PRELIMINARY INFORMATION: Actual prize value: $2,300.82. Open only to residents of the United States who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. PURCHASE WON'T INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.
Employees, agents and representatives (and their immediate families (parent, child, spouse or sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and those living in their same households, whether or not related) of weeSpring, Inc., and its respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries and advertising and promotion agencies are not eligible to enter or win.
SWEEPSTAKES DESCRIPTION: The weeSpring Sweetest Summer Baby Giveaway (the "Sweepstakes") begins Thursday, July 20, 2017 at 12:01am Eastern Time ("ET") and ends on Thursday, August 3, 2017 at 11:59pm. ET (the "Sweepstakes Period"). There will be one random drawing to award one (1) prize on or before August 4, 2017 at 11:59:59 PM. Entry in this Sweepstakes does not constitute entry into any other Sweepstakes, contest or promotion. By participating in the Sweepstakes, each entrant unconditionally accepts and agrees to comply with and abide by these Official Rules and the decisions of weeSpring, Inc., 1215 Spruce St., Boulder, CO 80304 (the "Sponsor") whose decisions shall be final and legally binding in all respects.
ELIGIBILITY: This Sweepstakes is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are eighteen (18) years of age or older at the time of entry, have access to the internet at the time of entry and who visit www.weeSpring.com. Employees, officers, and directors of Sponsor, Sweepstakes prize suppliers, and each of their affiliated companies, subsidiaries, licensees, franchisees, distributors, dealers, sales representatives, retailers, printers, individuals engaged in the development, production or distribution of materials, their advertising and Sweepstakes agencies, and any and all other companies associated with the Sweepstakes agents (collectively, the "Sweepstakes Entities"), and each of their immediate family members (as defined by the IRS) and/or people living in the same household, are not eligible to participate or to win. All eligibility is subject to all federal, state and local laws and regulations. All entries submitted are the property of the Sponsor. The Sponsor's computer server will be the official timekeeper for all matters related to this Sweepstakes.
HOW TO ENTER: To enter, visit wee.co/win and follow the Gleam.io widget's instructions for receiving entries. One or more entries shall be earned for each completed task on the gleam widget during the Sweepstakes Period.
Entries made by any other individual or any entity, including but not limited to commercial sweepstakes subscription notification and/or entering services, will be declared invalid and disqualified for this Sweepstakes. Tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Sweepstakes is prohibited and any entries deemed by Sponsor, in its sole discretion, to have been submitted in this manner would be void. Entries generated by a script, macro, or other automated means will be disqualified. Entries that are incomplete, garbled, corrupted, or unintelligible for any reason, including, but not limited to, computer, network, or telephone connection malfunction or congestion, are void and will not be accepted. In case of a dispute over the identity of an entrant, the authorized account holder of the email address used to enter will be deemed to be the entrant. "Authorized account holder" is defined as the person who is assigned to an email address by an Internet Access Provider, online service provider or other organization that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address. Entry constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use entrant's name, city, state, likeness, image, and/or voice for purposes of advertising, Sweepstakes, and publicity in any and all media now or hereafter known, throughout the world in perpetuity, without additional compensation, notification, permission, or approval. In addition, entrants will be disqualified from this and all future weeSpring contests and sweepstakes if the entries appear to be collected fraudulently (i.e. all created from multiple fake users at the same I.P. address, etc). Any appearance of fraud shall be determined at the sole discretion of weeSpring, Inc.
PRIZE/ODDS: Only the prize listed below will be awarded in this Sweepstakes. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.
Prize is provided on an "as is" basis, without any warranty of any kind. Prize is non-transferable. Prizewinner is responsible for any and all applicable fees, service charges, surcharges or federal, state, or local taxes, if any. If the Prize or the Prize notification is returned as undeliverable or any non-compliance with the Official Rules or failure to respond within the applicable time period, it will result in forfeiture of the Prize and an alternate winner will be randomly selected from all remaining eligible entries received. Prize will be awarded only if the potential prize winner fully complies with these Official Rules. Sponsors reserve the right to substitute similar prizes of equal or greater value at its sole discretion. Under no circumstances shall the total value of the prize exceed $4,999. All taxes and all other expenses, costs or fees associated with the acceptance and/or use of any prize are the sole responsibility of winner(s), including but not limited to ongoing product fees. Prize cannot be transferred by winner or redeemed for cash and is valid only for the services detailed above, with no substitution of prize by winner. In the event this sweepstakes is terminated before all prizes are awarded, if any prize is forfeited or unclaimed, if any prize notification is undeliverable, or in the event of non-compliance with any of these requirements, the prize will be forfeited and Sponsors will randomly select from remaining eligible entries an alternate winner for all remaining prize elements.
DRAWINGS/NOTIFICATION: Within 11 days after the end of the Sweepstakes Period, weeSpring will conduct a random drawing from all eligible entries and notify the Prize Winner. The final determinations of the Sweepstakes winner will be made by Sponsors in its sole discretion and such determination shall be final and binding. The Prize Winner will be notified via email on or before Monday, August 7, 2017 at 11:59:59 PM. Disqualification and the selection of an alternate winner may result from any of the following: 1) failure of a potential winner to respond to notification within three days of email; 2) the return of any notification or prize as undeliverable and 3) any other noncompliance with Rules. Sponsor shall have no liability for any potential prize winning notification that is lost, intercepted or not received by any potential winner for any reason.
GENERAL PRIZE RESTRICTIONS/CONDITIONS: By entering, each entrant agrees for entrant and for entrant's heirs, executors, and administrators (A) to release and hold harmless Sweepstakes Entities, and their respective officers, directors, and employees (collectively, "Released Parties") from any liability, illness, injury, death, loss, litigation, or damage that may occur, directly or indirectly, whether caused by negligence or not, from such entrant's participation in the or Sweepstakes and/or his/her acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of Prize or any portion thereof (including any travel related thereto); (B) that Released Parties have neither made nor are in any manner responsible or liable for any warranty, representation or guarantee express or implied, in fact or in law, with respect to any prize, including, without limitation, to such prize's quality or fitness for a particular purpose; and (C) to be bound by these Official Rules and to waive any right to claim any ambiguity or error therein or in the Sweepstakes itself, and to be bound by all decisions of the Sponsor, which are binding and final. Failure to comply with these conditions may result in disqualification from the Sweepstakes at Sponsor's sole discretion. Sponsor makes no warranties, and hereby disclaims any and all warranties, express or implied, concerning any prize furnished in connection with the Sweepstakes. WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, SUCH PRIZES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND SPONSOR HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL SUCH WARRANTIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND/OR NON- INFRINGEMENT. PUBLICITY RELEASE: Potential prize winners may be required to complete, sign and return the Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability Release and, where lawful and/or required, Publicity Release forms and W-9 request for tax payer's identification number. Acceptance of any Prize constitutes prize winner's permission for the Sweepstakes Entities to use prize winner's name, photograph, image, likeness, voice, biographical information, statements and complete address (collectively, the "Attributes"), for advertising and/or publicity purposes worldwide and in all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, in perpetuity, without further compensation or authorization, (except where prohibited by law), and releases the Sweepstakes Entities from all claims arising out of the use of such Attributes.
DISQUALIFICATION/FORCE MAJEURE: Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, mutilated, misdirected, illegible, incomplete, inaccurate, or stolen, submissions or prize notifications. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual who is found to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Sweepstakes, to be acting in violation of these Official Rules, or to be acting in an unsportsman-like or disruptive manner, or with the intent to disrupt or undermine the legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes, or to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person, and Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages and other remedies from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. No mechanically reproduced, illegible, incomplete, forged, software-generated or other automated multiple entries will be accepted. Sponsor reserves the right to modify, extend, suspend, or terminate the Sweepstakes if it determines, in its sole discretion, that the Sweepstakes is technically impaired or corrupted or that fraud or technical problems, failures or malfunctions or other causes beyond Sponsor's control have destroyed or severely undermined or to any degree impaired the integrity, administration, security, proper play and/or feasibility of the Sweepstakes as contemplated herein. In the event an insufficient number of eligible entries are received and/or Sponsor is prevented from awarding prizes or continuing with the Sweepstakes as contemplated herein by any event beyond its control, including but not limited to fire, flood, natural or man-made epidemic of health of other means, earthquake, explosion, labor dispute or strike, act of God or public enemy, satellite or equipment failure, riot or civil disturbance, terrorist threat or activity, war (declared or undeclared) or any federal state or local government law, order, or regulation, public health crisis (e.g. SARS), order of any court or jurisdiction, or other cause not reasonably within Sponsor's control (each a "Force Majeure" event or occurrence), then Sponsor shall have the right to modify, suspend, or terminate the Sweepstakes. If the Sweepstakes is terminated before the designated end date, Sponsor will (if possible) select the winner in a random drawing from all eligible, non-suspect entries received as of the date of the event giving rise to the termination. Inclusion in such drawing shall be each entrant's sole and exclusive remedy under such circumstances. Only the type and quantity of prizes described in these Official Rules will be awarded. If, for any reason, more bona fide winners come forward seeking to claim prizes in excess of the number of each type of prize set forth in these Official Rules, the winners, or remaining winners, as the case may be, of the advertised number of prizes available in the prize category in question may be selected in a random drawing from among all persons making purportedly valid claims for such prize(s). These Official Rules cannot be modified or amended in any way except in a written document issued in accordance with law by a duly authorized representative of Sponsor. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable or illegal, these rules shall otherwise remain in effect and shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or illegal provision were not contained herein.
GOVERNING LAW/JURISDICTION: The Sweepstakes is governed by, and will be construed in accordance with, the laws of the state of COLORADO, and the forum and venue for any dispute shall be in the state of Colorado if the controversy or claim is not otherwise resolved through direct discussions or mediation, it shall THEN be resolved by FINAL and binding arbitration administered by JUDICIAL ARBITRATION AND MEDIATION SERVICES, INC. in accordance with its Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures or subsequent versions thereof ("JAMS Rules"). The JAMS Rules for selection of an arbitrator shall be followed, except that the arbitrator shall be experienced and licensed to practice law in the state of Colorado. All proceedings brought pursuant to this paragraph will be conducted in the state of Colorado. THE REMEDY FOR ANY CLAIM SHALL BE LIMITED TO ACTUAL DAMAGES, AND IN NO EVENT SHALL ANY PARTY BE ENTITLED TO RECOVER PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING ATTORNEYS' FEES OR OTHER SUCH RELATED COSTS OF BRINGING A CLAIM, OR TO RESCIND THIS AGREEMENT OR SEEK INJUNCTIVE OR ANY OTHER EQUITABLE RELIEF.
WINNERS LIST/OFFICIAL RULES: To obtain the name of the winner, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Sweetest Summer Baby Giveaway, weeSpring, Inc. 1215 Spruce St., Boulder, CO 80304.
This sweepstakes is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram or Twitter.
The use of any prize manufacturer, name or trademark in connection with any of the prizes is solely for the purpose of describing such prize, and is not intended to suggest any affiliation or sponsorship unless explicitly noted.


This Bracelet by Cartier features Turquoise beads mounted in a beautiful 18k Yellow Gold rope twist design. This Bracelet has a secure push button clasp. Complete with Xupes Presentation Box. Our Xupes reference is COM1314 should you need to quote this.


text:
Q: Variance of weighted average when weights have a distribution Given two random variables $S$ and $W$, I'm trying to determine the variance of the weighted average
$$Z = \frac{\sum_{i=1}^n s_i w_i}{\sum_{i=1}^n w_i}$$
(With the same $w_i$ in denominator as in the numerator)
It seems $E[Z] = E[S]$, but what would be an estimate of the variance?
If the denominator term wasn't there could simply use the Variance of a Product [link]

A: Use the law of total variance:
$var(Z) = var_w[E[Z|W]) + E_w[var(Z|W)]$
Let's calculate the two intermediate values first:
1.
$$ E[Z|W] = \frac{\sum_i E[s_i]w_i}{\sum_i w_i} = E[S]$$
which does not depend on w, thus $var_w[E[Z|W]] = 0$
2.
if we assume independence of $s_i$'s
$$var(Z|W) = \frac{var(\sum_i w_i s_i)}{(\sum_i w_i)^2}$$
$$ = \frac{\sum_i w_i^2}{(\sum_i w_i)^2} var(S)$$
thus $E_w[var(Z|W)] = E[\frac{\sum_i w_i^2}{(\sum_i w_i)^2}]var(S)$
It seems the $E[\frac{\sum_i w_i^2}{(\sum_i w_i)^2}]$ part cannot be further simplified unless the distribution of $w_i$'s are given.

A: Without independence between $S$ and $W$, $E[Z] \ne E[S]$ in general. This is because
$$E[Z|W]=\Sigma_i \frac{w_i}{\Sigma_j w_j}E[s_i|W].$$
Hence, without knowing the conditional distribution of $s_i$ given $W$, we don't know whether $E[s_i|W]$ is the same across all $i$.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
It's official: Uber's new CEO to meet with staff
by Seth Fiegerman and Jethro Mullen @CNNMoney August 29, 2017: 2:52 PM ET
Timeline: Uber's management crisis
Uber employees will get to meet their new boss on Wednesday.
The embattled ride-hailing startup officially announced late Tuesday that Dara Khosrowshahi, who's run Expedia for the past 12 years, will be its new chief.
"Dara is the best person to lead Uber into the future," the company said in an email to employees that was also posted on its website. He'll attend an all-hands meeting on Wednesday, it said.
Uber's board picked Khosrowshahi for the top job on Sunday. But it took another two days to announce the news publicly.
Related: Uber's new CEO has a great track record closing the gender pay gap
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal earlier Tuesday, Khosrowshahi said he was still in the process of finalizing his contract with Uber but planned to take the job.
Khosrowshahi has experience running an international travel company, not unlike Uber. He oversaw a publicly traded business making him a good fit to take Uber public. And those who know Khosrowshahi say he's the "adult" that Uber's corporate culture sorely needs.
The Iranian American executive is also said to be a good deal maker. Expedia (EXPE) snapped up a series of travel-related businesses under his watch.
Related: Uber's new CEO will have to deal with Uber's old CEO
It took Uber's board nearly 70 days to settle on a new CEO after the resignation of its co-founder and previous CEO Travis Kalanick.
The short list of candidates included Jeff Immelt, the former CEO of General Electric (GE), and Meg Whitman, the head of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). Both tweeted they would not pursue the Uber CEO role.
Immelt pulled out of the race Sunday because of problems with Uber's board, according to a source familiar with the matter. Whitman told the Financial Times on Monday that Uber had yet to resolve Kalanick's future role at the company and an explosive lawsuit about it.
Who is Uber's Travis Kalanick?
Venture capital firm Benchmark, an early Uber investor, sued Kalanick this month in an effort to get him off the board. Among other allegations, Benchmark accused Kalanick of trying to "acquire the power to pack the Board to facilitate his desired re-appointment as Uber's CEO."
Those close to Khosrowshahi say he has experience balancing strong personalities like Kalanick thanks to his many years working with Expedia chairman Barry Diller, a media mogul.
Related: Who is Dara Khosrowshahi?
In the Journal interview, Khosrowshahi described his relationship with Kalanick as "budding." And the former CEO was among the board members' names at the bottom of Tuesday evening's email to Uber staff.
Khosrowshahi may still have sought assurances that the board wouldn't try to roadblock his every move.
"My viewpoint is they've given him that mandate," said Woody Marshall, a partner at Technology Crossover Ventures who grew up with Khosrowshahi. As Marshall put it, "You can't have me go into a fight with one arm tied behind my back."
Related: Uber's CEO pick is an outspoken Trump critic
There is urgency for Khosrowshahi to get to grips with the job as soon as he can. As the CEO search dragged on, Uber's problems continued to mount.
Large Uber investors have marked down their investments. The startup lost $645 million in the three months ending in June. Its board is embroiled in a public legal fight. And its rivals abroad are raising billions and banding together.
Uber said Khosrowshahi will "be meeting with employees around the world in smaller groups over the next few weeks, and spending time with drivers."
-- Sara Ashley O'Brien contributed to this report.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
MyelomaBlogs.org
Blogs by, about, and for people who live with myeloma
How to use MyelomaBlogs.org
Add your myeloma blog
April 2, 2012 by bk
When the aliens were first perceived, astrophysicists mistook their ship for a newly discovered planet. Radio telescopes had returned information that was indistinguishable from other planets in far constellations. SETI, the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence, had seriously dropped the ball by looking for cohesive radio emissions. At the long distances involved, the radio spectrum signals had weakened and mingled with those that make up the background noise of the universe to arrive as a blend of varying intensities and frequencies. Think of a flashlight used to signal a distant receiver in the middle of a bright and sunny day. It was only realized that there was something very different about this planet when astronomers determined by Doppler shift that whatever it was, it was headed in our direction and it was moving with awesome velocity.
The planet was reclassified as a ship only after a full year of observation. They now had its direction and velocity plotted and were able to say with confidence that it would enter our solar system in a matter of a mere twenty-seven months. On this announcement, people sat up and took notice. According to the scientists, the object was spherical in shape and they also determined that the sphere was the same general size of the planet Jupiter, perhaps slightly larger It was immense. But with only reflected light to illuminate the object, no actual view of it was available, and wouldn't be until it got much nearer to Earth's instruments of exploration and measurement.
People on Earth reacted predictably. Average people on the street would speak with hubris, saying the aliens should 'bring it on.' When they arrived they'd be taken right to school. Others were less confident and predicted the end of humanity. In the spectrum between, others were anticipatory, anxious, curious and apathetic. But the language of astronomy was wound into all languages and localized jargon as telescope manufacturers had a field day. Almost every household had a telescope with which they searched the night sky and invariably misidentified heavenly bodies as the aliens.
Religion also surged. The major beliefs experienced revitalization as did smaller, fringe beliefs. Some people began to stock up on supplies and built shelters while others committed suicide, some after euthanizing friends and loved ones in misguided acts of kindness. At the same time, long held feuds and conflicts evaporated as people looked past differences that had so long been of paramount importance.
Governments tried to invoke national martial law in a futile attempt to maintain order. They enjoyed some success in the major cities, but found it impossible to exert their wills on rural areas. In the cities they could concentrate their forces on thick populations, but merely patrol the the open and forested areas of land.
In short order, civilization on the planet experienced major and radical change. Ideas of democracy gave way to paternalistic governance, tremendously conservative in nature. Militarism prevailed as the people of Earth prepared to defend themselves from conquest as still the aliens approached, closer all the time.
Attempts to contact the aliens, to determine their intentions flew from the planet with greater and greater frequency as more and more was learned about the huge body hurtling ever inward. But a relative silence was the only response. When their arrival was only weeks away, weapons that had formerly been trained on neighbors were now focused outward. Operating consoles were manned twenty-four hours a day.
As the gigantic vessel entered the far reaches of the solar system, our orbiting observation platforms got their first good look at the behemoth, but absolute clarity was impossible because of its high velocity. However, the brilliant flashes of collisions with debris were impressive in both because of the energy released by the impacts and the seeming indifference to the events displayed by the alien craft.
Still it's rate wasn't diminished, and the world sat stunned as the great object completely ignored planet Earth and flashed past without any indication its inhabitants took the smallest interest in it. In a few hours it was departing the solar system on the side opposite its approach, and planetary telescopes watched it as it disappeared eventually, its destination a secret denied an answer.
In spite of the views of the behemoth that demonstrated without doubt that the great object was not a natural object, but the creation of an intelligent race, the great minds of planet Earth declared it an uninhabited rogue. There was no possibility that an intelligent race might not consider us and those things to which we apply the greatest value as unimportant and unworthy of homage. But it did not go without notice to many that the huge object exerted no gravitational or other forces that gave affect to the bodies of the solar system, all of which ignored its passing with mutual indifference.
A Spring Walk
Ping Outdid Herself, Yet Again!
Secure Cloud Backups for your Devices
© 2021 MyelomaBlogs.org • Built with GeneratePress


Stuffing is among the most comforting of comfort foods in the winter season. Traditionally made during Thanksgiving, but not limited to that sole holiday, I make this throughout the colder months since it is a simple one-pot type of meal to make. Ok, well maybe technically not "one" pot, but you know what I mean; just a little bit of prep work, and then it practically takes care of itself in the oven. There are countless ways to make stuffing, as many ways as there are families, friends, and amateur cooks in our homes. For me, I prefer the simple combination and contrast between the savory pork and tart apple, with the celery and fennel adding a refreshing bite in the background.
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a 9 x 13 baking dish by lightly greasing it with butter or spraying with oil.
2. Using a serrated knife, cut the loaf of bread into 3/4 inch cubes. Spread them onto a baking sheet and toast in the oven to dry them out, just until they are lightly golden around the edges (about 5 -7 minutes). Remove from oven, set aside.
3. Remove the sausage meat from their casings and cook in a large skillet set over medium-high heat until browned. Use a wooden spoon to break the sausage up into smaller pieces.
4. Into a large mixing bowl, place the cooked sausage, toasted bread cubes, celery, apple, onion, salt, pepper, fennel seeds, and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine, then turn out into the prepared baking dish. Pour the chicken stock over the mixture and drizzle the top with the melted butter.
5. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 350F for 45 minutes, then uncover and bake 5 – 10 minutes more until the top is toasted and the edges are crispy.
* Not all sausages are created equal. Depending on the type you choose, taste a small piece after cooking in step 2 and adjust the amounts of salt, pepper, and spices to be put into the mixture during step 3.


Three essays in one. This essay originated as a facebook post and a followup response.
For years, I was of the school of thought that one should perpetually work as hard as they are able. When I was as Ph.D candidate at the University of Delaware, I TA'd a class fo 20 hours a week, spent 30h a week in a lab doing research, took a full load of classes, and spent up to 13 hours a day (6 or 7 days a week) working with Stephen Balaban on a startup called Baybo Labs. This works out to around 16 hours of work a day. Every day. The remaining 8 hours of each day I would do homework, eat meals, study, and sleep.
Had I loved the research I was doing, this might have been sustainable. My intent was to study artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computational linguistics (i.e. natural language processing), however the professor I wished to work with was on sabbatical and I instead landed in a Software Verification lab. I did love the researchers I was working with, but if I was going to invest 6 years of life into a research topic, I needed to be infatuated with it.
As the expression goes, "Something had to give". And Sahil Lavingia, an entrepreneur an designer whom I respect, helped me decide what came next when he launched an extremely similar product (gumroad.com) to the marketplace Stephen and I were working on -- the same week we had planned to launch. Our thunder was slipping away by the minute.
Suffice to say, 1954 days ago, instead of studying for my symbolic logic test, I was up with Stephen until around 5am, getting ready to launch: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2418388. A few hours later, immediately after completing my exam, I shook Vijay Shanker (the teacher and my advisor)'s hand, thanked him for his guidance, and informed him, the department, and my research lab that I needed to take leave to focus on this startup.
For the next six months, I lived in Stephen's basement in Vermont, working every hour I could. Within a few months, we had received an offer to join an incubator program in San Francisco, had meetings scheduled with venture capitalists, and had somehow parleyed all these situations into a 15 minute meeting with Paul Graham of YCombinator at his house (this was after having previously been rejected -- spoiler alert, we got rejected again). I took two bags with me, booked a next day flight to SF, and have been in SF since.
During our talk with PG, he mentioned a company called Hyperink was working on a similar product and had found product market fit. Stephen and I had really powerful technology (a graph transactional system, a marketplace, an affiliate system) and were awfully confused about building a focused product. Six months later, we took a gamble and found ourselves going through the messy process of mergers and acquisitions to join forces with Hyperink. And things didn't slow down.
Over the next year and a half, I spent more than 30 days sleeping in the Hyperink offices, working 12+ hour days, 7 days a week. I was of the school of thought that if I was going to bet everything on a startup, that I should work as hard as my body would let me. And things did go well, we went from a few sales a day to the thousands. I watched the platform I engineered grow to tens of thousands of paying users. I also got pretty sick a handful of occasions.
The two co-founders of Hyperink were very different. Kevin Gao, our CEO, was very efficient, strategic, hard working, focused, and a great manager + salesman. The other founder, Matt Lee, got things done, had a great eye for product and design, and put in as many hours as I did. Kevin knew how to run the marathon. Matt and I sprinted the marathon and got sick a lot. There were days I felt a bit frustrated when Kevin left at 7pm while Matt and I sat up at 4am, pushing to get a feature done in time for a partnership deadline. But then I'd watch Kevin during advisor meetings, cool and composed, and it dawned upon me just how important it is to be able to "turn on" at any moment and be on top of your game. I'm reminded of the book "Founder's at Work" where, after a three-day all-nighter, Max Levchin fell asleep at the table while Peter Thiel closed a big deal.
In my essay On Friendship, I have a section titled "Start With Your Peculiarities" which describes how to select friends. I talk about my peculiarities; my dislike of trivia (and my dislike that I, like everyone else, like media) and my OCD-level of intensity towards life. I was starting to realize that procrastination was something of a necessity, though I would often feel guilty, anxious, and bad when I took breaks. When I say bad, I mean taking a break which I knew I needed would through me into a legitimate spiralling depression. Pound for pound, playing [expressing myself through] music was and is one of the most effective ways for me to decompress. Though all the while, like a light unable to turn off, I'd internalize the time I was wasting and feel bad. I'd often feel so bad, nearly all the music I composed was minor and dismal.
As an aside and a metaphor (I'll defer to "words" of a musician who expresses herself more elegantly than I), I remember recently watching an NPR tiny desk concert (I love them) and encountering Julien Baker's live performance which affected me profoundly. It's possible she's a masterful performer, understands her demographic, and that her mood is contrived and or all part of a well rehearsed act (yes I am perhaps as cynical as Diogenes of Sinope), but (I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt, be vulnerable, and even be fooled, and admit) her performance hit me like Dorian Gray forced to confront his own portrait; it's one of the rare times I can remember vicariously experiencing the sources and circumstances of my music, genuinely in another's performance. Being presented with a potent reminder that others too feel the weight of the world upon their shoulders, irrespective of how trivial these underlying burdens may seem, makes me feel both less and more alone -- and in both respects grants me temporary solace.
It wasn't until I read Aaron Swartz's essay on productivity (which I was hoping would teach me how to accomplish more) that I came to terms with procrastination as a necessary evil and began rethinking how I could procrastinate most effectively. Since then, my music has changed a bit, and I spend a lot more time rock climbing, writing essays, and I feel less bad (having realized that such feelings impact my productivity). Some of my thoughts on productivity and managing my intensity can be read in Amplifying Productivity through Environment and Curbing Your Enthusiasm.
"Be More Productive" (Aaronsw Raw Thought) -- This is one of my favorite essays which I haven't revisited in about a year.
Take Home: "Time has various levels of quality."
Why should you read this essay? Aaron Swartz was both a deep thinker and a disruptive agent of change. In the former capacity, he was exceptional at controlling his personal feelings when writing. He felt, to do otherwise would be a disingenuous, an injustice to time spent attacking the problem. As a result, his writing and problem solving yields real insights, unique perspective, and demonstrates a rare quality of being able to address the elephants in the room, as opposed to pushing his own convenient agenda. At least philosophically, it resonates with me that his efforts were "Causa Scientiae", though I think he struggled to reconcile his two (or maybe more) selves (the thinker and the actor).
Aaron's essay, "Be More Productive" is an important read for a few more specific reasons than his general scientific and colloquial writing style (i.e. he writes for himself and makes great attempts at not disillusioning himself). This essay is not a one dimensional introspection on productivity. Aaron predicts why people (or himself) would read this essay, gets to the root, and offers a dialog for coming to terms with reality (including effective procrastination and spending time with cheerful people) -- not a contrived reality which sells copies of some "be happy and mindful" mentality, but necessary coping advice born from a perpetually depressed activist who carries the world's burdens on their shoulders.
Additionally (not that I have to convince anyone) Aaron is qualified to offer productivity advice by virtue of his convictions and success working on Dr. Richard Hamming-style [a field's most important] "Hard Problems". Aaron's writing reflects constant (re)evaluation, not only of his interpretation of the world's most important problems, but [on a meta level, also subject to this evaluation were] his methods for evaluating the measurable importance of these problem and frameworks for accountability, motivation, and making impact. But this principle/theme of re-evaluation supersedes the confines of essay, as Aaron leaves us with a provenance trail of many of his works, thoughts, mistakes, feelings, readings, and writings, offering us profound insight and a comprehensive/holistic view into the workings of a productive, bright citizen of the world.
Besides offering us coping strategies, insights of a thinker who's been in the trenches, actionable strategies for being more productive, and reminding us to question the assumptions surrounding our problems, the essay immediately yields the above life lesson: "Time has various levels of quality" and invites you to explore the claim's consequences.
Bret Victor has a popular talk called "Inventing on Principle". His principle is, "creators need an immediate connection to what they create". Aaron Swartz embraced a similar principle: re-invention. It can be paraphrased as: "Instead of finding ways to massage existing pieces together to craft a perfect solution which supports every edge case and consideration, imagine what the optimal, minimal, stand-alone solution looks like and code it." He wrote something similar about his and Anand's project web.py: "The goal of web.py is to build the ideal way to make web apps.".
The principle plays nicely with Albert Einstein's principle: "A scientific theory should be as simple as possible, but no simpler". It also aligns nicely with Larry Wall's (creator of perl) wisdom which reminds us that "Using a simple tool to solve a complex problem does not result in a simple solution."
Don't take this to mean Aaron felt everything should be built from scratch (I don't think he or I feel this is some "catch all" solution), he just happened to be able (smart enough) to build solutions quickly, avoiding red tape, and choose to work on small, manageable problems with big impact (an approach advocated by Richard Hamming in, "You and Your Research") which happened to align nicely with this approach.
I try to maintain a similar list of principles and life lessons, but my main one is more mission oriented: that researchers of the world need a way to navigate paths through knowledge. And that we should be honest and ethical, but not shy away from finding paths of least resistance, or resorting to "getting it done ourselves" if need be. I try to curate and organize as much as possible (as opposed to create), work and publish in public, and leave provenance trails and annotations where I can. The biggest opportunity I see is creating/manifesting technological frameworks which bake these principles, at a protocol level, into my life (as opposed to banking on my ability to be mature and accountable).
Here are some problems I think are important. They necessitate (recommend) specific avenues of research, such as learning about the brain, of human biology/chemistry, graph theory, information retrieval, semiotics, the web, artificial intelligence and natural language processing, and others.
- How can people be more productive while they wait?
- How do compatible people discover each other and connect?
- How do you measure/find the best research on a topic?
- How can we better view or explore how things are related?
- How can we make services interoperable?
- How do you discover a new topics of interest?
- How can we quantify of level (breadth and depth) our understanding?
- How do we get more experts to create/curate seminal indices/reviews of an industries state (or advancements)? There's too much disparate information. How can we percolate and recombinate important research together at scale? Crowd sourcing / human computation? Developing rubrics (expert systems) or identify models for achieving this programatically (via AI)?
"I think you should always be questioning [...], I take this very scientific approach attitude that everything you've learned is provitional, that it's always open to recantation or refutation or questioning"
"Everything is built on something else [...] there's no completely new creative thing if only because if you wrote something completely new, nobody would understand it. [...] imagine if every word you used, you had to call up the person who came up with that word [...] you'd never finish a sentence."
Many tell me I am an intense personality. I tend to partition my life into different isolated regions. Either I am in a mode where I need to decompress, be entertained (e.g. playing music, rock climbing, playing music), I am in a mode where I need to reflect, think (reading, writing or discussing essays), or I am hyper-focused (to the point of self-detriment) working on a life goal (i.e. one of the various connected branches of curating a map of the world's knowledge and making it accessible; e.g. Internet Archive, Wikipedia, Metacademy.org, arbital.com, Wikidata, etc).
I could not be a professional musician. I am not good enough where I could play whatever I enjoy, and thus being forced to align with listener's interests would ruin music for me. It's one of the things I like to do privately (music is a form of safe encrypytion which allows me to express/speak my feelings aloud and have plausible deniability about what I am trying to say). I need to do it (get things off my chest, achieve a stable state) in order to do good work as a Citizen of the World.
One of humanity's most limiting factors is the speed by which we access the right information. Today there exists too great a volume of texts for one to manually process in their life time (i.e. there's too much to learn). It makes it very easy to miss discovering a text which could change our life, or belief system, or understanding. This problem is exacerbated by unpredictable variable quality of these works (i.e. we haven't sufficiently explored mechanisms for surfacing useful content, improving and merging explanations, organizing what's available).
I believe we as a society have need for cartographers of knowledge; that structured, linked data, paired with domain expertise (e.g. wikipedia) and augmented with programatic intelligence, can help humanity and machines identify [shortest] paths through our knowledge. Such a directed [set of] path(s) represents a digital curriculum. A new form of media which poses what books might be if one could seamlessly and instantly navigate between.


What is the Global Health Institute?
Aligned with one of the world's top-ranked research and academic institutions, GHI serves as a portal. Introducing students to great health disparities and challenges through certificate programs, classes and field experiences. Inspiring and and preparing faculty and students to collaborate and address urgent health needs at home and abroad.
The UW-Madison Global Health Institute is an idea born in Wisconsin—and it is a global manifestation of the Wisconsin Idea.
COLLABORATING: Energizing 21 schools and colleges to work together toward health, equity and sustainability. Engaging communities and joining with colleagues. Pursuing the roots of disease—from lack of food, education and vaccines to the need for medical training, the threat of climate change and more.
DISCOVERING: Addressing health issues with respect and scientific rigor. Looking toward the well-being of future generations. Finding solutions together.
LEARNING: Inspiring students—from high school to working professionals—to interact with the world's communities and each other. To look outside themselves. To tackle health challenges and become tomorrow's global health leaders.
We are physicians and veterinarians. Engineers and economists. Pharmacists, nurses, political scientists, and historians. We are teachers, researchers, and students. Leaders in law, public health, agriculture, ecology, life and social sciences, and many other professions—working side by side to ensure sustainable, equitable global health for all. Today and tomorrow.
Through boundary-spanning collaborations, we are improving access to health care for the most vulnerable populations and identifying emerging threats from viruses, bacteria, and other carriers of disease. We are advancing women's equality and leadership, and helping cities adapt to 21st-century realities. We are showing that healthy choices can limit climate change and that actively combatting climate change leads to healthier lives for everyone.
The Global Health Institute thanks these campus partners for their ongoing support.


text:
Q: Перевод фото таблицы в матрицу из 0 и 1? Имеется набор, состоящий из фото таблицы, покрашенной в черные и белые цвета. Нужно преобразовать данное фото в матрицу, состоящую из 0 и 1, где 1 - черный цвет, 0 - белый. Как это реализовать? Мне не хватает знаний и идей выполнения данной задачи

A: Псевдокод несложный
for y = 0..99
   for x = 0..99
      A[y][x] = 1 - pixel(3*y,3*x)

А как  pixel() реализовать - зависит от используемой графической библиотеки и формата изображения.

A: JavaScript:

function get_data(src) {
    let image = new Image();
    image.crossOrigin = "anonymous";
    image.src = src;

    let res = new Promise(resolve => {
        image.onload = () => {
            let context = document.createElement("canvas").getContext("2d");
            context.canvas.width = image.naturalWidth;
            context.canvas.height = image.naturalHeight;
            context.drawImage(image, 0, 0);

            let image_data = context.getImageData(0, 0, context.canvas.width, context.canvas.height);
            let pixels = image_data.data;
            let matr = [];
            for (let row = 1; row < image_data.height; row += 3)
            {
                let matr_row = [];
                for (let col = 1; col < image_data.width; col += 3)
                {
                    let index = row * 4 * image_data.width + 4 * col;
                    let [red, green, blue] = [pixels[index+0], pixels[index+1], pixels[index+2]];
                    let bit = (red + green + blue) / 3 > 127 ? 0 : 1;
                    matr_row.push(bit);
                }
                matr.push(matr_row);
            }
            resolve(matr);
        };
    });
    return res;
}

get_data("https://i.ibb.co/Qb0yFQ4/test.png").then(matr => {
    let res_html = "";
    for (let row = 0; row < matr.length; ++row)
        res_html += "row: " + String(row).padStart(2, "0") + " " + matr[row].join("") + "
";
    document.getElementById("div_id").innerHTML = res_html;
});
#div_id {
    font-family: monospace;
}


2009: The new strategy of the KAEFER Group was introduced. It has a clear goal: to eliminate the energy waste by offering the most professional Complete Insulation Solutions worldwide.
Constructed at Porto Viro in Italy, Adriatic LNG is the biggest offshore LNG-terminal and was one of the KAEFER Aislamientos Spain projects in 2009. The company insulated the tops and bottoms of the steel tanks, as well as pipings and fixtures on the platform.
KAEFER became majority shareholder in the joint company KAEFER STI and thus entered the insulation, surface protection, construction and passive fire protection markets in Central Russia.
The grand opening of the German Antarctic station Neumayer III of the Alfred Wegener Institute took place. KAEFER had designed and constructed the interior of the station, the heating, power generation and air conditioning systems and provided solutions for the water supply and sewage treatment as well.
KAEFER opened up its first permanent branch office in South America by taking over the insulation company SOUYET, the market leader in Chile. The company was renamed to KAEFER SOUYET.
TUI Cruises converted the "MS Galaxy" vessel to flagship "Mein Schiff" in only 38 days with the support of KAEFER Finland. The entire spa and wellness area, as well the biggest sauna of the open seas, bear the mark of KAEFER.
KAEFER Aislamientos was responsible for the tank insulation and the scaffolding on the first parabolic trough power plant in Europe – the Andasol Project in Andalusia.
The newly founded company KAEFER Access, specialised in rope access solutions, carried out maintenance works and emergency repairs on various locations in Norway where there were areas difficult to access.
Having completed the insulation part of Dolphin Gas between 2004 and 2007, the biggest natural gas project in the Gulf Region, KAEFER received a maintenance contract for painting, insulation and scaffolding.
KAEFER received the Top Areva Supplier quality seal from the energy company Areva for supplying and installing reliable, high-quality thermal insulation and passive fire protection in their power stations for over 30 years.
KAEFER Aerospace entered the so-called "after sales market" which expanded the company's scope of business to include retrofitting, in addition to providing maintenance services and supplying spare parts.
2010: KAEFER became the first associated partner of the Desertec Industrial Initiative (Dii Gmbh) for the Desertec Project. This difficult long term project aims to utilise the large untapped solar and wind resources of the desert regions in North Africa and the Middle East in order to produce electricity.
After 38 years in the Bürgermeister-Smidt-Str. KAEFER moved its corporate headquarters to the very heart of Bremen – the Markt Str., right in the city centre. Clear structures, straightforwardness and a lot of transparency – the company's philosophy is reflected in the architectural design of its new building. A photovoltaic solar power system and two thermal power generators are just a few of the measures taken to ensure the sustainable running of the day to day business within this new building.
At the EXPO 2010 KAEFER presented itself to approximately one million visitors at the Bremen stall. Under the motto "Energy Efficiency with KAEFER" the company demonstrated insulation's contribution to climate protection through various examples.
KAEFER took over the Brasilian insulation company Isobrasil and entered the growing Brasilian market as KAEFER ISOBRASIL.
After more than two years KAEFER ENERGY Norway completed its works on the semi-submersible platform Gjøa on schedule. Statoil had entrusted KAEFER with engineering, scaffolding, surface protection, fire protection, architectural services and insulation for the project.
KAEFER put its interior outfitting know-how to good use in two ships of the extreme: the biggest and most expensive cruise ship in the world, the "Oasis of The Seas", and the luxurious "Norwegian Epic".
KAEFER successfully completed a "steel-to-steel" interior outfitting project on the two biggest RoPax ferries in the Stena fleet. The contract was for 600 cabins per ship, as well as restaurants, stairways and public areas on both vessels.
KAEFER signed two long-term maintenance contracts for on- and offshore works with energy companies in Australia and Norway with a combined value of approx. 800 million Euros.
For the new A350 Airbus long-range aircraft, KAEFER Aerospace received the contract for the fabrication and supply of approx. 500 air conditioning pipes as well as a contract for the insulation of the passenger doors.


Useful for several reasons, the DNS pre-eminently makes it possible to attach easy-to-remember domain names (such as "dmiwebhosting.com") to hard-to-remember IP addresses (such as 72.29.84.104). Humans take advantage of this when they recite URLs and e-mail addresses. In a subsidiary function, the domain name system makes it possible for people to assign authoritative names without needing to communicate with a central registrar each time.


text:
Q: How to set input focus to a shown dialog in Qt? In a button click slot, I create and exec() a dialog with a NULL parent. Inside the dialog's constructor, I have:
this->activateWindow();
this->raise();
this->setFocus();

The dialog is application modal and has strong focus. However, it does NOT respond to keyboard events until I click on it. How do I make the dialog get focus without having to click it?

A: The problem was that I was setting the Qt:Tool window flag. Using Qt::Popup or Qt::Window instead will cause input focus is automatically set when the dialog is shown.
I used Qt::Window myself. Some of the other flags will probably work as well, but the main thing is that a QDialog with the Qt::Tool flag will not automatically set input focus when the dialog is shown.

A: Install the Event filter for the dialog.
classObject->installEventFilter(this);

void className::keyPressEvent(QKeyEvent *event)
{
   if (event->key() == Qt::Key_Space)
    {
   focusNextChild();
    }
   else
   {
  QLineEdit::keyPressEvent(event);
   }
}

for more info refer here.
http://doc.trolltech.com/4.6/eventsandfilters.html

A: In my case even settings Qt::Window didn't do the trick. I had to
QMetaObject::invokeMethod(widgetToFocus, "setFocus", Qt::QueuedConnection);

before show() or exec().


text:
HOME / Person / Olaf Dammann
Olaf Dammann
Olaf Dammann was born in Lower Saxony, Germany. He studied linguistics, informatics, and medicine at the University of Hamburg, Germany (Dr. med., 1991) and Epidemiology at Harvard University, Boston, USA (S.M., 1997). He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy of science at University of Johannesburg, South Africa, with a thesis on etiological explanations in epidemiology. He has contributed more than 200 papers to the medical, epidemiological, and philosophical literature. Dammann is professor and vice-chair of public health at Tufts University in Boston, professor of perinatal neuroepidemiology at Hannover Medical School, Germany, and adjunct professor in the department of neuromedicine and movement science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim. He lives in Newton, Massachusetts, with his wife, two daughters, one big dog, one small dog, and one black cat.
Articles of Olaf Dammann
Science as Cultural Activity
Science as Cultural Activity (PDF 176.59 KB)
Flusser's Philosophy of Science
Keywords: epistemologyscienceJudaismphilosophyartReligion
Many of Flusser's books and essays refer to "science", "epistemology", and "knowledge". His ways of conceptualizing these terms, however, remain to be explored in detail. To my knowledge, there is no secondary literature that analyzes "Flusser's philosophy of science". In this paper, I begin outlining such a project. I offer two translations of unpublished manuscripts, "La creation scientifique et artistique" ("Scientific and artistic creativity") and "Wissenschaft, Weisheit (und Judentum)" ("Science, Wisdom (and Jewishness)). Based on an initial and very superficial analysis, I suggest locating Flusser's concept of science at the center of a triangle of reciprocal relationships between philosophy, art, and religion.
Philosophy of Science (PDF 363.59 KB)


First try to find out whether the power is out just in your home or throughout your neighbourhood by checking with your neighbours.
If the power is out only in your home, turn off or disconnect major appliances, then check your fuse box or circuit breaker. If fuses have blown or circuits have switched themselves off, you may have overloaded that circuit. With your appliances or equipment off, replace the fuse or switch on the circuit breaker.
If power is out in your neighbourhood, turn off all major appliances and call our emergency number. We will try to restore power as soon as possible.
Keep you and your family safe and prepared - check out our Emergency Checklist.
Know what to do if you are involved in motor vehicle accident involving hydro equipment.


text:
Music in Schools
yalemusic
Check out the Yale Daily News' preview of tonight's Ellington Jazz Series concert featuring vocalist Catherine Russ… https://t.co/seeURmygsR
Sir Jonathan Mills to host public lectures at Yale fall 2019
Sir Jonathan Mills. Photo by Seamus McGarvey
Sir Jonathan Mills will present a series of three lectures in October 2019. Mills, who is known for his directorship, from 2006 until 2014, of the internationally celebrated Edinburgh International Festival, has also led prestigious festivals in his native Australia and is recognized around the world for his thought-provoking compositions. Mills holds a bachelor of music degree in composition from the University of Sydney and a master of architecture degree from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia in 2011 and knighted in 2013.
"Culture and Well-being: Connections Between Health and Music"
This event is by invitation only
How can culture contribute to the health and well-being of human society? The sustainable provision of health care is of vital concern for governments around the world. A growing body of neurological and clinical research indicates that participation in cultural activity offers long-lasting benefits for a range of medical conditions. How can the social and economic benefits of the arts be understood and implemented by policy makers, commercial medical insurers, and clinical practitioners? How can the arts improve health outcomes for traditionally marginalized or neglected communities?
"Classical Traditions: The Many Rather than the Few"
Yale School of Music, Leigh Hall, Room 211
11 a.m. | Free and open to the Yale community
The past millennium has been dominated by European science and technology, culture, and philosophy. There is some plausible speculation that an era of European hegemony might possibly be drawing to a close.
We have already begun to enter historical period in which no single culture, ideology, theocracy, or politics will be all pervasive or dominant. We are now living in a world in which knowledge comes simultaneously from various, divergent technological, ethical, cultural, and philosophical sources and locations.
In an era increasingly concerned with the politics of identity, at a time of heightened sensitivity about the social and cultural implications of certain dominant hegemonies, is it not time to celebrate, in a spirit of curiosity and generosity, the existence of many diverse and unique classical artistic traditions, rather than continue to assert the primacy of a single tradition?
"Managing the Art of the Unexpected"
4:30 p.m. | Free and open to the Yale community
How does one respond to a passionate and heartfelt demand by a group of highly motivated members of the public to cancel a tour, by an ensemble from a country whose government engages in widely acknowledged and highly controversial policies, when one is directing an international festival that the tour is slated to visit? In such circumstances, are artists to be treated as pawns in a larger geopolitical dialogue or individuals who need protection?
What happens when a war erupts in a nation from which a large-scale company of your most prominent performers is about to depart?
Drawing very directly on his personal experiences as both the CEO and Artistic Director of one of the world's largest festivals—the Edinburgh International Festival—composer Jonathan Mills considers the sometimes challenging roles of being a chief executive and an artistic leader of an arts organization. In this lecture, Mills reflects on some of the strategic and diplomatic dimensions of running a prominent arts institution and offers some advice about the sorts of political confrontations that no one is warned about in advance of taking a job as a cultural leader.
Share This Comments
Martin Bresnick receives Samuel Simons Sanford Medal
Martin Bresnick
During Convocation 2019, Yale School of Music Dean Robert Blocker awarded the School's highest honor, the Samuel Simons Sanford Medal, to Martin Bresnick, "a colleague who has given distinguished service to music, to intellect, and to repairing the world." Bresnick, who in 1976 joined the faculty of Yale's Department of Music and in 1981 joined the faculty of the School of Music, is the Charles T. Wilson Professor in the Practice of Composition.
The award's namesake, Blocker said, "was the first professor of applied music at Yale and one of the founding professors of the Yale School of Music. A gifted pianist, Sanford was also one of Yale's most generous patrons." Blocker explained that "after receiving an anonymous gift in 1972 honoring Sanford's dedication to Yale and music, the School of Music established the Samuel Simons Sanford Medal. Initially awarded to recognize the appointment of teaching fellows, the Sanford Medal is today … the most prestigious award conferred by the School." Blocker described Bresnick as a "master teacher, a professor who has taught many of the people that adorn our own faculty and other faculties around this country and indeed throughout the world."
"I know of no one," Blocker said, "who is truer to his own belief and truer to his own heart than Martin. I know of no one who has been more compassionate to students, to faculty, and to the well-being of music and our University and … our School." Blocker told Bresnick, "Your teaching and your musicianship and your creative work was so inspired that we could not help but appoint your students—David Lang, Hannah Lash, Chris Theofanidis—to come and join you as you and your former students, who are now your colleagues, continue that legacy."
"The School has give me so much more than I could ever give back," Bresnick said. "The School of Music, to me, has been my Esterházy, a place where I try things, I learn things, things were taught to me and I just try to return them as much as possible to these wonderful students. I just need to remind people … the secret of being a great teacher is to choose really great students."
Sharing an "inverted version" of an expression he's passed on to students, Bresnick said, "When the student is ready, the teacher appears. I was happy to appear."
YSM launches yearlong celebration of its 125-year history
Throughout the 2019-2020 academic year and concert season, the Yale School of Music community will reflect on the School's 125-year history and look forward to the future of music-making at Yale. While music at Yale can be traced to earlier days, it was in 1894 that the School was established and that its first degrees were conferred. To celebrate music at Yale is to appreciate and acknowledge all those who have made music here.
"In celebrating the 125th anniversary of the School of Music, we pause to reflect on the values of the faculty, staff, alumni, and friends whose work ensured an artistic legacy for us," YSM Dean Robert Blocker said. "Now we gratefully embrace the responsibility of continuing their work and imagining new musical horizons that ignite our passion and resolve today and in future decades. Indeed, music is the currency of hope."
This year's Convocation, on September 5, will mark the beginning of our yearlong anniversary celebration. The School's Board of Advisors, faculty, staff, students, and special guests will join us for a ceremony that includes performances by students, faculty, and alumni and remarks about the legacy and promise of music at Yale by University President Peter Salovey and President Emeritus Richard Levin. As always, the incoming class will be welcomed and formally installed.
This year, for the first time in more than a decade, the School will hold an alumni reunion. Graduates from all classes are invited back to campus for activities ranging from an alumni concert to a panel discussion about women composers, in conjunction with the University's 2019-2020 Women at Yale celebration "commemorating the 50th anniversary of coeducation in Yale College and the 150th anniversary of women students at the University." In further celebration of women at Yale, the Yale Camerata and Yale Glee Club will give the world-premiere performance in April of a new work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and School of Music alumna Julia Wolfe on a program presented "in celebration of 100 years of women's suffrage." The fall-winter 2019-2020 issue of Music at Yale, our biannual alumni magazine, will appropriately be dedicated to women from the School of Music.
In the spring, in partnership with the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, the Yale Philharmonia will join the Yale Schola Cantorum and The (London) Bach Choir on an East Coast tour, led by David Hill, with performances in New Haven, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
These and other moments will help us look to the School's past with an eye and an ear on its future. As always, the coming concert season features music and performances by internationally acclaimed artists and the next generation of composers, instrumentalists, and vocalists. More than 250 concerts are scheduled to take place on campus, and most of those will be streamed live online for families and friends in cities around the world.
We invite you to join us in celebrating 125 years of music-making at Yale.
Watch our celebration launch video
Omer Quartet is named YSM's new fellowship quartet-in-residence
Omer Quartet
The Omer Quartet has been named the new fellowship quartet-in-residence at the Yale School of Music. During its two-year appointment, which begins in the fall, the quartet will be mentored by the School's ensemble-in-residence, the Brentano String Quartet, and will coach undergraduate chamber music ensembles at Yale College's Department of Music. The Omer Quartet, which succeeds the Rolston String Quartet as YSM's fellowship quartet, includes violinists Mason Yu and Erica Tursi, violist Jinsung Hong, and cellist Alex Cox.
The quartet won the Grand Prize and the Gold Medal at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 2013 and was a first-prize winner at the 2017 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, among other distinctions. The quartet was formed at the Cleveland Institute of Music and later served a graduate residency at the New England Conservatory. The group has collaborated with such respected artists as Sérgio and Odair Assad, Eugene Drucker, Clive Greensmith, Kim Kashkashian, Cho-Liang Lin, Ricardo Morales, and the Borromeo String Quartet, and has collaborated with composers Perry Goldstein and Sean Shepherd.
The Omer Quartet comes to Yale having served as chamber-ensemble-in-residence at the Bravo! Vail Music Festival and as the doctoral fellowship quartet-in-residence at the University of Maryland. While at Yale, the quartet will be introduced to audiences in New Haven and beyond. In October, the group will perform concerts in Sudler Hall and at Carnegie Hall as part of YSM's Yale in New York Series. In December, the quartet will perform a recital program in Morse Recital Hall.
Committed to community engagement, the quartet inaugurated a Music for Food concert series in the Washington D.C. area with the mission to support local hunger relief with a Tarisio Trust Young Artists Grant. The concerts involved local and out of town guest musicians and raised almost $5,000, creating over 10,000 meals to date.
Learn more about the ensemble at omerquartet.com.
Drs. Bowring and Monahan appointed to YSM's academic faculty
Drs. Lynette Bowring and Seth Monahan have been appointed Assistant Professor Adjunct of Music History and Visiting Associate Professor Adjunct of Music Analysis and Musicianship, respectively, at the Yale School of Music. Both will begin teaching at YSM in the fall.
Bowring, who will teach survey courses and electives in music history at YSM, has been serving as an adjunct faculty member at The Juilliard School, teaching courses in Renaissance and Baroque music history. She has also taught at Westminster Choir College and in the Music Department at Rutgers University. Bowring specializes in the instrumental repertoire of the Italian Baroque, with secondary interests that include 20th-century music. She has contributed to a number of scholarly journals and has recently written an article on the implications of musical literacy for 17th-century instrumentalists for a forthcoming issue of Early Music. She has also co-edited an essay collection titled Music and Jewish Culture in Early Modern Italy. Bowring earned a Ph.D. in musicology from Rutgers University, a master of music degree in musicology from the University of Manchester (UK), and a bachelor of music degree from the Royal Northern College of Music (UK), where she studied violin. She continues to perform as a Baroque violinist.
Monahan will teach core courses and electives in musicianship and analysis at YSM. He previously served as Associate Professor of Music Theory and Chair of the Music Theory Department at the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music. Monahan has earned widespread acclaim for his publications, lectures, and conference presentations. His research focuses on the relationships among form, narrative meaning, and interpretation, particularly in the symphonies of Gustav Mahler, the late compositional style of Richard Wagner, and other Romantic and Classical instrumental works. Monahan's Mahler's Symphonic Sonatas, published in 2015 by Oxford University Press, won the Society of Music Theory's Emerging Scholar Award. He earned a bachelor of music degree in composition from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where he also studied guitar, a master of music degree in music theory from Temple University, and a Ph.D. from Yale University.
Collection of Musical Instruments closes for renovations
As the academic year comes to an end, we are looking forward to making some much-needed improvements to the Yale Collection of Musical Instruments building at 15 Hillhouse Ave. Restoration work on the exterior of the building will necessitate the Collection being closed from May 3 through fall 2019.
To prepare for the renovation work, staff at the Collection and the School of Music have worked with the construction team and with fine-art handlers to ensure the safeguarding of the Collection's instruments.
Throughout the renovation project, Collection staff will be relocated to the Adams Center for Musical Arts at the School of Music. From there, we will continue to work on the upcoming brass-instrument exhibit, which is scheduled to open November 2019.
The Collection's concert series will take place in 2020. Please visit collection.yale.edu for updates as they become available. For the most up-to-date news, please consider joining our email list at music.yale.edu/email-signup.
Composer Andrew Norman '09AD is named a 2019 Pulitzer Prize finalist
Andrew Norman
Composer and School of Music alumnus Andrew Norman '09AD was named a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his orchestral work Sustain. The Pulitzer judges described the piece as "an absorbing orchestral work rich with mesmerizing textures and color, including washes of clustered string sounds and cascading winds, creating a virtual sound installation in which perceptions of time are suspended."
Sustain was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the opening of the orchestra's centennial season and received its premiere on October 4, 2018, under the baton of Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel. The Los Angeles Times' Mark Swed described Sustain as "a near out-of-body acoustic experience that sounds like, and feels like, the future we want, sans dystopia." Sustain, Swed wrote, "has done the most to redefine the modern-day orchestral experience. Its … composer has already easily become the leading L.A. (and arguably leading American) composer of his generation." The New Yorker's Alex Ross wrote, in November 2018, "Norman has always been a deft orchestrator, but in Sustain he reveals himself as a magician of the art."
Read about other Yale-affiliated 2019 Pulitzer Prize awardees.
Alumni composers win Guggenheim Fellowships
Samuel Adams and Suzanne Farrin (photo by Luke Redmond)
Yale School of Music alumni composers Suzanne Farrin '00MM '03MMA '08DMA and Samuel Adams '10MM are two of only 11 composers to receive the prestigious 2019 Guggenheim Fellowship. In an April 10 press release, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced that its board of trustees "approved the awarding of Guggenheim Fellowships to a diverse group of 168 scholars, artists, and writers. Appointed on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise, the successful candidates were chosen from a group of almost 3,000 applicants in the Foundation's ninety-fifth competition."
Farrin is the Frayda B. Lindemann Professor of Music and Chair at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center. Her opera dolce la morte was premiered in 2016 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to great acclaim. She has written works for the JACK Quartet and SŌ Percussion and won the 2017 Frederic A. Juilliard/Walter Damrosch Rome Prize in composition. Read more about Suzanne Farrin
Adams is a 2019 Djerassi Resident Artists Fellow and has previously held residencies at Civitella Ranieri (Umbria, Italy), the Visby International Centre for Composers (Visby, Sweden), Avaloch Farm Music Institute (Boscawen, New Hampshire) and Ucross (Ucross, Wyoming). He served as the curator for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's MusicNOW series from 2015-2018 and has received commissions from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, and Carnegie Hall. Read more about Samuel Adams
Winners of 2019 Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition announced
The 2019 Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition took place on Saturday, April 6. This year's competition yielded three winners: violinist Jung Eun Kang '18MM '19MMA, who performed Karol Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 35; bassoonist Eleni Katz '20MM, who performed Carl Maria von Weber's Bassoon Concerto in F major, Op. 75; and violinist Emily Switzer '19MM, who performed Béla Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 2, Sz. 112. As winners, these instrumentalists will perform with the Yale Philharmonia during the 2019-20 season. Oboist Noah Kay '19MM, who performed Richard Strauss' Oboe Concerto in D major, AV 144, TrV 292, and guitarist Xiaobo Pu '20MM, who performed Malcolm Arnold's Guitar Concerto, Op. 67, were selected as alternates.
The judges were former Metropolitan Opera Orchestra flutist and current Aspen Music Festival and School faculty member Nadine Asin, pianist and Concert Artists Guild President Tanya Bannister, and former Juilliard String Quartet violinist and current Juilliard School faculty member Earl Carlyss.
We congratulate our outstanding students and look forward to hearing them perform next season with the Yale Philharmonia.
Trumpeter Kevin Cobb appointed to YSM faculty
Kevin Cobb
School of Music Dean Robert Blocker announced today that trumpeter Kevin Cobb has been appointed to the YSM faculty. Cobb will begin teaching at the School in the fall. "Kevin is a member of the American Brass Quintet and performs frequently with the New York Philharmonic," Blocker said. "He teaches at The Juilliard School and also gives master classes throughout the country. His concert activities and discography reflect those of a renowned artist." Cobb also holds teaching positions at New York University and SUNY Stony Brook, and at the Aspen Music Festival and School and the Colorado Summer Music Festival.
Cobb has performed with such renowned ensembles as the American Composer's Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York New Music Ensemble, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Speculum Musicae, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, among others.
In additions to his solo recording One: American Music for Unaccompanied Trumpet (Summit Records) and those made with the American Brass Quintet, Cobb appears on recordings by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera Brass.
Cobb studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy and earned his bachelor and master of music degrees from the Curtis Institute and The Juilliard School, respectively.
He succeeds Allan Dean, who will retire at semester's end after 30 years on the YSM faculty. "My gratitude to Allan Dean is boundless," Blocker said.


We also recommend that you allow cookies. If you disable them, some of the interactive functions of the website will not operate. For example, data-submission via forms, as well as user-registration, user-login and Alex the Chatbot. The chatbot cookie allows you to maintain a consistent conversation session with Alex, even if you navigate through different pages on our website. This cookie is cleared after 60 days.
Furthermore, this website also uses non-essential cookies for analytics and to monitor our website performance.


text:
Novaverses - the new spin off fan fiction anthology series from the folks that do Nova619 - stories written by Nova fans for fans!
"Not all Universes are the same." Pretty familiar words to most comic fans as the concept of alternate universes where either major or minor differences separate them from what's known as the "prime reality" are commonplace to many comics books, books and tv series.
Marvel had their own take on this, called What If? And Nova himself wasn't a stranger to that title, appearing in two stories. The first written by his creator, Marv Wolfman back in issue 15, Vol. 1 called "What if Nova had been Four other People?" posed the idea that instead of Rich Rider being the Human Rocket, we had Peter Parker, some unknown woman with revenge on her mind, a homeless man fights of an alien invasion and last a unknown villain uses the Nova Force to become Crimelord. Later, Rich himself gets the spotlight in issue 36 in the alternate take from Rom 24 where he endeavours to keep his powers no matter the cost to family or friends or the safety of Earth.
I've always liked the idea of alternate realities; so when I launched the fan comic Nova619, I always intended to set it in a different reality and show how Rich's life after the end of the Annihilation War could have gone; difference being that is an ongoing (sort-of), whereas What If were "singular" eps showing just glimpses.
So now we have our new spin-off, another Nova fan product this time dealing with different universes with different Novas, just like that first story in What If? 15, in fan fiction rather than comic pic format. Good thing with written form is you can delve deeper into both plot and characters that comic medium can sometimes allow, but fret not Team619 contributors still play a role both doing illustrations for the stories and cover art.
And that's only the beginning! With different Universes and Different Novas - this is a trip that can never stop and is without limits.
Darren Blackburn
Clicking on an issue's cover links to the downloadable PDF.
Novaverses
Issue #1 Novaverses


The Keysight 10076C 4 kV, 100:1 passive probe gives you the voltage and bandwidth you need for making high-voltage measurements. Its compact design makes it easier to probe today's small power electronics components, and its rugged construction means it can withstand rough handling without breaking. Compatible with 2000 X-, 3000 X-, 4000 X-, 6000 X-, 5000, 6000, 7000, 8000, 9000 and S-Series oscilloscopes.


This viral story happened to a homeless student who was accepted into 17 colleges.
Greta Thunberg is only 16, but she has motivated hundreds of students to participate in climate movement worldwide.
"Full House" actress released on a $1 million bond.
Same to student loans, student attendance is a huge problem in today's generation.
2 important questions for students to think of.
Judge rules unvaccinated New York students not to return to school until the measles outbreak is over.
Read this post tp know the future of Spanish students who receive higher education in the UK after Brexit.
Starting September Ontario is to induce mobile phones ban across its schools.
Among 50 people charged in connection with a college-admissions scheme, there were Hollywood actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.
Check out these funny TV show student memes!


Any unauthorized person from anywhere in the world can generate Aadhaar ID using the patch which is freely available for Rs 2,500.
An investigation revealed that the Aadhaar database, which contains the biometrics and personal information of over one billion Indians, "had been compromised by a software patch which disables critical security features of the software used to enrol new Aadhaar users".
According to a HuffPost India report, any unauthorized person from anywhere in the world can generate Aadhaar ID using the patch which is freely available for Rs 2,500.
According to the report, "the patch lets a user bypass critical security features such as biometric authentication of enrolment operators to generate unauthorised Aadhaar numbers".
"The patch reduces the sensitivity of the enrolment software's iris-recognition system, making it easier to spoof the software with a photograph of a registered operator, rather than requiring the operator to be present in person," the report said.
Amid reports of alleged breach, the Congress on Tuesday said the sanctity of the unique identification system was jeopardized.
"The hack of the Aadhaar enrolment software jeopardizes the sanctity of the Aadhaar database. We hope the authorities will take the appropriate moves to secure future enrolments and verify the suspect enrolments," the Congress said in a tweet.
French security expert Elliot Alderson -- who had last month sparked a controversy by asking the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to explain why its helpline number was stored on many people's phone without their knowledge -- also joined in the conversation asking the UIDAI to work with the hackers to plug the breach.
"I repeat it: NOTHING IS UNHACKABLE. It does apply for Aadhaar. UIDAI, it's never too late. Listen and work with hackers instead of threatening them. History is looking to you," he said.