text:
Tough Christmas for physical entertainment
Music and video both witnessed double digit declines, with sales falling by 11% and 12% respectively
The latest data on the physical entertainment market from Kantar Worldpanel has revealed a tough fourth quarter with a decline of 7.8% across music, video and gaming in the 12 weeks to 18 December. Music and video both witnessed double digit declines, with sales falling by 11% and 12% respectively, while gaming was down by 2.7%.
Fiona Keenan, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: "The music market needs platinum selling albums to sustain its performance. Albums like Adele's 25 can be worth more than 10% of the market in one quarter alone and with no major albums this period, music sales have taken a hit. There's already a lot of hype around Ed Sheeran's upcoming album release in March so we can expect a clear boost to the market."
Fall in gifting hurts the market
Fiona Keenan continues: "The increasing popularity of digital entertainment products is making it ever more difficult for retailers to maintain the relevance and excitement of giving physical entertainment products as gifts, and it's not been an easy Christmas as a result. Over one million fewer shoppers purchased physical music or video as gifts this quarter, equating to around £31 million lost. Gift cards for digital music and video aren't popular enough to offset this as yet, so it's vital that retailers think creatively about how to use their stores as a platform to promote online gifting."
"This Christmas was the first in five years not to feature an artist album in the top 10 most popular gifts. FIFA 17 topped the present charts this year – two places higher than its predecessor FIFA 16, which only achieved third place in 2015. Games took three out of the top five spots with Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Battlefield 1 joining the ranks as animations dominated in video, led by Secret Life of Pets, Finding Dory and The BFG."
Argos beats off competition
Argos saw the biggest gains this Christmas, increasing its market share by 2.8 percentage points to 9.9%. In the main this was thanks to its 19.1% share of the games market – it took over a quarter of gift sales in November and December to push this figure higher than any point in the past five years.
Fiona Keenan comments: "Having its outlets in Sainsbury's stores will allow Argos to appeal to a much broader range of consumers among all entertainment markets, particularly in gaming. At the moment the majority of its games sales are to under-35s, and only 6% of Argos and Sainsbury's gaming consumers buy across both stores, so its growing concession presence should put it in a good position to increase share again this year."
Zavvi was another strong performer this quarter, managing to increase its value sales despite the deep declines in the wider market. Its performance in video – where the average basket spend was over £10 higher than the market average of £14.54 – strengthened this position, and with a third of physical entertainment purchases now made online it can take advantage of increasing consumer demand for greater variety and convenience.
Among the supermarkets, which traditionally perform less well in entertainment over the festive period, Tesco and Asda fared best. In gaming, Tesco's share of 14.3% was enough to move it ahead of Amazon – the first time it has led the online giant over Christmas since 2012, while Asda made gains in games and video following two years of declining fourth quarter share.
Fiona Keenan continues: "The increasing competition in gaming has had repercussions for GAME, which suffered the biggest market share decline of any major retailer this quarter. While it continues to lead in games, it now only holds 27.4% of the market – down from 32.3% and the lowest it's been since 2014. March's Nintendo Switch launch will be critical for GAME if it is to regain its losses but it will continue to face strong competition from Argos, currently the number one retailer for Nintendo games."
Kantar Worldpanel Entertainment* Retailer Barometer - Spend Share %
HMV becomes UK's largest physical music retailer
HMV has overtaken Amazon to become the UK's largest music retailer
UK: Amazon hits highest share outside Christmas
Over a third of shoppers in the market made a purchase at Amazon in the 12 weeks ending 3 July
Apple Still Leads in Smartwatch Sales
15% of US Consumers Own a Smartwatch or Fitness Band, 8.1% in EU4.


If you find yourself in Panama City in May, you can check out the International Congress on Controlled Environmental Agriculture, conference which will feature Indoor Farming, including hydroponics, vertical farming, greenhouse production, and Ag Tech.
The speakers, panelists, and breakout sessions will focus on the six key areas of CEA, including the management of the environment, nutrient solutions, growing systems, light, water, and energy. Attendees have the opportunity to hear from global experts, including the Keynote Speaker, Dr. Toyoki Kozai, Professor Emeritus at Chiba University in Japan.
The conference will feature over 20 participating companies, and over 300 entrepreneurs in attendance. Additionally, attendees will have the opportunity to create business relationships, meet potential investors, and engage with top manufacturers and suppliers.


Online shopping for usb pc game pads? DHgate.com is a wholesale marketplace offering a large selection of new xbox game with superior quality and exquisite craft. You have many choices of bluetooth for windows with unbeatable price! Take smart tv game home and enjoy fast shipping and best service! Search by Games & Accessories, Game Accessories, Game Controllers & Joysticks online and more.


At MedStar Health, nurses are an integral part of the care team, respected by physician colleagues and supported by a commitment to evidence-based care practices and professional development. Our Distributed Care Delivery Network provides opportunities to build your nursing career and explore practice in new and unique ways. Consider joining our team of 8,000 nurses who deliver quality care to patients every day.
Find out more about the many settings where nurses practice throughout the MedStar Health network. With10 hospitals and numerous outpatient and other healthcare environments, you are sure to find the right opportunity for your nursing career.
Explore all current nursing opportunities across the entire MedStar Health system.
This is an exciting time to be a nurse; the growth possibilities are tremendous. At MedStar Health, you'll have amazing opportunities to take your nursing career in the direction you want it to go. We are committed to advancing the profession of nursing through evidence-based practice, a spirit of innovation and discovery, collaborative governance, and scholarship.
We have key relationships with universities and professional programs that provide education opportunities at every stage of career development. We strive to be a model that others look to for the future of nursing practice. We are particularly proud of our Academic Practice Partnership with The George Washington University School of Nursing, through which we foster an atmosphere of lifelong learning and collaboration that is enabling nurses to lead change and advance health.
MedStar nurses practice within a collaborative governance model that provides opportunities for leadership and continued learning.
MedStar Health offers attractive benefits and competitive compensation.
Nursing students considering where to begin their careers will find a wide variety of opportunities at MedStar Health, along with the mentoring and support to help you succeed.
MedStar Health is a part of the Nurse Residency Program of the University HealthSystem Consortium and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. This innovative program helps baccalaureate-prepared, new-to-practice nurses transition into their first professional position, and continue to learn and thrive in their new environment.
The diverse nursing opportunities at MedStar Health are matched by the opportunity to live in one of the most beautiful and dynamic areas of the country. Explore the exciting lifestyle that can be found living and working in Maryland and the Washington, D.C. region.


Project Artifacts Cache does not retain the order of classpath entries.
Wrong Object type used in implementation. HashSet can not guarantee the order of elements.
In runtime ProjectArtifacts passed as LinkedHashSet already which is safe.
Possible fix is provided in comments section.


It's a Playdate at Keepers Playground of Infinite Happiness!
Mark your calendar for Keepers Playground of Infinite Happiness — an immersive 10-day takeover of National Design Centre with over 100 local designers, craftsmen, artists and mixologists presenting interactive installations, food, and retail in an Instagram wonderland of discovery and play. Come early, bring cash and leave inspired.
11.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m.
Follow our Instagram and Instragram Stories as we reveal more details on what to expect.


text:
Robert Talbot (1916-1941) was a South African flying ace of World War II, credited with 10 'kills'.

Born in Boksburg, he joined the South African Air Force and received his pilot wings in October 1939. He flew Hawker Hartebees with 13 Squadron SAAF in 1940 before being posted to 274 Squadron from September 1940 to January 1941, taking part in the first Libyan Campaign. He was briefly posted home but then joined 1 Squadron SAAF in April 1941, flying Hurricanes. On 3 June 1941 his aircraft was damaged during a strafing run and his Hurricane crashed into the sea on the way back to base and he was killed.

References

South African World War II flying aces
1916 births
1941 deaths
South African military personnel of World War II
South African military personnel killed in World War II
Aviators killed by being shot down

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Minnesota School Builds Culture from the Ground Up
By Lisa Myran-Schutte on January 07, 2019 hst
There was a time when a person could walk into the Houston (Minnesota) High School gym during a varsity volleyball game and hear a pin drop. The fans were lifeless – even when we were winning. Of course, the parents had their token claps for their daughters when they served the ball or made a great play.
The students were spread out and many were on their phones, sometimes watching pro football games during a volleyball match. There was also "the one" parent who knew all the rules for the game and would let the entire gym know what call the referee missed.
Then we moved to basketball season, and the gym was a little louder. The students were still on their phones and complaining about how slow the WiFi was. They were dispersed around the gym in their own groups discussing whatever teenagers talk about.
The parents, on the other hand, had full attention on the game, or rather their child. Many parents only watch their own child and see every bump that happens to him or her, and they let the referee know. During the season, we had reached a point where a game was stopped at a visiting school so the sportsmanship code could be read aloud to remind parents how to conduct themselves at an event. We received verbal and email complaints about our parents' conduct at away games.
Change was needed, but how? We needed a sportsmanship intervention or a cure of the culture. With assistance from our principal, we decided to work on it in waves, which actually took two years to implement.
We started with the Student Council, with the goal of creating a student section, and we needed the Student Council's buy-in for this to work. Since our mascot is the Hurricanes, the student section was named Category 5 (this is the strongest level of a hurricane). The Student Council picked theme nights, and students who dressed in the theme were eligible for prizes during time-outs. We also implemented a "Fan of the Game" picked by an unknown judge. This person would win a free pizza at the next game to share with others.
We had some bumps along the way, however. First, we had to define "good cheering" and how to make that happen at our sporting events. Once again, we involved the Student Council. Change finally occurred and it was great to have a loud gym of cheering students and the phones becoming a non-issue.
The next issue was dealing with "Parents as Fans" drama. After our issues with parents at away games, each parent of an athlete got a letter stating the expectations of being a Hurricane fan. The letter also informed each parent that we would be implementing yellow cards. If a parent received a yellow card, this would be his or her warning, and the next step would be removal from the contest. This really helped at home events (they could see the threat as I always had the yellow cards sticking out of my pocket). It impacted parents at away games too, even though the yellow card was not in effect.
We also asked two officials to talk to parents at our all-athletic meeting at the beginning of the school year. To keep on the education of parents, we began thinking of ways to make this long term and ongoing.
We also hosted the first Hurricane Summit, involving all coaches fourth grade through varsity, and invited summer adult volunteers and anyone else interested in being a coach to come to the event.
A total of 58 coaches were invited for dinner and a working meeting. Each coach was given the book Inside Out Coaching by Joe Ehrmann, and a local caterer provided the meal. We dove into why we coach, why kids play and the best way to meet the needs of today's youth. We also challenged our varsity coaches to share "why they coach" with their student-athletes.
Our hope was to involve youth coaches and demonstrate education- based athletics, so that when their children grew up, they would be better fans. The youth coaches appreciated having a say and being a part of the big picture. We had a great turnout of our on-staff coaches and thanked them for the great work they do. The coaches responded favorably, and we hope to make this an annual event.
We have seen a change in culture overall, and the journey continues. At the elementary school level, we hosted pep-fests to show students how to cheer positively. We shared rules on how to act at a game (remain seated, don't run, stay out of the hallways).
One night we host a "Category 4" section where the elementary school students have their own spot in the gym. This is done in conjunction with a dance night – a night where students are invited to dance during time-outs to give the kids movement. There is still "babysitting" in the hallways, but we ask kids to return to the gym, and they go because they know the expectations.
Other aspects that were helpful to promote a positive change to our event culture were a Positive Behavior Intervention Program and an Adaptive Bowling team; we sent two kids to the state bowling tournament our first year. Students also started an FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) club to meet before school. Our school was reaching kids that may not have been a part of previous activities.
The key factor in changing the culture was to get overall buyin. Students had a chance to say what they wanted to happen during a game, and we made it special for them by giving them the middle section of the gym. By providing the Hurricane Summit, parents worked with coaches to be invested in making experiences great for kids. Through these changes, the students' pride in being a Hurricane became evident. All of this supported the coaches in their endeavor to do what they do best – coach in a supportive and fun atmosphere.
Lisa Myran-Schutte
Lisa Myran-Schutte is the activities director of the Houston Public Schools in Houston, Minnesota, and she is a member of the High School Today Publications Committee.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
package com.cilogi.util;

import org.slf4j.Logger;
import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.util.Properties;

public class Secrets {
    static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(Secrets.class);

    private static final Properties props = new Properties();

    static {
        try {
            try (InputStream is = Secrets.class.getResourceAsStream("/secret.properties")) {
                props.load(is);
            }
        } catch (IOException e) {
            LOG.error("Can't load secrets", e);
        }
    }

    private Secrets() {}

    public static String get(String name) {
        return props.getProperty(name);
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


I published an app and when it opens, the larger splash screen doesn't deploy, only the small one so there's just a little image in the middle of the screen.. What's wrong?
Which language and are you using so we can get you to an appropriate forum?
Also can you please explain what you mean by larger splash screen vs. a little image? The splash screen is always the same size and is a rectangle in the centre of the screen. Typically the background of the splash screen will be transparent so it will blend in with the app's background colour to appear full screen.
your splash screen logo you putting (with background) and the splash screen background color not similar to the background of the logo !


I'm not sure what the King Kong earthquake was, but I did go to Disney World in 1997. I was about 8 years old.
Sorry this is a bit blurry, but you all know my phone situation, haha. I got this blog post idea when I visited my Dad last weekend. He was cleaning out some stuff and found these – I'm guessing the first card was like a ticket to get into the park and the first visit card was something you were supposed to wear.
I hope you enjoyed this fun look back into my life. Have you ever visited Disney World?
Happy Saturday, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Hubby and I saw the new Tomb Raider movie last night and I wanted to get my review up as soon as possible.
Side note: I'm not a huge video game player, but I do play a few on occasion (Skyrim and Dragon Age are the top 2). When I was young, my Dad would play the original Tomb Raider games on the play station and I would watch. We printed out all the walk throughs for the games and put them in a binder. When we would get stuck on a puzzle, we would eventually give in and I would look up how to get through. I never really played the older games on my own, but when the two new games came, I had to. And I loved them. The story is great, and I was excited to see the movie.
The movie definitely borrows from the game. Actually, one of the coolest aspects of the movie is how much it felt like a Tomb Raider game. Quick, action-packed sequences with seconds to make life or death decisions. However, the story is pretty different from the game, which threw me off. Many of the characters make appearances but their motives (and even names) have been changed. I needed to remind myself throughout the movie that I needed to treat this as a separate entity from the game (as I would when comparing a book-to-movie adapataion to the original source). Once I did that, I was able to enjoy the movie much more.
I think Alicia Vikander plays a perfect Lara Croft. She has the look and the charm that makes Lara, Lara and I don't have anything negative to say. Vikander delivers a solid performance, and is able to keep you on the edge of your seat and then make you laugh to break tension.
I also really enjoyed Walton Goggins as Mathias. While a different character in the movie versus the book, he really delivers a tense performance. From the minute you meet him, you know he isn't a good guy, and Goggins was able to really bring that almost invincible, bad guy feeling to the character. He was not going to be an easy villainto defeat.
The special effects are really awesome in this movie. They leave your adrenaline racing as Lara Croft runs, jumps and ducks her way through countless dangers. The action sequences never feel boring or cookie cutter, and I was on the edge of my seat more than once.
I think the first half of the film dragged a bit. I know this was an origin story, and we needed time to understand and get to know Lara Croft, but it felt like there was a little too much time spent on her 'normal' life. Once the action started, it was a lot more fun.
This was a pretty good movie. It was entertaining, tense, and action-packed. The first half of the movie being a bit slow, lowered the rating for me. But once the movie picked up, I had a great time watching. If you've played the game, you definitely need to leave your expectations at the door. It's a great movie Lara Croft origin story, and you need to look at it completely separate from the story of the game.
Have you played the games? Have you seen the movie? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Happy weekend. It's been a crazy week, but hubby and I took Monday off, so I'm excited to have a three day weekend.
1. A book on your TBR pile that you haven't finished.
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas. I'm about half way through, but I recently agreed to read and review a couple of books, so I put this one on the back burner so I could focus. I have one more to read and review, and then I'll be back to this one.
2. A book you just haven't had the time to read for.
Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor. I'm so mad I haven't finished this one. I loved the first two, and I can't wait to find out the end, but I just haven't had time.
3. A book you haven't read because it's a sequel.
I will choose Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo for this one. I'm definitely getting there. I need to write my Six of Crows review.
4. A book you haven't read because it's brand new.
I'm going to say Origin by Dan Brown. It's the newest book on my shelf, so I'm going with it.
5. A book by and author you read previously but didn't really like.
Insurgent by Veronica Roth. I'm not really a fan of Divergent, so I'm not sure how much time I really want to dedicate to the other books.
6. A book on your TBR pile that you're just not in the mood to read.
I guess for this I will go with Gone by Michael Grant. I bought it at a used bookstore, and now I'm just not that excited to read it. I'll probably read it someday.
7. A book on your TBR pile that you haven't read because it's enormous.
I'm really disappointed to say Gemina by Aime Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. However, I've been listening to the audio book to and from work, and on lunch break, so I'm making time. It's so good, but it's also big. Haha.
8. A book on your TBR you bought because of the cover.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I really didn't need to read the blurb, I just wanted the pretty cover. Haha.
9. The book on your TBR you find the most intimidating.
Creation Basics & Beyond by Various authors at ICR. This one is a science book, and while I'm not really great at science, I really want to dig into it. It's just intimidating. I've read a bit of it, but it takes time for my brain to process in the info.
That's all I have for you today. What are you currently reading? Let me know in the comments!
"I love my mommy and daddy because they are very special. They are always there for me. They take me places." …dawww.
I'm really enjoying reading these old journals. I hope you're enjoying these posts as well. I hope you have a great day!
Hey there everyone! Happy Thursday.
This is a very personal poem, written quite a while ago. Some of you may know, my mom passed away from cancer when I was 18. Writing definitely helped me through some rough times.
Time is running out for you to enter my 100 Followers Giveaway! Giveaway closes at 6PM (EST) tomorrow night and I will announce the winner on Saturday!
Before we get started, I just wanted to say thank you so much for the support! You guys are great. If you haven't already, click here to enter my 100 Followers Giveaway for your chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card!
I love this time of year. I was going to wait until tomorrow to post this, but I couldn't, so in honor of Halloween, I wanted to do a fun tag. I found this one here.
Salem's Lot by Stephen King. I've loved every Stephen King book I've read, but something about Salem's Lot stuck with me.
Scariest moment in a book you've read?
I don't really want to spoil, and I can't say this is the absolute scariest moment, but there was a scene in The Call by Peadar O'Guilin that made me turn the light on.
Have you dressed up as a book character for Halloween?
No. I tried to be Lara Croft from Tomb Raider once and ended up looking like a mix of Katniss from the Hunger Games and an unknown character from the Walking Dead. Last year, I dressed up as a book nerd though. That was cool.
What do you think your favorite fictional character would dress up as for Halloween?
Good question. Damon from the Vampire Diaries would probably go out as himself, and no one would question it.
What is your favorite type of horror (gore, psychological, etc.)?
I want a good story, and I want to be scared. I'm not a huge gore fan – I find movies like Saw to be unbearable, so you won't find me watching the new Jigsaw movie. But, as long as there isn't ridiculous amounts of gore, I'm in.
Anything Stephen King. The Call by Peadar O'Guilin is pretty fun so far.
Per usual, I tag anyone who wants to do the tag. Just let me know you did it, so I can read your responses!
Are you dressing up? What will your costume be?
We are going to a Halloween party tonight. I'm being lame and reusing my costume from last year but it is what it is. I'm going to be a book worm. Stay tuned for pictures on Facebook/Instagram and maybe I'll post one here.
I have 99 followers! One more to go til I announce my give away. Looking forward to that.
the black ink on this paper.
girl ripped apart by love.
spilling it out through my pen.
a symphony of poetic expression.
my personal diary in metaphors.
the words to turn my life around.
What are your plans for Halloween? If you're dressing up, what will you be? Have a great weekend!
Quick, fun writing tag because I haven't done one in a while. As always, I tag anyone who wants to participate. Just let me know in the comments so I can ready your response.
Mostly in the afternoon, after work. I try to write something every day, except on Sunday.
How do you seclude yourself from the outside world?
It's difficult in an apartment, but I have my own corner in the living room with a desk. I just have to force myself to stay off Twitter.
How do you review what you wrote the previous day?
I have a bad habit of editing as I go, so I'm constantly reading what I wrote and changing things. It's why my process is slower than I'd like.
What song is your go to when you're feeling uninspired?
I listen to a lot of instrumental music when writing. Songs with lyrics distract me. I don't have a particular song that gets me out of a writing slump though.
What do you do when you find yourself struggling with writer's block?
I step away and read a book or watch a tv show/movie.
What tools do you use when writing?
I have a couple go-to books that help when I'm struggling to find words. I have the emotions thesaurus and a book with writing prompts.
What is one thing you can't live without during a writing session?
How do you fuel yourself when writing?
How do you know when you're done writing?
I don't really have an answer for this question. I'm finished writing when I'm finished. It's not the same every night.
That's all I have for you today. What are your weekend plans?
she'll never wake from again.
Hi there, sorry it has been a few days since my last post. I had some doctors appointments to figure some things out (I'm fine, no worries), which has taken up a lot of my spare time.
In other news, Paul and I rented a cottage on Honeoye Lake for this weekend. Hoping the weather is decent. We leave tomorrow night and come home Sunday, but we have Monday off. Hopefully we will be able to fish and have a couple campfires. I'm really excited.
Still working through my October TBR list. Should be able to read quite a bit this weekend. Also working hard on Alter Reach. Can't wait to get that out into the world.
That's all I have for you today, just wanted to update so you didn't think I disappeared. I'm participating in a few hashtag games on Twitter and Instagram, so check that out.
I hope you have a great weekend. Let me know what your plans are. I'll post again on Sunday and let you know about our trip.


text:
Q: R sweep on a Sparse Matrix I'm attempting to apply the sweep function to a sparse matrix (dgCMatrix). Unfortunately, when I do that I get a memory error. It seems that sweep is expanding my sparse matrix to a full dense matrix.
If there an easy way to perform this function without if blowing up my memory?
This is what I'm trying to do.
sparse_matrix <- sweep(sparse_matrix, 1, vector_to_multiply, '*')

A: I'm working with a big and very sparse dgTMatrix matrix (200k rows and 10k columns) in a NLP problem. After hours thinking in a good solution, I created an alternative sweep function for sparse matrices. It is very fast and memory efficient. It took just 1 second and less than 1G of memory to multiply all matrix rows by a array of weights. For margin = 1 it works for both dgCMatrix and dgTMatrix.
Here it follows:
sweep_sparse <- function(x, margin, stats, fun = "*") {
   f <- match.fun(fun)
   if (margin == 1) {
      idx <- x@i + 1
   } else {
      idx <- x@j + 1
   }
   x@x <- f(x@x, stats[idx])
   return(x)
}

A: I second @user20650's recommendation to use direct multiplication of the form mat * vec which multiplies every column of your matrix mat with your vector vec by implicitly recycling vec.
Processing time profiling
I understand that you're main requirement here is memory, but it's interesting to perform a microbenchmark comparison of the sweep and direct multiplication methods for both a dense and sparse matrix:
# Sample data
library(Matrix)
set.seed(2018)
mat <- matrix(sample(c(0, 1), 10^6, replace = T), nrow = 10^3)
mat_sparse <- Matrix(mat, sparse = T)
vec <- 1:dim(mat)[1]

library(microbenchmark)
res <- microbenchmark(
    sweep_dense = sweep(mat, 1, vec, '*'),
    sweep_sparse = sweep(mat_sparse, 1, vec, '*'),
    mult_dense = mat * vec,
    mult_sparse = mat_sparse * vec
)
res
Unit: milliseconds
         expr        min         lq       mean     median        uq      max
  sweep_dense   8.639459  10.038711  14.857274  13.064084  18.07434  32.2172
 sweep_sparse 116.649865 128.111162 162.736864 135.932811 155.63415 369.3997
   mult_dense   2.030882   3.193082   7.744076   4.033918   7.10471 184.9396
  mult_sparse  12.998628  15.020373  20.760181  16.894000  22.95510 201.5509

library(ggplot2)
autoplot(res)

On average the operations involving a sparse matrix are actually slightly slower than the ones with a dense matrix. Note however, how direct multiplication is faster than sweep.
Memory profiling
We can use memprof to profile the memory usage of the different approaches.
library(profmem)
mem <- list(
    sweep_dense = profmem(sweep(mat, 1, vec, '*')),
    sweep_sparse = profmem(sweep(mat_sparse, 1, vec, '*')),
    mult_dense = profmem(sweep(mat * vec)),
    mult_sparse = profmem(sweep(mat_sparse * vec)))
lapply(mem, function(x) utils:::format.object_size(sum(x$bytes), units = "Mb"))
#$sweep_dense
#[1] "15.3 Mb"
#
#$sweep_sparse
#[1] "103.1 Mb"
#
#$mult_dense
#[1] "7.6 Mb"
#
#$mult_sparse
#[1] "13.4 Mb"

To be honest, I'm surprised that the memory imprint of the direct multiplication with a sparse matrix is not smaller than that involving a dense matrix. Perhaps the sample data are too simplistic. It might be worth exploring this with your actual data (or a representative subset thereof).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Interning at the U.S. Department of State and the Carnegie Endowment in D.C.
by info | Jan 28, 2022 | Uncategorized
Author: Darwin Lopez (https://www.linkedin.com/in/darwinlopez17/) Darwin Lopez is from Oakland, California and was a mentee in our Summer 2021 Mentorship Program. He transferred from Merritt College to the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), where he is...
Tate Barend on Studying Abroad Independently in China
by info | Apr 20, 2021 | Uncategorized
Author: Jordan Fontaine Meet Tate, a Santa Rosa JC transfer and UC Berkeley graduate who studied abroad in London as a community college student and later in Beijing while at Berkeley. We wanted to ask Tate a few questions about his study abroad experience and were...
Ryan Liu on Transferring to Yale
by info | Apr 8, 2021 | Uncategorized
Author: Alexa Fosdick Ryan Liu is currently pursuing his JD at Yale University. After graduating as the valedictorian of his class at Pasadena City College in California, Ryan transferred to Yale and completed a Bachelor's in Political Science. From there, he went on...
How Going to Community College Helped Me Fall in Love with Learning Again
by info | May 28, 2019 | Uncategorized
About the author: Alexa Fosdick is a senior at UC Berkeley pursuing a degree in Political Science. She currently works as a Communications and Research Assistant with the Berkeley Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies, where she is also an Undergraduate Fellow....
A Chat With Jasmine About Fulbright UK
Author: Alyssa McCullough Jasmine Stoltzfus is currently abroad finishing up her master's degree in Global Security and Borders as a Fulbright Scholar in the UK. Jasmine transferred from Shasta College to UC Davis. Can you tell me a little bit about the Fulbright...


text:
Tag: Quentin Bates
Belatedly, Newcastle Noir
Although I've written three posts about Bristol's CrimeFest, I wrote a very long and detailed post about Newcastle Noir long before that, which I generously handed over to a different site. Since they still haven't put it up yet (and may not do so anymore, since it's out of date), I'll put it up now. With apologies to the wonderful organisers and all the great people I met there for the delay. If it makes them feel better, I think I liked Newcastle the town (and the festival) even more than Bristol.
I was impressed with Newcastle's Hanseatic port type architecture.
Newcastle Noir 2019
The 2019 event (3-5 May) was the sixth annual event, and this time it was housed in the City Library. While this did mean that the venue got very crowded at times (it remained a fully functional library and community centre and it was a busy Bank Holiday weekend), it also made it very easy for people to pop in for just one panel if they so wished. And why would they not wish to, since they were very reasonably priced (£4 – eat your heart out, Hay Festival!).
The City Library, the venue.
The timing of the panels was a huge bonus: they each lasted about 45 minutes, which gave attendees sufficient time to regroup, take a comfort break, get their books signed by the authors and then head back in for the next panel. And, while the event remains small enough to avoid parallel sessions, you didn't face the pain of having to choose between two equally fascinating panels. There were a couple of fringe events (writing workshops or a guided tour of Newcastle's fictional crime heritage) which coincided with a few panels, but these provided a change of pace and respite for those overdosing on author talks. A bookshop and a bar on site (as well as the library café) also offered small escape areas for when it all gets a bit too intense. However, if I had one small criticism of the event, it would be that there aren't enough dedicated places to just sitting, resting or gloating over your newly-purchased books.
There were, however, more opportunities to mingle with the authors informally in the evening. Or, as is typical in my case, fangirling over my favourite authors and waylaying them with book signing requests. Thursday night was a pre-festival Noir at the Bar Open Mic session of readings. A great opportunity to hear not only from authors who were present at the festival but also from emerging writers or others (such as Zoe Sharp) who had to leave early. Friday night we all headed over to the Central Bar in Gateshead for a cabaret evening. Crime writers proved themselves to possess enviable talents as singers, songwriter and even stand-up comedians. Last but not least, a silent disco on Saturday night gave everyone the chance to show their best (Dad) dance moves or else catch up on the day's events without having to shout.
But what about the panels themselves?
They were an intriguing combination of themes, yet managed to avoid that forced feeling or random groupings which are sometimes the bane of literary festivals.
I really liked the mix of the familiar faces and the fresh, emerging talent. There were some obvious suspects there, such as showcases with big hitters such as Yrsa Sigurdardottir, or Gunnar Staalesen and John Harvey, or the finale with two of the most popular female crime writers working in England today, Mari Hannah and Elly Griffiths. But there were plenty of chances to find a new favourite regional author (Femmes Fatales from the NE including Sheila Quigley, Danielle Ramsay and Eileen Wharton; Northern Noir with Mel Sherratt, Caroline England and Robert Parker; Tyneside male authors such as Howard Linskey and Mick Herron; Yorkshire Noir for example Nick Quantrill, June Taylor and AA Dhand; and Welsh crime fiction with Phil Rowlands, John Nicholl and GB Williams) or to discover debut authors such as Adam Peacock, Alison Belsham, GD Abson and Noelle Holten. The international panels gave readers the opportunity to travel further afield and discover new worlds. Alongside the big international names, there were also writers from Romania, Australia and New Zealand who are still relatively unknown (or who, like Helen Fitzgerald, are not necessarily perceived as Australian), as well as fresh Icelandic writers who have not yet been translated into English. Let's not forget panels that are loosely grouped around a theme but are likely to have a very wide appeal, such as modern gothic and supernatural writing (SJI Holliday, Anna Mazzola and William Ryan), LGBTQ authors (Paul Burston, Derek Farrell and Jonina Leosdottir), historical crime fiction (Lesley Thomson, Oscar de Muriel, Nicola Ford and Fiona Veitch Simon) or writers who have chosen woods as their settings for murder (Antti Tuomainen, Matt Wesolowski, Will Dean and MJ Arlidge).
From BalkanNoir to Bucharest Noir – here come the Romanians!
I was there to support my fellow countryman and women, the Bucharest Noir panel, represented by Anamaria Ionescu, Teodora Matei and their publisher and fellow crime author Bogdan Hrib.
Anamaria Ionescu was introducing her 'hot off the press' English translation of Zodiac, part of a trilogy featuring the nearest thing Romania has to James Bond. Sergiu Manta is a trained but reluctant assassin, who has to live apart from his beloved family in order to work for an organisation that is so secretive, it's not even supposed to exist. The author acknowledged that a real-life person, a biker friend, was the inspiration for the Sergiu Manta character, and that she deliberately made him not quite as feminist as he thinks he is in a still rather traditional macho Romanian society.
Teodora Matei is well-known in her home country for her science fiction and fantasy novels, as well as crime and even (steampunk) romance. Her first novel to be translated into English Living Candles perfectly conveys the less glamorous aspects of urban life in present-day Bucharest. Her husband is NOT the source of inspiration for Toni Iordan, her main detective, although he had high hopes initially that he was. However, Toni does represent Mr. Average in every respect: a little overweight, a little fed up of his wife and kids, a little unfaithful but not quite as much as he dreams of being…
Bogdan Hrib is one of Romania's most successful contemporary crime writers (and publishers). He has had several novels translated into English, although not necessarily in order of appearance. His series featuring journalist Stelian Munteanu are fast-paced, moving from one European capital to the next, with complex characters who vacillate between cold-bloodedness and sentimentality.
A more relaxed picture of the Awesome Four, with a bit of Newcastle backdrop.
Quentin Bates, himself a respected crime writer and translator, helped edit the English language translations and moderated the panel in Newcastle. He asked the authors what they consider to be special and different about Romanian noir, and why it deserves to be translated into other languages. The answer showed, I believe, that noir is at the very heart of Romanian literature: 'We have a different way of thinking and living. It's hard for people to understand what it takes to move from Communism – actually, that wasn't Communism, it was pure and simply a dictatorship – to Capitalism. We survived against all odds, we're survivors and fighter, and sometimes we have to fight against ourselves first and foremost.' However, there was also agreement that the books that do get translated (or even the books that get talked about in the Romanian press) tend to be literary fiction, often very experimental and impenetrable. There is a bit of snobbery about genre fiction in Romania as everywhere else.
Love and crime are closely entwined
Dr Noir introducing the Orenda panel.
One of the liveliest panels despite the early morning start on Saturday was the panel What's Love Got to Do with It? A feast of Orenda authors, moderated by Mamma Orenda herself, Karen Sullivan, talking about dysfunctional relationships and the crimes that people are ready to commit in the name of love. Lilja Sigurdardottir and Steph Broadribb's kick-ass heroines both engage in dangerous (and sometimes criminal) pursuits to protect their children, so maternal love is strongly represented. In Doug Johnstone's latest novel Breakers, it's brotherly love that drives the narrative, although a Romeo and Juliet burgeoning of adolescent feelings gives some hope to the conflicted main protagonist.
Meanwhile, Will Carver's insomniac Seth is desperate for love and connection, feeling lonely and trapped in his marriage, so seeks to talk to random people he selects from the phonebook. As the author says, boredom should also be on the list of factors that motivate us to commit a crime – the unbearable dreariness of routines often make us long to do stupid things.
Doug Johnstone agrees that he likes to focus on those split-second stupid decisions that people make. Readers can relate to that: they might think that they would act differently and wisely if they were in the same position, but when we are under pressure, how many of us wouldn't make a foolish choice?
Lilja Sigurdardottir admitted that one of the most embarrassing things she had done for love was to stalk her partner when she first met her (in pre-internet days), in order to convince her that they were right for each other. 24 years later, they are still together, so the panel agreed that what we might deduce from that is: 'stalking works'.
And if you have no love life to speak of, maybe this fortune teller to the stars can help.
One of the most surprising moments was when the authors talked about their own favourite reading matter, love related or not. Who would have thought that tough thriller writer Steph Broadribb likes to alternate crime with romance and chick lit type fiction? Doug Johnstone admits he is envious of Sara Gran's writing, while Will Carver considers The Great Gatsby to be one of the most poignant love stories ever told. Lilja appears to be the most romantic (or possibly the most dysfunctional) of them all, citing Wuthering Heights as her favourite, as well as being a regular re-reader of Shakespeare.
Seen one festival, seen them all?
Literature festivals are a bit like music festivals in the UK at the moment – there seems to be one (or several) taking place every week all across the country. Poetry, regional literature, special interest (children and YA, romance, for aspiring writers etc.), big names and debut authors – there seems to be something catering for every taste. Quite frankly, I don't know how any writing or reading gets done, as we could just spend three quarters of the year touring from one event to the next.
I was tickled pink to see this Newcastle landmark mentioned in the latest book by Mari Hannah.
Crime festivals seem to be particularly popular. Unsurprising, since crime fiction is consistently one of the most bought and widely-read genres. However, in this crowded landscape, how can you make your event stand out? Well, if you are Dr Jacky Collins (aka Dr Noir) and her organising committee, you pick your lively local town (Newcastle), put together an eclectic but affordable programme of local, national and international writers, with some quirky additional events (more about that later). Above all, don't forget to create a cosy sense of community around the event, while opening it up to as wide an audience as possible. Newcastle Noir certainly succeeds in having its very own distinct, informal feel.
Posted on May 16, 2019 Categories eventsTags Anamaria Ionescu, Bogdan Hrib, crime festival, Doug Johnstone, Lilja Sigurðardóttir, literary festivals, Newcastle Noir, Quentin Bates, Romanian crime fiction, Romanian literature, Steph Broadribb, Teodora Matei, Will Carver16 Comments on Belatedly, Newcastle Noir
Crimefest Bristol 2019 (Day One)
I can heartily recommend cavorting at crime festivals when you have got all sorts of worries at home – it really does take your mind of things, and you get to meet some wonderful people. I was at Newcastle Noir the previous weekend and just returned from Bristol's Crimefest last night, my only two crime festival outings this year (it is an expensive business). Both very good, though very different!
I managed to take a day off work to be at CrimeFest from Friday until Sunday (it runs Thursday to Sunday, so I did miss some good panels on the first day). Although I didn't stay at the Conference hotel, my Premier Inn was only a short walk away over the bridge and I had a wonderfully spacious room with a chaiselongue on which I could drape myself artistically to read all the many, many books I acquired.
Not that there was much time for reading. CrimeFest is much bigger than Newcastle Noir, so runs parallel sessions all day. Which means that there were, inevitably, clashes of panels I wanted to attend. The crime fiction represented in Bristol is also much broader – not just noir, but also cosies, historical crime fiction, true crime – a little bit of everything. This means that some of the panels didn't feel that organically put together, with one or the other of the authors (usually my favourite one of the panel) sticking out like a – not a sore thumb, but a seriously glamorous and sparky thumb!
Broad Street, where the Grand Hotel is situated and the CrimeFest took place. The building in the foreground is the Guildhall and the one in the background is St John the Baptist Church and what must have been one of the city gates.
For example, the first panel I attended was the Humour in Crime Fiction panel, featuring Mike Ripley, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Bernadette Strachan from the MB Vincent writing duo and Helen FitzGerald. While the first three write cosyish or satirical crime fiction, the subjects that Helen writes about are incredibly dark; the humour is very black indeed and stems mainly from the characters trying to lighten up a desperate situation. Some general points were made about reality becoming so crazy nowadays that it's becoming hard to satirise things any longer, which is probably true, but Helen's work proves almost the opposite: that you can be compassionate, funny and yet still say something profound about the society we live in. I also rather took exception to the assertion of some panel members that humour doesn't translate well, which sounded to me more like a complaint that their own books haven't necessarily achieved high overseas sales. I can think of many exceptions to that: Antti Tuomainen, Andrea Camilleri, the Auntie Poldi series and Jakob Arjouni. Fred Vargas' team has really quite hilarious eccentricities, although the books themselves are not funny. Dare I suggest that maybe the esteemed panel simply does not read enough in translation?
With my love for international settings, the next panel on Worldwide Police Procedurals was just my cup of tea, especially since it was moderated with grace and wit by Vanda Symon, a fantastic crime writer from New Zealand. The best panels for me are the ones where I am familiar and supportive of half of the panel (in this case, Quentin Bates and GD Abson) but also discover two new writers (in this case, Stuart Field and VM Giambanco). Quentin sets his books in Iceland, where he lived for a long time and went completely native. Garry Abson has not lived in St Petersburg but has a policeman friend there, and studied Russian politics at university. His books plug a much-needed gap in terms of international crime fiction, namely contemporary Russia under Putin. Stuart Field is the pseudonym of a former soldier turned writer and he drops his British detective into a New York City setting in his John Steel action thriller series. Last but not least, Valentina Giambanco is Italian but has lived in London for many years. Her setting is Seattle and the wilderness of Washington state, although she initially tried to set her book in London and Scotland.
GD Abson, Stuart Field and Valentina Giambanco.
The authors all had three things in common: strong female protagonists, being Brits writing about foreign locations and a feeling of freedom when setting their stories elsewhere. While they make every effort to do their research and get the details correct, they said that if they were writing a UK police procedural, they would feel too limited by the actual facts, while this way they can let their imaginations run riot a bit more and write a sort of 'unprocedural'. I asked them if they ever had a hankering for another location – and sure enough, some of them have already embarked upon books set in a different place. Stuart has set his latest novel in Malta, while Valentina is currently writing a standalone set on her very own doorstep in London. Garry admitted he was attracted to dark places and alternative universes scenarios, for example a fascist Britain full of Tommy Robinson types (perhaps too uncomfortably close to possible futures for some). Meanwhile, Quentin is attracted by the possibilities of doing research in a place with a warmer climate and better food than Iceland: e.g. Morocco.
Quentin Bates explaining to Vanda Symon (the shaky picture is entirely my fault) why he might turn to Morocco next.
This perhaps leads me to the question why we prefer to hear from British writers setting their stories abroad rather than from those countries themselves (not the case with the countries represented on this panel, but fitting it well with what I heard elsewhere this weekend)? Readers seem avid for new, exotic locations, so why are publishers encouraging writers to set yet another cosy crime novel in the Cotswolds as opposed to even Wales? I suppose they want to find a successful formula and then stick to it, but as a reader I find it very boring.
Speaking of Wales, I really wanted to go to the Crime Cymru panel, not only because I love Wales, but also to support Cathy Ace, whom I've reviewed from her very first novel. Unfortunately, it clashed with the Historical Fiction panel.
Sarah Armstrong moderated the historical fiction panel.
Although I don't read much historical fiction, I really wanted to support Estonian author Indrek Hargla, whose medieval apothecary series I mentioned a few posts ago – and whom I'd previously met in Lyon. He writes across multiple genres, and if you can read French, the entire series has been translated into French. It appears there are more good Estonian-French translators than there are Estonian-English ones, as well as more French publishers interested in trying something from that part of the world. The other panellists were all new to me but sounded quite interesting. David Penny writes a series set at the end of the 15th century, the chaotic period when Moorish Spain is disappearing and Spain becomes a great naval power instead. L.C. Tyler's novels are set in the late 17th century, that very disreputable era when they finally got Cromwell out of the way. John Lawton sticks to the 20th century, from the laste 1930s to the late 1960s, because he hated the post-hippy world. Great quote: 'I was looking the other way when the 1970s happened'.
The final panel I attended on the first day was Sunshine Noir – again, this clashed with the Scandi is Dandy panel that I also wanted to attend (and where I missed the best-dressed Norwegian and Finnish authors convention, see below). I think the authors on the Sunshine Noir panel felt a little competitive about it, since they kept mentioning the Scandis, but to my mind, there is no need to set the two against each other, as they are both equally interesting and readable.
Sunshine Noir Panel: Stanley Trollip, Barbara Nadel, Paul Hardisty, Robert Wilson and Jeff Siger.
However, some of the comparisons made were interesting. Scandinavia is culturally closer to the UK, and there is something inherently cuddly about that sensation of being wrapped up warm and safe and reading about a relentless cold and dangerous climate out there. Meanwhile, the hotter settings offer noise, chaos, insects, heat and sweat, which makes people more irritable. Additionally, these countries do not operate by rules we generally believe in and value in the Western world. Things don't work out in Africa in the way you want them to, nothing adheres to the organised template that you expect. You have to let go of your expectations and embrace life as it is there, with the good and the bad.
Moderated by Stanley Trollip of Michael Stanley fame, the panel featured Jeffrey Siger's Mykonos, Paul Hardisty's Africa (and other dangerous places), Barbara Nadel's Turkey and Robert Wilson (who has series set in Spain and London as well, but in this case was here for his series set in Benin). Although each of the authors were dismayed by the corruption and political turmoil they saw in their 'host' countries, they all displayed a deep affection for the land and its people. They all agreed that the higher up you go, the less nice people become, but the everyday people you meet are wonderful and welcoming, despite their sometimes horrific personal circumstances.
Feast your eyes on these dandy Scands: Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen and Jørn Lier Horst. Picture courtesy of Ewa Sherman.
The longlist for the CWA Daggers were announced that evening and added yet more to my TBR pile, but I managed to escape with only four book purchases on my first day: the Sunshine Noir anthology; Inccoruptible, the latest Inspector Ikmen by Barbara Nadel, although a new one is coming out in 2019; Indrek Hargla's second book in the series (I have the first one in French); and a new author to try out, V.B.Giambanco's first in the series The Gift of Darkness.
Buckle up, though, because the second day got even busier (and more expensive)! So much so, that I will dedicate a second post to it.
Posted on May 13, 2019 Categories eventsTags Barbara Nadel, Bristol, Cathy Ace, crime festival, crime fiction, CrimeFest, G.D. Abson, Helen Fitzgerald, Indrek Hargla, international crime fiction, Jeffrey Siger, Michael Stanley, Paul Hardisty, Quentin Bates, Robert Wilson, Stuart Field, Sunshine Noir, V.B. Giambanco10 Comments on Crimefest Bristol 2019 (Day One)
Four Quick Crime Reads
I read the last four crime books at great speed – almost slurping them in (unlike the much slower reading of the meticulously detailed and long Six Four). Each of them was satisfying in very different ways. Yes, none of them are translations, which is a bit of a shame on a #translationthurs, but they take place in Scotland, Iceland, US and …erm… Hampstead. Does that count?
James Oswald: The Damage Done
I normally steer well clear of crime fiction which contains supernatural elements, as I feel it 'doesn't play fair' with the readers and solving the case. But in this case (and it was my first Oswald novel, so I wasn't sure what to expect), I found it woven in so plausibly and to such chilling effect, that I was won over. My full review is over on Crime Fiction Lover and I'll be seeing the author in Lyon in April.
Guy Fraser-Sampson: Death in Profile
A quick, easy read for lovers of Golden Age type puzzles, this one is quite openly an homage to Dorothy Sayers and her most famous creation Lord Peter Wimsey. Implausible and oddly 'outside time' though this tale is, there is a lot of entertainment value in the sheer audacity of its set-up and fun interaction between its witty (and on the whole very well-behaved) characters, reminiscent of an earlier age. One for puzzle fans, although the author doesn't play entirely fair at one point. I do love the Hampstead/Belsize Park setting too!
Quentin Bates: Thin Ice
I think that Bates is developing a Nordic comic noir style all his own, almost lampooning at times the seriousness and gloom that we have started to associate with Scandinavian crime fiction. There are touches of Fargo about the set-up of this latest in this Officer Gunnhildur series, which not only has the delightfully down-to-earth, middle-aged Gunna as the main crimebuster (think an Icelandic equivalent to Catherine in 'Happy Valley'), but also a motley bunch of rogues and their victims hiding out in a boarded-up hotel in the middle of nowhere. A really fun read – for my in-depth review see here.
Joe Flanagan: Lesser Evils
Europa Editions is better known for its translated literature (some of it dark, but often simply literary), so this is a bit of a departure for them. Flanagan is an American speechwriter and freelance writer and I believe this is his debut novel. It's a recreation of Cape Cod of the late 1950s and it's got a great sense of time and place, as far as I can tell, having lived through neither. But this is a trope that is so familiar to us from film depictions of the US during that time that I could almost imagine Burt Lancaster, Glenn Ford or Charlton Heston brooding on by, under hats pulled low over their foreheads and perhaps laying aside their trench-coats for a minute because it's summer after all.
The book shows us the darker side of the 'golden years' of America, with a detective, Bill Warren, who is well ahead of his time in terms of empathy, compassion, sensitivity and integrity. At times, it does feel a little hard to believe that everyone else in the book seems to be so rotten and corrupt, and that he is the single hero in search of justice and the truth. Too much Lone Ranger perhaps, and the undercurrent of Mafia influence and willingness to look away are overdone. Some readers will be repulsed by the child killings, although the scenes are never overly graphic. What kept me reading were the complex characterisations and motivations of many of the characters. All in all, an absorbing story, revealed in a way that felt fresh despite fitting well within the traditional noir canon.
Posted on March 10, 2016 Categories ReviewsTags crime fiction, Death in Profile, Guy Fraser-Sampson, James Oswald, Joe Flanagan, Lesser Evils, Quentin Bates, reading, The Damage Done, Thin Ice25 Comments on Four Quick Crime Reads
Reading in the Merry Month of May
It's been a changeable old month weather-wise, this May, and that has been reflected in my choice of books. I've read 12 books, and only 4 of those were by male writers (and two of those were for review). I finally managed to tackle 4 from my Netgalley pile (sinking under the greed there…), 5 from my bookshelves (although two of those may have been VERY recent purchases), plus one random purchase while being stuck at the airport. 7 of the books above may be classified as crime, one was spoken word poetry and there was no non-fiction this month.
Gotta love the cloudy days of May… Lake Geneva from Vevey.
Julie Schumacher: Dear Committee Members
Louise Penny: How the Light Gets In – dare I count this as the first of my TBR20?
Helen Fitzgerald: Bloody Women
Clare Mackintosh: I Let You Go
Daniel Quiros: Eté rouge – this one counts for my Global Reading Challenge – Central and South America
Kristien Hemmerechts: The Woman Who Fed the Dogs
Quentin Bates: Summerchill – reviewed on CFL website; you can read my interview with the author here
Ragnar Jonasson: Snowblind – reviewed on CFL website; I've also had the pleasure of interviewing Ragnar here
Megan Beech: When I Grow Up I Want to Be Mary Beard (poetry)
Ursula Poznanski: Blinde Vögel – a Facebook poetry group turns deadly in Salzburg – how could I resist?
Hadrien Laroche: Orphans – philosophical fable – I thereby declare this #TBR1
Sara Novic: Girl at War – survivor of the war in Croatia returns ten years later to her home country – #TBR2
These last four were all memorable in quite different ways, so I want to write more thorough reviews of them soon, so watch this space.
Siglufjordur, location for Snowblind. Picture taken by the author, Ragnar Jonasson (thanks to Twitter).
Crime fiction pick of the month is going to be a tie between Snowblind and How the Light Gets In. But I also have my eye on this Austrian writer Poznanski now and hope she gets translated more into English (she also writes YA and children's fiction and is known as Ursula P. Archer in the English-speaking world).
Finally, how has writing fared this month? Some rough handwritten drafting has taken place, but it's been another tough month, with business trips, lots of holidays and parental visits. Must do better next month (famous last words?)… The good news is that poetry has started to flow again after a long period of feeling stuck.
Posted on May 31, 2015 Categories ReviewsTags book reviews, Clare Mackintosh, Daniel Quirós, Hadrien Laroche, Helen Fitzgerald, Julie Schumacher, Kristien Hemmerechts, Louise Penny, Megan Beech, poetry, Quentin Bates, Ragnar Jonasson, Sara Novic, Ursula Poznanski, writing23 Comments on Reading in the Merry Month of May
May Reading/ Halfway Through the Year
This is a post to wrap up not only my reading for May, but also a half year's worth of reading. I am happy to report that I'm just over halfway through my Goodreads reading challenge of 150 books for 2014, so this might be a good point to take stock of which books have really astounded or delighted me thus far.
First, the May summary. It's been a month of very diverse reading and 6 out of 15 have been foreign books.
3 Non-Fiction:
The brilliant 'Far from the Tree' by Andrew Solomon, the puzzling 'The Fly Trap' by Fredrik Sjoberg and the riotous memoir of the 70s and feminism by Michele Roberts 'Paper Houses'. I have really found a kindred spirit in Michele Roberts and hugely admire her courage and sacrifices in order to focus so single-mindedly on her writing.
1 Poetry Collection:
'Father Dirt' by Mihaela Moscaliuc – Hard-hitting and heart-breaking
5 Crime Fiction or Thriller:
Spy thriller by Stella Rimington 'The Geneva Trap', the short story anthology 'In a Word, Murder', 'Cold Steal' by Quentin Bates, the domestic psychological drama of 'All the Things You Are' by Declan Hughes and the unputdownable 'Cry Baby' by David Jackson.
6 Other Genres:
Frothy satire of writing courses 'Writing Is Easy' by Gert Loveday
Long-winded and ominous, but not as illuminating as a real Greek tragedy 'The Secret History' by Donna Tartt
Satire that seems even more apt and sinister in the wake of the European elections 'Er ist wieder da' (Look Who's Back) by Timur Vermes
Painful depiction of the breakdown of a toxic marriage 'Une affaire conjugale' by Eliette Abecassis
A family saga of post-war Japan – a reinterpretation of Wuthering Heights for the modern world 'A True Novel' by Minae Mizumura
A graphic novel with a rather similar theme of family secrets and growing up in post-war Japan 'A Distant Neighbourhood' by Jiro Taniguchi
My favourites this month? 'Cry Baby' in crime fiction, because I found it impossible to stop myself from reading it all the way to the end. A rarer quality than one might suppose, even in thrillers. This links to the Crime Fiction Pick of the Month meme hosted at Mysteries in Paradise.
And, at the opposite end of the spectrum, the stately pace and melancholy of 'A True Novel'. [I am not including the non-fiction or poetry here, but they deserve a special mention, for they were all outstanding.]
Now for the half-year round-up. I've read 79 books this year (yeah, it's been a slow couple of months at work, so I've had more time for reading). If I've added up all the numbers correctly, here is the balance of the year so far (some books fit in more than one category, so the totals won't make sense).
Japanese edition of Volume 2 of A True Novel.
8 books in French, 3 in German and 19 translations – so 38% of my reading has been foreign. Surprising result, I expected it to be much more! Curious to see if this changes by the end of the year. I'm very pleased I managed to stick to my plan of reading at least one book per month in French, though (since I am living in France and need to improve my French).
43 books have been of the crime fiction and thriller persuasion, so about 54% of my reading. This is less than last year, although I have continued reviewing crime for Crime Fiction Lover website. I have also read 5 poetry books, so about one a month, which is essential (and the absolute minimum) for a working poet. I have also read 9 non-fiction books (11%) – one of the highest proportions in a long while. So it would be fair to say that my reading has broadened this year, quite deliberately.
And which books have truly captured my imagination thus far? I have liked, even loved quite a few of them. I was struck by the almost visceral power of 'Mother Mother' by Koren Zailckas and Claire Messud's 'The Woman Upstairs', fell under the spell of William McIlvanney's prose and Mahmoud Darwish's or Brenda Shaughnessy's poetry. But the five books that really stayed with me are:
Jung-Myung Lee: The Investigation – neither crime nor prison saga, but a tale of the triumph of beauty over despair
Pierre Lemaitre: Au revoir la-haut – moving portrayal of the harshness of post-war society
Minae Mizumura: A True Novel – perhaps because this book encapsulates my love affair with Japan
Mihaela Moscaliuc's debut poetry collection: Father Dirt – because it's part of me and gives me power to explore more in my own poems
Andrew Solomon: Far from the Tree – a book that had me thinking and talking about it for days and weeks afterwards, which forever changed certain of my ideas
Posted on May 27, 2014 June 2, 2014 Categories Formative Writers, ReviewsTags Andrew Solomon, best books of the year to date, crime fiction, Crime Fiction Lover, Crime Fiction Pick of the Month, David Jackson, Declan Hughes, Donna Tartt, Eliette Abécassis, Fredrik Sjöberg, Gert Loveday, Jiro Taniguchi, Jung-Myung Lee, Michèle Roberts, Mihaela Moscaliuc, Minae Mizumura, Non-fiction, Pierre Lemaitre, poetry, Quentin Bates, reading challenge, Stella Rimington, Timur Vermes, translated fiction17 Comments on May Reading/ Halfway Through the Year
Fiction Pick of the Month April 2013
I read nine books in April, but am a little behind on the reviews. It was an interesting and very varied month: I got introduced to new authors, new countries and new points of view.
Louise Penny: Dead Cold
Stefan Slupetzky: Lemmings Zorn (in German)
Mari Hannah: Deadly Deceit – review coming up on Crimefictionlover.com
Marcus Malte: Garden of Love (in French) – troubling, unusual storytelling, playing with your mind and perception
Esi Edugyan: Half-Blood Blues
Martin Walker: The Crowded Grave – beautiful sense of place and an easy, fun read despite the grim subject matter (ETA separatists, terrorist plots etc.)
S.J. Bolton: Dead Scared – thrilling read about a spate of suicides amongst Cambridge students
Quentin Bates: Chilled to the Bone – review coming up on Crimefictionlover.com
Petros Markaris: Liquidations à la grecque (Greek original, read French translation) – veridical, if depressing portrayal of a country and a city in profound crisis
Not a single bad read among them, which is unusual. And my pick of the month is the only not-quite-crime-fiction read of them all: 'Half Blood Blues', for the self-assured, inimitable voice of a black jazz musician. The plot was somewhat predictable and yes, there is a bit of a mystery about it, although perhaps not quite enough to call it crime fiction. It felt very much like 'Amadeus' and Salieri's jealousy of the seemingly effortless genius of his younger rival, Mozart. It also very nearly won a Booker Prize, which just proves once more that genre distinctions are meaningless and that crime fiction can be very literary, and literary fiction can be very criminal too!
Posted on May 4, 2013 May 8, 2013 Categories ReviewsTags Amadeus, book reviews, crime fiction, Esi Edugyan, Half-Blood Blues, Louise Penny, Marcus Malte, Mari Hannah, Martin Walker, Petros Markaris, Quentin Bates, S. J. Bolton, Stefan Slupetzky10 Comments on Fiction Pick of the Month April 2013
January Is Good for Thrillers
When the nights are long and cold, what could be better than to snuggle up with very dark, unsettling thrillers? No? Maybe it's just me then… And I don't even feel the compulsion to check that all windows and doors are locked afterwards. Well, not more than two or three times, anyway!
I will spend more time reviewing the Marseille Trilogy (which is part of my Global Reading Challenge) in a later post, but here are some other suspenseful thrillers I read this month. My scoring system is perhaps overly strict: 5 star is something that only a handful of books ever, ever get; 4 star means I think you should really, really get your hands on it; 3 stars means it's a good, solid, enjoyable book; and 2 is OK, average, nothing out of the ordinary. At least you know you won't get a waterfall of meaningless 5 stars here!
1) Chris Ewan: Safe House
The only book I have come across so far set on the Isle of Man, it makes good use of its location (the isolation, the village gossip). It starts with a simple puzzle, which then develops into a very convoluted plot. Plumber and part-time motor racing champion Rob Hale has a bad motorcycle accident. He is concerned about the fate of his beautiful blonde co-rider, Lena, whom he had just recently met on an emergency boiler repair job in a remote cottage in the forest. However, the paramedics and police assure him that he was the only person found at the scene of the accident. He is convinced he did not imagine the girl and uncovers a very complex tale of conspiracy. The twists and turns keep on coming – some of them I guessed fairly early on (I have a bit of a phobia of secret services and can spot them coming from miles away), others did catch me by surprise. The story does have rather brutal scenes, and the author seems to enjoy giving blow-by-blow accounts of horrific events. Cleverly done, exciting to read, but a bit too vivid for my squeamishness. My favourite bits were the more domestic scenes with Rob's Granddad and dog. 3 stars.
2) Quentin Bates: Cold Comfort
This is the second rather than the first book in the series set in Iceland, featuring Sergeant Gunnhildur (a.k.a. Gunna). But that doesn't matter at all: it's all about atmosphere and characters in this series. Gunna is tasked with two cases simultaneously: the manhunt for an escaped convict, and the murder of a gorgeous TV presenter. She soon begins to suspect that the two events may be related. Set against a backdrop of the near-total collapse of a country, together with its banking system, the story is a fast-paced, enjoyable read. This is not Scandinavian noir, but has a very tongue-in-cheek English humour about it (the author is English, although he lived for many years in Iceland). Gunna is a delightful, down-to-earth character, a refreshing change from all the tormented detectives and heavy drinkers populating the northern hemisphere. The many complicated (and similar-sounding) Icelandic names may pose a bit of a memory challenge, but it was a fun, easy read for an afternoon of similar meteorological conditions to Icelandic winters. 3 stars.
3) Pascal Garnier: The A26
You may remember that Pascal Garnier was one of my major discoveries for 2012. I completely fell in love with two of his novels translated and published by Gallic Books: 'The Panda Theory' and 'How's the Pain?' So I was very much looking forward to the third book that Gallic are just about to launch: they kindly sent me an advance copy. However, this one was a bit of a disappointment. Although it is still impeccably translated and beautifully presented by the publisher, the story itself did not captivate me as much as the previous two. Yet, to all intents and purposes, this one fits more neatly into the 'thriller' category. There are more bodies, there are strange characters, there is suspense… But there is less humour than in his other books and I found myself unable to care deeply for the two main characters, the agoraphobic Yolande and her long-suffering brother Bernard. Perhaps if I had read this one first, I might have enjoyed it more: it certainly has all of the other Garnier characteristics I enjoy: the noir feel, the effortless and fluid style. But I suppose my expectations were so high, that this one just could not live up to them. 3 stars.
4) Elizabeth Haynes: Into the Darkest Corner
This was the scariest of the thrillers I read this month. It proves that scary can be done in a much more subtle and chilling way, because the atmosphere turns darker gradually, much like Cathy's relationship with Lee. The descriptions of domestic abuse and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder are so realistic, so gruelling, yet they never feel gratuitous. Certainly not a book to read when you are alone in the house! The multiple time frames and similarity of set-ups did puzzle me a little at first, but you soon get into the rhythm of things. A psychological mind-twister and page-turner, I was hooked, even though I kept thinking I knew what would happen next. It also shows just how complicated abusive relationships can be, and makes us question how we would react ourselves in a similar situation. Hard to believe this is a debut novel, as it feels very accomplished and self-assured. 4 stars.
Posted on January 30, 2013 February 12, 2021 Categories ReviewsTags Chris Ewan, Cold Comfort, domestic abuse, Elizabeth Haynes, Gallic Books, Iceland, Into the Darkest Corner, Isle of Man, OCD, Pascal Garnier, Quentin Bates, Safe House, Scandinavian noir, thriller21 Comments on January Is Good for Thrillers


text:
title: Holmes Processing - Automated Malware Relationship Mining
subtitle: Analytic Pipeline
layout: default
modal-id: 8
category: gsoc2018
date: 2018-08-10
img: relationship.svg
thumbnail: relationship.svg
alt: license-img
repository: https://github.com/HolmesProcessing/gsoc18relationship
documentation: https://github.com/HolmesProcessing/gsoc18relationship/blob/master/README.md
license: https://github.com/HolmesProcessing/gsoc18relationship/blob/master/LICENSE

---

### Overview

Since last year, Holmes-Processing has acquired a large dataset of labeled malware samples, which can be used for deep learning based malware relationship mining. This labeled dataset of over 50k samples should be a big help to do malware relationship detection. Besides, as a result of the previous GSoC'17, we also have an efficient data model for the malware relationships.

Therefore, the goals of this project are to

1. implement a decent learning model to predict labels of each malware sample
2. discover relationships between different malware samples
3. visualize relationships in frontend
4. and build an analytic pipeline to integrate the implemented services.
{: .text-left .spaced-list}

### Architecture

![Analytic Pipeline](img/ctsung/architecture.png){: .img-responsive}
*The analytic pipeline*
{: .modal-descriptive-image}

Above is the architecture of the pipeline. It contains two servers in the backend: Feed Handling and Tensorflow server. User in the frontend can either ask to visualize relationships of any desired malware samples (A), or send model training request (B).

The pipeline is mainly written in Python. To handle requests from the frontend or stream data between different services in the backend, we deploy [Nginx](https://nginx.org/) service to forward frontend requests and [gRPC](https://grpc.io/) service in Feed Handling and Tensorflow server.

Malware sample submission in the frontend and Holmes Processing integration are not the goals of this project and left as todos in the future work.

#### Preprocessing

To get a normalized features from each analytic result, we first preprocess the data based on the method in [this paper](https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Empowering-convolutional-networks-for-malware-and-Kolosnjaji-Eraisha/a23e515361605d86ca75a0c9330cb6bd257987ff).

There are currently four services working in Holmes Processing and the following are the features we extracted for training the learning model:

- Cuckoo: API calls (allowed up to 150), each of which is converted to the index number in the API list
- Objdump: OP codes (allowed up to 100), each of which is converted to the index number in the X86OPCode list
- PEinfo: Entrophy, VirtualAddress, Misc_VirtualSize, SizeOfRawData in `.text`, `.data`, `.rsrc`, `.rdata`, and timestamp
- Richheader: Elements (as tuples) in `compids`, allowed up to 20
{: .text-left .spaced-list}

In this project we only deal with samples labeled "malicious". Below are the possible labels and malware types:

|Label|Malware Type|
|:-:|:-:|
|CryptoRansom||
|apt1||
|athena_variant|APT|
|betabot|Hijacker|
|blackshades|Trojan|
|citadel_krebs|Crimeware|
|darkcomet|Trojan|
|darkddoser|Password stealing tool|
|dirtjumper|DDoS Bot|
|expiro|Virus|
|gamarue|Worm|
|ghostheart2||
|locker||
|machbot|Botnet|
|mediyes||
|nitol|Trojan|
|pushdo|Botnet|
|shylock|Trojan|
|simda|Botnet|
|yoyoddos2|Botnet|
{: class="table"}

The preprocessed data are stored back to the storage with a timestamp. Therefore, when we are to train the model, we could then retrieve the preprocessed data from the storage, and also distinguish if the data are already used when retraining the model.

#### Tensorflow

Tensorflow server is responsible for training/testing a learning model, preparing a Tensorflow serving model, and handling the request regarding label prediction and relationship discovery.

##### Neural networks

![The architecture of neural networks](img/ctsung/NN.png){: .img-responsive}
*The architecture of neural networks*
{: .modal-descriptive-image}

The extracted features in Cuckoo have ordering relationships with each other, while those in other services don't. Therefore, we build two kinds of neural networks to train Cuckoo's features and features of the other three services separately.

Each network contains two hidden layers. Cuckoo's features are trained using convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Since the dimension of the feature vectors is quite large, we add [an embeddings layer](https://www.tensorflow.org/guide/embedding) in the CNN to increase the speed. The features of other services are trained with multi-layer perceptron.

The two neural networks are concatenated [a sigmoid layer](https://www.tensorflow.org/api_docs/python/tf/sigmoid) is added, since we are doing multi-label classifications. After the construction of the overall neural networks, we do a 3-fold cross-validation for assessments. In the end, a model is generated for the purpose of [Tensorflow serving](https://www.tensorflow.org/serving/).

##### Relationship discovery

In order to find the relationships between different malware samples, we build a [KDTree](http://scikit-learn.org/stable/modules/generated/sklearn.neighbors.KDTree.html) using activation vectors before the sigmoid layer, which are supposed to be valuable with the help of Tensorflow. We get the vectors from Tensorflow serving model that is generated after the training/testing process.

##### RPC services

- PredictLabel: Predict labels given the preprocessed features of a malware sample
- GetRelationships: Find at most 500 closest malware samples given the sha256 of that in the storage
- TrainModel: Retrain the existing learning model with the unused data, which are checked by timestamps in the storage
{: .text-left .spaced-list}

#### Feed Handling

The tasks of Feed Handling server are to handle the request from the frontend, and also stream data between different modules in the backend.

##### RPC services

- QueryRelationship: Request at most 500 closest malware samples from Tensorflow server given the sha256 of a malware sample in the storage and retrieve information from the storage given the desired metadata
- InitiateTraining: Trigger Tensorflow server to retrain the learning model
- GetTrainingData: Retrieve the training data from the storage
{: .text-left .spaced-list}

#### Visualization

![Visualization of a malware sample](img/ctsung/visualization.png){: .img-responsive}
*Visualization of a malware sample*
{: .modal-descriptive-image}

We use [D3.js](https://d3js.org/) framework to visualize the results. In the frontend, user can:

- query related samples of a malware sample
- choose which metadata to show
- set the maximum number of presented samples
- highlight the specific samples in the diagram
- and retrain the learning model.
{: .text-left .spaced-list}

The color of each sample stands for the closeness of the queried sample. Its range is from black to white, and the darker color means a more related sample.

### Future Work

1. Customized metadata extension in the frontend: Currently in the frontend, the metadata options are only MIME type and MD5, because we don't have much valuable data in the storage now. In the future, once we setup more analysis services, such as VirusTotal or YARA, we could then add more options for that.
2. Relationship discovery with desired features: If we are to find relationship according to different indicators (like the features of PEinfo or Cuckoo), we should invest more time on surveying the impact factors of each indicator. Afterwards, either we prebuild the trees according to different combination of indicators (sacrifice space), or calculate the scores on the fly (sacrifice time).
3. Holmes Processing integration: Since now the analytic part is done, we could then integrate Holmes Processing, whose tasks are, e.g., handling the submitted malware sample, into this pipeline. We can thus complete the cyber threat intelligence platform.
{: .text-left .spaced-list}

### Acknowledgement

I had great time and fun doing this GSoC project. Thank you for your support and guidance during these months: Huang, Bojan, and Dona. Also thanks George for the feedback in the last week's sprint.

### About Me

Chun-Te Sung is currently pursuing master in Computer Science in [Technical University of Munich](https://www.tum.de/). His interest is network security. During his free time, he takes part in CTF games. He was also the previous member of [Bamboofox](https://ctftime.org/team/9871) in Taiwan.


text:
John E. Brough Jr.
John E. Brough, Jr., 92, of Camp Hill, went to the Lord Friday, September 07, 2018. He passed peacefully at Geisinger Holy Spirit with family by his side. John was born August 9, 1926 in Latimore, Adams County, the son of the late John E. & Margaret (Kennedy) Brough and was one of six children raised on their family farm. John graduated from York Springs High School and immediately following the call to duty of that era enlisted in the US Army. After earning his Honorable Discharge from the Armed Forces, John attended Pennsylvania State University and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. John spent most of his working career employed by the federal government in varied engineering projects until choosing to retire and pursue other interests. Having completed his government service, John was not yet done serving his family, friends, and community. He spent the years of his retirement serving as a caregiver to numerous family members, friends, and simply those he found in need of help. He left a proud legacy of loyalty, dependability, kindness, and true concern for the people around him. John is survived by his sister, Janice Guise, of Carlisle; several cousins; 11 nieces and nephews and their families. In addition to his parents John was preceded in death by two brothers, Donald and Dale Brough and two sisters, Dorothy McCauslin and Mildred Shelly. Services will be held Wednesday, September 12, 2018 at the Cocklin Funeral Home, 30 N. Chestnut Street, Dillsburg, PA. A viewing will be held at 10:00am followed by a service at 11:00am. Burial will follow in the Dillsburg Cemetery – Mountain Road. An online guestbook can be signed at www.cocklinfuneralhome.com www.pennlive.com/obits
Cocklin Funeral Home, INC.
30 North Chestnut St.
Service & Viewing
Wednesday, Sep 12
30 North Chestnut St., Dillsburg, PA 17019
All arrangements are locally delivered to Cocklin Funeral Home, INC. by a local Dillsburg, PA florist.
Always Smile Luxury Bouquet
Always Smile Luxury Bouquet - VASE INCLUDED
ftd-LX174S
ftd-LX174D
IMPRESSIVE $99.00
STUNNING $130.00
The play of pink against green and white can't help to bring a mirthful beauty to this stunning bouquet. The blushing swirl of the roses and lisianthus bring a sweet drama to this arrangement offset by clusters of green and cream hydrangea. With the vase tinted in a subtle blue shade, to add even further interest, sparkling as it catches the light through each facet of it's unique design, this gorgeous flower arrangement is ready to set the stage for a treasured moment of pure happiness. IMPRESSIVE bouquet is approx. 15"H x 15"W. STUNNING bouquet is approx. 19"H x 18"W.
Sku: ftd-LX174S
The play of pink against green and white can't help to bring a mirthful beauty to this stunning bouquet. The blushing swirl of the roses and lisianthus bring a sweet drama to this arrangement offset by clusters of green and cream hydrangea. With the vase tinted in a subtle blue shade, to add even further interest, sparkling as it catches the light through each facet of it's unique design, this gorgeous flower arrangement is ready to set the stage for a treasured moment of pure happiness. IMPRESSIVE bouquet includes 11 stems. Approx. 15"H x 15"W. STUNNING bouquet includes 19 stems. Approx. 19"H x 18"W.
Sku: ftd-LX174D


text:
The DGA has commissioned one third of the FELIN ordered for the French Army 1406127
Posted On Thursday, 14 June 2012 07:26
Official Online Show Daily News
International Land Defence & Security Exhibition
One third of the FELIN ordered have been commissioned by the DGA
Thursday, June 14, 2012, 11:50 AM
At Eurosatory 2012, One third of the Felin ordered have been commissioned by the French Army.
The Direction générale de l'armement (DGA, French defence procurement agency) commissioned in early May the 7,143rd FELIN (Fantassin à Equipements et Liaisons Intégrés) system, thus permitting the equipment of a seventh French Army's infantry regiment. The DGA ordered a total of 22,588 FELIN ensembles.
Visit Safran and Sagem at Eurosatory 2012 Hall 6 E 80
FELIN (Fantassin à Equipements et Liaisons Intégrés) System at Eurosatory 2012
The realization of FELIN programme is due to a network of French and European high tech companies. Led by Sagem (Safran group), almost 25 first companies participate to the FELIN programme. Among them the French companies Nexter, Thales, Renault Trucks Defense, ELNO, MSA Gallet. FELIN systems are assembled in the Sagem industrial sites of Poitiers in the centre of France and Fougères in Brittany.
Every year, up to 2015, four new regiments will be equipped with FELIN. FELIN improves strikingly the functions of protection, observation, communication, fire power, mobility and support of the fighters for the direct contact with opponents. Equipments include vest of protection, battle dress, NBC dress, day/night vision goggles, communications and information systems, individual or collective weapons.
FELIN brings a qualitative jump in terms of operational efficiency and protection of the fighters confirmed by the first deployment on operational theatres. The aiming system of the weapons, completely reanalyzed, facilitates the neutralization of the opponents in the daytime and at night:
the firing range of the FAMAS rifle is improved by 70 % day (500 m instead of 300) and of 160 % night (400 m instead of 150)! FELIN also improves largely the manoeuvre and the night fighting through increased observation and geo-localization capacities. Finally, the information system of FELIN facilitates the integration of the fighting groups in the digitized chain of command which allows henceforth the connection of all the levels, from the general officer commanding the operation to the soldier on the field. It brings the soldier a real capacity of fight in network.
Defense & Security TV News
Defense Breaking News
Copyright © 2019 Army Recognition | Webdesign by Zzam
Realtime website statistics


If you are one of the 150 million single Americans or are working through love loss February 14, THC Design, the leading breeder and cultivator of premium, safe, estate-grown cannabis in California, has curated a few of the top cannabis strains to show you one is only the loneliest number when counting the number of joints left of these strains on the least romantic holiday of the year.
Triangle Kush is a smooth indica dominant hybrid strain named as a tribute to the three marijuana capitals of Florida – Tampa, Jacksonville, and Miami. An uplifting euphoric buzz washes over you in warming waves, leaving you floating on air - far away from stalking that ex.
Dosidos has a minty cookie flavor and fast and hard cerebral rush euphoric energy will swing you back onto Tinder with a vengeance. This hybrid then fades into a happy stoney introspection, eventually leading to a classic indica body buzz, so remember the good times and cry if you want to.
Blueberry Dome is a strain with high levels of THC to provide intense relief with amazing flavors, mixing fresh nutty mint with ripe blueberries for a confusingly delicious taste that will dance across your tongue. Pair it with that pint of Ben and Jerry's and revel in the fact you don't have to share either.
Kosher Kush transcends your body into a state of serenity, draining your mind of all worries. Who needs worries when you have Seamless for dinner, Delivery for booze and Eaze for more Kosher Kush. Staying in is the new going out. Light that new candle for a romantic night for one.
Future Berries screams treat yourself. Live your best life with the best company - yourself! What begins as a moment of clear-headed relaxation soon leads to total bodily bliss with this strain. Pairs well with spa day massages, facials, and that strange mud bath your friends said you just have to try.


text:
Blog Entry #3
June 2, 2011 July 5, 2011 / rmcalzada
What a weekend! It's a bummer that I had to wait until now to write about it, but with everything that went on, I barely even had time to sleep.
I was nervous Thursday, although the afternoon was pretty uneventful. I went to the Plaza Carmen Benitez at lunch with my friend Erika to sit and make some observations, as a part of an assignment for our Cultura y Civilización class. Kids from the school had returned to their classrooms and started playing instruments, and so we didn't see much activity other than the occasional pigeon swaggering by or a person sitting at a nearby bench. There were, however, a lot of tables set up in front of a stage, all of which had been set up the night before for a three-day period of festivities, which led up to a holiday known as Día de las Canarias. The plaza really came alive later that night, when I returned with Alfonso to have a drink and watch a few performances. Even as I took notes, my stomach fluttered every now and then. I had a date with Rachel Steinberg, a girl I met at the hotel before classes had started. We started talking, and finally in the middle of last week we set up a date for drinks. The first week in Spain, we had gone to watch the flamenco dance at a bar just behind our hotel, and we sat together the entire time. I felt myself opening up to her, and it was easy to laugh and be myself around her. I felt grateful, unconcerned, sanguine.
We met at 10:30 and walked to Bar Pilar, talking about the past few days and laughing about silly things. I bought her two drinks, and we talked for over an hour about our history, our classes, and our hopes for the future. After, we wandered the streets of Sevilla for another hour, and I walked Rachel home just after 1. Even though I had a good time, I felt like something had failed to click, and I walked home on sore feet, wondering if I had slipped up somewhere along the way.
Saturday we went to Córdoba, a beautiful city of Andalucía about two hours to the northeast of Sevilla. We crossed the Roman bridge, and the murky waters of the Guadalquivir, though inert, added to the charm of the view. We first visited the Great Mosque, a beautiful Moorish cathedral with great arches and gorgeously golden prayer niches. There were also minarets and religious figures, and outside the sahn or open courtyard was interspersed with trees. For the first time, I was much more interested in taking everything in with my own senses, rather than through the lens of a camera. Stories of centuries past were all around us.
Next, we walked through narrow streets, where the windows of buildings were adorned with flowers. This Calleja de Las Flores was a great mixture of the solidity of architecture with the tranquility of nature. From here we travelled to the synagogue of Córdoba, a humble little building constructed by the Mudéjar people in 1315. It also had a separate viewing gallery, where women had to remain while the men worshipped in the prayer room. Though the synagogue was smaller than I expected, I still enjoyed it a lot.
More about the weekend tomorrow.
Cadiz, Córdoba
← Her name is Rachel
Blog Entry #4 →
One thought on "Blog Entry #3"
Richard Calzada
remember Rogers 'effective psychotherapy and complete hope' and practice it on oneself! Don't consume yourself in doing everything just right and enjoy those things that gives us and those around us happiness and hope!
© Richard-Michael Calzada and "You Young Adult Nostalgic," 2010-Present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Richard-Michael Calzada and "You Young Adult Nostalgic" with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.