutionary Operation" or "EVOP." However, it will be understood that other experimental approaches may be used. For example, full factorial designs with no central point or fractional factorial designs such as Fisher-Yates, Plackett-Burman


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Next to bragging about which community enjoys or endures the most weather, Canadians like to boast how their province or territory compares with the warmest, snowiest or the windiest. To settle arguments as to which jurisdiction can legitimately lay claim to being tops in weather, David Phillips, Environment Canada's Senior Climatologist analyzed 30 years of recent weather data for each of Canada's ten provinces and three territories. His results are sure to provide for entertaining conversation but could also assist provincial and territorial governments, industries, tourism and recreational businesses and those seeking weather information to make decisions on where to reside for retirement or health purposes.
Province-Territory Weather Winners is a follow-up to the highly popular Canadian Cities Are Weather Winners site released in 2003. This new study looks at how each Canadian province and territory ranks in 70 different weather categories, including those groupings used in the city weather winners. Data for 30 years from 150 weather stations, representative of the geography in each province and territory, were used to compute averages for each jurisdiction. Among the categories included are: the warmest province or territory year-round, the hottest in summer, the coldest in winter, the sunniest year-round, the province or territory with the most freezing rain days, the most heavy snow days, the most thunderstorm days, etc. The website allows you to view how your province or territory ranks for each of the categories and includes the weighted-average value for the category in question.


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What are urban wildlife species?
An urban environment exerts novel selective pressures on wildlife species due to habitat modification, natural habitat loss, and a large human population.
Some species are able to thrive in this urban landscape. These animals are called "urban wildlife". Urban wildlife have many adaptive traits in common: a diverse diet, highly opportunistic, ability to exploit human modified habitats, reduced fear of humans, loss of natural predators or competition, and increased food sources.
What are the most common urban wildlife species in Fairfax
How do you determine what urban species to manage in Fairfax
A biological carrying capacity does exist and determines the maximum number of animals a habitat or geographic area can support without causing damage to that habitat.
It is the responsibility of wildlife managers, natural resource managers and environmental stewards, to preserve wildlife and to protect remnant natural habitats in all ways possible.
It is a chosen responsibility to address Public Health & Safety issues, mitigate wildlife conflicts, and protect property from actual and potential damage.
How do you develop a successful wildlife management program?
An effective wildlife management program resolves Wildlife conflicts with the most humane, comprehensive and integrated management techniques available:
- Humane exclusion & Repellency
- Population control
- Habitat modification
- Conservation & Research
Additional information on wildlife management and conservation is available from the United States Department of Agricultural Natural Resources Conservation Services.
For more information please contact the Fairfax County Wildlife Biologist at _PHONE_.


slow temp rises
Stephen Richard
You have fused a piece of glass that is now 6 or maybe even 9 mm thick, so you have to go slow for two reasons at least. 1. you have to give the glass the opportunity to get hot all the way through. 2. fast temperature rises lead to breakages either on the way up or during the slump.
So a rise of ca. 100 C or 150 C is as fast as you want to go. When using slow temperature rises you often can achieve the work at a lower temperature, and with a longer soak are certain to get the work done. Unless the glass is all of one colour/sheet all across itself, fast heating will lead to the darker and softer (not the same) becoming plastic before the rest of the sheet and even before the bottom is soft enough to begin to slump. That is when the weight of the glass above can split the bottom without completely breaking the piece.
Stephen Richard
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Article4 min read
How important is it for employees to belong?
Adobe stock_130586800 photo
Hannah Price
Culture Amp, Writer
Everyone knows how it feels to not belong somewhere; at a party, at a restaurant, in a neighborhood. It makes you feel uncomfortable and insecure. It's certainly something you try to avoid.
Yet, belonging in the workplace isn't something we often discuss. Even though employees who don't feel like they belong are less engaged and less productive.
In this article we delve into why it's essential to foster a sense of belonging in today's workplace, and we have three steps on how to get started.
Don't have time to read this article right now?
Download 6 Ways to Foster Belonging in the Workplace
Note: For our purposes, belonging is defined as the feeling of security and support when there is a sense of acceptance, inclusion, and identity for a member of a certain group or place.
Belonging = Engagement
In life outside of work, it's quite easy to avoid situations in which you don't feel like you belong. You cultivate a life that doesn't include them.
If you find yourself at an event where you don't feel comfortable, you generally don't have to wait long until you can politely excuse yourself.
The same cannot be said for the workplace. If you don't feel comfortable at work, it's a lot harder to simply pick up and move on. It can take months of diligent applications and interviews to land another job, and the whole process takes energy and time; which a lot of people don't have.
All of this means that people get stuck in workplaces that don't work for them. For five days of every week, they diligently wake up to their alarm and commute to a place where they will spend most of their waking hours feeling uncomfortable and out-of-place.
Not only is this a terrible situation for the individual, it's not good for the company either.
In a 2018 survey, Culture Amp and Paradigm measured employee experience across seven factors of diversity, belonging, and inclusion. We found that belonging factors are most strongly and consistently correlated with employee engagement.
In fact, the one single metric that consistently and universally tied to a person's workplace commitment, motivation, and pride was a sense of belonging.
Regardless of an employee's gender, ethnicity, age or sexual orientation, they are more likely to be engaged if they feel like they belong. (If you're interested, here is the report for more information.)
Why belonging will only grow in importance
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the correlation between belonging and engagement was particularly high for historically underrepresented groups. This is something employers cannot ignore.
The workforce is becoming more diverse year on year. From our survey, we discovered that Straight White Men make up 46% of people exiting the workforce but only 34% of the people entering the workforce.
This growing diversity means there's potential for more unique perspectives, fresh ideas, and a hotbed for innovation. But none of that will happen if these underrepresented groups don't feel like they belong.
Only when people feel like they belong and they're psychologically safe will they freely share ideas and confidently speak out. Alternatively, if they don't feel these things, they're more likely to leave and take their ideas on to the next place.
Is it possible to foster a sense of belonging?
The reason why one person feels a sense of belonging at their workplace can differ from that of their colleague, depending on personal traits, if they're from an underrepresented group, and which group that is.
However, there is significant evidence (outside the workplace) that setting the scene for belonging can impact whether or not a person feels they belong, and even how successful they are. Thus, incorporating belonging should be part of any diversity and inclusion strategy.
3 ways to help people feel like they belong
After completing our research, survey and report, Culture Amp developed actionable tips for effectively fostering belonging in the workplace. In brief, these are:
 1. Survey. Ensure you are using employee surveys to discover your weaknesses and strengths. Tracking belonging and inclusion is a must.
 2. Social. Explore opportunities to encourage social bonds through team structures and group problem-solving.
 3. Trust. Encourage trusting relationships through structured employee programs and mentorships.
If you want more details on these tips and three bonus tips, check out our ebook on 6 ways to foster belonging. This ebook also delves deeper into the topic of belonging and the factors we've discussed in this article.
If companies want to build a robust and healthy business, they cannot afford to ignore the element of belonging. Not only does it affect employee wellness and happiness, it affects engagement, motivation, and retention. All of which impacts the bottom-line.
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In the previous blog entry, I described two specific design artifacts (user types and personas) that can be used to inform an intentional API consumer experience. In this entry, we'll go one step further into the API ecosystem and map out how the consuming developers (i.e., the direct users of the API) work with other user types to achieve their goals. Understanding how all the players come together to support your API consumers is fundamental to developing the right API product as well as the right set of services and support offerings to make your users successful. Journey mapping is a technique used by leading UX and service design organizations to articulate the steps and activities necessary to complete complex, multi-faceted tasks that involve multiple actors across multiple channels. In this article, I'll explain how journey mapping can be effectively applied to API consumers and give some insight into the various forms and levels of detail that different teams align around when planning different types of experiences.
Personas allow for empathy. Maps provide context.
Journey maps – Journey maps for API consumers are paradoxically less common (compared to user types and personas) in enterprise API programs while also being the most actionable and useful of the three experience design artifacts covered in this blog series. The main difference to pay attention to here is that the user types and personas can be useful as tools, but neither of these artifacts are reflective of the actual experience people will have as they engage your enterprise. Journey map artifacts, on the other hand, are more than representations of people — they are models of the experience that guides a consumer through each step that developers go through as they engage with your product/platform/organization throughout their application creation experience.
Mapping the API consumer journey (in both as-is and to-be forms) provides product owners with a holistic understanding of their target user-base, developer relations, collaborative interactions, marketing strategies, and on-boarding approaches that your enterprise will create and support. This removes friction from the process of taking an application from the drawing board to full scale production. Journey maps can show your API product owners that application creation and API consumption is a team-sport — requiring each of the above user types to achieve the desired end. A pleasant and satisfying experience of leveraging your enterprise's APIs to make something that is valuable to their stakeholders and customers.
A general framework for the API consumption journey can be mapped via the following phases: Discovery and learning, envisioning and experimenting, developing and troubleshooting, deploy and monitor, and learn and evolve stages.
As consumers move through each of the above phases, each of the other user types interact and collaborate with the consumer and each other to ultimately deploy, scale, and evolve their API-powered applications.
There is no industry-standard template for documenting a journey map, and there are many good examples to choose from. When looking at examples to inspire your enterprise, the key distinction to pay attention to is the level of detail in the diagram to see if it would give your team:
- An accurate picture that communicates the true level of complexity and duration of the process that people go through.
- Sufficient insight into the likely mindset of actors inside the journey.
- Visibility into areas/interactions of pain/delight for the actors inside the journey.
- An understanding of the moments where value creation is realized for the consumer, your enterprise or all parties involved.
For comparison purposes, I've included three examples below that span different levels of complexity in mapping audience journeys. While these examples aren't API-consumer-specific, they still can be used as both an inspiration of what your API product team can create, and a justification for why your consumer journey map needs to be specific to your industry and context. For example, your authentication and provisioning policies and process are specific to your enterprise, while the goals and emotional states of your personas will be specific to your industry, etc.
The map to API consumer heaven is paved with good intentions
Each of the above examples have different strengths and can be used for different purposes. The most simple format (figure 3) is appropriate for a process that has low to medium complexity and doesn't require interaction by more than a few actors. This format is an intentionally simplified form of a journey map sometimes referred to as an Experience Map (a higher level artifact than a typical journey map). The complex format (figure 4) is more appropriate for mission-critical processes that span over longer periods of time and involve a larger number of actors. Each of these formats are appropriate to help a product team identify what areas of the journey are ripe for improvement or redesign. These maps are the context that allow your API initiative team to articulate, design, and execute a series of efforts that will ultimately culminate in a customer-facing experience that meets the goals of both your enterprise and the API consuming developers.
Whatever format your team picks, the goal you are shooting for is for your API team to have an "as-is" and "to-be" map that articulates how the journey of your API consumers will play out, along with the sense of how the other actors in the ecosystem support that journey. This deliberate approach, detailed with the discrete steps and interactions along the path, is the key to allow your API product owners to create an experience rich in moments of delight as API consumers engage to leverage your platform. Both the MuleSoft and Salesforce teams are well versed in collaborating to create both the underlying artifacts along with the detailed systems to deliver market-leading experiences in the API and integration spaces.
If this is something your team would like help with please reach out to a member of the MuleSoft account team. Or go to trailhead and learn more about mapping customer journeys.


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1. Investigation: How did the English policy of Plantation affect Ireland in the 16th century?
Below is a list of possible views or claims about the time of Plantation. For each view, list which of the given sources support this view and whether you think the source is likely to be trustworthy.
- The English persecuted Catholic priests
- The Irish were uncivilized
- Plantation was cruel
- Plantation brought the English and Irish together
- The Irish hated the settlers who took their lands
- Plantation changed the landscape
2. Activity: Propaganda
Can you think of any time recently when you read something (maybe) a poster, an advertisement, a film, a speech or a story in a newspaper which was in fact propaganda.
- Did it give all the facts?
- Did it give a balance of different people's views?
- Did it spread ideas? Did it convince you to think in a certain way?
- Did it make you react in a strong way?
Collect as many examples of you can of material which you consider to be propaganda, to discuss in class.


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During these unprecedented times, corporate treasurers must deal with a difficult and uncertain new normal.
Drawing relevance of data analytics to the treasury function, Börries Többens – senior manager, finance advisory, KPMG writes: "Analytics serves to derive specific measures/decisions from findings and is upstream from the decision itself. After a decision, however, it comes back into play, since it helps to determine whether or not the decision/measure has led to the desired outcome and if this was effective and efficient. A cash position thus does not come under analytics, and nor does liquidity planning, derived from a mix of posted receivables and liabilities and corporate planning."
According to Sam Wong of EY, there are many areas where the treasury function can use data analytics.
He adds: "In asset and liability management, treasurers can leverage data such as foreign exchange; market value assumptions; mark-to-market (M2M); bank data; rates and spread to conduct analytics for insights into stress testing; interest rate risk management and fund transfer pricing; balance sheet strategy; and multi-factor behaviour models for consolidation.
"In hedging of interest rate risk and FX risk, treasurers can turn to economic fundamentals for each country, and analyse currency to determine the necessary time to hedge. Analytics allows a more efficient process to run simulations to test the effectiveness of hedges and to price complex derivatives.
"Additionally, in cash management treasurers can run detailed transaction analysis to institute cash culture programmes; compress payment terms; accelerate initial customer contact for collections; and consolidate the number of collection paths. On the same note, data analytics can be applied to reconcile the fixed asset book to tax differences and review source data to reconstruct accurate tax fixed asset records for compliance."
Craig Davis of KPMG sums up the significance of data analysis for a treasurer: "Corporate treasury is increasingly becoming critical for the financial health, growth and successes of all organisations. Most corporate treasury groups rely on multiple data sources and solutions to address business needs.
"This approach only brings increased operational difficulties and introduces further risk, rather than addressing actual challenges. At a time when many companies are looking to reduce their IT expenditure, data analytics can offer clear benefits in terms of reduced costs, better forecasts and improved decision-making for critical treasury functions."
Data analytics 101 for treasurers
Here is a mix of traditional and contemporary data analytics techniques that help treasurers to visualise flows and discover hidden patterns, from which the business can draw benefits, ranging from significant savings to strengthened internal controls, and monitoring.
Trend analysis as a data management technique helps treasurers in spotting actionable patterns in the presented information. Corporate treasurers can use this technique to analyse the trend of the company by comparing its financial statements, either with the trend of market or results of the company's past performance.
Revenue and cost analysis of a company's income statement can be arranged on a trend line for multiple reporting periods and examined for trends and inconsistencies. For example, a sudden spike in expense in one period followed by a sharp decline in the next period can indicate to the treasurer that an expense was booked twice in the first month.
When used internally, trend analysis could be one of the most useful management tools available to the corporate treasurer. Trend analysis could be used as a data analytics technique in the following ways:
- Examining revenue patterns to see if sales are declining for certain products, customers, or sales regions.
- Examining expense report claims for evidence of fraudulent claims.
- Examining expense line items to see if there are any unusual expenditures in a reporting period that require additional investigation.
- Extending revenue and expense line items into the future for budgeting purposes, to estimate future results.
Horizontal and vertical analysis
EY's 2016 research, The DNA of the CFO, found that finance leaders are under intense pressure to balance their responsibility for financial stewardship with their role in developing the organisation's future strategy in an age of increased regulation and widespread digital disruption.
Horizontal and vertical data analysis can provide a corporate treasurer with forward-looking reporting since these techniques aim at ascertaining the trend and changes in the financial performance of the company over time and the impact of a particular factor in an accounting year.
In horizontal financial analysis, the comparison is made between an item of financial statement, with that of the base year's corresponding item. On the other hand, in vertical financial analysis, an item of the financial statement is compared with the common item of the same accounting period. While horizontal analysis could be helpful in intra-company comparison, vertical analysis can help in both intra and inter-company comparison.
Regression analysis is a set of statistical methods used for the estimation of relationships between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. It can be utilised to assess the strength of the relationship between variables and for modelling the future relationship between them.
According to Treasury Today, regression calculations could be used in the treasury function to determine the extent to which specific variable factors, such as interest rates or the price of a commodity, influence movements in the price of an asset. In receivables management, for example, the impact of early-payment discounts offered to customers might also lend itself to regression analysis.
One application of regression analysis for treasuries is explained in this article by Darren Greway. He says: "Regression analysis is flexible and may be tailored to the hedging program and risk management objective. Whatever test you decide to use, you must ensure that it accurately reflects the risk you are hedging and that it is applied consistently. Reliability, consistency and flexibility come at the cost of complexity and time. A small hedge program might be effectively managed within a spreadsheet, but for a larger program or multiple hedge programs, a dedicated software solution is the most cost-effective and audit-proof way to implement regression."
Summary data analysis
Summary data analysis is used to count key core indicators, such as the company's annual operating income, annual consumption costs, and annual net profit, which are often the data that decision-makers are most concerned about. Such analysis will certainly count as business intelligence instead of reports.
Bob Stark, head of product and market strategy at Kyriba, says with such business intelligence, treasurers can help their CFOs sleep more soundly: "Quality reporting is a core requirement of treasury, as treasurers are asked to deliver a wide range of reports for management and oversight. Business intelligence helps solve this problem by relying on data visualization instead of displaying rows and columns of data. Dashboards enable business conclusions and outlying information to (figuratively) pop out of the screen, drawing attention to the KPIs and explanatory information that the CFO really wants to see. Instead of forcing executives to scan through reports, business intelligence tools leverage visual features in addition to offering a dynamic "on the fly" interactivity that static reports can never offer."
Treasurers could represent the analysis for this data analytics technique by combining it with a great dashboard for the CFO and the board's perusal towards decision making.
Data comparison analysis
Data has no significance without comparison, and the same is true in financial data analysis. Through the comparison of various indicators, the treasurer can reveal the financial status, operating conditions and cash flow of the company.
One such application is discussed by Ingo Schorn, the head of treasury and Katja Lehner part of the treasury front office at Andreas Stihl, where comparison allows access to a wide range of data and helps to base detailed analysis.
The reference standards for comparative analysis to a corporate treasurer could be:
- Time comparison: Comparing with the actual data of the previous period and the same period of last year
- Entity comparison: Comparing with the data of peers in the same industry
- Result comparison: Comparing with the plan or budget data
- Structural comparison: Based on the composition analysis, compare the structure of the two data and analyse the changes in financial indicators
Data analytics to the rescue
The challenges faced by businesses have become a new front in the battle over the coronavirus. The rapidly changing situation around the coronavirus spread can be taken as an opportunity to combat the worrying outlook.
Though no one has a playbook for this, the measures that corporate treasurer can take in response by adding data analytics to their arsenal might help them over the long term.


text: Are you a developer who is tired of null pointer exceptions, SQL injections, concurrency errors, and other errors that appear during testing or in the field? You need a tool that can guarantee the absence of these errors and of many other important bugs. Are you a software architect who wants to implement custom checks that enforce correct usage and prevent errors? You need a framework that supports you in creating a code checker that works at the semantic level. This tutorial is aimed at both audiences. It will teach you about pluggable type-checking and the Checker Framework, an open-source tool that provides more than a dozen checkers that are ready to use, including ones for nullness, formatting, and concurrency. They have found hundreds of bugs in well-tested open source code, including from Oracle, Google, Apache, etc., and even when other tools like FindBugs gave the code a clean bill of health. The Checker Framework also enables you to create your own new pluggable type system. You will leave the tutorial ready to improve your code.


text:
3-D Paper Snowflakes Are a Hit
January 16, 2013
Smithville's Homeschoolers @ the Library made 3-D snowflakes this December. Before the class, branch staff made a few to help the instructor determine what steps might be the most difficult. We hung these staff "flakes" over our circulation desk. Whoa! Everyday a patron would ask, "Did you make those? They're great! Do you have a pattern I could copy?" So, we thought we would share our snowflake fun with everyone.
All you need is 6 sheets of paper, a ruler, pencil, scissors, glue or tape, and a stapler.
This square is easily accomplished by folding regular printer paper - fold one corner down to the opposite side, creating a folded triangle. Then cut off excess. Fold again to create a smaller triangle, then mark 4 cutting lines (parallel to the long open edges) from the short edge with 2 folds almost across to the solid folded edge - but stop short by 1/2 inch. Leaving the triangle folded, cut on those lines BUT NOT all the way across. This process must be done for all 6 pages.
Open up your cut piece of paper slowly, as it is a little delicate at this point. Lay the paper flat. Fold the two most center slits together and glue or tape. Skip the second slit and glue or tape the points of the third slits together. Now leave the fourth and tape or glue the 5th slits together. At this point, turn your piece over and tape or glue the points of the 2nd slits together. Finally, tape or glue the points of the 4th slit together. This is 1/6th of your snowflake. Repeat this process for the remaining five pieces.
Use a stapler to staple one tip of all 6 pieces together. Then fan them out and tape or glue the edges of each piece where it touches the next piece. You are done! Here is a link for a great tutorial on how to make these snowflakes. Enjoy!


Light Rail Isn't the Track to the Future
As America's largest city without rail transit, some people want San Antonio to "keep up" by building light rail. You need to know only one thing: Light rail is really expensive.
I mean, really, really expensive. The average mile of light-rail line costs two to five times as much as an urban freeway lane-mile. Yet in 2007 the average light-rail line carried less than one-seventh as many people as the average freeway lane-mile in cities with light rail.
If light rail is so expensive, why are cities building it? Starting in the 1970s, Congress offered cities hundreds of millions of dollars for transit capital improvements. If they bought buses, they wouldn't have enough money to operate those buses.
So cities like Portland and Sacramento decided to build light rail—because it was expensive. Only light rail would use up all the millions of federal dollars. Other cities that wanted their share of federal pork soon began planning light rail, too.
How successful is light rail? In 1980, before Portland began building light rail, 9.8 percent of the region's commuters took transit to work. Today, it is 7.6 percent.
Since 1980, Portland has spent more than $2.3 billion, half the region's transportation capital funds, building light rail. Yet light rail carries less than 1 percent of Portland-area travel. That's a success?
In 2002, Dallas opened a new light-rail line, doubling the number of miles in the city's light-rail system. The new line attracted some rail riders, but the region lost more bus riders than it gained rail riders.
This often happens because rail's high cost forces transit agencies to cut bus service. When Los Angeles started building rail transit to white, middle-class neighborhoods, it cut bus service to black and Hispanic neighborhoods. The city lost more bus riders than it ever gained in rail riders, and an NAACP lawsuit forced the city to restore buses and curtail its rail plans.
Light rail is a giant hoax that makes rail contractors rich and taxpayers poor."
Is light rail good for the environment? Hardly. Dallas and Denver light-rail lines consume about as much energy and emit about as much greenhouse gases per passenger mile as the average SUV.
Engineering, construction, and rail car companies make huge profits from light rail. Their political contributions promote new rail lines. Siemens Transportation donated $100,000 to Denver's light-rail campaign and was rewarded with a $184 million railcar contract.
Some people say San Antonio should build light rail because Dallas and Houston have light rail. To paraphrase American mothers, if Dallas and Houston jumped off a cliff, should San Antonio jump as well?
Taxpayers lose because their money is wasted on rail when buses could do the same thing for less. Transit riders lose when transit agencies cut bus service to pay for rail. Commuters lose when money spent on rail, which does nothing to relieve congestion, delays projects that actually can reduce congestion.
Light rail is a giant hoax that makes rail contractors rich and taxpayers poor. San Antonio should be proud to be America's largest city that hasn't fallen for this hoax.


case in order to avoid contact, strengthening sealing joints should be insulated to join at protection.Usually heat shrink tubing shrink wrap.
※ Do not use sticky tape to insulated electrical probe connector, because the oil will dissolve the sticky substance on the tape and pollution probe.
Lắp đặt máy phát
Transmitters of the work environment is much more demanding than the probe. Usually it is installed away from the danger zone, and its surroundings should be non-corrosive gases, dry, vibration, ambient temperature and room temperature or less. Next to the machine installation, in order to ensure safe and reliable transmitter, it is necessary to use a dedicated mounting box. In order to prevent interference caused by different ground potentials must be single-point ground.
Proximitor is made of aluminum casting. In order to shield the outside interference in the internal transmitter signal has been housing and end connection; mounting plate and deck rails are engineering insulating plastic, so you can ensure that when you install the transmitter, so that the transmitter housing and the earth isolation (ie "floating"). The system includes a connection system connected to the sensor probe, extension cable (if any) the electrical connection between the transmitter and the DCS system, in order to be able to work the composition measurement system. With heat shrink tubing heat shrink wrap, to prevent loosening and connectors for shorted to ground. The output of the transmitter should be net shielded cables. Shielded cable shield should be connected to the DCS system at one end of a single point of access signal ground, that the shield is not connected to the proximitor, DCS system connect ground. Original signal transmitter output cable length should not more than 300 meters, otherwise the signal attenuation will be too large.
Connection diagram is as follows:
Calibration and Maintenance
1 Calibration
Under what circumstances should recalibrate the transmitter?
ØTransmitter will not be used for more than one year;
ØTransmitter used continuously for two years; ;
ØTested material and factory calibration material discrepancies;
ØAfter troubleshooting.
Calibration devices and equipment
ØDisplacement calibrator
Ø Digital Multimeter
Ø+24V DC power supply
ØSine wave signal generator
Displacement characteristic curve calibration
Select the same material tested specimens.
Installed probe micrometer (range should be larger than the sensor range 20%).
Respectively, power, digital multimeter probe to the transmitter.
Rotary displacement calibrator knob so that the specimen plane close to the probe, the probe head and then transferred to the sensor and sample spacing linear starting distance.
Check transmitter output
Turn on the power, rotational displacement calibrator knob, adjust the probe is linear midpoint, see OUT output whether 4.00mA ± 1%; sensor fixed on the vibration table, select the appropriate midpoint of the vibration frequency and vibration amplitude, view the output OUT whether 12mA ± 1%; selecting the appropriate end of the vibration amplitude and the vibration frequency, to see if the output OUT is 20mA ± 1%; does not meet the above needs to be sent if the factory calibration;
2 Fault repair
Sensor system anomalies appear in the calibration or work, first on their own preliminary examination, the problem is serious, please contact the Company or the Company throughout the sales and service agents.
- System Check
1) Terminals wiring is wrong;
2) Wiring short or open;
3) Power supply voltage is correct;
4) Measuring instruments are shorted or open.
-Probe Check
1)High frequency probe and probe head plugs are clean, if dirty, please use ethanol scrub.
2)Extension cable (extension cable if there is any) whether short or open circuit, if the fault, replace the extension cable.
3)Check whether the probe shorted or open: first extension cable disconnected (if any), and then a multimeter to measure the resistance of high frequency probe pin plug and the plug housing between digital, its normal value should be in the 2.0 to 10.0 between Ω, if the resistance value is very small (less than 1.0Ω), the description of this probe short-circuit; If the measured resistance value is very large (greater than 10Ω), a description of this probe is open or poor contact. When found in both cases, you have to replace the probe.
- Check the transmitter
1) To check whether the probe and extension cable supporting the transmitter. If there is an extension cable, be sure to connect the extension cable.
2) The determination of the intact probe, connected to the transmitter. When the probe head against the metal conductor, the original signal output of the transmitter should be minimized; When the probe head away from metal conductors, the original signal output of the transmitter should be maximized. Otherwise it can be determined that this transmitter has been damaged, or the sensor system is bad, then the system should be repaired or replaced transmitter.
1 Power supply: +24VDC
Maximum operating current: < 50mA
2 Input : Proximity Probe
3 Original signal buffered output: + 2V ~ + 10V,
Maximum transmission distance: 300 meters.
4 Transmitter sensitivity:8V/mm.
5 Vibration transmitter peak-peak output: 4 ~ 20mA
Maximum load resistance: 500Ω.
6 Output ripple: ≤20mV.
7 Frequency response: 10 ~ 1kHz (-3dB).
8 Temperature drift: ≤0.1% ℃.
9 Dimensions: 90mm (W) × 35mm (L) × 70mm (H).
10 Mounting dimensions: (1) Floor installation, 51mm × 51mm, using four M4 × 12 GB29-76 bolt installation; (2) Rail mounting, can be easily mounted on standard 35mm rail.
11 Connection method: SpringLoc terminals, automatic fastening function, no need installation tools. No loosening because of no bolts.
12 Operating temperature: -30 ℃ ~ 80 ℃.
Thực đơn


text:
Fireflies inspire cheaper LED lamps
Inspiring light South Korean scientists have copied the structure of a firefly's underbelly to create what they say is an improved and cheaper LED lens.
They hope the discovery will one day be used in smartphones, televisions and other devices.
In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, the scientists describe how they were inspired by the firefly, a bright and efficient source of natural light.
"We made a new LED lens (copying) the nanostructure of the firefly lantern," says lead author Ki-Hun Jeong, associate professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science of Technology's department of bio and brain engineering.
By copying the structure of the firefly's three-layered lower abdomen, Jeong and colleagues managed to do away with an expensive component in existing LED (light-emitting diode) lamps.
Fireflies produce light from the lower abdomen to attract mates and prey.
"By having this structure, it is comparable to the conventional anti-reflection coating of existing LED lights which is very expensive," says Jeong.
"Our lens has a curvature, which is very similar to the anti-reflection coating, so we can minimise the lens price."


text:
Travel Air Manufacturing Company
Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech, and Lloyd Stearman joined their talents to form Travel Air Manufacturing in Wichita on January 26, 1925. The company's first planes were open cockpit biplanes made for racing and training. In the first Women's Air Derby of 1929, seven of the competitors flew Travel Air planes. Pilot Louise Thaden placed first in the race in her Travel Air.
In the post World War I years, individuals and businesses began to see the need for air transportation, and Travel Air began to develop aircraft to serve this growing market. Subsequent models were monoplanes made for the airlines, used for both mail and passenger routes, and private business use. Their series of "mystery ships," used for racing, were reported to be the fastest aircraft available.
When the Great Depression in 1929 impacted Travel Air's sales, the partners sold the company to Curtiss-Wright Corporation, which eventually became the largest air manufacturer in the U.S. Cessna, Beech, and Stearman each formed other aircraft companies in Wichita.
Entry: Travel Air Manufacturing Company
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: January 2012
Date Modified: March 2012
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.


text:
How to use robots for mass customized production?
This project subsists on the translational discrepancies that arise during interplay between an excessively controlled but exceedingly irresolute digital environment and its materialization into the reality of physical space. sPhysical seeks the epitome of synthesizing digital tools with physical expression by re-conceptualizing material design processes and applications in the field of architecture. The problem of materialization exists as the limitation of digital control and resolution. Matter and form are subjugated through a logic of rigging, a concept derived from and informed by robotic motion-control, and embedded with a certain propensity and agency. A design methodology, one that realizes the potential of designed properties, will be achieved through the conceptualization of rigging matter and form.
focus: mass customization with robots, translational discrepancies
team: Erin Besler, Siim Tuksam, Eugen Kosgoron,
program: research in robotic fabrication
date: 2011 winter term in Studio Testa, Sci-Arc, Los Angeles


text:
A Brief History of C# Style
A number of astute developers have noted that the C# code style enforced by Microsoft StyleCop differs in some ways from the style typically seen in sample code coming from the Microsoft Developer Division. For example, the very fine book Framework Design Guidelines by Krzysztof Cwalina and Brad Abrams includes many code samples which use a different style, and this style is briefly described in an appendix in the back of the book.
In fact, the differences between the "StyleCop style" and the "Framework Design Guidelines style" are relatively minor. One of the biggest differences is that the framework style prefixes private and internal fields with an underscore, while StyleCop style omits the underscore and instead prefixes all class members with this.
The reason for the differences between the two styles is largely historical. The team that developed the first version of the.Net CLR consisted almost entirely of C++ developers. Remember, at this time no-one had ever heard of C# and in fact the language only existed on paper. When the original CLR was stable enough for internal use, people from the CLR team began writing test and sample code in the new C# language, mainly to test the CLR itself. Being C++ developers, these people naturally wrote their first C# code in a style that very much resembled C++, with liberal use of the m_ prefix, very little whitespace or comments, short, cryptic variable names, lots of Hungarian notation, etc.
Soon after this, an offshoot of the CLR team began writing the first version of the.Net Framework. Most of this code was written in C#. This was the first production C# code written anywhere in the world! Again, the team chose a coding style that mostly resembled C++. Over time this style has changed slightly, but the Framework team still uses this style for its internal C# code, as well as sample C# code provided to customers and partners.
After the first version of the.Net Framework was released, many other teams within Microsoft began writing new code in C#. Some of the biggest early adopters were, naturally, the Office team and the Windows team. Within a couple of years, almost every product group at Microsoft was writing at least some percentage of its code in C#. The architects and managers in these teams (being architects and managers) each took the time to come up with their own, individual style guidelines for the new C# language. In some places these style guidelines differed wildly according to the whims and fancies of the leaders of these teams. However, over time some C# style trends began to form, and these trends did not always follow the original style used by the Framework team. C# style had begun to evolve.
A short time after this, a brilliant young developer at Microsoft (ok, it was me - Jason Allor) decided to take it upon himself to write a little tool which could detect variances from the C# style used within his team. StyleCop was born. Over the next few years, we gathered up all of the C# style guidelines we could find from the various teams within Microsoft, and picked out all of best practices which were common to these styles. These formed the first set of StyleCop rules. One of the earliest rules that came out of this effort was the use of the this prefix to call out class members, and the removal of any underscore prefixes from field names. C# style had officially grown apart from its old C++ tribe.
Development on StyleCop continued on and off for the next five or six years, and over this time many new rules were introduced. As you might expect, many wars were fought over the nature of these rules, and much blood was shed. In the end, decisions about StyleCop rules always came down to the following:
- What are most teams doing already?
- Which option is the most readable (highly subjective)?
- Which option will be the easiest to maintain over time?
StyleCop rules tend to encourage whitespace and openness in the code, as well as lots of comments and documentation. The rules also encourage developers to be explicit about what they are doing, and to minimize the need for assumption or guesswork on the part of the reader.
Today, StyleCop is very widely used within Microsoft, although it is still not an official, mandated tool internally. The.Net Framework team still writes code and samples using the original style derived from C++, and there are still some teams that have chosen to go their own way (and still some architects and managers with big egos). However, that is happening less and less internally, as more and more teams adopt the tool.
Now we have continued the evolution by releasing StyleCop to the world!
(Originally from the Microsoft StyleCop blog at _URL_