Mobile Benchmarks
As gRPC has become a better and faster RPC framework, we've consistently gotten the question, "How much faster is gRPC?" We already have comprehensive server-side benchmarks, but we don't have mobile benchmarks. Benchmarking a client is a bit different than benchmarking a server. We care more about things such as latency and request size and less about things like queries per second (QPS) and number of concurrent threads. Thus we built an Android app in order to quantify these factors and provide solid numbers behind them.
Specifically what we want to benchmark is client side protobuf vs. JSON serialization/deserialization and gRPC vs. a RESTful HTTP JSON service. For the serialization benchmarks, we want to measure the size of messages and speed at which we serialize and deserialize. For the RPC benchmarks, we want to measure the latency of end-to-end requests and packet size.
Protobuf vs. JSON
In order to benchmark protobuf and JSON, we ran serializations and deserializations over and over on randomly generated protos, which can be seen here. These protos varied quite a bit in size and complexity, from just a few bytes to over 100kb. JSON equivalents were created and then also benchmarked. For the protobuf messages, we had three main methods of serializing and deserializing: simply using a byte array, CodedOutputStream/CodedInputStream which is protobuf's own implementation of input and output streams, and Java's ByteArrayOutputStream and ByteArrayInputStream. For JSON we used org.json's JSONObject. This only had one method to serialize and deserialize, toString() and new JSONObject(), respectively.
In order to keep benchmarks as accurate as possible, we wrapped the code to be benchmarked in an interface and simply looped it for a set number of iterations. This way we discounted any time spent checking the system time.
interface Action {
 void execute();
// Sample benchmark of multiplication
Action a = new Action() {
 public void execute() {
 int x = 1000 * 123456;
Before running a benchmark, we ran a warmup in order to clean out any erratic behaviour by the JVM, and then calculated the number of iterations needed to run for a set time (10 seconds in the protobuf vs. JSON case). To do this, we started with 1 iteration, measured the time it took for that run, and compared it to a minimum sample time (2 seconds in our case). If the number of iterations took long enough, we estimated the number of iterations needed to run for 10 seconds by doing some math. Otherwise, we multiplied the number of iterations by 2 and repeated.
// This can be found in benchmark()
int iterations = 1;
// Time action simply reports the time it takes to run a certain action for that number of iterations
long elapsed = timeAction(action, iterations);
while (elapsed < MIN_SAMPLE_TIME_MS) {
 iterations *= 2;
 elapsed = timeAction(action, iterations);
// Estimate number of iterations to run for 10 seconds
iterations = (int) ((TARGET_TIME_MS / (double) elapsed) * iterations);
Benchmarks were run on protobuf, JSON, and gzipped JSON.
We found that regardless of the serialization/deserialization method used for protobuf, it was consistently about 3x faster for serializing than JSON. For deserialization, JSON is actually a bit faster for small messages (<1kb), around 1.5x, but for larger messages (>15kb) protobuf is 2x faster. For gzipped JSON, protobuf is well over 5x faster in serialization, regardless of size. For deserialization, both are about the same at small messages, but protobuf is about 3x faster for larger messages. Results can be explored in more depth and replicated in the README.
To benchmark RPC calls, we want to measure end-to-end latency and bandwidth. To do this, we ping pong with a server for 60 seconds, using the same message each time, and measure the latency and message size. The message consists of some fields for the server to read, and a payload of bytes. We compared gRPC's unary call to a simple RESTful HTTP JSON service. The gRPC benchmark creates a channel, and starts a unary call that repeats when it recieves a response until 60 seconds have passed. The response contains a proto with the same payload sent.
Similarly for the HTTP JSON benchmarks, it sends a POST request to the server with an equivalent JSON object, and the server sends back a JSON object with the same payload.
// This can be found in doUnaryCalls()
// Make stub to send unary call
final BenchmarkServiceStub stub = BenchmarkServiceGrpc.newStub(channel);
stub.unaryCall(request, new StreamObserver() {
 long lastCall = System.nanoTime();
 // Do nothing on next
 public void onNext(SimpleResponse value) {
 public void onError(Throwable t) {
 Status status = Status.fromThrowable(t);
 System.err.println("Encountered an error in unaryCall. Status is " + status);
 // Repeat if time isn't reached
 public void onCompleted() {
 long now = System.nanoTime();
 // Record the latencies in microseconds
 histogram.recordValue((now - lastCall) / 1000);
 lastCall = now;
 Context prevCtx = Context.ROOT.attach();
 try {
 if (endTime > now) {
 stub.unaryCall(request, this);
 } else {
 } finally {
Both HttpUrlConnection and the OkHttp library were used.
Only gRPC's unary calls were benchmarked against HTTP, since streaming calls were over 2x faster than the unary calls. Moreover, HTTP has no equivalent of streaming, which is an HTTP/2 specific feature.
In terms of latency, gRPC is 5x-10x faster up to the 95th percentile, with averages of around 2 milliseconds for an end-to-end request. For bandwidth, gRPC is about 3x faster for small requests (_PHONE_ byte payload), and consistently 2x faster for large requests (10kb-100kb payload). To replicate these results or explore in more depth, check out our repository.


Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Android FaceDetection
How could a book application interact with facial detection?
If Harry Potter has taught me anything, it is that any book can conceal a rotten core of evil, or a path to enlightenment. And yes, your typical book will not communicate by talking, or bleeding...
On the other hand, I've been experimenting with the FaceDetection capabilities which Android ICS introduced. A front facing camera can take a snapshot, say, each time you advance a page while you are reading. FaceDetection can do several things; for instance, count faces, track eyes and mouthes to see who is smiling, and register when a reader is new.
So the book can recognize the audience, as a proxy for the author. Consider this: as you are reading a book, it could refuse to go to the next page until you shared the text with another set of eyes. Perhaps more useful, a book app could track progress for a number of readers, based on their faces.
Wheels within wheels - well we're at it, the more I work with Firefox OS and Gaia, the more I want to use it as a platform to build a more interactive ePub reader, leveraging the Web Activity model. See below. Think books which can talk to each other using Web Activity sharing.
The thing is, FacialDetection may be easily fooled by a photograph... Might not be as secure as exchanging secure tokens, but once an application has authenticated that token, it can remain authenticated until the status of the detected face or faces changes, based on periodic snapshots.
Once authenticated with a single face, an app could drop authentication when this face goes away or a face is added. As long as your face is associated with a secure token, and your face does not change, this should be satisfactory to maintain authentication.
What are some ways a book app could interact differently if it could recognize its audience?
Tom Riddle me this.


text:
In the above picture, a TL bolt appears to take a specific geometric shape. The front of the bolt has the appearance of a cone. It quickly grows larger in diameter, until it reaches its maximum. The diameter of the bolt then gradually decreases along the length of the bolt, until it reaches a point close to the end of the bolt. At this point, the bolt has its minimum diameter. Then, the diameter of the bolt quickly increases again.
A possibility exists that the variations in diameter of the bolt may represent variations in the actual intensity of the bolt. The bolt itself may be only microscopic in diameter, and the several-meters-wide areas only glare. The reason for such variations in intensity is unclear. Perhaps these variations in some way assists the bolt in penetrating enemy shields?
Another possibility is that the bolt has varying frequencies throughout its length. This may explain the variations in observed "shape" of the bolt. It may also explain the "damage before contact" of some bolts (as seen in my TL nature page). The three different bolt sizes may actually be the result of varying frequencies. For example: a middle-sized bolt may be the same as a large sized bolt, but the beginning of the bolt is in the nonvisible spectrum. This part of the bolt may already be in contact with the target before the visible portion is.
The shape of the bolt is symmetrical. It can be rotated any number of degrees around its longitudinal axis, and its appearance to the viewer will remain unchanged.
Interestingly, the description of the TL bolt's shape also applies to that of a particular brand of modern shotgun sabot slug, which is typically used by hunters because of the superior aerodynamic qualities of the shape (called "Ballistic Coefficient" by firearm experts). This projectile is encased in a plastic sleeve which separates after exiting the barrel, and allows the bullet to continue to the target. This sabot slug effectively doubles the range of a modern shotgun.
Blaster bolts have a similar shape, minus the enlargement on the end. The front of the bolt is shaped like a cone, then the observed diameter decreases along the entire length. This is true for vehicle blasters and hand blasters.
Another possibility is that turbolaser bolts have "pulses" similar to those in a superlaser bolt. These pulses could possibly explain the enlargements on the ends of the TL bolt.
Hand blaster bolts have similar "pulses", but a less-defined pattern. Pulses are seen in various points in the bolt, or sometimes not at all.
There are at least three different sizes of TL bolts witnessed in the films. The size of each of these bolts can be judged against the size of the Millenium Falcon. This is because at some time, each type of bolt has been fired at the Falcon.
It is probably safe to assume that the larger bolts result from more powerful cannons, or otherwise are the result of different power settings of the same weapons.
The following image represents one of the largest type:
It is difficult to perform precise measurements of the length of the TL bolts because the size of the Falcon is unclear. Based on visual observation, the size of this vessel is between 25 and 40 meters long (see Robert Brown's Millennium Falcon page for more information). The TL bolt is roughly 5 times the length of the Falcon, so its length is approximately 125-200 meters.
The only time these bolts have been seen is the scene referenced above, the asteroid scene, and possibly when the Falcon "attacked" the ISD, as it was passing over the dorsal surface.
The medium size TL bolts appear to be the most common. These are seen in almost every scene in which ISDs are in combat. They are roughly 50 meters long, and are seen in the following image:
These bolts are usually seen fired at a rate of once every two seconds, but sometimes the rate increases to about once per second or more.
The smallest bolts are only a few meters long. They were witnessed in only two scenes: defeating the Falcon's shields in ESB, and firing on the Falcon as it was departing Tatooine.
They seem to have a rapid firing rate, possibly 2-3 times per second. Their use against the Falcon, and not against the Tantive IV, would indicate that these weapons are normally used against starfighters, freighters, and other small vessels. This makes sense because smaller rapid firing weapons would be more efficient against a nimble target, and would not be a large waste of power.
The small bolts are represented in the following image:
The ISD in pursuit of the Falcon in ANH fired short bolts at a high rate of fire.
It is also interesting to note that an early concept drawing of an Imperator Class Star Destroyer by Geoffrey Mandel describes three different sizes of laser cannons. Also note that there are a total of 200 TL cannons mounted on the vessel.
It is interesting to note that the size of the vessel changed, as well as the number of some types of weapons, which calls the validity of the blueprints into question.
It is also interesting to note that TLs only appear in two colors: red and green (lightsabres sometimes appear in white or blue however). Imperial weapons usually appear in green, and Rebel weapons in red. It is not known what the difference in these two bolts may be. They may be firing at different frequencies (if they are beam weapons), or (if they are formed from plasma) formed from different gases.
The Millennium Falcon is the only non-military ship seen firing in the films. The beams the Falcon fired were red, like the Rebels' beams. Perhaps the green bolts are more powerful or efficient, and are only available to the Empire (with its vast resources). Of course, the Falcon's weapons have probably been modified to military specs. Hand blaster bolts are always red in the classic trilogy. Only one example of green blaster fire has been seen.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
WRITING TASK 2
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Present a written argument or case to an educated reader with no specialist knowledge.
Write about the following topic:
Nowadays, many people like to spend their free time and meet others in large shopping malls. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this trend?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
In recent times, there has been a noticeable trend of people choosing to spend their leisure time and socialize in large shopping malls. While this trend has its own set of advantages, it also comes with certain disadvantages that need to be carefully considered.
One of the main advantages of spending time in shopping malls is the wide range of activities and entertainment options available. Many malls are equipped with cinemas, restaurants, and recreational facilities, providing ample opportunities for socializing and relaxation. Additionally, shopping malls often host events and exhibitions, offering a platform for people to come together and engage in various cultural and social activities.
Furthermore, large shopping malls offer a convenient and sheltered environment for people to meet and socialize, especially in regions where outdoor activities may be limited due to weather conditions or safety concerns. This can be particularly beneficial for individuals who are looking for a safe and comfortable space to spend time with friends and family.
However, the trend of spending time in shopping malls also has its drawbacks. One of the main disadvantages is the potential for excessive consumerism and materialism. With the abundance of shops and promotional offers, people may be tempted to spend more than they can afford, leading to financial strain and debt.
Moreover, the crowded and bustling nature of shopping malls can be overwhelming for some individuals, particularly those who prefer quieter and more intimate settings for socializing. The noise and sensory stimulation in malls can also be distressing for people with sensory sensitivities or certain medical conditions.
In conclusion, while spending time in large shopping malls offers numerous opportunities for socializing and entertainment, it is important to be mindful of the potential drawbacks such as consumerism and sensory overload. Finding a balance between enjoying the amenities of shopping malls and being mindful of one's own well-being is crucial in making the most of this trend. Ultimately, individuals should consider their own preferences and limitations when choosing how to spend their leisure time.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
Hello, dear readers and artists! Today we have prepared for you a new drawing lesson, and the theme of this tutorial is how to draw a chicken.
At first, draw two round figuers. The top figure will be head in the next steps, the lower figure will be body. Try to draw these figures smooth as in our example.
Draw the chicken's body. Draw an oval as a guide for the little wing. Draw the tail. Also in this step draw the feathers, located on the chest of the chicken.
The last step of our drawing tutorial will consists of three actions: first draw paws, and then erase unnecesarry lines from pasts steps and paint the eyes in black colour. Very important detail is flares in the eyes, don't forget about it.
It was a drawing tutorial about how to draw a chicken step by step, made by drawingforall.net team. We hope you liked it. Goodbye!


text:
Originally known as Northern Berkshire Township Number 2 and
including all of Hinsdale and part of Middlefield, the town
was first settled in 1767 and was officially incorporated as
Partridgefield on July 4, 1771. It was originally named
for Oliver Partridge, one of the three purchasers of the town
(along with Governor Francis Bernard). On March 12, 1783, a
part of Partridgefield was included in the new town of Middlefield.
Then, on June 21, 1804, a part of Partridgefield was established
as Hinsdale. And finally on June 19, 1806, the name of Partridgefield
changed to Peru., the name was officially changed to Peru in
1805, possibly because of its high altitude.
is a mountainous and sparsely settled farming town near the middle
of the eastern side of Berkshire County, 140 miles west of Boston,
and about 5 miles east of the Boston and Albany Railroad station
in Hinsdale bounding this town on the west. On the north
the boundary is Windsor; on the east, Cummington and Worthington;
and on the south, Middlefield and Washington. The area is about
27 square miles, of which 16,019 acres are assessed. Of these,
3,328 acres are forests of beech, maple and spruce. The land is
elevated, rough and rocky. French's Mountain rises near the centre
of the township to a height of 2,239 feet: The church on Peru
Hill, near the western border, is so situated that water falling
from one side of the roof finds its way into the Westfield River,
and from the other side into the Housatonic. The largest watercourse
is Fuller's Stream, draining the central portion of the town..
Some excellent limestone has been quarried here. There is much
rock of a flinty, and some of granitic character. The soil is
a sandy loam. The usual farm crops are raised; and the aggregate
product of the 104 farms was valued in 1885 at $60,161. There
are several large dairies. The manufactories consisted of 4 saw
mills, two of which are quite important. The population was 368,
of whom 116 were legal voters. The valuation in 1888 was $l22,616,
with a tax-rate of $15.75. There were 81 dwelling-houses. The
six public school-houses were valued at some $1,200. There is
one church, which is Congregationalist.
Township "No.Two " was sold at auction in Boston in
1762; and coming into the hands of Oliver Partridge and Elisha
Jones, it acquired the necessary number of inhabitants, and was
incorporated as the town of Partridgefield, July 4, 1771. On June
21, 1804, the western part of the township was set off to form
Hinsdale. On June 19, 1806, the name of the town was changed to
Peru. Among the early settlers were Joseph Badger, Captain Nathan
Watkins and Nathaniel Stowell, who came here in 1766. These, with
others from the town, were at the battle of Bunker Hill. The Rev.
Stephen Tracy, ordained in April, 1772, was the first minister.
536-537 in Nason and Varney's Massachusetts Gazetteer, 1890


What are the Invictus Games? - Britannica Digital Learning What are the Invictus Games? - Britannica Digital Learning
What are the Invictus Games?
October 10, 2018
The motto of the Invictus Games is "I AM". It is inspired by the last two lines of William Ernest Henley's poem "Invictus", which has come to define the core purpose of the event: as a platform to celebrate unconquerable personal strength and achievement in the face of adversity.
The Invictus Games is an adaptive sporting event held every year in a different city around the world. Participants are veteran and active service personnel wounded, injured or ill from their service. The Games illustrate the important role that adaptive sports play in rehabilitation programs for physical and mental injuries. It also seeks to generate a wider understanding of and respect for servicemen and women and the sacrifices they make for their countries.
The 2018 Invictus Games will be held in Sydney, Australia between 20 – 27 October. The Sydney Games are expected to attract more than 500 competitors from 18 nations to compete in 11 adaptive sports.
Full coverage of the Invictus Games will be available on ABC iview. Visit the ABC website for the full live stream schedule.
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
From 'Invictus' by William Ernest Henley
During the 2013 Warrior Games held in the United States, The Duke of Sussex became familiar with how participation in sport could have a positive impact on the healing of injuries and illnesses suffered by servicemen and women in battle. He promised to use the idea to launch a similar event in the United Kingdom. The Invictus Games Foundation was established in 2014 and in the same year, London hosted the inaugural Invictus Games at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. More than 400 competitors from 13 nations participated.
What are the Invictus Games?
Watch this short introductory film (9 mins) to learn about the Invictus Games and understand why they are so unique:
NSW Department of Education
Invictus Games: Classroom Activities
Encourage your Year 3-10 classes to join in the spirit of the Invictus Games with the following classroom activity suggestions created by Britannica Digital Learning:
Create a biography of one of the Australian athletes competing in the 2018 Games (Years 3-10)
Learn about the athletes on the Health HQ website or watch ABC News' featured Invictus profiles.
Deconstruct William Ernest Henley's poem "Invictus" (Years 5-10)
Being an amputee himself, Henley's poem reflects his long battle with illness and is a source of strength and inspiration for many Invictus athletes. Members of the Games community have joined together to narrate the poem in the video below.
Invictus Games Sydney 2018
Imagine you are Curtis McGrath (Years 3-10)
Curtis McGrath is one of Australia's most successful para-athletes, competing at a state, national and international level less than 2 years after his traumatic experience in Afghanistan.
Imagine you are Curtis:
 - Describe your reaction if you found yourself facing life without a limb/s. Explain your emotions.
 - List the things that might change in your life?
 - What emotions and behaviours does Curtis demonstrate that might have helped him to positively adapt to the challenges that he has faced?
Create your own adaptive sport (Years 5-10)
Think about an existing sport e.g. volleyball, tennis, basketball, rugby, netball, cricket or soccer, and make it more inclusive for people with a particular disability e.g. one arm amputee, one leg amputee, blindness, deafness or 2 leg/arm amputee. Change the equipment, the playing space or the rules of your sport to make it more inclusive.
Play a game of Sitting Volley Ball (Years 3-10)
Create a prosthetic hand using drinking straws (Years 7-10)
Create a class mural representing the Invictus Games, showcasing the members of the Australian/New Zealand 2018 Invictus Games team. (Years 3-10)
Each student creates an individual artwork of the same size and the completed artworks are displayed as one large collaborative mural. Include information on the athletes' name, age, their sport, other important information and an illustration.
Explore this conflict map to learn about where the Australian forces are currently deployed (Years 3-10)
Currently the Australian armed forces are involved in a number of conflicts around the world for varying reasons, including stabilising regions, offering humanitarian support and fighting the war on terror.
Women on the front line (Years 3-10)
Watch the video "Women on the Front Line", published by Channel Ten on September 23, 2010. In pairs discuss how Australian women are filling vital roles working on the front line in Afghanistan.
Channel Ten
NSW Education Department Website, last accessed 25 September 2018
Stay in the Loop
Sign up with your email address for more resources and updates from Britannica.
We respect your privacy
Get full access to Britannica School any time, on any device with a school-wide subscription. Contact us for a quick demo or get started free.


text:
Data in literature that use methods for studying the learning and memory processes suggest that GABA and especially GABAB receptor antagonists may be active against amnesia. The aim of our study was to examine the effects of three new GABAB-antagonists on learning and memory processes. Active and passive avoidance tests with negative reinforcement in rats were used. The rats treated with different GABAB receptor antagonists showed improving effects in both tests (active and passive avoidances)on learning as well as on memory retention. There are some differences in their activities, probably due to its chemical structures. The phosphinic analogue CGP63360A is potent to the point that the benzoic one CGP76290A and the left isomer of the benzoic analogue CGP76291A has no effect. It may be concluded that the obtained results on the GABAB receptor antagonists could contribute to their pharmacological characteristics and might be of interest for potential clinical implication.
 C. Castellano, J.D. Brioni and J.L. McGuaugh: "GABA-ergic modulation of memory", In: L. Squire, E. Lindenlaub (Eds.), The Biology of Memory, Symposia Medica Hoechst, Schattauer, Stuttgart/New York., 1990, pp. 361–378.
Financed by the National Centre for Research and Development under grant No. SP/I/1/77065/10 by the strategic scientific research and experimental development program:
SYNAT - "Interdisciplinary System for Interactive Scientific and Scientific-Technical Information".


text:
R. Das and S. Winter, "A Neuro-Fuzzy based Hybrid Intelligent Framework for Transport Mode Detection," in Proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Mobile Entity
Localization, Tracking and Analysis (MELT), 2016.
Understanding transport mode detection, is important to transport planning and movement behavior analysis. In order to detect the transport modalities from GPS trajectories, various machine learning approaches have already been explored. However, the majority of them produce only a single conclusion from a given set of evidences, ignoring the uncertainty of any mode classication. Also, the existing machine learning approaches fall short in explaining their reasoning scheme. In contrast, a fuzzy expert system can explain its reasoning scheme in a human readable format with more exibility, but lacks the adaptivity and learning ability of machine learning. In this paper, a novel multi-layered hybrid intelligent framework is developed by integrating a fuzzy logic and a machine learning approach to complement each other's limitations. Thus in this paper an intelligent fuzzy logic-based near-real time mode detection framework is presented that can perform comparable to state-of-the-art machine learning approaches by bridging the trade-off between explanatory power and prediction accuracy of the models. The results demonstrate that the proposed framework has achieved the aim in the context of near-real time transport mode detection.


text:
Offering Faculty &
Home for Life Design ®
& the Safe Harbor Provision Guidelines
The HIPAA safe harbor method is a method of de-identification of protected health information. De-identification is the removal of specific information about a client that can be used alone or in combination with other information to identify that client.
What is HIPAA Safe Harbor De-Identification?
Home for Life Design follows the Safe Harbor Provision Guidelines
HIPAA safe harbor de-identification is the process of the removal of specified identifiers of the patient, and of the patient's relatives, household members, and employers.
The requirements of the HIPAA safe harbor de-identification process become fully satisfied if, and only if, after the removal of the specific identifiers, the covered entity has no actual knowledge that the remaining information could be used to identify the patient.
Once protected health information has been de-identified, it is no longer considered to be PHI; as such, there are no longer restrictions on its use or disclosure. By definition, de-identified health information neither identifies nor provides a reasonable basis to identify a patient.


text:
From 1900 to the early 1920s, an unusual community existed in America's
heartland: Buxton, Iowa, established by the Consolidation Coal Company.
The majority of Buxton's five thousand residents were African Americans -- a
highly unusual racial composition for a state which was over 90 percent white.
At a time when both southern and northern blacks were disadvantaged and
oppressed, blacks in Buxton enjoyed true racial integration -- steady
employment, above-average wages, decent housing, and minimal discrimination. For
such reasons, Buxton was commonly known as "the black man's utopia in
Iowa." Now, eighty years after the town's demise, this truly
interdisciplinary history of a unique Iowa community remains a compelling story.
Buxton: A Black Utopia in the Heartland
by Dorothy Schwieder, Joseph Hraba, and Elmer Schwieder
Publisher: University of Iowa Press
Publication Date: 2003
Format: Trade Paperback, 256 pages
Book Type: New


Biodegradable Capsule Turns Your Body into a Tree
Biodegradable Capsule Turns Your Body into a Tree
For many, what happens to you after death is not something you think about on a regular basis, but with current advances in technology, you might be surprised to learn that there are some interesting options. Besides normal burial or cremation, there are many less expensive or even less environmentally impactful alternatives. One Kickstarter project aims as turning your ashes into a living breathing tree so you can live on and continue making an impact. The Bios Incube biodegradable urn and partnering capsule automatically will grow a tree and water the plant through its internal sensors, check out the video below.
Biodegradable urns have been around for a while now, and this product is one that accompanies the already on the market Bios Urn. Essentially, it is a capsule filled with sensors that tracks the tree's growth and tailors its treatment to what the plant needs to thrive. Now, you may be wondering why you need to purchase a several thousand dollar machine that just grows a tree, but think about it, do you want to be the one that accidentally kills your passed on loved ones tree? This product allows those who have suffered loss to grow and remember their loved ones in a healthy and beneficial manner, all the while never having to worry about not having a green thumb.
To add another level to the plant growing capsule, it will even send you notifications if the location your tree is growing in is not ideal for its health. You may have never heard of this product, but over 60,000 bios urns have been sold to date, and the market for alternative burial methods is growing rapidly. The need then shifts not to more methods, but rather how to sustain such innovative burial techniques.
The goal, claims Bios, is to turn cemeteries into living breathing forests that represent the legacy those who have passed on leave to us still here on the earth. It is very beautiful to think about a tangible living plant that is grown from someone you have lost.
bios incube tree product[Image Source: Bios Incube]
With moisture, conductivity, and temperature sensors built in to the device, it will monitor just about every variable essential to growing a healthy thriving plant. If you really want to be turned into a tree, but are worried about dying suddenly and it never taking place, they have little device called the Bios seed. Essentially, it is a small storage device that lets you select what type of tree you would like to become, where you would like to be buried, and who gets to see this information. If for some reason you die, the company can facilitate growth and burial as well as supplying loved ones with all of the necessary furnishings for DIY growth.
bios incube tree death urn[Image Source: Bios Incube]
The engineering and creativity behind this innovative burial technique makes you think, "maybe I do want to become a tree." Thats the whole point, with the eco-friendly nature of a new tree and the tangible effects to loved ones, it seems that for many, being turned into a beautiful tree is their after life destiny.
SEE ALSO: 4 High-Tech Alternatives To Death
Follow Us on
Stay on top of the latest engineering news
Just enter your email and we'll take care of the rest:


Closes out - Crossword Clue
Below are possible answers for the crossword clue Closes out.
4 letter answer(s) to closes out
 2. a boundary marking the extremities of something; "the end of town"
 4. the surface at either extremity of a three-dimensional object; "one end of the box was marked 'This side up'"
 6. (football) the person who plays at one end of the line of scrimmage; "the end managed to hold onto the pass"
Other crossword clues with similar answers to 'Closes out'
Still struggling to solve the crossword clue 'Closes out'?
If you're still haven't solved the crossword clue Closes out then why not search our database by the letters you have already!


text:
This Article argues that Fourth Amendment challenges to camping ordinances can prompt legislative efforts to solve the problem of homelessness in U.S. cities. By properly employing the Supreme Court of the United States' judicial standard for privacy rights, courts should consider the efforts of individual cities' efforts to curb poverty when asking the following question: does society view a homeless person's expectation of privacy as reasonable?
Fourth Amendment Challenges to Camping Ordinances: A Legal Strategy to Force Legislative Solutions to Homelessness,
Rich. J.L. & Pub. Int.
Available at: _URL_


text:
Thermal Expansion and Contraction -Why It's Important
All modular trench drain systems on the market require a concrete encasement, therefore selecting a trench drain that will meet the wide assortments of conditions is critical to the performance and life span of a properly performing system. Unlike typical drainage pipe, which is buried; and at a relatively stable temperature, trench drain systems are at the surface and subject on a daily basis to wide temperature fluctuations.
ABT Inc's polymer concrete blend is specially formulated to handle the wide temperature fluctuations that are often associated with surface conditions during a daily and seasonal cycle.
HDPE has a lower modulus of elasticity and higher coefficient of thermal expansion than other trench drain materials. These properties cause HDPE trench drains to expand and contract much more from changes in temperature than other trench drain materials. Because of HDPE thermoplastic polymeric nature,its performance is significantly related to its operating temperature.
Because the thermal expansion coefficient of HDPE is approximately 10-15 times that of the steel and concrete it is surrounded by, when exposed to extreme temperature changes, HDPE will experience undesirable structural movements.
Thermal Load in a typical Civil Environment
Daily Temperature Variance in a 24 hr period
50°F to 90°F = 40°F Change
Seasonal Temperature variance in a 12 month period
20°F to 110°F = 90°F Change


text:
Picasso used common house paint
Physicists used an X-ray nanoprobe to'see' details of the paint down to the level of individual pigment particles.
Mon, Feb 11 2013 at 10:20 AM
The Red Armchair is the most emblematic of Picasso Ripolin usage and is the painting that was examined with APS X-rays at Argonne National Laboratory. (Image: Art Institute of Chicago)
Pablo Picasso, famous for pushing the boundaries of art with cubism, also broke with convention when it came to paint, new research shows. X-ray analysis of some of the painter's masterworks solves a long-standing mystery about the type of paint the artist used on his canvases, revealing it to be basic house paint.
Art scholars had long suspected Picasso was one of the first master artists to employ house paint, rather than traditional artists' paint, to achieve a glossy style that hid brush marks. There was no absolute confirmation of this, however, until now.
Physicists at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Ill., trained their hard X-ray nanoprobe at Picasso's painting "The Red Armchair," completed in 1931, which they borrowed from the Art Institute of Chicago. The nanoprobe instrument can "see" details down to the level of individual pigment particles, revealing the arrangement of particular chemical elements in the paint.
The analysis showed that Picasso used enamel paint that matches the precise chemical composition of the first brand of commercial house paint, called Ripolin. The researchers were able to compare the painting's pigment with those of paints available at the time by analyzing decades-old paint samples bought on eBay. [9 Famous Art Forgers]
What's more, the detailed study, which used X-rays to probe the painting's pigment down to the scale of 30 nanometers (a sheet of copier paper is 100,000 nanometers thick), was able to pinpoint the manufacturing region where the paint was made by studying its particular impurities.
"The nanoprobe at the [Advanced Photon Source X-ray facility and the Center for Nanoscale Materials] allowed unprecedented visualization of information about chemical composition within a singe grain of paint pigment, significantly reducing doubt that Picasso used common house paint in some of his most famous works," one of the research leaders, Argonne's Volker Rose, said in a statement.
Art scholars think Picasso experimented with Ripolin to achieve a different effect than would've been possible with traditional oil paints, which dry slowly and can be heavily blended. In contrast, house paint dries quickly and leaves effects like marbling, muted edges, and even drips of paint. Still, experts couldn't be sure house paint was the key to Picasso's look without proof.
"Appearances can deceive, so this is where art can benefit from scientific research," said Francesca Casadio, senior conservator scientist at the Art Institute of Chicago. "We needed to reverse-engineer the paint so that we could figure out if there was a fingerprint that we could then go look for in the pictures around the world that are suspected to be painted with Ripolin, the first commercial brand of house paint."
The scientists detailed their findings in a paper published last month in the journal Applied Physics A: Materials Science & Processing.
Follow Clara Moskowitz on Twitter _USER_ or LiveScience _USER_. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
Related on LiveScience and MNN:


Question: Is Coffee Good For Your Colon?
Does coffee inflame the colon?
Because of the acidity of caffeine, the amount of gastric secretions increases from caffeine exposure and use.
This can cause irritation of the intestinal lining of the stomach causing stomach upset in some people..
What foods are bad for colon?
Limit: Processed Meats These are meats that are smoked, cured, or salted, or preserved with added chemicals. Think hot dogs, bacon, ham, bologna, and packaged lunchmeat. Eating those kinds of meats often can up your chances of both colon and stomach cancer.
Is cheese bad for the colon?
Other studies have shown evidence that a diet high in dairy products may actually increase colorectal cancer, Feldman says. "Non-dairy consuming regions of the world, like Asia and the Mediterranean, have the lowest incidence of colorectal cancer."
Does coffee affect gut bacteria?
How do I empty my bowels?
Is chicken good for your colon?
Whatever the reason, people who ate a lot of chicken had an associated 21% lower risk of all adenomas — growths that can be precursors of colon cancer — than those who ate little chicken.
Is coffee bad for your colon?
Coffee stimulates the bowels. Research shows that coffee promotes the release of the hormone gastrin, which increases motor activity in the colon, and can also speed colon emptying by affecting the epithelial lining of the stomach and small intestine. A cup of decaf might not be any better.
What can I drink instead of coffee?
What foods cleanse the colon?
5 colon-cleansing foodsBroccoli. There are so many different ways to add broccoli to your diet. … Dark, leafy greens. Eating dark, leafy greens like spinach, kale, and chard is a great way to cleanse your colon. … Milk. You can use milk for more than just your morning cereal. … Raspberries. … Oatmeal.
What happens if you eat eggs everyday?
What kills the good bacteria in your gut?
Without further ado, here are 8 surprising things that can cause harm to your gut bacteria.Not Eating a Diverse Range of Foods. … Lack of Prebiotics in the Diet. … Drinking Too Much Alcohol. … Antibiotic Use. … Lack of Regular Physical Activity. … Cigarette Smoking. … Not Getting Enough Sleep. … Too Much Stress.Jun 19, 2017
How can I clean my bowels everyday?
How can I restore my colon health?
How can I make my colon strong?
Six Nutrition Tips for Colon HealthEat a Variety of Fruits and Vegetables. Consume an assortment of vividly colored fruits and vegetables. … Choose Whole Grains. … Drink Plenty of Water. … Avoid Saturated Fats, Especially from Animals. … Look For Low-fat or Fat-free Dairy. … Avoid Alcohol and Added Sugar.Mar 9, 2021
Is tea or coffee better for digestion?
Coffee can relax the band of muscle between your esophagus and stomach. When that space opens, stomach acid could splash back up and cause acid reflux. "You may be better off having tea, even if it has a little caffeine," says Angelone.
What is a natural laxative?
Prunes are probably one of the most well-known natural laxatives out there. They provide lots of fiber, with 2 grams in each 1-ounce (28-gram) serving. They also contain a type of sugar alcohol known as sorbitol (45, 46 ).
How do you stimulate a bowel movement?
What does coffee do to your intestines?
Can coffee help with constipation?
It's true that the caffeine can stimulate the muscles in your digestive system to contract, causing a bowel movement. But because caffeine (epecially escessive caffeine) is dehydrating, it's not recommended. So if you're constipated, avoid it or choose decaf.
Are eggs bad for your colon?
Eating eggs has also been connected to developing certain types of cancer such as colon, rectal, and prostate.
What kind of coffee makes you poop?
Research has shown that caffeine makes the colon 60% more active than water and 23% more active than decaf coffee ( 6 ). However, studies have shown that decaf coffee can also stimulate the urge to poop.


text:
Back to Home Page or Contents Page or Judaism or Index
Nehushta (Hebrew, NChShThN, "brass object") is the serpent of brass made by Moses and placed on a pole (Numbers 21:8-9) to cure the Israelites of the venomous bites of the fiery serpents in the wilderness. The word Nehushtah "thing of brass" contains a Hebrew pun, the first three letters, NChSh, mean "serpent" and the final two, ThN, mean "dragon."
In Christian interpretation, the lifting up of the brass serpent on a pole is generally held to be a prefigurement of Christ, to cure humanity from the "snakebite" of original sin. By Hebrew gematria there is some basis for this assumption, the numerical value of MShICH, "Messiah" and NChSh "serpent" are identical, 358.
During the first and second centuries CE the serpent was worshipped with reverence by the Christian Gnostic sects of the Ophites and Naasseners. These sects worshipped the Biblical serpent of the Garden of Eden that gave knowledge to Adam and Eve. The serpent was considered the hero because he supplied "gnosis" to the first people which God, considered the demiurge, kept from them.
Some magical theorists claim that Nehushtan, the brass serpent, resides in the upper astral plane possesses redemptive powers while Nachash, the serpent of the Tree of Knowledge, resides in the lower astral and possesses negative powers. A.G.H.
Greer, John Michael. The New Encyclopedia of the Occult.
St. Paul, MN, Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 325


text:
Whenever you feel that your jewellery piece has lost some of its original brilliance, rub its surface delicately with a soft brush and room temperature water (for mother-of-pearl and ceramic, use a soft cloth rather than a brush). The following recommendations apply when cleaning jewellery:
- Never use chemicals or solvents.
- Don't use ultrasonic devices for mother-of-pearl and other gemstones.
- Let your fine jewellery dry by itself or use a soft cloth to help.
- Only store your items once they are dry.


Simulink Design Optimization
Specify Custom Signal Objective with Uncertain Variable (GUI)
This example shows how to specify a custom objective function for a model signal. You calculate the objective function value using a variable that models parameter uncertainty.
Competitive Population Dynamics Model
The Simulink model sdoPopulation models a simple two-organism ecology using the competitive Lotka-Volterra equations:
$$\frac{d P_1}{dt} = R_1 P_1 (1 - \frac{P_1(t-\tau_1)+\alpha
P_2(t-\tau_2)}{K})$$
$$\frac{d P_2}{dt} = R_2 P_2 (1 - \frac{P_2(t-\tau_2)+\alpha
P_1(t-\tau_1)}{K})$$
 - $P_n$ is the population size of the n-th organism.
 - $R_n$ is the inherent per capita growth rate of each organism.
 - $\tau_n$ is the competitive delay for each organism.
 - $K$ is the carrying capacity of the organism environment.
 - $\alpha$ is the proximity of the two populations and how strongly they affect each other.
The model uses normalized units.
Open the model.
The two-dimensional signal, P, models the population sizes for P1 (first element) and P2 (second element). The model is initially configured with one organism, P1, dominating the ecology. The Population scope shows the P1 population oscillating between high and low values, while P2 is constant at 0.1. The Population Phase Portrait block shows the population sizes of the two organisms in relation to each other.
Population Stabilization Design Problem
Tune the $R_2$, $\tau_2$, and $\alpha$ values to meet the following design requirements:
 - Minimize the population range, that is, the maximum difference between P1 and P2.
 - Stabilize P1 and P2, that is, ensure that neither organism population dies off or grows extremely large.
You must tune the parameters for different values of the carrying capacity, $K$. This ensures robustness to environment carrying-capacity uncertainty.
Open Design Optimization Tool
Double-click the Open Optimization Tool block in the model to open a pre configured Design Optimization tool session. The session specifies the following variables:
 - DesignVars - Design variables set for the $R_2, \tau_2$, and $\alpha$ model parameters.
 - K_unc - Uncertain parameter modeling the carrying capacity of the organism environment ( $K$ ). K_unc specifies the nominal value and two sample values.
 - P1 and P2 - Logged signals representing the populations of the two organisms.
Specify Custom Signal Objective Function
Specify a custom requirement to minimize the maximum difference between the two population sizes. Apply this requirement to the P1 and P2 model signals.
 1. Open the Create Requirement dialog box. In the New list, select Custom Requirement.
 2. Specify the following in the Create Requirement dialog box:
 - Name - Enter PopulationRange.
 - Type - Select Minimize the function output from the list.
 - Function - Enter _USER_. For more information about this function, see Custom Signal Objective Function Details.
 - Select Signals and Systems to Bound (Optional) - Select the P1 and P2 check boxes.
3. Click OK.
A new variable, PopulationRange, appears in the Design Optimization Workspace.
Custom Signal Objective Function Details
PopulationRange uses the sdoPopulation_PopRange function. This function computes the maximum difference between the populations, across different environment carrying capacity values. By minimizing this value, you can achieve both design goals. The function is called by the optimizer at each iteration step.
To view the function, type edit sdoPopulation_PopRange. The following discusses details of this function.
The function accepts data, a structure with the following fields:
 - DesignVars - Current iteration values of $R_2, \tau_2$, and $\alpha$.
 - Nominal - Logged signal data, obtained by simulating the model using parameter values specified by data.DesignVars and nominal values for all other parameters. The Nominal field is itself a structure with fields for each logged signal. The field names are the logged signal names. The custom requirement uses the logged signals, P1 and P2. Therefore, data.Nominal.P1 and data.Nominal.P2 are timeseries objects corresponding to P1 and P2.
 - Uncertain - Logged signal data, obtained by simulating the model using the sample values of the uncertain variable K_unc. The Uncertain field is a vector of N structures, where N is the number of sample values specified for K_unc. Each element of this vector is similar to data.Nominal and contains simulation results obtained from a corresponding sample value specified for K_unc.
The function returns the maximum difference between the population sizes across different carrying capacities. The following code snippet in the function performs this action:
val = max(maxP(1)-minP(2),maxP(2)-minP(1));
Data Time Range
When computing the design goals, discard the initial population growth data to eliminate biases from the initial-condition. The following code snippet in the function performs this action:
%Get the population data
tMin = 5; %Ignore signal values prior to this time
iTime = data.Nominal.P1.Time > tMin;
sigData = [data.Nominal.P1.Data(iTime), data.Nominal.P2.Data(iTime)];
iTime represents the time interval of interest, and the columns of sigData contain P1 and P2 data for this interval.
Optimization for Different Values of Carrying Capacity
The function includes the effects of varying the carrying capacity by iterating through the elements of data.Uncertain. The following code snippet in the function performs this action:
for ct=1:numel(data.Uncertain)
 iTime = data.Uncertain(ct).P1.Time > tMin;
 sigData = [data.Uncertain(ct).P1.Data(iTime), data.Uncertain(ct).P2.Data(iTime)];
 maxP = max([maxP; max(sigData)]); %Update maximum if new signals are bigger
 minP = min([minP; min(sigData)]); %Update minimum if new signals are smaller
The maximum and minimal populations are obtained across all the simulations contained in data.Uncertain.
Optimize Design
Click Optimize.
The optimization converges after a number of iterations.
The P1,P2 plot shows the population dynamics, with the first organism population in blue and the second organism population in green. The dotted lines indicate the population dynamics for different environment capacity values. The PopulationRange plot shows that the maximum difference between the two organism populations reduces over time.
The Population Phase Portrait block shows the populations initially varying, but they eventually converge to stable population sizes.
% Close the model


Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Common LibreSSL porting mistakes
The other day I wrote an article discussing LibreSSL, and the common mistakes being made by those thinking they know how to port it to other platforms. Since then, I've seen even more non-official ports pop up, and even some discussions about various Linux distros or other projects switching from OpenSSL to LibreSSL via one of the ports. I've also gotten multiple requests to elaborate a bit on some of the most common mistakes I'm seeing across these porting projects.
So here is a more verbose explanation of some of the most common problems I'm seeing:
explicit_bzero() isn't.
This function needs to ensure it cannot be optimized out. However, several projects are either using macros to define explicit_bzero as bzero, or are wrapping explicit_bzero() to bzero() without using any optimization parameters which will ensure the function call stays in. Especially problematic in the case of using link-time optimizations (LTO).
reallocarray() directly wrapped to realloc()
The former function receives the size of the element, and how many elements we're dealing with, and the latter just takes a raw amount. It's a good thing to use reallocarray() when you need to reallocate say a struct whatever[5000] to a struct whatever[30000], so you can pass sizeof(struct whatever) and 30000 as two separate parameters, as opposed to calulcating sizeof(struct whatever)*30000 which may overflow. But the naive implementations are just directly wrapping to realloc(), reintroducing the problem that reallocarray() is supposed to be fixing.
There's also issues of alignment to consider when blindly multiplying where small values are concerned, but I won't go into them here.
Poor arc4random_buf() implementations
This function is supposed to fill a buffer using a cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generator. However, I'm seeing a whole class of dumbness here:
 - Using classical pseudorandom number generators.
 - Using older less secure implementations.
OpenBSD functions may be more secure than counterparts elsewhere
This is a generic issue where OpenBSD is deleting some silly platform wrappers, or reducing multiple functions calls with glue logic down to a single standardized function. OpenBSD is depending on the security of their implementation of said function, while the porters have no idea that their platform is less secure, and have no inkling that something is wrong, because there are no compiler errors about missing functions in this scenario. One common case where this scenario is true is with the calloc() function, where the OpenBSD implementation checks for issues, but several other platforms unfortunately do not.
The future
I've actually predicted all the above problems would appear in ports once I saw what OpenBSD is doing to OpenSSL, before any of the ports of LibreSSL became public. There's a couple of other significant mistakes I'm expecting to see appear in LibreSSL ports, but have not seen yet. These probably already exists in ports I haven't reviewed, or will exist in the wild soon enough. Chief among them is implementing timingsafe_bcmp(). I'm expecting to see implementations which directly wrap to regular bcmp(), which unlike the former, is not performed in constant-time, and can expose the application to timing attacks. I'm confident in this because it's not the first time I've seen OpenBSD projects ported, and all these issues exist till this day in various projects in the wild. If you're going to port a project, please take a moment to really understand the functions you're porting, reviewing the manpages and all the comments in the source code, and truly understanding the ramifications of what you're doing.
As I said before, avoid any LibreSSL port which is not from the LibreSSL team itself, or from another team with a proven track record for knowing how to develop a secure environment.
Lastly, here's some Google searches which may turn up some of the issues mentioned here, but is by no means exhaustive:"-Dexplicit_bzero%3Dbzero""%23define+explicit_bzero+bzero""-Dtimingsafe_bcmp%3Dbcmp""%23define+timingsafe_bcmp+bcmp"
carlos said...
Are you posting these problems to their issue tracker? Or better yet, send patches fixing them?
insane coder said...
I specifically told the author of one of the porting projects floating around out there about it.
Unfortunately though, there are a bunch of porting projects popping up, and I'm not going to stay on top of all of them.
Furthermore, I myself don't necessarily even know the full extent of problems out there. This is meant as a warning to not use any LibreSSL port except from the LibreSSL team itself.
voodooKobra said...
Max said...
Poor arc4random_buf() implementations. This function is supposed to fill a buffer using a cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generator. However, I'm seeing a whole class of dumbness here:... Using poor sources of entropy like /dev/urandom on Linux... and using them to generate long-lived keys.
I'm curious about this statement. /dev/urandom on Linux works by collecting entropy and then running it through a cryptographically secure number generator, so I'm not clear on the difference between that and arc4random_buf(). Especially given recent statements by cryptographers that (except for during boot when there isn't much entropy in the pool) /dev/urandom is good enough for actual use ( ). Am I missing something?
insane coder said...
There are a ton of gotchas to using /dev/urandom (or /dev/random for that matter). I will write an article about that.
William Ahern said...
There is nothing inherently wrong with the entropy of /dev/urandom. This blogger is wrong about that, IMHO. You certainly can't use /dev/random on Linux, because it could block indefinitely. And in any event if /dev/urandom is broken so is /dev/random. Entropy guesstimation in this kind of application context is a flawed and unworkable idea, which is why OpenBSD doesn't even have a blocking /dev/random.
There are inherent problems with using a /dev device, though. 1) It won't exist in most chroot jails (ideally your chroot jail is mounted nodev); and 2) even if it exists, it might not be openable because you've hit the process descriptor limit.
The safest way to gather entropy in Linux is by using a little known sysctl. The mibs are CTL_KERN + KERN_RANDOM + RANDOM_UUID. This pulls from the same internal entropy source as /dev/urandom, but doesn't require acquiring a file descriptor.
OpenBSD, NetBSD, and FreeBSD (as of 10.0) all use a sysctl to access the kernel CSPRNG.
Max said...
Thank you William for your comments, and I'll look forward to the blog post from insane coder.
insane coder said...
William, I don't think you understood what I was getting at here. This was not about /dev/random vs dev/urandom.
The problems are way more severe than you describe.
Your safest way to gather entropy in Linux has also been removed some time ago.
Max, and everyone else: The follow up
Max said...
I'm sorry; I'll take the blame for the divergence on /dev/random vs /dev/urandom. My link to quotes by cryptographers on /dev/urandom happened to be part of a larger article about why the blocking nature of /dev/random is unnecessary.
Now I see that the problem isn't in whether the bytes are sufficiently unpredictable (what the cryptographers were commenting on) but on potential trouble with the interface.
insane coder said...
Max, I wouldn't blame you, on rereading what I wrote, I think my line was somewhat confusing. I received half a dozen e-mails from people seeming to think I was fixating specifically on /dev/urandom, and that I was suggesting one must use /dev/random on Linux. So you're not alone.
I meant to say some existing practices were unsafe, and I was referring to some specific examples.
I probably should have written something like: Using /dev/urandom unsafely on Linux, with a fallback on gettimeofday(), is a poor source of entropy. Doing so to generate long-lived keys is dangerous.
I wrote this article in a rush in a response to those asking me to clarify my previous article with some specifics, and in this section, I wasn't careful in how I phrased it.
Unfortunately most readers seem to focus on one thing which doesn't sound right to them, and ignore all the good points raised :(
insane coder said...
. said...
Carlos is correct. Talking shit without the community sense to solve it is just being a bitchy gossip.
Furthermore, it shows that by LibreSSL not taking leadership over the threshold in a way that OpenSSH Portable has become widely popular. It would be cleaner and less net effort to consolidate porting efforts to a single project under OpenBSD.
Joe P. said...
> I'm on my period said...
So Insane Coder should quit his job, give up his house, family, and friends, and move into the alley next to his local free internet cafe, all so that he can devote enough time to finding each and every one of these horrendous ports that keep popping up and fixing them one by one? Sorry, but "community sense" doesn't apply when the "community" shouldn't exist in the first place.
LibreSSL has said that they're planning to do proper ports if and when they have the funding and the stable codebase to work from, but


5+ 2 binder spine psd template free
2 binder spine template
The 2 binder spine template will organize your files. You can select various colors, types, etc. Some have accessories as well. You can use it for your working project or your recipe collections.
In this article, you will learn about the benefits of a binder and how to create your DIY binder spine. Let us see the below information.
The benefits.
You find it commonly at school or offices. This helps compile all your documents. Here are some benefits of using a binder.
 1. Organize financial files.
Financial data is crucial data. Save it carefully. Organize it using the 2 binder spine template. So, you can access it easily whenever you need it.
 1. Personal Portfolios.
Your belongings will represent the owner. Store your document copies using the 2 binder spine template. Give a positive impression when you hand a tidy paper.
 1. Presentations documents.
Professionals are familiar with binders. Arrange your presentation before you hand it. Give your clients a nice touch.
 1. Make a scrapbook.
Another function of the binder is to store photos. You can make it customized. Use your creativity when you create it. Make it as beautiful as you like.
 1. File your recipes.
If you like to cook, this is the right thing to do. You can store your recipes collection using the 2 binder spine template. Use a plastic sheet to fill it. Your clean recipes will look like a cooking book.
Create your binder spine template.
It is easy to make a binder spine. You can create it using a built-in template. The following are the steps.
 1. Find the word "binder" in the search function of Microsoft Word. When you press enter, you will see the selection of multiple templates.
 2. Choose your preferred option. You can zoom in if you want to see it.
 3. Download it as soon as you make your choices.
 4. Click inside the text box. Then, type your text to replace the sample.
 5. Print it when you are done.
These steps are easy to do. All you need are a computer and printer. You can use the internet as well for more options.
The above presents us with the advantages of a binder as well as the way of making it. Apart from its main function, a binder can share a fun feeling. You will be satisfied because you can custom it. Don't forget to decorate it with accessories too. If it works, maybe you can sell your 2 binder spine template.
You may also like...


text:
If you want to prevent any class to be used as a base class in inheritance chain, you can mark that class sealed using sealed keyword. Sealed class is normally a last class in the inheritance chain. A sealed class can inherit from other class or interface, but other classes cannot inherit from it. Apart from this condition, a sealed class behaves like a normal class.
The following code is just for demonstration purpose and it would not compile.


text:
Baroque Flute Handbook/Care
Breaking In a Flute
Baroque flutes are made of wood. When played, moisture condenses out of the breath to settle on the flute's inner bore. The wood inside the bore absorbs this moisture and expands. Wood on the exterior of the flute stays relatively dry and does not expand. That difference of expansion produces stress that (in the worst case) is relieved by cracks. Most at risk are new instruments and instruments that have dried out because of infrequent playing. (It can take as little as a week or two between playing sessions for a flute to return to its original dried-out condition.)
To make a new or unplayed flute's transition from dry to damp as stress-free as possible, the player must follow a break-in routine that gradually increases the amount of moisture absorbed (and retained) by the flute. The key idea is to minimize moisture by playing the flute for only a small amount of time at first, and then gradually increase that time, and thus also the amount of moisture absorbed by the wood, until the instrument reaches a point of equilibrium at which it can be played for extended periods (within reason). There are various schedules recommended for this process, but all follow the same pattern: a gradual increase of moisture to which the instrument is exposed. The following sections outline several representative schedules.
- Day 1: 10 min
- Day 2: 20 min
- Day 3: 30 min
- Day 4: 40 min
- Day 5: 50 min
- Day 6: 60 min
- Day 7: 80 min
- Day 8: 120 min
- Day 1: 10 min
- Day 2: 15 min
- Day 3: 20 min
- Day 4: 25 min
- Day 5: 30 min
- Day 6: 35 min
- Day 7: 40 min
- Day 8: 45 min
- Day 9: 50 min
- Day 10+: 60 min
Folkers & Powell
- Week 1–2: 10 min twice a day
- Week 3–4: 30 min/day
- Week 5 and after: 60 min/day
The inner bore of a flute must be oiled periodically. The thin layer of oil acts as a buffer. It allows some moisture to pass from the breath into the wood, but not too much or too quickly. Some authorities claim that oil alters the sound and playability of the flute for the better, but they provide few specifics as to either the mechanisms or the effects. Oil could make the interior more smooth by filling in between ridges left during the boring process. That could, plausibly, alter sound and playability. In the absence of solid, quantified research, suffice it to say that oil does provide a measure of protection for the instrument and it may even improve sound and playability. Even if the improvements were to be found largely placebo effects, they would be improvements nonetheless. In the final analysis, you should oil your flute. Certainly for the protection. Perhaps for sound and playability. And last, but not least, because it is a regular checkup that turns up unnoticed issues and shines your instruments back to their peak.
What oil to use?
Two kinds of oils are used on wooden flutes: hardening and non-hardening.
- Hardening oils (also known as drying oils) dry to a finish and leave a semi-permanent layer on the wood. Linseed oil is a hardening oil.
- Non-hardening oils (also known as non-drying oils) do not dry.
Most vegetable oils (almond oil, olive oil, peanut oil, etc.) are said to be non-hardening, though in reality they simply are slower to harden. There are many reasons to select a particular oil, including whether or not the oil is prone to going rancid, or even preferences as to the taste of an oil.
When shopping for oils, it's important to know that they are not always sold under the same name commonly used in the traverso world. Linseed oil is often sold as flaxseed oil, while rapeseed oil has been renamed (for marketing reasons) canola oil.
Almond oil is popular, but some people have problems with it going rancid. Mixing vitamin E with the oil is sometimes advised as a way to prevent this. About one capsule of vitamin E per 8 to 10 oz. is a recommended mix. It's still a good idea to store almond oil in a cool place. Even with the use of vitamin E, some people have reported problems with the oil applied to an instrument later becoming sticky and rancid. One theory (not confirmed to this author's knowledge) is that there are two grades of almond oil, food and pharmaceutical, and that pharmaceutical grade should be used to avoid problems.
Linseed oil (raw, unboiled) is a hardening oil. It's also a controversial oil. Some swear by it. Others reject its use entirely. It's not entirely clear why this is so. Perhaps it's because some early authors, especially Tromlitz, discouraged its use, saying it left a crust inside the instrument that alters the bore. On the other hand, many players of that time believed almost superstitiously in the ability of oil to improve the playing characteristics of an instrument and were prone to use more than liberal quantities. Were linseed oil to be used in this way, it's not surprising that it might get a bad reputation. However, when used properly, it has much to recommend it because of its hardening qualities. One must simply not use it too often, in too large a quantity, or let the unabsorbed oil sit for too long unswabbed.
While not "historically authentic," some people do use non-vegetable oils containing petroleum distillates or other chemicals. These are the sorts of bore oils you are likely to find in music stores. Lacking evidence to the contrary, it seems the vegetable oils do just as good a job (and they won't make you sick or kill you if ingested).
Another opinion: vegetable oils all tend to rancidity (which is not good to consume even in very small doses) and become gummy (harden) and (as Tromlitz observed) build up on the surface of the wood after a time. The vegetable oils sold as tung oil and "boiled" linseed oil (which some flute makers do use) also often have additives that can be quite toxic. On the other hand, mineral oil which is intended to be taken internally as a laxative is sold in pharmacies: the small amounts one might ingest from playing a mineral-oiled flute are unlikely to have any effect at all on the ingestee. Mineral oil is chemically close to inert, and does not oxidize or harden, yet it soaks into the cells of wood and limits the amount of moisture that can be absorbed. In other words, mineral oil seems to provide all the benefits sought from oiling without the drawbacks of rancidity, hardening and surface buildup that are inherent with vegetable oils.
How often to oil?
Opionions on this topic seem to depend on whether a hardening or non-hardening oil is being advocated, though about once a month is the median point for both camps. For non-hardening oils on instruments played frequently, it may be necessary to oil more often. For hardening oils on instruments played infrequently, oiling less often may be a good idea to minimize any problems with accumulation in the bore.
How to oil?
Carnauba wax mixed half-and-half with Vaseline makes a good polish for the outside of the flute. It is also found in car polishes, but they don't say in what proportions. Carnauba wax can be purchased in hard-flake, pure form from wood finishing suppliers. After melting it with Vaseline, rub it on the wood and polish with a soft cloth especially good around the mouth-hole.
A simpler approach: rub some of the bore oil on the outside of the instrument, allow to soak in, then polish with a soft cloth or chamois.
Reaming and Reboring
Reaming and reboring are the process of sending a flute back to its maker on occasion to have its inner profile restored what it was when it first left the shop and had not yet been altered through the ravages of moisture and playing. There are two schools of thought with regard to this process: most believe it is an essential part of wooden flute maintenance; a few find it to be a highly questionable practice.
Reaming and Reboring: The Majority Opinion
Most makers hold that the inner bore of a traverso may need to be reamed back to its original profile on occasion. Wood changes shape, especially when it goes through the wet and dry cycles of playing. The inner bore may distort a bit. This can change the pitch of the instrument and the octave spacing between some notes. The distortion may be slight, but it can still alter the instrument's performance. To the player, it can feel like a stiffness or inflexibility in the instrument, either it cannot be pushed to play louder, or it may feel "wooden," with a somewhat coarse tone is difficult to play softly. Because the traverso allows for playing with great variations in pitch, one may not notice the small pitch shifts that have made the instrument inherently out of tune, but will instead find it simply uncomfortable to play. This can be hard to notice since the changes are usually gradual.
Instrument makers all have their own procedures to deal with this. It's usually a matter of


text: ||A review of decaying isotropic turbulence in two and three dimensions is presented. In both dimensions, exact results can be obtained by assuming that for small Reynolds numbers the nonlinear convective terms in the equation of motion are negligible. These analytical results obtained from a linear equation demonstrate explicitly that the decay laws depend on the form of the energy spectrum near zero wavenumber. In three dimensions, high Reynolds number decay laws can be obtained by assuming that these laws continue to depend on invariant or near-invariant low wavenumber spectral coefficients but become independent of viscosity. Results of numerical simulations are presented which smoothly connect the asymptotically high and low Reynolds number solutions. In two dimensions however, high Reynolds number solutions can not be as easily obtained since the dominant nonlinear energy cascade is from small-to-large scales so that an assumption such as the invariance or near-invariance of low wavenumber spectral coefficients becomes untenable. However, exact analytical results in two dimensions can be determined at a transitional Reynolds number, below which final period of decay solutions result and above which the turbulence evolves with increasing Reynolds number.


Gardening Answers Knowledgebase
Search Results for'Variegation'
PAL Questions: 1 - Garden Tools:
Display all answers | Hide all answers
Keywords: Reversion, Vinca, Variegation
PAL Question:
The variegated vinca growing in light shade in my garden has lost its white borders. Should I move it to a sunnier location?
View Answer:
The technical term for a loss of variegation is reversion. Variegation can be affected by light conditions as well as other factors, as this information from the Royal Horticultural Society suggests: "Variegation may vary during the year and is often less apparent in late summer. Where there is a permanent loss of colour inadequate light is often the cause. Waterlogging can also lead to loss of leaf colour. Reversion may also occur where more vigorous green shoots outgrow variegated shoots."
Here is a link to some helpful information about variegated plants, from a now-defunct website which was called Enjoy Gardening:
"Understanding all the science behind variegation is quite complicated, so here is the nutshell version. For variegation to be stable, the variegation trait must be caused by a mutated cell or a group of cells that are fit enough to grow and multiply, and those cells must originate in a region of the plant where they are involved in generating new variegated gene cells. For example, if the mutation originates in a section of a leaf or stem where normal tissue can outgrow the mutation, the variegation pattern will often be unstable and disappear. However, when there is an 'island' of mutated cells within a growing point or tip, the variegation has a greater chance of being stable... Of course, to every set of rules there are always exceptions, which is why it's quite common for completely stable varieties of plants to lose their patterns over time. And that's exactly what happens with some variegated Euonymus shrubs when the 'normal' buds produce leaves that have more chlorophyll than the variegated leaves have. Having more chlorophyll allows the normal leaves to grow faster and to out-compete the variegated foliage. In this case, the solution to preserving variegation is to get out the pruners and to lop off the emerging threat of normalcy."
As suggested above, you can try cutting off the non-variegated ('normal') foliage and hope that the variegated foliage will return to dominance.
Season All Season
Date 2008-07-16
Link to this record only (permalink)
Didn't find an answer to your question? Ask us directly!
Browse keywords or Search Again:
December 12 2014 11:33:49


My paper "Diagrammatic time-local master equation for open quantum systems" is out in Phys Rev A.
We all know that an isolated quantum system is governed by the Schodinger equation. However, in real world, a quantum system is always interacting with the surrounding (possibly macroscopic) environment. Such unavoidable interactions are an essential ingredient that contributes to the fact that we are living in a classical world.
Unfortunately, we typically are not able to follow the dynamics for the full system+environment considering the environment may consist of hundreds of degrees of freedom. In many cases, we are only interested in the primary system instead of the environment, we can focus on the reduced density matrix of the system only. The important question is then: How do we describe the evolution of the reduced density matrices?
In this manuscript, I introduce single Feynman diagrams and rules to directly write down the exact time-local master equation for a general open quantum system interacting with an arbitrary environment.
Leave a Comment
You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )
Google photo
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Connecting to %s


text:
Aspect is a piece of information about a topic, usually on look and appearance.Aspect can refer to:
Aspect is a feature that is linked to many parts of a program, but which is not necessarily the primary function of the program.
Aspect Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game company.
Grammatical aspect is a component of the conjugation of a verb having to do with the internal temporal flow of an event.
Lexical aspect is a distinction among different kinds of verb according to their relation to time.
Astrological aspect is the relative angle between two heavenly bodies.
Aspect refers to the direction to which a mountain slope faces.
Aspect refers to the direction the property is facing (e.g. a north-east aspect).
Aspect Software, a software corporation specialized in software solutions for call centers.
Warner Aspect, an imprint of the publishing company Warner Books focusing on works of science fiction.
Aspect musical group refers to the Dance Music group from Dublin, Ireland.


List of unusual units of measurement
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
An unusual unit of measurement is a unit of measurement that does not form part of a coherent system of measurement, especially because its exact quantity may not be well known or because it may be an inconvenient multiple or fraction of a base unit.
This definition is not exact since it includes units such as the week or the light-year, which are quite "usual" in the sense that they are often used but which can be "unusual" if taken out of their common context, as demonstrated by the furlong-firkin-fortnight (FFF) system of units.
Many of the unusual units of measurements listed here are colloquial measurements, units devised to compare a measurement to common and familiar objects.
Hammer unit[edit]
Most computer programs and games use meters as the base unit to represent length, but some do not. One of the most common units used in software, that is unusual elsewhere, is the Hammer unit, a unit of measurement used in Valve's Source engine.[1] One Hammer unit is usually defined as a sixteenth of a foot (16 Hammer units = 1 foot). This means that one Hammer unit is equal to exactly 0.01905 meters, and one meter is equal to 52.49344 Hammer units. This scale is not rigidly enforced in all Source games; each game has its own rules of how big things are that slightly differ from this standard. Another program that can use a unit similar to Hammer units is 3DS Max.[2][3]
Rack unit[edit]
A typical section of rack rail, showing rack unit distribution.
One rack unit (U) is 1.75 inches (44.45 mm) and is used to measure rack-mountable audiovisual, computing and industrial equipment. Rack units are typically denoted without a space between the number of units and the 'U'. Thus a 4U server enclosure (case) is seven inches (177.8 mm) high, or more practically, built to occupy a vertical space seven inches high, with sufficient clearance to allow movement of adjacent hardware.
The hand is a non-SI unit of length equal to exactly 4 inches (101.6 mm). It is normally used to measure the height of horses in some English-speaking countries, including Australia,[4] Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The light-nanosecond is defined as exactly 29._PHONE_ cm. It was popularized in information technology as a unit of distance by Grace Hopper as the distance which a photon could travel in one billionth of a second (roughly 30 cm or one foot): "The speed of light is one foot per nanosecond."[5][6]
Metric foot[edit]
A metric foot (defined as 300 mm, or about 11.8 inches) has been used occasionally in the UK[7] but has never been an official unit.
Horses are used to measure distances in horse racing – a horse length (shortened to merely a length when the context makes it obvious) equals roughly 8 feet or 2.4 metres. Shorter distances are measured in fractions of a horse length; also common are measurements of a full or fraction of a head, a neck, or a nose.[8]
Boat length[edit]
In rowing races such as the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, the margin of victory and of defeat is expressed in fractions and multiples of lengths. The length of a rowing eight is about 62 feet (19 m). A shorter distance is the canvas, which is the length of the covered part of the boat between the bow and the bow oarsman. The Racing Rules of Sailing also makes heavy use of boat lengths.
Football field (length)[edit]
A football field is often used as a comparative measurement of length when talking about distances that may be hard to comprehend when stated in terms of standard units.
An American football field is usually understood to be 100 yards (91 m) long, though it is technically 120 yards (110 m) when including the two 10 yd (9.1 m) long end zones. The field is 160 ft (53 yd; 49 m) wide.[9]
A Canadian football field is 65 yd (59 m) wide and 150 yd (140 m) long, including two 20 yd (18 m) long end zones.
Media in the UK also use the football pitch as a unit of length, although the area of the association football pitch is not fixed, but may vary within limits of 90–120 m (98–131 yd) in length and 45–90 m (49–98 yd) in width. The usual size of a football pitch is 105 m × 68 m (115 yd × 74 yd), the dimensions used for matches in the UEFA Champions League.
In most US cities, a city block is between 116 and 18 mi (100 and 200 m). In Manhattan, the measurement "block" usually refers to a north–south block, which is 120 mi (80 m). Sometimes people living in places (like Manhattan) with a regularly spaced street grid will speak of long blocks and short blocks. Within a typical large North American city, it is often only possible to travel along east–west and north–south streets, so travel distance between two points is often given in the number of blocks east–west plus the number north–south (known to mathematicians as the Manhattan Metric).[10]
The Earth's radius[edit]
The radius of Earth, generally given as 6,371 kilometers (3,959 miles) is often employed as a unit of measure to intuitively compare objects of planetary size. The unit is commonly written as r🜨.
The Earth's circumference[edit]
The metre was originally defined as 110,000,000 of the distance from a pole to the equator, or as 140,000,000 of the Earth's circumference as measured through the poles. This standard made the historical metre 0.0197% longer than the modern standard metre, which is calculated based on the distance covered by light in a vacuum in a set amount of time.
Earth-to-Moon distance[edit]
One barn is 10−28 square metres, about the cross-sectional area of a uranium nucleus. The name probably derives from early neutron-deflection experiments, when the uranium nucleus was described, and the phrases "big as a barn" and "hit a barn door" were used. Barn are typically used for cross sections in nuclear and particle physics. Additional units include the microbarn (or "outhouse")[12] and the yoctobarn (or "shed").[13][14]
One brass is 100 square feet (9.29 m2) area (used in measurement of work done or to be done, such as plastering, painting, etc.). It is also equal, however, to 100 cubic feet (2.83 m3) of estimated or supplied loose material, such as sand, gravel, rubble, etc. This unit is prevalent in construction industry in India.[15][16]
The square is an Imperial unit of area that is used in the construction industry in North America,[17] and was historically used in Australia by real estate agents. One square is equal to 100 square feet (9.29 m2). A roof's area may be calculated in square feet, then converted to squares.
Cow's grass[edit]
In Ireland, before the 19th century, a "cow's grass" was a measurement used by farmers to indicate the size of their fields. A cow's grass was equal to the amount of land that could produce enough grass to support a cow.[18][19]
Football field (area)[edit]
A morgen ("morning" in Dutch and German) was approximately the amount of land tillable by one man behind an ox in the morning hours of a day. This was an official unit of measurement in South Africa until the 1970s, and was defined in November 2007 by the South African Law Society as having a conversion factor of 1 morgen = 0.856532 hectares.[23] This unit of measure was also used in the Dutch colonial province of New Netherland (later New York and parts of New England).[24][25]
Countries, regions, and cities[edit]
Wales (red) in the UK (pink)
Equal to 20,779 km2 (8,023 sq mi), the country of Wales is used in phrases such as "an area the size of Wales"[26] or "twice the area of Wales".[27][28] England is 6.275 times the size of Wales, and Scotland is roughly four times the size of Wales. Ireland is four times larger than Wales, and France is about twenty-five times larger.
In older British and Commonwealth atlases, it was common to show a known area at the same scale, and the usual area to show was either Wales for smaller scales, or Great Britain for larger areas.[citation needed]
The British comedy show The Eleven O'Clock Show parodied the use of this measurement, by introducing a news article about an earthquake in Wales, stating that an area the size of Wales was affected. The Radio 4 programme More or Less introduced the idea of "kilowales" – an area 1,000 times the size of Wales. The Register introduced the nanowales (20.78 m2).[29]
The measurement has been adopted by rain


text:
Are you looking for an interactive learning environment for students to show their learning? Do you need a way for students to publish their writing online? Book Creator is so much more than just creating traditional "books" as we know them. In this 2 credit graduate-level course, you will create a book on Book Creator to use as a mentor text for students to show their learning. You will also create a template for students to work from in order to produce their learning in an interactive and different way. We will cover purposeful technology, planning a book, creating a new book, adding media, interactive elements, accessibility features, and publishing books online for authentic audiences. This 30 hour course is hands-on and differentiated to allow you to walk away with a template and example for students to show their learning in a way that works best for them. Your kids will not be disappointed!
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:
*Optional Adams State University credit after the class ends (additional $110).
Schoology course code is emailed after payment.


Clothing in Ancient Rome
The Ancient Roman citizens were only allowed to wear one kind of clothing called a toga. This was to promote peaceful co-existence. This was to distinguish citizens from soldiers. Plebes were the people of the working class, freedmen, and slaves. They could be distinguished by what they wore.
Likewise, people in the government, senators, consuls, high officials, magistrates, and the upper class could be identified by what they wore in public. Certain coloured strips on the toga also declared the title of the wearer.
Garments for Men
Men in ancient Rome regardless of status wore two garments: a tunica worn as an undergarment that was knee-length and made of wool with short sleeves; and a toga that was long with long sleeves. Generally the tunica was worn in the comfort of their homes and not out in public.
The material used for garments of upper class men was white wool or expensive linen. The poor wore garments made of whatever material was available and cheap.
Senators and magistrates wore a toga with a wide purple border. A toga that was dark in colour was worn to signify mourning. A Roman general during a parade would wear a special purple toga that was embroidered with gold thread. Julius Caesar and successive emperors wore the same purple toga during special occasions.
Ancient Roman Toga
Garments for Women
Ancient Roman women wore a tunica similar to the men's garment only longer. There were two designs: one sleeveless dress made from two rectangles of cloth sewn together at the sides, with the top leaving spaces not sewn for the arms and for it to slip over the head. The other design was wider to allow for the dress to cover the arms, to be belted either under the breasts or at the waist.
There were a variety of colours and the material was according to the wealth of the family. Wealthy women wore garments made of linen or silk.
Married women had to wear a loose sleeveless toga and a long shawl was worn over the toga when women were out in public. A woman's status was also indicated by her make-up, her jewellery, her hairstyle, and her perfume.
Rich women had slaves especially trained to help them dress, arrange their hair, and apply their make-up. Poorer women, of course, did not wear make-up or jewellery, and wore their hair usually tied at the back of the head.
Woman's Clothing
Clothes for Children
Boys and girls wore a knee-length tunic with a cloak if the weather was cold. A boy from a wealthy family would wear a toga with a purple border when out in public. Girls would wear a woollen belt around the waist. All children were given a charm called a bulla when they were a few days old. This was to be worn around their neck.
The Ancient Roman rules for footwear were not strict. There were two kinds of footwear: a sandal strapped to the foot and a shoe that covered the entire foot. They came in many colours and were made from different materials. Leather was the most common material used and could be dyed to match the status of the wearer. Red was especially favoured by the rich and powerful.
Millitary Costume
 1. Why were Ancient Roman citizens allowed to only wear one type of garment?
 2. What were the two types of garments worn by the Roman men?
 3. How did the toga denote status of the wearer?
 4. What was different about the appearance of rich women in public?
 5. What did the Ancient Romans wear on their feet?
 1. All citizens were required to wear a toga in order to promote peaceful co-existence.
 2. Roman men wore a tunica and a toga.
 3. Wealthy Roman men wore togas made from expensive fabrics and some had coloured borders to signify their position in government.
 4. When in public rich women wore togas in various colours, wore make-up and jewellery, wore their hair in elaborate styles, and wore perfume.
 5. Ancient Romans wore sandals that strapped around the ankles or full shoes made of leather.
Ancient Rome


text:
The nursing profession is an important component of the provision of community healthcare, and nearly a third of the nurses in Israel are employed in the community. The role of community nurses has altered significantly in recent years due to the following changes: the aging population and increase in chronic morbidity; activities and changes within the health system including programs of שmeasurement of the quality of medical care, the mental-health reform, and expanded health promotion; expanded opportunities for advanced training for nurses, and academization of the profession.
In light of these changes, this study was designed to provide data for the first time on the following:
- The main changes in the role of community nurses in recent years
- The main areas of nursing work today and the nature of their work in these areas.
In addition, the study also furnishes data on these issues:
- The extent of autonomy felt by nurses in their work
- The extent of their satisfaction with various aspects of the work
The barriers to the continued development of the role of community nurses.The study was based on in-depth interviews with some 50 senior medical and nursing professionals, and on a survey of some 700 nurses from the four health plans who provide direct patient care in the community. The role of community nurses in Israel was compared with that in the US and UK by means of a literature review and consultations with experts in these countries.
The study found that nursing leaders, as well as a large majority of the front-line nurses (85%), perceived that the nature of their work had changed substantially in recent years. Key changes included a transition from reactive to initiated work, increased specialization, a shifting of tasks from hospitals to community settings, and greater autonomy. The main areas of current activity include caring for chronically ill patients, health promotion, and routine care. Four out of five front-line nurses were satisfied with their work to a great or very great extent, and approximately three out of four of them felt that they had autonomy at work to a great or very great extent. Perceived barriers to further role development include traditional attitudes on the part of some physicians and nurses, an insufficient number of dedicated nursing positions, and insufficiently attractive wage levels.
The study findings are expected to contribute to the efforts to recruit more people to the profession, especially to community nursing; to update the curricula of nursing schools; and to the discussion of health plans when defining nursing tasks and considering budgets and compensation levels. The findings will also help the general public better understand the roles of community nurses and contribute to nurse empowerment.
The study was funded with the aid of a research grant from the Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research.


text:
The objective of the digital competitiveness ranking is to assess the extent to which a country adopts and explores digital technologies leading to transformation in government practices, business models and society in general.
The second edition of the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking (WDCR)assesses the capacity of 63 economies to adapt and explore digital technologies. In this edition of the Criterion of the Month we will explore what is the correlation between the Future Readiness factor and indicators of productivity.
To understand the state of the global economy, it is imperative to know what economic indicators to look for. The World Competitiveness Center (WCC) produces a regular report known as the global competitiveness report, which can provide an excellent starting point when trying to decipher the economic growth rate and potential of countries across the world.


text:
Over the last twenty years, Alternative Food Networks (AFN) have become increasingly successful at reducing the length of the chain that connects food production and consumption in an attempt to counteract the impact of the contradictions of the industrial food system and its supermarket-dominated distribution. Their grassroots actions, aimed at overcoming pre-existing socio-economic structures, are in line with social innovations, which have the objective of promoting the social participation of consumers and producers in food systems (empowerment, socio-political activism or social integration in society). In Italy, the Solidarity Purchasing Groups (SPGs), have been the subject of numerous academic studies, but the scope of these studies has, to date, been limited to the political activism of the consumer. The ability of this experience to foster the social participation of the groups' suppliers and the effects that the exchange has on the economic life of the producers have not yet been adequately studied.
This article addresses this gap by investigating the extent to which SPGs can reduce the economic marginalisation of their suppliers and evaluates if the activities they promote could increase their social participation. Based on quantitative and qualitative data, this study shows that SPGs, in contrast to other AFNs, maintain a clear separation between consumers and producers and this could mitigate the positive impact of these initiatives on their suppliers. Our analysis of the suppliers shows that SPGs can act as a safety net against economic downturns and that the social participation of the producers involved is higher at the macro, meso and individual levels, compared to producers who do not cooperate with the SPGs.